A trip to Saga

It is my honor to accompany Yuanxin to Saga. It was our first time ever leaving China to go overseas! Yuanxin was invited by Prof. Nakamura Inasa to present her recent research at the Saga Souhatsu Mathematical Seminar at Saga University. This seminar was jointly organized by Prof. Nakamura, Asst. Prof. Bekki Hohto and Proj. Asst. Prof. Yanagida Koki. I am delighted to have taken part in such a wonderful event.

We arrived in Saga by plane on July 20, and Prof. Oikonomides Catherine kindly met us at Saga Airport. Professors Nakamura and Oikonomides then took us to visit the area’s famous sights and treated us to the local cuisine. We were also recommended to visit the local museums and try an excellent udon noodle house, and on July 21 Yuanxin and I checked each one of them off our list.

Below is a group shot with Prof. Nakamura, Prof. Oikonomides, and Yuanxin (from left to right).

On the afternoon of July 22, we attended Asst. Prof. Asano Nobutaka’s seminar talk; with my limited Japanese, it was all Greek to me. That evening, we joined Profs. Nakamura and Oikonomides, along with Asst. Profs. Bekki and Asano, for yakitori and conversation.

July 23 marked Yuanxin’s talk day. Although it was her first experience giving an academic presentation, everything went smoothly and she delivered an outstanding report. This was also the first time I saw that mustard could be spread directly on roast beef.

Here are a few more photos:

In the group photo above, the people from left to right are Asst. Prof. Bekki, Proj. Asst. Prof. Yanagida, Prof. Nakamura, Yuanxin, and me. Below is a solo photo of Yuanxin.