Spoiler Alert!!!! ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ATTENTION Spoiler Alert!!!!!

If you are waiting to hear the outcome of the competition from your son, read no more. If, however, you cannot wait that long then please read on.......

We did quite well and are extremely proud of the team's performance. We won 2 golds (way to go Colin and Alex!!!!), a silver (awesome job Richard!!!!) and bronze (great job Uts!!!!). The students just arrived so that must mean we are bound for the airport.

We will have to return to this at the airport to try and redeem our blogging bragging rights...

CONGRATULATIONS JL!!!!!!!!!

Just a quick note before we're off to hang out with the Danes (and no, there will be no consumption of almond fish tonight). But, before the festivities begin the entire US contingent would like to congratulate JL. He's just been re-elected to the Steering Committee!!! WOO HOO!!!!! Ok, I have to say it again (because he's sitting here making fun of my formatting as I'm writing this) WOO HOO!!!!!!

He's pretty awesome and TOTALLY deserved to be re-elected. And, yes, I guess you can call me Caps, but just for tonight. LOLz

(o:

So, now we must run. On what floor is that vending machine again???

an update

Kris: It has been some time since we added a contribution to this blog, and we are sorry for that. While we may not be the most prolific bloggers, I would impress upon the reader the importance of quality over quantity! So, buckle up and prepare for another mammoth entry. If we're nice, we may break it up into several smaller entries to allow for a potty break.

I think I may LOVE the temples here! Along with being beautiful and quite peaceful (you can actually escape the somewhat oppressive humidity if you find the right spot), they freely (well, for a price) tell you your fortune. Yay! It's always a good idea to know what to expect... So, JL and I paid whatever charge there was to learn our fortunes according to that particular Japanese temple... I am 'little luck', while poor JL can anticipate 'no luck'. Oh, he better watch out!

I guess I was unsatisfied by the descriptive nature of 'little luck' so while visiting China Town I make Kim and JL stop in at a Chinese temple. VERY beautiful!!! They have a different method of divining your fortune and, after 2 tries my fortune came out as very lucky. Even better!!! The lady who translated for me seemed very happy and took special care to make sure we exited the temple correctly to ensure the fortune would come to fruition. Um, maybe I should double check that translation...... Nah, I'll go with it.

JL: You can do that, because I am done with translating. Since our last post we translated the theoretical exam. Even though it was 9 questions (as opposed to the 3 practical tasks) we were able to finish the translating faster. This gave us a chance to meet the teams we had not gotten to and trade more gifts. Afterward we had a chance to socialize with some of the other teams - Australia, Liechtensein, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

Kris: Hanging out with the other teams has probably been the best part of this experience. I mean, sweating on the bus on the way to the excursions is great and all, but nothing beats actually talking to people. The Denmark delegation was particularly interesting. Not only are they housed near the 'penthouse', their side of the building seems to steal the air conditioning from our side. Since we don't have enough time to 'bulk up' our AC with the steroids all professional US athletes are supposed to be on I guess we'll have to settle for complaining about living in the 'slums' (which we have become quite good at). Even though the accommodations are quite nice we still complain about them on a regular basis. It’s fun actually.

But, I digress, back to the Danes. Great group of folks but with questionable ability to discern edible food. I don't know if it's just that I'm a tad more vocal than others and physically incapable of keeping my opinion to myself (a little known fact, I know), but there are some disgusting foods here. Brian (one of the Danes) had an example of this in his possession and I was guilted/pressured/challenged/whatever into tasting something called 'Almond Fish'. With my eyes closed and hope in my heart I snatched something from the bag and popped it in my mouth. I did not grab an almond. Darn. The little dried fish (complete with head and eyeballs gaping at me as he approached my non-salivating mouth anticipating his second, and final death) is fairly low on the Fletcher Squid Scale of Nasty but high on the not-yet-articulated Longevity Scale. Copious amounts of vending machine beverage failed to remove the lingering flavor. Darn.

I mention the Squid Scale, I suppose I should explain it. As you know we had the unfortunate experience of accidentally ordering squid ink pizza (which JL now says he wish he had sampled, interesting). Since this was so, um, not tasty to me I have started ranking other foods relative to the squid ink, thus the birth of the Squid Scale. Apparently not all squid is gross (I have yet to discover edible squid and am in no hurry to seek out said edible squid) but the Squid Ink Scale seems a bit long and doesn't roll off the tongue in quite the same way.

Anyway, we will have to post in short bursts because we are off to yet another Jury meeting. This time we are electing members of the Steering Committee. JL is running for reelection, so here is hoping we re-elect him. Go JL!!!!

The Imperial Palace

Lab Inspection and Squid Ink Pizza

Pictures from the Opening Ceremony

...I really think so.

Kris: Well, it’s day four and we finally have a breather to work on the blog. Yayyyyyyy! The team has an excellent guide Satsuki. We’ve posted a picture of the five of them. Aw, aren’t they cute! The best thing about Satsuki is, well, just about everything! The mentors think she is adorable and really want to smuggle her back in our suitcases. The question is, will the ACS reimburse us for the over the weight fee??? Hum, perhaps we should let her stay…

JL: We had the opportunity to get to know her better during the Opening Ceremony and Welcome Lunch. The ceremony featured a number of speeches, an authentic traditional Japanese Lion dance (Shishimai), as well as introductions of all of the participating countries. We were also honored to have the opportunity to dine with his Imperial Highness, Prince Akishino, and her Imperial Highness, Princess Akishino. It was a really fantastic time. The lunch was also our first true introduction to Japanese cuisine.

Kris: As you know, fish is a large part of the Japanese diet. And, while I like sushi (A LOT) I am less adventurous about eating other forms of fish and things I would not label as fish (e.g., octopus or squid). However, when one isn’t in Rome one doesn’t do what the Romans do. So, I’ve been sampling the fish selections. Let me tell you, in my opinion octopus are better left at predicting the outcome of soccer matches (Paul, next time root for the US!!) and squid are pretty gross. I really admire those people who can eat them. But the food provided to the mentors has been pretty awesome overall. Especially the coffee. And, no, I haven’t made it over to Starbucks yet even though it’s just around the corner. We took a break from the group dinners and ventured out to a Spanish-style bar. In this case, the language barrier proved to be overwhelming when we accidentally ordered a pizza with squid ink as the main ingredient. Once again, I have to say in my humble (and not always adventurous) opinion, squid in all its parts is gross.

JL: And the coffee has come in quite handy. We have had our first two Jury Meetings: one to discuss the practical exam and one for the theoretical. The first one started at 8 pm and lasted for well over five hours…When it took that long to discuss only three tasks, all of us were apprehensive about the theoretical meeting, however, it only lasted 4 hours. During the lab inspection (see pictures) and our evaluations of the exam, we feel really impressed by the work of the Japanese scientific committee and are confident that the guys will do well.

Kris: This is my first experience at the IChO, so I didn’t really know what was expected during “translation.” I mean, how hard can it be to translate English into English? As it turns out, it wasn’t too painful at all. And, we are able to spend some time getting to know some of the other teams. Can I just tell you that the Australian team, along with being excellent chemists, seem to be gifted graphic artists. Who knew?? In all it was actually a lot of fun! Once we were finished with our translation we distributed a portion of the gifts we brought for the other teams. I think the pocket periodic tables were the biggest hit so far. I just hope we have enough for all the wonderful Japanese student helpers that really make the competition run smoothly.

JL: I have been to the IChO a few times before, and it has been great to have a chance to see old friends from all over the world, as well as make some new ones. Today we got to go with some of them for an excursion into Tokyo. We visited our friends, their Imperial Highnesses, at the Imperial Palace. There was a beautiful garden with elegantly sculpted trees. Then we visited a Temple in another part of Tokyo. After some shopping in a street market, we had a traditional Japanese “box” lunch. Our free time was short lived though as the discussion about the theoretical exam began…

Kris: While we’ve been slaving away at the OVTA, the team has been taking it easy. They have already had an excursion to Tokyo (where we think they visited the Tokyo Tower: think Eiffel Tower with a TV antenna on top) and to Kamakura (a city in Japan with an abundance of temples and shrines). I’m sure the team has appreciated the new perspectives gained during these excursions. Unfortunately, all fun and games must eventually come to an end; the team completed what had to have been a grueling 5 hour practical exam yesterday. I guess it’s only fair it took us 5+ hours during the jury session.

JL: Speaking of the number 5, we’ve been doing our best to try and learn the language. It has gone better for some of us than others…Theoretically we can all count to 99, order water, and say “thank you.” Hopefully our vocabulary will continue to increase during the rest of our stay in Japan. Kris, aka the crafty one, has been trying her hand at origami, though I haven’t seen any of the results. In all seriousness though, it has been a really eye-opening cultural experience, and the Japanese, both those preparing the IChO and those we have met when venturing out, have been fantastic hosts. It is really a joy to experience the country.

Kris: Oh, and Nathan, a squid could totally take a turkey!

JL: Anyway, we have to get to work translating the theoretical exam, but we have been eating our apricots and will do our best to update with a bit more regularity.

Signing off from Chiba, Kris and JL