First day at work. Met Seno again, as well as Hayashi Kachou (section head) and Maeda Shochou ("head of the place"), who are the main two guys in charge. All very friendly people. For the rest of the day i helped Seno with pipe testing. The work seems very simple (not exactly "brain work") but okay. Went home, wandered around the area for about two hours in the dark before finding a shop. Came back, cooked the first western meal in a week.
I don't have much time, so i will just give a brief overview. The people i work with are decent sorts, if a bit standoffish at first. We had the New Year's party on Friday, and i got to talk to quite a few people. It is a very close knit group anyway. Unfortunately, the work is extremely dull, and the main problem is that there is very little work to do. My desk is in the direct line of sight of both bosses, so i know that i have to look busy, but i have no actual role description, so when i am not helping Seno with the testing (which only takes up about a fifth of the time i am in the office), i have nothing to do. To keep busy, i have been writing a journal of the tests, my general experience as a trainee, my thoughts in general (the list expands as i exhaust each option). Already, i have written something of a novel. This has really got to change. I can't take seven more weeks of this. I have spoken to the Kobe LC, so hopefully they will help me find a solution. Anyway, i leave for india on the 28th, this thursday, so only three more days of work before then.