Day 10: Yungshin Pharmaceuticals and Giant Bicycles

   The day started with a post office fiasco. The night before we had been told that the post office opened at 8 AM and that we needed to be at the bus at 9 AM. So Carol and I made up our boxes of things we wanted to ship back (to save space and to have less things to lug around Japan) and got them taped and addressed the night before. So that morning we left the Alumni House just before 8 and took the "10 minute" walk to the post office which turned out to only be 4 minutes. Upon getting there we learned that the post office actually opened at 8:30 so we waited around figuring we'd be first in line and it wouldn't take very long. When the post office finally opened there was only one person behind the counter. We got the customs forms and filled them out. Then Carol went first getting her package weighed and processed but the scale was acting up a bit so it took a while and the whole time the process kept getting paused in favor of students who only needed stamps or to mail letters. By the time it was my turn it was 8:47ish and by the time I was finished (since I was interrupted constantly  too) it was 8:58 and we had to run back for the bus but luckily we made it.

    Then we took the bus to Yungshin Pharmaceuticals. We watched the standard videos about them having the most superior technology and a human free environment (which is impossible) before taking a tour.

   

   They did have an awesome automated warehousing system though.

   Then after lunch we visited Giant Bicycles and toured one of their assembly lines. We saw the standard promotional videos, learned about how they manufacture bicycles for other companies as well and how they're trying to promote "cycling culture". Most of the media exposure that the company gets  is from the events they host and the cyclists they sponsor. 

   Then we stopped at a super nice rest area. There was a ton of restaurants a little grocery store and a couple coffee places (in addition to the requisite toilet facilities) but the best part was probably the park area outside. 

   Our final activity of the evening was to go to a night market. Several of the guys bought more luggage to transport their souvenirs in.