Engineering in Tokyo and Seoul: Season 🇯🇵 Episode 0
Alright let's do this for the first time. My name is Edward Vazquez-Hernandez and I am a rising sophomore studying electrical engineering. Currently I am studying in Tokyo through the Engineering in Tokyo and Seoul summer study abroad program . In this program we are granted the opportunity to study abroad in not one but TWO countries.
As of writing this I am currently taking Cross-Cultural Studies (Japanese Anime and Popular Culture) at J. F. Oberlin University in Shinjuku(which as of writing this counts as a 300 level humanity requirement for engineers!). Speaking of Shinjuku it is definitely one of my favorite wards of Tokyo(top 3 ranking coming soon!) with vibrant city life and youth.
Study abroad has always been a dream of mine ever since high school when I was exploring options to go outside the United States. I had the general idea of going as far away as I can from home and now I'm 7000 miles from home (Go Knicks!) dealing with insane jet lag and cramps.
Aside from gaining course credit my goal for this study abroad experience is to immerse myself in this new world whether that means taking the extremely cramped Yamanote train during rainy rush hour, trying heart and liver skewer, or getting lost in Shibuya. As an engineer I believe it is important for us to spend time focusing on technical skills and problem solving but I also believe experiences like this one will help build something equally important. Perspective.
Throughout this blog journey I want to document not just the highlights of my time in Tokyo, Japan, and Korea but also the challenges, surprises, and lessons that come with living halfway across the world. I hope to capture the smaller moments often overlooked by content creators and in the end help inform my readers of what life is truly like in East Asia. By the end of this program, I want to come back not only as a smarter student, but also as a more independent and open minded person who will make better informed engineering decisions with people across the world in mind. With introductions out of the way I am excited to begin sharing my experiences in Japan!