During my visit to Tsukuba, I learned and experienced many new things.
I have eaten Japanese food I didn’t know about, learned about Japanese culture, and new research topics others wouldn’t even think of.
I through visiting many of the professors’ labs I have learned more about their research, such as in Prof Aranha’s lab where I learned more about how robots are being used to solve real world problems and how they train the models to create the best solutions given certain conditions.
These robots don’t think like humans and can create designs that aren’t normally thought of given conditions.
Culturally I have learned how to address someone based off their seniority, such as san, sensei, sempai, sama, and more.
Through the ISS program I have made many new friends and they took me out to karaoke.
The friends I made through ISS helped me so much on the trip.
They had great recommendations and helped me understand what other people were saying and doing.
I also had many amazing memories experiencing Japanese food.
I had such fluffy and bouncy pancakes, some incredibly rich and savory Unagi (eel), and some amazing freshly baked bread all recommended by the friends I made in UT.
