Work-Life Balance in Japan
My first week in Japan, I lived alone in an office building that looked like a spaceship on top of a hill in a forest. I arrived as an intern for the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental…
UT Education Abroad Blog
Inspiring Longhorns to Explore the World
UT Education Abroad Blog
Inspiring Longhorns to Explore the World
Category Japan
Tears, Trains, and Matcha: Saying Goodbye to Kyoto
It’s inevitable, every new beginning must come to an end. Now, as our program comes to an end, I want to use this blog as an opportunity to reflect on the second half of this experience and the overall insights…
Weekend Hiking in Tokyo
When people think of Tokyo, they often picture large skyscrapers, big flashing lights and Shibuya Crossing. However, there is more to the biggest city in the world besides its urban center. Did you know it’s only an hour-long train ride…
Don’t Fear the End Goal
Since arriving in Japan, everything seems new and different. I never thought I would find myself living and studying a language in a country on the other side of the world. Getting off the plane, I immediately realized that even…
Living My Lifelong Dream: Texas to Japan
As a first-generation college student, studying abroad once felt like an impossible dream. The only country I had ever visited outside the U.S. was my birthplace, Mexico. And even then, I was always with family, surrounded by a familiar language…
Journey Through Japan: Sips, Cities and Smart Tech
My time in Japan has been truly transformative. The blend of academic research and cultural immersion across all the cities and universities I’ve visited has been remarkable. Having explored Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya and Nara, I’ve experienced Japan’s diverse cultural…
It’s Okay to Slow Down
I have about two months left in my exchange program in Japan, and I’ve already been here for two months. Coming from immigrant parents and growing up in a small border town, I would have never thought I’d be studying…
Beauty in Every Corner
High on mountain peaks, I gazed and longed to linger, admiring cherry blossoms. How the ceaseless winds must be caressing them now. This poem, written in the Heian period by an anonymous…
Endings and Beginnings
As the weather starts to slowly turn from the bitter cold of winter to the gentle breeze of spring, there is a lot to reflect upon and much to look forward to in the time that I have remaining in…