#IPESummer24

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Week 0: Final Goodbyes and Anxious Excitement

Howdy Umich IPE Blog, I am Connor Gilfillan, a rising junior Mechanical Engineering student about to spend the summer at Nagoya University in Japan. I will be taking both an introduction to Japanese course and an Automotive Engineering course. The automotive Engineering course is the one I am expecting the most out of, as it includes trips to numerous automotive factories such as Toyota, which, fun fact, was founded in Toyota City, which is within the boundaries of the Nagoya Area.  I am super excited to share my wacky and zany adventures with the world, so make sure to keep up with my blog. 

(This is a photo of me on my way out the door, I was listening to Movin' Out by Billy Joel)

To begin, I am a PROUD New Jerseyian. I love my state and how ridiculous it is. So I wanted to say goodbye to it and all my friends and family before I left for new adventures abroad. Some highlights include going to a multitude of diners and having a BBQ with my friends. But after all that fun, I had to say goodbye.

I began packing about three days before I left, which mostly involved me and my mother running a bajillion errands because I forgot to bring a lot of stuff home from Michigan. Luckily, she is the best, and kept me on track as I was a bit frantic towards my departure date. She even let me get three pairs of new shoes.

(My fully packed suitcase, The moment I finished packing and realized I was in fact leaving for another country. And yes that is a fanny pack)

I got into Tokyo quite late after two long and sluggish flights. Having to go through Japanese customs wasn’t too bad, but I had to go in and out to catch another flight which left me quite stressed (I accidentally ended up at the wrong terminal). After my flight to Nagoya, I was able to make use of my totally super complete Japanese skills, (thank you 3 weeks of Duolingo) to read the subway map and get to my hotel. 

(Boarding the plane before my flight to Nagoya from Tokyo)

After spending a night here, my nerves have calmed down quite a bit and the excitement is kicking in. Breakfast here was quite good, I had one of everything at the buffet, and I was one of the first people there (jet lag made me wake up at 5 am). My favorite part of breakfast was this really fancy rice dispenser they had where you were able to press a button and it dispensed a small, medium or large amount of rice, it was super cute. But now I have a full day of fun ahead of me and I will make sure to keep all of you guys updated with photos and my experience. I really hope I make lots of new friends here.

(This is the view from my hotel room)

(My breakfast which included chicken, eggs, rice, orange juice, and three kinds of fish)

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP - Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

[umichenginabroad]

Week 4: I wonder if you know

Howdy y'all, it's me Connor back after another week jumping around Japan. And oh boy this week was one for the books as it was Tokyo week, but I'll get to that later.

Classes have continued on ramping up as my finals for Japanese and Engineering begin next week. I have been spending a lot more of my free time in the library rather than exploring the city, yet still I am always excited to learn. Japanese is such a fun language and I can't get enough. However I would be lying if I said I'm not stress about our final this Friday.

This is a photo my friend Ethan and myself in the library about to work on our engineering presentations. The topic I chose was car materials and applications. I am doing a deep dive primarily into the interior systems of a car and the different types of plastics and electronics that are used. I have a week left and lots of research to go so I'll get back to everyone on my findings.

We also had quite a few outings this week tied into what we were learning in the classroom:

These photo were taken in the National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory. This is a center dedicated research to improve automotive quality within Japan. My expectations were blown out of the water by this experience. They had a state of the art fog room (Left) where we got to see how they tested headlight power and visibility. They also had a massive anechoic chamber (Right), it was so quiet and they use it to make sure vehicles on the road are not too loud.

Another huge portion of this week was motorcycles. We got to visit both the Suzuki and Yamaha museums and see their massive displays of motorcycles and history. The top photo is in front of the Suzuki factor. The photo on the left is me sitting on the Suzuki Hayabusa, a motorcycle which when produced was so fast and had so much power that it changed the way motorcycles were produced forever, (There were laws made because it was so unsafe). On the right is Suzuki's most recent Motorsport bike. I did not know much about it but regardless the experience was a wonderful time.

This is a photo from inside the Yamaha Museum of the MT-09 an 850cc motorcycle. It was my favorite in the museum and there was so much to see. I even got to ride in a motorcycle simulator which was a ton of fun. I learned so much about motorcycles this week and if my mom were not reading these blogs I would say I want one.

The final academically tied experience was a trip to the Yokohama Rubber tire factory. Sadly I was not allowed to take any photos inside but the plant was massive and we got to walk around the factory floor seeing each step of how a tire is produced. If anyone plans on going in the future just know the factory is hot and smells terribly of burned rubber.

Now for the Complete Tokyo Review

Granted this won't be the largest review as I really only had one night and one day to explore but oh boy did I do so much.

This is me at Shibuya Crossing, one of if not the most famous crosswalk in the world if not for Times Square. We went on a Friday night and it was so amazing. The streets were packed and it was louder than any other place in Japan it was so exciting. In addition Shibuya Crossing is the home of the Hachiko statue. There is a very large history to this statue that I highly recommend everyone look up, it made me tear up a bit. We had a quick hot pot dinner that was amazing and I went with a huge group of my friends. That was just about the end of the first night in Tokyo as we got in super late and did not want to miss the last train but I had a massive day ahead of me.

These are photos of m at the Meiji-Jingu Shrine. I was not allowed to take photos within the shrine, it was very elegant however many of the shrines in Kyoto put it to shame. What was really cool was the massive Torii gates, the inner garden, and the famous sake wall. They were all spectacular and the garden was beyond serene. The one downside is that there were way more tourists here than in Nagoya.

The upper photos are from the Sinso-Ji shrine. It was exceptionally beautiful and there were a ton of shops around that I got lost in. I found this full fish skewers near a live performance and got one. It was unsurprisingly fishy and salty. The bottom photos are taken from the Tokyo Skytree the largest building in the city. The Tokyo Skyline is amazing and the city is so much bigger than I could ever imagine it was beautiful. I had such a full day in Tokyo and it really was amazing. Next up are all the roadside adventures we had.

This is a famous volcano we stopped at. It reeked of sulfur but was very cool otherwise. It was well know for its black eggs. They are hard-boiled eggs said to increase you life-span by 7 years and they only sold them in counts of 4 so hopefully I enjoy the extra 28 years I get. The bottom photo was just at a gas station on the side of the highway where you were supposed to be able to see Mount Fuji but it was covered in cloud and not in great view so I got this cool photo instead.

The last stop was a skywalk on the longest suspended bridge in Japan. This thing swayed back and forth like crazy and I was terrified walking across. However on the other side there was a ton of cool stuff such as this owl exhibit where you to pet and see owls up close. Although I also got a finger bit off I would do it again in a heart beat.

Because this week was so busy I do not have a ton of food pictures however I do have one very funny photo from Tokyo.

This was a bowl of ramen I received in Tokyo. I ordered a small and it came with this massive mountain of bean sprouts. I was very determined to finish it and it was so delicious but it proved to be too much.

Anyways, that about sums up my week so I will see y'all after finals.

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

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Week 8: Cost Breakdown!

Okay 8 weeks in let's get down to business, how much money have I spent and where. First of all, there is the tuition which was base of $5,205 which includes housing and tuition for 3 months in addition to various trips that were planned by IPE. Through the trips, they likely spend a decent amount of money. However, I got a scholarship for $3,500 which most people in the program got if not more. The most pricy part of the program was probably the plane tickets which was approximately $2,000 for a round trip. Since coming to China, I’ve spent ~12,000RMB (1,500 USD). Here is a breakdown of my other expenses and how far everything can go.

In the first week, I spent a lot of my money on various dorm necessities like toilet paper, trashbags, and miscellaneous expenses. In total, it added up to approximately $300RMB (40USD) which is fairly cheap for all the little purchases that added up. Here is the rest of the breakdown for the past 8 weeks.

Utilities/Essentials: 504 RMB (68.85USD)

This includes hot water which we need to pay for separately which isn’t too bad since it is so hot I don’t end up using the hot water much and this also includes laundry which I do often because the hot weather makes me sweat through all my clothes at a lighting pace.

Food: 2043.18 RMB (279.12 USD)

This is crazy cheap considering I only eat out and I don’t pay attention to my food budget whatsoever (before I decided this blog was going to be a cost report). However, this is just my actual meals, I summed my snacks/drinks separately.

Snacks/Drinks: 1469 RMB (209.86 USD)

How have I spent almost the same amount on snacks and drinks as real food? I am ashamed but also it is so easy to buy snacks here and there when there is a convenience store everywhere (including in our dorm) and each snack is approximately 1 USD but those costs can add up for sure.

Shopping: 2964.3 RMB (404.92 USD)

It is sooo easy to spend so much on clothes when everything here is so cheap and cute. I also have been buying gifts and souvenirs for friends and family back home but I think I definitely need to reel in my shopping addiction.

Experiences: 1261.56 RMB (180.14 USD)

This includes fees and transportation for miscellaneous activities such as watching Inside Out 2 (which was really good), doing an escape room, going to a gaming cafe, or exploring downtown. This I would say was all 100% worth it.

Solo Trip: 3290 RMB (449.45 USD)

A few weeks ago, I went on a 4-day solo trip around Shanghai to Hangzhou and Nanjing. I ended up spending 449.45 USD for the train tickets which were approximately 120 RMB (17 USD) each and for the hotel rooms which were 340 RMB (48 USD) per night. Although, my friend who took a solo trip to Chongqing only spent 150 RMB on a hotel so it can definitely vary a lot. It was definitely worth the experience and you can definitely solo travel for even less money too!

Hopefully this helps put in perspective what studying abroad means in regards to money. To be honest, I have not been the most careful with money, because my parents have money in RMB that they won’t be using anytime soon. Regardless, hopefully my breakdown was helpful!

See ya next week!

Erin Xia

Mechanical Engineering

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute

[umichenginabroad]

Week 1: Place Japan

Howdy y’all, it’s me Connor, checking in after my first week here in Nagoya, Japan.

First off, holy guacamole the culture shock is real. Who could have guessed being in a country 6000 miles away from home is a bit disorienting. However, I have begun to get used to all the changes. Because classes have yet to start I have done nothing but eat, explore and experience this amazing country, that I have somehow found myself in. So let’s go over some highlights together:

First day in I visited the forefront tourist destination the Nagoya Castle. There is nothing I can say about this location other than stunning, an absolute marvel of scale and human ability. Every inch was intricate and precisely made.

This is a photo of me in front of Nagoya Castle. Sadly the main portion (The white building) was closed to visitors however I was able to tour the palace (The smaller wooden building) which was astoundingly beautiful. The entire area was filled with history and I was able to learn so much. I even got to see the largest stone ever placed in a handmade stone wall (Photo not included).

(left) A cup of matcha and a green tea mochi dessert I had. Both had a wonderful earthy flavor which I really loved. I even got to sit at a traditional Japanese table on the ground it was a ton of fun. (right) a photo I got with two real life ninjas at Nagoya Castle. Later this week we even got to explore Iga, a city renown for the Ninja arts.

Day two was orientation, this is the first day where I met all the new people I’m going to be spending the next month with. Luckily everyone was super friendly so I had no problems introducing myself. I moved in with little issue and got done with the orientation for classes quickly. We even had a huge party afterwards with the professors and some other Nagoya University students.

A banquet and party held by the staff. This is where I met a lot of the tutors who are current Nagoya University students who are helping us adjust to life here. They are all super cool and telling me I shouldn't be a Chunichi Dragons fan (The local major league baseball team) but I still can't wait to go to a game (Hopefully next Friday).

This is my dorm room, it is actually smaller in real life but I can't wait to call it home for the next month.

The next couple days were spent on a huge group trip to the cultural capital of the country, Kyoto. We saw a ton of amazing architecture between the number of castles and shrines we visited along with the clustered and vibrant streets of the downtown. This trip is when I met a lot of my new friends too. I had such an amazing time and plan on going back at some point later this trip.

The first of the temples we visited in Kyoto, this was the Kinkaku-Ji. It was a massive gold structure surrounded by beautifully cut wilderness. This will truly be a place I will never forget. Funny enough this temple was also known for its mochi, I got the brown sugar flavor which was quite delicious.

This was our trip to the Kiyomizu-Dera one of the most famous temples in the entire world. This is where you wash yourself with sacred water which was a wonderful time. Another absolute wonder of human ingenuity. Most of it was built simply with wood fittings and no nails.

I lit incense and candles at temples for a number of reasons. I was shown how to by some of the staff for the NUSIP program and how to properly pray to ensure my wishes come true.

This was me visiting the Fushimi-Inari Shrine (More commonly known as the primary Torii Gate Shrine). Fun fact I woke up at 3:45 am to see this and it was well worth it. Another absolute marvel of scale with there being about 10,000 gates you can walk through.

On the left I am joined by some friends at a river in Kyoto we actually took a quick dip in because it has been exceptionally hot and humid out this week. On the right it is another group of friends I have made at an Izakaya, a type of Japanese restaurant often know for its large number of appetizer-like courses and large drink menus.

During the Kyoto excursion we also stopped in Nara, another huge cultural center of Buddhism within Japan, more important though, THEY HAVE SUPER FRIENDLY DEER THAT YOU CAN FEED AND PET.

Finally the weekend came and we were left to our own devices:

Saturday we has a chock full day of visiting Nagoya's very own shrines which although less impressive than the ones in Kyoto were beautiful never-the-less. This day also included a trip to the Nagoya Port Aquarium where we saw an amazing dolphin show.

Sunday we went to Nagoya Spaland. It is a combination amusement park, water park and spa. It was so much fun and there were no lines and I even went on the longest roller coaster in the world. Sadly we got caught in a massive rainstorm and you can see me and my friends rocking trash bag ponchos to protect ourselves. We got laughed at by everyone but we made the bus so it all ended well.

Classes are finally going to start this week and I am eagerly awaiting them. I have gone over all of the syllabus for my engineering course and I am going to learn an incredible amount about the automotive industry. I truly cannot express my excitement as Japan is just filled to the brim with automotive history. I am also ready for my Japanese skills to improve with class. Its been fun being the Americans who don't speak any Japanese but it has made traveling quite a bit harder.

Lastly for a little surprise here is a tik I made in Kyoto to the song Kyoto by Phoebe Bridgers :)

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

[umichenginabroad]

Week 3: Excursions and Local Life Activities

This past week, I’ve been busy participating in activities put on both by Sant’Anna institute and through CIS Abroad. Sant’Anna organized several activities each week for students to sign up for, ranging from cooking classes to painting nights and hikes. The activities are great to be immersed in the local area and culture and to meet new people. There are around 150 students studying here and I feel like I talk to someone new about every activity! 

Recently, I participated in a tiramisu making class, a sunset yoga session, and a gelato making experience at a local, family-owned gelateria. I’d have to say the gelato making was my favorite as we got to sample both lemon sorbet (a personal favorite) and chocolate gelato that we helped make. The shop also gave us all a free cone with two scoops of any flavors we wanted after we finished the class!!

(Shop owner leading the gelato making class)

CIS Abroad also organizes activities for us. They are not as often, but are usually bigger excursions. Over the last two weeks, I have gone on a wine tasting at the modest winery in Sorrento, a boat cruise along the coast to Amalfi, and a beach day at one of the beach clubs in Sorrento with lunch included. 

During the wine tasting, we learned about the whole wine making process from growing the grapes, how long each type of wine ferments in barrels, the different temperatures required for different flavors, and saw the machinery behind the packaging of the bottles. We then got to taste three different types of wine along with paired cheeses and dried meats, which was all delicious. 

(Right: Table set-up for the wine tasting, old barrels in the back and a meat, cheese, and bread board spread on the table with wine glasses set up at each seat. Left: Me holding a wine glass in front of a stack of barrels)

The cruise might have to be my favorite excursion so far as I love to travel by boat and learn some of the history of the coastline. We passed by the area said to be where the sirens of The Odyssey lived, as well as many other locations of Greek and Roman myths. After around a 1 ½ hour boat ride (I only got slightly sunburnt), we docked in Amalfi and had around 4-5 hours to explore. The town is known for its homemade paper and I loved going into various local shops and hearing about each one’s process and looking at some of the beautiful artwork.

(Left: Me and my friend standing on the dock with the part of Amalfi and the sea in the background. Right: View of Amalfi from the dock)

Lastly, I got to go to Peter’s Beach Club and hangout for the afternoon soaking up the sun and swimming in the shockingly-clear water. Usually, I just go to the small free beach near the institute so it was nice to experience the fancier beach with a sunbed and umbrella (the free lunch was a delicious bonus).

(Picture of the couscous and vegetable bowl I got for lunch with the beach visible in the background)

Both CIS Abroad and the institute do a wonderful job immersing us students in the local area and keeping us engaged. For the next few weeks, I have several big trips planned and class is picking up with midterms, projects, and field trips, so stay tuned as my next blogs should be exciting!

Marika Ruppart

Mechanical Engineering

Engineering in Sorrento, Italy 

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Week 2: Living it up in Amsterdam!

Time feels like it’s going by so quickly, as it’s already the end of the second week in Berlin. This week introduced the technical lab course, which for me is my robotic programming lab course. I haven’t had a great deal of robotic programming, and as everyone was introducing themselves during the first class, it seemed that the consensus was that a lot of people were pretty new. So it could be said that I was more than a little shocked to be doing partial derivatives and working with differential equations on the first day. Anyways, it actually wasn’t too bad as it made everyone work collectively and made time go by much faster as we were so laser-focused on finishing our tasks.

On Tuesday, we went on a fun brewery tour of the brewery on the VLB campus. You see, all the beer that was being produced was for research and scientific purposes. The brewery was experimenting with different techniques and recipes for different kinds of beer. We got to see the station where the barley is first broken down into malt, then where the yeast is added, and finally where the beer is dispensed. As an added bonus, we even got to try some!

Prior to the weekend, around Monday or so, 7 of my friends and I planned a weekend trip over to Amsterdam. We were to leave right after class on Friday and get there at around 1:00 am on Saturday and return back to Berlin at around 8:30 on Sunday night. I packed my stuff at around 5:45 am Friday morning because I’m just an all-round excellent procrastinator. 

The entire Amsterdam journey was an absolutely crazy one, but quite a memorable one. For starters, we missed one of our trains and had to race the train via taxi. One of our trains was heavily delayed, which caused us to miss our ensuing transfer train. As I was the only person who somewhat knew how to speak German, I was forced to put my minuscule vocabulary to use when I had to communicate to the information help desk and taxi driver that our train had been delayed and now needed a taxi service. We eventually were able to get a taxi service to the next stop, and thanks to the driver, just barely made it before the train, and the trip continued to proceed as normal. I thought that it was crazy that we had just happened to have one German speaker with us on this trip and for it to be actually a pivotal moment in the trip.  

As soon as we arrived, we headed to the Airbnb and just chilled out until everyone went to bed. The following morning we decided to go sightseeing and check out any potential museums or other tourist attractions that we wanted to hit up. We eventually settled on splitting up between sightseeing and visiting an electronic music museum.

I went with the group to the museum and as we were walking there, we were met with absolute torrential downpour. Since we had to make our time slot, we trudged through the rain to the museum, arriving on-time looking like we had swam through the waterways to get there. In the electronic music museum, we got to learn about the history of House music and see priceless artifacts like Marshmello’s helmet and Avicii’s keyboard. To top it all off, we even got to experience their own little DJ-mashup of some of the most iconic songs. 

That night, we met up with some other University of Michigan students who were traveling through Europe, and we decided that since it was one of their birthdays, to go out that night in celebration, seeing as he was turning 21. We walked around Amsterdam at night, appreciating the beautiful views of the city at night and basking in the nighttime culture of the city. Even though it was late at night, there were still streets packed with people having a good night out in pubs and bars. We walked around for about an hour, then attended a music festival. Now, this is where the night really starts to get interesting. 

When we arrived, we were really excited and were in high spirits. Then someone from our group got kicked out. We didn’t really know why and after clearing up the confusion, they were let back in. We then spent the next couple hours dancing and chilling around, eventually leaving at around 3:00 am. As we were all pretty hungry at the time, we decided to hit up this one street full of fast food shops until around 4:00 am. However, as we were walking there, another person lost their wallet. We spent about 30-45 minutes looking for that wallet until somehow, by the grace of God, we found it next to a curb untouched. It was a pure stroke of luck that we had found it and even more lucky that it was left untouched. Seeing as how the universe was so unfairly lucky to us, it decided that it was time to reverse the tables. As we were walking to get food, I saw that we were running behind and needed to get moving if we were to get there before everything closed. I started sprinting and turned around to tell my friends behind me that we need to get going. As I turn back around however, I see a bike coming straight for me and BAM, it slams right into me. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt and I was able to walk away from it with minor bruises and swelling. However, this experience was extremely scary and I am extremely grateful that things did not end differently. At last, we were able to get food right around 4:00 am and eventually headed back and called it a night. 

Sunday was our final day in Amsterdam and seeing as how our train back to Berlin left at 2:15, we could only do some light shopping in some of the shopping streets before we ended up heading over to the train station and heading back to Berlin. Overall, it was an extremely fun trip and well worth it. Even though we had some scary moments, we cherished the short time that we spent and left extremely satisfied with the experience.

This will no doubt go down as one of the most fun trips that I’ve had in recent years and definitely the most crazy and unpredictable trip ever.

That’s all for this week, see you guys next week!

Dervin Tian

Data Science

Engineering Laboratory Experience at TUB in Berlin, Germany

[umichenginabroad]

Week 0: Ireland before the Program!

Hello, hello! It is Declan McGrath here checking in before my program officially starts at UCD in Dublin this Sunday. I am so incredibly excited to begin this program and meet all of the amazing people that are going to be in this program with me as well as other people from around the world and Ireland.

First, a little bit about myself. I am a first-year mechanical engineering undergraduate. I absolutely love to cook and try new foods, read, play videogames, take pictures on my Polaroid cameras (which I will most likely be sharing with you all throughout the program!), and just all around hang out! Up until this point, I have never actually left the United States so this trip is going to be an entirely new experience for me! From trying all the new and different foods to exploring a different culture to meeting new people it is all going to be brand new. The program I am a part of is the IPE: Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies in Dublin at University College Dublin. This program has me taking Physics 2 lecture and lab as well as a History of Modern Ireland course which both meet requirements for my major.

I actually arrived in Ireland two weeks before my program started and have been exploring Ireland a lot! My family has a lot of Irish roots and so when I got confirmation that I was accepted into the program my family almost immediately began planning a family trip there before the program started. We drove from Michigan across the border to Canada to catch a flight alllll the way to Dublin. We landed in Dublin at around 9 AM (incredibly jetlagged) but began to make the most of our time in Dublin by exploring the various pubs, restaurants, and stores throughout the city while also visiting some amazing national monuments and museums. We walked through the rain to the famous Temple Bar Pub in Dublin where I got some amazing Irish fish and chips! All of the food I have had in Dublin has been amazing actually. There are so many ice cream stores in every city and some even have something called “bubble waffle” which is essentially an extra sweet waffle with bubbles in it and coated in ice cream. And the soft serve ice cream they have here is absolutely amazing, probably better than the US’s (and that’s coming from a guy who used to work at a Dairy Queen!).

After a couple days in the city we took a trip out into the Irish countryside to a small AirBnB in Terryglass. We picked up a rental car and I helped navigate my dad out of the city and into the countryside. It was so weird sitting on the left side of the car and not being the one driving and even weirder to see all the cars driving on the opposite side of the road. That is honestly the biggest thing that I do not think I will ever get used to while abroad, so it is probably a very good thing that I will not be driving at all on this trip. While out in Terryglass my family and I made a trip out to Cashel Rock to see the final resting place of Miler McGrath, an ancestor of mine with way too many great’s in front of grandpa for me to type out. It was very cool to see this amazing fort and also learn some things about my heritage. I could keep going on about all these things I did before the program even starts but I don’t want to spoil Ireland for y’all before the program even starts!

I am really, really excited for the program to start and I have been thinking a lot about all of the things I want to do during this program. So much so that I made a list!

Get to know the people on the trip with me! There are a whole bunch of people that I have never met before that are going on this same journey and I want to take the time and get to know all of them. 

Travel! Travel between European countries is supposed to be really affordable and I want to take full advantage of the free time that this program has to offer by taking weekend trips with other program members.

Get some awesome photos with my Polaroids! I brought a lot of film with me on this trip and somehow managed to burn through almost all of it before the program began :’) so I want to buy some more film and continue to take photos of all the amazing sights Ireland has to offer.

Pass my classes! This trip is not just about having a blast in Europe, it is also an opportunity to learn a lot in subjects that I am genuinely interested in. I have always been interested in physics and (from what little I was able to glean from short museum trips) Irish history is fascinating.

I am slightly nervous about adapting to the fast-paced environment of Dublin. The city is always bustling with activity and it can be a little bit hectic but I am ready and excited to face it head on. Though I am also a little nervous about getting lost in the city. I have a habit of slightly getting sidetracked (especially when there are so many cool stores all around) while walking around but hopefully I can make some friends on the program that can help me get from A to B with as few side quests as possible. 

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read my blog post! I am so excited for this program to begin, travel to new places, and meet new people. Until next time!

~Declan McGrath

[umichenginabroad]

Week 6: The Setting Sun

Howdy y'all, it me Connor back after the final week of navigating around Nagoya!

This is going to be a mostly writing focused blog as I do not have a ton of photos as this week was cut short as I had a flight to catch back to the good ole US of A.

First up, I passed all my finals, I think.

I got a perfect score on my speaking section on the speaking section of my Japanese final and I passed the written portion. So yeah I'm basically fluent. Learning the language was definitely way tougher than I thought it would be, but it gave me confidence to at least try and continue learning it in the future.

In addition my engineering final presentation went so well that my group won overall best presentation. We won a set of diecast Honda NSXs which is a car I have fawned over in previous blogs. I was super happy with my research surrounding modern plastic alternatives used in dashboards and the real cost of fabric vs. leather car seats. This program has given me a refreshed sense of enthusiasm in regards to the automotive industry. I have experienced the industry in a way completely unique to Japan and have now seen aspects of automotive culture inaccessible anywhere else.

Sadly though the time has come for me to leave the country. I still have quite a sizable lab report I have yet to really dive into so my studies have yet to stop but I no longer will be able to experience the wonders of Japan. But here are the last couple photos of my shortened week.

This is me standing in front of the Nagoya University sign (Holding up the classic UMich M, GO BLUE!). It is in front of the main yard where we often saw students throwing balls, sunbathing, and just generally having a good time.

This selfie was taken on the way to the farewell party hosted by the NUSIP program. You can see most of my roommates pictured. These guys really made my time in Japan special and I cannot thank them enough. The farewell party was super sweet and everyone was super sad to leave.

A photo of my room taken on the day of my departure. You all would not believe how long it took me to clean it up. It felt just like yesterday that I walked into this room exactly how I saw it leaving. I almost cried as I had my bags packed and was walking out the door.

After a couple hours of traveling, and one too many trains, I took this photo at the airport right before going through security. Although I was smiling that was only because I took the wrong train and still made it to the airport on time. But oh boy did I have a massive journey ahead of me. My parents were worried sick because of the windows outage causing may flights to be cancelled. Luckily all of my planes arrived and I only suffered an hour delay.

I landed at Boston Logan Airport quite late Friday night after almost 30 hours of traveling. The one thing I was looking forwards to coming back for was that my family was about to take a nice long beach vacation in Cape Cod. I was so happy to see them, and even better I got possibly the greatest welcome back breakfast in the world. Nothing could stop me from demolishing these biscuits and home fries topped with sausage gravy, because you could never find something that good in Japan.

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

[umichenginabroad]

Week 5: Day off in Kyoto

Howdy y'all, it me Connor back after another week of cramming about cars. This was the beginning of finals and I have been booked so this might be a shorter blog.

I had my Japanese written final on Friday, it had both a written and oral section. In addition I also had to give a full presentation on my experience within Japan. I am exceptionally proud with how far I have come in the language but after that final I realized that if I want to continue learning I have a long road ahead of me. I mean after a month of learning for 3 hours a day I can just barely communicate for daily needs and know the bare minimum of reading. That being said I do not want to give up. Studying took up a large amount of my time this week as a have another huge engineering report and presentation to give next week so this blog might be a bit shorter.

Speaking of engineering though we finally got our groups for our final projects and I have spent long evenings researching. I luckily got my first choice for my research topic being Materials and Production of a Modern Vehicle. The sub-topic I chose was the interior of cars. I am excited to present but the report is definitely time consuming. But now I can talk about all the fun stuff I did.

This is a Picture of me at the Denso Factory. Denso makes a massive variety of technology, although they are mostly known for their speedometers. They are an industrial giant and produce so much more technology. The tour here was very cool and it was the one trip we went on this week for the NUSIP program. I will say the only downside is that we couldn't buy their uniforms which were these super cool powder blue jumpsuits.

My other mid-week adventure was another baseball game for the trip. This time the Dragons were playing the Hanshin Tigers. My favorite player Takahashi was pitching again and the Dragons won 3-0. I went to this game because some of my weekend plans got canceled due to a giant storm that was working its way south through Japan. I went alone but had a wonderful time.

GO DRAGONS!!!!!

THIS IS WHERE I WOULD PUT MY MOUNT FUJI PICTURE.

IF I HAD ONE.

Sadly the trip that got canceled was to Mount Fuji. Numerous times throughout this trip we have visited Mount Fuji viewing sites where you are supposed to be able to view the top of the mountain but it has always been too cloudy. This most recent Saturday, me and 4 other people were planning on hiking to the top, I bought hiking boots and everything, but sadly the Friday morning before we left there was a massive storm passing through so we had to cancel :( I was so excited to get a picture at the top.

The storm however did not stop my trip to Kyoto.

We boarded the Shinkansen at 7 am Sunday morning prepped for a weekend of fun (We didn't have class Monday). Kyoto was already my favorite place in Japan from the last time we went and I was so excited to go back. The train from Nagoya to Kyoto only took about 30 minutes. It is so fast and the bento boxes you can get on it are so cute.

These were taken in the Bamboo forest in Kyoto, the views were stunning and it was so serene. There were a few too many tourists as you had to walk through a shopping district to get here but it was amazing nevertheless.

This is a photo of me infront of the imperial castle. The grounds were massive and it took us 2.5 hours of just walking to see all of it.

One of the last things I did in Kyoto was this traditional tea ceremony. We ate sweets and made our own matcha. I put a bit too much powder into mine so it was quite thick but still delicious. The sweet was made with seaweed gelatin and yuzu peel and was very good.

This weekend I also went to two different festivals. On the left was the Yoiyoiyoiyama (I think there might be one more Yoi) in Kyoto. There were dozens of floats and street vendors and the streets were closed down. I even got to climb onto a float. On the right is the Nagoya Port Festival. This was held at (Unsurprisingly) Nagoya's main port. There were fireworks and games and I ate a ridiculous amount of food there.

Speaking of food time for: WEEKLY FOOD PICTURES!!!

Both of these photos were taken in Kyoto. On the left is Gyukastsu, a pork fried steak restaurant. It was excellent I ordered the sirloin and a matcha beer. Everything tasted amazing and I would highly recommend to anyone who visits. On the right are 3 types of Taiyaki, a traditional Japanese festival pastry. From left to right they are filled with green-tea cream, red bean paste, and egg custard. These were fresh made and delicious.

Lastly I got some ramen in Nagoya. I was out shopping for the last couple gifts I wanted to get for my friends and family and I found this cute little ramen bar. This was possibly the spiciest dish I got while in Japan and the meat was delicious.

Sorry if this blog is a bit brief but I got lots of work to get back to.

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

[umichenginabroad]

Week 5: The Mega Long Weekend Post

Hello, hello! Strap in, this is gonna be a long one. When I last posted I was on my way to Cork for the weekend. It was a very very long and fun weekend.

We arrived in Cork and got off the train to take a look around. The day was pretty gloomy and overcast but the city was absolutely beautiful. We started off by kind of just walking around with no destination in mind until we got hungry. Luckily we ended up by the English Market and we learned exactly why Cork is called the “Food Capital of Ireland”. This market was packed with stalls selling some of the best smelling food I had ever had the pleasure of walking by. There were vendors selling all kinds of different foodstuffs, from potatoes to bell peppers. The group split up in the market and we reconvened outside when we all bought our individual meals. I ended up getting some spectacular sushi from a small stand right next to an even smaller cafe. It even came with a tiny soy sauce packet in the shape of a fish (which I may or may not have taken a couple extra of to bring back with me)!

After we finished our lunch we walked to Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral. It was pretty close by and we had heard it was pretty beautiful so we decided to make a slight detour and check it out. It was unfortunately closed when we visited it but even the outside was breathtaking. It really was amazing. The cathedral was incredibly tall and every inch of it was covered by a detailed carving, stained glass window, and statues of saints and gargoyles. 

After this, my friend, Allie, begged the group to go to a museum. Not just any museum, mind you, a very specific museum. A museum dedicated entirely to one food: butter. Yes, this is a real place I am not kidding. The rest of us were kind of skeptical about visiting this monument to butter as we had a pretty limited amount of time in the city but we eventually caved to her pleading. We actually ended up having to run to the museum (up a giant hill, in fact) because there was a demonstration that was happening very soon. All the while I was just thinking to myself “this better be the coolest butter I will ever see in my life.” We arrived at the museum just minutes before the demonstration began, panting and sweaty from running through the city with bags carrying all of our belongings for the weekend. Honestly? It was worth it, which I did not expect at all. The demonstration was led by a very good presenter that was incredibly passionate about butter and made the whole thing incredibly interesting (way more interesting than you would think butter should be) and Allie actually got to help churn the butter!

After the demonstration finished up and we explored the museum a bit, the group split up. A couple of the group members went to go see the Blarney Castle to get the ‘gift of gab’ by hanging upside down off the top of the castle to kiss the famous Blarney Stone.

My friend, Kristina, and I, however, decided to hang back and explore Cork some more. We ended up going to three different bookstores throughout the city. My favorite of all the bookstores we visited was a two-part store called Vibes and Scribes. It was one part newly released books and one part donated, thrift books. Both Kristina and I ended up buying a couple books there. The only things that I have bought more of on this trip than books has been eggs and chocolate chips (I am desperately trying to use up all of this flour and sugar I bought to make pancakes so I keep just making more and more pancakes but there is just so much that I am fighting a losing battle here y’all). 

After our trip to the bookstores, Kristina and I trekked all the way out to Lough Wildlife Sanctuary to rest a bit. It has become kind of a tradition on all the trips that the group goes on to find a patch of grass and lay down in it and that’s exactly what we did. We did a little bit of reading of our new books and a lot of resting and people watching. It was very nice and peaceful and a very much needed and deserved break. 

Next, we headed back into Cork’s city center to meet back up with the rest of our group for some pizza. After we filled up our bellies with some pretty good pizza we decided to do even more walking! We walked all the way out to a place called Fitzgerald Park (passing the high school that Cillian Murphy apparently attended on our way there which was pretty cool). This park was so pretty. It had an amazing view of a river and a pond with a fountain in it. Our favorite part however was this awesome tree that all six of us were able to climb up into and relax for a bit. 

Eventually, we hopped down from the branches and began the journey back to the city center to catch a train to Killarney. The train ride was pretty smooth and we arrived in Killarney after night had fallen so we made a beeline straight to our hostel for the night and promptly collapsed into our beds after making a plan for the next morning as we would need a lot of sleep to get all the energy we’d need in the morning.

It sure would have been nice to get that sleep we needed! Fate decided to play a cruel little trick on us by putting us in a hostel room with quite possibly the loudest snorer in existence. Listen, I have fallen asleep on airplanes, buses, and trains and even during full on parties but everything pales in comparison to the sheer power of this guy’s snores. If there was a competition for loudest snoring of all time this guy would take first, second, and third place all for himself because none could compare. Have you ever been in the same room with your dad and he starts snoring really loud but you don’t want to wake him because you don’t want to be rude but at the same time you also don't want to hear him? Okay, now quadruple the volume of the snores and also your dad has been replaced with a stranger and you’ll have an idea of what we survived. I normally try to keep these blog updates nice and upbeat but my faith in humanity was shaken that night and I don’t think I will ever be the same. Sometimes when I’m alone in my dorm room trying to sleep I swear I can still hear this guy’s unconscious lawnmower impression echoing off the walls.

The next morning we were up bright and early, both due to the snoring and our plans to visit Killarney National Park. We got some food at a grocery store and then caught a taxi to the park. We started our journey at the Torc Waterfall. The waterfall was pretty close to where we started but it was up hundreds and hundreds of stairs. The trek was well worth it however. The entire forest was so incredibly green, every single inch covered in either leaf or moss. The waterfall itself was amazing too. We spent some time just relaxing next to the waterfall, listening to the crashing of the water pouring down nearby. We climbed higher up into the mountain the waterfall was on and found a higher part of the waterfall and spent some time climbing around there and enjoying the tranquility of it all. 

We started climbing back down the mountain and headed towards the nearby Muckross Lake. The lake was absolutely gorgeous. There was no wind and the sun was just now beginning to shine so the entire lake was like a mirror, completely flat. 

We hiked around the lake until we found a part of the lake that people were swimming in. We walked around a bit more and discovered an outcropping of rocks. After hanging out a bit more here we decided to dip our feet in the water and have our lunch here. A couple of us ended up going swimming. This time at those rocks has honestly been one of my favorite moments from this entire trip. The memory of just sitting there and relaxing with my friends is gonna last a lifetime. 

After we all dried off it was time for some more hiking. We next wanted to see Ross Castle which was a couple miles away and decided that we would also stop by the Muckross House. The House was this massive manor on the shore of the lake and was stunning. The house used to belong to some family before being donated to the Irish government, along with much of the surrounding area for them to to turn it into a national park. Weatherwise, this was one of the best days of the summer so there were a lot of people at the house, playing, relaxing, and taking in the views. 

The journey continued on. This was a very long stretch of hiking and it was pretty exhausting. We kept ourselves entertained by just chatting about our experiences and taking jabs at each other’s respective universities. Being with such a fun group of people made the expedition a lot shorter than it was. Don’t get me wrong though, it was still a long hike and we were all running out of steam by the time we got to Ross Castle. 

Ross Castle sits on Lough Leane. Lough Leane translates to “Lake of Learning”. It is known as such because there used to be a monastery in the middle of the lake that the locals would send their children to learn how to read and write. The castle itself was pretty cool as well with really old stoneworking and even cannons. The thing that interested me the most after our hike however was the ice cream store. Immediately after arriving at the castle and spotting it I walked over, got myself an ice cream cone, and laid down in a patch of grass with my friends. 

The walking wasn’t done yet either! Next we headed to the Killarney National Park Visitor Center. The visitor center was very cool and had a lot about the park’s history but by this point I was more interested in whether or not the various exhibits had benches in them rather than what they could teach me. 

And now… our final stretch of walking for the day, back into town. We made our way back into Killarney proper and got some burgers and fries for dinner. We then stopped into some gift shops to get some souvenirs. I ended up getting an iron-on patch for my jacket (I have started collecting patches of places that I have visited with this jacket so far and I am excited to see my collection grow).  After all that it was finally time to catch our train back to Dublin. In the past two days we had walked nearly 25 miles so four hours of doing nothing but sitting on a train was amazing.

Okay that was a lot. This is already my longest post I have ever made and I have only covered two days of the week so far so I’m gonna speed through the next couple days. Just every weekday pretend that I talk a bit about my classes and how much I am finding them tough yet very enjoyable! 

Monday! We actually decided that the best thing to do after walking over 20 miles for two days was to follow it up with some more walking! We paid a visit to Killiney Hill Park. There were some absolutely beautiful views of the ocean from on top of the hills and we had some fun hanging out in fields and exploring. 

After our exploration was finished we met up with some other members of our program at the Vico Baths. This popular swimming spot is in fact not relaxing warm baths but is instead a point where you jump from rocks into the freezing Irish Sea. It was a very long line down to the spot and as I was waiting for my turn I got to watch as multiple people were pushed up against the rocks as they struggled to get out of the water, coming away with bloody knees and hands (one girl even thought she broke her foot). At this point I had already been waiting 20 minutes in nothing but my swim trunks so I was committed to going in. Finally it was my turn, I took a deep breath and lept into the water. It was freezing (as expected from my experience at 40 Foot). A couple of my friends joined in the water (taking their sweet time to jump in in my opinion). We bobbed in the water for a couple minutes, acclimating to the chill while enjoying the slow rocking of the massive waves. After about 15-20 ish minutes I decided it was time to get out and began making my way to the spot I had jumped in from. See, the reason so many people were coming out of the water all bloody and battered was because there isn’t exactly a “ladder” or “easy way” to get out of the water. There’s more just some stairs roughly hewn into the stone and a railing. You kind of just have to catch a high wave, hope you manage to grab onto the railing, and then scramble up the slippery stairs before another wave bashes into you all while your entire body is numb from the cold. I managed to catch a pretty good wave and make it up onto somewhat-dry land with only a bloody knee after getting hit by one wave. My friend Brennen, however, was not as lucky. He managed to grab the rail on his first try but couldn’t get his footing on the stairs and was slammed against them about 5 or 6 times while I tried to help him up. He was fine… only a few cuts and scrapes here and there but it was fineeeee. Yeah… don’t recommend the Vico Baths unless you’re pretty confident in your swimming abilities or know that the waters will be pretty calm.

Okay that was not a short update either let’s try that again. Tuesday! The program took us all on a field trip to see Croke Park, an incredibly important spot for Gaelic sports. It is where many Gaelic sports such as hurling and Gaelic football take place. It also has a fairly bloody history due to an event known as Bloody Sunday in 1920. It took place during the Irish Civil War and saw more than 30 people killed or fatally wounded as British “Black and Tans” (British members of the RIC) fired into the crowd and onto the field. It was interesting to see the place where so many people visit to watch athletes achieve great triumph be also such a place of great tragedy.

Wednesday! My friend group and I decided to have a “PowerPoint Night” where we all took turns presenting a fake PowerPoint to the group. The topics of presentation ranged from random quotes we have all said throughout the trip taken out of context to what we thought each other's strengths and weaknesses were. The night was an absolute blast.

Thursday! This day was pretty slow for me because I had an actual PowerPoint presentation for class worth 30% of my grade to work on. Despite literally being the last person to present in the entire program I still managed to wait until the last minute to start working on the presentation. That meant that while all my friends went to karaoke at the UCD Student Bar, I was cooped up in my dorm researching the Good Friday Agreement.

Friday! I did my presentation and it went pretty well! I think I did a fairly good job talking about “What was the Good Friday Agreement and how did it lead to lasting peace in Northern Ireland?”. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing which was incredibly needed after that entire week. The week was so busy that it still hasn’t really hit me that that was my last day of class for this program. All we have left now is a week off to study and then the final exams. It is crazy that everything is all coming to a close now.

Saturday! My group took a trip into Dublin city and got promptly rained on the entire time we were there! We had originally planned on meeting up with the Australians we had met a couple of weeks ago but those plans fell through. It was a pretty fun day though and we headed back to our apartments to make lunch. We ended up all making lunch together which was a breakfast-for-lunch kind of thing. I made more pancakes (I am stuck in an infinite loop of just making more and more pancakes until I can get rid of all this flour and sugar), Allie made bacon, my friend, Lee, made scrambled eggs, and my other friend, Pearl, supervised mostly. The food was all really good and it was made even better by sharing it with my friends. We then spent the rest of the day hanging out and playing card games.

Sunday! Today has been pretty lazy. I have just been hanging out, reading, and writing this MASSIVE BLOG POST (seriously it’s like 3000 words long now, is anyone still here??). Only got two more weeks left, but that means I will still keep y’all posted for a little while longer. Until next time!

[umichenginabroad]

Week 4: Snorkeling and Venezia

Ciao again!

This past week featured a fun field trip for Intro to Marine Bio and my first big week adventure! For the first field trip, we explored different habitats in Ieranto Bay, a marine conservation area only accessible through kayaking or by hiking down. We took the hiking route, taking in the picturesque landscape as we went.

Around 45 minutes later we got down to the bay and split into three groups to rotate through the day’s activities. My group had free time first; I spent the hour at the beach, swimming and enjoying the lovely clear water. Kayaking came next. Although we couldn’t cross the entire bay due to strong winds, we kayaked to another section, going in and out of a few caves and observing different marine habitats. I loved exploring the caves, especially one where it was so low you had to use your hands instead of the paddle to navigate! Lastly, our professor guided us in snorkeling, pointing out several key organisms and marine structures we had discussed in class. This might’ve been my favorite part as I loved diving down to look at everything up close (I even swam through an underwater tunnel lined with bright orange corals!)

(views of the bay during the hike down)

(four of us representing UMich in Ieranto Bay with the water and cliff in the background)

Over the weekend, I visited Venice and a few of the surrounding islands with some friends. I can honestly say it was the most unique place I’ve been so far. Wandering around and getting lost was so fun as there was something neat around every corner. We stayed the night in Naples Friday as we had a very early train Saturday morning (yay 4 am wake up). The train ride went smoothly and 5 hours later we emerged in The Floating City.

(Pictures of the colorful Venetian houses lining the edges of canals)

We took in the sights and wandered around for the afternoon before getting dinner (the pasta was delicious) and gelato (also delicious). Sunday morning, a few of us got up bright and early to see St. Mark’s basilica before the rush (slept in until 5am this time). My jaw was practically on the floor from admiring the intricate ceiling mosaics and it was worth every second of sacrificed sleep. Even today, creating artwork like it would be an impressive feat, let alone in the 11th century when the Church was constructed.

(Part of the outside of St. Mark's Basilica featuring ornate mosaics and paintings)

After some morning sightseeing, we booked a boat tour for 20 euros each to take us to Murano and Burano, two smaller islands known for their glass and lace making, respectively. Our stop in Murano also included a live glass blowing demonstration! I am now the proud owner of a hand-made Venetian glass bead bracelet and an adorable glass snail (name is still pending). Burano was very quaint with canals lined with vibrant houses and filled with cafes and small shops highlighting their handmade lace.

(First picture of a glass blowing presentation on Murano, the other two pictures of the canals of Burano. Yes, the tower in the third pic is leaning, it's not a crooked picture!)

Once back on the main island, we did a little shopping, ate some more yummy pasta, and took in the sights again before heading back to the main bus station to board our overnight bus, beginning our trek back to Sorrento. I lucked out and had both seats to myself on the bus, allowing me to get some much needed shut eye as I had my physics midterm that same morning!

I am already missing the charming streets and enchanting canals of Venice, but I have an exciting week and another weekend adventure ahead to keep me busy!

Arrivederci,

Marika Ruppart

Mechanical Engineering

Engineering in Sorrento, Italy

[umichenginabroad]

Week 2: Getting Intense(ive)

Howdy y'all, it's me Connor back after, quite frankly, an exhausting week of classes. When I learned I was going to be taking class here I thought I would be taking ✨Classes✨ but in reality I am going to the library most days. That being said I don't think I have ever been more interested in what I am learning than I am right now.

This is a picture of me and my dorm-mates walking to our first class together.

Intro to Japanese has been nothing but spectacular. Although the class is moving a bit slower I have chances everyday to practice what I learn so I am getting quite confident in my abilities. Also the teachers are so nice and helpful in class even though they do not speak almost any English.

In the afternoons we have Automotive Engineering class, now these are the tough ones. Having a 4 hour lecture every afternoon is not for the weak. What is entertaining though is the people the University bring in to special lectures. We have met employees from Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi and more. All of them gave given us amazing lectures on the future plans for these companies and what to expect if we ever end up working there. All of the lectures have been passionate to a point I have never experienced in the United States, everyone truly seems to love what they are doing and it makes the class so much more fun.

With about 5-6 hours of lecture a day I will at least concede the point that the amount of homework we have is light, often only a one page reflection on the information e learned, which is quite nice as I often find myself exploring in the afternoon/night with friends.

Another huge upside of this school is the cafeteria, the food is absolutely wonderful and dirt cheap:

Two of the lunches I've had. On the left a spicy miso ramen and I do not quite remember what the ride noodle bowl was called but it was equally delicious. Both of these cost me about $3 USD and they were amazing.

This first week we also had special tours of a number of different research labs here at Nagoya University.

These are two concept cars designed and created within the university. On the left you can see a small Toyota fitted with lidar and camera sensors, this is one of the universities forefront autonomously driven vehicles. On the right is a built from scratch "Slocal' (A slow locally driven vehicle which often gives verbal directions to the driver) vehicle which has the primary purpose of helping the elderly get around safely.

In addition to the research cars they have multiple highly technical driving simulators used for the research. These things are crazy big and so cool. I was even able to drive in one of them for a short while and the amount of modifications that are available via. software editing is ridiculous.

That was about it in terms of the technical knowledge and class stuff for this week so now we get to FOOD REVIEWS!!!!! <3

After being in Japan for over a week at this point I still had yet to have sushi so me and my roommates went and found this little hole in the wall place.

You can see me and my friends sitting at the bar on the left and the finished food spread on the right. We were the only ones in here for dinner which made sense as the sign outside only said すし which just translates to sushi (So still don't know the name of this place). We had an amazing time and the food was great and we even talked to the chef a bit in Japanese.

Around midweek I was craving something super spicy, and my girlfriend Olivia recommended me aa curry chain before I left called Coco Ichiban so we tried it out

This is the spread of each of our orders. Mine is in the bottom left (The one that is several shades darker than the others) I did not understand how the spice level system worked here and ordered a level 8. It turned out that meant it was about 24 times spicier than level 1. My spice cravings were definitely satisfied and then some. Still we had an amazing dinner and I do want to go back to try the level 10.

The next spot also came recommended from Olivia and it was a cream puff spot called Beard Papa.

This is a photo of all of their types of cream puffs. I got three different kinds: vanilla, peach, and green tea filling all with the original pastry. They were rich, decadent, and sweet; Everything you could want in a cream puff. (My favorite was the peach)

Lastly I did just a little bit of sightseeing towards the end of the week.

This is me at a Chunichi Dragons baseball game. Baseball is huge in Japan and this is the local Nagoya team. This night they won 1-0 against the Hiroshima Carp. The energy was super high the entire game, fans constantly cheering, music playing, it was so much fun. (I ended up buying a jersey because the starting pitcher did so well).

I have felt so much more comfortable in my surroundings this week and cannot wait to keep learning about and exploring this amazing country.

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

[umichenginabroad]

So Long

Well, this is it. The last post that I will ever make. When I first arrived, I was anxious yet excited. I didn’t quite know what I had signed myself up for. I didn’t know if I would be able to get along with everyone else. I just didn’t know what I was in for. As I said in my first post:

“I’m gonna take that leap of faith and I'll take you guys along to see what's on the other side.”

First picture taken, just arriving in Berlin (left). Last picture taken, watching USA vs Bolivia in the Copa America (right).

Well, I think I’ve made it to the other side now. Along the journey, I’ve learned how fragile each moment is. During my time in my first semester in Ann Arbor, days would pass by like seconds and I wouldn’t take notice of it. However, being here in Berlin has changed my perspective because as we were only here for 6 weeks, each moment was extra precious and because I had gotten so close with everyone, I made sure to appreciate each moment that much more, and treasure each memory for what it was. Now coming to think of it, I only have 4 years in college and 1 year has already blown by. The remaining 3 years could be the same, but I’m determined to change that. I am determined to do everything as if it is my last chance because one of these days, it actually will be. 

To reflect on some things that I said in my first post, I can confidently say that my German has improved vastly, as I was even able to listen to German commentary for the Euros and understand a good chunk of it. I’ve been able to translate for my friends and even maneuver my way through tricky train delays speaking to native speakers who don’t speak a lick of English. Even though I was anxious in the beginning, I can say that I settled in quickly and had a blast with everyone that I met. Even though we had a very diverse group of people, we still had an absolute blast hanging out every day. 

However, after re-reading my first post, I noticed something magical. Taking the first letter of every paragraph, it spells out HOME. Home, sweet home. Although I am miles away from home, I realized that I also felt so at home, and that’s because home isn’t determined by where you reside, but where you live out your best life. I realized that even though Michigan is my true home, with this magnificent group of people, for 6 glorious weeks, my home was Berlin. 

As I wrap up this final post I must say that this was one of my favorite experiences that I’ve ever had. Everything from hanging out with friends after the lab, posting weekly blogs or celebrating a successful self-balancing robot, I just cannot say how much I’ve enjoyed myself here. There’s a quote that I live by Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” I look back on this experience and all the great memories and relationships that I have built up, and I can truly say that I will be smiling, even if it is through a stream of tears running down my face. 

Dervin Tian

Data Science

IPE: Engineering Laboratory Experience at TUB in Berlin

[umichenginabroad]

Week 5: Euros and More!

His week was the last working week for our technical Lab, as the next week will be dedicated towards the final presentation and gathering our findings into our final report. Throughout the Lab, some were successfully able to complete the task of getting the robot to self-balance. I was somewhat successful, as I was able to get the robot to auto-correct itself, but ran into the issue where I hadn’t perfectly tuned the parameters so the robot would often overcorrect and lose its balance. However, even though I wasn’t able to perfectly complete the task, I learned a lot about robotic programming and now have a much better understanding of the steps required to get an autonomous system to work, with steps running from running simulations to coding the actual steps into the robot. 

Speaking of processes, this week also included a tour of the BMW Motorcycle factory, where we got to see the process of a BMW bike getting put together. Now I must say that their process was slightly more complicated than ours and included a little more man-power and a couple more steps. Despite the fact that we couldn’t take pictures inside the factory, we were still allowed to take pictures of some of their finished products that they were displaying in the lobby, which I have included here.

In my time in Germany here, I have visited many bars and pubs, but for the first time, I visited a rooftop bar. It was a beautiful day, made even better by the fact that there was a triple rainbow looking down over us. My friends and I had an absolute blast, hanging around and chatting about their day as well as upcoming events, such as the European soccer championships (more on that later). It was a great time and one that I would definitely want to relive. 

About the Euros, the opening game of the tournament saw Germany pitted up against Scotland. Now, because of the occasion, there was a massive fan watch party in the heart of Berlin, which I attended. It was an extremely packed house, full of mostly German fans who watched on with delight as we saw goal after goal go into the Scottish net (sorry to all the Scottish fans). With a final score of 5-1, there was pure euphoria in the air as we left the event. With each goal that went in, fans went crazy singing German goal chants, jumping up and down and celebrating like crazy. The only hiccup in the stadium was when Germany scored an own goal. However, I think that because it was already 4-0 at that time with 5 minutes left to play, nobody was very upset and it was easily laughed off. Despite the fact that there are a couple more games being played here in Berlin, I will not be able to attend any games in the stadium as they conflict with my schedule.

Before I go, let me ask you one question. Who do you think will win the European championship?

Dervin Tian Data Science

IPE: Engineering Laboratory Experience at TUB in Berlin

[umichenginabroad]

Week 4: Prague!

Well, over the weekend, we went to Prague! We were traveling to celebrate one of my friends' birthdays. We had 14 people with us, which is the biggest group trip that we had ever done and everyone was very excited for a weekend in Prague. It was my first time in Prague, so I didn’t know quite what to expect, but was excited nonetheless. We took a 4 hour bus ride over to Prague and before I knew it, we had arrived. 

We arrived in Prague earlier than we expected, at around 10:00 or so local time, and headed over to our Airbnb. We discussed sleeping orientation, dropped off our stuff and got ready. You may be asking yourself, what are these mad bunch of Americans (plus one Canadian) headed off to do now? Well, we decided that sleep is for suckers, and that since we would only be in Prague for about 72 hours, we were gonna make the most out of it. So while the night was still young, at around 12:30 am, we headed out for a fun night. Seeing as how there was a world-famous DJ in town, we decided that it might be a good idea to attend her show. For the entire time, we were bopping our heads to the music, dancing the night away and just having the best time ever. We ended up finishing at around 4 am, and went to sleep. That concludes day 1.

On day 2, we got up bright and early, at least I did, at around 8:30. We then spent the next hour and a half getting ready for the day. At around 10:00, we finally headed out to explore the city during the day time. The first place that we hit up were the Jewish sectors of the city and their beautiful synagogues. We also made sure to take plenty of pictures of the traditional Czech architecture surrounding us. It basically looked like what I dream my Minecraft world could look like. From there, we made our way across the bridge across the Vltava river to the other side of Prague. There we could see the beautiful Prague Castle at the top of a hill as well as many other scenic views. However, the real breathtaking view was when we looked back across the river and could see the city in its entirety. For as far as our eyes could see, it was just purely red roofs and classical buildings. 

The majority of the rest of the day was spent in the Prague castle, where we got to tour Cathedrals that were hundreds of years old, as well as other historical landmarks regarding historical Czech clans. We got to walk around some of their historical streets, getting to see what life was really like in the Castle, and visit other parts of the castle, such as their prison yard. 

After the castle, our group decided just to walk around and hit up whatever we saw along the way. At around 5:30, our group decided to split off as many of us were tired due to a lack of sleep and wanted to go back and take a nap. I was among one of these people. However, due to two people who will remain nameless, I was evicted of my right to go take a nap. These two dragged me around for over an hour on their little shopping spree, dragging me along like two big sisters do to their younger brother at the shopping mall. We couldn’t walk 1 minute without one of them going “Ooooooo wooooow, that’s so cute”, or “Ooooh wow, let’s go in there”. Anyways, regardless of the circumstances, we still all had a great time and I even got myself a nice shirt, so I guess it worked out in the end. 

We had made reservations at around 8:45 for a nice birthday dinner. We had all agreed for everyone to dress nice and everyone definitely delivered. Everyone was dressed super nicely and we all had a great time and enjoyed the delicious birthday meal. And of course we remembered to sing for the birthday girl. With that being said, Happy Birthday Marley!

That night, we decided to hit up another show, this time in the heart of Prague. This place featured some of the best DJ’s, and my personal favorite music. They played a bunch of songs that I had long loved, but had hardly ever heard in public. For example, they played songs like “Dragostea Din Tei”, by O-zone (otherwise better known as the Numa Numa song), as well as other favorites such as Fifa 14’s classic theme song “Love Me Again” by John Newman and “Astronomia” by  Tony Igy and Vicetone (otherwise known as the Coffin Dance song). Even though I suffered some minor hearing loss, it was well worth it as I had some of the most fun that I have had that night. With that crazy night over, it is time to go on to the final day. 

Our bus back to Berlin left at around 6:00 pm. We checked out of our Airbnb at around 11:00, and we spent the rest of the day visiting the local parks, and walking around some more around the river bank as well as other parts in the city that we didn’t get a chance to explore yet. When the time came, we boarded the bus and departed for Berlin.

We had an absolute blast in Prague, and I would do anything just to experience those 3 days again. I am so thankful to have spent it with the people that I did and can say that it was objectively the most fun that I had ever had in Prague. 

Dervin Tian

Data Science

IPE: Engineering Laboratory Experience at TUB in Berlin

[umichenginabroad]

Week 2: Housing Edition

Ciao, 

It’s been another wonderful week in Sorrento! It's heating up outside, I’m settling into a routine, and classes are getting real. 

For this post, I’m going to focus on housing as it was a point of confusion for me when learning about the program. After being accepted into the program, we filled out a separate application for Sant’Anna and listed preferences for the three housing options: Sant’Anna dorms, off-campus shared apartments, or off-campus residence hall with a meal plan (for an extra fee). The Sant’Anna dorms are upstairs from the classrooms, the apartments are spread throughout Sorrento within a 20 minute walk to class, and the off-campus residence hall is 25 minutes from Sant’Anna institute. 

For my preference, I listed the dorms as top, the shared apartments as my second, and the residence hall last. I ended up getting placed in a shared apartment with three other girls (two double rooms), but it has worked out great as I am living right above a grocery store!

(Picture of Conad City store front with text saying "My Apartment" and an arrow pointing above the store)

Overall, I really enjoy apartment life. I’m a 2 minute walk from the main street (Corso Italia), 12 minutes from the institute for class, and 15 minutes from the free beach (my most frequented stop). 

As for the apartment itself, the rooms are a little funky as both bedrooms have two single beds, but the two beds are pushed together in one room and the other room is bunk beds (I got the bottom bunk). We share one bathroom for the four of us and it's fairly spacious. The kitchen is small but functional, with the cutest tile backsplash. Counterspace is lacking, but it is otherwise fully equipped with burners, convection oven, toaster, microwave, dishwasher, and freestanding fridge and freezer combo. The washing machine is also in the kitchen, which has created a few space issues as it is a galley kitchen but me and my roommates have figured it out. 

(Picture of dining room and kitchen of my apartment)

I honestly don’t have any real complaints about the apartment; the only reason I still wish I had been placed in dorms is the 2 minute commute to the beach! Obviously 15 minutes isn’t bad, but it's hard to beat being just up a set of stairs from the Mediterranean sea!! 

All in all, the program does a great job with housing and you can’t really go wrong with any of the options!

Marika Ruppart

Mechanical Engineering

Engineering in Sorrento, Italy