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Patrick Tiang at the Mechanical Engineering Research Building, Japan

Tokyo Tower in Minato City, Tokyo

Mount Fuji from Enoshima Island

 
Patrick Tiang started to look at Education Abroad programs after he took a second language class at the U of A, Japanese 101. As a mechanical engineering student, he wanted to branch out of his field of study and learn something different. 

Little did he know that one Japanese class would inspire a four-month long excursion to Japan! Patrick applied to the CME Internship Program, and found himself being accepted into the at . At the lab, he researched methods to decrease ship drag in an effort to reduce the level of greenhouse gasses that ships emit. 

Having done his own research into Japanese culture and already knowing the basics of the language, Patrick found that his transition to life in Hokkaido was easier than anticipated. He made friends in his dormitory, Kita 23 International House, and made some great memories with them, visiting places like the Atama Daibutsu. 

Despite his ease of adjustment in Japan, Patrick still struggled with certain aspects of his daily routine. 

“I have enough Japanese speaking abilities to get through basic conversation — if you go to a convenience store, there’s usually a set script that you can expect to follow. If I needed to ask for something a little bit more complicated or go grocery shopping, it was more challenging.”

Patrick found that making an effort to learn the basics of the language, especially with reading, gave him the edge on communication that many lacked. In being able to show locals that he was making an effort to learn about their culture, he found he could forge meaningful relationships and form a support system. One of his close friends would regularly teach him about the culture and help polish his Japanese. 

“It was really good to open up my mind to see how things were done in different places.”

Aside from all the fun things he could do in his free time, Patrick got to see a glimpse of what grad school could be like through his internship.

“It was really good to be able to compare that to my previous experience where I was doing engineering work to do with process and maintenance, as opposed to research and development.”

When asked if he would do anything differently about his experience, Patrick mentioned he wished he could have travelled more. He took a trip to Tokyo during a long weekend, and while he loved how different it was from Edmonton, he found it to be too crowded for his liking. Enoshima Island was his next stop — a day’s trip from the city and decidedly less touristy. He saw Japanese culture in the Buddhist shrines, the beach and the wave-cut Iwaya caves.