Hello! My name is Amy Tan, and I’m a senior majoring in Information Science and Statistics and minoring in Computer Science. In my last semester as an undergrad, I will be spending 5 weeks studying at Konan University in Kobe, Japan through the Pitt in Japan program.

Throughout my time at Pitt, I was heavily involved in cultural organizations where I got to know so many friends and people with different backgrounds. Now halfway across the world, I’m excited to meet a lot of new people, whether they’re fellow Pitt students, local students of Konan University, or other travelers.

I’ve always wanted to study abroad as part of my college experience, but Covid unfortunately and unexpectedly hindered these plans. I decided in my senior year that I still wanted to try to make it happen, and that’s how I ended up where I am today: writing this blog post in my hotel room in Tokyo and getting ready for my program to start next week.

I’m from Pittsburgh, so I wanted to try living in a completely different place for a little bit. I’ve visited Japan (specifically Tokyo) in the past, but I wanted to experience more of the country and in a different way. I’ve also never been to the Kansai region, where Kobe is located, due to an earthquake that happened in Osaka during my trip in 2018. Pitt in Japan will give me the opportunity to learn more about and immerse myself in the culture. I’ll gain a deeper understanding of modern and historical Japan, learn some basic Japanese, and interact with local students. 

I’m taking two courses this summer: “Japan: Its People and Culture” and “Contemporary Japanese Foodways.” I’m looking forward to picking up some Japanese; I can speak some Chinese and Korean, so it’ll be fun to learn another East Asian language and notice the similarities and differences. I’m also super excited to see firsthand how food plays a role in culture and eat some good food as well.

I’m interested in living and working in Asia in the future, so I’m hoping to get a small taste of what it’s like to live here with a routine. I have a job lined up in the fall, but I’m not sure what I want to do beyond that, so I’m eager to see what the world has to offer and what I can offer to the world 🙂