• To challenge myself and grow by living in a multicultural society
• To find role models as an engineer and as a woman.
• To improve my communication skill in foreign county in English
• To develop an ability to conduct research and realize the differences between the working/studying environment of universities in the U.S. and Japan

Meaning of Nakatani RIES: Post-Program
Through this program, young Japanese students will get advantage to learn what they do want to do in their future career and how they can design research by challenging themselves to conduct research. They can broaden the possibilities of going to graduate school in the U.S. Until you try to do research, you cannot know if you will like it or not. If you realize you like it at young age, you can gain more possibilities such as doing internships and pursuing a PhD degree in overseas. Early experience overseas will help you in terms of your relationships with co-workers as well. The English language itself can be acquired even in Japan, but building your communication skills is not always easy. Also, students can learn what you should do in order to conduct research successfully.

After finishing the internship, I found some points where I was still lacking. Thanks to these insights, now I know clearly what I should do in the coming year and what I have to do to prepare for my next research opportunity. This preparation will definitely give me an edge for my future career. Through this experience, I found there are some differences in U.S. laboratories from Japanese ones and those can be both good and bad. I now have more options for which places I can go in the future.

• My favorite experience in the U.S. was… talking with my mentor. He was amazing as a mentor and as a person. I do not know much about politics of Japan as he knows about that of his country. He taught me a lot about his country, what he thinks about his study and research in the U.S. and also he asked me some questions about Japan I have never thought about.
• Before I left for U.S. I wish I had… realized what I can do in material science. I did research in different field from my major at home university and I could not anticipate what kind of equipment they would have and what research I can work on. Now I know in what ways I would have been able to work better, but I could not propose what I was able to do and wanted to do at the first day. Acoustic materials might have been a better theme for me because that is not taught in my faculty and that must be something I can do only at Rice not at Kyushu. But I was unable to some up with that idea before coming to Rice.
• While I was in the U.S. I wish I had… pursued the opportunity to talk with scholars in acoustics. Unfortunately, Rice University did not have professors in my field. However, Lehigh turned out to have some researchers who focus on hearing loss or acoustic systems. I did not learn about this until right before we visited Lehigh, so I should have researched more about Lehigh and made appointments to meet with them before visiting there.

Excerpts from Moe’s Weekly Reports

• Week 01: Arrival in the U.S.
• Week 02: Life in My Research Lab at Rice
• Week 03: Interview with U.S. Student and Researcher
• Week 04: Reflections on English Language & Life in the U.S.
• Week 05: Final Week at Rice and Research in the U.S. vs. Research in Japan
• Research Project Overview and Poster
• Week 06: Last Week in the U.S.
• Final Report
• Tips for Future Participants

Week 01: Arrival in the U.S.

To prepare prior to departure for the U.S., I bought some clothes and guide books about the U.S. During the stay this week, I have often gotten quite tired after working at lab, so it is helpful to not have to wash clothes each night. Try not to bring too few clothes, or too many, enough for 2 weeks is good. I also bought two guidebooks about the U.S. and New York, but I am still not sure if they will help me or not. This is because I have not yet had the opportunity to travel outside of Houston. As for Houston, you do not need to bring a guidebook, because the program guidebook gave me a lot of helpful tips about Houston and I have not used the one from Japan. In addition, I watched some videos on You Tube about American culture, but it found to be different depending on each state.

I also found that there are not so many American people in the lab. Even though most of undergraduate student sat Rice seem to be from the U.S., many people in the lab are from other countries. When I went to the U.K. last year, all the lecturers who taught us were British. There were not as much diversity like at Rice University. That might be because I saw only a part of a British university. Still I think the U.S. is not just a country whose official language is English, but a country for everyone to pursue his/her dreams. That is the point which make the United States different from other English-speaking countries. Also, I was surprised that design of signs in the city is quite rough. It often shows only a name of shops, and does not have many decorations or elaborate fonts. It seems different from Japan. I found American people consider the simple writing enough as a sign and that is interesting.

• Why are there so many students from overseas in Rice University, especially from China and India?
  • This is not unique to Rice University but a nationwide trend. The number 1 and 2 countries of origin for international graduate students in the U.S. are China and India.  This is especially true in STEM fields.
  • For more on the numbers and profile of international students in the U.S. see the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report.  The Fact Facts and Infographics page will give you more details on the most recent data available.
  • You may also want to read Rice University’s OISS Annual Report which will tell you more about the international student population at Rice University.
  • Another resource is the National Science Board’s 2018 Science & Engineering Indictors which gives a lot of data on students in the U.S. overall, including the numbers of international students studying in science and engineering.  See Chapter 2 on Higher Education in the U.S.

This week we also had a lot of orientation seminars.  Through the seminar on Intercultural Communication in the U.S., I finally understood the reason why American people are so expressive and animated. It is because they are trying to show their feeling to someone who may not share the same cultural background and shared understanding. In Japan, we often give a bow to express our feelings or use it instead of greeting, for example when we are about to bump into someone. In comparison, they say “excuse me” in the same situation in the U.S. It seems that they consider it important to speak out loud, because they have a a lot of diversity and small gestures may not be as easily understood. That is how they can solve those problems. Prof. Ozaki also gave us a talk with helpful tips on using and speaking in English. This seminar helped me understand what parts of English to stress when I am speaking, and how not doing this could understanding difficult. It helped me realize the reason I sometimes make mistakes speaking in English through this seminar. On Tuesday, we also got to meet our professors and mentors at a Welcome Lunch. I felt really nervous before the welcome lunch, because I do not like to talk with someone who I meet for the first time and I am not confident with speaking English. Actually, I could not speak English smoothly, but thankfully the lab members who spoke to me were so kind. Even after the lunch, I felt nervous to start doing research, but gradually I became more comfortable talking with my mentor and the lab members I meet in the lab.

Over the weekend, I went to the Rice Village shopping area with my friends, where we found a Turkish souvenir shop. We talked with the owner of the shop, and he made tea for us and showed us a video about Istanbul. I have never had the opportunity to drink a tea with someone who I do not know. I was a bit afraid that it might be dangerous, such as poisoning and being charged too much, but nothing like this happened. He just treated us as a guest. That was surprising and funny.

Reflections on Intercultural Experiences
I have learned that US people consider equality important. I heard that woman in the U.S. work almost equally to man. However, the U.S. does not have any legally mandated, paid leave for illness or maternity/parental leave. That was surprising to me, because, in Japan, people around me expect to become mothers and they seem to not place as high a value on working as a woman. I feel annoyed when they encourage me to stay home and raise children. I want to decide what I do by myself. So this equality seems really amazing. Meanwhile, it is quite hard that woman cannot have enough time to heal their bodies after giving childbirth. I have found that with equality comes with the obligation.

• For more on this topic, see the section on Work Ethic and Work Culture in the U.S. on our Career Resources page.  In this tab/section there are some articles on women in the workforce and maternity/paid leave in the U.S. S

Being Japanese, I feel like I have to show I am making a good effort. I now have personally experienced this feeling for the first time, because I now have someone to directly learn from. I could understand that this was a feeling other Japanese have and I recognized it as one of Japan’s core values. However, I wonder if people in other culture have this feeling or not. I do not think only Japanese people want to show we are doing well and working hard.

Question of the Week
I wonder what the cultural differences in the different states in the U.S. is like. Houston is really friendly, but I heard stories about California before which seems totally different from what I see here in Houston. What makes the difference inside the U.S.?

• Great question. Yes, there are regional differences in the U.S. though these are not as different as you may expect.  Sometimes the words we use to call things may be different, such as soda in most of the U.S. but pop in Minnesota or the Upper Midwest.  People in the South are generally known to be very friendly and outgoing but you’ll find friendly people everywhere in the U.S.  However, in big, urban, crowded cities like New York it may be more similar to Tokyo where everyone is in a rush to get to work/home and they don’t seem to be as friendly when you pass them on the street. But, if you need help or get to know someone you may be surprised to find how friendly people can be everywhere in the U.S.
• Regional Differences in the U.S. (International Students.org)
• The Invisible Borders that Define American Culture (City Lab)
• American English at State Videos: They often have videos on idioms and regional sayings that might be interesting.
• Hear American’s Regional Dialects in Action (Browbeat)
• What Dialect Do You Speak? A Map of American English (Washington Post)
• 27 Maps that Show How Americans Speak English Across the United States (Business Insider)
• See also ‘U.S. Small Talk, Friendliness, and Optimism’ on our Intercultural Communication page.

Preparing for Research in the U.S. and First Few Days in the Lab 
Prior to coming to the U.S., my lab sent me a paper to read. At first, I tried to read everything in the paper my mentor sent me, but that was too hard for me. So, I asked a professor at my home university for advice, though I did not know him. He kindly gave me some advice about what kind of books would be helpful for me to read. I bought some books about the fields he suggested and brought them with me. However, I have not been using those books. This is because the research topic is quite different from that of the previous paper. Still, it helped me that I managed to read all parts of the previous paper and looked up the terms that I did not know, because I could then better understand technical terms in English and I have been using those words in my ongoing research at Rice.

I was amazed that PhD students look really excited when talking with a professor about their research. Moreover, I have realized that they are trying to do something no one tried before. I could understand that why Rice University use “unconventional wisdom” as their slogan. I have never before seen students with such enthusiasm about research and that was impressive to me. They really like their research and enjoy it. In addition, I was surprised that the professor had a lot of ideas and suggestions. He has many projects in his lab, but he knows a lot about a wide range of topics. He was also very kind even to me, a new student in the lab.

All the lab members I have met are really kind. Everyone waits patiently for me to speak in English and explains the procedure of the research to me. Even though my mentor looks quite busy, he always teach me about what I should study and do next. Also, he shows interest in Japan. When I shared that Japanese researchers are not enough funded and in Japanese we have our own name for each element, he was surprised and said it was interesting. I found I was glad that someone is interested in my country and I have a pride in home country.

Unfortunately, in Japan, I have never seen female professors. In my department at my home university, I have never been taught engineering subjects by female researchers. Prof. Kono said that there are many female researchers, but even in postdoc’s room I could not see them. So I would like to have an opportunity to talk with a female researchers or engineers during my time at Rice University.

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Week 02: Life in My Research Lab at Rice

I have been learning from a graduate student in my laboratory. My host lab is quite huge and has some separate laboratories depending on the type of research topics students are working on, such as mechanical engineering, energy, and chemistry. We sometimes have a meeting with our Postdoc and our Professor. Even though my host lab is huge, there are not many female students and researchers. I met some undergraduate students working in the lab who are sophomores. I was surprised to see undergraduate students were actually doing research at such a young age. Also, one of PhD students had his defense this week. I got amazed by his talk, because I could realize how much he studied and how many papers he wrote in his PhD. I could not understand the whole concepts of his presentation, but I could figure out a little bit about how PhD students graduate from their school and go forward.

It is rather challenging to work in English in the lab. I am not very confident speaking and listening in English yet. It is also difficult to study a new field for me, and it is much more difficult to do that in English. I can understand most of the explanations of my mentor, because he speaks slowly so I can understand and then write down the important parts. However, I am poor at reacting to what he says. I would like to improve myself in this point.

This week, the panel discussion was helpful to me. In this session, Japanese students at Rice University gave us information about PhDs in the U.S and their value about careers. I have never met Japanese PhD students studying in a foreign country before and their stories were stimulating. I am not planning to take pursue a doctoral degree, but now I have learned more options for my career.

• See our Graduate School Resources page for more about applying to graduate school in the U.S.

This week I also went to learn how to do Yoga and dance Tango with my roommates. It was exciting to exercise outside during the Yoga at Sunset at Rice University and to look at a beautiful tango instructors at Discovery Green Park in Downtown Houston. I particularly liked yoga, which was the first time I had tried this and now I would like to try it again. I would have never tried this in Japan, if I had not come to the States. In addition, I went to a church service on Sunday too. I do not often see people going to church in Japan, so I was surprised that there many people (from young to old) who came to the church and who regularly pray to God. I was moved by this modern style of worship and the warm welcome by the people at the service. I was nervous to go to the place where I would be the only Japanese person, but I was happy to be warmly welcomed.

• For more about Religion in America and some of the groups/churches that are convenient to Rice University campus see our Life in the U.S. page.

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Week 03: Interview with a U.S. Student and Researcher

When I interviewed a researcher, I she shared her story about her career as a female engineer. She is married and has kids. Also, she has Ph.D. degree and now works as an engineer in an industry. She talked about her day-to-day life and how she balances being both a mother and an engineer.

Her husband came to the U.S., so she also came here and started her Ph.D. studies. She gave a birth to her children while she was still in graduate school. She says she has never been treated badly just because she is a women.

Generally, women can be afraid and unconfident, but men do not have these problems. However, it depends on the person that what he/she is like. In academia, women often find difficulties in first 5-6 years of their faculty career, because they need to work quite hard to obtain tenure as a professor. So, women tend not to stay in academia. The working environment in industry depends a lot on a company. The key is find a right one for you. She can work, because her husband supports her and vice versa. The important thing is finding a balance.

I was very glad to see someone working as an engineer even after getting married. I do not have examples of someone working both as an engineer and as a mother around me. So, finally I have seen a role model for the future. She works as an engineer in industry and has raised up her children as a mother and a wife. Before hearing her stories, I could not imagine how I could manage both working and raising children. However, she gave me many suggestions, such as finding a good partner and finding a balance. It depends on the company and your partner how you can cope with both being an engineer and raising children. Also, finding a balance is important. I have never known before what a balance really means. Through talking with her, I realized that the Japanese work style is quite unbalanced. In my parents’ case, my father worked all day and my mother did all the housework and child care when I was little. Women have many difficulties in Japan if they want to work and raise up children. However, she is doing both, being an engineer and mother. This sounds like just an ideal in Japan, but I could now meet someone who is realizing my ideal. I have been encouraged toward my career through this interview.

Interview with a Student 
I also asked a female Ph.D. student to talk about how she decided her academic career plans. One of the reasons why she got interested in science is because of her chemistry teacher in high school and by being in a robotics club in high school. Then she started to study civil engineering for her undergraduate major. However, she did not find this field to be very creative, so she changed her major into materials science. After receiving bachelor’s degree, she entered Rice University and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. degree.

She talked about the concept of equality in the U.S.. When the U.S. was founded, they stressed on equality in spite of race, gender, religion and so on. So people in the U.S. still consider equality important. Also, we talked about race and gender, the general attitude toward politics by people at Rice, and how people with Bachelor or Master degree work and so on.

I was amazed by how deeply she is thinking about many topics and her understanding of the situation about her country. If I was asked about the working situation and discrimination in Japan, I do not think I could answer clearly like her. One of the parts I would like to learn from her is that she backs up her opinion using statistics. I often think of these issues only by my feelings alone. However, in order to strengthen my opinion, I need to have an objective scale.

Also, I was impressed by the concept of equality. People in the U.S. are actively trying to reduce inequalities which comes from their origin. I cannot believe that will happen in Japan. Japan is a homogeneous country. However, people often do not consider equality important. Some roles are decided by their gender, origin, and so on. I have recently felt nervous about my career because they might not want to hire me as a female engineer.

Labor Day Weekend
During the Labor Day holiday weekend, I went to New York. I saw some shows in Broadway theaters and visited Harlem and the Museum of Modern Art. In Harlem, I visited the National Jazz Museum and a church. Luckily, I talked with a church usher in Harlem and his story was shocking to me. Each district has different features in Manhattan and they were totally different from Houston. There were unbelievable numbers of theatres on Broadway. Watching Broadway shows was one of my dreams since high school. I am glad to realize it and to watch the amazing quality of performances. The reactions of the audience members were also interesting, because Japanese audiences do not do such long applause after each musical number, but praise the performers at curtain call for a long time and vice versa in the U.S.. This is the same about the questioning in a class room. We do not ask lecturers in a class, but after the class we do, and vice versa in the U.S.

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Week 04: Reflections on English Language & Life in the U.S.

It is quite difficult to speak in English, particularly about unfamiliar topics. I have a basic knowledge (high school level) about chemistry, but I often cannot understand all of the words. This is partly because I do not know these words in English and have never talked about these scientific topics before. After someone explains them to me, I often found that I knew those words in Japanese and they are not really difficult. So, I need to be prepared to talk about English words for required for the research topic, if I would like to discuss them in English.

I do not have many opportunities to speak in English in Japan. To get more opportunity, I have to make international friends or go to international parties. Meanwhile, in Houston I can practice speaking with everyone I meet in the city. In restaurants, people who are sitting next to me will sometimes speak to me. That was fun and a good opportunity to learn the language. I have realized I need more practice speaking in English. What I need to do to improve my English conversation skill is just practice. I can speak Japanese because I have spoken it for 21 years. The total time of speaking English is far less than this.

There are times when I am unable to make myself understood when talking about some topics. At these times, I pointed to what I meant or I said the spelling of the word. If the problem lies in my pronunciation, this worked well. Also, when I do not know the term in English, I Googled after the conversation and then I asked my mentor about it. By confirming in this way, my understanding improved. In a restaurant, I could talk with another customer smoothly. I found that I cannot speak English well when I am nervous. She and I had the same interest about music and I was able to understand what she meant easily. So, I realized what matters in English speaking is not only English ability, but also knowledge about topics.

This week, I enjoyed attending the Japanese Language Table with Rice University students who are studying Japanese the most among our program activities. I have not had many chances to talk with undergraduate students at Rice, so that was a great opportunity for me. It was surprising that many students are curious about Japanese language and culture, such as anime and architecture. We talked about our culture and that went well because I had talked about it before. I regretted that I did not ask for their contact information.

Other Seminar and Activities in Houston

This week, I gained some presentation tips from seminar about the elevator pitch. I am not a very strong public speaker. However, I need to do that in order to work and get more opportunities. I got some framework for how to give a one-minute self-introduction so that I can make use of it in poster session and when I am meeting with new people.

Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music also held a Hip hop concert on Saturday. In the concert, they synthesized strings, winds, DJ, and rap. That was really exciting because I believe this music style does not exist in Japan. Rap really fits English vowels and consonants better than it does Japanese. In addition, performers have a strong passion and that seems unique to the U.S.. This music reflects the diversity of U.S. culture very well. I would like to be able to understand what they say in English more and more.

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Week 05: Final Week at Rice and Research in the U.S. vs. Research in Japan

Before coming to the U.S., I expected an advisor would give a student a research topic and a student does an experiment and analyzes a result. After coming to the U.S., I found students design  research more spontaneously than I expected. Ph.D. students are responsible for everything they do. I thought it is more like a job than being a student. When I met my lab members for the first time, I was asked about my background by my mentor and a postdoc. My mentor asked me whether I liked the topic or not. At that time, I could not understand why he asked me about whether I liked it or not, because I have never been asked my research interests at my home university from older students or professors. So, I imagined that a mentor would decide everything I do along with the research. However, ideally in the U.S. system I had to propose what I wanted to research by myself though I could not achieve that this time. This is my regret, and I realized I should have proposed what I could and was interested in doing in material science, which is not my field. At that time, I did not realize how I could propose the research theme and in which ways I can work the most efficiently in a different field. This might be difference between Japanese and Americans about what attitude is considered as a good student.

My host lab was so huge that they have some separate laboratories depending on the research field. There are some laboratories inside the research group and they are cooperating with each other. However, each member has their own research project. The Ph.D. students in the Ajayan Lab have many different backgrounds such material science and mechanical engineering. They are making use of their knowledge and help each other.

The strongest impression of my host lab is its diversity and humanity. Many members are from overseas. I saw an intern from high school who is already thinking about his future career and try something for it. Meanwhile some people are older than I expected students to be. Also, they are not only smart but also really nice as a person. They are always patient even if it took me time to express what I wanted to say. When I have trouble or cannot finish something by myself, they, particularly my mentor, always helped me. We shared about the culture of each country with each other. Most of people I met were open-minded.

Through this experience, I realized that I should make sure what skills I need to have. The degree I need depends on what I want to do. I was amazed that female scientists are managing both working and raising children. They are really amazing because both the husband and wife are pursuing each goal and supporting each other as a family. I have never seen that style of a family before. I was really impressed by their living style and motivated to pursue my goal.

Through this experience, I got interested in research and gained a clearer idea about what doing research is really like and why researchers want to make progress in science. In addition, I figured out what I really needed to do in research and what skills I still need to gain. So, I found what I should do back in Japan at my home university. Moreover, I have got more options than before. I have never considered pursuing the Ph.D. degree in the U.S. before this program.

I will really miss the diversity in Houston. Particularly, my host lab was filled with diversity and I was able to touch on many thoughts and opinions in one place. Each person has a different identity and belief and respects each other. I really liked that environment, because Japan is homogeneous and we not have this type of diversity. A person from different background will look at things differently. I found English articles might be deeply affected by the thoughts of English speaking countries and Japanese articles as well. So, hearing stories from many countries was interesting for me.

Final Week in the Lab

I finished final week by testing the mechanical property of the sample which we made before. Maybe I will not work on material science again, because I am more interested in Acoustics. However, getting to know a part of material science was a good experience for me. I have been looking only at sound until I came here. Acoustics was everything to me and I did not know about any other fields. I have found many fields are impacting each other and that from interdisciplinary research many we may reach many interesting findings. Also, I got know that I can change fields if I want when entering graduate school. There are more options than what I looked at before.

My lab members gave me some presents and a letter. I was really impressed by their kind words. This will be one of my treasures in my life. My mentor and other lab members are busy with a lot of things to do, but they came to see my poster session somehow. I am very grateful about that.

I did not have many opportunities, but, in the final week in the lab, I had a small meeting with my host professors. They encouraged me to further my studies and research experience. It was good experiences for me.

Other Seminar and Activities at Rice University 
The seminar on poster session & coaching session was very helpful. I realized that I had a lot of things I was unable to explain clearly. The lecturer taught us what I have never anticipated before, such as someone might interrupt me to ask a question while I am presenting. She showed us that the poster session is not a one-way presentation, but more of a conversation with the audience. It was difficult to talk without looking my poster and to find proper words for the poster. I got depressed at how much I cannot do well, but I found what I was lack of and tried improving my talk.

Of all the things I did at Rice, attending the Japanese language table was a lot of fun. It was interesting that students from other countries are curious about Japan and they like my country. They have a different perspective toward Japan and spoke Japanese language. I wondered why some people are interested in learning Japanese even though the population of Japan is small and it does not seem as useful. They shared their reasons why they learn about and like Japan.

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Research Project Overview and Poster

Giving a presentation in science was hard for me. I can talk about general topics with people, but I did not know many technical terms and expressions. After training a lot, I was able to explain my project in English. This experience is important because I improved my ability to share my research. At the coaching session, I could not do that and it was really difficult. Now, I know how to manage to present about a scientific topic and what I need to prepare. I would like to develop more expression in science more and more.

Research Project Poster: “Control of Brittleness in Additive Manufacturing of Cement”
Host Lab: Ajayan Research Group 
Host Professor: Prof. P.M. Ajayan, Dept. of Materials Science & NanoEngineering (Chair) 
Co-Advisor: Dr. Robert Vajtai, Dept. of Materials Science & NanoEngineering
Mentor:  Seyed Mohammad Sajadi

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Week 06: Last Week in the U.S.

While we were in Philadelphia, I went to some museums, such as the National Museum of American Jewish History, the Museum of American Revolution, and the National Constitution Center. I found out some facts that I did not know before. People in the U.S. are proud that they achieved independence and that they made the constitution by themselves. Equality and freedom was often highlighted in those museums. That was interesting because these concepts are not really emphasized in Japan’s society.

At Lehigh University, we took the StrengthsFinder assessment and I learned that my characteristics can be strengths in my career. I am not good at leading people in a team and am scared of doing something new. However, it turned out that those characteristics of mine can also be a strength. The results were not so surprising, but they described my features with words. I think it is difficult to explain my strength and weakness with words even though I know who I am. I think the results of Strengthsfinder shows both my strengths and opportunities for growth, but I can use these insights in a good way after doing this survey. One example, is I tend to be very careful when working on things that are unpredictable and this is one of my strengths as an engineer and in doing research.

While at Lehigh, we also had lunch with some faculty members. A scientist who I met at faculty lunch talked about a life as a female researcher and what she believes leadership is like in a team. In my stereotype, a leader should decide everything for everyone so things go well. However, she said a type of a leader is not only just the one/head person. If you have a problem and belong to a team, you can assist the members so that team members can solve it together more easily. That one who supports people is also leader. I was impressed by those words.

While we were in Washington, DC we visited a number of agencies and offices. I found it interesting that the National Science Foundation (NSF) does not care the nationality of the researchers they will fund. Even if a person is from abroad as long as they are employed as a faculty member or graduate student by a U.S. university, the development of technology and science he/she achieves can enrich the US society. Japan needs this thought. One of the reasons why the U.S. can gather many good scientists might be that the U.S. is open to anyone who is highly skilled.

During our free time In Washington, DC, I went to a bus tour and visited some museums. The buildings were similar to European architecture and totally different from what I saw in Houston. There were many crucial agencies and offices related to U.S. politics and history. The National Museum of African American History and Culture was important place to visit. I sometimes felt something weird about the U.S. and got some questions about US history. Those questions were solved in this museum. I should have spent a longer time in this museum.

After I first returned to Japan, I was happy to talk with my friends in Fukuoka. I met some friends who I could talk about everything I am feeling and I enjoyed hanging out with them. Also, I was glad to use the kitchen in my own house. It was hard for me to cook in the kitchen in the hotel and supermarkets were far from our hotel. There are many grocery stores around my house and the kitchen is more comfortable to use as its height is good for me. So I can make better meals in Japan. On the other hand, I have missed the everyday small talk I had with people I met in the U.S., conversations with my lab members and life with my roommates. Everything I stated above was totally new to me when I came to the U.S.. However, now that I am back in Fukuoka, Japan, I feel like chatting with someone. Talking with friends gives me many insights and new approaches to problems and it is exciting. Every day, I learned a whole bunch of different values from many people including the other Japanese Fellows. I was uncomfortable to speak up my opinions and talk about Japanese culture at first, but I got to enjoy it gradually. This is what I cannot do in Japan easily due to the difference of culture.

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Final Report

Through this program, young Japanese students will get advantage to learn what they do want to do in their future career and how they can design research by challenging themselves to conduct research. They can broaden the possibilities of going to graduate school in the U.S. Until you try to do research, you cannot know if you will like it or not. If you realize you like it at young age, you can gain more possibilities such as doing internships and pursuing a PhD degree in overseas. Early experience overseas will help you in terms of your relationships with co-workers as well. The English language itself can be acquired even in Japan, but building your communication skills is not always easy. Also, students can learn what you should do in order to conduct research successfully.

After finishing the internship, I found some points where I was still lacking. Thanks to these insights, now I know clearly what I should do in the coming year and what I have to do to prepare for my next research opportunity. This preparation will definitely give me an edge for my future career. Through this experience, I found there are some differences in U.S. laboratories from Japanese ones and those can be both good and bad. I now have more options for which places I can go in the future!

What I would tell my family is that I have learned there are ways I can respect cultural diversity and it is possible to do balance marriage and pursuing my goal as an engineer. Most of my relatives are living in the country side in Japan and their thoughts tend to be more conservative and opposite from what the more liberal people in the U.S. think. So, it was great to get to know different values while I am young and I was encouraged to challenge myself. I will not lose anything if I try something difficult and fail.

To my professors I would say that the research environment for a student was good in terms of the numbers of Ph.D. students. Rice University has a lot of Ph.D. students and they can learn, support and cooperate with each other. This is the difference between my faculty and Rice. Through living with other smart students from Japan, I learned a lot from them as well. I have realized that who is working around me is really important to me too.

To a future employer I would say that I learned how to design a research project and the way of asking questions. I made some mistakes and I tried some things which were too difficult for me. Generally, Japanese students tend to hesitate to ask questions in public since we are scared and embarrassed to speak up and interrupt the class. However, after this internship, I am now able to ask someone else for help when I am stuck. This is important because we need to communicate with co-workers in order to move the research forward. As a student, I do not know everything about engineering, so this ability will make it easier for me to learn new skills and work collaboratively.

In the future, I am going to learn English more and prepare applications for other internship programs abroad. I have found that it is not impossible to work overseas. So, I would like to enlarge my skills so I can be accepted in a company. It might be boring to spend all of the rest of time only in Japan and as a member of the young generation I would like to experience both the good and bad in other cultures. This must be hard, but experiencing these challenge will be good for me even if I could not get the job opportunities in foreign countries. So, the coming year will be a time of preparation for my career.

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Tips for Future Participants

Preparing for Research in the U.S.
It is better for you to choose as closest research topic as possible. You have only 5 weeks and it was difficult for me to study from the theory about the different field. So I did not reach theory part in my poster. If you propose something you have some knowledge in, it might be smoother to do research on the most familiar topic in a short period.

If you do not have much time to study about the United States, you could start with reading a easy book about history in Japanese language. It will not be too hard because US history is shorter than Japan or China. That knowledge will help you to understand US culture and politics, but I do not think you should put way too long time to study about US itself before coming to the U.S..

Even though US people make an emphasis on equality, they are not always equal in terms of education and property. Children from rich family are privileged with education/career opportunity and the gap seems wider than Japan has. That was weird and I thought equality and Capitalism cannot exist at the same time. Why is there a contradiction and are they still emphasize on equality which came from US foundation?

Working with your Research Lab
If you are interested in members’ career and thoughts, they are usually willing to talk to you. You do not need to scared to start communication. It is important to express what you want to do, although I could not enough.

Communicating in English 
You can learn communication style after arriving at U.S., so you do not need to worry too much about this. As for English skill, the Listening section of TOEFL might be useful since I have been learning it after coming back to Japan and I think difficulty I faced in TOEFL is quite close to troubles I had in the U.S.

Packing
You should not bring too much stuff. I brought too many things and could not bring everything back to Japan.

Things to do at Rice University or in Houston
You can find everyday life outside of university, so you could visit events in the park. The Japanese Language table was a good place to make friends. Also, I made a friend at the gym after swimming. Do not hesitate to look people directly in the eyes. I often started conversation with someone who I do not by looking at some facial expression and asking something.

Other Tips on Life in the U.S.
During the three-day holiday weekend on Labor Day, I took a trip to NYC by myself and that was amazing and will be a memory of lifetime. It was something I could do only in the U.S., so if you are interested in something you like, you should do it. US people are more open than Japanese are and I got many opportunities to learn a lot also in NYC. For example, I talked with a man in the church in NYC and he gave me a book for study.

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