Photos by Huiting Lian (Maryland Institute College of Art), Student Correspondent for AICAD in Japan, Spring 2023
![A plate of fried food and a bowl of soup on a table](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Local-roommate-dinner-with-family_700x933.jpg)
![Three females walking outside in the street of Japan by a train station](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Street-scene-with-local-roommate-family_700x933.jpg)
Before the end of our CET program, I was invited to my Japanese housemate Tomoko’s home to have dinner with her family. Tomoko’s mom prepared gorgeous dishes for us, and I had a really good time talking to her family members after dinner. It was also my first time to be invited to a foreign friend’s home, and everything I experienced there was warm and special.
![Someone taking a photo of the neon billboards while under an umbrella in Dotonbori, Japan](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Street-scene_700x933.jpg)
At the beginning of May, I had to say goodbye to most of my CET friends as they will go back to the United States. I hung out with my friend Akane for the last time in Osaka, and we passed by the huge billboards we saw during our first week’s CET trip. We took photos under the billboards once again.
![A little path that leads to a woodblock printing studio in Kyoto, Japan surrounded by trees on a cloudless day](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Path-to-woodblock-printing-studio-in-Kyoto_700x933.jpg)
![A framed print of Fushimi clay dolls made in 1982 by Tosai](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Print-made-by-teacher-Tosai-in-woodblock-printing-studio_700x933.jpg)
![A male AICAD in Japan student sketching in a cluttered woodblock printing studio in Japan](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Student-sketching_700x933.jpg)
(Left) As we finished our Japanese language classes, AICAD got the chance to make prints at a woodblock printing studio in Kyoto twice. The little road to the studio was really pretty and full of nature. (Middle) At the studio, I found a print that I really love. It was about Fushimi clay dolls and was made in 1982 by our teacher Tosai. (Right) The studio was renovated from a traditional Japanese family’s house and kept its structure, which gives me a strong home-studio feeling. My AICAD friend Jonathan is sketching for his woodblock print.
![Woodblock prints of a bowl of fruit](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Woodblock-print-art-class-at-OAU_700x933.jpg)
![Woodblock prints of a bowl of fruit](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Woodblock-final-print-art-class-at-OAU_700x933.jpg)
I also took a woodblock printing class at Osaka Art University. I haven’t done any woodblock prints before and it took me over a month to finish my first print. The picture shows the carved block and my final print.
![A small snake made of glass coiled around an iron bar](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Snake-made-in-glass-class-at-OAU_700x933.jpg)
I was also making some progress I’m my glass class. I managed to make a ting snake out of different colored glass bars.
![A photo of a castle strung up on a random bridge in Nagoya, Japan](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Construction-in-Nagoya_700x933.jpg)
![A female AICAD in Japan student looking down at the Neko bus within Ghibli Park](https://cetacademicprograms.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Blog_AICAD_Japan_Spring-2023_Huiting-Lian_Neko-bus-at-Ghibli-Park_700x1244-576x1024.jpg)
(Left) Last weekend, I went to Nagoya and saw a photo of the castle suddenly appearing on a random bridge, just like it’s photoshopped into the background. (Right) Also, I was able to go to Ghibli Park and rode on the Neko bus!