I sent in a two minute video to NBC’s Manhattan headquarters in June 2006. It was an altogether last minute decision. I saw the promotion of the pilot season of an NBC show called ‘Junior Year Abroad’ in an email that came from the communications department of Temple University. I decided there wasn’t anything to be lost.

Not a month later I heard back. After a brief interview and legal semantics, I was offered a spot on the show. I was driven to New York City for an introduction and training, given several hundred dollars worth of equipment and had my semester studying in Japan essentially paid for by a corporation. During my five month stay, I filmed 10 hours video, took more than 1,300 photographs and wrote nearly 60,000 words on my experience in Asia. It offered me a world of knowledge, the only cost being a more passionate desire to see and explore more while I was abroad.

Ten, in all, young college students from across the country, traveling to different parts of the world were selected, as seen above, the only time we met.

The NBC crew used my footage to produce five show-specific pieces, which you can see below, in addition to another seven podcasted videos while I was living in Tokyo, which you can see here.

Premiere JYA Video

My Audition Tape

My First JYA Video

See additional videos during my time in Japan here.

My Last JYA Video

Concluding JYA Episode

During the fall semester of my junior year in 2006, I studied in Tokyo, Japan, using photographs, video and a blog to chronicle my nearly six months there. I was prompted to take 1,300 photos, capture almost 10 hours of video and write nearly 60,000 words because I was a cast member on the pilot season of an online-only show produced by NBC. Since the show was never picked up or continued and its Web site has since been taken offline, follow my exploits here, below.

Read the first post I wrote for NBC after arriving in Tokyo here, and my final reflections I wrote while in Tokyo, days before I returned to the United States, here. I also wrote a reflection about study abroad experience in Japan.

Watch the strictly NBC episode specific videos here, or watch the ones produced while I was traveling below.

Disorientation – I welcome you to Japan and manage to get lost in the first days of my semester abroad.

Read the first blog post I wrote, just hours after arriving in Tokyo, here.

Mount Fuji – I climb Japan’s tallest peak, a 13,000-foot dormant volcano. This was easily my most popular video.

Donald Richie – I interview the acclaimed American-born author who is considered the authority on Japanese art, culture and film.

Japan Culure – I try to find real traditional Japanese culture in a modern world.

Japanese Food – I explore lots of Japanese food options, some of which I share.

Trips – I visit the fall colors of Nikko, the history of Kyoto and the deer of Narra.

Scavenger Hunt – I tour Tokyo one last time in a hunt for a handful of items my mother thought I wouldn’t be able to find.

Read the last blog post I wrote, just days after I returned to the United States, here.

The above videos are those that regard my adventures in Japan. For additional JYA material, including my audition tape and reflections, go here.