January 2024 - Bryan's Briefing
Hey friend,
I'm sitting on the plane to Germany, unsure how to feel. It's somewhat weird to be going back after 1 year abroad in South Korea.
Am I happy to be going back to a more comfortable life? Am I sad to leave behind the most amazing time I've ever had?
For so many people coming back to their home country after their study abroad felt like "returning to real life". The free exchange student life comes to an end, the money has run dry, the studies should be getting finished. Fortunately I'm in a situation where I can decide what my life should be like, my life is the result of my own active decisions.
So now I'm going back to Germany to complete my Code & Context studies. It would be nice to have a Bachelor's degree. Also starting work as a Software Developer in February, 20 hours per week, while I write my thesis, need to make some money back that I have spent in the year abroad. Thankfully my work will also be fully remote. Not planning on staying confined in Cologne.
Why am I writing an email newsletter?
It seems neat
To stay in contact with you, a monthly mail is different from Social Media following, I quite like that
Practice my writing
Put myself and my thoughts out there more
I also just love creating stuff & I enjoy sharing
An email newsletter format seems enjoyable to me as it is further removed from the usual dark patterns of social media (SNS).
Most of this month's edition was written on the plane from Tokyo to Frankfurt. Spent a week solo travelling Japan after the year abroad in Korea before returning to Germany to finish up my studies.
🌱 Cool Content I Made
✨️ My Blog
Since this is the first edition, I want to introduce my entire blog on BryanHogan.com, where I write about everything I find important in life and things that are unique to me.
Why We Sleep (blog post) - We sleep so much in our lives, so understanding it a bit more can't hurt, can it?
What is Code & Context? (blog post) - I really enjoy my field of study and wish more people knew about it. The combination of computer science, design and entrepreneurship is amazing. I would never want to go back to a more archaic way of studying after experiencing Code & Context.
❤️ Cool Stuff By Others
I didn't consume much content this month as I was either spending time travelling Seoul, meeting old and new friends, or exploring Japan.
Still, as someone whose go-to platform has been Youtube for years now, I've built a big backlog of things I'd want to share, either because I found these videos to be very insightful or entertaining, or both.
🍿 Videos
Why We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburbia by Not Just Bikes - A lovely video on what makes cities great, especially when they are focused on humans and not cars.
Training AI to Play Pokemon with Reinforcement Learning by Peter Whidden - Entertaining video on getting an AI to play Pokemon Red. Easily understandable for people that have no idea about AI. Despite being his first and only video so far, it has over 5 million views, thanks to its great quality receiving lots of love from the algorithm.
Huberman Lab Podcast #33 - Dr. Anna Lembke: Understanding & Treating Addiction - The Huberman Lab podcast is filled with scientifically backed episodes, all designed to help listeners understand and improve their own lives. I found this episode on addictions to be particularly fascinating and valuable.