Profile
From China
First-year student, Master’s Course,
Pedagogy, Department of Human Sciences,
Graduate School of Humanities
Q1.Tell us why you decided to study abroad at TMU in Japan?
I studied Japanese at the Shandong Institute of Business and Technology in China, and a Japanese professor at the university strongly recommended that I study at TMU. Since there are many Chinese students studying at TMU, it has a great environment to study with an easy mind. Another thing is that the professor’s acquaintance teaches here. TMU is also known for its high level of education with lower tuition than private universities because it is a public university. I chose TMU to study abroad for various advantages.
Q2.How’s your study-abroad life been going at TMU?
TMU is a well-established university with a spacious campus, and it is the very image of university that I had dreamed of when I was in high school. Thanks to the scholarship system, I became able to reduce days for working part-time and focus on studying. If I have something I don’t know, I can always go to the International Center, and they kindly show me anything. Also, there are opportunities where students can meet with other Chinese students and international students at a gathering for international students so that I can listen to other students’ experiences.
Q3.How are you currently taking classes at TMU?
I take seminars on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays to study educational administration and sociology of education. In the seminars, I have to purchase books specified by my professor or go to the library to borrow them to describe my opinions and comments. Although there are only three seminars a week, it is very difficult for me to prepare. In particular, as I came to Japan without any knowledge of pedagogy, I had to study from the basics. For my master’s thesis, although I was looking to write about the issue of the education gap in Japan and China in the beginning, I am thinking about narrowing down the study subject to the education gap within China because it is difficult to draw a conclusion in a comparison of Japan and China. I would also like to study the issue of migrant workers in depth because it has been a hot topic in China. In addition, I am making an attempt to do research by reading dissertations and other literature to study regional differences in China and the educational gap in elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools respectively.
Q4.What are your career plans after graduation?
Currently, I am thinking about two options.
One is to gain employment at a Japanese trading firm or a company that has a trading relationship with China.
Another is to work at an institution carrying out the promotion of international understanding, such as NPO/NGO. Although I will return to China someday, since I came to Japan just a year and a half ago, I want to stay in Japan a little longer.
In Japan, I am extremely happy and content that I get to see the blue sky every day.
I sent pictures of the blue sky to my friends in China to show them. Japan also boasts of its abundant greenery, and there are many nice places to stroll around.
I am keenly impressed with the fact that Japan has such a great environment.
Q5.How do you normally spend your day when you are not studying?
I normally stay at my apartment watching Chinese TV romance dramas or taking a stroll around the neighborhood. On my off days, I go to Nikko and Mt. Fuji with international students and Japanese students, as well as to manga exhibitions. Sometimes, I go eat Chinese food with my friends at a lab or invite them for a home party where I serve my homemade dishes.
Q6. Advice for international students who are looking to study at TMU.
Although many international students have a hard time becoming accustomed to a new environment and feel lonely without friends the first year, TMU has a great system in which the International Center provides new students with kind support. I currently work part-time as an instructor teaching Chinese culture in the public schools in the Tokyo area, and this job was introduced by the International Center. Thanks to the part-time job, it opened up an opportunity for meeting other people. While the class work and study is such hard work, when I have something I cannot understand, my kind Japanese classmates teach me. Increasingly, once you are starting to build a circle of friends and acquaintances and a rhythm of everyday life becomes maintained, I am sure that you will certainly feel it is a good thing that you decided to study abroad.
- This content is at the time of the interview.