The days of studying in Japan

This is a record of my four years of struggling to get through the examinations and research in Japan.

　　I say I am one of the majority of international students, but I am probably inferior to most of them because I wasted three precious years of my life repeatedly studying for graduate school.

　　Maybe my experience can give some reference to some students who want to come to Japan, then I will be grateful.

I graduated in 2009 from a very unknown but 211 or 985 school schools

　　It's hard to say that not many people know about it, but it's a tough school with high distinction and difficult courses.

　　But just like all university students, my alma mater only allows itself to be denigrated, not allowed to insult others, so over the years or very grateful to my alma mater to teach me knowledge and some research attitude.

　　There are very few people going abroad in our school, not because they can't afford to go abroad, but because they don't have any ideas, maybe because of the school's atmosphere, most people are a bit dead, studying hard but not having many ideas. I almost want to say that our school is a more advanced technical school, most of the people who come out are working as mechanics and so on, although some are advanced.

　　Frankly speaking, I suck at learning during college, I think it should not be enough to be professional average, right, lower middle class.

　　So it was a direct result of my struggle in the next three years to get into graduate schools (graduate schools). Of course, there is also the factor of overestimating my level.

　　So I would like to say that the university must study well do not waste time, if you waste time learning sucks, and take some detours finally can return to the right path, but the process of taking detours than the difficulty of studying well in college is much more difficult.

To be exact, I did go abroad to Japan twice, but both times I did it myself, without going through any agency, and without spending any money on this.

　　I would like to say that, to do abroad (other countries do not know, a single reference to Japan) is very simple, there is no need to entrust intermediaries, there is a foundation of Japanese is the best, if not, English is also OK, and then no Chinese is also not bad.

　　The application was made around April 2009, and I was looking for a Japanese language school directly on the Internet (although this method is not good enough for a Japanese language school, it is a good way to follow a step-by-step process).

　　Then I sent an email application (I used Chinese), and after a while, I got a letter back from the contact person there (usually a Chinese person, or a Japanese person who knows Chinese), and then there was an interview, and it was rare that this language school had the strength to come to China to interview students.

　　I am almost zero Japanese, Katakana Hiragana is not written in full state.

　　Then there is a variety of information, which includes the school's diploma degree certificate transcripts, home assets materials, and then health check can think of these it.

　　After you submit the documents, they will help you go to the Immigration Bureau (in Japan) to open a certificate, and then mail it to you (usually EMS, right?), in then take this certificate, go to the local Japanese embassy to do the visa is OK.

　　The basic student visa is very easy to sign and to be frank, there is only one reason, international students are consumers, and a big capitalist country like Japan will never refuse consumers.

I arrived at the language school in October 2009.

　　Then I had two or three days of free time to get familiar with the surroundings, do the tram ticket, buy some necessities, and then I started the Japanese language school.

　　I am glad that the Japanese language school I found is a Japanese language school that is strict in its schooling and fair in price. It is said that some unreliable ones do not teach well even if they pay for the visa.

　　On the first day of class, I took a test and was assigned to a class based on my test scores.

　　Not surprisingly, I was assigned to class D. That is, the worst zero-based class.

　　Although I am not a top student in China, I have been in the upper middle class since junior high school, so I felt very uncomfortable in such a bad class. I belong to the people who would rather be the tail of the phoenix than the head of the chicken, maybe and some people have different standards of being a person.

　　After two or three days of study, I felt that the class was very slow, even too slow, to take care of most people.

　　Also, the uneven quality of people in language schools is not something you can imagine, there are very good schools and even one of the top two in the country, yes, that's the one you want, there are also college graduates.

　　So even if it is the same zero foundation, because there is a difference in understanding, still the gap can be quickly pulled up.

　　After three weeks, I asked the class teacher who was leading the D class to transfer the class.

　　He didn't say anything, but said, "Tell me the reason for changing the class.

　　After thinking about it for a long time, I couldn't say it in Japanese, so I started to talk to her in English, and after saying a lot of things, she just said, "In Japanese.

　　I have nothing to say, the Japanese are as realistic as the legend says, there is no reason for people without strength to say.

A few months after I went there, I gradually inquired about finding a part-time job, but I put it on hold because I couldn't do it in Japanese.

　　Because the school was too slow, I started to buy materials to study by myself.

　　I bought my grammar book and copied it over and over again, memorizing it and copying it, and then I always paid attention to new words, for example, when I saw a signboard word on the road that I didn't know, I copied it in a small book, and when I saw a word on TV that I didn't know, I copied it down.

　　I wrote several books.

　　Finally, the work paid off.

　　This Japanese language school once every six months to take the school-wide exam said the school-wide exam there are a hundred or so people, right, after all, language schools in the past few decades like a mushrooming everywhere. Therefore, there are not many students.

　　After six months, I got a higher average score than the S class (the highest level class) in the general exam, so I applied for the highest level class as a matter of course.

　　I was overwhelmed by the great sense of accomplishment, and I took my first exam in Japan, which is not a general exam, but an exam organized by each school, so it is possible to take many schools in a year if the time can be staggered.

　　The first time LZ took the test was at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

　　When I emailed the teacher, the professor said, "Come and take the test, and if you pass, you can enter my lab.

　　However, the Japanese language is not good and the basic knowledge is not solid. Not surprisingly, I failed.

By the way, another thing is that in February 2010, LZ started a part-time job.

　　Since the Japanese language is not yet good, especially the spoken language, the language school introduced the job of cleaning.

　　I started at 4:30 every morning, took the train for an hour, walked for half an hour to save money, and worked until 10:00 at 6:00 on the dot.

　　I was glad that the work started in the early morning, so the pay was quite high.

　　And because there was no one on the road in the early morning, LZ listened to the listening and speaking exercises while on foot and made a little progress.

　　LZ likes MUJI very much, and at that time, a bag that cost 5600 yen, of course, now seems to be very cheap, but at that time, LZ was poor, so I waited for several months and finally bought it with my first salary.

　　The first part-time job was difficult, but it helped me a lot to understand the psychology of Japanese people and their attitude toward others. In Japan, the phenomenon of bullying is very serious, which is what we have heard for a long time.

　　Many Chinese people interpret this phenomenon as bullying Chinese people, racial discrimination, and so on, I understand that Chinese people like to jump jobs, always in the qualification is still shallow when eager to change another job, and always being bullied is inevitable.

　　LZ has a few part-time jobs that last quite a long time, when doing this to thestuffstaff, LZ also bullies new employees, which also directly led to a thirty-year-old Japanese uncle being overwhelmed by the direct resignation of the small comedy.

Turning back to the study, LZ came to Japan in July of the second year to take the first n1, that is, ten months after contact with the Japanese language.

　　However, it did not pass, so LZ summed up the experience and finally passed the n1 exam in December with 20 points over the line.

　　That is one year and two months to n1 with zero foundation.

　　Here LZ would like to say that language environment plus hard work can create a small miracle

　　After the Level 1 exam, LZ's self-confidence soared, and then LZ took another exam at Tsukuba University and one at Tohoku University, both of which failed. Some people may think LZ is a loser. But LZ's looser is more serious than that

LZ said whatever came to mind.

　　The more famous the lab, the more people there are, which means you may have to share the topic with others, and the first author of the paper may not be you but someone else.

　　In addition, some famous universities due to their long history, coupled with professors who are not very good at foreign aid, lack research equipment common, LZ looked at so many universities and think that the University of Tsukuba's equipment is the most sophisticated and advanced, although LZ also did not get into.

　　Now the university is considered Japan's second-rate university, and the experimental equipment is quite okay, the main thing is that the paper can be the first author

This time, the application was easy, and the Japanese language was much more proficient. LZ did not go to the language school this time, but contacted the professor at Tohoku University directly, saying that he wanted to be his auditor, o a supernumerary student in the research lab. At that time, I wondered why someone would need an agent to study in Japan when it was so easy to do it by myself.

　　The second time I came to Japan was in October 2011.

　　I was not satisfied with the topic assigned to me by the professor, but I thought Tohoku University was quite famous, so I let it go. lz'Liz'sea of the lab came from here.

　　The big research labs of famous universities are not necessarily suitable for everyone, and it is difficult for people who want to do a subject on their own and study what they want to study.

　　But there is still always a rhythm, cattle always have, LZ LZt the bully PhDPh.D.nior who got the Japanese national scholarship. Frankly speaking, his domestic university rank is not as high as mine, but it turns out that he can play his research strength very well when he arrives at this research office.

　　I also met a female student from Peking University, although only in class together, but when answering the teacher's questions or very show the nature of China's top university students ah.

　　In February 2012, I thought I would definable to go to Northeastern University, so I didn't apply to another school's graduate school. But, Go,d didn't think I'd had enough, so once again, I was unsuccessful.

　　Since I was an auditing student, I could withdraw from Tohoku University at any time, but I had a visa for a year and a half, so after I withdrew from Tohoku University, I was legally blacked out in Japan for six months, working part-time and studying at home to prepare for the July and August exams.

In Sendai lz found a convenience store for evening work, evening 5:00 to 11:00 p.m. work, the time is quite suitable, is the wage is too low, here lz very do not recommend the city in northern Japan, cold is one, addition, very strange low wages and high real, LZ live very hard, plus to prepare a large sum of money for graduate school, by the way, in Japan to take the graduate school test once 30,000 yen.

　　That is, in this period lz to live a life of will, the cost of living is reduced to the limit, every day you can take expired things from the convenience store to eat, no work days to take a little more the day before put frozen, the next day the microwave oven to heat up to eat.

　　There is nothing to eat, Iz eats bananas with the skin together, I do not know which students have not eaten, in fact, not very difficult to eat and is a bit astringent. The surface is clean, cut, put soy sauce fried mixed noodles to eat.

　　Save electricity costs winter outside the minimum of 10 degrees below zero, a whole winter did not open the air conditioning lz survived!

Then finally 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the month of the Japanese graduate school exams, LZ part-time hard-saved money will be here to brush out. Kyushu University, Hokkaido University, Akita University, Kanazawa University, once again the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and is now in the University (for personal privacy will not say).

　　The experience of taking the Kyushu University is the most miserable, LZ goes to get a data line and then comes back to say. The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you're doing.

　　The topic turns to part-time work, LZ in Sendai this convenience store played only about ten months, but because the convenience store staff turnover is very large, so lz in 7, 8 months after the old staff.

　　At this time, two middle-aged Japanese came in, generally speaking, most of the middle-aged Japanese are resigned from the company, and there is also a part of the original is not have much ability, so in fact, is a relatively poor group, but LZ is a very clear right and wrong people, sympathy for the weak what lz rarely do because LZ in the weak when LZ is also so stepped by step blood and sweat crawl over, so I can't see the people who are tired of screaming.

　　The two middle-aged uncles have a person who is quite diligent, let's not say, another person is said to be the original pharmaceutical sales and other company employees, dry goods that is called a slow ah, but also hairy hands always touch off things, playing not a moment to say stomach pain to go to the toilet, or very tired to drink a can of nutrients. As a newcomer, the rest time is used up in full. Every day at work is just the right time to arrive, the first punch card to leave work.

　　Put me on the gas, so he began to make things difficult for himself, anyway, he is more mistakes, and slow, the boss can not look down and told me not to ask him too much, I said to the boss, others do a good job I do not ask, he did not do the right natural to teach, the boss may not be very satisfied with him so also let me do, all said and done, in that paragraph lz, Japanese sarcasm people criticize people's skills to see a lot of growth.

　　Finally, the poor middle-aged uncle was bullied away, this incident later with others, others always say I am too much, but I have always felt that I just do what I should do, do not understand the newcomer is to teach ah ~ ~

And said the school, LZ 2012 examination of the first piece of the university is Kyushu University, Sendai from Kyushu, that is not a little far, but lz with strong inhibition, reverse twice, take the bus 36 hours away to Kyushu.

　　Sendai to Tokyo night bus, 11:00 p.m. on the bus 6:00 a.m. to, eight o'clock in the morning and then from Tokyo, the next day at about 11:00 noon to Kyushu.

　　Because of the lack of money, I thought I'd spend a night at McDonald's while studying for the exam, but I didn't expect McDonald's to write 24 hours to say window service! That is, the store closes at noon and only the window is left.

　　The big night and no bus hit the expensive ridiculous.

　　Iz noon from the city of Kyushu on foot for 3 hours, a raw walk to the far outskirts of Kyushu University.

　　When I arrived at Kyushu University at 3:00 a.m., only the bus stop had lights, I did two or three hours at the bus stop, and it gained!

　　So look around and finally found a toilet for the disabled, said the disabled in Japan