With less than half a year left for my term as a Master’s student in the Depertment of Microbiology, I really appreciate my professor’s guidance as a supervisor. Thanks to his help, I have learned a lot of things. Here are some of them.
   First, I’ve learned how to find useful experimental methods from high impact factor journals and apply them to my own experiments.
   Secondly, every month I need to do a journal report. After so many times of practice, I have learned how to efficiently share the author's logical thinking with the audience since they haven't read this article previously.
   And then, I got to be able to perform some simple experiments like colony PCR, T-A cloning, electrophoresis, gel extraction, enzyme digestion, et. by myself.
   I’m sure that these skills will benefit me as invaluable assets in the future.
   Life in Izumo city has enhanced my personal self-care abilities. After coming here, I have learned how to cook dishes from my Chinese mates and some international friends which did not only help me to promote daily life skills but also broaden my vision of completely different cultures. Living in a foreign country has also improved my English conversation skills and increased my interest in learning Japanese. Every day, we use English to communicate with our professor, lab members, school staff and international students, which has helped me to be brave enough to speak English freely. We sometimes use basic Japanese as well to greet  each other. In this regard, I deeply feel that humans have evolved to make worldwide interpersonal communications possible.
   I have also learned how to arrange everything in order, mainly by myself, which is so different compared to my previous experiences. We need to have a sense that no-one is always waiting for us to depend on, and the most important thing is we need to learn how to deal with our own affairs efficiently by ourselves since we are not kids anymore.
   As I take advantage of the double degree program established between Shimane University and Ningxia Medical University, I have noticed some shortcomings too. It is well-known that Japanese academic researchers are so rigorous that they rarely finish one research program within two years. However, my domestic university requires each Master's student to publish at least one research article before graduation. So, it would be really appreciated if they developed another program connecting the Master’s and Ph.D. programs between these universities in the near future. I’m sure that would be beneficial to not only students but also their professors in Shimane University because they won’t have to see their students from Ningxia give up their research halfway and go back to China any more.
   Those who are interested in studying here as a Ph.D. or Master’s student, first and foremost, practice daily English and professional medicine English as much as possible. Because, here, everyday communication is totally done in English. If you are not so smart in English, you will need a long time to catch what others are saying and sometimes even won’t know what they are talking about.
   Next, try to learn Japanese as much as you can. When you come here, maybe, sometimes like going shopping, visiting a doctor or travelling, you will need to communicate with native speakers and then you will learn how Japanese are enthusiastic about helping people, especially foreigners at a loss.
   In the end, life is not just study. It also involves entertainment and enjoyment. Please try to learn something previously you didn't perform well or never try to do. In my case, it was cooking. Here, every student has his or her own flat with a kitchen. Sometimes you really want to eat something familiar from your childhood to help alleviate your homesickness. Intriguingly, you will find that you are the best cook. Another thing I recommend most is travelling on weekends or holidays to relax and rejuvenate yourself. Japan has unlimited potential to explore!!

by DING DAN, November 2020