Student Interview: Farsai Taemaitree, Advanced Molecular Chemistry

Taemaitree Farsai is a first year AMC student from Bangkok, Thailand.  Since her high school years, she has been accustomed to doing research with fine experimental tools.  So she always wanted to go to the university with the best chemistry department in Japan.  “Tohoku University’s motto ‘research first’ is exactly the same as that of my high school,” she says.  Her goal is now to become a chemist in the future.

Farsai participated in a three-week program at Ritsumeikan in Kyoto last year.  However, her encounter with the Japanese academic world happened earlier than that.  Tohoku University’s professors often visit high schools around the world to promote the FGL program, and professors from the chemistry department visited her high school.  This helped her learn about Tohoku University and the course, which lead her to decide to apply.

Now, four months have passed since the start of university life.  According to her, the lectures are tough and impressive at the same time, and her favorite class is Chemistry A by Professor Zhanpeisov.  

“Because I get to know about things that I had never known before,” she says.

Farsai hopes to join some student clubs to intermingle with Japanese students from next semester, but now she does not have time for anything thanks to the large amount of school work from each lecture.  She is, however, already concerned about missing her busy days when staying in her home country during the spring break.

Student Interview: Qiang Gu, International Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The first-year student Qiang Gu from China had no hesitation about coming to Sendai to study at Tohoku University.  She knew from before that she wanted to study engineering at some excellent school, but her decision became firmer when Professor Ying Chen of IMAC-U gave a presentation on the FGL program at her high school and her school counselor recommended the program to her. 

Ever since she had entered, she has not become tired in most cases: she believes the reason for this is that she enjoys student life, from studying to leisure.  But one thing she admits is the great role of Professor Chen.  “She has been so helpful and encouraging,” Qiang said.  According to her, Professor Chen always tells students to contact her if any problems arise, so for a lot of students she is someone who understands the difficulty of living abroad and doing something at the same time.

In fact, Qiang already had trouble after her arrival from China: she had a small bike accident.  The one who helped her out was an older student at her dormitory.  “One senpai (an older student) fixed my bike, so thanks to him I can ride it to school,” she said.  Having been asked if she often comes to school by bike, she said: “if it snows, then no, but otherwise yes.”

Since she did not have many engineering classes in the first semester, she is looking forward to the later years.  The time when she finds her own special field must be not too far away.

Student interview: Chairul Akmal, Applied Marine Biology

The first year student Chairul Akmal came from Indonesia, which he calls “a marine country like Japan.”  So it was very natural for him to decide on studying marine biology in Japan.  He is now very busy with the Liberal Education classes, which all first year students have to go through.  He, however, has a vision of obtaining deep insights into the ocean, and is already absorbing knowledge from his professors.

“Gleadall Sensei is one of the best teachers whom I’ve met in my life,” Akmal says.  Professor Gleadall mainly teaches him marine biology as well as physiology.  Akmal especially enjoys his lectures about the future of the ocean and environmental issues.

Akmal mentions the wide range and availability of food both on campus and in Sendai City itself. At the cafeterias on campus, halal food is prepared, and grocery stores as well as restaurants for non-pork eaters are in walking distance to those living at the students’ dormitory. 

Even so, one of Japanese dishes he has been enjoying the most lately is Sushi.

Having lived in Sendai for four months, Akmal finds a major difference between Indonesian and Japanese culture—the reticence of the Japanese.  But he respects it, and regards it as a matter of custom.  His humbleness does and will let him enrich himself through new cultures anywhere he goes.

Classroom Visitation

Since the fall semester is almost over, we visited some classes to see the professors and students in January.  At some classes, the atmosphere was very relaxed, while at others students seemed more eager to listen to what their professors were saying.

In the “Linear Algebra” class, Prof. Igor Trushin was teaching ardent students who were working as hard as possible to prepare for an exam.  The class was mixed, with both international and Japanese students, so there were almost 30 people in the classroom.