Student interview: Dwiky Rendra of AMC

 The third-year student Dwiky Rendra from Indonesia has engaged some experiments during his high school years, and he wanted to continue conducting research in the university. He was accepted by the AMC course in 2011, and mostly completed studying the foundational scientific subjects by 2013. Now he enjoys most of his time experimenting for his own research, and looks back on how he chose his field of studies. “I was fascinated with learning about biological processes at high school, and the good thing for me is that there are biochemistry classes here,” he says. Although he is affiliated with the chemistry department, he was, and is still, drawn to the field of biology. He works on issues related to the human body.

Dwiky Rendra

 Dwiky is affiliated with Prof. Satoshi Takahashi’s laboratory, and specializes in a cancer suppressor protein called p53. They work together to look for roles of inker region in p53. “I was so happy that I could start experiments from the summer of freshman year. It is such a rare opportunity,” he smiled. While many international students have returned to their home countries to escape from the cold winter season, Dwiky is staying in Sendai to continue researching. The combination of chemistry and biology perfectly fits his area, so he truly thinks of his choice as suitable.

 Having lived at University House Sanjo for two years, Dwiky now resides at a house shared with his friend. His friend had already been living there for a while, so Dwiky easily found a place to live. One of the reasons is the existence of a large Indonesian community at Tohoku University, and their way of helping each other. Dwiky mentions, however, that many international students find a place to live without much difficulty. “Many friends of mine live in apartments in Sendai.” “Once they visit a local real-estate agency, they easily find nice apartments,” he continued.

 Students may think they will never need to go to a Japanese hospital. However, adjusting to a new country can be hard on your health. It is actually very common for international students to require medical care. For example, at the end of last year, one FGL student was diagnosed with tuberculosis, but recovered from it thanks to good care by the hospital. Dwiky also had to see a doctor this year suffering from a cold. When he visited a local clinic, he was given a medical interview sheet in English, which was helpful. “Doctors seemed to be used to foreign patients,” he recalled. His full recovery shows that there is nothing to worry in the event of sickness.

 Having found his own objective at Tohoku University, Dwiky genuinely looks forward to his future. By doing what he enjoys, he will be contributing to beneficial changes for human life.

Getting settled in Sendai

 Welcome to Tohoku University!

On September 20th, new FGL students arrived from eight countries and began a new life in Sendai City. For the majority of them, it is their first time to come to Japan, let alone living here!
But they have no time to be wondering about residence registration, application for National Health Insurance, opening bank accounts and so on. School will start on October 1st, so there is not much time left for preparation.

Vegalta Sendai

One thing many university students enjoy about Sendai is the active sports scene. The city boasts three professional teams: Vegalta Sendai (soccer), the Rakuten Golden Eagles (baseball) and the Sendai 89ers (basketball).
Recently a women's football club, Vegalta Sendai Ladies, was also founded.

 Here you can see a soccer match unfolding between Vegalta Sendai and Ventforet Kofu from Yamanashi. 




(Click the pictures to view full size)





                                                                                  

The game ended in a draw, 1-1.
In addition to watching sports at one of Sendai's modern stadiums, many Tohoku University students enjoy playing sports. The university has numerous sports clubs, which international students are eligible to join.

See you on the pitch! 






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Photos by Chihiro Ishida

Online Shopping for International Students!

In this post, I would like to summarize some of very useful web sites that I always use in Japan.They may contain plane tickets, traveling, eating, shopping and coupon.

1. Rakuten 

For daily life: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/

One of the largest shopping web site in Japan, there are all most everything you would like to buy.

I strongly suggest buying the bicycle there. Usually if you buy an second hand bicycle you will find the price will always around 6000yen to 8000yen(speed changeable) but sometimes the bicycle is not in good condition.

Sendai: A Special Place

The university in autumn

Sendai is a very special place. What makes Sendai a brilliant place to experience is that it does not have too much of everything or too little of anything. Just perfect and soothing for a good student life, and a good visit. It is for certain not in danger of radioactive upsets, a misconception which came into existence after the Fukushima nuclear leak. Getting to and around the city is not a problem even if your Japanese language skills are zilch. The buses make announcements in the English language too. To my surprise, unlike busy cosmopolitan cities like Tokyo where the people are more than uptight, the people in Sendai are exceedingly friendly and accommodating, which is what we know of the Japanese people in history. Attempt to learn the Japanese word for saying thank you before you arrive here. Arigatō gozaimasu. It will be very helpful. Although most locals prefer to communicate in the Japanese language, the irony is that I stumbled into many shops and restaurants playing western music in the background. If you ever find yourself lost someplace, ask for help, since the locals will go out of their way to direct you.

First snow of the year

The economics of the city habitually rotates around Sendai Eki, or Sendai Station. Most of the trains and buses start and end their journey from there. If you enjoy walking, this city is perfect. It has many coffee shops, book shops, beautiful gardens, lakes, and rivers within the city. Cycling is a common mode of transport. It is very easy to get away from the city to nearby places like Matsushima, where you get to see the most beautiful sunrise, Yamagata, to experience the onsens (hot springs), paragliding, and skiing. There are more beautiful regions around Tohoku to visit. Sendai is beautiful throughout the year, with the snowfall, cherry blossoms, and brown autumns. It also has the famous Minami Sanriku Kinkazan Quasi-National Park. You will barely encounter dustbins within Sendai, however you will barely encounter garbage too... the secret is to carry your garbage home and not to accidentally spill it on the road. :-). You will find the public bathrooms very enduring and shocking if you are not use to toilets with electronic buttons next to you. When you press any of them, they will perform your royal duties for you. Over all, if you do visit Japan, Tohoku (Northeast) of Japan is a region you should consider. You will find lots of information on the internet.


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Text and photos by
Samantha Marbaniang