Japanese
Japanese

Voices of International Students

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MURAN XU

College of Physics, School of Science and Engineering

From China

What sparked your interest in this university?

I lived in Tokyo before entering University of Tsukuba. In my spare time, I often go hiking nearby. As a satellite city of Tokyo, Tsukuba's lower population density gave me a sense of inner peace when I first came here. You can feel the breath of nature everywhere in Tsukuba. The spacious campus of University of Tsukuba made me feel that it is very comfortable to live and study here, and in fact, it is. More importantly, University of Tsukuba is well-known as a comprehensive university, and Tsukuba is truly an academic city. It is my good fortune to be able to study here.

What aspects of Japanese culture or customs surprised you? How did you adapt to them?

1. Because most public facilities (like gymnasiums) are managed by governments or regions rather than by individuals or businesses, we have to make an appointment to use gymnasiums. To get a reservation at the closest gymnasium, we usually need to book about one month in advance. However, the cost is very low, so we often use it.

2. Japan has a very strict waste-sorting system. The types of garbage you can throw away differ each day, and there are some regional differences in the system. Thus, I downloaded an app that shows me what type of garbage to throw away each day.







What do you enjoy about Tsukuba?

To be honest, I love how lush it is here. As the seasons change, you can see the campus shift from green to yellow. In summer, there are even some small animals that are rarely seen elsewhere. On weekends, I often go hiking up Mt.Tsukuba with my friends or ride my bike to the nearby lake, Kasumigaura, to recharge. Moreover, you can enjoy food from different countries in the surrounding area. All the Chinese restaurants here serve authentic Chinese cuisine. My favorite curry udon restaurant offers a gacha service where you can spend 100 yen to try your luck.

What do you hope to achieve during your time here?

My research goal is to clarify the laws of the universe. Therefore, as an undergraduate student at University of Tsukuba, I hope to be able to understand fundamental methods in analyzing physical systems and to become skilled in physical mathematics. During my four years of study period, everything I learned, both knowledge and ways of thinking, was new to me and completely reshaped my perspective on the world. However, it has also been very challenging. At times, I find it hard to stay passionate about it. Thus, I also hope to become someone who can maintain a strong passion and conduct research independently.

What do you think makes the University of Tsukuba special?

At University of Tsukuba, you can choose high-quality courses from different majors, whether you're a freshman or a senior. This means you have the opportunity to enjoy almost any course you can imagine, since University of Tsukuba is a comprehensive university. My major is physics, but I would like to take some math courses as electives to strengthen my foundation in physics, so this system is very helpful for me. In addition, Tsukuba is so close to Tokyo that it only takes a 45-minute ride on the Tsukuba Express to get there. This makes life here much more convenient.