Finally - a blog. After exactly three weeks in Japan I have time to write this. What kept me busy will be revealed in the (hopefully) near future.
In the last few months people kept asking the same questions over and over again, but unfortunately I never realised the print-out of these FAQ which I then could have hanged around my neck... But well, here you go:
- What are you doing after your graduation?
- Whaaaat? Japan? How long will you be there?
- And why Japan? That is so far away!
- I wanted to spend about one year abroad, and as I couldn't afford that myself, I needed someone to give me money. This programme was one of the very few scholarships I was eligible for.
- A scholarship? What kind of scholarship?
- It's from the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, which is a cooperation between the European Commission and the Japanese government. The Centre and the respective host company share the costs for the scholarship holders.
- So there are also other scholarship holders? Are they all from Germany?
- Yes, we are 45 people from all over the EU. Three, including me, are from Germany.
- Ok, that sounds great. But do you speak Japanese?
- No, not yet. I'm working on that now :) After the language course we are supposed to have an intermediate level - and by now I also believe that...
- And what do you do there?
- First of all - learn Japanese in a 4 months intensive (!) language course. Then I'll do an 8 months internship in a company.
- What kind of internship will it be?
- I'll be working for NTT Basic Research Laboratories. My topic is the characterisation of GaN surfaces.
I hope, the most important points are covered. In the future posts I will cover more aspects of my daily life, the scholarship, Japanese culture, ... Anyway, always feel free to ask any question :)
