Bangladesh

hD student
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering,
Engineering for Functional Material System
（Center for Crystal Science and Technology）

I came to Japan on September 2, 2007. From the beginning, I was very glad to live in Japan. Day by day Japanese culture, life style and environment is becoming more enjoyable for me. Japanese people are very helpful and kind to me.

My living accommodation

nitially I was living in the International Student Center, University of Yamanashi for about 1 year and 3 months. Kokusai Koryu Kaikan is a very good place for international students in which they can live inexpensively and can exchange their views and customs easily. Many Japanese cultural programs happened there in a year, which is a good opportunity to be familiar with Japanese people and their culture. In January 2009, I moved to an apartment named Silk Sunshine that is very near to our research center and also near to Kokusai Koryu Kaikan. This apartment is also a good living place. Japan is colder than my country Bangladesh. But heating systems of the center and living room is very good. So I have no problem to live in Japan.

Foods and commodities

Japanese food is very delicious especially the fish. I like it very much. Every time I buy food from shops or departmental stores like Ogino, Ichiyama etc. Japanese commodities are good but a little bit expensive. I can buy all of my necessary commodities from the shops.

Language

Initially language communication was a great problem for me because general people are not good at English. I learned Japanese in a six month language course functioned by the International Student Office at the University of Yamanashi. Then I could communicate in Japanese everywhere I went.

Transport and communication

n Japan transport and communication systems are very organized. It is very easy and takes a short time to go outside of Kofu. I prefer train to bus although the highway bus is good. The train is very fast but expensive. I can use broadband Internet in the research center. The Internet system allows me to easily search and download documents that are necessary for my research. I can also communicate with my family in my country very easily. I have no car, so I am using a bicycle for quick transport.

Health care

Japanese health care system is very good. If I become sick, I always go to Kofu General Hospital. Every time the doctors check by body carefully and suggest the right medicine.

My every day life

Every day I wake up just after sunrise. I take a shower and eat my breakfast from 7:00 to 8:00. Then I enter the center around 8:30 a.m. I work in the laboratory from 8:30 to 12:00. Then I take my lunch. Again I start my work at 1:00.p.m. I usually go back home around 8:00 pm. Sometimes I do my experiment all night. After returning to my room I have my dinner then rest and about 10:00 p.m. I go to bed. I am passing the time away very nicely in Japan.

My research work

Initially I started with larger diameter single crystals. Then I tried to grow large size crystals used for optical applications. Now I am trying to grow larger diameter crystals used for electrical applications.