Tong Ling (PhD student, 2nd year, Division of Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Disasters, Disaster Prevention Research Institute)

Date of Interview: May, 2021

Before Coming to Kyoto University
Before coming to Kyoto University, I lived in China and worked as a weather forecaster. To gain admission to Kyoto University, I used my spare time studying and saving money, so that I could support my life in Japan.

Life at Kyoto University
It was not easy to imagine how living in Japan would feel like, since it was the first time I lived overseas. From what I learned about Japan and Kyoto before I came, I was filled with wonders and was looking forward to life in Kyoto. And now, after living in Kyoto and Uji for over one year and a half, I am enjoying my stay and made the best out of my time here by realizing some of my dreams. My experience at Kyoto University enabled me to better appreciate my own way of life.

-What did you enjoy most during your time at Kyoto University?
I appreciated the abundant resources and support for international students in many aspects. I spent a lot of time in the library. I have to say that the university library and Yoshida-Ryo are my favorite places at Kyoto University.

-What were the biggest challenges you met?
My Japanese level is limited to daily communications. It is really a big challenge to have discussions or simply communicate in Japanese with other people, which makes me a little bit frustrated at times.

-What did you work on to overcome the challenges?
In our lab, I try as much as possible to speak English and encourage other students to speak English. At the same time, I practice Japanese with my Japanese friends.

-How smooth was your experience adjusting to life in Kyoto?
I consider myself rather good at adapting and adjusting to new environment. To be honest, the first two months in Kyoto were rather difficult. When I got over some difficulties and found my own rhythm, everything got on the right track step by step.

Life during COVID-19
In the beginning, I was uncomfortable with this kind of forced-unsocial personal life. I just started my life here, then life hit me in the head with a brick again. I couldn’t go to the lab and classes were online only. I felt like I was being lazy. After gradually accepting the reality with less anxiety, I was able to focus on my study more and more with the encouragements from my supervisor. In my spare time, I worked as a volunteer at a farm, helping with farming, harvesting vegetables and enjoying nature. I lived the way I like and tried different things to enrich my experience here. I had my first part-time job at an Izakaya and began to learn Kabuki. My friend asked me and some others: “How did Covid-19 change you?” The answers were mostly negative from the others. For me, however, I think I got more than I expected, in good ways.

-What were the beneficial/challenging aspects of life during COVID-19?
This rare experience gave me a new perspective on living independently, such as how to be true to myself and get along with myself. In 2020, I kept a diary every day, which is a good way to track my own changes, both in terms of emotional management or progress of my study. The 100,000+ words of my diary is a treasure to me.

Research at Kyoto University
First, I have to say that I am really lucky to have Prof. Tetsuya Takemi as my supervisor. He is such an open-minded supervisor and knows how to guide students to do research in their own ways. Everything we do is based on our own interests, which is an important source of power that enables us to be persistent when conducting our research. My research at Kyoto University is totally different from what I did during my master’s course and my previous job in China, which meant that I had to learn many things from the very beginning and challenge myself. I found myself keen on studying Meiyu-Baiu (the major rainy season that expands across Central China and Japan), though I am new to this specific field. The year 2020 gave me so many chances to study it. For example, the disastrous events that happened due to heavy rain in both China and Japan (Kyushu) in July, 2020. Overall, I feel that my Ph.D. is quite out of the ordinary. I hope that I could graduate on time and that the world would go back to normal soon!

-What do you hope to do after graduating from Kyoto University?
After graduation, I hope to continue to further my research in other countries. I believe a diverse background will always be beneficial to my research, and so to my life!

Message for Future International Students
Please try your best to learn Japanese before coming to Japan! I am serious about it. (smile)