Former TV TOKYO announcer Miyu Iketani explains why she was able to study abroad in China for practically free.

Thank you very much for reading my first issue.

The temperature in Tianjin, where I am now, is about to enter full-blown winter with temperatures dropping to around 10 degrees Celsius starting next week. I am gradually getting used to school life and have made friends. One day she said to me, “You are from Xinjiang, aren’t you?

You are from Xinjiang, aren’t you?”

When I was in Japan, I was often asked, “Are you half-Japanese? But in China, I am very often asked, “Are you from Xinjiang? In China, however, I was often asked, “Are you from Xinjiang? People from Xinjiang tend to be a bit darker and more exotic looking than most Asians, and I seemed to look that way.

From there, I became friends with her, and we joined a club studying Chinese and Asian ethnic minorities together and danced together wearing ethnic costumes.

Now, as I was thinking about the theme for the second issue, it occurred to me that there may be some working adults who are thinking about studying abroad, just like me. I would like to talk about “applying for a scholarship, which was more difficult than taking the entrance exam,” in the hope that it may be of some help to you.

When I told my family that I had entered graduate school, many people said to me, “It must have been very difficult for you to take the entrance examinations,” which made me very happy. My family offered to help me with the money, but it is against my policy to use other people’s money to do something I love, so I thought I would give up studying abroad if I was not granted a scholarship.

Most scholarships in Japan have to be repaid. I actually borrowed a scholarship when I was in college and successfully paid it off this year. In China, however, there are scholarships that cover tuition, dormitory fees, and even living expenses and do not require repayment. You can study at a graduate school in China for practically free ……!　Although I was enthusiastic about the idea, the hurdles to apply were higher than I had expected.

First, in order to increase my chances of passing the exam, I studied hard and obtained Level 5 of the HSK, as I only had Level 4 of the HSK at the time. Other things I did included writing a research proposal in Chinese and contacting a professor at the university I graduated from many years ago to write a letter of recommendation in English. I had to do a lot of research in Chinese, which was mind-boggling.

Once I passed the application screening, it was time for the interview. Of course, there were situations where I had to speak in Chinese. I made up my own list of possible questions and answers, such as why I wanted to study abroad and why I wanted to major in translation, and I translated them and memorized them. …… It was like taking an entrance exam and job hunting at the same time.

Once I received the letter of acceptance for the scholarship interview without any problems, I now have to take the university entrance exam. After you pass the scholarship interview, you take the college exam. Scholars choose up to their third choice of school and take the exams in the order of their first choice, and only those who pass will be issued the scholarship. If you are not accepted to your third choice, the scholarship issuance will be cancelled, so you cannot let your guard down until the very end.

The university I chose as my first choice is located in Tianjin, about 120 km southeast of Beijing. If Beijing were Tokyo, the distance would be like Saitama or Kanagawa. The campus is located in the center of an area that was originally a concession area, and the school building was built using the same architecture as it was during the concession period, which was a perfect environment for me as a history buff.

The written exam, which lasted for four hours, consisted of translating about two pages of A4 paper in both Japanese and Chinese. At first I thought it would not take four hours, but the technical terms kept coming up one after another, and I finally finished the translation just in time. I almost went insane when I saw that English words also appeared in the questions to translate from Japanese to Chinese (laugh).

Furthermore, the remote interview was all in Chinese, and I was asked questions about the research I would like to do in the future based on my research plan, and I was also asked in depth about the reasons for my application, such as the image I had of China in my childhood.

Thus, after a long examination period, I finally received an official acceptance letter from my first choice university around July of this year.

I got married and had a wedding ceremony during this time, and to my surprise, the exam period and the wedding preparation period coincided perfectly. I experienced the greatest joy and …… tremendous hardship in my life (laughs).

By the way, my husband and I have been dating for less than a year, so by the time we met, I had already started preparing for my study abroad. Soon after we started dating, no?　Was it before we started dating?　I told him that I was going to study abroad, so he readily accepted my going abroad on my own about six months after we got married, and I am very grateful for that. At the same time, I realized that it is better to talk about important things at the beginning. I was the one at that time, nice!

And thank you, my husband, for wanting to go out with me even though he knew I would soon be gone from Japan. I am an eccentric person, but I think my husband is very different too (laughs). In order not to squander this important step, I am now on the verge of (self-proclaimed) breakthrough in academics.

In the paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD,” the first installment of “”Female Graduate Student” Miyu Iketani’s “Unusual Study Abroad in Japan”” is posted. in the first installment of “Jinyu Ikeya Goes to China!

We hope you will enjoy reading about Ms. Ikeya’s decision to leave the glamorous world of television and study abroad.