Hello there,
This is a D2 student, Yuichiro Fujimoto.

I have been staying at Oulu University for one month and a half. I would like to report this stay.

But, most things about this university and the daily life here have been already written in articles by members of my laboratory who stayed at the university. So, instead of them, I would like to write what I am thinking and feeling during this stay.

・I as a foreign student and Oulu university’s students.
More than half students are foreign students in my laboratory of NAIST. So I always have a chance to talk with them in Japan. Conversely, I am a foreign student in this university here.
I found it a good opportunity to reconsider how I get along with foreign students in Japan.

In this university, a weekly event for people who are interested in other country’s culture is held. This event is called “Café lingua”. At this event, we can talk about our culture and language freely and can make some friends. Friends who I meet at this event always invite me for a drink or other events. Before coming to this country, I thought if I had to spend alone all weekend, I tried not to cry…
So, this was really good for me.

After going back to Japan, I will become kinder for foreign students.
I decided so again.

・Stay-time in the laboratory
Please note that the following is just my opinion.

Most students at this university stay at labs from 9:00 (or 10:00) to 17:00 (or 16:00). They also value weekends and make time for themselves. Most of them do not come to the lab on weekends. I think this style is really good and effective but cannot judge whether this style is the best.

In Japan, there is a tendency that longer you stay at the lab is better (in my opinion). I think this is also good in order to evaluate the process or the attitude for our own research even if we cannot make a good progress. However, this tendency may lead to unnecessary stays at the lab despite he or she does not want to stay at the lab long time. We have to care about that.