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     I'm Berekeyev Kaisar, a 4th year student at Kazakh National University of al-Farabi. In the summer of 2021, I received a scholarship from MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) for a student exchange program at Osaka University.

       There are many obstacles in preparing the further documents needed for departure, this is all due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic. Such as the changing departure schedule, changing visa application permits, and preparation for medical tests. Finally in November I was able to pass the health check at the Japanese airport safely. Then I must follow quarantine procedures for 2 weeks at personal expense. I feel very lucky and grateful to be able to go to Japan during the pandemic.

       After quarantine, I arrived at the Osaka University dormitory in Minoh. Offline campus life begins. For us, foreign students, this dormitory is very convenient because access to various places is very easy. There are many shopping centers for daily necessities, public transportation is effective and easy to use, and most importantly this dormitory is located next to the Osaka University Minoh campus. It's okay to enjoy life in Japan, but don't forget that the original goal was to improve academically.

       This program was also conducted online before arriving in Japan. Sensei here is very passionate and patient in teaching foreign students from various countries with various levels of Japanese. Discussions in class are the most fun because the various opinions of students who have different cultures and perspectives are very interesting and full of information. There are also some difficulties in lectures, namely making papers or essays in Japanese because of lack of personal practice or having never received this class before.

       Writing the research paper in Japanese was the hardest part of our program. A different teacher helped us write it for 2 hours each week throughout the year. Besides the main final research paper, there were also small projects on subjects such as Japanese Literature or Japanese Religion. It was especially interesting and at the same time useful to study Japanese Politics and Japanese Economics.

       This experience is the most valuable experience during my study period. Not only Japanese language and culture, but we can also exchange culture with students from various countries. If you want our opinions and culture to be respected, then pay attention and respect the opinions and cultures of others. In the future, I would like to share my experiences and things that I have learned in terms of knowledge and cultural tolerance here to the people around me in Kazakhstan.