Time passes quickly. Before I knew it, my training had come to an end. During the ten month training, I had many unforgettable moments and made many friends, and my perspective and experience were broadened. I also acquired a lot of new knowledge.

Since arriving in Japan, I met up with other trainees from Tajikistan, India, Nepal, Indonesia, The Philippines, and Fiji. We all had different lifestyles and religions, but funnily enough, we soon became friends, went to have dinner together, and talked about each other’s country and lives of people with disabilities back home.

We spent the first three months for learning Japanese. Before arriving in Japan I had never studied Japanese, so I was very worried. Luckily my worries vanished after a while. The lessons were so fun, and the teachers told interesting stories, which made it easier to learn difficult grammar or words. We spent a lot of time on conversational Japanese, and in December, I passed the fourth grade of the Japanese Proficiency Test. I am extremely grateful to the teachers who taught us with such passion and enthusiasm.

Before coming to Japan, I had actually studied Chinese Braille, albeit a little bit. I do not have great senses of my fingertips as I lost my vision recent year. At that time, there was no one to instruct me, so learning Braille was rather hard. I would spend ages and yet I could not even figure out one single Braille character. I had given up in the end, thinking that even if I had spent my lifetime I would have never been able to master Braille.

The Japanese Braille lessons were equally hard for me. But the teachers taught me very attentively and kept encouraging me. Seeing that I was finding it hard to touch and read, the teachers even made small Braille cards for me to practice. I could take the cards with me anywhere I went and as long as I had time, I could practice Braille. Eventually, I came to be able to figure out one Braille character after another, gradually the characters became sentences, and sentences became the whole text. I am so grateful to the teachers who kept cheering me on and taught me Braille.

In China, it is extremely difficult for anyone with disability to find work. I had always thought it would be so nice if people with disabilities could work together. In Japan, I finally found organizations I had dreamed of: independent living centers. At independent living centers, the members of staff were working together, irrespective of types of disabilities. There were also members of staff without disabilities. Independent living centers offer a variety of services for people with disabilities. At an independent living center, I studied something new: peer counseling. Peer counseling is a program through which peers with disabilities release their inner feelings, bridge the distance and acquire confidence. Another important activity of independent living centers is disability movement— based on the idea that society cannot change without disability movement. In China, it would be difficult to start up disability movement similar to that of Japan, but I would like to find a way that is applicable to the Chinese society to help change the lives of people with disabilities.

I also had an opportunity to visit many other disability organizations. Organizations for people with visual impairment included Nippon Lighthouse Welfare Center for the Blind and Okinawa Welfare Association for the Visually Impaired. Anywhere I went, the staff was so kind, making my training a joyful experience. The training at Tokyo Metropolitan Support Center for the Deafblind was most memorable. Finger Braille, devised for the Deafblind, is such a wonderful communication tool. I have a Deaf friend in China and his life is so hard. If he and his family learned to communicate with the finger Braille, his life would be so much more broadened.

I had the most wonderful week of my life, staying at the home of the Ikezawa family in Kumamoto Prefecture. I became a member of the family. The family was so kind to me. Dad and Mum took me to a farm and a hot spring, and enjoyed eating Horse Sashimi with me, despite their busy work schedule. It was such a wonderful, fun New Year holidays.

When I was small, my father was too busy to spend time with me even on my birthdays. I have no brothers or sisters so I never celebrated my birthdays with a lot of people. The night before I left Kumamoto, the family held a birthday party for me. The family’s daughter Mako played the piano, and Kako the violin, and we sang the birthday song together. I was so moved and wished time would stop.

Before the swimming lessons, I had always been so scared of water. During the swimming lessons, I felt totally frightened as soon as I got into the water and did not want to swim at all. However, thanks to the passionate instruction by the coaches, I managed to overcome my fear of water and swim a little. I am extremely grateful to the coaches.

I was totally stunned by the amazing scenery that unfolded before my eyes at the ski resort. It was like a world from fairy tales books. I felt as if I had become a flying bird, as I skied down the mountain. The three days went by very quickly, but it was the most memorable, joyful experience.

During my training in Okinawa, I attempted scuba diving for the first time in my life. I saw thousands of tropical fish in the sea. It felt surreal. It was such a wonderful experience.

The 10 months in Japan was a very fulfilling, enjoyable time of my life. In Japan, I experienced a lot of “firsts”. The first Japanese, the first Braille, the first swimming, the first skiing, the first scuba diving. And the first eating Sashimi. I had such an agonizing, sad period soon after I lost my vision, but now I am much more cheerful, and I have gained a lot of confidence.

In the field of disability, China is far behind Japan. After I return to China, I would like to put my knowledge and experience to good use to make contributions for people with disabilities in China.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone at the Duskin AINOWA Foundation, Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, and everyone in Japan who gave me a helping hand in the last 10 months.