Ahn-young!

For the last month, I have been trying to enjoy Korean as one of my iniatives to embrace the multilingual aspect of LEX. It also was helpful because I had the opportunity to travel to Korea. My host family had friends who had moved there for an assignment with work, but were moving back to Japan soon. Pretty much, it was their last chance to visit them while they lived in Korea and I was just lucky enough to be able to go with them. It was pretty exciting especially since I heard that I was the first intern to travel on a family vacation out of the country.

One of the things I really enjoyed about Korea was its connection to the U.S. I kept thinking how Seoul had many more younger foreigners than Tokyo, but I understood why - Tokyo is really expensive! Also, I found a lot more American companies and products on the shelf. There were just as many Dunkin Dounuts as there were Starbucks. However, Seoul is a city with a double face. Many areas are freshly developed showing the success that they have enjoyed in recent years. Others are completely falling down, but it is in some of these areas that there is the most culture. You experience just as much on market streets where there is a tarp/styrofoam/cardboard roof and half the shop is outside permenately as you do touring palaces.

A hidden food market.

We were able to see many things and are hosts made sure we got to experience all different aspects. We toured the 2 different palaces - one in Seoul and one in Suwon. We saw a UNESCO World Heritage Fortress. I ate many of the different traditional foods - "babeempa", kimchi, dog meat (it will make me stronger), and korean barbeque. We ate at a variety of different restaurants from fancy to garage-like. We shopped in hidden food markets, on souvenior streets, and in high-end retailers. We experienced a theatre event in Seoul's own Nanta! - where I was pulled from the audience to participate on stage. It was so many things and only in 4 days. I really hope I get a chance to do it again!

Dressed up in Korean Imperial costumes.

Yearlong English Interviews

Life in Japan has been progressing as usual. We are already starting to get ready for many of the exchanges next year. While for the short term programs it is as simple as accepting applications or preparing information sessions, the yearlong program requires a lot from the student. We already accepted the Hippo applications and provided an informational guidance session at the end of October. However, that is just the beginning.

In order to be accepted into a foreign program, the student must work hard to complete many more pieces - a Japanese interview, a foreign language interview, a Second Language English Proficiency test, and then after passing all of those they must write applications and essays for the foreign program (many times requiring additional revisions to complete proper language). That is why we are so busy with the program already and why we have so many members on the yearlong team.

For the most part, I serve two purposes on the team. First, I am a native English speaker and can provide language interviews to people going to English speaking countries (or countries where no one in the office has proficiency in the language - and because the student will probably have to use a lot of English to communicate). Second, I have experience with yearlong (since I have studied abroad before and am currently on a yearlong program) plus I have first hand experience in an American high school.

The interviews are actually a lot of fun for me though I'm sure they are often very stressful for the student being interviewed. We even had a student who we thought might pass out because he was so nervous! He did do well though and I'm sure he could have done better had he relaxed. The reason I enjoy them so much is because I get to meet many youth from Japan and hear about their excitement (or their fears) about going abroad for a year. Sometimes, I interview students with the help of one Japanese coordinator, but most of the time, Angie (the Romanian intern) and I work together to interview students, while one of the coordinators is there to provide support. With almost 20 interviews already completed, I can't wait for my upcoming trip to Nagoya where I will interview more students!

This is the view from where we held the English interviews.

Koto-Ku Community Festival

Wow! It seems like just yesterday that I was writing my last blog post, but yet it was really 2 weeks! I have been told it has gotten a lot colder in the U.S., so I should probably tell you I've only worn a light jacket once so far...And that was when the latest typhoon was offshore and pulling wind down from Russia. Otherwise, it has been amazing weather here. As always, I've been doing a lot, but I will talk about one thing I really enjoyed.

I worked at a Hippo booth at my community festival. The festival was held over the weekend a week ago at Kiba Park near my home. The park is quite large and known for the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, but mostly it's cool because it has a suspension bridge over a canal in the middle.

The event was quite exciting for me as it was also my first Japanese festival. I want to say it was a mix between a flea market and a trade show. There were many tents set up in many different areas. Booths varied a lot. They had food (ooo the food), fresh fruit and vegetables, random rummage, blood pressure testing, clubs and groups, cell phone companies, relay races, etc. There were also a few stages with bands, dancers, and history-based performances. It was all a lot of fun and it was great to disappear from our booth for awhile to explore.

Our booth was in the International Friendship Circle where people from different organizations were either providing native food or selling crafts or, like us, playing games. We had a tarp on the ground and did some of our songs and dances with families who were willing to stop. I was asked to give my introduction in Japanese about once every half hour. I also spent a lot of time blowing up and shaping balloon animals, which we gave away as prizes. It was another great opportunity to spend time with many different members of the Koto-ku area clubs where we could just interact and talk without needing to constantly be performing activities. Afterwords, we all went to dinner and celebrated the end of a great festival!

One Month in Japan

Today marks a month since I came to Japan. It really has gone quickly and some how I knew it would. I figured after I'd been here for awhile everything would start to settle down, but it hasn't quite happened yet. I feel like I always have a full calender and from what I've seen from people in Hippo this is a normal occurance. I'm partially excited because there is so much to experience and only a year to do it in, but also starting to feel the wear and tear. Sadly, the weekends are far to precious to catch my breath. This past weekend was once again an extended weekend due to a holiday on Monday- there tend to be quite a few. I personally think it's because people work so hard with so much overtime that the holidays are built in to help them survive. Personally, my weekend was jammed back with brass band concerts, sightseeing, and festival.

Outside the Asakusa Shrine One Weekend

On Saturday night, we attended one of our usual clubs for what is quickly becoming my favorite hippo activity - the potluck. It doesn't happen to often, but I love when it does. I think it's a great opportunity for club bonding - it's kind of like a family reunion. Sure we do some SADA and mimicing, but then everyone sits around a table and eats. I get to try lots of different foods, but also it's time when people are just interacting and communicating. Overall, language is still the biggest barrier for me though I'm starting to catch more and more. My host mother writes words that I learn on the calender and also records the date that I recite certain things at Hippo meetings. It's great to have a support system.

Saori from Japan visits Cambridge language club

On September 22, a LEX/Hippo member from Japan named Saori visited a LEX language club in Cambridge. Here is a photo and an account of the visit written by Kateryna, whose family attended the club:



"As a family, we've been members of LEX for 2 years now, and have had fun starting to see we can speak 7 languages (some better than others.....). But just as we started feeling like we've become LEX old-timers, we found out what it's like to be a real Hippo club veteran. A LEX member from Japan visited our Tuesday morning club. It was fun having a visitor who already knew all the SADAs we were doing, mimicked along with us during talking time, and brought her own kamishibai. What really amazed us, though, was to learn that she's been a member of LEX for twenty years! (No, she wasn't Sunoko - her name was Saori!) No wonder her English and her French were great.... Talking time was particularly fun. We loved hearing about Saori's life in Japan, her family, her likes and dislikes (the kamishibai format is the same in Japan), and we added a lot of Japanese to our growing repertoire. We've always dreamed of doing a homestay abroad, but now it really seems possible, because we have a friend outside of Tokyo we are all excited about seeing again!"

Impressions

Having never been to Japan before, many things were immediately new to me. While I've spent the last few days talking about the major changes I've been going through, there are many small ones that are what makes Japan so much fun. So today, I'm going to talk about some of those little things. Of course, Japan (and even Tokyo) is very diverse and I'm sure each thing I say will be somewhat contradictory.

The first thing I have to mention because it is raining today - clear umbrellas are soo popular. I had seen maybe one before arriving in Japan and on my commute to work this morning I have already seen about 500. I would say they are more popular among young people with an alarmingly many among men. I saw some on sale at Don Quiote on my way in for ￥398, so I might have to pick one up on my way home...

Another thing I was taken aback by was the amount of technology is cars. For the most part, the same vehicle could be found in the U.S. from the same manufacturer, same year and be completely less sophisticated. We are talking built in GPS (where you can also watch TV when the break is pressed), video cameras for backing up, side mirrors that fold in, taxis with passenger doors that open up, etc.

There is so much trust in the city! This is evident in multiple ways. For example, we weren't home when the co-op came to deliver the groceries and the driver just left them on the doorstep and my host mother didn't think a thing of it. Or even in how the bikes are constructed. In America, we have a bike lock to keep someone from moving our bike, but in Japan the lock is built in and just keeps the back tire from moving. It would be so easy to carry the bike away and cut the locking part!

Another thing I completely enjoy is the use of multiple floors for business. In Madison, buildings are residential with commercial space maybe on the first and second floors. Here, you can take an elevator to the 6th floor and it will open to a restaurant or a cafe or an amazing accessory store!

I know that through my year here, I will grow to take all of this for granted so I'm trying to enjoy it now while I can when I can be captivated for hours just walking around in the streets without ever actually entering a store.

What is Hippo?

I had heard many things about Hippo Family Clubs before arriving in Japan, but was I really prepared? I don't think entirely, but I'm not sure anyone can be entirely aware of what goes on at Hippo. Hippo is so many things that it is hard to even describe especially because each club is unique. So far I have attended 3 different clubs, 2 events, 1 trip and worked in the office.

The clubs are high energy, almost always hectic (maybe even more for me, because I have no idea what the instructions are), but definitely filled with fun. My host mother's club has a lot of little kids. This means that Sing Along Dance Along (SADA) is almost always chases or games. However, in Waka-chan's club there are a lot of older kids and the dances are more complex and well rehearsed. They also have most of the story tapes memorized and can lead them for other people to mimic.

It was through Cherry-chan's club that we took our trip to Fukui. Many of these members are also in my host mother's club and they are the family I have really connected with (mostly because I have spent a lot of time with them). This is one of the interesting points I had heard about Hippo but didn't really realize how stong it was - Hippo Clubs really are families! For the longest time, I was soo confused about which kids belonged to which parents. Every parent was helping everyone and kids were always showing up and going home with different people. It wasn't until I asked that I knew who the real families were.

I have also attended many other events. I went to a meeting some fellows held for people who had returned from exchanges and for those interested in going. While I didn't understand a lot of the speaking, I got to see pictures from the exchanges and could normally understand the meaning. I also went to one of the workshops sponsored by the office. There were a lot of people there most of them fellows, so it was awesome to see that if three-quarters of them had at least 10 members in their club exactly how big Hippo is just in the Tokyo area!

Tonight is my host fellows Hippo meeting. Over breakfast she told me she wanted me to recite a couple of tracks of Sonoko's story in Japanese. While I have listened to quite a few times just trying to mimic, I now have to have it memorized and recite it without a cd! I listened to the selection I chose over and over on repeat on my way to work and I will on my way home to try to get it down before tonight. Wish me luck!