LEX Language Project

Kyoto Temples and Shrines

2012-01-31T02:32:00.007-05:00

Kyoto is a beautiful city and one of my favorite places I've visited so far in Japan. It has an amazing amount of traditional culture and over 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines (according to the Lonely Planet guide). Of course we didn't see them all, but we did get to visit many eautiful places, and I decided that the pictures were worthy of their own post.

Kinkaku-ji: the Golden Pavilion

Ginkaku-ji: the Silver Pavilion


My host sister Asuka having a snowball fight (Japanese sized!) with my brother and me.


Entrance to the Kiyomizu-dera temple

The water from the natural springs at the Kiyomuzu-dera temple
is thought to be sacred and have therapeutic properties.

Visitors drinking sacred water from the waterfall at Kiyomizu-dera.

Burning incense inside the temple

I have seen these stone statues with colored bibs all over Japan
and when I asked my host family about them, they explained to me
that the statues wear children's bibs because they represent the bodhisattva
who is the guardian of the souls of children, especially those who have died.

My two families in Japan/Kyoto

2012-01-30T02:48:00.002-05:00

On January 2nd my mom and brother from Wisconsin arrived in Japan to visit me! It was really great to be able to spend time with them and for them to be able to see and experience a lot of the things that I have experienced here. It was their first time in Japan and my host family graciously invited them to come with us on vacation over the New Year's holiday, so together all 6 of us packed in a Japanese-sized car and drove to Kyoto and Kagawa to go sightseeing and visit friends of my host family.

Ready for Kyoto! Just kidding, we definitely took a car. This is right outside my host family's apartment with some neighbors.

Since my host dad is in the Japanese Self Defense Force, he was excited to take us to the local military museum to see the tanks he used to drive. すごいい！

At a traditional style restaurant in Kyoto

My brother really liked trying all the different food, especially things like squid and fish eggs. This was a new one for me too: raw horse meat.

My host mom took my host sister and I to a place to get dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos, with makeup and wigs and everything. It took about an hour in total just to get ready, but it was great!

My host mom's two Japanese daughters

New Year

2012-01-20T02:44:00.003-05:00

If Christmas isn't as big in Japan as it is in the U.S., the reverse is true for the New Year. A lot of people go to visit their families at this time, since there is a break from work and school for the holiday. I went with my host family to Sendai, a more northern area of Japan, to visit my host father's mother and brother who live there and we stayed with them four days.

On New Year's Eve, we had an amazing traditional Japanese meal with lots of sushi and assorted obento items: shrimp, lobster, snails, Japanese mame or sweet black beans with gold flakes, salmon roe, and roasted chestnuts to name a few. すごいおいしいかった (It was super delicious)! We also had a chance to practice some foreign languages together at dinner since my host dad's brother bought an assortment of foreign beers for everyone to sample. Cheers! Nazdorovie! Kanpai! Prohst!

The Japanese make the most beautiful little cakes I have ever seen!

My host mom and grandmother preparing the pot for sukiyaki, which consists of vegetables, thinly sliced beef, and a mixture of soy sauce and sugar, simmered in the pot right on the table. It's a very popular winter meal in Japan and one of my favorites.

After dinner we watched a New Year's special on TV with lots of famous Japanese performers, (and also a special performance by Lady Gaga) and then played games together. I learned a new Japanese card game, called bouzumekuri which was really fun. Everyone takes turns taking a card from the deck and depending on the character on your card you either have to give up your whole pile or can try to take other people's piles by slapping them before the person notices and slaps their own pile first. In that way I guess its a little like Spoons.

On January 2nd, we we went to a shrine to pray and welcome in the the new year. Of course we weren't the only ones; there were lots of people there!

At the shrine there are little wooden boxes under a row of big bells. To pray, you throw a coin into the box as an offering, ring the bell by shaking the big ropes, bow twice, clap your hands twice, and then bow once more.

At the shrine lots of people also buy omikuji: little strips of paper that have fortunes on them. If the fortune is good, you keep it with you, but if it is bad, you tie the paper on one of the rows of string so that the fortune stays at the shrine and does not come true.

Christmas Mochiyori Party

2012-01-20T01:30:00.002-05:00

I've finally uploaded all the pictures from the Christmas and New Years holidays, so here are some images to go along with my last post. These are from the Christmas party we had with some neighbors and friends in the community center that is part of the apartment complex we live in. Even though I didn't have a big American style Christmas celebration with lots of family like we usually have in the U.S., it was kind of like we created a big family with neighbors and friends of all ages coming together to celebrate, so it was really nice.

We all helped decorate the community center to make it more festive for the occasion.

We even had a little fiber optic Christmas tree that my host mom borrowed from a friend.

Everyone brought a different dish to share at the mochiyori, or potluck party. I made eggnog
(my first attempt!), which turned out pretty well and was something new for everyone.

My host sister made this cake in the shape of a yule tide log.

Christmas chicken

After dinner, the kids took turns trying to break a makeshift piñata made from rolled up newspaper and tape. It worked though (proof below)!

Ame! (Candy!)

The balloon decorations also doubled as a really great toy.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-28T01:59:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Japan!

Christmas isn't as big of a holiday in Japan as it is in the U.S., but I did have a nice Christmas dinner (Japanese style) with my host family on Christmas eve and we had several Christmas themed Hippo activities and a potluck party with some of the neighbors. I made eggnog for the occasion (my first attempt but it turned out pretty well!). My host mom even borrowed and put up a little LED light-up Christmas tree. My host family also bought me a little box set of Japanese hiragana stamps as a Christmas gift which was really sweet of them, and it is helping me to learn hiragana characters. :)

While Christmas isn't as celebrated as it is in the U.S., New Year's is a very important holiday here. Today is the last day of work at the office before the new year vacation so, as is the Japanese tradition, this morning everyone helped clean the entire office. This type of cleaning even has a name - oosoji. Japanese people thoroughly clean their homes and offices at the end of the year in order to start the new year with a clean slate after the holiday. It actually makes a lot of sense. It's not all work either; at the end of the day, after all the cleaning we'll have an end of the year meeting/party with everyone in the office to celebrate and reflect on the past year.

In Japan almost everyone has vacation somewhere between the last weekend of December and the first weekend of January to celebrate the new year. Tomorrow I am traveling with my host family to Sendai, which is north of Tokyo, where my host father's mother lives. We'll spend several days with her, celebrating the new year together. I don't know that much about what we will do there yet, except my host mom has told me several times that it will be much colder there than in Tokyo, so I'll have to pack warm clothes!

On January 2nd we'll return to Tokyo and meet my mom and brother from Wisconsin who are coming to visit! I'm so excited to see them and show them everything here! Together we will go with my host family to visit Kyoto and Kagawa, 2 prefectures farther south in Japan to go sightseeing and visit some friends of my host family. I'm really looking forward to these next few weeks from which I'm sure I will have lots of photos to share with you, and I'm happy that I will be able to spend with both of my families :)

Festivals and Holidays

2011-12-19T21:08:00.005-05:00

I've finally uploaded and organized a lot of the pictures I've taken from the last few months, so here is a summary of a few of the festivals and celebrations I've experienced here so far:

OMIKOSHI FESTIVAL

The omikoshi is a portable shrine that's supported by large wooden planks and carried the shoulders of those participating in the procession during the festival. In September one of the Hippo fellows, Aryusha, was helping organize a festival in a city near where I live, and invited me to join. It was really fun and I met a lot of people from different parts of Japan as well as quite a few other foreigners who were visiting or living here. We all dressed up in happi coats (pictured above) and took turns carrying the omikoshi when the procession started. Even though the omikoshi is really heavy and the procession lasts a long time, it's full of energy and everyone bounces up and down and sways back and forth in unison to the beat of the drum, kind of like a march, which makes all the bells on the omikashi ring. And of course after all the hard work, there was a party to celebrate!

HALLOWEEN

Halloween is a much more low-key holiday here, it's not really celebrated like in the U.S., but at the beginning of October you start to see all kinds of Halloween themed treats and decorations in the stores, which actually surprised me, though they lack the scary, gory aspect and are instead super kawaii (cute). My Hippo club had a Halloween-themed meeting where the kids went "trick-or-treating" around the room to the adults with candy and my host family had a Halloween mochiyori (potluck) at our apartment to celebrate.

I had brought a set of face paints from home and asked the kids if any of them wanted their face painted. At first they were all really shy, but once one of them volunteered they were all eventually lined up waiting for their turn. I had to stop after about an hour, when all the space on their faces was pretty much used up anyway. It was fun because they got really excited and were super adorable, and it was a good way for me to be able to interact with them without necessarily having to speak much of the same language. It was also a good learning opportunity for me; I learned new words like kumo (spider) and koumori (bat), and zonbi (zombie), which may turn out to be very useful someday, you never know!

BIRTHDAYS

In October my host sister Asuka turned 11 and we celebrated with a birthday dinner at our house, complete with lots of good food and a birthday cake. I was a little surprised by the cake; cakes seem to be a real specialty item here, probably because most people like my host family don't have ovens so they don't bake at home. The cake was really beautiful and delicious but it cost a lot and was sooo small!

Also, as part of Asuka's birthday celebration later in the month, another new cultural experience for me - Disneyland! It was my first time ever going to Disneyland, and something I certainly wasn't expecting to experience in Japan. I actually didn't even know that there was a Disneyland in Japan, and it seems very American to me, but apparently it's really popular here. We went on a Monday, a non-holiday, and it was packed; there was an hour and a half wait for some of the rides. Also, at least every other woman or girl there was wearing a headband with Minnie Mouse ears and a bow. It was definitely an interesting day.

Learning 日本語

2011-12-15T01:49:00.002-05:00

Every day I'm learning a little more Japanese. Not in a class but from everything around me. Rather than sitting in a classroom, I sit at the dinner table with my host family or at my desk at work. My best teachers aren't licensed professionals but 12 year old kids. My homework is trying to figure out what a sign says when I'm trying to get somewhere or understand what my coworkers are talking about during lunch. And my tests are when I have to order at a restaurant or ask someone how to find the right train in the subway station.

This way of learning is never boring! It's always an adventure, though it's not always easy. Sometimes it can be really frustrating not being able to follow a conversation or understand what someone is trying to ask me or express something I want to say in Japanese. But I have to remind myself that I started learning Japanese when I arrived here, only three months ago, so that makes me a three-month old in terms of Japanese. When I think of it that way and focus on what I do know and understand rather than what I don't, I think I am doing pretty well. I'm even beginning to become literate!


My first piece of Japanese literature... you have to start somewhere!

Can you guess what this says? It's probably easier than you think. I recognized these characters but couldn't remember exactly which sounds they stand for. I knew that the first character sounds like "ko" and the second was either "ah" or "oh". This is a picture of a koala, and there is no "l" sound in Japanese so that means it must be "ko ah RA!" Now you can read three hiragana characters!

One of my host sister's friends, Karen-chan, has English class at school and sometimes comes over so I can help her with her homework. It's really great because I think I learn as much in Japanese as she does in English. I try to understand what the directions say in Japanese in order to help her decide how the sentences need to be written in English, so we are both figuring it out at the same time. She's a really good teacher because she's patient and helps me read the Japanese sentences slowly. When I don't understand a word in Japanese she tries to tell me the English word, and when she doesn't understand and English word I try to find the word in Japanese. When we can't, we look it up in the dictionary and then we've both learned something new!

Karen-chan and her brother Go-chan

Karen-chan's English homework and my Japanese notes

Karen-chan teaching me how to write hiragana and kanji characters

Elementary School Visit

2011-11-29T00:33:00.001-05:00

One part of my job is to help run workshops at Japanese elementary schools, where we teach about different cultures. Last week was my first time participating and I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but it was a lot of fun!

There were about 100 3rd and 4th graders that gathered in the school gym for the workshop to listen to several presentations and participate in group activities and games. All the Hippo members running the workshop wore different types of traditional dress from around the world and taught the kids words in different languages. I always thought that Japanese children were really shy compared to American kids, which was true for most of the Japanese kids I had met when they were with their parents, but it turns out that as a group they are not shy at all! I realized this when I found myself at one point surrounded by lots of little voices saying “Su-chan!” (my Japanese nickname) as I was being physically pushed backward by a crowd of about 40 kids who all wanted to be in my group for one of the games.

I gave a short and very basic presentation about the U.S. and Wisconsin in my very limited Japanese but with big pictures to illustrate my points, so the kids were able to understand, and of course they didn't care if my Japanese grammar was correct or not. They got really excited about the photo of my parent's house, which is in the country with lots of space and trees around, and asked me several times if I was rich. (My parent's house is a pretty average sized American home, but compared to the apartments in Tokyo, it seems huge.) I tried to explain to them while space is very limited, and therefore expensive, in Tokyo, there is a lot of space in the country in Wisconsin, so having a big house does not necessarily mean you are rich.

It was interesting to hear the questions that they asked and what they were the most interested in, or what they already knew and what they didn't. I also played an American folk song for them with my guitar, which they loved. I really can't play guitar that well, just a few basic chords to accomany songs, but the 3rd and 4th graders thought it was awesome; kids are such a great audience! A lot of their questions focused on my guitar:

How do you feel when you play the guitar?
How long have you been playing the guitar?
How many hours each day do you play guitar?
Can I touch it?

They also asked things like:　

Are the traffic lights the same colors in America as they are in Japan?
Are McDonald's the same in America as in Japan?
What kind of food do you eat in America?
Are you rich?　(again)

I had a little entourage of girls who were in one of my groups where we had to hold hands, and after the game they just kept following me around holding my hand with these huge smiles whenever I looked at them. They were so cute! One of them brought me a piece of paper and a pen and asked if I would sign if for her, so I did, which of course was soon followed by ALL of them running up to me with little scraps of paper in their hands asking for my autograph. I felt like such a celebrity!

Kawagoe Festival

2011-11-15T23:43:00.001-05:00

This last weekend I attended a festival in Kawagoe with the members of the Hippo family club from that area. Together we marched in a parade and performed several songs that we had been practicing, one from Korea and one from Mexico. I played guitar along with a few other members and everyone sang. It was fun!

The Kawagoe Hippo club

At the festival there were lots of different groups performing and people dressed in different traditional costumes from around the world. For the parade, my Hippo fellow asked me to wear a traditional American costume, which is hard because the U.S. doesn't really have it's own national traditional dress like a lot of other countries do. What's the U.S. equivalent of a kimono? The thing about the U.S. is it's big and comprised of people from a lot of different cultures and it doesn't have a very long history as a country comparatively. So when people ask me what traditional American dress looks like, or what a typical American meal looks like, it's sometimes hard to say, because it depends on where in the U.S. you are and who you are and the specific culture of the community or family that that you were raised in. In Mexico a lot of people even told me that I looked really American (meaning blonde hair, blue eyes) which was strange because there really is no such thing as a typical 'American looking' person, but it's interesting to see the image of the U.S. in the eyes of those from other parts of the world.

Since I didn't bring much to Japan in the way of an American costume, unless you count blue jeans, the fellow from the Kawagoe Hippo club lent me a cowboy hat that she bought in Oregon and my host mom lent me her western-style boots. I suppose the cowboy is a pretty iconic American image, and America is good at being iconic; I'll have to keep working on improving my costume for next time.


My best attempt at looking 'American'. What do you think?

I had a chance to talk with a lot of interesting people at the festival, and my travel guitar was a great point of conversation. This man was singing a song for me in Japanese set to the tune of "Amazing Grace".

Lake Kawaguchi Trip

2011-11-07T23:54:00.003-05:00

Last week to celebrate the end of Dr. Flynn's visit to Japan, the Hippo office arranged a thank you trip to Lake Kawaguchi, which is right at the base of Mt. Fuji. Several of the Hippo staff attended, as well as some Hippo members from other parts of Japan like Osaka, and I was invited along with some of the other interns. Everyone had a chance to talk together and share experiences and impressions throughout the weekend and the area we visited was really beautiful. We stayed in a hotel with a great view of Mt. Fuji across the lake. We were lucky to arrive on a clear day so we could see the mountain, and trees were just starting to change colors for the fall. It was a really nice trip and it was nice to see a little bit of Japan outside the city-ness of Tokyo.

View of Mt. Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi from the hotel

The small tourist town that surrounds the lake

At the hotel, I had the opportunity to experience a very Japanese tradition - the onsen, or public bath. The hotel had an onsen on the top floor that was fed by the water from natural hot springs and had an amazing view of the lake and mountain. One Hippo member told me that two of Japanese people's favorite things are the onsen and Mt. Fuji so it was really special to be able to experience them both together! People also told me that they were impressed that I was open also to the experience of the onsen, as many foreign people don't try it because they don't feel comfortable with the idea of being in the nude around strangers (even though, of course men and women's baths are separate). This actually didn't bother me at all and I would encourage everyone to experience it if they are in Japan. It's really nice! I went three times in our 24 hour stay at the hotel. We even got up early in the morning to be able to see the sunrise over the mountain from the onsen. Unfortunately when we got up all we could see was white because it was foggy, but it was still worth getting up for.

Japanese onsen looking over the lake and mountain

Dr. Suzanne Flynn's Visit

2011-10-19T02:58:00.001-04:00

This week Dr. Suzanne Flynn is visiting LEX/Hippo in Japan so we have been busy in the office preparing for the various lectures and workshops that she has been involved in. Dr. Flynn is a professor of linguistics and language acquisition at MIT in Boston and also a member of the LEX America Board of Directors. Yesterday she gave a public lecture which was attended by many Hippo members on raising multilingual children (and becoming multilingual adults as well). The session also included a lecture by Dr. Sakai, a Japanese brain researcher on language and the brain, followed by a question and answer session.

I was one of the MCs, along with 3 other interns, and introduced myself and facilitated parts of the session in English, Spanish and a little Japanese. One of the new things I learned was how to thank a speaker and solicit a round of applause from a Japanese audience: "Sakai sensei arigato gozaimashita, mo ichido hakushuo onegai shimasu." (It worked, everyone clapped!)

Unfortunately, I couldn't understand any of Dr. Sakai's lecture in Japanese, even though I wanted to, so I will focus on Dr. Flynn's, which I did understand. In this lecture she outlined 10 principals of language acquisition that sum up her years of research and also embody the Hippo philosophy of language learning. It was interesting to think about her points as they apply to the way that I am learning Japanese right now. One of the things that came up in the question and answer session was how speaking a different language can change one's perception of self-identity, as many of the year-long exchange students have expressed.

I felt a little like this when I was in Mexico, that there was a Stephanie who spoke English and was a university student in Madison, Wisconsin and a little bit different 'Estefani' or 'la güera' (the blond girl) as I was often referred to cariñosamente in Mexico, who spoke (rather broken) Spanish. I think this was because a lot of your self-identity has to do with how you express yourself and interact with others. In Spanish, I wasn't able to express things like sarcasm or wit in the same way that I could in English, so the way that I communicated and interacted with people was a little different. I was a lot more direct and concise and probably smiled and laughed a lot more when I couldn't respond well in words. I still get a little frustrated sometimes when I am trying to express a very complex idea in Spanish, but someone in Japan told me the other day that when I have a conversation with someone in Spanish I get really excited and expressive. I hadn't really thought about this but I know that the tone and rhythm of my voice changes, and maybe that expression is embedded within the language itself, or maybe it's just because I love speaking in Spanish.

Dr. Flynn's response was that this is because language is more than simply words and grammar, and contains a lot of cultural expression as well; especially when someone acquires a language in a natural immersion environment, it's very strongly connected to the culture and people that the language comes from. My own experience supports this completely. Dr. Flynn also mentioned body language, which is intertwined with spoken words when communicating in a certain language. In Japan I have noticed that I automatically bow slightly or nod my head forward when I say things like "hai", "arigato", "yoroshiku onegai shimasu", just like native Japanese people do. I was never taught to do this, but it seems to me that the body motion is almost a part of the word itself, just like the sounds that come from one's mouth, and it comes naturally.

Learning Like a Baby

2011-10-12T23:10:00.001-04:00

I didn’t study Japanese before coming to Japan, except looking at a few books about the basic structure of the language out of curiosity, so the way that I’m learning is by listening, observing, and repeating. The Hippo philosophy is to acquire languages naturally through immersion. As Yo Sakakibara, the founder of Hippo writes, the Hippo experience is “one of adults experiencing what it is to be a baby,” and this is exactly what I’m doing. I had known this before coming to Japan but it’s really different to experience it first hand. Not only am I learning in the way that a child learns, but I am acquiring language in the same pattern that a child does. The first words that a little kid learns are things like: mom, dad, hi, bye, hot, cold, happy, tired, you, me, want, like, go, eat, this, that, what, where. This is also pretty much the first set of vocabulary that I've acquired in Japanese, without even meaning to. It made me realize that these are some of the first words that a child (or an adult immersed in a foreign language environment) acquires, not because they are the easiest, but because they are the most necessary, useful, and frequently heard.

I’m actually amazed at how much can be conveyed and understood with just a few words, and how even learning one new word allows me to express a whole range of new ideas. For example, the other day I learned that the ending –tai means to want. By applying this to the things I could already express like, “I eat”, “I go”, etc., I can now say “I want to eat this or that”, “I want to go there”, ect. Perhaps my sentences are not grammatically correct, but I can express the idea, and this is what is important.

“Kore-wa Nihongo-de nan-to i-imasu ka?
Words learned at the dining room table

I try to use the simple phrases I am learning in Japanese as much as possible with my host family when we are eating or doing things around the house so I practice and remember them, and they are very patient with me. One of the first things I learned from my host mom was how to say “Kore-wa Nihongo-de nan-to i-imasu ka? (How do you say this in Japanese?),” which is one of the most useful phrases as you begin to discover the world around you in a new language, just like a little kid learning to talk for the first time.

The Hippo office is also a really great learning environment. Since we have 5 interns from different countries, it’s naturally a multi-lingual environment and we are all learning together and from each other. Yufu-chan always says things first in Japanese and then English or Spanish if I don’t understand. This is helpful because even if I might not understand something in Japanese at first, every time I hear it, it becomes more recognizable and I understand more. Miyuki-chan went with me on the subway one day and I was pointing out to her the Japanese kanji that I was beginning to recognize in the station. She was just as excited about and interested in the way that I was learning as I was. She said I was just like a little kid, excitedly stopping along the way to point out something that I could understand. That’s how I felt too! Now every time I see her at the office she asks me what new thing I have learned and I can proudly show her my notebook with some new name or kanji I have discovered the meaning of.

Kanji I can recognize in the subway station

す－ちゃん

A New Home In Japan

2011-10-11T23:03:00.009-04:00

I’ve now been in Japan a few weeks already and I’m getting settled into everything here. I live with my host mom, Toshiko, host dad, Hideharu, and host sister Asuka in Wako-shi, in Saitama prefecture. My host dad is in the military so we live in an apartment complex near a military base. It’s a really nice area since it’s near a big park, there are lots of trees, and on a good day we can see Mt. Fuji from the balcony!

View from our apartment

Our pet, Cha-Cha

Before I arrived in Japan, I saw on my host family’s application that they had a pet squirrel, which I thought was most likely a slight mistranslation for hamster, however when I arrived I was surprised to find that ‘squirrel’ was indeed a fairly accurate translation. He is actually a chipmunk and his name is Cha-Cha. My host mom explained that in Japanese the word for the color brown is Cha-iro, so Cha-Cha means something like Brownie. Now I will always remember how to say brown in Japanese.

My host dad eating an onigiri
for lunch

My host family helps me a lot and is patient with me as I’m learning how things work. Part of my host dad’s job is working as an English translator in the military, so he is able to explain more complicated things to me in English. My host mom also speaks English but often says things in Japanese, which is really good for me as I’m beginning to learn the language, and she always answers my questions and teaches me new words. The more times I hear something, the easier it is to recognize and understand the next time. My host sister Asuka is 10 years old and spends a lot of time playing soccer. She doesn’t speak as much English so this makes me want to learn more Japanese so that I can talk with her.

Ice skating with my host mom and sister

Being in Japan makes me really want to be able to communicate in Japanese, even though I came here knowing almost nothing. Though at first is seemed a little overwhelming, learning Japanese has become kind of a new hobby for me. When you stop worrying about how hard it seems or everything you can’t understand yet and focus on the things you can recognize or express, it’s interesting and rewarding, kind of like a puzzle that I’m figuring out little by little. Every day I am learning new things from everything around me. It’s great to be in the kind of encouraging environment that exists in the Hippo Family Clubs, the Hippo office, and my host family. It makes it easy to learn new things when you are not afraid to ask questions or make mistakes and there are so many people willing to help you who are excited about the progress you are making. I think this is one of the really great things about Hippo.

Hippo 30th Anniversary

A few days after I arrived, there was a big workshop and party for the Hippo 30^th Anniversary. There were about 700 people at the workshop and when I got there I learned that I was to go on the stage and introduce myself to everyone in Japanese! I was nervous because I don’t know very much Japanese yet at all, but I knew how to introduce myself from the Hippo Family Club activities that I attended in Mexico last summer and I repeated it over and over to myself before I went on stage. I’m sure what I said wasn’t perfect, but the important thing is that everyone understood what I was trying to communicate and it was really amazing to see 700 people smiling back at me and applauding!

View of the military base from our apartment building

View of Mt. Fuji from our balcony

す－ちゃん

こんにちは！Konnichiwa！Hello!

2011-10-11T22:24:00.002-04:00

My host sister Asuka and I in 小えど, Japan

Hi everyone! My name is Stephanie, but in Japan I've already been given the nickname Su-chan　す－ちゃん (su from Stephanie since the Japanese pronunciation is su-teh-fah-nee, and -chan is added to the end of a name when you are speaking to a younger person or a friend), so you can call me Su-chan! I am one of the five Hippo interns working in the LEX headquarters office in Tokyo this year. In addition to me, from Wisconsin, the intern team is made up of Tino from Mexico, Sakun and Ken Ken from China, and Hiu-chan from Korea. It's great to have such an international group!

Before coming to Japan I attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a degree in fine art. During that time I also worked for Wisconsin 4-H International Programs, which is how I first learned about Hippo through the 4-H/Hippo summer and yearlong exchanges. Last summer I had the opportunity to be a Hippo intern in Mexico for 3 months and it was an amazing experience. I met so many people there, not only from Mexico but also Japan, with corazones abiertos (open hearts) and learned so much that me animó irme como intern a Japón, and I decided to apply to for the internship in Japan. I’m excited to be here!!

Celebrating Hippo's 30th Anniversary with Hippo friends
from around the world!

It’s been wonderful to see so many members of the Hippo family here that I met before in Mexico and Wisconsin. My arrival in Japan was great because I felt like I was being welcomed into a big extended family that I already belonged to, the Hippo family! At the Hippo 30th Anniversary workshop, which was attended by around 700 Hippo members, it seemed like every other person I met had a connection to someone I knew from Mexico or Wisconsin. It was a great welcome to Japan and beginning to my adventure, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to get to know so many more people and experience and learn many more things in the year to come.

よろしくお願いします！Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

す－ちゃん (Su-chan)

Home

2011-03-20T05:40:00.001-04:00

Yesterday evening I arrived home in Wisconsin. I had hoped that I could stay in Japan, but on the 17th (the evening of the 16th in the US), the US government advised US citizens living in Japan to consider leaving the country. Until then, I had decided that I would stay in Japan unless the US government advised otherwise. After reading the government announcement, I spoke about the situation with a friend of my dad's, who is in the US Navy and stationed in Japan, and then I called my parents. We agreed that it would be best if I go home right away. Lex-Japan and Lex-Boston were wonderful, and by the end of the day, the date of my return-ticket had been changed so that I would leave Japan the following evening.

I had never expected that this would happen, but suddenly events were happening very fast. By the night of the 17th, my bags were packed and I was ready to go. In the morning, I went to the office one last time. There was a going-away lunch at a nearby restaurant . . .

. . . and then it was time to head to the airport. At the airport I was able to meet Nazuki, a former exchange student whom I hosted in 2007.

(Her mom works at the Lex office and came to the airport to see me off.) It was great seeing her, even for a short period of time.

Then, two plane rides and at least 18 hours later, I arrived in Wisconsin. It was so wonderful to see my family and, after all that has been going on, to be home.

Even so, I miss Japan, and I'm sorry that I had to leave so suddenly. I hope to return in the next few months when things have settled down.

Life goes on

2011-03-16T23:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I was able to go into work for about half the day. It was great being there, but it struck me how tired everyone looked. It wasn't just them though. . . I know I looked tired too. The emotional toll of the past days has been very draining. There is so much going on, and so much uncertainty as events continue to unfold. No matter where you turn, there is something to remind you that life is not as it should be.

I look at my laptop, where BBC News' Live Stream reminds me of the unfolding situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. I think of the rescue efforts in the north and all of the people who are living in temporary shelters.

And yet, looking outside this morning, life appears to be normal. The sun is shining, people are riding by on their bikes, and the kindergarten bus shaped like a giant dachshund just drove past . . . to all appearances, life is normal.

My host mother's hand-written train schedule, though, reminds me that power-outages are still affecting the train lines. Therefore, I will be working from home today. There will also be a power-outage here from mid-afternoon to early evening.

It's hard to put into words the situation here; so much is happening, and things constantly seem to be changing. Emotionally it has been quite draining. I'd like to thank all of my friends and family for your messages and prayers. You have been a great encouragement.

Waking up to Reality

2011-03-14T21:48:00.000-04:00

Reality hits you. It hits you in the small things of life, like whether or not there is going to be a hot water supply for your shower. It hits you in daily life, when you find out that the trains you take to work are still not running. And it hits you most as you watch and read the news.

This morning, while discussing my work situation with my supervisor, I saw some TV footage. I don't know the context, since I couldn't understand the Japanese, but the image was enough. An older man was standing in the middle of one of the areas devastated by the tsunami. All you could see was mud and timbers, crushed cars, and the remains of what had once been houses. He was clutching two photographs: they were small and smeared with grime. One was a family picture; smiling parents with two young daughters. The second was of the same two girls, this time swimsuit clad and standing on a beach, grinning happily at the camera. I don't know the context, but I suspect he was their grandfather.

Reality hits you, it hits you as you realize how many people here in Japan are suffering. So many people have lost everything. Some don't even have photographs; only memories of what life was like, what life should be like, but it's not.

Pray for Japan. Pray for the people and pray for the rescue efforts. And most of all, pray for everyone in Japan as we wake up to reality.

*Images taken from CNN and BBC

Reflections . . .

2011-03-14T11:31:00.000-04:00

Tonight my host mom announced we would have dessert. Then she pulled out a cake with a small pink "2" candle, and it hit me: As of today, I have been living in Japan for two months. And that made me think . . .

1 Year Ago:

I was at home in Wisconsin, finishing up my senior year and living a pretty ordinary life.

9 months ago:

I was getting ready for a 2 1/2 month trip to Korea, yet also fitting in some horseback riding.

6 months ago:

I was in the middle of my stay in Korea. After participating in the Lex Asian Youth Multilingual camp in Shanghai, I had begun to consider coming to Japan. I wanted to be able to speak Japanese, so I could communicate with more people.

And . . . six months ago to the day, I found out about the opportunity to come to Japan this year as an intern. I was so excited!

5 months ago:

I was back home in Wisconsin, but not for long . . .

2 months ago:

I had just arrived in Japan, I only knew a few phrases of Japanese, everything was very new, but I was so excited!

Today:

I have been in Japan for exactly two months. I have come a long way; at dinner I am able to chat in broken Japanese with my host parents about the events of the past few days.

I don't know what the coming days hold, but as I reflect on the last year, I keep thinking of the third verse from one of my favorite hymns:

“Hither to thy love hast blest me,
Thou has brought me to this place,
And I know thy hand will lead me,
Safely home by thy good grace . . . "

Monday morning

2011-03-14T00:25:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning to find that government controlled power-outages are coming into effect today, causing some train lines to stop running. As a result, heading into the office would be difficult, and a phone call with Yufu, my supervisor, confirmed that I should stay home.

So here I am, working from home. Incidentally, right after it was decided that I should stay home, it was announced that the JR Yamanote line was no longer running. That is one of the train lines I take to work, so even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to get into Shibuya.

Across Tokyo, people are being urged to conserve energy, and power is being turned off in different areas on a rotating basis. From what I've heard, it will even be turned off in Shibuya.

I will be posting pictures soon. I don't have that many, but you still will get a small idea of the earthquake's affect on life in Tokyo.

Sunday update

2011-03-13T09:53:00.001-04:00

I'm about to go to bed, but I wanted to post a quick update. Today went well, and I am hanging in there. Tomorrow I'll be heading into the Lex office for work. Life is going on, but the news reports keep coming in. Please pray for the people of Japan as they live through what the Japanese prime minister has called "the most severe crisis" since WWII.

Quick update

2011-03-12T06:40:00.004-05:00

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers; this afternoon I made it back to my host family's house. Getting ready to head to bed after a very long day (didn't go to bed last night, but managed to get a 3 hour nap this morning).

Earthquake

2011-03-11T13:53:00.001-05:00

It started with a faint rumbling. I could feel the floor vibrating under my feet. Around the office, people stopped work; there were exclamations, and then everything really started shaking. Within a few moments, I was sitting under my desk and listening to the sound of cabinets and everything else in the office being shaken by the earthquake.

This was my first earthquake in Japan. I knew Japan had earthquakes, so I was a bit surprised when my supervisor told me I should let my mom know I was okay. Wasn't this a normal earthquake?

In the hours since then, and one powerful aftershock later, I have come to understand that this was much more than a standard earthquake. In fact, this was the largest recorded earthquake in the history of Japan.

After emerging from under my desk, I slowly started to realize that this earthquake was not the norm. And this is where technology comes in. Within minutes of the earthquake appearing on world news, I received two messages from family friends in the US making sure I was all right. Within half an hour, I had sent a message to family, friends, and relatives letting them know that I was okay.

As the afternoon continued, it became clear that a number of my co-workers and I weren't going to be able to get home since all trains had stopped running. After eating dinner at the office, and checking to make sure it was okay, I took a walk down to Shibuya Station, the train station that I use every day. While Shibuya is usually crowded, tonight was a different kind of crowded. For one thing, the bus lines were incredible. They were so long, I had a hard time figuring out the actual purpose of the line. For another, convenience stores were filled with business workers buying dinners and stocking up for the night.

After wandering around taking pictures, I headed back to the office. There was an impromptu pizza party . .
And within about an hour of that, I received an inundation of replies to my message from friends in the US who were just waking up. Later in the evening, I touched base with my mom (and thankfully she saw my message BEFORE she heard about the earthquake!), and spent a good hour talking with her via Skype.

And since then . . . well . . . it's 1:17 and everyone is still going strong. Might as well, we can't head home! Forgive me if this post is a bit disjointed and remember that it was written after 1:00 AM!

Children

2011-03-06T07:09:00.001-05:00

I love children. You might say it's part of my nature: growing up the eldest in a large family with two younger sisters and four younger brothers. For me, life with children is normal, and I can't imagine life without children.

That was all very well for my life and family in Wisconsin, but what about when I decamped to Japan? Suddenly my family was half-way around the world, and I was spending most of my days in an office.

And this is where the beauty of LEX comes in. At the LEX office, it's not unusual to see children. In fact, hardly a day goes by without one mother (or more!) bringing her child into the office. Also, through LEX clubs and homestays, there are many opportunities to spend time with children. I love it!

This is Hanna: I see her at the office at least once a week.

This is Yuma . . . I stayed with his family last weekend. He likes to wear sunglasses . . .

He also likes to wear hats. This was taken while we were walking in the mountains . . .

There's only so much walking a 2-year-old can be expected to do on a hike!

Yuma's big sister Haruna likes glasses too. We had a wonderful time together.

We did an obstacle course together while hiking . . .

We took pictures together. Notice her earbuds . . . she was listening to music on my iPod!

She taught me how to make origami hearts.

Yuma "helped"

Haruna loved the bandz that I brought along.

The poodle was her particular favorite. She didn't know the word "poodle", but she had learned it by the end of the weekend!

After a great weekend full of children, I returned to the office . . .

Yep, that's me. Isn't it a great picture? The key is having a good photographer . . .

Meet Thomas

Thomas happened by my desk on Monday afternoon. He stopped to chat . . .

We inspected a highlighter that I was using . . .

We talked and laughed.

I looked at Thomas' bottle caps.

If you can't tell, we had a lovely time. Now, there's one part of the story that I haven't told you. One part about all these pictures that I've left out. Excepting Hanna, who's only a baby, all of these children spoke little, if any, English. Did that stop them talking to me? Not at all! They just chattered away in Japanese. Did this stop me communicating with them? Not at all! I just spoke in Japanese and did my best to keep up with and understand the conversation. Even when I didn't know what they were talking about, I still contributed to the conversation by occasional interjections such as, "Honto?" ("Really?") or, "Sodane?" ("Is that so?"). And the wonderful thing is, it worked!

So here I am, working in Japan . . . and life is normal . . . because there are children.

What do I do on the weekends? ~In pictures

2011-02-28T00:49:00.001-05:00

I take subways and take pictures of subways.

I try new things, like eating "fast food" Japanese style. This is a ramen shop. Press the name of the food you want, insert your money, and you get a little ticket . . .

A closer view, for those interested

And a menu with pictures: very important if you can't read Japanese characters!

After choosing what you want and getting a ticket, step inside the little shop.

And within a few minutes, you can have this:

Or this: I opted for a dish without an egg!

Back to weekend activities . . . I visit new places; this is near Asakusa.

And I take pictures of interesting buildings

I attend LEX Fellow meetings . . .

. . . Waiting to introduce myself in Japanese. It was my first time to do a long introduction, and at the point this picture was taken, I was praying I remembered everything! I did, and it went very well.

Back to taking pictures . . .

This is in Asakusa: a popular tourist attraction.

There are shops where you can buy all sorts of things.

And there's a temple

Changing gears: a double-decker train . . . I had to take a picture!

A train platform; I spend a bit of time in and around train stations on my commute.

Several weekends ago, I started learning calligraphy. (I think that's the right thing to call it.)

My finished product: it's the Japanese character for family, kazoku. The smaller characters on the left are my name written in katakana.

The one on the left says "family", and the one on the right says "rejoice."

Well, that's all for now. I haven't included pictures from the past couple of weekends; those will be posts in and of themselves!

What do I do on the weekends?

2011-02-17T21:35:00.001-05:00

This post was written last week; finally got around to posting it.

After a busy week of work, I'm definitely ready for the weekend, but I've noticed that it comes and goes very quickly! Two weeks ago, on Saturday, I went shopping with my host mom. I had a small list of things I wanted to buy, so we went to Kopunbunji. It's a subway station, but it also has an attached 8-story shopping center. It's like a department store, but within each floor there are different, smaller stores. My favorite floors were the two devoted to food and groceries. There was such an international variety: teas from France and Scotland, Market-O (a popular Korean brand), the American yeast brand my mom always uses . . . all of this found in one tiny little shop! I LOVE this international aspect of Tokyo. It's definitely a bonus for anyone of a culinary disposition!

The following day, after church in the morning, I went to a LEX Fellow's workshop. At the workshop, I introduced myself in English, Korean, and (of course!) Japanese. It was the first time I gave a long introduction in Japanese, and I was happy to remember everything.

After the workshop, I walked around Asakusa (it's pronounced ah-sock-sah). There are a lot of small shops selling all sorts of things . . . most of them quite expensive, or "takai". "Takai" is the Japanese word used for expensive, but it also means "tall."

So, that's a summary of my activities two weeks ago. This past weekend was busy too, though in a different way. On Friday afternoon, my host sister Nanami taught me some Japanese calligraphy. I learned the fundamentals of how to hold a brush, and then I drew two characters. I could choose any word I wanted, so I chose "rejoice" and "family".

On Sunday afternoon, we went out shopping. We spent a bit of time at Bic Camera as I looked into getting a portable Wi-Fi device. For an onlooker, the discussion must have been rather interesting. My host mom did most of the talking with the salesman, but then would give me the basic details in English. I would ask a question, in as simple English as possible, but even then it was a bit difficult. We were all very thankful for a pocket translator. After about 45 minutes of talking, questions, pocket translators, and even some sketched diagrams, I was ready to get "pocket Wi-Fi". It will be arriving in two weeks, and I'm looking forward to having it!

After that, we went out for dinner and then stopped by the grocery store to do a bit of shopping. I have been meaning to take pictures at a grocery store, and I finally did. I'll be posting them soon. I hope you like them!

So, that's an update of what I've been up to on the weekends. Staying busy, but certainly having fun!

Look at the snow!

2011-02-16T21:42:00.002-05:00

Two nights ago (that would make it Valentine's Day!) it started to snow as I was heading home from work. This isn't a common occurence in Tokyo, not to mention that the snowflakes were gorgeous, so I took lots of pictures.

Ogawa Station

Looking up the platform

It was really coming down!

Right outside the station: look at all the umbrellas!

Walking up the street . . . lots of snow!

Looking Back

2011-02-07T01:36:00.004-05:00

The Month in Review:

As we begin February, it is time for me to write my monthly report. Technically speaking, I haven’t been in Japan for a month yet, but this report covers all that I have done in January. As part of the report, I put together a summary of different categories within my life. While the following is rather dry, I thought my blog readers might find it interesting and informative.

Host Family:

I have a wonderful host family, and I’ve enjoyed settling in and getting to know them. My 8-year-old host brother has adjusted to me, and we get along very well. My 13-year-old host sister has been a great help as I learn Japanese; she has a notebook where she writes down new Japanese words and phrases that I am learning. Sugoi-ne! My host parents are wonderful. My host mom makes me feel like part of the family. She understands about the little things that make one feel “included” in family life. Something as small as a bedtime hug means a lot, and I really appreciate all that she has done.

Language:

I do think I’m learning Japanese, but I wish I were learning it faster! While I don’t feel overwhelmed, I do think right now Japanese is overwhelming me. I’m trying to remember so much, and while slowly and steadily different phrases and words are beginning to “stick”, there is still a lot that my brain just hasn’t sorted out or processed. I often catch myself mimicking different words and phrases as I hear them. I also try to use as much Japanese as possible in my everyday conversations. Right now it might be patchy, and I know I have a way to go for grammar, but I do feel like I’m gradually remembering more and more.

Work:

Work has been going very well. I certainly have stayed busy, and there’s always something that I can do when I have extra time. I enjoy coming to the office each day (I look forward to Mondays!), and it’s nice as I get into a routine.

Out and About:

So far, I have not done any research for my cultural project. I just picked up a new book on Japanese history, and I plan to put aside a small amount of time several nights a week for researching my cultural project.

I look forward to getting to know my way around Tokyo more in the coming month. Right now I’m just familiar with the JR Yamanatoe line as far as Shibuya and of course, the Seibu-Shinjuku line. I am hoping to gradually visit more areas and grow more confident in getting around Tokyo and using the subway.

Here's a map of the subway. It's the only one I could find with the Seibu-Shinjuku line, so please forgive the highlighting!

Well, that’s the report. What do you think? Was it interesting? Please feel free to comment any thoughts or questions that you have. I’d love to know what my readers are thinking and be more than happy to answer your questions.

Interesting Fact

2011-01-25T02:34:00.009-05:00

Three days ago, the first subway I took was delayed. I don't know why it was delayed . . . all the announcements were given in Japanese. All I know is that we sat at one station for a rather long time with the subway doors open (letting in quite a draft). By the end of our wait, I was very, very thankful that I was one of the few passengers lucky enough to have a seat!

When the subway did eventually arrive at my transfer station, I passed a guard handing out pieces of paper. He was giving them to everybody, and I took one. I had no idea what it meant, but an inkling that it had something to do with the delay.

The piece of paper

Something I find funny when travelling is that for me (since I can't read any written form of Japanese) this message was as good as a cipher. I could make educated guesses as to its meaning, but beyond that, I was in the dark. In the meantime, for anyone who can read Japanese, this was as standard as as any subway ticket!

Yes, I do realize I haven't explained just what it is yet. I just had to let you experience the "clueless" feeling first. Isn't that nice of me?

Now, as I was saying before I interupted myself, I didn't know what the piece of paper meant, but I intended to find out. So, once I arrived at the office I asked Hiroko. She glanced at it and said, "Oh, you don't need that." I had been pretty sure of that fact already. Still, I asked what it was. She explained that it is a pass from the railway company for employees to give their employers, explaining about the delay. Mystery solved!

A Walk to the Station

2011-01-25T01:55:00.007-05:00

Yudai came along . . . oh for the energy of an 8 year old! It doesn't help that I'm getting over a cold, but I certainly feel quite old with Yudai capering around me as I walk!

This is the busiest road I walk along

A university I pass each day

My destination, Ogawa Station

I thought these apartments were rather fun

Some normal houses (notice all the green!)

Speaking of green, look at the bamboo. Isn't it lovely? In Korea it grows on the mountains, giving them a beautiful "feathery" look.

Back to Japan though, this is a yakitori bar. I love the architecture with all the timber.

These look a wee bit sad, but I had to take a picture. Flowers in January: unthinkable! (Being from Wisconsin, I have certain stereotypes for what sort of things to expect in January. These include snow, ice, frigid temperatures . . . anything but flowers!)

A postal box; isn't it fun?

A vantage point :)

Views of the Neighborhood

2011-01-25T00:42:00.007-05:00

Looking out the apartment window

A neighboring school

Apartments . . .

and more apartments . . .

There's something special about these parking places; they're multi-level. To get your car (if it's the second or third down), simply insert a key into the meter and pull a lever.

The spiral staircase caught my eye, and if you look closely, you can see mountains on the horizon.

You don't see this sort of thing in Wisconsin during January!

Or this either!

The really gnarled looking trees are cherry trees. During April this will be gorgeous!

A streetview: see if you can match this with the view from my apartment.

Looking back up the same street

My host family's apartment building is on the right.

That's all for the present. Did you like the pictures? If so, you better check back soon. In my next post, I'm going to include pictures from my walk to the subway station!

The Week in Review

2011-01-23T20:17:00.007-05:00

Looking back over my first week in Japan, there's quite a lot I could say. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was able to experience normal days of office work. Right now LEX Japan is getting ready to send delegate application forms to the US. My job has been to go through the forms and make sure that delegates have adequate health information. Often there is additional information attached in Japanese. One of the women I work with will translate this for me, and then if necessary, I add this to the form. It's a fun job, involving a bit of conscise word crunching.

I love the environment in the LEX office, and the best way to describe it is to relate a slight misadventure of mine. On Tuesday morning, I took the subway all by myself. I was okay until I arrived at Shibuya train station. (From Shibuya I walk to the office) Shibuya is a very, very large train station, and I realized that I had no idea which way I should leave (north, south, east, or west). I found a pay phone and called the office. The lady I work with, Hiroko, told me the name of the street I needed to find and advised me to ask one of the station workers. I was a little worried because usually the station workers don't speak English, but the man I asked did speak English very well. He gave me directions in perfect English; it turned out I was just down the street from where I needed to go, and off I went. When I walked into the office everyone (and there are at least 30 people!) started clapping! It was very funny, and I had to laugh.

After three days of work, I was ready for a fourth, but on Thursday morning matters took a different turn. I woke up sick and with the unhappy knowledge that there was no way I could head into the office. My bug, some kind of cold and fever, continued through Friday and over the weekend, making things pretty low-key!

By Saturday afternoon, I felt well enough to attend my host family's Hippo Family club meeting. Afterward there was a party at the home of the LEX fellow for an exchange student from Korea. At the end of the party, as I was getting ready to leave, he asked me how long I was staying in Japan. I answered, "8 months", and then I asked him when he was going back to Korea. He laughed and said, "Next week!" It made me smile; I really am here for a while!

I do feel like I'm coming along nicely learning Japanese. I still have a very long way to go, but on Saturday I was finally able to remember several phrases that have been evading me all week. There was quite a sense of achievement!

That's all for now; come back soon for pictures that I took on a walk around my host family's neighborhood . . .

First Day . . .

2011-01-17T08:44:00.002-05:00

All of the sudden, I'm feeling quite tired. As a result, this post will be quite brief and will cover 5 highlights from my first working day in the LEX office.

1. Seeing Mt. Fuji from the subway window

2. Noticing orages trees from said subway window: And not just orange trees, orange trees with large oranges!

3. Meeting LEX fellows I know from Shanghai LEX camp; it's so wonderful to see familiar faces!

4. Seeing the LEX office for the first time

5. Meeting LOTS of new people!!!

That's all for tonight, but I'll be posting again soon!

~A view of the LEX office

Let's go fly a kite!

2011-01-16T07:49:00.003-05:00

This morning I went to a kite making class with my host mom and my 8 year old host brother. It was very fun. I'm not artistic by nature, so I contented myself with drawing a large red "W" on my kite. There were several inquires as to the meaning of "W", to which I explained I'm from Wisconsin.

After finishing, we walked to a park to fly our newly made kites. It was a nice windy day, excellent for flying kites. Wind does have its drawbacks though, and soon we were all cold and very ready to walk home and eat a hot lunch!

Arrival in Japan

2011-01-14T21:54:00.003-05:00

I often read in books about people waking up and suddenly remembering that they're in a new place. I was always rather skeptical of such an experience . . . until today. This morning I woke up and lay in bed. Without opening my eyes, I knew where I was (in my room in Wisconsin) and just what I would see when I opened my eyes. Just as quickly as the thought came, it left as I realized, "I'm in Japan!!!"

I arrived yesterday and am now settling into life with my host family. I just returned from biking to the park with my host mom. It was about a 10 minute bike ride and very fun. The weather here is chilly (my hands are still warming up, should have worn gloves!), but it is much, much warmer than Wisconsin. While the trees are bare, some of the hedges are flowering, and I even noticed some pansies in a window box.

This afternoon my family is having a welcome party for me, and I will be able to meet members of their Hippo Family Club. I'll be sure to take pictures. Now I'm off to study some Japanese and spend time getting to know my host family.

Hello!

2011-01-14T21:08:00.004-05:00

Hello! My name is Hayley Schoeppler, and I am a 19-year-old home schooled graduate from Wisconsin. For the past 8 years I have been an active member of 4-H, and it was through 4-H that I became aware of LEX. My family has enjoyed hosting one LEX delegate from Japan and two junior chaperones from Korea as well as two other youth from Japan and an exchange student from Norway. My experience has not been limited to hosting though. After spending a wonderful 2 1/2 months as a LEX intern in Korea last summer, I am very excited about my upcoming internship in Japan.

I love traveling, and I look forward to learning more about Japanese culture. I am also excited about learning Japanese, not to mention lots of other languages through LEX/ Hippo Family Clubs. When I am in Japan, I hope to share American culture with lots of new friends by sharing photos, American food (I love cooking!), and even some American folk music. There will be so much to learn and so much to share!

Last Day in the Office

2010-08-06T03:56:00.002-04:00

Today is my last day in the Institute for Language Experience, Experiment, and Exchange office here in Tokyo. It has been an amazing year and something I truly will cherish for the rest of my life. I can't believe how quickly these last few months flew by.

My major work this summer has been with the monthlong programs to and from America. It was great to have a chance to bring 4-H delegates to Japan and help them experience life with a Japanese family. Meeting these delegates and planning for they exchange was something I enjoyed so much during this year. I am so proud of everything they tried and how they challenged themselves. I'm sure it is an experience they won't easily forget.

I also got a chance to help prepare the Japanese members for the monthlong programs in America. Whether it was participating in camps, clubs, or just reviewing their paperwork, it was a chance for me to help these delegates in their own preparations. Now that they are safely into their homestay programs, I hope their anxieties have settled and that they are able to truly realize the information I tried to provide them.

I really can't believe that I am leaving Japan in 3 days. At the beginning it might not have, but now Japan definitely has a secure place in my heart.

Life Since February

2010-04-30T02:39:00.004-04:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted! Time has been flying by! As we are at the cusp of Golden Week, I want to talk about what has been going on here lately. To me, it seems that Golden Week is quite a transition much like New Year's was. For one thing, it pretty much puts me into the last quarter of my time here, but it also is a definite shift into stably warm and summerish weather.

About a month ago, I switched to my 2nd host family. It was hard for me to switch from my last host family, but at least for the time being I get to see them at different hippo events or when my host mother comes to the office. In a way it is like i am the older brother who just moved out on my own to a different part of the city. However, it is definitely different in the fact that I have to work to develop a relationship with another host family! My new host family has done a very good job of trying to integrate me in their family. If anything, times flies by most when I'm spending time with them.

I've also had two rounds of visitors in Japan. First, my former boss and WI 4-H's international coordinator, Kay Hobler, came to visit. She had a very full schedule with trips in Tokyo, Kamakura, Kyoto, & Hiroshima. LEX was very helpful and welcomed her group very well. They were all so appreciative of everything they got from LEX. Secondly, a friend of mine from the University came to visit. Even though she was originally reluctant, I convinced her to stay with host families. It was hard at first, but she really enjoyed her time with the families. She said that before she was really confused with what my job was. She thought that I was just wasting my degree to teach English in Japan, but after she was here she saw what Hippo was and heard about the different tasks I perform. She now thinks that it is a really interesting and useful experience.

One of the most enjoyable things that has happened was the Yearlong Preparation Camp last weekend. All of the students who will be leaving for a year abroad in the fall gathered to learn about their programs, what it means to be a yearlong student, get insights from previous participants, and outline a course of action for getting themselves where they need to be with language and personality. For many of them they have been working hard already, but for some the realization that they will be in a foreign country for 10 months has just not hit them (and maybe for the ones who have been working hard, it still hasn't hit them either). Even though I had lived abroad for half a year twice, I know that I was still naive until I got here about what it meant to live in Japan for a year.

The camp focused on really challenging the students to be in charge of their own outcomes. My group wanted to utilize me and my 'native speed'. They also tried their best to speak only English, but they quickly came to the realziation of how exhausting it is when you don't understand much and constantly have to try express everything in another language. They all did such a good job! I can't wait to check back with them before they leave and see how the camp drove their ambition to prepare harder.

Adventures in Kanji!

2010-02-18T22:26:00.013-05:00

Early last week, I gave a presentation at our Older Youth Workshop about my experience with kanji (the Chinese characters used in conjunction with the Japanese writing systems in everyday Japanese life). Everyone here has been really excited about it, and they have asked me to write articles for the newsletter and for the Transnational College of LEX reports about my examples. Compared to a Japanese person, my visualization of kanji is different and interesting to them. I decided that I would also include some of my examples here.

One of the places i have focused on kanji the most has been the train. For about 2 hours everyday, I am stuck on a train with free time and signs with romanji (the roman characters), hiragana (the Japanese syllables), and kanji. It gives a great opportunity to explore the new writing methods. One of the kanji I saw often was 駅. At first, it was very hard to distinguish, but I came up with a visual image to remember it. In the station there are signs for train lines (instead of subways). I thought that the right side of the kanji looked a lot like this image. Then on the top left side, there was a platform building with people waiting in line. Add a couple lines for other tracks, like the express train, and you have 駅.

Another important kanji for me to learn was my address. I live in 白河 (Shirakawa - white river). The first part I learned at a Hippo Congress. I was put on team white. To remember it, I thought of the kanji as a fist with the thumb pointing back towards me - I was team white! The second part was harder. In my neighborhood there are a lot of rivers and down on the bank by the bridges they are labeled with 川. I was confused about how the same word could have two representations, but if you look at 河 then you can see 川 turned on it's side next to a house - my house in 白河!

I have also made many mistakes. One of the funniest was when I mixed up 六本木 (Roppongi - a very touristy area) with 大丈夫 (daijoubu - meaning no worries). You can see how they look very similar, right? Well, I would often travel past the Roppongi station on the subway and wonder why their was a "No Worries" station or why my host mother would reply with "Roppongi" if I asked to stay in Shibuya after work. Later I recognized the 本 that is in Roppongi is also in 日本 (Nihon - Japan). I rememberd that sometimes Nihon is said Nippon like in All Nippon Airlines (ANA). The "pon" helped me remember which was which.

I am by far not a kanji expert, but I am slowly learning them. Many times when you remember one trick, it helps to remember many more. For me, I just have to continue to challenge myself to create mental images and other tricks. And of course, it helps to be surrounded by them everyday.

2010-02-01T02:11:00.013-05:00

One of my new challenges is overnight homestays with members of my Hippo Family. When I change host families in March or April, I will also be changing Hippo Families. So this is an opportunity for me to spend more time with them before I switch. I get a chance to learn more Japanese by interacting with more people and they get a chance to learn more about America. I have only completed two so far, but both of them were very different experiences.

My first one was with a young couple who had 3-year-old and 1-year-old sons. We spent our time playing with toys, going to parks, and watching movies. One of the shows we watched, Shimajiro, was a program for young Japanese kids to learn English in a simple way like Sesame Street. I was surprised by how much the 3-year-old knew! He had never really shared English in any of our Hippo Clubs, but here he was reciting the colors, numbers, and vegetables when I quized him. He knew so many words in English, but couldn't really use them in a sentence. It was almost like the opposite of me, I don't know many Japanese words, but I do know the basic sentence structure. It's one of the great challenges I have been contemplating - how do we get people to go beyond memorizing words or sentences and be able to use the language?

The second weekend, I stayed with an older (almost retired) couple. Immediately, it's evident how different the experiences could be. It was a much greater struggle to continously talk with two adults. The husband had been to the U.S. 13 times for business and we had a very interesting talk about what I needed to do if I was interested in working internationally. His perspective was that I needed to master a certain area in the foreign languages I wanted to work in. For instance, he worked with chemistry, so it was important to learn the language of chemistry in English to become a successful international businessman. While with them, I went to the Ueno Zoo and we toured the Kyu-Iwasaki-Tei Gardens where a founder of Mitsubishi used to live. It's a massive complex with a very large Western-style house and an attached Japanese-style house along with a detached Swiss-style billiard room. It was very interesting to see the history of a famous company's founder.

The Western-Style Residence of Yataro Iwasaki at Kyu-Iwasaki-Tei Gardens.

I have 2 more planned for my month or so in my current host family. They can be very interesting, but at the same time very exhausting! I hope to learn a lot.

Happy 2010!

2010-01-05T22:09:00.017-05:00

New Year's Holiday is a very exciting time in Japan. For many days before the New Year, people across Japan spend their days cleaning. In the office, we took a day to clean out old files, rearrange our desks, and wash common areas. At home, I helped my family by cleaning all the high areas of the house – there are some advantages to being 6'2". It is also important to prepare certain dishes for the New Year; tradition is not to cook during the first 3 days of the New Year. Now, however, people give in and do so. In my host family, we enjoyed these traditional foods only for lunch (the same food for 3 days!). One of the most famous of these foods is mochi (sticky rice cake) soup. It is definitely a different kind of soup, and I have to say I prefer the regular miso... Each of the foods is supposed to symbolize something. For example, the lotus root (because of its shape) symbolizes looking into the future. There is also a kind of fish eggs that symbolizes having a big family. If it's true, my host brother is going to have at least 12 kids. He loves it!

Some of the Traditional Foods

One of the best things about New Year's was that I got to spend a lot of time with my host family. It was a relaxed time when people weren’t running off to different obligations. On New Year's Eve, we had a traditional dinner of Sukiyaki... followed later by a cream roll... followed later by soba... followed later by mandarin oranges. It was so much food! I was full after dinner, but somehow managed to eat everything. We also watched a Japanese music show that is a popular tradition for New Year's Eve. I surprised myself by how many of the famous acts I already knew (though I have to credit watching Music Station on Friday nights for helping me with that one). When the New Year finally arrived, it was a much more relaxed event than I was used to in the U.S. The family just said their greetings to each other, watched a bit more TV, and headed to bed.

The next morning, we enjoyed our lunch of traditional foods and headed out for the day. The first stop on our list was a shrine in Fukagawa near our house. I had been there before, but the scene was completely different. There were many booths with all the products and foods you see at Japanese festivals. The line for prayer was ridiculous. We waited for about a half an hour to get up to the front with about 60 people going in increments. Afterwards, we headed to one of my favorite shopping areas, LaLaPort, for some New Year's Day bargain shopping. I had been looking for a new pea coat for a couple of weeks, but hadn't been able to find one that I liked that was within my budget. New Year's was a great time to look though (if you can make your way through the chaos!). My host mother went with me to many different shops and I tried on many different coats. Luckily I was able to find one that was perfect at half price!

Day 2 was just as eventful. My host brother had to stay home to catch up on homework, but my host parents took me to see a bird's eye view of Tokyo. The original plan was to see it from the Tokyo Tower, but after seeing the lines, we decided against it. Instead, we headed to Roppongi Hills were you can see Tokyo from the 52nd story. It was almost better because you got great views of the Tokyo Tower as well. On Day 3, we had a lunch with my host mother's family (her parents and brother and his wife) at the ANA Intercontinental. We had a buffet that was amazing and the entire place was very chic. One of the best parts though was that the restaurant was on the 36th floor so we got another great view of the city.

Overall, the New Year Holiday was very exciting for me and I was a little sad when I had to return to work. It reminds me that I really have little time with my first host family left and I have to cherish the time I have with them.

Me with My Host Family on Day 3

A Little Bit of LEXology

2009-12-16T01:18:00.006-05:00

One of the projects I have been working on a lot recently is assisting with the translation of the Yo Sakakibara's book into English (the working English title is Sing the Sounds, Children). Pretty much I serve as a native-English, university-educated reader who helps suggest the proper words, with proper connotations based on the LEX philosophy. The translator does an amazing job, but when there are such complex ideas written in a traditional Japanese matter (with added poetic or vague style), it can be hard to know exactly what the philosophy is. We work to make it applicaple to the potential U.S. reader.

I also 'attempted' to assist the chairman, Kenshi Suzuki, with a speech at one of our older youth workshops. I say attempted because I don't think I was really much help. His voice was weak that day and we had many international guests so he wanted to whisper to me what he wanted to say and I would use my voice to tell the workshop. It was quite hard!

Anyways, I have been swarming in LEXology recently. I continue to be amazed by and in agreement with what I have encountered. One of the things I got really excited about was the Flower Model of language acquisition from Chapter 7. Really simplified, there is a universial basic structure (UBS) to all language. Multilingual people are able to embrace this structure (the circle in the middle) and keep pedals for the differences that exist between languages (pronuncation, grammar). The more languages, the more reinforcement for the UBS and the better the language ability. Traditional foreign language focuses too much on the differences and not enough on the similarities! But that's just the tip of the iceberg! You'll just have to read to find out all the rest...

Ahn-young!

2009-12-02T02:10:00.007-05:00

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

2009-11-16T21:22:00.009-05:00

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

2009-10-29T03:47:00.007-04:00

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

2009-10-15T02:35:00.008-04:00

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.

Impressions

2009-09-29T21:18:00.004-04:00

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?

2009-09-29T00:26:00.003-04:00

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!

My Host Family

2009-09-28T01:05:00.003-04:00

During my year in Japan, I stay with at least 2 different long term hosts as well as the potential for many short term hosts when I take business trips to different locations or visit different cities or go on an exchange. However, for at least 2 of those families, I have the potential to become a more indepth family member.

The family I am currently staying with is the Katsuki family in Koto-ku (near the bay on the Eastside of Tokyo). My family members include my dad, mom (hippo nickname, Jasmine), host brother (Hideyuki, hippo nickname Gamon), and host sister Sena (she does not live in the home and I have not yet met her). My host father works for the Asahi Beer Company (no, it does not mean free beer). He works a lot! Most nights he doesn't get home until after 10 pm. All of last week, he was on a business trip to Thailand and Vietnam. My host mother does not have a traditional job, but she does a lot! Not only does she take care of the family and most of the family finances, but she also is a hippo fellow and teaches Japanese to foreign people one day a week. And of course she spends a lot of time helping me! I'm grateful for all the help she has given me. I would be lost without her!

I know it must be bothersome to explain things in English, but they have done so admirably. Some of my favorite times so far have been watching tv programs with the family. For instance, last night we watched a competitive eating multi-competition and you could tell the amazement/shock at thier eating abilities spanned both cultures or how I know that every Thursday I can count on watching The Red Theatre (Japan's take on SNL, or so I'm guessing) with Hideyuki. We are still working on developing our family dynamic, but I am having a great time in their household.

Food

2009-09-24T21:33:00.002-04:00

I made one rule for myself when coming to Japan. I would try everything at least once no matter how bad I thought it would be. However, I've already come to modify that rule to I'll try almost everything at least once (I'm not so brave when it comes to fish with their heads on). The largest problem was that I really hadn't had much Japanese food before arriving in Japan. So, when everyone asked me exactly what I liked or didn't like, I couldn't tell them anything. This meant that I told them I was willing to try, which led to almost a challenge to find things for me to eat.

Within two hours from being off the plane, I had one of the members in my hippo club running to find something special. He bought natto, which is a fermented soybean product. I was already feeling a little nauseous from being on a plane for so long and here I was asked to eat something even Japanese have a hard time eating. In the end, I did not like it, but I did promise my family that I would try again in about 3 months after I have become more used to Japanese food. This is also one of my philosophies. If you don't like it from one place, try it again. The restaurant might be better or the preparation might be different.

Through the past week, I've had many great experiences with food especially because we went to Fukui over the holiday. This meant a chance to eat at many different kinds of restaurants. It sure has been a change to go from barely eating breakfast to eating a full bowl of rice and miso soup every morning. It does help that my host mother is a good cook! Another challenge, though, has been eating with chopsticks. My skills are quickly developing, but I still take the longest to eat. I would be doing fine if it weren't for tofu or mushrooms. They are soo slippery!

Arrival In Japan

2009-09-23T23:04:00.001-04:00

What an experience! I'm Michael Gobin. I will be the 2009-2010 LEX Intern in the Tokyo Office. LEX America has been telling you a lot about me, so I won't take a lot of space on introductions. I will be contributing to this blog a couple times a month over the next year. However, my mentor here in the office is gone on a multi-country adventure for the next week, so I will be spending those days contributing more often. I'll try to paint a picture of what my first few days in Japan have been like.

Even though I spent 14 hours on a plane headed to Japan. It wasn't until I took those first steps off the plane that it hit me like I walked through a curtain that I was in Japan. First of all, it was immediately warmer. Kana went from being an equal language in places where it mattered, to everywhere with English only as a back-up in the important areas. Most importantly though, I became completely illiterate and that's when I knew the adventure had officially began. I had studied abroad, so I was used to not being able to understand, but this was the first time I couldn't sound something out to try to communicate it to someone.

After arriving in the airport, I was met by Akkun from the Transnational Division who helped transport me to my host family's house. After dropping off my bags, I was almost immediately taken to my first hippo club meeting. I will describe this experience in another post.

This rapid pace has been kept up for the entire first week I've been here. I've been shown around my neighborhood by my host mother. I had orientation and welcome at the office. I've gotten to take a holiday trip to Fukui. I have gotten a chance to see many things, however, I have been able to get a chance to sleep and adjust to the time difference too.

Tomorrow = Food

Half Way

2009-03-11T01:52:00.001-04:00

The arrival of March marks my halfway point through my Year-Long stay in Japan. In the past six months I have made more language discoveries than I am even aware of. Japanese, Thai, and Korean have started sneaking their way into my dreams at night and are invading my thoughts throughout the day. It's a transformation that I didn't consiously make but one that comes with the nature of being in this language rich environment I call home.

In the past 6 months I have had countless opportunities to meet people from all over the world and all over Japan. Recently I gave a presentation at an elementary school where students from Thailand, Korea, and England participated in our activity. At the end of the school visit, the guy from Korea came up to me and asked "nan nen gurai nihon ni imasuka?" "how many years have you lived in Japan?" Although it is a fairly simple question, I was thrilled at the way it was worded. At the time he asked me that, I had been in Japan for only 5 months and the shock on his face after I told him was priceless. It came as a huge sense of accomplishment but at the same time, made me honestly think about the current state of my Japanese skills.

Of course, Japanese doesn't come out of my mouth nearly as fast as English does. There are some days when I want to speak, the words just don't come out and on other days the frustration of having no choice but to communicate in Japanese keeps me from speaking. But just like the vibrations of sound, the use of language also has its own turbulent waves that are most dramatically experienced when placed in a new language environment. However, I am so lucky to have a truly wonderful support system of people of all ages and backgrounds who help me out everyday. Even when I can't make full sentences correctly or pronounce something completely wrong, the people around me continue to encourage me not by correcting my mistakes, but by nurturing discoveries. After all, the ability to speak a language does not come from one’s inner efforts alone, but mostly from the constant interaction with the people around us.

Nami

2008-11-11T20:35:00.002-05:00

This month I am helping prepare for the In Japan Midterm Meeting. It's an event for all the students that came to Japan from all over the world who are doing a year long homestay. It has been 3 months since they arrived and we want to check in with them and give them a little motivation. Yoshiko, Gotaro and I had a lengthy meeting talking about some issues that develop during this time and ways we can help the students overcome their homesickness, culture shock and language challenges. As we talked about this, of course, I offered up some suggestions and personal ideas about dealing with these difficulties. After the meeting I couldn't help but continue to think about culture adjustment and language acquisition.

During the meeting, some personal struggles, challenges and triumphs came rushing to the front of my consciousness. Although it is my job to be a mentor to the high school students throughout their stay, I am also going through a similar struggle. Although, I feel "genki" 80% of the time, I go through my own waves of emotions.

Home sickness: It's a natural part of the exchange process and I completely recognise this. I actually feel like I haven't experienced any severe homesickness yet since I am willing to allow myself to be meloncholy some days and not feel overly upset about it. The first month I was here, I missed my friends and family a lot and always thought of them throughout the day, felt like sending them email messages, letters, postcards, pictures...anything to share my experiences with them. I wished on some days that my friends could be here with me to witness the scene around me, or to go out together to have fun. But recently I realised that it makes no sense sitting here wishing people from home were here since that won't happen (with the exception of a few friends who will be visiting me). Besides, this is my chance to live in Japan, everyone will be in Boston and Maine when I get back, but i might not have a chance like this again. I think in order to overcome homesickness, one has to realise that their time in the new country is not forever, and that they should make the best of their situation in the present. I am trying to do this now and I think it has helped improve my mood when i:m feeling down. Afterall, it was my own ambition and skiill that got me here and I plan on using that same energy to make it through this year.

I hope the other highschool students will realise that the power to overcome their struggle lies within themselves. I think they will soon discover this, maybe not at the meeting but hopefully very soon. I wish them all the best in their endevors as we treck through this years' journey together.

Rainy Day Update

2008-10-24T00:59:00.005-04:00

Today is an extremely rainy and humid day. The office is fairly quiet and slow due to the current 4H Conference in the US so I thought I:d take this chance to update a little bit about some of my projects.

The first project is the most important and also the biggest project of the year for me; the cultural project. Each year, the LEX intern must decide on an area of culture they find most interesting, or most passionate about since they will be dedicating their free time researching it throughout the year. Past interns have done projects such as tea ceremony, calligraphy, and so on. Since my major is Printmaking, I thought I'd be worthwhile to study Japanese woodblock printmaking since is a very unique printing method. I've started taking a moku hanga class every other week to learn this process and hope to develop a solid portfolio of images reflecting my year living in Tokyo. I also want to investigate Japanese aesthetics by researching about Japanese art history to gain a better understanding of contemporary Japanese Art.

I hope my project will include a paper describing my research into Japanese Aesthetic taste and contemporary art as well as an exhibition of my sketches and prints made during my stay here.

Before I came to Japan I made a brainstorming list of questions to think about and ask while I'm in Tokyo. I broke it down into 4 different sections. Art Education, Contemporary Art, Practicing Art, Awareness and Appreciation.
Art ED

Ask about art classes throughout school (k-12)

talk with art teachers on school visits (kokurika)

-samples of student work
-observation (if possible)

knowledge of art history (public)
Japanese craft vs. fine art (does the boundary exist?)

Contemporary Art

Past Art Movements

-How do they relate (if at all) to modern/contemporary American Art
- Role of urbanization and materialism
- Inspiration
Practicing Art In Tokyo (Japan in general too but focus on Tokyo)

studio space availability and sizes (how does this effect the ability to produce work)
cost of art supplies
How to display art : difficulties, application process, availability, cost
Making a living as a full time vs. part time artist, how to apply for grants
How do Japanese people respond to "artist" as a profession
Inspirations : art historical, day to day experience....

Awareness and Appreciation

how do the Japanese support the arts?

-Government
- Public Patronage (collectors, casual purchasers, gallery and museum revenue)

How often do most people view art?

-Contemporary vs. historical
- Japanese vs. foreign

Out side of the museums, where can one find art in Tokyo?
well known contemporary artists

I also want to make a survey in Japanese that addresses these questions and more. I would rather hear directly from Japanese people rather than someone else's evaluation especially since I want to address contemporary art, it doesn't make too much since to rely on resources from the past. I think it would be pretty easy (and fun) to hand them out at Fellow workshops or hippo clubs.

In addition to this I've been doing some research about Japanese art history through the Internet, a few books and by going to museums. I'd like to visit more museums but I'm usually very busy during the weekends but I think November will provide me more opportunities to get out and hit the museums and galleries.

I started my moku hanga class last week and it proved to be a bit of a challenge since my teacher doesn't speak any Japanese but I was able to work through the tough phrases to get an understand of what was going on. Although, since I've been studying printmaking for 2 years, I understand a lot of what:s going on and what he:s describing even though i don't understand the Japanese. But I have a hard time explaining to my teacher what I do and don't understand. I find that he goes over things that I already know more than things i don't understand. I hope to get better at asking questions. But I was really excited when I convinced him to show me how to cut the kento registration mark even though we are still in our drawing and transferring stage. Since our classes meet every other week, this Sunday I plan on starting to cut my blocks. Japanese printmaking requires a harder type of wood than I'm used to using in the states so I expect the cutting to take longer than I'm used to (especially since my thumb is still sore from a bicycle injury that occurred about 2 months ago) However, the blocks are fairly small but my first design is a bit complex.

my first design is an image i developed in the states but I think it:s best to take an old (well thought over image) to start with as I gather sketches of my surroundings. I'm still unsure of a thesis of which to base my paper and artworks around, but i think in time these things will become clear as they come to the surface more.

Well I hope you enjoyed my update about my culture project

next time I'll tell you about kokurika :)

that's all for now
ja ne!

kinoko chan

Long Update

2008-10-15T23:27:00.004-04:00

Sorry that it's been almost one month since I updated about my experiences. I've been really busy at work and with hippo friends. But now that things have slowed down for a moment at work, I want to take the opportunity to fill you all in on some of this month's highlighted events.

Waka Weekends:
Waka-Chan (my Hippo Fellow) has made a tremendous effort to welcome me to Japan. 2 weekends in a row, she invited me to do some really fun things. The first weekend of October, she invited me and my host mom to go to a Kabuki performance with her.
he performance was held in the famous Kabuki Za theater tucked in the middle of the bustling streets of Ginza. It was sooo awesome! I love everything about kabuki but if you don:t know what that is..here's a brief run down.

Kabuki is a traditional Japanese theater where the actors are extravagantly dressed, decorated and painted (make up) and preform stories in 3 different genres...historic, domestic, and dance. The historical stories usually involve ...suprise..historical events but usually involves some sort of romance to stir things up a bit. Domestic plays are usually about peasants, robbers, lovers or something of the like..think Edo Soap Opera. ("I would rather die by your sword than have you leave for ever. kill me now if you never plan on returning" kind of thing) Dance performances are still a narrative but it involves more symbolism, the use of song and set and costume change/transformation. When I went on Sunday I saw the most famous dance plays that involve the actor to wear the costume of a Buddhist lion deity (long read hair) that he swings around in circles in the air for like 5 minutes. its really long hair so would take a lot of skill.

all roles are played by men, which isn't too unusual for traditional drama (the Greeks and even Shakespeare had male only actors) but when you watch kabuki, the women characters really seem like women. each movement is incredibly delicate, sophisticated, and sometimes sensual creating an illusion that you are watching a woman, when in fact that "woman" in real life is an old man who is called a woman specialist. (or something like that) The actors speak in extravagant voices with incredibly dramatic pauses and verses making each moment epic. If you are interested, you can check out the play bill in English online at ( http://www.kabuki-za.co.jp/english/program.html ) Scroll down to the evening performance, that:s the one I saw. I was also lucky enough to see the famous Tomosoboro-san perform. He's really famous so it was such a treat!!

The next week, Waka chan invited me to join her, her husband and friends in a trip North of Tokyo to Karuizawa. It:s a very popular vacation destination since the area is incredibly mountainous, covered in beautifully colored trees (this time of year), hot springs (onsen) and not a subway train or sky scraper to be seen. I was so glad that she invited me to catch some fresh air and escape the concrete jungle of Tokyo.

On the way there, I read a book since it was over a 2 hour drive to get there. When we got into Karuizawa, two other couples (close friends of waka) and the 3 of us went grocery shopping at a large super market even though it was the same size as a stop and shop or hannaford, that's considered huge in Japan. Our next stop was to Asama yama (asama mountain) park. I found myself feeling as though I had been temporarily transported back into Maine/NH because for as far as I could see were mountains covered in colorful trees, blue skies and volcanic rock (resembling the rocky forests of Maine) All the rocks were covered in several varieties of moss and lichen (including glowing moss..soo cool) We went on an hour long walk through the windy mountain trail before heading to Waka's vacation apartment.
At 14 stories tall, the resort apartment was one of the only buildings that could be seen across the mountainous landscape. the room was tiny but fully loaded with 2 couches/beds, tatami room (with room for 3 futons) a kitchen, toilet & shower/bath rooms, and a patio. The building also had a hot spring bath in the basement and observation deck on top. The first night there we enjoyed an enormous diner. I was pretty tired from the journey, the fresh air and trying to take in all the Japanese. After diner, Waka chan and I went to the onsen which I followed up with a few minutes in the sauna.

I stayed up that night reading my book until midnight thinking I'd be able to sleep in until at least 7:30. But to my surprise, Waka chan threw the lights on at 6:30am with an enthusiastic "OKITERU JESS!! OHAAIIOO!" (Wake Up Jess! Good Morning!) After tossing and grumbling for about 20 minutes I finally woke up to a huge breakfast spread.
After eating, a few of us went to go check out the observation deck. The morning fog and clouds were still lingering but within 2 minutes we watched as it miraculously cleared to reveal an awe inspiring view of Asama Mt. This stoic mountain stood strong in the panorama, steaming forth clouds of smoke resembling a gun after firing a bullet.

We got in the car soon after and drove to a near by town. It was a picturesque mountain side town with its apparent claim to fame situated at its center: a sulfur hot spring.
If you could put the overwhelming stench of rotten eggs that permeated the whole town, it was quite charming and wonderful. The color of the rocks affected by the sulfur were a beautiful aqua emerald green color. After taking pictures in front of the spring we walked the streets. This humble town turned tourist spot sold various Japanese goods ranging from lucky cats, clothes, and food. One store was cooking dumplings out side the store and had merchants greeting the passerbyers with a hot cup of green tea and a free sample of their dumplings. I also noticed a man sitting on the side of the road selling various herbs, spices and small vegetables on a rug.

It was a wonderful afternoon and to top it all off, Waka chan and I took a quick dip in the local onsen. This time, instead of feeling like a hotel jacuzzi, this onsen was an outdoor onsen much like the one i experienced 2 years ago, except way bigger. we stayed int he onsen for about 30 minutes (which is actually considered quite a long time. I had started to get dizzy by the time we left) We finished our time in the town at a ramen shop before heading back to the apartment. We left Karuizawa around 4 and I didn't get back to my house until 8 (since we stopped at a rest stop restaurant and had tempura)

Hippo Friends:

I've also had the opportunity to share some fun experiences with other hippo friends. Last weekend I had two events worth mentioning (briefly since this post is so long already) I went to visit a Japanese Printmakers house and was able to see his etchings. I went with a couple other hippo friends who are my age, so it was a good way to break the ice with them. The following day I went to the Double Dutch Delight Tokyo, which was the National Finals for Double dutch. One of my hippo friends was on a team that made it to the finals so we were able to watch him perform. It was soo cool! We had front row seats to witness his team getting 3rd place, which means they get to go to NYC in December for the world finals (at the Apollo theater!) totemo kakkuiiii!

I'm going to my first cultural project class (Moku Hanga or Japanese woodcut printmaking) this Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it.

Look forward to my next post which will be about the progress on my cultural project!

thanks for reading!

ja ne!

-Kinoko Chan
Jess Robinson

Kabuki Za

2008-10-07T19:58:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to see 3 Kabuki performances at the famous Kabuki Za in Ginza, Tokyo. Waka chan invited my host mom and I to see the 4:30 set of shows. Nestled in bustling Ginza, this 150 year old theater is a gateway to the beautiful ancient art of Kabuki theater. Actors are elaborately painted, dressed in beautiful and flowing kimonos, and sing, dance and move in a very precise manner along with the music. I love kabuki plays a lot. I had the chance to see one act 2 years ago when I was staying in Tokyo for a month long home stay and was thrilled when I found out I would be able to see 3! I was also lucky enough to see an all star cast . ( see this link for a picture of the performance poster http://www.kabuki-bito.jp/theaters/kabukiza/images/handbill/kabukiza200810b_handbill.jpg?html)

The Kabuki Za site lists descriptions for each play. the ones I saw are as follows:

HONCHO NIJUSHIKO -Jusshuko, Kitsunebi-
(The Japanese Examples of Filial Piety - The Incense Burning, Foxfires)
Princess Yaegaki is mourning the death of her fiance Katsuyori, but as she burns incense in his memory, she notices the resemblance between the new gardener and her fiance's portrait. The gardener is in fact Katsuyori, who has entered the household in disguise to regain possession of a stolen family treasure, a famous battle helmet, with the aid of an accomplice, Nureginu, a woman who also mourns for the man that died in the place of the real Katsuyori. Unfortunately, Yaegaki's father has also seen through the disguise and plans to kill Katsuyori and Yaegaki decides that she must save the man she loves. Taking the helmet, she runs after Katsuyori while surrounded by mysterious fox fires caused by the fox spirit closely associated with the helmet. As she takes on superpowers with the magic of the fox, she begins moving like a Bunraku puppet with an actor as the puppeteer (Onoe Ukon). The role of Princess Yaegaki is one of the most important onnagata female role specialist roles and this month will be played by onnagata superstar Tamasaburo.

YUKI NO YUBE IRIYA NO AZEMICHI
(Naozamurai and Michitose)
The thief Naozamurai has been betrayed and is on the run. He risks one last meeting with his lover, the courtesan Michitose, but he has never revealed his true identity to her and as far as she knows, he is a wealthy merchant. On a freezing, snow-bound night, in a romantic scene accompanied by the lush and erotic singing of Kiyomoto narrative music, the two lovers Naozamurai and Michitose meet and part forever. Starring Kikugoro as Naozamurai and the popular young star Kikunosuke as Michitose.

HANABUSA SHUJAKU JISHI (Courtesan Lion Dance)
Lion dances show a vigorous masculine spirit that is the guardian of a sacred mountain in China. But the kabuki tradition transforms this fierce dance into a showpiece for an elegant female role specialist. Fukusuke stars as a top-ranking courtesan dancing elegantly in a banquet parlor who is then transformed into a feminine version of the spirit of the lion.

Personally I enjoyed the last performance the most. (Hanabusa Shujaku Jishi) because it didn't involve any dialouge and I could enjoy listening to the music, watching the dance and listening to my english earphone on all the symbolism between the the stage, costume, music and movements. It was increadibly beautiful to watch the transformation of the courtesan into the Budhist lion diety.

Konnichiwa from Shibuya!

2008-09-24T02:10:00.002-04:00

Hi! This is Jess Robinson, the new LEX Intern, reporting from Shibuya, Tokyo! I arrived about a week ago but I feel like I've been here much longer. I'm currently living with the Satoh family in Nerima ku, which is in the north eastern side of the Tokyo metropolitan area. Since it is primarily a residential area (and far from the center of Tokyo) the houses are a little more spread out and the area is fairly green. On my morning commute, I walk past a couple of fields and enjoy passing by the wide variety of trees, including pomegranate trees. My host parents are very kind people and already we share so many great laughs and interesting conversations.

I started working in the Hippo Family Club Headquarters in Shibuya this week. On Monday I made my first journey from my home to Shibuya which includes changing trains in Ikebukuro and walking through Shibuya train station. Both of these stations are famous for being especially busy. The morning commute,while overwhelming, is incredibly fun for me since I enjoy people watching. The LEX staff are so much fun to work with. They are very kind to me and have made me feel right at home here at the office. I feel so lucky to be able to work with such amazing people.

I'm still in the process of settling in and getting used to my routine but I am having a really great time.

Today I will start my Tokyo Museum tour for my cultural project. I will be visiting the art museums and galleries all around Tokyo to get a better understanding of Japanese Art History and Contemporary Art in an attempt to compare it with Western Art. I bought a museum ticket book for the low low price of 2,000￥(around 20USD) which gives me free entrance or discounted fare on a zillion different museums including science, general history museums and zoos/aquariums. Today I'll start with the most famous art museum, the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills. I'm so excited!!!

That's it for now!

Ja ne!!

-Jess Robinson
aka: Kinoko-chan :)

Viva Mexico

2008-09-18T16:36:00.000-04:00

On August 12th I returned from my Mexican adventure with 440 photographs on my SD memory card. The images represent what I saw with my eyes, but do not come close to expressing the true tale of the human connections that emerged as I opened my ears and heart to a language and culture different from my own.

Having traveled to 17 countries during the past seven years, I’ve met the locals, heard the sounds of new languages and tasted flavors unique to each new place. But this time the experience was different. There was a new ingredient added to the mix. By immersing myself in the language and culture through a homestay, I was able to acquire a considerable amount of the Spanish language while learning about Mexican culture and way of life.

My homestay family consisted of people from Mexico, Japan and the United States, making us quite the multilingual/multicultural group! We communicated in all three languages on a daily basis and shared our cultures by preparing dishes from all three countries. Keiko and I used Japanese words while trying to express ourselves in Spanish, confident that at least one person from our Mexican family would eventually understand what we were trying to say. There is a warmth and closeness we found in Mexican families that welcomed us in right from the start.

In addition to the knowledge I gained about Mexico, participating in the exchange allowed me to deepen my understanding of the LEX organization. This year was the 10th anniversary of Hippo activities in Mexico and to celebrate, a whopping 58 delegates came from Japan, more than doubling the number of participants last year! Together we danced to hundreds of SA!DAs, sang the sounds, and through pictures, told stories of our lives. One night of the Hippo camp when I finally went to bed at 4AM, I counted 40 people still cheerfully dancing around!! I definitely learned that Mexicans like a fiesta!

I joked that I learned more Spanish during my one week homestay than I learned during my entire first year spent living in Japan. Being that my Spanish ability was limited to counting to ten back in March, and that I was able to understand a one hour conversation on my last day in Veracruz, I think there is some truth to this statement. I cannot stress enough how valuable this experience was to the language learning process and I hope our LEX members will listen when I say “go, go, go!!” My hope is that our members will seriously consider taking advantage of the wonderful exchange opportunities LEX has to offer.

Have a look at my pictures by clicking on the link. I didn’t include all 440 photos…lucky you! ; ) http://picasaweb.google.com/hwernimont/MexicoTransnationalExchange?authkey=f9FPvGd-Rl0#

Running in the rain in Shanghai

2008-09-04T16:52:00.006-04:00

One of my most memorable experiences in Shanghai was going for a run during a warm rain storm.

First of all, I'd say that most Shanghainese don't run. If they do run, they run in a park, not on the dangerously trafficky streets (cars ALWAYS have the right of way, no matter what they are doing.) And they especially don't run on the dangerously trafficky streets when it's pouring rain.

As I stopped at street corners waiting for a green light, women appeared as if from nowhere trying to sell me umbrellas. Each time I said, "Bu yao. Xie xie. Wo paubu." (No thanks, I'm running.) I was surprised this wasn't obvious considering my running shorts, but perhaps it wasn't because my behavior was so outside the norm.

The thing that was most surprising and charming was that each time I stopped for a light, some person waiting for the light would put their own umbrella over my head. Even the women selling umbrellas put their umbrellas over my head after I turned down their sales pitch. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy even when I was soaking wet.

I think I really did understand Taiwanese before because THIS TIME I understood Shanghainese!!

2008-09-04T16:46:00.003-04:00

I was lucky enough to travel on a LEX exchange to Shanghai recently. We stayed one night with a host family, which was a special experience. My host sister (a college student majoring in English) was so in the habit of translating my English to Shanghainese for her parents that even when I spoke to them in Mandarin (which they understood fine when she was out of the room) she would translate for them from Mandarin to Shanghainese. That made it especially easy to see how the patterns of the two languages were nearly identical.

Thailand!

2008-04-07T20:44:00.003-04:00

It was my first trip to Thailand and I had no idea what to expect. But as the plane touched down into this country of vibrant colors, tropical fruits, kind smiles, and unique energy, it seemed like anything was possible.

I was so surprised when I met my host family, and my host greeted me in Japanese! As it turns out, she lived for one year in Japan as an exchange student. She also studied Japanese at her university, and could therefore speak and write like a native Japanese! This made the homestay very fun because the two of us could talk about all kinds of topics, from dreams to school to politics. It was my first time to have an "older sister" so I was happy that we grew so close. However, all our talking in Japanese attracted some weird looks from strangers. (I don't exactly look Japanese). Sometimes people at common tourist spots, etc. even greeted me in Japanese, which always made me laugh. While I expected to improve my Thai speaking skills, I was surprised that my JAPANESE improved as well!

My host mother and father spoke some English, and so I communicated with them in a combination of English and Thai. On the first day of my homestay my host dad gave me a notebook to write down my new Thai words, and wherever we went helped me find new words and phrases to add. I was constantly asking, "A rai i ka?" (What is this?). My host would respond and then ask me, "And in English?" In this way, we developed our own little games. I learned a lot of food words when helping my My host brother taught me some cool, slang Thai words too! He said my vocabulary started at level 1, but with his lessons I improved to level 3. :-) It was kind of funny that, although Thai sentence structure is similar to English, I kept confusing it and using Japanese sentence order instead.

I can't even begin to express how special Thailand was to me. Every sight, sound, smell, and taste was new and fascinating. I would tell you about my culture shock, but I don't even know where to begin! I learned so much not only about Thailand, but about how people in other cultures view the U.S. and Japan. The experience is one that I will never forget.

Did I really understand Taiwanese????

2008-03-26T14:31:00.003-04:00

Recently at a business dinner, I was seated next to two people who are originally from Taiwan, and can speak Taiwanese, Mandarin, and English with equal ease. After a while, they switched from English to what I thought was Taiwanese. The problem is... I understood their whole first exchange!

Ching-fen asked Joe about which Chinese character was associated with his last name. Joe replied. Ching-fen exclaimed it was a rare name, but that the mayor of East Windsor, NJ had the same name. (Sure, Ching-fen said "mayor" in English, but the rest of the exchange was all in Chinese!)

I was completely sure that I had understood. That was confirmed when they remembered I was there, and Ching-fen repeated the conversation in English.

Now, if I had understood a conversation between two native speakers in Mandarin, I would be really happy, but not shocked. Lately, I find I can understand more and more Mandarin as I eavesdrop on people here and there around Boston.

But, if it was Taiwanese, that just blows my mind. True, Taiwanese is one of the 19 languages available at LEX, so I have some exposure to the sounds. True, I spent one wonderful week with a Taiwanese speaking host family in Taipei 5 years ago. True, there are many connections to make between one language and another. BUT, wow!

Language Acquisition in Action

2008-03-13T22:12:00.004-04:00

Reading Heather's "Ears Turned ON" post, I came across so much that sounded familiar. It is now almost exactly six months since I landed in Japan, but my language ability has improved so much! I even surprise myself sometimes!

When I first landed in Japan, my head was spinning from all of the new sounds that surrounded me. Picture a computer with an input overload--I could almost feel my brain whirring through the words, and trying to pick up on familiar-sounding phrases. My responses were slow, disorganized, and often wrong. I was tired. But I was also determined.

I always heard that practice is the key to success, so from day one I practiced my Japanese at every opportunity. When someone asked me a question, I stumbled my way through the answer, racking my brain for ways to express myself in Japanese. When I ran into a word that I didn't know, I substituted the word in English and just kept on talking. Even when someone spoke to me in English, I responded in Japanese whenever possible, constantly pushing myself to use what I know.

I talked to whoever would listen. After a few weeks, I realized that I knew how to ask simple questions so I made it like a game to practice with people in everyday situations. Even if I already knew where the nearest 7-11 was, I asked a friendly-looking stranger for directions. Even if I didn't plan on buying a pen, I asked the sales person it was available in any other color. I often didn't understand their response, but I acted like I did, exclaiming "A soo desu ka?!" ("Oh really?!") and "Hai, wakarimashita" (Ok, I understand), secretly hoping I was saying them at the appropriate moments. I watched people's body language and facial expressions, and eventually picked up on some of the words that they used frequently, such as "massugu" ("straight ahead").

Despite my efforts, at first I didn't think that natural acquisition was working for me. Day after day, I learned new words, and then promptly forgot them. I confused similar sounding words, and my mistakes were endless. I even started to keep a diary of new words, hoping to improve my memory deficit, and study it in my spare time.

Eventually, though, I found that periods of confusion were followed by periods of improvement. When I did improve I improved rapidly, sometimes recalling several new phrases at a day! I found that, rather than using my vocabulary list, I could remember phrases better if I connected them to daily events. I still remember the day a friend of mine told me a funny story, and ended it with "Hazukashikatta!" ("It was so embarassing!") I know that from now on I will never forget "hazukashikatta." My fluidity also improved, slowly but surely. Even phrases I know, I learned to say more quickly and more naturally. Pauses in my speaking were no longer awkward as I learned to insert phrases such as "ano ne..." ("well...") into the conversation.

Now, after 6 months, my ability to communicate in Japanese surprises even me! Without even thinking, Japanese pours out of my mouth, sometimes even a word or two that I didn't even realize I knew. I have found that I even think in Japanese! While talking to my dad on the telephone, I had to pause to remember even simple English, like months of the year or days of the week. "What was month 11 called again?" Its a weird feeling to be so comfortable conversing in a language other than my native language, but it makes me so happy.

Now sometimes when I speak Japanese, my coworkers, family, and friends burst out laughing. I ask, "What did say wrong?" They respond, "Nothing. That's what's so funny. You said everything exactly right! It sounds so natural!" . When I think of all of the friends I have made and all of the new ideas I have been exposed to, I know my determination and effort was worth it. I look forward to many more times on this language acquisition adventure.

Culture From a Child's View

2008-02-21T19:57:00.005-05:00

Giving school cultural presentations ("kokurika") is one of the best parts of my job. The kids are always so full of energy, and eager to learn! At a typical "kokurika," we share some multilingual songs and games, and then guests from around the world talk a little bit about their country's culture. I have to admit, though, it is a little bit intimidating. To think that I, a small-town Minnesota girl, am responsible for representing the 300 million+ people in the United States is unfathomable! Nevertheless, it is exciting and interesting. Although I come as a presenter, I think I learn as much as the students!

One thing I am always surprised by is the cultural details that the kids are so interested in. No matter what I talk about--Halloween, breakfast foods, typical grade school life in America--they choose the funniest things to remember. Some of my favorite questions have included, "What type of video games do you have in America?", "Is everyone as tall as you?", and "What is the biggest hamburger you have ever seen?" Without fail, whenever I show a picture of my family's famous Christmas dinner of Swedish meatballs and wild rice, at least one student thinks it is a picture of Takoyaki (fried octopus balls) and nori (seaweed)! They don't seem to realize that these foods are particularly Japanese, and are shocked to learn that my family doesn't eat octopus or seaweed on a regular basis! Every week I am reminded of children's innocence and wonder as I view both American and Japanese culture through their eyes.

My new 5th grade friends at an elementary school cultural presentation.

Snowy Setsubun

2008-02-03T19:51:00.004-05:00

Yesterday it snowed in Tokyo! What a treat to wake up and see white outside the window. My first impulse was to run and ask "Is school cancelled yet?!" My host brother and I had a snowball fight and built a snowman, (which we named Yukidaruma-san).

By evening most of the snow had turned to slush. My host family and I decided to brave the cold and go to the temple for the Setsubun holiday. We threw soybeans off the balcony, yelling "Fuku wa uchi, oni wa soto!" ("Good luck in, devil out!") We also performed the same ritual at home with my host dad, who was lucky enough to get to wear the oni (devil) costume while we threw soybeans at him. For dinner we ate makizushi, which is traditional for the holiday. We ate in silence while facing the SE (the lucky direction for this year). I asked my host family how this "lucky direction" is determined. They weren't sure so we looked it up online. Apparently, it is determined by the zodiac sign for the year. We all learned something new!

About Setsubun:
Setsubun is celebrated yearly on or around February 3. The day before the lunar New Year, Setsubun is considered to be like a "New Year's Eve." On this day, all across Japan people cast out the evil spirits from their home by performing mamemaki, soy bean throwing. The same ritual is also performed at Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples.

Facts about Setsubun were taken from Wikipedia.

Dreaming in Chinese

2008-01-24T14:26:00.000-05:00

It's been over a year since I had my first dream in Chinese (!) and vowed to start a blog called "Dreaming in Chinese," which would cover the multilingual adventures of a language addict.

Here is the dream.
I was in an art studio. One woman said to another, 你吃饭马。 (Did you eat?) The second woman did not understand Chinese. I made a gesture for eating to help her understand. Then I said to the first woman, 你会说普通话马。(You speak Chinese?) She explained she had been born in Beijing, then moved here and there around China, and finally moved to Tokyo.

Just a few phrases, but still kind of amazing to dream in Chinese!