Skip to main content

Michael- Arrival in Japan

Arrival In Japan

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

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Maddie- The First of Many New Experiences

The First of Many New Experiences So, what have my first weeks been like in Japan? ABSOLUTELY BUSY! But, also...AMAZING! Truly, it has been a busy couple of weeks here, but not overwhelmingly so. Furthermore, I`d prefer to be kept busy! Too much free time = too much thinking = homesickness. By keeping a full, fun schedule, with some relaxing and downtime, I can keep engaged with my surroundings, make new friends, and stay sane. To prevent a wall of text, let me break down for you some of my recent activities. So far, I have: Presented about my life in Wisconsin to classes of middle school and elementary school students. Eaten kaiten-zushi, or conveyor belt sushi.  Been interviewed about my biggest surprise when I came to Japan (it`s bluntness in regards to appearance, people won`t hesitate to call someone fat, or tell you that you`ve gotten skinny since they last saw you. As I`ve seen it, it`s never been malicious, just matter-of-fact).  Post filming. To my ...

Daniel- Okutama

Okutama (Daniel) This past week, my eyes were opened to the fact that Japan is much more than a concrete jungle of lights and high-rise buildings. For the first time, I was able to head west to Okutama, a mountainous region on the west side of Tokyo Prefecture. Unlike the city, Okutma is covered with forest and greenery. The abundance of nature makes it a beautiful place to visit in the fall. Not too far from Okutama is Heirinji Zen Temple in Saitama, where I was blown away by the beauty of autumn in Japan. The purpose for my being in that area was to visit a kindergarten and to give a HIPPO presentation along with other HIPPO members. Among them was a younger gentleman nicknamed Tango, whom I hadn't met before. Tango and I got along very well, and he invited me on a hike, along with his friend, the next day. Tango's family owns a very quaint Soba restaurant in Okutama. The surrounding mountains and nature really give it a traditional Japanese feel. The three of u...

Stephanie-こんにちは!Konnichiwa! Hello!

こんにちは!Konnichiwa! Hello! 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 opportun...