Stephanie- Mi papa De Mexico en Japan

Mi papa de México en Japón!

This last week was exciting because I got to see Javier, my host dad from Mexico again! He's one of the coordinators of LEX México so he came to Tokyo last week for work and vacation, and it was really nice to see him.

Almost two years ago, I went to México as an LEX intern for 3 months, and stayed with Javier's family in Mexico City. It was a great experience, and one of the main reasons I decided to apply for the LEX internship in Japan. I did a lot of the same things as an intern in Mexico as I do here in the office like help check documents and work with the exchange groups, and of course had the opportunity to live and work in an environment where I was always surrounded by and communicating in Spanish. Though my experiences as an LEX intern in Mexico and Japan have been different in some aspects, one of the things that has always been the same is the people. All the LEX members I have met in both Mexico and Japan have corazones grandes y abiertos. They are welcoming, open, caring, and fun. Thank you again to everyone from LEX Mexico for welcoming me and creating such a positive experience! And thank you to LEX Japan for making it possible to continue my connection with LEX and have a whole new experience here!

2012 with other Hippo members in Tokyo

2010 with my host family in Mexico City

I'm always amazed by how many connections exist and are strongly maintained across the world through LEX. I've gotten to see so many people in Japan who I've met before in Wisconsin or Mexico through the LEX/4-H exchanges and I'm always meeting new people who I find out are like brothers or sisters because we stayed with the same host families or have connections with the same people. 嬉しい！

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