Living in Japan　(Daniel) This is where I live in America: The center house is where I live in Japan : It's almost as though someone took my American house and flipped it on its side, and then shoved it in between two more flipped-over houses, and then added ten more houses in front of it. This is the norm in Tokyo. Japan has limited space because it is an island nation. To make things worse, around 70% of that space is uninhabitable due to mountains and forest. The result is extremely high population densities within cities - especially Tokyo. View of Tokyo from my house: Flipped-over houses are all over the place and people are literally living on top of each other. Tokyo congestion can be experienced first-hand when riding the metro during rush-hour. I think Japan is the only nation with "subway-pushers", whose job is to push people into trains because the doors won't close otherwise. Because space is so limited, everything is much smaller in...

The Hippo Office　(Daniel) The Hippo Office in Tokyo is set so clearly apart from every other office in the world, partly because of the warm atmosphere that the workers have created. The people here are very kind and are glad to help whenever I need it. They are very supportive and patient as I get accustomed to life in Japan.  I get to work for  this  company...   ...in  this  building...   ...in  this  room... ...at  this  computer. Japanese offices, unlike American offices, are not separated by cubicles. Instead, desks are lined up in long rows facing each other, somewhat similar to the TV series "The Office." As an intern at Hippo, my responsibilities include helping review and edit English documents, review monthly reports written by Hippo students abroad, helping with English interviews for yearlong exchange students, and participating in Hippo meetings, events and workshops. Lastly, int...

こにちわ！！　(Daniel) Hello,こにちわ, bonjour,  Привет ! My name is Daniel Panasenko, and I am the 2012-2013 LEX intern in the Hippo office in Tokyo. I am from Sacramento, California, although originally from Dnipropetrovs'k, Ukraine.  I first came across LEX and Hippo when I came to Japan with People to People in 2009. I was hosted by members of the Hippo Family Club for four days, and I enjoyed the experience so much, that I came back to work for Hippo as an intern. Although I am fairly new to Hippo, I have been received warmly and welcomed into the Hippo family. Everyone at the office and at the family clubs are very kind, supportive, and incredibly patient as I unintentionally butcher their language. As the year progresses, I will blog about my experiences in Japan as well as my insights into the language and culture. Although I am a bit overwhelmed by the novelty of the lifestyle and language, but I am more than happy to be here, making fascinating new discoveri...