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...

HIPPO Intern 2012-2013　(Daniel) I think that my participation in various high school plays, yearly church Christmas plays, and innumerable high-school English class presentations have finally payed off! I am constantly being asked to present, speak, and even MC at  HIPPO  events. These events range from a small to a very large number of audience members. The topics that I speak about include my experience of being a HIPPO intern, my discoveries while learning Japanese, living in a multicultural and multilingual environment, American culture and lifestyle, or any other topics that may be related. Presenting to future year-long exchange students about the importance of living in another country. Speaking about learning Japanese at my welcome party in Ota-ku.  I was a fellow at the Daigakuse Family. Leading everyone in my favorite "Song and Dance Activity" - Shampoo SADA! I was an MC at event HIPPO hosted for Southeast Asian youth on the  SSEAYP pr...

Japanese Elementary Schools [ 小学校 ]　(Daniel) As I had mentioned before, part of being a Hippo intern includes traveling to various elementary schools in Tokyo to give presentations about the  HIPPO Family Club  as well as multilingualism and multiculturalism. A Typical Japanese Elementary School Interestingly, multilingualism and multiculturalism is sort of a big deal in Japan. Japan is an ultra-homogeneous nation with a population that is  98.5%  ethnically Japanese.  Although Japanese study English, schools only focus on reading and writing. As a result, people don't have enough practice speaking and are too shy to try. Many of them are left believing that it is impossible to be proficient in more than one, maybe two, languages. HIPPO members and I go to elementary schools to demonstrate that  isn't  true. Language acquisition is based on the language spoken in one's environment. If you create a multilingual environment, you w...