Daniel- HIPPO Intern 2012-2013

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 program. I spoke about my first encounter with the HIPPO as well as the importance of enhancing our world view by learning the languages of our neighbors.

Also, some exciting news! HIPPO is sending me to Osaka soon to conduct a few English interviews for future year-long exchange students. I'm pretty excited. Not only are English interviews a fun part of being an intern, but Osaka is well-known for its special foods. I'm planning eat lots of takoyaki! [fried octopus, mmm...]

A photo of Mount Fuji that I took on the way to work. Osaka is somewhere in that general direction.

VAMANOS!

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Daniel- こにちわ！！

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...

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Setsubun In February, there is a holiday in Japan called Setsubun. In celebration of the special day, I ventured out to Nagatacho (close to my work here in Shibuya) and visited the Hie Temple. It was so beautiful and peaceful up on a small hill, and oddly placed among the city life of Tokyo. It was crowded with people (but not too crowded, hence why I chose Nagatacho over Asakusa) standing in front of the temple "stage", within which we could hear some music and see some people inside dancing and preparing for the event. Because I got there earlier, I had to wait a bit, and so I talked with the older couple that stood next to me. Turns out, the husband and wife had been to the US before and lived in New Orleans about 10 years ago, so we eased into some great conversation. Very sweet people. When the event started, I witnessed a person dressed as an oni (demon) emerging from inside the temple, being drawn out by the priests who threw beans at him and shou...

LEX American Intern: Brittany

LEX American Intern: Brittany Introduction and First Impressions: On LEX Hippo, and living in 日本 for a week Greetings and Salutations, my full name is Brittany Esther Gautier, but you can call me び [/bi/: BEE], or Brit, or びじ[BEE-GEE], or my official title Japanese resident registration ぶりとに[literally, "bu-RI-to-ni], or Britney Spears, or Brit-Brit, or ぶりぶり, or Estee. Or like a few of my previous Spanish speaking co-workers you can just call me Shakira. I am a year-long intern for LEX Hippo America. I speak English, understand a good amount of Spanish, and am focusing on learning Portuguese, and Japanese. I'm so excited to have been chosen for this wonderful program, and I'm overwhelmingly grateful for this opportunity to travel, learn, and expand my worldview in such an authentic and meaningful way. Background As I said before, I'm Brittany. I'm 22 years old, but on October 8th, I will be 23. Soy de Estados Unidos en California. Mi familia se com...

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