Skip to main content

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 right is Kahye,
intern from South Korea. She asked questions
in Korean, while I answered in English.

  • Gone to two overnight camps. One at the Olympic Youth Center in Yoyogi Park (Tokyo), and another one in Saitama (2 hours away by car), in the mountains.
  • Gone shopping with my host sister in Kichijoji--a fun, youthful neighborhood by the station I use when going to work.
  • Eaten tomato ramen (Italian-style ramen).
Dat mozzarella tho

  • Had dinner in Shibuya (downtown Tokyo) with a friend from University of Wisconsin. Go Badgers!
  • Experienced an evening party at the Hippo Camp in Saitama, complete with live performances, snacks, and alcohol (the latter for legally-aged adults only). It reminded me that, "Ah, I`m not at 4-H anymore..." It`s a good reminder that various cultures and institutions have different perceptions of when it`s appropriate to imbibe. Neither is better or worse...just different!
  • Met other Hippo interns from Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, and France!
Nancy from Taiwan and Ivan from Mexico!

  • Made ohagi, chewy rice cakes with red bean paste or roasted soy powder, with my host mom for Ohigan, a Buddhist holiday celebrated in autumn and spring. 
  • Participated in the LMP speech, a multilingual speech contest held by LEX for high school students and young adults. Participants had to use at least three languages in their presentation! I used English, Japanese, German and Spanish.

  • Tried my hand at pounding fresh mochi, a delicious, sticky, rice cake.

  • Ridden the trains and buses by myself on almost a daily basis (no big mess-ups yet, knock on wood).
  • Eaten oodles of my host mother`s amazing cooking!
  • Tried on a high school uniform costume and took purikura (fancy photobooth pictures) with a Japanese friend who studied abroad at University of Wisconsin.

  • Gone on several walks/runs around my neighborhood, getting the feel of the place. 
  • Been touched by the kindness and patience of my host family, co-workers, and Hippo members, especially in regards to my slow Japanese.

...And that`s only part of it! It`s been a lively past three weeks, but I truly enjoyed every second of it. If I ever felt grumpy or tired, I reminded myself of the amazing opportunity I am taking part of (and then I made sure I got some exercise and a good night`s rest. Nothing like an evening walk and a solid eight hours to revamp your attitude). 

Well, September is almost over...Wow! I can`t wait to see what October brings.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

Daniel- I have Guests!

I Have Guests! [訪れていた] (Daniel) After a trip to the Middle East, my sister and her husband decided to return to the US flying over Asia instead of Europe, so that they could stop by in Japan and say "Hi". Y-A-A-A-A-Y. It felt really good to see some family after seven months away. Unfortunately, the two of them could only stay for 3 days, so we were quite busy during that time. The three of us visited obvious famous places like Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Asakusa, and Akihabara. But I personally enjoyed going to a park where we did the tea ceremony in a tea house on the park's pond. The two of them found it strange that there were no chairs and the process to drink some tea was so formal. I guess I didn't really think about it, I have become so used to traditional tea ceremonies that they don't seem strange to me anymore. I guess I'm becoming a local  I also really enjoyed introducing my sister and brother-in-law to my co-work...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stephanie- Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays! Hi Everyone, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Japan! Christmas isn't as big of a holiday in Japan as it is in the U.S., but I did have a nice Christmas dinner (Japanese style) with my host family on Christmas eve and we had several Christmas themed Hippo activities and a potluck party with some of the neighbors. I made eggnog for the occasion (my first attempt but it turned out pretty well!). My host mom even borrowed and put up a little LED light-up Christmas tree. My host family also bought me a little box set of Japanese hiragana stamps as a Christmas gift which was really sweet of them, and it is helping me to learn hiragana characters. :) While Christmas isn't as celebrated as it is in the U.S., New Year's is a very important holiday here. Today is the last day of work at the office before the new year vacation so, as is the Japanese tradition, this morning everyone helped clean the entire office. This type of cleaning  even has a name - ...
Post a Comment
Read more