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 compone mi madre Tracy, mi padre Eric, mis hermanos menor Madeline and Joseph y dos perritos Django (A.K.A. "Jingo-Jango" o "Bingo-Bango") y Alabama (A.K.A. "Bimbi-Wimbi" o "The Baby Girl"). I also have a musical, magical, lazy, lovely, boyfriend Garrett.
I was born in the city of Orange, moved to Riverside county when I was 6, and in the 3rd grade(age 7) I moved to Victorville in California's high desert. I lived in Victorville until I graduated high school, and in 2012 I moved 700 miles away from my family to the town of Arcata in the very northern part of California. I studied Child Development with an emphasis on language and communication, and I minored in American Sign Language and diverse populations. While I was in college my family moved to Orange County, so after completing my undergraduate program, I moved back to my parent's home. I've been living and working in Orange County for the past year preparing for this adventure to Japan!

I'm very much California-bred, but as one can see, it is difficult to call any single area my "hometown".

My hobbies include, but are not limited to: reading about culture, society, history, and language, journaling and writing, window-shopping (especially in fancy or super "hip" stores), buying and trading vintage clothing (anyone need a 1970's Pendleton blazer?), trying new restaurants, American karaoke (because I have yet to experience Japanese-style karaoke), and listening to music from many different countries. I love trying new things, but sometimes I'm nervous to waste my money doing something alone. I'm sure my host families, peer-interns and all the new friends I've been/will be making will show me many unique and exciting activities.

A Rookie Intern in Japan

I flew out of Japan on September 14th, and arrived at Haneda International Friday September 15th in the afternoon. Maddie helped me find my way home to my host family. By the time I passed through the exit at Kami-Shakujii station, I had been in transit for about 14 hours. Luckily, I was able to take it easy that evening. Mom, known by her Hippo name Alice, prepared the best bowl of ramen I've ever had in my life, and I fell asleep hard by 19:00.
The next morning I woke up at 7, and little did I know that I was going to need every second of that 12 hour rest. On Saturday around 2, Mom and I went to a local Hippo family club. It was very high energy, but everyone was so pleasant, and so sweet. The club wrapped up at 4 pm. We left for home which was only a short walk, but we were only home for less than an hour and we were off to a second Hippo club. On our way to the train station we ran into my host father, Geenie, for the first time. He was going to meet us for the club.
The second Hippo club was a whole other animal (many puns intended). So many children, teens, young adults, parents, grandparents were present. A fantastic, albeit overwhelming, example of LEX Hippo was taking place.
The rest of the three-day weekend consisted of two more Hippo events, many delicious foods, meeting my two host brothers, and getting settled into my new home.

My host mother invited friends and Hippo fellows over for summer exchange reports, and a sort of welcome Brittany party. It was so sweet, and it made me feel so comfortable and so special.

I went to the LEX Hippo office in Shibuya on September 20th. I got to meet with a few interns who I'd previous met at a Hippo lecture, Jay from Korea and Nicolaus from Vietnam. I also got to meet the other American intern, Stephanie.
The new interns received orientation on September 21st, and it really helped to put everything in perspective for me. We have many events to plan for, and many things to learn, and a truly amazing company to represent and participate in.

I'll try to post fairly often because day to day I'm learning and growing, and I don't want any of these important experiences to be forgotten.
Until next time
-びじ

Michael- Arrival in Japan

Arrival In Japan What an experience! I'm Michael Gobin. I will be the 2009-2010 LEX Intern in the Tokyo Office. LEX America has been telling you a lot about me, so I won't take a lot of space on introductions. I will be contributing to this blog a couple times a month over the next year. However, my mentor here in the office is gone on a multi-country adventure for the next week, so I will be spending those days contributing more often. I'll try to paint a picture of what my first few days in Japan have been like. Even though I spent 14 hours on a plane headed to Japan. It wasn't until I took those first steps off the plane that it hit me like I walked through a curtain that I was in Japan. First of all, it was immediately warmer. Kana went from being an equal language in places where it mattered, to everywhere with English only as a back-up in the important areas. Most importantly though, I became completely illiterate and that's when I knew the adventure h...

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