American Business Hotels

We are staying in an American business hotel. It is very comfortable. We have large suits with big beds and a TV, kitchen and bathroom. There is also a swimming pool and gym. It's much bigger and more spacious than a Japanese business hotel. There is a buffet breakfast. There are many things to eat!!! We had French toast, corned beef hash, fruit, eggs, cereal, many more!

We've arrived!

After a very long flight via Atlanta, we arrived in Houston! We were very tired so went straight to bed on the first night! Yesterday we went to the Galleria Shopping Center. It's impossible to be outside now as the temperature is more than 106 degrees during the day, so it's safer to stay inside with air conditioning!

We found the best way to cool down! We went Ice Skating at the Galleria Shopping Center! It was great fun but quite difficult!

TGIF

Hi there!

I had a successfull test order today on the website which I have been working on.

Next week I will be uploading more products which are based on Apple products.

This is what I have been doing so far.

Bye

Yusuke

Thirsty Thursday

Howdy!

It's still been very hot in Houston!
How about in Japan?


I made another business model board this morning with brainstorming.
One of them is for our internship program. The other one is for the company's business.

Here's serious news about Houston as well as Texas.
There's no rain in Texas so the state is drying up. I've seen dead trees because of no water supply, and I've also seen fire department many times, sometimes twice or three times a day! Hope it will be rainy soon!

http://www.businessinsider.com/texas-drought-2011-08

Yusuke

Happy Wednesday from Yusuke!

Hi there,

Today I worked on the business model and did brainstorming based on our internship program.( I'm going to put on the photo soon.)
Today's photo is me, Tyeisha and Beth. They work at the reception area in the office.


By the way, did you know that the governor of Texas, Rick Perry announced his candidature for the president of the United States?

Here's the link of an article about him today.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/16/news/economy/perry_bernanke/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2

Yusuke

Cheesecake Factory!!

Hi,

I am sorry that I have been away from this blog for a while.


Today I learned about customer segments which is one of the 9 building blocks for the business model.
The answer is quite simple.

" who are our customer?"

The customer segments section defines the different group of people or organisations to serve.  
 


 The photo is what I had for today's lunch at the cheesecake factory.
http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/

Yusuke

It's Friday!

We are having a cool day today.  
It's under 100-degrees; 99℉ :)

This morning I learned about a business model that can be applied for everything.
There are 9 building blocks for the business model.

1, Customer Segments 
2, Value Proposition
3, Channels 
4, Customer Relationships
5, Revenue Streams
6, Key Resources 
7, Key Activities
8, Key Partnership
9, Cost Structure

Next week I will explain about the business model more with pictures!

Have a nice weekend!

Yusuke

Yusuke's visit to University of Houston

Hi people in Japan,

How are you doing?  We are having another hot day in Houston today!


I visited The University of Houston yesterday.  
I toured the Alumni Athletic Department building.

I posted some photos that I took at the department.
They are a part of the university, not a city gym or something.
Can you believe how big university of Houston is!? HUGE!

I met the University people who the other students will be working with.
Doesn't it sound exciting!?

Before I get too excited, I should go back to work!

See ya!
Yusuke

As of August 6th, Houston had five 100-degree days in row!
Surprisingly, according to a news paper, that equals what city usually gets in one year!!

Today it's going to be 104°F( = 40℃!!!). Wow.
Don't worry. I've got a place to stay cool, and it's just in front of our building!
Moreover, we have the greatest invention for Huston -- air conditioning.

Oh, I've got to back to work!


Yusuke

Do you want money?

Today, in the 3rd Intensive class, had many conversations and actions, active one.

We learned how to aboid the panhandler. I practiced with Saori, and her rolling was very nice, like a real panhandler, WOW!

And we learned that we mustn't give them money, because they usually tells us many lies, and my surprising, earn about 300$(30$?) / a day. Then, they often use the money for some bad things, drag, alchol, etc. If they think it is a good way for earning, they never stop it. So we mustn't.

In the end, we finished today's class talking about Houston's nice foods. Especially I was interested in the all chocolate flavor ice cream shop.(because today was so hot, wet day.)

Kaori Okudera

Intensive Oral Communication (3)

Hello, everybody.
How are you today?
The real summer has came back to Fukushima today.
The highest temperature for today was 37 ℃.
It was too hot.

Well, back to talk about our intensive class.
Today is the third day of the intensive class.

We continued our discussion about "HSBC Family Business".
We wrote a short story line of each scenes and tried to describe how the actor is feeling.
Then from that video, we tried to see the motivation/initiative aspect ( not the marketing aspect).
I think everyone who has watched that video can understand what the motivation/initiative aspect i mean.

Initiative can not be taught in class because someone's initiative is coming from his/her own heart. Teacher just can give some encouragement to us. But in the end, deciding to or not to take initiative backs to ourselves.

Initiative is a decision to step first before others made by yourself.
You need COURAGE when taking an initiative and you also need courage to accept all of the consequences of that initiative. Sometimes, the process to get something you want from that initiative is not going well but you should not give up. You should keep your spirit high until you get what you hope from that initiative. That is we call RESPONSIBILITY. Then, you also need CONFIDENCE when taking an initiative so other person can support you and believe that you can do your initiative like you and they are expecting. So, I think when taking initiative, these three elements (courage, responsibility and confidence) should be important.

From the Commercial TV, HSBC Family Business, you can see clearly those elements of initiative.

Selvia

second day

Today, the second day of the Intensive class,
was very pleasant one.
In the middle of today's class, Saori and Pushuca joined the class. They speaks English very well, especially, I was surprised at Saori's fluent English.

On my way home with her and Selvia, I asked Saori , why she can speak so well. She said she is very interested in using English, and tried to talk with so called ALT(native English speaker) in her junior high school life. Once she talked, she thought it very very exiting, then her English life started!

In the end of this talk, she encouraged me indirectly. I had worried about my skill so much until that, but I feel it calms down.

Second day was fresh and interesting. I enjoyed it so much.

Kaori Okuera

Yusuke's New Building

Howdy!!

Here's my internship office building in Houston. I love the height and the fast elevators. I can't wait for the rest of the group to arrive.

Yusuke

Intensive Oral Communication (2)

Hello, I am back again.
Today, at the second day of the preparation class, we watched a very interesting commercial TV, titled HSBC Family Business.
This is short commercial TV, just about 1 minutes and 45 seconds, but if you watch it deeply you can learn so many things from that, such as how to be independence, how important to have an initiative, and some other things.
So, why don't you take your time a little to watch it too.
Here is the video, check it out!





Selvia

ALPS

Students on the internship from Toyo Gakuen University take the ALPS Course. ALPS doesn't mean the mountains, ALPS stands for Academic Language Learning and Professional Skills.

In the 3rd and 4th year, students study about Professional Skills - this helps them to prepare for their jobs in the future! International companies are becoming more concerned with their employees soft skills, specifically critical and analytical thinking, teamwork and interpersonal skills.

Do you know what soft-skills are? Research shows that despite this trend, these skills are not the most predominant skills developed at universities in Asia! The Professional Skills strand of the ALPS course, teaches about the essential skills required for professional workplace success.

In class we cover themes like knowing yourself, communicating your vision, business etiquette, professional behavior, intercultural communication, individual performance, business strategy, critical thinking and problem solving skills! Now we have the chance to use these skills in America!

Real English and business skills in the REAL world!

Intensive Oral Communication (1)

Intensive Oral Communication is a preparation class designed to us, students from Fukushima University, who are going to join Texas Business Internship 2011.
This class is started by today and will be held until Thursday, August 11th.

This class is focus on discussing about the difference between Americans and Japanese in their ways of being polite.
We use this below text book as our guidance.


Besides that, this class is also focus on teaching us how to make our own
"Personal Branding".
Personal Branding is important for us to market ourselves to others.
Today we did the first process of that.
We are asked to think about how to describe ourselves in 160 characters
like twitter. It should be short but powerful enough to describe ourselves.

Then, another activity of today's class is analyzing our English skill.


That's all for today.

I will be back tomorrow to share what we learn.

Be blessed,
Selvia

Kaori's profile

I"m Kaori Okudera, from Fukushima, studying Economics(analysis) , like japanese green tea very much.

My part time job is cram school teacher for junior high school students , teaching Math, English, Japanese, and Science.
I started using Twitter in July this year, so have just posted six tweets so far, but I think that is going to change soon--even today! Follow me at @siromon65!!

Houston in 2.5 weeks.

Excited
Kaori

Selvia's Profile

Hello, Everybody in Houston.

I am Selvia from Indonesia, going to join the Business Internship Program
in Houston from September 1st to 26th.

Now, I am in my last year of my degree at Fukushima University,
majoring in Financial Accounting in the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
I speak Indonesian, Japanese and English.

I am hardworking and ambitious, fighting to get what i want.
I feel happy if i can help and share with others,
so if you need my helps some day, please feel free to ask me.

I am crazy about the Korean Dramas and Taiwanese Dramas
I can sit in front of my laptop whole a day just to watch the series of dramas.
But, it doesn't mean i forget my duty as a student.
I study hard to keep my GPA and never miss the deadline of the reports.
Watching dramas is just one of my ways to spend my leisure time.

Recently, I go to the gym twice or three times a week to stay healthy.
I love doing BodyCombat, Balleton, and Pilates.

If you want to know about me more,
you are pleased to follow my account twitter @SeLv_
or visit my blog
http://selviaelfrida.blogspot.com

I am looking forward to seeing and working with
all of you in the next three weeks.

Houston, I am going to you soon!

Be blessed,
Selvia

And we're off!

Our first intern arrived safely at Hobby Airport in Houston this morning and was met by our in-country coordinator Mr. Dave Anderson. We are really excited about the program and we'll start posting more to the blog now that the program has officially started! Looking forward to having everyone share this experience with us!

We're back!

Welcome to the Overseas Business Internship Program: Texas 2011!

After the success of last year, we are back for a second year! This year we have joined forces with JFPI Corporation who provide excellent internship facilities and placements throughout the bustling and vibrant city of Houston.

Join us on this blog to hear from the new group of interns, their thoughts on living and working overseas, their work placements and for updates on our 2010 Alumni.

Amazing weekend

This labor day weekend was amazing experience for me... I never forget this memory forever...

Actually my weekend started from Friday. Around noon, I left for Lake McQueeney(about three hours from Houston) with Tomoe and her host family. Her host family's lake house was fantastic. It was by the river, they had own big boat, and their house was only three yeas old!!!

I spent Three nights in that lake house. During my weekend I swam in the river, went to San Antonio(it is historical city for Texas), went toobing, visited Gruene Hall(it is the oldest continually running dance hall in Texas), fought with Chicken- Fried-Steak, lost by it... Tomoe's host family took me to many places with explanations.

I didn't understand why they were sooooooo kind to me because I was kind of the strangers for them. But they treated me like one of their families!!! They didn't only pay for me. They always watched my eyes, my behavior, listened to my talk carefully and asked my feelings for me to be easy going. That's why I never felt loneliness, alienation, and something like that.

I'm really glad to spend time with you. Thank you so much for Romano Family!!!!!


By So

Last Day...

It is the last day in Texas today.

I met many people who have a warm personality. Especially, my host mother, Betty. When I came to Texas the first time, I was homesick. That's because I couldn't get used to American food and it is too fast for me to understand what Americans were saying. At that time, Betty was worried about me. She said to me, "You can speak Japanese if you can't understand" We wouldn't speak Japanese in front of Betty. But she allowed us to speak Japanese. And she always smiles. Her smile gave me power.

One day, we said to her, "I'm sorry you do many things for us." she replayed, "That's OK!! If you were in that situation like me, do many things for others this will make this world peace and others smile." I think that's true. It is important for us to have kindness for others. In Japan, we are busy every day. So, we often can't pay attention to others. It is NOT good. When I come back to Japan, I will practice what Betty told me in Texas.

I could understand one simple thing by coming to Texas. I really like Texas as Texan people are very kind, the food is very good. However, I REALLY REALLY love Japan. I now understand I must go back and grow up in Japan.

Texas and the United States is my second country. I'll never forget the memories of this summer. And I'll be back here someday!! Finally, I sincerely appreciate all people who cooperated with this internship. Thank you for your cooperation.

by

Tom

U for University

Most modern day technology, experiments, research are done by universities in the United States. I know the culture of universities is from Europe and became world standard. But nowadays pioneers of this culture are definitely from this country.
I went to Rice University last Monday. It was a great place. University property was not so big, though it had wide spaces so that students could relax. The library was not so big either, yet it preserved many up to date references and science journals.
In 2012, Rice University is going to be 100 years old. Being in the campus made me feel like I had gone back in time a hundred years ago. But more than that, the very reason why this university is here has inspired me. William Marsh Rice, who was a successful businessman in Texas tried to build a free-tuition institution in Houston. And he devoted all his assets to start the school. In fact, many Americans from that era knew the importance of education, particularly university education and they founded many universities which became great schools.

by

Och

Visiting Rice University

Little bit about our work

Office is the place we spend our time almost every day. That is the place where we meet many volunteers from many different generations and backgrounds. It is more encouraging that we see all these people are willing to help their favorite candidate.

To me, politics is much related to trust and hope. Who is trustful and able to answer to the peoples hope can be a good politician. So I thought, all the volunteers are spending their time to support a person they can trust.

Everyday work is not so hard but not so easy either. Because we are working in a very sensitive field, we have to be careful. Mistakes can lead to failure. But we are enjoying every moment in the office.

Our office is placed in very busy area of the city. There are many office buildings, grocery stores and restaurants. Every afternoon we try to experience different kinds of foods. It's so interesting to eat in various restaurants. Everyday we have a new experience and new taste.

Och

Busy week

This week was the busiest week of my houston life.

We met a famous politician at the office, went to Minute Maid stadium to
watch baseball game, discovery green (park) to join a ZUMBA event, art
museum, NASA, and the beach!! Wow!

Of course, our work at the office is going well, too. We have worked so hard!

We finished writing addresses and closing more than 8000 envelops!! We checked over 6000

pieces of data on the computer database!
The end of my summer in houston will come too soon!!

Aya

Och's third week

This is the third week of my internship. Since I came here in Texas, Houston became my third home and I'm getting used to this new culture.

On August 4th, the day I came here, my head was full of excitements and worries. Even how to buy a coke from vending machine was an issue for me. But, everything starts from curiousness, so I'm learning about all of them now.

I'm living in the Mathesons' house as a house guest. I was surprised by their kindness and hospitality. We talk about many kinds of interesting subjects at the dining table. In fact, having dinner with an American family was the greatest experience for me. Dinner is a very special time to them.

With my host family, I'm spending so many happy times together. They take me to show the city and meet relatives all the time. Last weekend we went to San Antonio for a two day trip. It was a wonderful city. Cultural heritage was all over the city, in it's buildings also in it's people. Even though it's in the same state as Houston, I felt a unique difference as if I was in a totally different country. How wonderful is to live in a multicultural country like United States.


Last night was the baseball night. All the students from Japan, went to the Houston Astros game. I don't know much about baseball, but it was a great game. Of course the Astros won the match. "Don't mess with Texas!"

I didn't write about my job this time. Maybe next time!

By

Och

Politics & Baseball

Today, we experienced many things!

In the morning at 11 am, an American politician came to the office!! He smiled kindly and was so friendly. We took a picture with him. My first impression of him was that he was like a grandfather. Now, I can understand why I felt so. He recruits volunteers and meets his supporters and people in his constituency in person. He cherishes communicating with people face to face. I felt like I had met him before. In contrast, other candidates broadcast their message on TV commercials to get a vote. TV commercials do have a big impact however, If I were a voter, I would like a person who communicates face to face with the people.

Now I realize that different people have different values and ways of thinking about politics. In my opinion, a person for the job is the person who cherishes people's heart, not power or profit. We have many answers to help something. But I think it is important to choose our answers by looking into our heart. For this, humanity is necessary.

After working, we went to a baseball stadium. We watched the Astoros VS N.Y. Metz. It was exciting for us. Vendors were working around the stadium. One was selling and singing. Another was telling jokes. I've never seen that situation in Japan! Since I came to America, I was surprised that each person has their own identity. And they are proud of their identities. This is one reason why various racial and cultural groups can live in America together. Japan should follow America on that point.

We have watched many things in America. But the treasure of America is not baseball or the Statue of Liberty, BUT people living in America. Americans make America. Sarah, again, thank you very much. You took us to many places.

by

Tom

Hard day at the office!

Everyone is working so hard! But check out the view! Wow! What an office!

The weekend: opera, shopping and more!

Sunday is a day off!! I was very happy. This morning, I could stay in bed later than usual. I got up at 10 and I went into the living room. Tomoe was already there, so we went to church to listen to some opera. Richard, my host family's son (above), is a famous opera singer over the world. We played at his house (in his spa and pool) after work and had dinner with his family. So, he invited us to listen to his opera. At the moment we listened to his voice, we were drawn into his world. His voice is amazing!! He is a true professional. I almost cried. After singing, everyone was clapping and he had a standing ovation!

After that, we had lunch. I ate a hamburger. It was a true American one. It was so big I couldn’t bite it. I needed a knife and fork. Then, we went to the Galleria. It is a big shopping mall like lake town in Koshigaya. There are many kinds of stores. In Japan, a shopping mall usually has stores that have goods about the same price stores but in the Galleria there are expensive and cheap stores mixed together. People of different classes live in Houston. In one part of town there are very wealthy people, but nearby there is an area where low income people live in another place. Both of them are almost in the same area downtown. I guess that is what causes the downtown to have many different stores. There are also many Chinese people, too. There is a big Asian supermarket near my house.

The Galleria Shopping Center (even has an ice-rink)

11 days have passed since we got to America. Many many people have helped us. I really appreciate their kindnesses. Especially, Sarah has worked hard for us. She took us to many places by car but she made a big mistake in the car - don't forget it’s the right side of the road in America, Sarah!! ha ha! At any rate, I am enjoying Texas life!!

The roads in Houston are crazy!

Tom

Sleepy...

I am really enjoying my Texas life My host mother has taken us to many places and people in Texas are very kind and friendly. Everyone always gives me a smile.

However, we are getting bored with our work Och got sleepy today I also got sleepy yesterday But we must work hardDo my best The working world is tough ;)

Tom

Pineapple Ramen?!?

A week and few days have already passed since I started a new life in Houston.

I have already missed Japanese food. Actually, I ate miso-ramen last

week. However, there was a big difference between that and miso-ramen in Japan.

Pineapple ramen was much better than miso-ramen! Can you believe it?

By the way, yesterday I saw T.I. at the biggest shopping center in

Houston (picture above). To be honest, I don’t really know who he is but...I was happy to see a celebrity in America! I love my life in Houston!

Aya

Busy, busy, busy!

This is our office!

This is a picture of Discovery Green, Texas

Well, we have been here over a week and it's been BUSY! We have been having so much fun working and meeting people we had no time to write. We are sorry! But we promise to write more every day from now on! We are working from 9-5 in the office. We are doing office tasks like filing, stuffing envelopes, and data input. We are getting used to working on the computers. It's all English!! The people in the office are very friendly and we can talk to them about many things, life in Japan, American education, politics and much more. We are learning a lot! We use English everyday in work, we are typing in English and writing envelopes in English. We are reading English handwriting, but it's difficult to read!!

Last week, we had two pool welcome parties, a BBQ, and some of us visited museums after work. We also had an 'ice-cream social' networking event where we could talk to many people. This was held at Discovery Green (picture above).