Over the years, Forest Park Conservancy’s field crew has worked with many dedicated interns, some of them visitors from far off places like Finland and France.
Now, thanks to Pacific International Academy, an ESL program at Marylhurst University, two college students from Japan have joined our crew. Every Thursday from January to mid-February, Kota Shimizu and Daiki Kamizono can be found in Forest Park, refining the trails, and their English, with FPC. Read on to learn more about our new trail interns, or come meet them at a Thursday morning work party!
Kota and Daiki hail from Gifu City in Gifu prefecture, right smack dab in the middle of Japan. They’re both second-year students studying English at Japan’s Chukyo University and met through their study abroad program. The two hit it off immediately, owing in part to their mutual love of soccer and the great outdoors.
Meet Kota (pictured left)
Kota’s major is British and American Culture and he’s especially fond of American movies and music. He prefers action-packed films like Black Hawk Down and uptempo country hits from Taylor Swift and Blake Shelton. A huge sports fan, Kota has already been to two winning Trail Blazer games and will be going back for more.
Meet Daiki (pictured right)Daiki enjoys cycling, mountain climbing and camping. His love of nature and aversion to office work is what attracted him to this internship. On his first day in Forest Park, Daiki noted the morning fog, and though he couldn’t think of the English word to describe it, he settled for “beautiful”. While in Portland, Daiki plans to tour the city by bike and continue to take in the sights.
Forest Park Conservancy is happy to welcome Kota and Daiki into our community of volunteers. Join us any Thursday morning from now through February 12 and help make them feel at home.