Tuesday, August 26, 2008

JCC First Friday Activity Approaches!

There will be monthly cinema and dinner on first Friday of each month. September 5th will be the first one of this academic year and the cinema will begin at 4pm and the dinner will begin at about 6:30pm. The cinema of this month is "Face (KAO)" directed by Junji Sakamoto in 2000.
There will be the JCC club meeting prior to the film at about 3:30pm. Those who were in officers position last academic year and still currently in GTS class remain as an officer for various reasons. Those who want to become an officer can be recruited at any time.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

New Academic Year Began!

It is quite difficult for anyone including myself to switch and adjust the living mode from the NON-school environment to the school environment! Fortunately or 'unfortunately' (you know about it!) there were/are overflown students without a seat in all elementary Japanese 1101 classes. Night class began with over 30 students! Intermediate Japanese 2201 also did begin with good number of students including several new faces which is very exciting! 2201 class is composed largely of two different types of student: traditional 2201 students and returnees from Japan in various capacities. Hopefully good interactions among students bring the new horizon and good classroom atmosphere! I just wonder "How many" students will be in class 3 weeks from now? Can you guess? My sincere hope is that "everyone stays in class and no "mysterious chairs" be found! Let's have fun together this new academic year!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Fall Semester Begins in a few days!

Elementary Japanese are all full in both COD and WCC. There are still students who are waiting for a "Mysterious Seat." Textbooks for elementary Japanese class are all backordered so it is still uncertain how the situation will turn out to be. Intermediate Japanese class are still open and some new students seem to join and is very exciting!. The link I made last time didn't work and I tried to fix it. I am looking forward to meeting returning students as well as new students!
http://blogs.pioneerlocal.com/nw-teenjournalists/2008/08/japanese_festival_brings_cultu.html

Friday, August 8, 2008

GTS Elementary Classes Full!

満員御礼!New Fall semester will begin in 12 days. All elementary Japanese classes of GTS got filled! Now several folks are waiting for some "mysterious seats" (不思議な椅子 named by a student). Waubonsee Community College (WCC) elementary Japanese class was also filled. By the way, GTS with his 2-year old daughter attended "summer festival" at Mitsuwa and his comment was quoted into the local paper. http://blogs.pioneerlocal.com/nw-teenjournalists/2008/08/japanese_festival_brings_cultu.html

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Airline Fuel Surcharge over $500!

As gas price goes up, all the airline companies are adding so-called notorious "Fuel Surcharge" and as of 8/1 for international flight over the Pacific Ocean, this surcharge got to $506! The airport tax and security surcharge are usually about $100 total, so the trip cost will go up again for future. This directly influence GTS Japan Field Study Program and the itinerary of the trip must be modified to fit into the budget again! The December Trip will be re-named as "Christmas in Japan" and main activity sites will be centering around Kyoto, of course. Ooooops, some students forgot paying tution for fall semester and removed from the registration list. As a result, a few seats for Fall Elementary Japanese classes got available! Hurry Up!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

"O-Bon" (Summer) Festival held at Mitsuwa

One of the important advantages for those who are studying Japanese in COD area is to have Japanese store complex "Mitsuwa" within the driving distance. Students can taste some Japan-ness at Mitsuwa Market Place for food, groceries, books, DVDs, cosmetics, etc. Every summer several local Japanese-American organizations sponsors its summer festival just like local summer festival in Japan. The festival this year was yesterday! Current and former students, friend teachers, and college alumni of GTS showed up and exchanged smiles. Sure, GTS did not forget continuing networking among key persons for future! Oh, GTS Night Elementary Japanese class (Mon./Wed.) in the fall was filled!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Monthly JCC Dinner Resumed!

Monthly Japanese Culture Club (JCC) Dinner was resumed on Friday, August 1st at Kyoto Sushi (Downers Grove). This JCC dinner tradition began about 10 years ago with a few members of Japanese Culture Club at COD. JCC dinner is held on the first Friday night every month unless otherwise specified at JCC web page. Those who went to study aborad Japan showed up with remaining jet-lag and continued to be excited about it. Some just got up and came to the dinner! (It's You!) Usually 15-20 people gather at the dinner but sometimes over 30 people come and go during the dinner party hours (6:30pm to the restaurant closing time of 10pm). Next dinner will be on Friday, September 5th.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Fall Morning Classes got FULL! Wow!

As of 8/1, both 9am and 11am Elementary Japanese classes got full. Past students know that the classroom is small and some are sitting on the floor at the very first class but a few days or a couple of weeks later, it gets more seats than needed. Past students know why! Shhhhh! M/W Night class has a few seats left but will probably get full in a few days. (満員御礼) Honor seminar Japanese 1100 with Sociology 2220 (2 courses must be taken at the same time) got full a few days ago. In the seminar, students will exchange e-mails with students in Hiroshima Jogakuin University and everyone can virtually meet through Internet web cam conference in the last half of the fall semester (mid-Oct through the end of the semester)!