Sunday, May 31, 2009

A dozen GTS Loyalists showed up at the dinner!

Though the dinner was held at the end of the month instead of the beginning of June, there were a dozen people showed up and enjoyed the last seasonal dinner before the next academic year! Next one will be on the first Friday of September (9/4) possibly joined by some Japanese students from Japan! Registration for fall courses are moving well and 80 spots are left for 1101 as of the end of May. 2201 and 2251 are wide open! Now 2251 class meeting time has been decided and it will be between 2:00ish-pm and 4:30ish-pm on Thursday, once a week. The orientation for Summer Study Abroad program is currently underway and our group will depart on Wednesday 6/24 flying directly to Tokyo by All Nippon Airways and transfer to the domestic flight to Hiroshima where we will conduct the Peace Studies as well as enjoying the professional baseball at the newly built MAZDA stadium!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

JCC/GTS final dinner this season comes up!

Time flies and I hope everyone is ready for the summer whether it is about summer classes, or summer trips, or even just relaxing! JCC/GTS dinner is coming this Friday (5/29) and the next one will be on September (9/4) on which a few Japanese students from Hiroshima might join us!
GTS is busy preparing for the Study Abroad orientation this Saturday and Sunday. GTS will be in Kansas City, MO between 6/3 and 6/16 for AP Scoring! 83 Slots open for 1101 now!!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

86 Slots left for 1101 in Fall!

14 students have already registered for Elementary Japanese 1101 (100 students maximum (25x4classes). Honor Seminar Global Classroom project has 14 slots left! 2201 and 2251 are wide open! There will be Spring trip during the spring break next year but also Christmas trip is planned not by COD but by another institution/organization in December! Those who are in COD summer study abroad program will meet as a group in the weekend orientation on 5/30-31. Host family for each student has been selected as well!. JCC dinner is coming up on Friday 5/29 (next week).
Waubonsee Community College Elementary Japanese class has 4 students at a moment and 21 seats left!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Registration for the Fall semester is goin' on!

Registration for the fall semester classes have begun and 1101 already has a few students and 2201 has one now. Honor seminar (Global Classroom Project with Hiroshima Women's College) has 5 in it!. There will be 2 daily classes for 1101 (10am and 11am) and 2 night classes (5pm on Tue & Thu by Prof. Kamiya, 7pm on Mon & Wed by GTS). 2201 will be at 5pm on Mon & Wed, 2251 will be at 12:15pm on Thu. Honor seminar with Sociology class will be 6-9pm on Thursday (Students must register another Sociology class on Tuesday)! I hope to see many new students in fall!

Friday, May 15, 2009

25 survived in 1102, 7 survived in 2202!

The final exams have completed. 25 students survived in "1102" (Elementary Japanese) --13 A's, 6 B's, 3 C's, 1 D, 2 S's. 7 students survived in "2202" (Intermediate Japanese) -- 1 A, 2 B's, 1 C, 1 D, 1 S. A couple of students from 2202 plan to continue onto 2251 this fall. About a dozen students from 1102 plan to continue onto 2201 while some want to repeat 1101-2 to solidify what has been learned. 'Quick listening test' shows that everyone in class gained her/his proficiency drastically regardless of the letter grade of the class! Both 1101 and 2201 this fall will use the textbook "Genki I or II" as GTS regular practice of switching textbooks every often!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

The Final Week is coming!

While GTS is enjoying 'just taking a look at one-week-old RINA' at home, students must be busy preparing for final exams. Japanese finals are composed of several distinguished parts: SPOT (Proficiency growth check), Regular chapter/segment test/quiz, and Un-predictable festival (not for the elementary level). Those who are studying abroad in summer must begin excited now. There will be 12 students in GTS summer study abroad. 9 are in regular COD summer abroad program and 3 are from high school joining COD program separately but travel/study together. GTS is now excited!

Monday, May 4, 2009

GTS 2nd daughter "RINA" was Born!

At 6:36am on Monday, May the 4th, GTS second daughter "RINA" (3060grams) was born at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove!! Thank you very much for those who celebrate this birth and GTS is sure that "RINA" will have as many servants as EMA has! May 4th is Japan's National Holiday "Green Day" and her middle name will be May as you might be able to imagine! Rina will see you all soon!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

JCC dinner was packed!

Many former students joined the dinner after a long silence as well as new faces! They are currently enrolled at North Central College, DePaul University, etc. Those who are continuing to take Japanese courses at other institutions often realized and mentioned how KIND GTS had been after feeling "a piece of cake" at tests and quizzes of the "tranferred institutions" and feel great!! (Only those who attended GTS classes probably know what this means!) Well, final exam is coming up and I hope there will be many smiles! Next JCC/GTS dinner will be May 29, 2009! (NOT JUNE!)