I started class at level 2, and I finished at level 3. There are 2 campuses in GRC, the classes at level 2 are on the Kent campus, and those at level 3 are on the very big main campus. The Kent campus was closed this year, so all students at GRC now use the main campus only.

GRC

Near Kent Campus

Classroom

One day after arriving in America, we had an orientation at the main campus.

Day 1

We checked our own personal information, and handed in a copy of our insurance. Some GRC students showed us Chinese dancing as celebration, and we ate American-size hot dogs and babo tea at school. I felt I was in America again. I talked with many GRC students, and we became friends. I got less nervous.

Days 2、3

Breakfast and luch were provided for us, and we had enough chance to talk with each other while eating. I talked with many students, and we became friends. Also, we had two tests to decide our classes to take. After the tests, we visited a large campus, and learned how to use classrooms. We made a student ID that we used for 6 months. I carried the ID everyday to use a gym and school buses. Please don't lose it.

Day 4

We went for a Seattle trip. We enjoyed sightseeing for the first time with new students. The trip is optional, but eveyone should definitely go to this trip. I went to places where I wanted to go, so I had a great time. I bought souvenirs at the first Starbucks store. And we were able to buy Japanese stuff at Kinokuniya or Daiso.

Day 5

We had the orientation at the main campus. We played recreation in groups, and ate lunch together. We were planning to go to the CORE camp the next day, and we learned about it and other school events.

Days 6、7

We had the overnight CORE camp. We enjoyed many activities such as horseback riding, paintball shooting, and archery. We enjoyed the campfire while singing songs and dancing at night. After that, we enjoyed some other American games. We danced and talked until 12 midnight, and I really enjoyed this camp the most.

We made friends at CORE.

Seattle Trip

Emily was our teacher at level 2, and she was beautiful and kind to everyone. The classes included Speaking/Listening, Reading/Writing and Grammar. The classes at level 2 were not difficult, but it was difficult to listen in English. Also, we had many chances to speak of our own ideas. Those two things were difficult for me at first. A number of students are from China, and some other students are from Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. Emily loved questions from students, and she taught us kindly during lunch time and after school. We had a lot of group work and pair work instead of lectures. I enjoyed the classes because they were game-oriented.

Speaking/Listening

We usually talked about a topic in pairs at first, and listened to everyone's idea. I thought the time was useful to improve our speaking skill. We had a presentation by ourselves for 5 minutes once in three weeks.

Reading/Writing

We often practiced reading short sentences to find its topic or its author's ideas. Also, we learned sentence structures to write a paragraph. It was difficult to write a piece of paper at first, but the more I practiced, the easier I could write.

Grammar

We studied easy grammar at Level 2, and I understood grammar better than in Japan. At first, it was very difficult to remember parts of speech such as verbs and prepositions. You should get used to those terms before you leave Japan.

Emily's Class at Level 2

End of Quarter Party

The teacher Ann at level 3 always told us American jokes to make us fun. Ann had a thought that grammar was the most important, so half of her classes focused on grammar. The classes at level 3 were more difficult than those at level 2. However, if you listen careful in class, you can follow it. My classmates were from China, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Vietnam, Kazakhstan and Japan. There were few girls in class, so I was nervous at first. Still we ate lunch and went shopping together. I met various students at the main campus, and I made friends with them.

Grammar

We learned more advaced grammar than in level 2, and it was a lot of fun to deepen my understanding.

Reading/Writing

We learned about reading that we had done at level 2.

We learned to write paragraphs, and also learned about writing essays at the end.

Speaking/Listening

We didn't spend much time on speaking in Ann's class. We came up with a topic that was more difficult, and we made a presentation by ourselves or in pairs. We watched lectures on video, and learned about negotiation and other stuff.

Ann's Class at Level 3

At Fainal Class

With Ann