Tuesday, July 29, 2014

'I Am From' Poems

Our students don't practice the English only in the classroom...this dorm activity asked the girls to describe themselves creatively in five sections. These poems give a great window into student life! Here are a sample of student poems:

I Am From Poem
Describe where you’re from in five sections.

1. smells and tastes
2. sights and landmarks
3. sounds and sayings, music
4. feelings, emotional and/or physical

5. hopes and dreams and expectations


Linda Lee:

I am from
Kimchi Tofu Soup
My mom’s smell (without perfume)
Mom’s pancakes

I am from
Tall buildings
Crowded roads
Beautiful view of Seoul City
Tasty restaurants
Busy students and adults
Gorgeous big school (my school)

I am from
Honking sounds
Conversation between families
Bigbang music
Pop songs

I am from
HAPPY!! and hyper
Seoul City is the BEST
Friends + Family → Greeting
Excited

I am from
Friendly and be nice
Truly humbled
Care for yourself and other people
Generous
I want to be a person when everybody looks at me and says
“we have to live like that as we only live once” in the future

Rachel Qiu:

I am from
milk
ice-cream, cake & chocolate
noodles (especially the one made by my grandma)
spareribs
cola-chicken wings
instant noodles.

I am from
“Rach!!!” -- besties
“Stay away from strangers” -- grandma
“Stop playing with your computer (phone), go read some books or do your homeworks.” -- mom
“Have fun!” -- dad
“Off you go!” -- teachers

I am from
familiar
comfortable
reminiscent
relaxing
safe.

I am from
skyscrapers
my primary school
36524
pictures
beaches
Indigo shopping centre.

I am from
business woman
actress
writer
dancer
have a responsible boyfriend
‘happy ever after’
interesting life
travel with my besties.

Stella Shi:

I am from the smell of grass, flowers and trees of the West Lake.
The taste of dong po meat, ding sheng gao, feng zhua, xiao long bao….
(So many delicious foods!)
And the smell of cars in the busy street in the morning and evening.
The smell of old buildings around the West Lake.

I am from the busy streets, the crowds,
the small swimming pool near my home,
the subway stations,
the night market in front of my school.
The small hills around the West Lake,
the sunrise and sunset I can see through the windows of my room,
the old bike in front of my door,
the plants that my grandfather plants on the balcony…

Everyone speaks Hangzhou native language in my family.
I am from the sound of students reading books,
the sound of the bell ringing in school,
the sound of teachers and the sound of the playground.
(Everybody playing, running, talking and laughing.)
And my father’s snoring.

During the summer vacation,
when parents all go out for work,
I feel so happy and relaxed staying at home alone,
and I do something I like
(playing computer, chatting with friends, watch TV, reading, hanging out with my friends, do homework with them…)
One of my best friends lives really near me.
I enjoy going to her home and playing with her,
baking with her,
and talking with her.
Additional, we swim together every night in the summer vacation.
I love the feeling of water and the wind blowing.
(Plus, I love the feeling of lying on my large bed!!!)

I want to take dance class and art class in Forest Ridge this fall.
I want to take Japanese class in grade 10.
I want to have some wonderful memories with my friends.
(I like to travel somewhere together -- residential trip!)
I want to live happily.
I want to have a big and warm house.

Reika Takamura:

I am from tea, udon (Japanese noodles), cake, sushi, tofu, green tea, chocolate, ice cream, rice, sakura (cherry blossom)

I am from lots of buildings, classroom, my friends, my family, blue sky, playground, park, tree, leaves, crowded streets, flowers, boutiques
I am from Japanese, English, friends’ voices, families’ voices, TV, J-Pop, piano, violin, cello, car, bus, English songs, talking

I am from warm, soft, comfortable, fun, feel relieved, alone

I am from be nice, cartoonist, peace, free, success, tell the truth, be honest

Rica Zhang:

I am from a city which has a modern smell
-- Guangzhou.
Sometimes it makes me think about that I am in a fiesta party.
Or smell the “car’s fart” around me.
Without the tasty food smell or the badly “car’s fart.”
My hometown also has many “pounds weigh” are waiting for you.
I grow 5 pounds from eating Dim Sum,
10 pounds from rice noodles.

More than the food and the smell,
It has 2 tall beauties stand and make up Guangzhou.
The tiny beauty call Guangzhou Tower,
The fatty one call West Tower.
These two beauties are the highest towers in China.

“Lei Hou!” is hello in Cantonese.
Guangzhou has its own native language call Cantonese.
Most of the time, thirty percent of my day are living in Cantonese,
the rest of it are Mandarin.
Or permeate into the traffic sound.

Imagine when land in Guangzhou…
The airplane door open,
I feel warmer.
The home’s door open,
I see that is small than Bellevue house.

My dream job is to be a financial expert
who work in the Bank.
My parent want me to be a accountant!




Saturday, July 26, 2014

Seattle Storm, WNBA basketball


This afternoon we went to see the Seattle Storm, our local WNBA team. Though the Storm lost, we all enjoyed the experience! 
Rachel cheers with her BamBam sticks



Let's Go Storm!





Food at the Summer Program!


Our students enjoy delicious food from Cristel, the program Chef. 

This lunch was a favorite...Chinese food (American style!!)





We celebrated the end of the third week of the Summer Program with an Ice Cream Sundae Bar at Lunch time. Delicious! 





At the Fremont Troll

Climbing up...
We made a stop at the Fremont Troll today! Fremont used to be the "artist" section of Seattle. The Fremont Troll is located under the US highway 99, looking over Lake Union. He is mean looking, but nice to visitors!


lending a helping hand...


Hanging out with the Fremont Troll!!!





Friday, July 25, 2014

Game time!!


Deep in thought

Afternoon Dance Class

Three afternoons a week, the talented Ms. Barrett leads a dance class for the FREISP students. They have learned some Zumba, some jazz, and even explored Yoga and Pilates!



Soccer time!

It finally stopped raining!! Time for some soccer...just like our favorite World Cup teams!


Thursday, July 24, 2014

Evening Fun at the Park!


A beautiful sunset...lots of great friends...
relaxing in nature...what a great time!



The Seattle Zoo

The girls recently visited the Seattle Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, which is a well-know animal preserve. They loved wandering around, viewing all the animals. The Western Wolf was a favorite for all!




Wait--they're not in the zoo!!

The Western Wolf was everyone's favorite!

Cosmic Bowling!!

A fun and funky weekend activity...the girls loved it!




Strike! Go Forest Ridge Bowling Team :)

Monday, July 21, 2014

Picture and Weekend Update from the Students!

All students drawing Germany or Argentina before World Cup final 
Grace and Sonya cheering for Argentina during the World Cup
roasting s'mores!
Pillow Fight! Linda, Yvonne and Rachel have fun this past Saturday afternoon
"Cheers" say the students in the Starbucks at the Seattle Center
Reika and Rachel (the "sisters") are in a movie park watching Faris Buler's Day Off
Grace is preparing her safety while she goes rock climbing
Rachel and Grace doing some hard rock climbing!   
Sonya, Grace and Reika visit Sam's (the sports  RA) house to make s'mores


Rica Z. writes:
We went to bowling and 9:00 pm! We bowled in the dark! We had so much fun!

Annie Y. writes:

I went shopping with my parents and Yan. We bought a lot of things. I like the hotdogs there so much, it's very delicious.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Field Trip to the Ballard Locks

After spending two weeks learning about Water Resources, the Red class went on a field trip to the Ballard Locks in Seattle. They were led on a tour by Bethany Craig, from the Washington State Fish and Wildlife office. There they learned about how the lock operates to keep the salt water and fresh water separated, as well as the salmon fish ladder. Salmon are an important natural and cultural resource in the Pacific Northwest, as local native Tribes have utilized them for thousands of years.

In front of the Ballard Drawbridge

The Red class with Ms. Barrett: Sonya, Rica, Jasmine, Annie, Reika, Hui and Jessie