Summer at College Village may seem boring, but we have roughly 30 students staying in this big dormitory under one building and most of them are new Japanese students who have just arrived at GCC. Because it is the summer, it may not the best time to explore GCC as an international student, but to me this is the summer of youth.

With not many people around, we learned everyone’s name very quickly and soon became friends. Friday was beautiful day with nice weather. I bought a big watermelon and invited the international students to come watch Batavia’s sky at night. We all sat at the basketball court as we enjoyed slices of watermelon, strawberry, snacks and green tea. Everyone brought a little something to contribute to this star gazing night and we all came with a smile!

It was a great opportunities for them to get to know more about all the other students. In addition, it was a chance for them to practice English. So, I had everyone introduce themselves, their major and hobbies. We talked through the night about how coming to GCC is a whole new experience with so many new things to learn about the American culture. We shared stories about our hometown and how different they are from Batavia.

The night ended with a challenge to eat dried salmon with whipped cream! We all had a good laugh at the reactions of our brave challengers. It was fun and we made it happen, after all, we are a community here at College Village!