Collision

Colliding with others’ kayaks

happened quite often for starters.

When approaching too closely or

See Kayaking on p. 3

By SHANGYI CHENG

and PEIYANG SHI

Which marina is the most

beautiful and friendly in

Southern California? The

answer is the Alamitos Bay,

“the best kept secret between

Los Angeles and Orange

County”, where the sea water

is always pure and calm. On

July 12, Language Academy

Students went kayaking there

and had a great time.

Exploration

The Alamitos Bay con-

tains a quite huge area for the

students to go kayaking. Stu-

dents gained great sense of

achievement from exploring

the location of mysterious

“moon jellies” and the differ-

ent routes back to the starting

point. “I felt on top of the

world when I found some

jelly fish,” said Mike, one of

the Language Academy stu-

dents.

Orange County Fair Saturday, July 20, 2013 8:30AM-5:00PM, FREE The OC Fair shows the rural side of the county right in the city of Costa Mesa. There are livestock shows and competitions, pig races, vegetable and garden exhibits, and equestrian events. There are also home arts and crafts, circus acts, carnival rides and lots of fair food. This is a great American sum-mer past time! Make sure you bring cash and sunscreen.

Third Street Promenade Friday, July 26, 2013 1:30PM-6:00PM, FREE The Third Street Promenade is an upscale shopping, dining and entertainment com-plex in the downtown area of Santa Monica. You will find tourists and street performers from all over the world. Please bring cash if you plan on eating or shop-ping. Sign up today at 12:00pm in JEF Courtyard. This activity is FREE!

Students Go Kayaking in Alamitos Bay

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Language

Labs

2/

3

Little Tokyo

In L. A.

4

Don’t Let Bed

Bugs Bite

5

Food Woes

Letter Home

6

Filming in

Los Angeles

7

Cyclists Bring

Hope

7

Pics of the

Week

8

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

The Academy News J U L Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 3 V O L U M E 5 6 , I S S U E 3

Check out The Academy News online: www.usc.edu/langacad.Go to “Student Information” and then click on “The Academy News.”

Explore the diverse cul-tures of L.A. in Little To-kyo. See p. 4

Bed bugs can be a hidden danger. See p. 5

Language Academy students explored the bay in kayaks last Friday.

IELTS Preparation: Test Overview—In this lab, you’ll have the opportunity to learn tips and tricks on how to ace the IELTS test. This week we’ll discuss the overview of the test. Conversation Practice—Practice

speaking English by level with USC students. This is an interactive discussion in which you will participate in group discussions about several interesting topics. This is your opportunity to practice speaking and to ask questions.

Statement of Purpose

Workshop (Levels 4-6): Learn how to write an amazing SOP for graduate school. Grammar Q & A—Are

you confused by the rules of English grammar? Come to the Grammar Question and Answer lab for help with your grammar questions! GRE/GMAT

Preparation (Levels 4-6): Find out the best ways to succeed on the new exam

Tuesday, July 23rd

Time Location Description Facilitator

12:30-1:30pm

KAP 150

IELTS Prep Lab (Levels 2-5)

James Hutzell Faculty

12:30pm-1:30pm

THH 107

Statement of Purpose (Levels 4, 5 & 6) Limited to 1 time per week

Marisa Garcia-Crocker Faculty

12:30pm-1:30pm

VKC 204 Grammar Q & A (Levels 1, 2 & 3)

John Esposito Faculty

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 1

Liza USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 2

Belen USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 3 Lucy

USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard

Conversation Level 4 Demetri

USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard

Conversation Level 5 Jay

USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Levels 6 Rachel

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

KAP 150 GRE/GMAT Prep Lab (Levels 4, 5 & 6) Jeminah Jones

Faculty

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 1

Lucy USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 2 Blaire

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 3 Demetri

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard

Conversation Level 4 Rachel

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard

Conversation Level 5 Liza

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Levels 6 Jay

USC Student

P A G E 2

MANDATORY STAY/GO MEETING ON THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

YOU MUST ATTEND ONE OF THESE MEETINGS ON THURSDAY. FEEL FREE TO SIGN UP FOR LANGUAGE LABS IF YOU WANT (AS LONG AS IT DOES NOT CONFLICT WITH THE MANDATORY MEETING THAT YOU NEED TO ATTEND).

Transfer to USC Grad School Meeting (12:30 PM-1:30 PM THH 301): Attend this meeting if you plan to start USC Grad School during the Fall Semes-ter. Attend this meeting even if you are taking Language Academy classes concurrently with your Graduate Classes during the Fall (Do not attend the Stay at Language Academy meeting). Stay at Language Academy Meeting (1:30 PM-2:00 PM THH 301): Attend this meeting if you plan to stay at Language Academy for the Fall 2013 Se-mester (or plan to take a vacation and return for Spring Semester 2014) Going to another school or leaving the United States Meeting (2:00 PM-3:00 PM THH 301): Attend this meeting if you are done studying in America or if you plan to transfer to a different school in the United States.

P A G E 3

Kayaking Continued from p. 1

colliding to each other, they had to say hi

and make small talks to ease the embar-

rassment. Isn’t it a great opportunity to

make new friends?

Collaboration

Except for single boats, twin boats were

also popular among students. Some felt

safer with another person sitting in the

same boat. However, it was challenging

for two newly met students who tried kay-

aking for their first time.

Xi Kang, a student from China, described

their first half journey as uncontrollable.

“Both of us rowed very hard in order to

keep the Kayak moving straight forward,

but it just didn’t listen to us.” Having com-

municated with each other, she and partner

tried several plans and managed to find the

right way to control the boat. In their sec-

ond half journey, the boat went smoothly

on the water just as they had hoped. She

said, “We felt like Olympic athletics! Not

only did we improve our collaboration, but

also our friendship. ”

Fight On, Trojans!

Though kayaking requires endurance and

perseverance, it turned out that everyone

from Language Academy passed the test.

Matt told us that having chosen an arduous

route, he almost gave up on the way back

to the beach. He kept saying to himself

“Fight on!” Finally, he managed to get to

the destination.

Thursday, June 25th

Time Location Description Facilitator

12:30-1:30pm

KAP 150 GRE Prep Lab (Levels 4, 5 & 6)

Peter Guekguezian Faculty

12:30pm-1:30pm

THH 107 Statement of Purpose (Levels 4, 5 & 6) Limited to 1 time per week

Marisa Garcia-Crocker Faculty

12:30pm-1:30pm

VKC 204 Grammar Q & A (Levels 4, 5 & 6)

John Esposito Faculty

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 1

Liza USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 2

Belen USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 3 Jay

USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard

Conversation Level 4 Demetri

USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard

Conversation Level 5 Blaire

USC Student

12:30pm-1:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Levels 6 Rachel

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 1 Blaire

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 2 Belen

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Level 3 Demetri

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard

Conversation Level 4 Rachel

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard

Conversation Level 5 Liza

USC Student

1:30pm-2:30pm

JEF Courtyard Conversation Levels 6 Jay

USC Student

IELTS Preparation: Test Overview—In this lab, you’ll have the opportunity to learn tips and tricks on how to ace the IELTS test. This week we’ll discuss the overview of the test. Conversation Practice—Practice

speaking English by level with USC students. This is an interactive discussion in which you will participate in group discussions about several interesting topics. This is your opportunity to practice speaking and to ask questions.

Statement of Purpose

Workshop (Levels 4-6): Learn how to write an amazing SOP for graduate school. Grammar Q & A—Are

you confused by the rules of English grammar? Come to the Grammar Question and Answer lab for help with your grammar questions! GRE/GMAT

Preparation (Levels 4-6): Find out the best ways to succeed on the new exam

P A G E 4

By SCARLETT CHEN and YUAN FENG

Downtown Los Angeles has

several ethnic districts. Little To-kyo is one of them. It’s a great getaway place for Acad-emy students.

Little Tokyo, entitled Na-tional Historic Landmark District in 1995, is the biggest Japanese and Japanese-American commu-nity in Los Angeles. It inherits the essence of Japanese spirit.

It is also the hub for Japanese food. Sushi is a representative of Japanese food. Little Tokyo has many authentic Japa-nese restaurants that all serve sushi dishes.

Besides sushi, there are other choices too. Four Leaves Tea and Crepes and Ozero Tea & Desserts are two popular afternoon tea places on Yelp.com. They are different from American cafes. Instead of serving coffee, they are famous for their boba tea, or milk tea. This will help international students from Asia soothe home-sickness.

Other than that, Little Tokyo also has many Japanese baker-ies and supermarkets. One of Little Tokyo’s shopping areas is Japanese Village Plaza Mall. The building of Japanese Village Plaza is constructed in Japanese traditional style. It’s noticeable and easy to find.

The plaza includes around 40 stores from clothes boutiques and cosmetic stores, to gift shops, as

well as vari-ous restau-rants. Weller Court is an-other shop-ping center located at the west side of Japanese Village Plaza. Stu-dents also can enjoy shopping there in the department stores as well as boutiques along the street.

The biggest Japanese supermarket—Marrukai, is also located in the shopping center. In addition to shopping, students can also experience traditional Japanese culture in Little Tokyo by visiting the

Japanese temple in the Little Tokyo district. The Koyasan Bud-dhist Temple is located a few steps away on First Street.

The community holds festival celebrations every year. An upcoming activity is called Obon. It is a Japanese celebration in honor of its ances-tors. This will be a cultural experi-ence for Academy students. The festival will be held at Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple on July 24 and 25. There is no admission fee.

Heart of Japanese Culture in L.A. —Little Tokyo

HOW TO GET THERE

Take Metro Silver Line 910 towards silver Line-El Monte Sta Via Downtown on Har-bor -Transitway/ 37th Street. Get off at Spring/1st Street - City Hall. Then walk to Civic Center / Little Tokyo. Estimated travel time: 26 minutes

MORE INFORMATION Find information about the Obon Festival by accessing this website:twww.hhbt-laorg

REFERENCE

Little Tokyo, Los Angeles (n.d.).Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Tokyo,_Los_Angeles Festival (n.d.). Little Tokyo Community. Retrieved from http://www.littletokyola.org/

P A G E 5

By YATING ZHAO

Two new Language

Academy students were

forced to move to their

friend’s apartment

for accommodation on July 10

due to bed bug infestation.

“This is the first time that

I have seen bed bugs in my

lifetime!” one girl said.

They are both new Annen-

berg’s students and currently

studying at the Language

Academy.

A sign of bed bugs had

already been noticed on the

first day they moved to their

sublease apartment. They re-

ported to the manager who did

give the apartment some

chemical treatments, but the

bed bugs just wouldn’t go

away.

“We were sitting beside

the table and discussing some-

thing when my roommate

suddenly found out there was

a bed bug moving around and

finally crawling inside

the drawer. Then my room-

mate opened the table, and I

surprisingly saw a family of

bed bugs. I was so scared that

I started crying.”

The other girl said, “Bed

bug infestation may probably

result from inadequate sanita-

tion of last renters.” The two

girls finally found a new

apartment and finished their

fight against bed bugs.

Bed bug infestation is very

common here in America, es-

pecially in L.A. According to

Orkin, one of the nation’s

leading pest control compa-

nies, LA is actually number

three on the list of worst bed

bug cities 2012. What do USC

new students do to protect

themselves from bed bug in-

festation? You may find some

helpful tips here:

First, learn how to identify a

bed bug. Bed bugs are reddish

brown with a flat, oval body

that measures approximately

¼ of an inch (6.35 mm) long.

Bed bugs usually hide close to

the bed but can spread to other

areas of the room or home

over time.

Second, know how bed bugs are able to get into your

house or apartment. The

most common way in which

bed bugs enter your house or

apartment is that you go

somewhere else where bed

bugs are present and then ac-

cidently take them back with

you. So be aware of the place

that you go and stay.

Third, know how to keep yourself away from bed bugs.

As long as you have good

sanitation habits, such as

cleaning your rubbish more

frequently, carefully choose

the house or apartment that

you move to (try not to rent

hundred-year old house or

apartment) and double-check

the place you stay and go for

short trips or visits. Then you

can largely reduce that chance

of bed bug infestation.

I hope every Language Acad-

emy students has a happy and

healthy life here in USC.

Bed Bug Infestation Forces Students to Move at Midnight

Mandatory Housing Stay/Go Meeting

All Language Academy Students living at Troy East Apartments must attend the Housing Stay/

Go meeting on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 3:00pm in VKC 100. Thanks!

Bed bugs are found in places with poor

sanitation and sometimes campsite.

P A G E 6

By WEI WEI

and VIVIAN YU

Los Angeles

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Dear Mom and Dad,

It has been one month since I left

home. Now I am sitting in the Leavey

Library of USC and writing you about

my life in Los Angeles.

Schoolwork is not as easy as I used to

think. We are facing a more challenging

academic environment, which will cost

me some days to adjust to. And the fel-

low students are extraordinary and

knowledgeable. Talking with them makes

me feel that I still have a long way to go.

But I welcome challenges. They push me

to strive for excellence.

No worries about my daily life. Cook-

ing is no longer a problem for me. Maybe

because I am from a city of delicacy, I

was born with the talent of cooking. I am

a LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sus-

tainability) now, keeping workout almost

everyday and keeping early hours.

See, Los Angeles has changed me

indeed. And I have met awesome friends:

Alia and Candice. They help me a lot

with my annoying car-parking problem as

a new driver.

Last week, we went to a shopping area

called the Grove and had a great time

there. It was the first time that we ex-

plored the auto city by bus even though

sometimes we got lost. But I think that is

the most interesting part of studying

abroad. We tackle different kinds of

problems all by ourselves. Without your

help, we have to grow up.

I enjoy the new life here. But I do

miss you and everything I am so familiar

with in the city I have lived for twenty

years. Every time I feel hungry, I will

think of the homemade dishes Dad cooks.

Every time I put the coins into a washing

machine, it seems I can hear Mom says:

“Go to sleep, I will do that.” Every time I

look up to the blue sky of Los Angeles,

which sets off the mansions, the illusion

that I am home comes to my mind.

There are plentiful shortcuts, but I

have chosen the most difficult way to

realize my dream and better myself to be

the person I want to be. I will definitely

go through good times, hard times but

never bad times. The opportunity of be-

ing in USC and starting a brand new life

is one of the best things in my life even

though homesickness is painful. It is you

who give me this opportunity.

I will see you soon at Christmas.

Thanks for all you have done for me! I

embrace you with all my heart.

Vivian

By WANG JINGYI

As a Chinese, who

might have already eaten all of the elements on periodic table, I assume that I have an “iron body” and can digest every countries’ food perfectly well.

The reality, however, blows me heavily on the belly. During the last week, the food here up-set me so often that the restroom almost became

my alternative bedroom. Finally, I yielded and

decided to share my sug-gestion with the future newcomers: do not be hasty to try new food.

You might have deter-mined to adapt to Ameri-can lifestyle as soon as possible, but your body may say “no” at first.

Feeling lucky to get rid of the poor-quality Chinese milk, I excitedly bought a large bottle of low-fat milk at Ralphs (a local supermarket). But my life afterwards turned out to be “a glass of milk everyday kept my stomach hurting all the way.”

Knocked off by milk, I came back to traditional soy milk which I used to drink everyday in China and later got my strength back.

Choosing the food your body is familiar with is always a wise strategy when you move to a new country. As for that tasty new food, why not take some time till your body says “Yes, I’m ready”?

Do Not Be Hasty to Try New Food

A Letter Home

P A G E 7

Silvia

By YUMENG (VALERIA) WEI

Walking around Los Angeles, have you ever had a feeling of déjà vu with some of the street views that you saw? That is probably because you are in the actual filming set of a movie or a TV episode.

In fact, the production of a movie or an episode is not limited to the indoor studios, Los Angeles and its surrounding communities together are a giant movie set beloved by the producers.

In the movies or TV series of which the stories occur in Los Ange-les, the places that are symbolic representational places of L.A. are frequently chosen as filming loca-tions, such as the Sunset Boulevard, the Hollywood sign, Marina Del Rey, Malibu or Rodeo Drive.

Believe it or not, the downtown area is also a popular filming choice. Most scenes in the movie 500 Days of Summer were shot in the down-town: the leading role Tom’s ecstatic routine after the first night he spent with Summer is performed in front of the Civic Center Mall; his favorite spot is a bench at Angel’s Knoll where he can overlook the entire downtown; his job interview, his breakup with Summer…all happen in this central, historical part of the city.

In the Fox hit New Girl, the exterior scenes of the loft where Jess and his three roommates live are also filmed downtown, at 837 Traction Avenue to be exact.

Some movies also set their sto-ries elsewhere but were made in Los Angeles. For example the Oscar win-ner American Beauty tells a story that happened in the Chicago suburbs, but in reality was shot in the greater Los Angeles area. The William McKinley High School in Glee which is sup-posed to be in Lima, Ohio, is actually the Helen Bernstein High School in N.

Wilton Place, Hollywood. Now you have one more way to

explore this amazing city – find out the filming locations of your favorite movies and go visit; picture yourself as your favorite character and literally put yourself in his/her place. You may have a brand new interpretation of the story. For more information about the filming locations, please check out these web-sites: http://www.movielocations. com & http://moviemaps.org

Filming Locations in Los Angeles

Journey of Hope

By ZHAKA SHULENBAYEVA

Almost every student in Lan-guage Academy makes the morning 10 minute trip from home to the cam-pus. Have you ever considered go-ing further than campus? What about making a cross-country journey rid-ing a bike?

When I first heard about this idea, I laughed and did not believe that someone would venture to ride from one part of the country to an-other. However, the guys from the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity make this

cross country trek every year to spread the message to help people with disabilities.

Journey of Hope is the trek across the America, starting from San Francisco and ending in Wash-ington D.C. The team of bikers cy-cles an average of 75 miles per day, a total of 4,000 miles. However, the main object of this journey is not bik-ing.

Riders spend time with people with disabilities in different commu-nity events and activities, calling for community integration and helping to break the barriers that keep people of all abilities from enjoying the life.

“After meeting the people who we were supporting, my focus on the journey transformed from pushing See Journey of Hope on p. 8

Angels Knoll is a famous landmark in Downtown L.A.

USC Language

Academy

Rossier School of

Education

Phone: 213-740-0080

Fax: 213-740-0088

Web: www.usc.edu/langacad

Pics of the Week

The Academy News is a weekly newsletter pro-duced by students in the Journalism Elective of the USC Language Academy. All students in the Lan-guage Academy Program are encouraged to send news stories and photos to Sonja Lovelace at slove-lac@usc.edu.

Check out The Academy News online at www.usc.edu/langacad.Go to “Student Informa-

tion” and then click on “The Academy News.”

P A G E 8 J U L Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 3

THE ACADEMY NEWS STAFF

Editor: Valeria Wei

Assistant Editor: Leo Wu

Reporters: Faisal Almutairi, Zhiqi (Scarlett) Chen, Shangyi Cheng, Fitsum Fanta, Yuan Feng, Xi (Silvia) Feng, Ranran Li, Zijun (Mike) Lu, Peiyang Shi,

Zhaka Shulenbayeva, Mingxu Sun, Lun (Allen) Tian, Jingyi Wang, Yumeng

(Valeria) Wei, Daojun (Leo) Wu, Meiyi Yu, Weiwei (Vivian) Yu, Yerkanat Zaitov, Assyl Zhakupov, Yating (Evelyn) Zhao

Journey of Hope Continued from p. 7

my body to supporting those people whose only wish was to be able to walk”, says Troy, one of the participants of this fascinating program.

During the 67 days of the trip, the bicyclists raised $475,000 in total. Each of the members contributed around $5,000 on the money went to the fundrais-ers that help disabled peo-

ple to live a better life and the organizations dedicated to increasing social aware-ness of the plight that these people are facing.

Now the positive spirits of this activity not only push America forward but also have been spread to other regions of the world. The Journey of Hope shows that with determination, team-work, and sympathy, we can make our planet and life wonderful.

Language Academy students tried kayak-

ing in Long Beach last Friday afternoon.

Kayaking requires careful balancing, which the students soon figured out.