– By Arissa Li from Pacific Ridge School

This is my second time visiting San Diego. All I knew was that this is a city famous for Sea World. I love my homestay because I have a chance of living with a Spanish girl and I have tried my best to learn some Spanish. We go to school, we hang out and we eat together. My host mom Jenn served in the Navy, and she is very funny. Her daughter Sophie is about two years old, she makes our life more interesting. The weekend life is fantastic. I went hiking on the first weekend and I was shocked by the wild environment, lizards and rattlesnakes were able to move around freely! I experienced my first Mexican food as well. I love the way they do avocado, it is awesome!

I have learned that San Diego is a city with strong sunlight. I got sunburned twice within 10 days, so I think I need powerful sunscreen in the future. IEM has organized plenty of activities so far; for example, the Summer Olympic. All students went to Mission Bay Park, and different kinds of activities were held. I was proud that our team, Orange Fire won the second place and 90% of us were girls. At the end, we had pizza together.

The classes that Q International School provides are helpful. I was worried because I would go to 11th grade directly at Pacific Ridge School. However, the pre-high school program offered me confidence. We did a lot on writing, grammar and vocabulary. The new part was about culture. We have to know the different values of American and Chinese cultures. The values will help us to a quicker adaptation of American life. The most difficult tasks are reading and American History. I truly hope that after two months of training I can adapt to the new environment as soon as possible. Ryan is the teacher who is in charge of the cultural part. We have Physical Education, American Conversation and Cultural Communication. Those classes are extremely beneficial.

I still look forward to enjoying more activities in the pre-high school program, such as the Comic Con tour, San Diego Zoo, and the water park. The teachers are very nice, especially Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Sueky, they accompanied us to get our vaccination; we went to eat Chinese food together. I am not that homesick as I expected and I am glad that I chose IEM. Life at IEM is great! 😆