Staff at Embassy

International food party

Staff and students had a chance recently to sample the delights of a variety of cuisines from around the globe at our 'International Food Night'.

Peking Duck, The British 'Banger', Russian Salad, Polish Beetroot Soup and Dumplings, and Limey Pumpkin Soup - all made a very welcome appearance, amongst many other delicious dishes, and all were home made. The three hungry judges awarded first prize, for savoury offerings, to an Iranian vegetable, rice and nuts dish, while the Libyan Humous ran off with the prize for presentation. For those who were not already sweet enough, sugar fixes came in the form of Apple Crumble and a Chocolate Pudding, with lashings of sauce and cream that had grown ladies keeling over with delight.

Entertainment for the evening came in the form of house band 'Radio East' who worked through their ever growing 'Rock Classics' set list. At one point there was an attempt to start the dancing by a little chap, about 3 years old, answered to the name of Lenn - but he was quickly whisked off to bed.

A raffle closed the evening and proceeds £380.12 went to Plan International charity. Everyone went home with a full tummy, and probably very content.

Melbourne Cup Fever grips Embassy CES Gold Coast

Victoria Moyle, Director of Studies at Embassy CES Gold Coast writes:

Five classes, from Elementary to Advanced, joined together for "The Race That Stops the Nation", the Melbourne Cup: it was a day of fun, fashion and frivolity.

Administrative staff, teaching faculty and students dressed up in their finest hats, fascinators and suits, culminating in a "Fashions on the field" parade, with prizes awarded to the best dressed.

Students put their creative hats on to design their own jockey silks with some truly artistic skills being shown.

The finalists' work has been prominently displayed around the college for all to see. To give students a chance to feel the local excitement for the event, the race was viewed on a large screen TV in a local shopping precinct.

On a more academic note, students put their heads together in mixed level groups to solve vocabulary, idiomatic and movie questions before moving onto the highlight of the day. We finished up with our resident dance teacher leading the students in some Aussie style bush line dancing, with some hilarious moments for all and some very loud yee ha’s.

The Race that Stopped the Nation was a fabulous day for all involved.

Wedding at Embassy CES

Ray Butler, our Auckland Activities Manager, writes:

It's not every day that students get married so it was a special delight to see Tais and Wandyck (from Brazil) "tie the knot" the other week. Although it would be nice to say that Embassy CES bought them together, it is truer to say that they came to New Zealand already engaged and decided to get married here. Must be our clean green air!

The weather couldn't have been better, although the wedding took place inside (Auckland Registry office) and a good-sized wedding party were there to witness the event. A fashion writer could possibly carry on about the dresses and the suits that were worn but suffice to say that everyone looked very smart.

Ray's wife loves any wedding so she was in her element and was also surprised to see Ray wearing a tie for the first time in ages....

It also proved a great place for teachers and ex-students to get together as after the ceremony the party went to a nearby restaurant to celebrate. A photo of Wandyck the next day is not really suitable for those of a sensitive disposition....

Too many people there to name everyone but just enjoy the photos and make sure you come here and join us soon. A course at Embassy doesn't guarantee that you'll meet Mr or Miss Right, but who knows?

Halloween party

On October 31st we had a Halloween party with students from both Embassy CES and Bellerbys in Oxford. There were some very imaginative costumes, food, drink, good music and impressive decorations. We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and no spooky nightmares were reported after the event.

Melbourne Cup – Embassy CES Brisbane style

Ken Beutel from Embassy CES Brisbane reports:

On the first Tuesday in November the Melbourne Cup is run at Flemington race course in Melbourne. It is more than just a horse race, it is a cultural event.  To celebrate this auspicious occasion, Embassy CES Brisbane does a range of things but the big event for the day is the Fashions on the Field.  Two representatives from each class are asked to make ‘race wear’ from newspapers, plastic bags and any other material lying around the campus.

Each pair parades in front of their school mates and then the judges (two teachers) decide the winners in the categories of most imaginatively dressed couple and best dressed couple. These winners receive prizes for their efforts. As you can see from the photos, the results are quite amazing and the students in all classes deserve huge pat on the back for their imagination and effort.

A walk back in time

Ray Butler, our Auckland Activities Manager, writes:

Many of us forget how interesting the places that we walk past every day can be, so teachers Ray and Elena put together an "historical tour" of Karangahape Road pointing out buildings and sites of interest to a group of around 20 students.

Auckland is unique in that it has names that are both English and Maori. The Maori name for Auckland, Tamaki Makarau, translates as "the land having a thousand lovers", while Karangahape can mean many things from "shellfish" to "a place of winding human activity". Take your pick!

We called our trip "A walk back in time" so Ray felt the need to adopt a period dress for the occasion, introducing himself and Elena as "Lord and Lady Embassy CES" at the graduation. How many students can say that they got their certificate from a titled hand??

So back to our tour: what used to be on the site of Embassy CES? This postcard from the early 1920s shows a cake shop, a garage and a theatre (the Tivoli) with windows shaped like horseshoes!

Ray happily lead his tour along the length of K' Road drawing stares from the passers-by who were far too informally dressed for a Friday morning.....The fancy walking stick he holds was once used to promote Johnnie Walker whisky and made from his grandmother's walking-stick and an old door-knob. Believe it or not!

The trip concluded with a cup of extremely good coffee at Columbus Cafe where all students with ID get 10% discount. The other cafe shown is Alleluya Cafe (no discount) but with the very affable Peter as "maitre D" and a place that has been a coffee lounge since 1926!

These photos of our trip are kindly supplied by Suad from Saudi Arabia, and show a true cross-section from the Embassy CES "family": Russia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan. Thank you Suad!"

HomeStay of the Year

Students at Embassy CES London have voted Doreen Lee as the HomeStay of the Year in 2007. Doreen has been hosting students for 8 or 9 years and one significant thing she has learnt from the experience is tolerance. She likes hosting students from Embassy CES because she gets support when she needs it, and particularly enjoys hosting students from Taiwan and South America.

Below Doreen answers a number of questions about her hosting experiences:

What do you do to make students feel welcome?
I don't have any rules except that students must call when they are going to be late. I tell them to treat my house as their own. I encourage students to have their friends round and to stay because they are far from home.

Why do you host?
Originally I had a friend who was an Accommodation Officer and she asked me if I'd like to host.  Then my husband died and I had time on my hands. 

Have you had any problems?
Just one. I had a nice Chinese rug in the students room and it was a bit large so it kept getting caught in the door. Rather than move the rug one of them cut the end off it!

What sort of things do you do to encourage student to practise their English? 
I ask them to stay when I have friends visit (and not scuttle upstairs to their room), so that they are included in the conversation and get the opportunity to practice their English with someone else besides me.

Boston Halloween Party

Last night students and staff at Embassy CES Boston enjoyed a fantastic Halloween party. Here are a few photos from the event:

 

Champions League match Cheslea vs. Schalke

A group of 24 highly enthusiastic football fans from Embasssy CES Oxford were taken to Champions League football match at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, 24th October. Whilst the students were used to seeing the Chelsea players on TV, some of them could scarcely believe that the players on the pitch were really Chelsea stars – Drogba, Lampard, Cech, Makelele etc.

The fans created great atmosphere, which helped the home team to win. The trip was enjoyed by students, the magnificent performance by both teams added to the occasion (for most of us quite exceptional), and everyone returned to Oxford rosy cheeked and full of cheer.