Staff at Embassy

Embassy CES Aukland - Piha Friday

Susan Blick, from Embassy Aukland, writes:

Our excursion was planned for Piha, a west coast beach 45kms north of Auckland.  The beach has been made famous in the television programme ‘Piha Rescue’ a take on the Australian equivalent ‘Bondi Rescue’.  Piha, with its shimmering black sand and weathered rock formations is very picturesque and a great place to have a picnic or BBQ.

 

Two large buses pulled up outside the school and as teachers, Susan and Ferooz, checked the lists, the students piled onto the buses ready for a day beyond the city-limits.  As BUM the buses pulled away from the curb, five more students were noted running frantically to catch up to the bus.  They hadn’t pre-booked and instead were able to pay on the bus, so now we had a total of 63!

On the way to Piha we stopped at a lovely vantage point known as Arataki which affords stupendous views down the river, across the dam and out into the sea, with a faint hint of Auckland City in the far distance.  Arataki is also home to the visitor’s centre for the area and they have very informative displays of the local bird- and plant-life and also some Maori art.

Once at Piha the students were instructed that they were not allowed to swim.  At first sight it became obvious why a surf beach with an outgoing tide should not be taken lightly.  Indeed, the beach can be hazardous especially for swimmers without boards and fins.  Thankfully the students were ok with not swimming and set about picking teams for playing beach volleyball and soccer.  Others decided to climb Lion Rock and go off on little walking trails in the vicinity.

 

Sometime later, teachers Susan, Siva and Ferooz ensured the bbq lunch was ready and made certain everyone got their share.  Many were noted going back for second-helpings, for which there was food aplenty (thanks to our supplier New Zealand Discovery); all the beach sport had really worked up an appetite.  Devouring burgers as some sat under trees in the shade, others chose the sun catching-rays and boosting their vitamin D levels. 

Unfortunately the day passed too quickly and we all piled back on the buses for the hour-long ride back to school.  The trip was thoroughly enjoyed by students and teachers alike.

 

Christchurch earthquake fundraising at Embassy Auckland

Nicola Conway, from Embassy Auckland, writes. TIP: double-click on any word to see its meaning.

The Christchurch earthquake has been a terrible tragedy with great loss of life and destruction.  Our thoughts are with the people of Christchurch at this difficult time.

In order to help the victims of this terrible tragedy, Embassy Auckland students have managed to collect over NZ$1400 for the NZ Red Cross Earthquake appeal, and staff have donated directly to the Red Cross. Food and essential items are also being collected to donate to people in the worst affected suburbs.

Anyone who wishes to donate to the NZ Red Cross appeal can do so online <a href="http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate" target=_blank">here</a>.

Trip to Rangitoto Island

Robin Hale & Ferooz Afshar write from Embassy Auckland. TIP: double-click on any word to see its meaning.

It was a glorious Friday morning that only Auckland could produce. About 45 students, Brazilians, Colombians, Chinese, Argentineans, Japanese, Koreans, a Kiwi (Robin Hale) who organized the programme and me, an Iranian, met outside school around 9.00 am. We were to take the ferry across to the island at 10.00am, so we had plenty of time to be a bit casual about when we actually gathered.

 

Rangitoto is Maori for ‘Bloody Sky’. Its emergence from the sea was witnessed by local Maori iwi (tribes) about 600 to 700 years ago. The volcano is not expected to become active again. It is covered, in main, by black lava stones known as scoria; there is not much water on the island so the plants and trees depend on  rainfall for their growth.

It sustains the largest forest of pohutukawa trees in the world. There is a programme underway to eradicate all the remaining animals such as, stoats, rabbits, rats and mice in the next few years. (You can find out more on Wikipedia).

Anyway, we strolled down Queen Street to the Ferry building and re-gathered there; with Robin checking the name list to ensure that nobody was left behind. If memory serves me right, only two students did not make it. Their tickets were held for them to use at a later date.

The ferry ride, as always, was very pleasant. The students had scattered all over the boat; some on the outer decks photographing the receding Auckland scene, others sitting inside away from the sunshine and the spray. There was a buzz of anticipation and excitement in the air. The ferry stopped briefly at Devonport to disembark some passengers and to take on further visitors to the island. The sun and the wind promised a very pleasant day, in spite of the weather warning the day before.

At the island Robin informed the students of the departing times of the ferry, emphasizing the last boat out! We then formed different groups and began the ascent up to the crest of the island. Different groups chose different paths up. Some stopped to enter the lava tubes (tunnels), the longest of which is about 50 metres. For the keen photographers there was a lot of plant and insect life to catch their eye.

 

At the summit Auckland city, across the waters, presented itself as a wonderful backdrop photo opportunity for students who climbed onto the rails and stood in various precarious poses to be filmed and photographed against the spotless blue sky with the Sky Tower poking out behind them. I held my breath!

 

This was the point at which sandwiches and drinks came out, rest and chatter; students exchanged the wonders of Rangitoto and made suggestions on what to see on the way down.

Most of us, if not all, caught the 12.45 pm ferry back to Auckland; the buzz on the ferry, the flushed and suntanned faces gave evidence to a well-spent day. Surely, a memorable day!
Robin & Ferooz

Find out more about studying English in Auckland with Embassy.

Recent news from our Embassy schools

Here is a round-up of news from our various schools around the world. As you can see, there is a lot going on!

• A major project is currently underway to refurbish the library at Embassy Cambridge, and also revitalise some of the classrooms.
• After a year of testing and development, Smart Express classes started last week in New York, Boston, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Cambridge. Will you be on the next Smart Express course? 
• We have lots of special offers on Embassy courses and accommodation at the moment - you can get a bargain if you can be flexible on dates! 
• At Boston Merrimack, students participated in the College's Global Village - an annual event in which students showcase their country’s culture, traditions, clothing, music, and food. We had 12 countries including: Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, China, Japan, France, Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, El Salvador..., & Brazil. Students took great pride in presenting their countries to the campus community.
• Recently, in Seattle, students headed to the trendy Queen Anne Neighborhood for an “Amazing Race” competition. Working in groups of three, students were given a list of tasks to perform and questions to answer in a period of two hours. They had a great time learning and exploring Seattle alongside their classmates!
• 10 new interactive whiteboards have been installed at Embassy Melbourne, meaning every classroom in that school now has access to this fab technology.
• Embassy Brisbane has a new student residence:  it's just seven minutes from school by bus; has inclusive broadband internet and utilities; and best of all there's a great social community.
• Meanwhile, Brisbane students have enjoyed trips to farmers markets, a table tennis tournament, a pizza & board games day & a sausage sizzle. OK, who knows what a sausage sizzle is? ;)
  
• Embassy Perth has a new Director of Studies - Andrew Foster. Andrew joins us after working for over 10 years with GEOS, and more recently as Senior Director of Studies for GEOS Oceania, where he was responsible for the academic management of 11 schools. He has worked as an English Language Teacher, a Teacher Traine...r and as Director of Studies in Australia, Japan, England and New Zealand.
• On Sunday 14 March, 12 teachers and staff from the Auckland campus took part in the annual Round the Bays fun run in aid of the Study Group ‘Plan Haiti Appeal’. Students and staff managed to raise $624.90 for the Plan Haiti Appeal. This amount will be matched by Study Group, so Auckland will be contributing almost $1,250!
• Embassy Sydney now offers 3-day trips for activities such as surfing camps, snowboarding weekends and tours to Melbourne and Canberra.
  

Videos on site

Videos really help you to see what student life is like - and even more so when our students themselves get to speak.

That's why we've been busy adding videos across the Embassy website in recent days. Here you can view just a few of them. Enjoy!

An introduction to Embassy Sydney:

EM_Sydney_360p_ProRes

See also:
An introduction to Embassy Melbourne
An introduction to Embassy Perth
An introduction to Embassy Gold Coast
An introduction to Embassy Brisbane
An introduction to Embassy Auckland

An introduction to Embassy Boston Downtown:

SGUS-B-Intro-081209

See our other Boston Downtown videos:
Boston Downtown students and staff
Boston Downtown local information (foot of page)
Boston Downtown activities
Boston Downtown facilities (foot of page)

An introduction to Embassy New York:

SGUS-NY-Intro-081209

See our other New York videos:
New York local information (foot of page)
New York accommodation
New York activities
New York facilities(foot of page)

Auckland rugby trip

Carter Voyce, teacher from Embassy Auckland, writes:

On Easter Saturday, 30 Taylors and Embassy students went to a Super 14 rugby match at Eden Park. The mighty Auckland Blues were up against the previously unbeaten (and seemingly unbeatable) Pretoria Bulls.

For most, this was their first rugby game and, complete with blue and white face paint and strong lungs, they quickly got in behind the local lads.

As the sun went down and the stadium lights came on during the second half, it was clear our boys were playing well and holding the upper-hand.

Thanks mainly to the tremendous support shown by Taylors and Embassy students, the Blues went on to win 32 – 17. A great day was had by all!

See more photos from the event on our Embassy Auckland Facebook photo gallery.

Great TOEIC results from Embassy Auckland

Millions of people take the TOEIC test every year - it's the standard for workplace English language proficiency worldwide.

We're proud to say that results at Embassy schools are consistently above the national average, and Embassy Auckland has been part of that trend.

In October 2008, the average score across New Zealand was 608. Test-takers at our Embassy school in Auckland, New Zealand received an average score of 877, the highest Auckland score being 920 out of a possible 990. 

Read about our TOEIC preparation courses here.

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?

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!"

Taylors/Embassy CES on ice!

Ray Butler , our Auckland Activities Manager, writes:

"Embassy CES on Ice" could be the title for a film or even a show but it goes to prove that you can find exciting places in Auckland if you look hard enough. Actually you really don't need to look as you are really "spoilt for choice" most of the time.

The trip to Paradice Ice-Skating was a definite favourite with our students and while there were some bruised egos (Ray proved that he really can't skate, Elena proved that she really can...) only one person twisted his knee.

The Taylor's College Skating Team was a truly multi-national affair with members from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Japan, Taiwan, China and Saudi Arabia. We may have even managed to fit in an Omani too!

No one really remembers who won the skating race but it seemed to be a largely South American event.

We are indebted to Henry for these photos that are much better than the ones that Ray took......Henry can be seen giving the "skater's salute" and holding his "car" (i.e. his skateboard!)