Students at Embassy

Barbecue in Golden Gate Park

This week, I’m going to tell you all is what have happened last Friday here in San Francisco, to be specific at the fabulous Golden Gate Park.  One of the oldest American traditions; a barbecue in this lovely park.

I was finishing my class while a group of students were waiting for me in front of the door to go together by bus. This was because the park is really big and some new students didn’t know where the place was.

When we arrived, all the staff were there preparing the two grills necessary for all our delicious hotdogs and hamburgers. Within one hour the park was full of people eating, drinking and dancing, and of course respecting our school’s first rule: "Speak in English!"

 

 

We were so lucky, because it was a beautiful day. There was no classic San Francisco wind and no clouds in the sky, just sun and warmth. As a result, everybody enjoyed the afternoon.

 

Some people decided to play rugby, others started playing UNO, then fanatic soccer players started a match whilst, like always, some were just chilling in the grass and sunbathing and we knew it and appreciated it.

 

I guess that day there were almost 100 students, and for us it was a great achievement because we really like to organize something cool and great for our fellow Embassy students.

 

In conclusion, I want to say thanks a lot to John (our Director), and Jon, Zach and Sarah (amazing Embassy San Francisco staff) for having giving us this wonderful day and, once again, to be able to take the opportunity to practice English language in a fun way during our stay in the U.S..

by Doriana

To find out more about what learning English in San Francisco, visit the Embassy website.

International Dinner: an amazing experience

Where can you find people from twelve different countries cooking and eating together?

That's what happened in our school, what we call the "International Dinner".

The purpose was to organize an event where everybody could enjoy the magnificent world of food.  You might say “How is it possible, twelve different kinds of food in just one night?” Yes, it happened. United States, Germany, Spain, France, Japan, Korea, Italy, Colombia, Brazil, Switzerland, Turkey, Taiwan. 

Bruno and Renato were with all the Brazilian guys in one room where the ambience, as you can imagine, was warm and festive.  There was vibrant music, and could you miss the delicious capirinha? Of course not! Delicious little cheese puffs known as pao de queijo are sexy Brazilian party food. Pao de Queijo is one of my favorite Brazilian treats. They told us that these are best served straight out of the oven, when they're still a bit gooey inside from the delectable cheese but they have served these cold alongside some cool and delicious Caipirinha cocktails. And for dessert our friends made the most famous Brazilian dessert, Goiabada, beloved by Brazilians and foreigners alike, "not much work for this one... a 'no-sweat' kind of dessert", they said.

Along the corridor we encounter a strange room, because there were several flags! Germany and Switzerland together? Yes, I realized after that they made a perfect mix because German cuisine shares a culinary culture with Switzerland.

Francesca, Pia and Tania, three German girls, cooked for us delicious Frikadeller (meatballs) combined with Kanzoffelsalat (potato salad). It is a popular menu choice of cooks preparing food for a large number of people, because it is easily made in large quantities, it can be prepared in advance and refrigerated until needed, and requires only inexpensive ingredients. For dessert, Brezel for everybody; but it was really interesting to hear about the history of this food. Pretzels are associated with superstitions. In earlier times in Europe people wore pretzels around their necks to scare away evil spirits. Pretzels also were hung on trees, to help them to grow well. Some think that breaking a pretzel is like breaking a wish-bone; Breaking the pretzel ceremoniously will make a wish come true, but I prefer to eat them!

Oh, and then finally Switzerland with their wonderful chocolate. Urs, our sweet and tender "big brother", brought for us a whole bunch of  Lindt chocolate candy, the best part of the party for lovers of chocolate. 

In my case, of course, I was the Italian representative; the idea of this party was to bring something relative to my Country so I prepared Crudaiola, the yummy cold pasta that is done with ingredients that have the same color of the Italian flag, so with basil, ricotta and tomato. During the organization of this event everybody asked me to prepare Tiramisu, so I decided to prepare it for my friends. Good idea…. just one problem. It was all finished in just five minutes.  

"Mi casa es tu casa!" This was the exceptional welcome the Spanish made. All typical Spanish food was there just for us, and I can swear, it was delightful; jamon serrano, chorizo and tortillas de patatas. Could you miss the sangria?? Of course not! Party sangria is a popular choice for parties, and almost everyone partaking of it is bound to find at least several delicious fruit slices bobbing around in their cup. As result, everybody was dancing and eating to the rhythm of flamenco.

During that time, something happened. Feiz, our beautiful Turkish friend, came a little bit late and to settle his debt he brought a tray with Turkish appetizers.

In conclusion, we moved on to another continent only in thought, of course. Asian food: the boom of our times. The major types can be roughly defined as East Asian with origins in Imperial China and now encompassing modern Japan and the Korean peninsula.

Eric, Stan, Teddy, Andy and James brought us delicious Asian food in huge quantities.  There was Kimchi Bokkembab, fried rice with meat; then, Korean Spicy- and Bibim- Noodle from Korea; Okonomiyaki and Japanese Udon Noodles from Japan. (I hoped that they would bring me Sushi, I still don’t know why they didn’t do it! ;)

This was our amazing International Dinner. Now let me just express what my feelings were during this night, because it was a strong sensation, for everybody. Eating, dancing and speaking different languages within the same building was, in my opinion, an opportunity to understand that world peace can start with just daily and normal behavior.

(PS: I have omitted the description of some countries only for time reason;  I hope that my friends will not be angry with me. J )

by Doriana Siracusano