TABLEtalk - Chinese New Year Celebration

Welcome to the Year of the Ox

What better way to begin our new semester than to welcome the new year in Chinese-style ... and all this was done with the very able and sacrifical help of Fu Yu, Jessica, Sarah, Bora, Kiwi & Rain. I am indebted to these girls for all their hard work.

THANK YOU!!!!!

They made over 300 jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) which were dutifully enjoyed by all (especially me).

This was achieved by much chopping ...

and mixing ...

and kneading ...

and rolling ...

... until we reach the finished product.

Sarah, Kiwi, Katrina and her Mum

Eric, Razvan, Emmanuel, Ian & Cathy.

In addition to all the good food, we played several games include a Chinese version of 'the word race' in which our teams of non-Chinese were competing to copy Chinese characters - points were awarded for both speed and accuracy.

Our second game caused much hilarity as teams competed to complete several rounds of Chinese Whispers using authentic phrases in Mandarin. My favourite outcome to this game was when the phrase 'sui sui ping an' (which means 'wish you safety & health every year) somehow ended up as ... 'sweet, sweet ping pong'

Fu Yu, Katrina, Kiwi, Rain, Jessica & Sarah (left to right) rounded off our evening with two beautiful Chinese songs.

Lena with all her Chinese buddies!

Burns Supper & Ceilidh @ Nazarene Church

Eight students came along to the Burns Supper & Ceilidh at the Paisley Nazarene Church and everyone enjoyed the evening.



Good food ...

(left to right)
Arthur, Bora, Gloria, Lynne, Fu Yu, Misha, Lena & Magda










Great company ...








Great music and dancing ...

Many thanks to all at the Nazarene Church who made us feel so welcome!!

Student Comments

My stay in Paisley was a great experience, though the initial period was bit difficult as I had a major personal set back. My primary focus was to do well in my studies. It was a difficult phase where I had lot of pain within me as I was missing my family but alongside there was enough determination to do good and be good. The first friends that I made in Paisley were at TABLEtalk. TABLEtalk gave me an opportunity to make new friends and also provided me with a warm and welcoming environment which made me feel at home away from home. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and all the people behind TABLEtalk for the good work that you do. I owe a part of my little success to TABLEtalk ...

With Kind Regards,
Dharmraj (from India)

New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve Sugu & Fu Yu hosted several students who enjoyed a meal and card games 'til the wee hours of the morning ...

Thanks Chang for these photos.

Hogmanay Ceilidh

A good number of international students joined the folks at Hopehall Church for their annual Hogmanay Ceilidh. Great fun was had with games and dancing and a time of cabaret ... ... I'm keen to receive any more photos that people might have from this event. Thanks!