Hogmanay Ceilidh

A number of students came along to our HOGMANAY CEILIDH at Hopehall, to see the New Year in, in traditional Scottish style!

Christmas Party 2006

Thirty-five students from eight different nations came along to our annual Christmas Party; with 22 guests that brought the total to 57. The food was great (thank you Alison), the quiz was a challenge (that’s my fault) and the Carol singing (with Jack on the piano) was great fun!! Do remember what I said … “Things are not always what they seem. As we look around Paisley or Glasgow the message we might receive is that Christmas is all about spending money, eating & drinking too much and generally getting rather stressed. But the truth is …"

St Andrew's Night 2006

Many thanks go to Gordon and Derek for supplying the music for our St Andrew’s Night - for some it was their first ever experience of Scottish dancing.

Thanks also to Alison and Jack jnr for helping prepare our feast of haggis, tatties and neeps.

Our Scottish vocabulary quiz was won by Sandra Einig from Germany – who should soon be able to pass for a local !!!

Graduation Ceremony 2006

Kathleen and I were both soooooo blessed to be invited to the graduation ceremony of several students that we’ve had the pleasure of crossing paths with Benjamin Doerr from Germany, Adam Chudy from Poland, plus Kate, Vivian, Ellen, & Shelly from China. There were others too but, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get photos of everyone.

TABLEtalk: Career Moves

None of us wants to end up like ‘a square peg in a round hole’! TABLEtalk this evening began with a fun mingling exercise where everyone trying to guess the profession that had been pinned to their back. The only questions they could ask of others were closed questions - some got there quicker than others, but some of the professions were a little out of the ordinary.

Then in groups we looked at what sort of personality we have, what are our strengths, and how do we go about finding the right career path to follow?

International Sunday Lunch

Many thanks to Neil & Anne Pitcher and their sons for providing a fabulous meal and a great Sunday afternoon for XiuLi, Munish and myself.

Fireworks & Hot Chocolate 2006

Twenty eight students signed up for our annual evening to watch the local council fireworks display.

Following the display we all met back at CGC (Christian Growth Centre) for hot chocolate, cake and a few challenging rounds of pool, air hockey and fuzz-ball. Many thanks CGC for their wonderful hospitality!

Student Comments

Marielle from Holland: "I was at TABLEtalk just once when I was here on holiday. That's a shame because I thought it was a nice evening and Paisley is a nice town."

Day Trip to Glasgow

Grace, Jing, Tracy, Sam, Dawn, Csaba, Sandra, their friend and I took a day trip over to Glasgow to visit the Transport Museum and Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum. It was a glorious day and on route home we took a slow walk through the park.

Student Comments

Jana from China: “Thank you for holding TABLEtalk for international students. We lack the feeling of belonging, but you give us belonging. Thank you again.”

TABLEtalk: Alien Encounter

After a fairly quiet start to the semester our numbers suddenly doubled this evening with 10 newcomers. The increased numbers always add a certain dynamic to the evenings that makes them more fun.

Our themes for both this week (Alien Encounter) and next (Culture Shock) are designed to help international students address some of the culture shock issues that arise in coming to live and study in a new nation.

TABLEtalk

It was great to begin a new academic year knowing that we already have a core of international students who are still around in Paisley. It was great to welcome back the Jan & Bram (the Dutch boys), Csaba & Sandra (from Germany), Vivian, June, Amanda and Shelly (from China), Sam (from India) - and a newcomer, Munish, also from India.

Day Trip: Loch Lomond Highland Games

Fabulous weather and a great day out at the Loch Lomond Highland Games. Many thanks go to those who drove and a very special thank you to David & Aileen Clark for hosting our Bar-B-Que afterwards.

Oops – no photos from the Bar-B-Que!!

I think I remember falling asleep on the sofa!!

Day Trip: Luss & Lomond Shores

Jan, Bram, Holly, Maney, Eva and Vivian joined us for this great day out at Loch Lomond. Beautiful sunshine and a great day! Thanks Kathleen for bringing along some munchies. Jan & Bram rounded the day off by inviting us all back to their place for a feast of haggis, tatties & neeps!



Jan, Bram & Maney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bram & Vivian

Not the softest of sandy beaches . . . . . Eva from Germany

Rosie's Ceilidh

Thanks Rosie for the invitation. Great ceilidh!!!