This month, the students in the Upper Intermediate class have had a chance to teach or present something special from their own nationality to their classmates. This week Thata taught her classmates how to dance. If you look closely you will see that Thata is teaching her teacher how to dance. Does Andy pass the test Thata?

I’ve been in Australia for four months now. Caloundra is the place where I have been living, so, since it is the first place for me I think  I’ll remember everything that I have experienced, it has been a really meaningful time for me. Honestly, I don’t have any idea about the rest of Australia, so I would like to write about me.

I remember the day when I arrived in Caloundra and went to GV for the first time. It wasn’t easy for me because I was trying to adopt to my new life here, an unfamiliar environment and my new school, it was a little confusing. I was a little afraid of speaking English, which added to my problem, but I overcame that once I started to hang out with my classmates.

My first class was the Pre-Intermediate class, which was lucky for me because there was only one other Korean student in that class, so I had the chance to practise speaking and improve my listening. What also helped was that I stayed at the Backpackers for 3 months and it was full of people of various nationalities who became friends and helped teach me English. Both places helped me improve my speaking and listening. Most Koreans want to practise speaking and improve their listening rather than studying grammar and improve their vocabulary because they study that in Korea. That’s why I like it here. Now I have a lot of friends here and most of them are foreigners. I can write and express pretty much everything I want to say and I’m no longer tone-deaf.

I’m really satisfied with my life here and I like Caloundra, GV, the teachers and all my friends but it is time to leave and go to another city. I wish I’ll have an equally good time there like I’ve had in Caloundra. I believe that once I decide to do something and try to actually do it, anything is possible. If I have a positive attitude I can make it work!

Thank you for your consideration, hospitality and everything.

Jason ( Jung Hyun Sung) Intermediate class.

The first time I thought about a language stay was last summer. I was in the army and noticed that I needed a change. At that time, I didn’t expect it to  be the best decision in my whole life! I chose Caloundra because it promised me what I was searching for: A good school with professional teachers, a beautiful landscape with amazing beaches and some night life.  What I found here, however, was more than I expected. Thanks Global Village because my English has improved a lot. Every sunny, cloudless day at the beach was a dream.   I have made a lot of new friendships from all over the world and I’ve had the best home stay imaginable. Actually, I don’t think of them as  home stay parents anymore. I call them mum and dad now. They cooked for me, cleaned my room, introduced me to friends, took  me to theme parks, helped me with my homework and watched movies with me. The deep relationship we have built,  in the last three months, has been unbelieveable…and I’m sure it will be preserved in the future. Now my time is over, so, of course I’m sad but I’ve had the time of my life! Thank you ESL, thank you Global Village, thank you Australia.

Andre Conrad – (Intermediate Class)

On the 16th of January, I went to Noosa Heads. I started my journey at 8.30am and it took about 12 hours.

It’s a long trip from Caloundra to Noosa Heads. I ate my lunch in Coolum Beach and continued my journey. There are many hills along the coast. It’s very beautiful.

I arrived in Noosa Heads at 2.30 pm. I took pictures in front of the Noosa Cinema and then I took a rest for a bit.

On the way  back to Caloundra, I went to Mooloolaba to see the beautiful beach. There were many fishing boats and people fishing at the beach.

I had a good day. I would like to go to Noosa again, but I’ll travel by bus not by bike.  It’s too tiring!

(Mike – Ke Ming LIU- Elementary Class)

Name: Stefan Gasser

School: GV Caloundra

Stefan came to GV Caloundra on the 9^th of January 2010 to escape the cold European winter. He decided to study English after a friend’s recommendation; he heard that Australia was a good place and had long summers. He chose to study at the Caloundra campus as it was central to other locations of interest to him such as Noosa and Brisbane.

Stefan’s teacher at GV Caloundra is Peter who he says is a very good teacher. He finds that he explains things very well and gives good examples, especially with grammar. Being in class with other students has allowed him to meet lots of different people from all over the world.

While studying in at GV Stefan has been staying with a host family in Little Mountain. This is a little far from the campus but he says his host family is so good to him that he doesn’t want to change. He describes his experience with them as fun as they have taken him wakeboarding and he joined them in a big birthday party for his 6-year-old host sister.

While Stefan has been doing very well academically he has also enjoyed socializing and the nightlife on the Sunshine Coast. He says maybe he goes out a little too much but only because the people in Australia are very different and much funnier. He also has had the goal to visit somewhere every weekend to discover areas around the Sunshine Coast. So far he has been to Moreton Island where he saw dolphins and has a plan to go the famous Great Barrier Reef and Sydney when he finishes his studies. Otherwise he goes to the beach nearly every day after class as he finds the beaches around Caloundra very beautiful.

When he finishes his studies and returns home he hopes to become a policeman, although he finds Australia so nice he wishes he could stay longer. He would recommend studying at Caloundra to anyone who doesn’t like big cities as it is quiet and relaxing, and that’s just the way he likes it.

Last Friday, on Mhooham’s last day,  he decided to prepare a Thai dish for his class as  a farewell gesture.

“On Friday, we had a presentation on how to make Thai Bean Noodle Salad in the Upper Intermediate class, by our friend Ham who has left us. But don’t be sad! He’s thinking of coming back. His presentation was really good and so was the food!”

Katrin (Upper Intermediate Class).

Don’t forget to join Andy  on Tuesday and Thursday at 2 pm in Room 2  for the GV Workshop.

Tuesday 16/2 – Searching for jobs.

Thursday 18/2 – Interview Skills.

JOBS

The following jobs have been recently listed:

Waitstaff – Caloundra

Kitchen Hand

Sandwich Artists – Maroochydore

Dishwasher – Caloundra

Housekeeper Supervisor – Caloundra

Housekeeper Supervisor – Mooloolaba

For more information see the notices in Patty’s office.

It’s nice to see students taking advantage of GIL classes in the afternoon.

Activity Suggestions for Global Village Caloundra Students

Have something you would like to do as an activity after class, at night or on the weekend? As the new activities officer I am currently taking suggestions for any activities you are interested in. You can put these suggestions to me on Monday, Wednesday or Friday when I’m in the office or email me anytime at mwebster@gvnoosa.com. Some options are:

-         Student night

-         Shopping trip to Direct Factory Outlets (DFO)

-         Ski and Skurf (wakeboarding)

-         Eumundi market

-         Australia Zoo

-         Barefoot bowls

Let me know if you are interested in any of these activities or have some suggestions of your own.

Cheers,

Maddy

Hi I’m Maddy the new activities officer at Caloundra. I will be available Monday, Wednesday and Friday sharing an office with Patty. Please come in and introduce yourself and feel free to ask any questions! I’ll be organising trips away, special weekend acitivites and some fun things to do after class. Look forward to meeting you all soon!



When I was asked to write a short reflection on the CAE course I am taking,  I was quite pleased because this course is actually a pleasure to attend.

Although the first four weeks were quite demanding, mostly due to the lack of my previous experience with the complexity of taking exams, I have made remarkable progress. I have learned useful strategies for reading and listening, enriched by vocabulary in many areas and have notably improved my grammar as well as writing skills. However dull acquiring these may seem, our enormously resourceful teacher Adi makes it incredibly entertaining.  She supplies us with interesting articles, engaging games, quizes and numerous other activities so we can practise out English to perfection. On the top of that, the atmosphere on the campus is motivating thanks to the friendly and devoted teachers.

All in all, this course has not only fulfilled my expectations but has exceeded them, big time!

Eva Majercikova (Certificate of Advanced English)

Unfortunately, we have to say good bye to our Swiss friend, Myriam, who is going to take a trip aound Australia.

The Upper Intermediate class says thank you to this girl for all her help, friendship and the good moments we all shared together.

We already miss her!

We send our best wishes to Myriam and we hope to see her again one day.

Thata (Upper Intermediate)

Studying in the FCE class can be really hard work sometimes but students generally do it with  smiles on their faces.

Nathalie took some photos while her students were busy  reviewing relative clauses as well as comparing and contrasting photos.

Come along to our Tuesday and Thursday GV Work Shop classes if you need help with finding work, writing resumes, attending interviews or simply for the fun of it.

Andy will taking the classes in Room 2 at 2pm.

Each lesson will focus on a different aspect of finding ajob. For example on Tuesday students wrote a resume.

In case you’re wondering who the new teacher is taking the Upper Intermediate class it’s Andy, except, he isn’t new. Andy left GV roughly this time last year to travel around the world with his wife and two children, Erin and Sean. If you get a chance you should have a chat with him, who knows, he may have visited your home town.

The Gatorade Triathlon Series is Queensland’s most popular triathlon series – so go along to the Caloundra Triathlon this Sunday.

There will be close to 1,200 competitors ranging in age from seven to 70 who will compete in the Triathlon in a range of categories, not to mention our very own Camilo.

Race 5 – 7th February 2010

Caloundra Triathlon
Woorim Park, Golden Beach

Why would you come from one of the biggest cities in the world, London to Calounda? Well the answer was remarkably simple, at least for me.

I lived in London for five years. Most of the time I worked 6 days a week and 12 hours a day, spent hours travelling to and from work and what was even worse I didn’t have a proper holiday during all that time. So, one day I said to myself, “You’ve had enough…it’s time to enjoy yourself,” and that was it!

The money I had saved allowed me to go anywhere for a year and do nothing and because I always wanted to learn how to surf the only logical choice was Australia.

All of my Aussie friends kept telling me, “Just don’t go to Sydney, it’s too expensive,” “Go to Brisbane instead,” and so I did.

When I arrived in Brisbane I bought a car and started to travel. Every day I spent a few hours lying on the beach or swimming and I just loved it. At the same time I knew my time in Australia would come to an end and that I would eventually have to start the English course I was planning to do in Brisbane. The problem there was that there wouldn’t be any swimming or lying on the beach. So I started to dig around for another place to study and a few days later I came up with a town called Caloundra.

It’s rather a small town but that’s exactly what makes the town so special. What I appreciate the most is that you don’t feel stressed or the tension you do in a large city, the lack of noise, traffic jams and thousands of commuters.

I study 4 hours a day at the language school, the teachers are wonderful and everybody is so friendly. I’ve got lots of free time and the closest beach is just five minutes away from where I live which means that I can go to the beach every day.

In my opinion, I couldn’t have chosen better!

Jiri Jiritse (FCE)

My time at GV.

Although I haven’t been here so long, it feels all too soon that I am going. It only takes a short time to settle into a workplace like GV – where colleagues greet you every day with a smile, are interested in you as a person, and always make time to help you. Where your boss is a friend as well as an organised force to be reckoned with. And one where students are friendly, relaxed and happy to be in class with you (when they’re not “tired” or suffering from bluebottle stings). I’ll miss seeing the water every day and being able to wander along a beach whenever I have the urge, rather than once every six months on a long awaited holiday. People are so much more relaxed here, and I love how neighbours and strangers all say hello and smile, like we’re all in a lucky, secret family for sharing this laidback lifestyle. It’s certainly not something I experience in the city (where my smiles are responded to with distrust or neutrality – oh dear). I’m moving away to do the same job, but mainly to be near my band and friends /family. The band is greenthief if anyone would like to see what teachers get up to in their spare time!  www.myspace.com/greenthief We’ve got a couple of small tours lined up as well as a lot of gigs, so it’s really hard to fit in enough time to write new songs thoughtfully and rehearse the rest while I live an hour and a half away. Nonetheless, it’s with very fond memories that I leave Caloundra GV and I will definitely stay in touch (unless I become too famous of course! J ). Wishing everyone in the GV family all the best, Gwenny.

Annyong, ohio, sawasdee krap, nee-hau, and hi, I’m Aaron and have served, on and off, at Global Village in both Caloundra and Noosa over the past couple of years. Mixed in with this I have also been travelling and teaching in many other countries around the world. If you understand my foreign greetings you will know some of the countries I have been fortunate enough to visit in my travels. I have been teaching the intermediate class at Caloundra for the past few weeks now (a big shout out to those crazy cats!!!).  It has been a small class and was often very personal, humorous and loud. I have enjoyed our time together, but for now must again say see-you-later! After serious consideration I’ve decided to accept a fantastic opportunity to work overseas again. Thank you for the great memories and happy times. All the best to my wonderful fellow teachers and zany students, I hope to see you on the flip side…
Peace…

P.S. If you are in South Korea, feel free to send me an email so we can catch up.