 |
|||||
|
|||||
Newsletter October 2007Hi everyoneOh my goodness, has it really been two years since I last put a newsletter on the website???? Well, hello everybody, let me see if I can fill you in on everything I have heard, seen and done since then…. I have heard that…….Martin and Stephanie (2006) returned to Switzerland after their epic travel through Africa in their Uno. Suffering only a few punctures and meeting lots of new friends, I think Africa will always be in their blood.Deyvison Romangnoli is still in touch with us. He designed all of our letterheads and brochures which we are still using today. Last heard he was still working in Brazil for IBM as a Systems Analyst providing technical support. He speaks more English than Portuguese!!! Miriam Rodrigues (1995) is working in Kazakhstan in a language school. She is hoping to visit SA again (and for the first time since she left) later this year. Vicky, Lei Chen (2003) married Ray a fellow South African once she returned to China. She says he followed her home after her CT studies and they are now living in her hometown of Zhengzhou. Vicky came on a cultural camping trip with us to the Cedarberg – I hope she has finally recovered from the bumpy ride! Yenny Chen (2003) is graduating from Helderberg College this year as an Accounting Major. She recently turned 21. Congratulations! She married a fellow student, Tim, from the college. Tim is a local tour guide. Galia (Argentina) and Mario (Norway) got married in Norway in 2006. Akram Binyousif (2003) from Libya is still missing us like crazy and threatening to return!! Last heard he was working for TOTAL the oil company, organizing their incoming and outgoing flight schedule…clever boy!! Sergio Reartes (2003) from Argentina is a hopeless writer – it took 4 years before we heard from him!!!! He is back in Argentina and is a father now. Sandra Merz (2004) from Switzerland visits us each year for a holiday – she can’t get enough of our beautiful country and is due back in October this year. I take her camping and keep her busy while she is here. Jonas Vuille (2007) also from Switzerland did tremendously well in the Cape Epic Mountain Bike Race in April. The school closed for a day to go to Villiersdorp and support him in the last leg of the race. Him and his partner came in an overall position of 8th. A huge achievement we were all very proud of. Remember, keep in touch so that I can include your details on this site too. Please ask previous students to contact me on tania@english.za.net as I lost all of your email addresses recently when the school was burgled. The School welcomes……Juliette backAfter getting married to Paul, having 2 beautiful little girls (Amy 2 and Lara 4 years old) and lots of traveling (Ireland, Budapest, UK, France, and Spain) Juliette is back and as popular as ever. She specializes in the TEFL Teacher Training courses but is always on hand if we need her to help us on the English side too. Gillian Gillian is a British citizen from Edinburgh but she was actually born in Ecuador. She is married to Simon and has a little boy, Henry and a second child on the way. Gill is extremely patient and therefore she specializes in the Elementary and Pre Intermediate classes. Thanks Gill. Wei For those of you who studied with us in 2003, you may remember (how could you forget???) Wei Hu from China. Well, Wei moved into Erica’s house and has never left!!! She had now been badgered into assisting us as our front of house / secretary / personal assistant. Wei is currently learning German, although she is still perfecting her English!!!! And the oldies…..EricaOur ‘excellent’ teenage granny is still here and keeping up with students and teachers alike. As popular as ever and always full of laughter, Erica has moved from the teacher training programme back into the English school. Erica has not taken a holiday for years but recently broke her ankle, slipping in the wet outside her back door, and has been laid back at home ever since the accident in August. Very frustrating for one so active. Pat Pat and Louis still lend us their house every year for our cultural evening and we always have such fun there. Pat works at all the English levels. A student recently told us that “Pat suffers from spontaneous humorous combustion.” So, yes, she is still laughing! Eppie Eppie is still here, looking after all of our young learners and keeping us organized and electronic. Eppie works at all levels. She is busy planning a wedding as her daughter met a lovely American chap while teaching in Korea. They are heading home in December. Fiona Fiona is working at Stellenbosch University in the Linguistics department and she still helps us out when we have private students in Stellenbosch. Tania Well, what can I say about my self??? I have finally finished my grammar book called “Grammar in a Nutshell” (keeping it nice and simple, stupid) and will be taking it to Oxford and Cambridge in the hope that they will publish it for me. I am still eating, living and breathing grammar at school – some passions never die! I am an active rock climber and kayaker and take the students camping at least once a year. Tain is now 9 and Connor is 6 and I have eventually returned to my (almost) former figure before I had children!!! School NewsWe moved further down the Main Road in September 2005, into the delightful Twin Oaks Centre. Many students can been seen sipping expresso coffees in the coffee shop downstairs and when we can’t find a student we run over to the internet café across the road and they are sure to be found there!!!!As mentioned earlier in the newsletter we have been burgled twice in recent months and lost all of our email addresses in the process…so please help us to update our files again by sending us a quick hello and tell us your news. Keep well…..  Tania |