St Andrew's Night

This blog entry is dedicated to all my Scottish friends  ...

I have not forgotten you!

We had a great night at TABLEtalk on Thursday, Nov 26th celebrating St Andrew's and all things Scottish. Our evening began with with a quiz, trying to match some Scottish words with their respective meanings.

Even from the back you can read the confusion in people's body language  ... what on earth does dreich mean, or laldie, or the phrase peely-wally??  




Our winner, through sheer guess work was Sara from Egypt. Well done!!










I tried four different supermarkets to find vegetarian haggis but with no joy :-(  However, all our non-veggies were able to have a sample of traditional haggis, tatties and neeps. Which was very much appreciated by Mohammad from Jordan on this his last night at TABLEtalk.  "Dear Mr Sharsheer, I'm really going to miss you! You have made me laugh so often and it's been great getting to know you"

I do have a video of what was the chaos of our Canadian Barn dance and will attempt to upload that soon.

December Calendar

International Cake Day

Thank you sooooooo much to everyone who made cakes for our International Cake Day at the World Cafe today. We had offerings from members of staff, students and people from both Gillingham Methodist and St Mark's Churches. 

We served over 90 students between 12-2pm. Our selection included offerings from Nigeria, Italy, Holland, New Zealand, India, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Israel, as well as England, Scotland and Wales.

Thanks also go to John, Elizabeth and Karen - our volunteers for the day - and as always, Frank, my righthand-man!!!

And then there was none  ...  well, very little!!

Sunday Lunch Scheme

Our Sunday Lunch Scheme provides a fabulous opportunity for students to spend an afternoon with a local family, enjoying a home-cooked meal and learning more about British culture.

Yesterday, Sonali & Cyrielle enjoyed the company of Alan & June and their son Stephen.  Along with roast lamb and all the trimmings, followed by a trip to Rochester.  
Sonali writes: "We had an amazing time today. Our hosts were very welcoming and we had a delicious meal. They took us to Rochester as well. Thank you so much for organising it."

Meanwhile, Liam and Kevish enjoyed time with Luke, Martha and their children ... more good food and a monopoly challenge!  Kevish writes: "Thank you for this opportunity. It was a pleasure sharing lunch with lovely people. They were exceptional hosts. Really loving. At first we were strangers but while talking we learned we had many things in common especially about films and music. Really nice talk, and the meal was amazing! Yummy! We played board games but unfortunately I had to leave early and completely forgot to take pictures."

Save our Planet

Not sure if I've ever said how much

I love this blog

... and TABLEtalk

... and the students

... and my job!!!

Whilst there are obviously difficult days and more challenging relationships, I often feel abundantly blessed that God has led me to a role in which I feel sooooooooo fulfilled :-)

At TABLEtalk this week our theme was 'Save our Planet'. After completing a questionnaire which allowed students to discover how environmental friendly they are (there were a few earth-enemies in our midst), we looked at different aspects that threaten our world today.  

In seven different groups the following issues were discussed, solutions sought and presentations made  ...

** Global warming

** Oil spillage

** Deforestation

** Nuclear plants/waste

** Carbon emissions

** Over-consumption

** Environmental ignorance

It was an excellent evening!!

Prayers for Paris

Prayers for Paris

Let us offer our prayers and words of comfort, following the terrible attacks in Paris on Friday, November 13th 2015 which left over 100 people dead, including many young people, and more than 350 injured.

"Our hearts and our prayers go out to the innocent people of Paris who have been the target of brutal and mindless attacks this past weekend. Let us pray for grace and peace and unity."  Lynne

"Lynda and I continue to pray for the people of Paris that those that have lost loved ones at the hands of the terrorists may know that God is there with them in their pain and suffering and grieves with them. His loving arms are wrapped around each person and will not ever let go. His peace will be with you always and heal your wounds. Violence and hatred can never win."

Frank & Lynda (World Cafe volunteers)

"May the families and friends of those who were murdered gain  comfort and strength for the days and weeks ahead from the support offered by friends, colleagues and strangers.  May their faith support them and hold them, so that they are able to live their lives with peace, love and light."
Lynne (UoG Staff)

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the bereaved, and a mourning nation.

We pray also for Peace.”

Joyce (PCSO)

On a personal note ...

I travelled home last week to be with family and say farewell to my sister-in-law's father.  Geoffrey was a lovely man who I had a wee soft spot for. He always took such an interest in my work and wanted to know all about my travels. He will be sorely missed by many.

Happy Diwali

Sandhya, thank you so very much for all your help in preparing for our Diwali. For your scrumptious food and hard work henna tattoo'ing

 

Thanks also go to Vaithi and others who helped to decorate the cafe area :-)