Where are they now? Valerie

So for the people who don't know me, I am Valérie Esteve. I come from France and I did the ERASMUS program in 2016 to finish my bachelor's degree. I lived in the UK for 6 months. It was really short but it's was a experience so rewarding!

I came to UK when I was having a bad time in France and to go there was great. I met a lot of people thanks to Lynne. I went to TABLEtalk and I was sorry towards them because I didn't speak very well in English, they were very kind and welcoming to me. I am very grateful to Lynne for allowing me to meet Arshad, Abdul, Jen, Pesila, Awad, Basim, Christina, Jill, Veroni, Suvarna, Andrew, Wisnu, Sonali, Kevish, Ming Ming and many other people. It was so interesting to talk with people from another culture. We could compare our countries, our food (it's very important !) and our religions. I really want to thank Lynne for allowing me to meet these great people. I also want to thank my friends because they helped me and I really had a great time with them. During these 6 months I really had time to live, to discover new landscapes and the moments spent in England will remain forever engraved in me. Besides, I really liked to studying in England because it was different to France. It allowed me to regain confidence in myself and in what I was doing. It opened my mind.

Leaving England was really hard for me. I didn't want to say goodbye to this country or my friends. Six months is far too short to enjoy everything there is to see and do!

 

When I came back to France, I started my first year of Master degree in Ecology (the master degree lasts 2 years in France) and the following year I stopped my master degree to do a kind of internship for a year. 

Photos taken on a school trip during my Master's degree

So now I work in Alsace (in the north of France), in a nature reserve and I count the species of birds or amphibians and I try, with my colleagues,  to protect this area. Next year I will finish my master degree. I am very happy now because I discover another region of France. I meet a lot of people and my job is great! I enjoy every moment here and sometimes my friends come to see me and visit this region!! 

With Arshad at the Christmas market in Strasbourg

 

Thank you Lynne for everything and for allowing us to express ourselves. I don't forget my friends. And of course, as soon as I can, I will return to England!!

A thought for today ...

Burns' Night

Another great night at TABLEtalk and great to see some new faces come along!  We celebrated Burns' Night, probably along with 90% of Scotland.  

Robert Burns was a famous Scottish poet who wrote the poem 'Address to the Haggis'.              I attempted the first verse in my very best Scottish accent, which all the students were impressed with (thank goodness there were no actual Scottish people present!!).    Our evening consisted of a Scottish Quiz; matching words with their means. This included lots of my favourites, like ...  shoogle, peely-wally, blether, crabbit, eejit, etc.   Ahmad took the prize, scoring 6 out of 12!!  Hazem demanded a re-sit and managed to improve his results from zero out of 10, to 1 out of 10 :-)                                                In addition we ate haggis, neeps and tatties and learned the Canadian Barn Dance.                   

For those who missed the evening, here are a few moving photos care of Basel (please don't ask me how this works, it just does!!!).

All good fun!!!

Sonali's Graduation

A VERY BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Sonali

on her graduation for Masters in

Healthcare Operational Management

from the University of Warwick

Here are just a few pics from the day ...

After collecting tickets and robes and having some official photos taken we had an excellent lamb tikka balti lunch in the Fusion Bar on campus (thank you Prasad).

Sonali loved her card and all the messages from fellow students as well as folks from St Mark's.  There were a few tears as she was reading, but it was ok because she had SEVEN packs of tissues in her bag!!!  There's nothing like being prepared.

 A scrumptious buffet followed, along with entertainment

This was my fashion statement!
Nice summer dress (in January)
along with my scruffy jumper,
socks & trainers for warmth &
comfort on the journey.

I think I scrubbed up ok?!

Bring & Share Lunch

On January 14th we held our first Bring & Share Lunch of 2018.  Several of our regular students were still travelling or away somewhere but it was good to have some 'old-timers' and several new faces.

We had a great time playing Rapidough. Here Nishtha, Michel, Pauline and Jon look on, waiting to guess what Areti is making ...

Believe it or not Michel has
made a computer

And this is a dressing gown,
made by Jon

Navid, Nishtha, Juggragarn, Me, Michel
Pauline, Areti, Jon
Pesila, Acsha, Sourabh