February Calendar

World Cafe and all that ...

January exams are over and the new Masters students are settling in.  Last week our World Cafe was buzzing once again ...

TABLEtalk is also well underway with 40 students along to our evening on 'The Art of Public Speaking' - always a fun one! 

In our 'Just a Minute' exercise students and helpers bravely spoke about a variety of topics including elephants, water, life on other planets, song lyrics and road sweeping.  Yas, the less said about your underwear the better!  SH, no potatoes don't grow on trees!

Bring & Share Lunch

We would like to say a

VERY BIG THANK YOU

to Saju, Katy and their children for hosting

our first Bring & Share lunch of 2016.

Being in a new environment meant that it took the students a while to relax and feel at ease  ...  a clear contrast to the noise and chaos that comes with a Bring & Share lunch at my home!!  However, with the help of Saju & Katy's four children it didn't take long for everyone to feel more at home.

For many students they miss home and larger family settings; they miss siblings and cousins  ...  so, Saju & family, once again THANK YOU!!!

This is Megan, my lovely new lodger

On a personal note ...

On Saturday, Jan 16th I attended a training event looking at team dynamics and fresh purpose.  It was excellent.  There were two speakers, both of whom were excellent, but I really enjoyed listening to Ben Hunt-Davis MBE Olympic gold-medallist rower.

It was so exciting to hear how the rowing 8 had trained and prepared themselves for the Sydney Olympics. The challenges they had in their team dynamics and then, finally, to watch the race itself.

Often when listening to a speaker, preacher or lecturer I tend to write down short quotes or phrases. Those little nuggets of gold that I want to take away and ponder further in the days and weeks ahead.  There must be a word for someone who collects quotes but I've not discovered it yet - anyway, that's me!!

Here are just a few of the nuggets I came away with ...

Focus on what's important - it's too easy to simply get caught up with what's already happening.

What will maximise the opportunities ahead of us?

What are the 1% changes we can make?

Willingness to change and adapt is critical.

Just because we haven't doesn't mean we can't.

I also got to hold a real Olympic gold medal - how cool is that :-)

New students

It is always a pleasure for me to be involved in orientation days for new students, especially our internationals.  Last Friday, Jan 15th, was no exception to this rule.
After the initial welcomes I had the privilege of leading an interactive session on 'First Impressions and Expectations'. Drawing out what first impressions the students have of the UK and the university itself. 

Here are some of the positive comments ...

"Surprisingly comfortable and relaxed even though it's my first time in the UK."

"University personnel are very friendly."

"Feel very excited, like my future is going to begin here in this unfamiliar country."

"Beyond having a degree I am convinced I will learn so much about social life which will help me."

And stuff we can learn from ...

"Something that would've made life easier: having blankets for the first night after arrival"

"People in the streets are not willing to offer assistance."

"Weather is a bit unpredictable"

"People from the north of England are a LOT nicer than the south of England."

Then at the end of the day, Arshad and Basel helped with our student panel, sharing something of their own experiences. Their key advice was this ...
1.  Make friends - you need a support network around you and people you can talk with.
2.  Learn to cook - you can only survive for so long on pot noodles and fast foods will eat up your finances very quickly.
3.  Ask for help - whatever the issue (academic, financial, physical or emotional) there are support networks in place but you may need to ask.

Bowling Night

Bowling Nights are always fun and it was great to see such a good turn out, especially so close to exams week.

Jan, Jon, Thaarani, Christina & Mohamed

Haris, Estefania, Lesley, Wayne, Mahmud & Safak

Basel, Lynne, Yomna, Sara
Aiste & Yasmin

 Well done to Mahmud who was bowling for the

very first time and won BOTH games!!!

Happy New Year!!

A big thank you to all those who popped in to say hello on New Year's Day. 


I took a photo of Dad ... just incase he was my only visitor!!

It was lovely to welcome my new neighbours, David & Venetia, and their four boys  ... who enjoyed games with Basel, Aiste & Sara.

I also had some wonderful visitors from further afield. Abiola was a student when I was working with internationals up in Scotland. Abiola, you're a star for travelling all the way from St Albans!!! Thank you!!!

It was fantastic too to see former University of Greenwich students, Milton and Babatope.  Milton is now studying his Phd in Manchester and Babatope is married to the lovely Sandra and living in London. Thanks guys, it was simply marvellous to see you again!!!