One of the amazing things about studying at Kings London is the social life. As an international student abroad, I have to admit that sometimes the opportunities to make friends are limited, but not at Kings!! Here we all are in the same boat and, knowing this, the staff at Kings takes a lot of time to create those opportunities that I was talking about. But of course they never forget to help us improve our English at the same time, and what’s better than learning? Well, in my opinion it’s learning while having fun!
One way to do that is to join the drama club. OK, it’s quite new but it doesn’t change the fact that you can meet other students, practice your English, and have fun. But I guess that if you are shy it may not be your cup of tea.
In that case, why not take part in one of the lectures given by a teacher? These take place twice a week and deal with a whole range of topics; from the subjunctive tense to British icons and British music from different eras or the story of the English language. I know that the word ‘lectures’ sounds a little bit more academic, but actually they are quite informal, very interesting and it won’t hurt your general knowledge of British culture!
Our view of the stage at the Lyceum Theatre
But Kings also offers lots of other possibilities, one of which I personally took part in last Thursday, when I was one of 30 Kings students who attended the musical ‘The Lion King’ in central London at the Lyceum Theatre. It was an incredible experience that brought back childhood memories filled with Disney cartoons. I was also mesmerized by the dances, the songs, the actors, the costumes, and the stage-sets – fantastic!
It’s great to know that Kings London staff are constantly thinking of opportunities for you to spend time with other students and to help to discover the new environment that will be for a few weeks or even a year, your new comfort zone.
Waiting for the performance to begin
Thanks to Kimberley for the blog and to Viktoria for the photos.
Due to popular demand, Kings opened last Sunday evening to show the World Cup Final. Thanks to the glorious weather we are having in England this summer, a screen was erected in the Kings garden and the TV streamed direct from the internet with the sun setting in the background.
With no Dutch students currently at Kings, many were supporting Spain and the garden turned red with Spanish football shirts. Our friends from Brasil, Nei, Paulo and students arrived from Paris just in time to see the first half, and many stayed on until the final whistle to see Spain crowned world champions after extra time and 120 minutes of football.
The World Cup Final, 2010
Congratulations to Spain for being worthy winners, commiserations to Holland and all the teams that didn’t make it to the final (no comments about England)! Now we can start getting excited about the 2014 World Cup in Brasil in the meantime, the World Cup may be over, but we are not even half way through our Vacation programme; courses continue until the end of August and there is much more fun to be had!
Last Wednesday, Kings London students went salsa crazy. Temperatures soared and pulses quickened as the teacher, Emma, set the outdoor dancefloor on fire with her exotic Latin moves.
Emma leads the Salsa group
Allowing for varying levels of ability, Emma started off with some easy steps suitable for beginners, before moving on to some more complex moves for the advanced dancers in the crowd. First off, in a line together students practised a range of steps, including simple turns, double spins, New Yorks and some Merengue steps, before pairing up to try them out with a partner.
Last Friday, students and staff said a sad farewell to Elaine Jones, one of our teachers. She taught her final lessons at Kings that morning. In addition to teaching, Elaine organised the social programme and accompanied students on numerous ‘Culture Club’ trips to London. Elaine is well-known for her super-enthusiastic personality, out of proportion with her small stature and many will remember her catchphrase “Hel-loooo” as she entered the classroom to announce her activities.
To send her off and wish her well, staff and partners enjoyed some delicious tapas and several bottles of red wine at ‘El Molino’ – a local Spanish restaurant. She will be sadly missed, but we wish her all the best for the future. What are her plans for the future? “A few weeks of holiday, no hurryâ€, she said…lucky girl!
