“PHILIPPINE FESTIVALS”

“PHILIPPINE FESTIVALS”

Get to know the Philippines! Teams are assigned to different parts of the Philippines namely: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Cebu. They have activities for them to know more about the Philippines like Decorating , Bulletin boards, and Singing contest.

Sinulog of Cebu

Ati-Atihan of Aklan

Higantes Festival

“ DRESS TO KILL”

“ DRESS TO KILL”.

Students and teachers were treated to a very great party wherein they were able to dress with glamour while socializing.

CELI’s Reyna Elena 2009

CELI’s Reyna Elena 2009.

We get to see the beauties of our very own CELI student as they dress up to represent their teams.

SEARCH FOR THE NEXT CELI SINGING STAR

SEARCH FOR THE NEXT CELI SINGING STAR

It was held in our very own C-SPOT Restobar.
Students from different countries vie for the chance to be called CELI’s Singing Star!
But only once came out and conquered: KANG MIN SU with his own rendition of “ Always”.

CAMPERS’ DIARY

26th of July 2009 from Heather

Today we went to the swimming pool. People swim in the pool. But I cant swim and my friend Linsey too. We were bored so we took pictures with Linsey, Lucy, Tiara and teacher. We took beautiful pictures in some places. We took many pictures. After we were very hungry so we ate hotdog and drank cola with Linsey.


26th of July 2009 from Tim
Today was funny. I had breakfast and took some nap. I had lunch and went to swimming pool. I drank a lot of swimming pool water. But I was very happy.

A Plantation Bay

By: Anna

Plantation Bay is near “Maribago”. The place was famous for us but it is expensive. Its entrance fee is P2,000.00 for us to have two rooms. One room is almost P13000.00 for four persons.Plantation Bay was fantastic! There are a lot of pools and plenty of married couples. The ambiance is good. I want to go to that place again next time.

Vacation

By: SindyWhat’s my dream vacation? I often think about this question, especially after a period of busy working. I am a lucky girl because I am an elementary school teacher. I have winter vacation and summer vacation every year. Of course, I really enjoy my work. I love the children very much. But I believe that human are not machine and we need to take a rest after the hard working days. It is necessary to everyone.If one day I save enough money and have enough time, I want to live in Australia for one year. Australia is a very beautiful and natural country in my impression. I watched many wonderful pictures about Australia on line.

Kalawisan Fishing Village

Two of the things I like most are yummy food and go somewhere wild for fishing. I was eager to find out the places which can serve these few things in Cebu. Last week, my teacher Jennifer told me there is a place that serves what I want; it’s called “Kalawisan Fishing Village”. So I went to there last weekend.

It really took a long time from the Celi to “Kalawisan Fishing Village” by a cab. I even slept in cab, I was dreaming about running away from the food of school and going to get some big Lapu-lapu fish, crab, shrimp, ate them and then I saw the blue sky, white clouds. I was so excited when I woke up. I couldn’t wait, there was something that dropped from my mouth. However we got in the blue fishing village. At that time, a middle aged lady came up to us and said kindly, “I’m sorry everything here was already sold out, we don’t have any food anymore. Please come back next time”.

We came back to school sadly. One of my friends said, “Don’t be sad. There are some foods at the cafeteria”. So we went to the cafeteria, when we looked at the food, we got much sadder. My friend said, “At least there are still some meat”.

Gion Festival

By: Hiroki Yokoyama

Do you know Kyoto? Kyoto is the most traditional city in Japan and it was the capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years until 19th century. In Kyoto, there are lots of temples, shrines, and any other traditional things, so if you come to Kyoto, you can really enjoy Japanese culture. Although Kyoto doesn’t offer you all seasons, it becomes the most exciting city especially in summer because there is one very amazing and attractive festival.

It’s “Gion festival”. This festival takes place in July every year. It is the festival of Yasaka Shrine which is at the east of Kyoto City and famous for cherry blossom in spring. “Gion” is the name of the area around this shrine. The origin of this festival is not sure, but according to one story, more than 1,000 years ago, in Kyoto there was a very serious plague. To mitigate it, people started this festival. So it has been continuing for more than 1,000 years. During the festival, the whole Kyoto City is under a very exciting mood because there are many traditional decorations which illuminate the city or make it more attractive. We can also see many stalls at the streets which sell foods, drinks, and souvenirs.



Every year, so many people come to this festival, including those come from any area in Japan and even all over the world. At the last day, one very famous and interesting event takes place, which is called “Yamaboko Junkoh”. “Yamaboko” means a kind of portable shrine and “Junkoh” means walking around. In short, many people walk around with carrying the portable shrine together. Also, they wear a kind of “Kimono” which is Japanese traditional cloth. That’s absolutely fantastic and exciting. You will have much fun.


As I have explained above, if you join “Gion Festival”, you can feel the Japanese culture, tradition, and our soul!!! Did you get to feel like visiting to Kyoto? All Kyoto citizens, all Japanese are waiting for you!

A Festival for Me

By; Yuichi

(1^st Prize Writing Contest-May 2009)

Every time I go to festivals in Japan, I remember a little gold fish and my girlfriend. When I was a university student, I lived in Kyoto, which is one of the ancient cities in Japan. Many traditional cultures still remain there and every year a big festival is held. Its name is “Gion Festival”.

I went to the festival with my girlfriend when we were senior students. There were lot of shops on the road during the festival and we dropped by a fish-catching shop where we could use instruments to catch fish. While I failed to catch it, my girlfriend succeeded in catching it. It was a colourful and little goldfish. On our way home, she gave me the fish as a thing which reminded us this day. I took care of it like a son.

After a few months later, she had to quit university because her father died suddenly and she had to go back to her province.I was so sad with our separation but decided to bring our son up by myself. My son became bigger and bigger every year. Other sad events occurred. When I graduated from my university and started working, I had to go to Tokyo, which is far from Kyoto. I gave up bringing my son to Tokyo and so released him in the pond of my university.

Several years have passed since then. Every time I go to the festivals in Tokyo, they remind me of the little goldfish and my girlfriend. She already got married with the other man and spends a happy time with her new family. When it comes to my son (‘not our”), he is swimming freely in the pond.

Everybody is happy now, except me.

Eccentric Nori

By: Ami Morinaga “Ami”

DongSu Kim “Din”

HyeJung Oh “J”

Noritaka Tsutsumi also known as (a.k.a) Nori, a

Japanese student in Cleverlearn English Language Institute (CELI)

traveled from SM City – Cebu to CELI Residences on foot.

It sounds absolutely challenging but he did it anyway.

Our group conducted an interview with him at C-Spot about his journey.

Literary Arts Club (LAC): We have heard that you hiked from SM City to CELI. It sounds quite a long journey. Why did you choose to walk by yourself?

Nori: Actually, I studied Architecture in university, so I was curious about Filipino houses. That’s why I decided to walk back to CELI.

LAC: When was that?

Nori: That was June 20, Saturday at around 12 noon.

LAC: How long did it take?

Nori: I think, it took me about four hours.

LAC: Were there any obstacles for you while walking?

Nori: Not really. Actually, a lot of people think that it is dangerous to walk around in Mactan or Cebu City especially if we’re alone but I don’t agree with that because I didn’t feel threatened at all while walking. Contrary to our expectations, many Filipino people are kind and very friendly. I have actually an interesting story about that during my trip. When I was walking down the street, I got thirsty to death. But I had nothing to drink at that time. So, the only thing I could do was just to keep on walking. But suddenly one Filipino called me and gave me a bottle of coke for free. How lucky I am! I love this kind of unexpected experience.

LAC: As you’ve mentioned earlier, you studied Architecture in Japan. What do you think about Filipino houses?

Nori: Um… I think some Filipino houses look dangerous and unsafe. If typhoon or storm approaches to the ocean, most slums will be swept away. Besides, other houses are also easy to be ruined by natural disasters like earthquake, flood, and typhoon. In my country, Japan, the earthquake happens a lot. So, Japanese people have been striving to develop the technology of the architecture.

How Well Do You Know Your Neighbor?

Kids’ Camp: Welcoming Visitors or Little Rascals?

by: Oh, Hyejung “J”

On July 19 (Sunday), some unavoidable noise woke some CELI students up in the middle of the night. Where was the noise from? Some students in their pajamas with messy hair soon spotted that eighty-two students and twelve guardians just landed in CELI Island. That peaceful and quiet Mactan Island has started to be crowded. In other words, Kids’ camp has just started. ALERT, CELI students! This place is not our cozy shelter anymore for a good while.

Camp kids are supposed to stay at CELI for six weeks at maximum. Some have four-week camp program, the others have six-weeks. They are all from Korea, aged 8 to 14 years old, consisting of elementary and middle school students. As of July 24, they all stay at CELI residence with existing students. Kids’ camp program provides four regular classes for campers- 1on1 class, two 1on 4 classes, and 1on 8 group class with a native teacher. Mostly, the class starts at 8 a.m. and ends 5:50 p.m.

They also have extracurricular classes after the regular classes. Korean guardians help students keep an English diary or teach mathematics at PC room on the ground floor every night. On weekends, they have group activities outside CELI residence such as wall climbing, island hopping, bowling, shopping, and the like. So chances are we can enjoy quiet residence for a while on weekends.

So, why do choosy Korean parents select CELI as their kids’ camp? Well, the location is considered as safer place than Cebu city. Also, its easy-access to the beach and resorts is said to be one of the advantages of CELI kids’ camp.

CELI students, we would like to ask you how your day is these days. Are you getting used to the children? No matter what your answer is either ‘YES’ or ‘No’, I have to say that it is too early to be tired of kids. Twenty-four more children are scheduled to be coming on July 27. Fortunately, one good news is they will stay at Casablanca. Their course is supposed to end in three weeks. So, do not panic. Just enjoy the rest of your stay here!