Lunar New Year (Vietnamese “Tet” – Tet Nguyen Dan)

Lunar New Year
(Vietnamese “Tet” – Tet Nguyen Dan)
By Truong Van Chinh (Bruce)

Time: The 30th day of the twelfth Lunar month of the previous year to the 3rd day of the first lunar month of the New Year.
Place: Nationwide
Object of Worship: Grandparents and ancestors

Tet is the biggest and the most sacred festival. It’s the most attractive to a majority of the Vietnamese.

Tet falls on a time when the old year is over and the New Year comes by lunar calendar. This is also the time when the cycle of the universe finishes: Winter ends and spring, the season of birth of all living things come.

Tet is an occasion of pilgrims and family reunions. It’s a time when one pays respect to his/her ancestors and grandparents who have brought him/her up. It’s an occasion when everyone sends each other best wishes for a new year, stop thinking about unhappy things and say good things about each other.

On the 23rd day of the twelfth month by lunar calendar, there is a rite to see Tao Quan (kitchen God) off. The rite to say goodbye to the old year is held on the 30th or 29th day (if the month has only 29 days) of the twelfth month by lunar calendar. The rite to welcome the New Year is held at midnight of that day. The rite to see off ancestral souls to return to the other world is often held on the 3rd day of the first month by lunar calendar when the Tet holidays finish and everybody goes back to work.

During this season, there are a lot of good and delicious food (Vietnamese food) which all of the family does. And go to visit another person’s house on the first day of the New Year, wishing everybody a New Year happy, fun, successful, lucky…

And to say Happy New Year!

Island Hopping

Island Hopping
By: Joe Dae Seop

When I was still in Korea, I thought that if I’d go to the Philippines, I could snorkel and see Nemo. The time came when I could experience these things. Last night, I was looking forward to island hopping like an excited child. The destination is Olango Island. It sounds fun. I couldn’t wait and I went to bed with a good feeling.
Finally, I could see a beautiful sunny day. The day was busier than other days. Our assembly time was getting near. I could see students who were also expecting to do snorkelling. CELI group arrived at the port on time. The boat was able to accommodate all of us. It brought us to the beautiful sea. We could see the blue sea and Nemos. It’s very picturesque. I couldn’t explain by words the feeling at that time. I was touched. Lunch was served while we were snorkelling. The food had a good taste. We sailed more then took a rest. From where we anchored, we could see Bohol Island. It seemed that Bohol was just very near. I tried to swim going to Bohol without life vest. That was a big problem. I felt like dying at that time and I couldn’t swim anymore so my friend tossed a life-saving equipment. The sea is very beautiful but it is dangerous. Finally, our trip was almost finished but we were already missing the sea. It was time to go back to CELI. I felt like I had a trip just like the one in a children’s book.
It feels like it’s just a dream but sometimes when I look at my pictures, I notice that it’s not a dream after all.

Life Experiences in Cebu

Life Experiences in Cebu
By: Saori Tanaka

Last summer, I came to the Philippines to take care of orphans. At that time, I really liked this country because there are many kinds of delicious foods, fruits and the people were very friendly. Therefore, I came back to the Philippines to study English.
I decided to come to CELI alone, so I was really nervous at first. However, my worries faded away soon because my roommate, Heather, was very kind. Like my mother, she took care of me all the time. Moreover, other teachers and friends are really nice. It’s been two weeks only since I came here but I learned a lot of new things from teachers. In addition, many of my friends want to improve their English skills, so they also serve as motivation for studying hard.I’m planning to visit the orphanage where I used to work as a volunteer. I also went to Sto. Nino Church to take care of streetchildren And visited their houses. They are very poor but are very friendly and cheerful. I want to stay in CELI much longer and I also hope to take care of children but I don’t think I can because I have to go back to Japan in two weeks. I will be starting my job hunting. I want to have a job that has opportunity to use English and deal with children. I’ll continue to study English harder after I go back to Japan.I really love CELI and Philippines.

My Experience in CELI

My Experience in CELI
By: Dang Thi Doi

When I arrived in CELI three months ago, I couldn’t speak English and didn’t understand anything. At first, I felt very bored and stressed in group class. My teacher and classmates spoke about many things and I didn’t understand anything. I was very sad and I thought that it must be very hard for me to study English. But I have self-confidence. My teachers help me a lot and I practice everyday. Now I can understand English and I have improved my ability in speaking. I’m very happy and thankful to my teachers.

YOGA Class in CELI

YOGA Class in CELI
by: Yasuhiko


To improve one’s health, create balance and relax the mind, CELI offered three yoga sessions. Benice Lin, a Taiwanese student, dedicated two hours for each session. We are grateful for her generosity in imparting some breathing techniques for health improvement, creating balance and relaxing the mind.

Here is a comment from a student:

Yoga is very good practice for our body and mental health. During practice I realized my circulation became active and my stomach and intestines also started to move. After that, I felt my body lighten and my mind relaxed and released.

Thank you teacher Benice!

Experience in Cebu

Experience in Cebu
By: Lee Seong Hun (Hun)

I arrived in Cebu 6 months ago. I first met with Vietnamese students. Their names are David and Romeo. We made friends with each other. We always had fun in Cebu. In my opinion, Cebu is a serene city. Sometimes it gets boring but sometimes it’s interesting. So searched for interesting places. Cebu has many beautiful beaches. We like the beaches and the ocean in Cebu. The ocean water is really clean. We spend less time on having fun and more time on studying. It’s true. Trust me!
Experience in Cebu
By: Choi Yun Hyun (Yun)

I arrived here 3 weeks ago. On the first week, I went to Save More and exchanged my money. I had a good memory about the beach and scenery. During the weekend I went to Cebu Beach Club. It is a very nice beach and it has good scenery.
During the second week, I went to Tops. Tops has a good view. In tops, we can see everything in Cebu City. I could clearly see the landmarks of Cebu City.

On the third week, I had an experience in the sea. The sea is very beautiful. I have never seen such a beautiful sea. I could see things under the sea. It was a very amazing experience.
Last week, I went to Mountain View. It was my best experience in Cebu. The place is very amazing. I couldn’t go there by taxi because the fare is too expensive. So I went there by motorbike. It was very good. Tops has a better scenery than Mountain View. But in my case, I felt that Mountain View is nicer and more romantic. I don’t know why. I think that Mountain View is the best place in Cebu. I can’t forget the scenery there. I want to go there again.



Experience in Cebu
By: Lee Won Ho (Neo)

I arrived here two months ago. First, I tried many things – going to the beach, casino and shopping. And then I tried scuba diving. This was a very good experience for me.
On the second month, I went to Bohol island. I was a little bored and lonely during the second month because my friends graduated.
Now that I’m on my third month, I sometimes regret that I didn’t do much in the last two months. So I will try to experience more things like visiting islands, bars and clubs. Most of all, I am satisfied with meeting many friends. I am an old man. Sometimes I feel empty but I have some impressions on things. And it is a good memory for me to study in CELI.

CELI Activities

CELI celebrated the the FESTIVALS 2009 by assigning different countries to the teams:

GREEN – KOREA

BLUE –VIETNAM

YELLOW –CHINA

RED –JAPAN

The teams were tasked to decorate their sections in the campus according to their assigned
country.

Mind Destroyer

Choose the answer from the words on the box.

1 Longest words that can be reversed

2 Word with the longest run of vowels

3 Longest word with only one vowel

4 Longest one-syllable word

5 Longest word with no repeated letters

6 There is no synonym for the word …

7 A pregnant goldfish is called a...

8 The dot over the letter ‘i’ is called a ….

9 Only three words have entered English from Czech:

10 The shortest word in English that contains the letters A,B, C, D, E and F.

11 The word _____ has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

12 The word ________ in chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat,” which means “the king is dead”.

CELI ESL Program Introduction

The very core of all the programs offered by CELI is developing a solid foundation in English. This is acheived through the advantages unique to the school such as:

Effective Teacher- Student Ratio
- For five days a week, students are exposed to two hours each of one- on- one, one- on- four and one- on- eight. CELI does ensures the opportunity to actively use the language.

International Student Body
- At CELI, students have the chance to meet people from different countries. The school has already welcomed nationals from South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Brazil, Russia and Middle East. This alone has been a great avenue for them to enhance their English communication skills.

English Learning Environment
- Located in the Philippines, a former American Colony in Asia where majority of the people speak English. CELI is one destination for students to start practicing the language in an environment closer to home.

Continuous Formation
- With the introduction as a pathway center, students can be assured that learning will be taken to a higher notch. CELI has wide academic partnerships that will grant convenient access to universities both local and international.