Smelly Trip

Smelly Trip
By: Yuichi Katsumata

Seashells which were given by the tour guide as souvenirs smelled. I’ve been to Olango Island last week. This island is famous for the sanctuary for birds and fish. I did have two exciting experiences. First one was climbing a coconut tree. I tried to catch coconuts but to no avail. I managed to get to one-third as high as whole height. And the other one was visiting graves. The graves were so different from those of Japan in sizes and shapes.
Actually, I was not a typical tourist which the guide gets interested in me. I asked him if I could go to his house and see the inside of it. He was surprised but after a few seconds allowed me to go there.

When we arrived at the house, his family members welcomed me and served dishes. I talked to them about Detective Conan and Dragonball Z. In addition, the neighbor told me that he would like to sell a cock for derby. But I denied his offer because I had a small bag. Finally, another neighbor said to me pointing out his daughter, “This girl is the most beautiful girl in this island.” I couldn’t understand what it really meant but in an instant I found out that it was the suggestion of marrying with her.
The time to leave had come and then the tour guide gave me souvenirs; ten seashells. They were not as beautiful as those in the souvenir shops, and what was worse, those were smelling.

They reason why they smelled was, he said, that he caught them for me a few minutes ago and scooped out the substances inside for souvenirs which made me deeply moved. Now, the seashells still smell in my room but the smell includes a number of good memories. I will never wash them but instead, I’ll keep them for my entire life.

My Memorable Experience

My Memorable Experience
By: Min Su Kang (Matt)

I arrived here on 28 December 2008. When I came here in Philippines, I was afraid because that time I’m not sure if I can study English or not. I made some friends during vacation. We went to beach and restaurant together. On the first of January, I met someone. His name is Bob and he is from Vietnam. We became best friends. We were together when we go somewhere and drink beer. We are still very good friends but now he is not in the Philippines. Anyway, I met one teacher. Her name is Mae. She is my 1 on 4 teacher class teacher. And I met Teacher Jocel and Teacher Lady. We became good friends. Anyway, I had a friend. His name is Josh. He was an Australian. We became good friends and usually together when we were going to disco club. But unfortunately, he went to Australia. That’s why he is not here right now. By the way I had so many friends before.
But now almost all people went back to their country. I’m not used to parting time. It is my least favorite situation. But I think, I can’t avoid these kinds of situations. Now I have 1 month left. My goal is to improve my English as much as possible during my stay in Cebu. And another one is going to another island in the Philippines. I won’t regret my stay when I go back to Korea. Now I’m satisfied in my life in Cebu. Because even though my friends left Cebu but I still have so many good friends aside me. That’s why I’m so happy and I love them and I love Philippines.

Here Without You

Here Without You
By: Le Tat Thang (Romeo)

Day by day for a long time, I haven’t seen you so I want to write my feelings about you just to let you know: How much I miss you!The first time I arrived here in the Philippines, I didn’t know what to do. Everything is very difficult to me. My days would be so empty and the nights so long. I usually wish you can stay here with me. But after all I make friends. I enjoyed each moment with them. Now everything with me is ok but still you are bothering me. I am thinking of you each moment I am awake and you’re always in my dreams everytime I am asleep.
I can’t stop myself thinking of you and one thing is for sure even if we’re miles apart, you’re always in my heart.

Story of Shoji Sato

Story of Shoji Sato

In CELI, there are many great experiences. First, you can have a lot of chances to speak English. In my case, I wanted to improve my speaking ability and vocabulary. So I told these things to my teacher. In the class, my teacher gives me a lot of activities to practice speaking English and learn new vocabularies. I can talk about anything I want. Teachers here are very good listeners. You can use English not only inside but also outside the class. Here in CELI, everyone is your English teacher. You can talk with school staff, receptionist, security, housekeeper attendants and so on. Through the conversation, you will understand a lot of things, you can talk with your friends from other countries. In CELI there are many nationalities. This is the second good experience for me. I could make friends from Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Russia. Through talking with each other or playing, you can notice some differences between cultures. Finally, you can do a lot of things in Cebu island. There are many kinds of restaurants, shopping malls, beautiful beaches and other islands on weekends. I often go scuba diving, island hopping, visiting tourist attractions or traditional places like tops and others. Tops is a place where we can view all over Cebu City. I went there with my friends, enjoying the views and star gazing which was a great experience for me.
In CELI, you can experience a lot of things that you can do only in the Philippines and not in other countries, so if you want to have the same experiences that I had, come to CELI.

Thank you.

Story of Nguyen Phi

Story of Nguyen Phi

On 13th June 2009, my mother and I arrived at Mactan Cebu International Airport and then went out of the airport. We could easily find CELI driver with a big board among the flock.
It was about 9p.m. We got our room from one front office staff with a smile. He gave us the keys, some “house rules” and some advice for our stay. That was kind and hearty.In the next few days, my mom and I decided to go to “Save More” and I lost my ID card there. I was very surprised that I couldn’t explain to the customer service staff. She said she couldn’t understand me. I used to think that I had good English speaking skill because I was the best in my class before. I told all my teachers about that experience. And they helped me a lot. I received the pronunciation lessons, speaking and other skills. Now, that I have been here in CELI for 3months, there are many things that have changed. A lot of teachers and students left. New students and new friends came and the biggest change is my English improvement. But there is one thing that has never changed -- that is the kindness, sincerity and the cheerfulness of each teacher and staff here. I think this is what I will never forget.

Diary of Park Sung Jun

Diary of Park Sung Jun

Last Saturday, I had no plan. So I spent my time eating, sleeping and watching TV whole day. At first I had no schedule on Sunday. But on Saturday night my classmate called me. He told me, “Let’s go to the beach tomorrow.” I said, “yes.” So I went to the beach with our friends. But it was not the beach I expected because the sea shore was too short. So we swam in the pool. After lunch I rode a jet-ski with my friend. That was the first experience in my life. I felt so great and excited. After that we came back to the hotel. I saw my back was burned. I didn’t know that my back I had sunburn while I was still at the beach. I felt confused that only my back was burned. I regretted that I didn’t apply sun block cream on my back. I realized that when I’ll go to the beach I must apply sunblock cream on my back.

Japanese Traditional Festival

Japanese Traditional Festival
By: Sanae Yamaguchi

In my town, there is a festival in October every year. It’s a festival for children. First of all, children start with parades while shouldering “Mikoshi” on the street. Mikoshi is a Japanese traditional portable shrine. And they are given some money and offerings by adult. It’s a very happy festival for children.

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.