Trip to Sma' Shott Cottages, Paisley

Paisley is steeped in history, mostly especially in relations to the textile & weaving industry. What better place to learn more about this than at Sma' Shott Cottages close to the centre of the town.

Our tour gide for the day was Eric Garner - he made the tour so interesting with great answers to our many, many questions

Here Eric demonstrates a whale oil lamp ...

We all very much doubt that Emmanuel would've fitted in this bed!

Our few hours ended with some refreshments in the wee coffee shop

Gloria, Emmanuel & Eric
Titi, Cindy, Lynne, Ania & Patricia

Polish Night

One of the joys of hanging out with international students is the pleasure of trying new foods ... and many thanks go to Magda & Ania for hosting this fabulous Polish Night. They cooked enough food for an army!!!

This was some of the best soup I've ever tasted and virtually a meal in itself.

All who came had a great time and ate far too much ...

Misha & Lena

Alison, Derek, Ania, Sugu, Magda & Fu Yu
... I (Lynne) was there too but don't seem to have got in on any of the photos.

Progressive Meal

Once every few years I organise a PROGRESSIVE MEAL at Hopehall and, in recent years, we've been able to invite a number of international students along.

It's quite a mammoth task with seven starter hosts and six main course hosts and 56 people going in different directions to different locations to enjoy different courses with a different group of people - which is why it only happens once every few years!

Then everyone comes back together at the church for some wonderful desserts and a spot of entertainment.

Our enteratinment slot included music from Hollie & Barry ...

A song Chinese song from Sarah, Jessica & Fu Yu ...

A sketch from Eric entitled 'My word, you do look queer (ill)' ...

A sketch entitled 'The Law' from Eric & Lynne ...

Plus songs from Misha and music from Jack

- if anyone has photos of these do please email them to me.

TABLEtalk - International Night

Everyone looks forward to our annual INTERNATIONAL NIGHT at TABLEtalk ... and what a feast we had this year with dishes from China, Taiwan, Poland, Russia, Ghana, England, Wales and Scotland.

We don't have a set programme for the evening ... people eat and chat and eat some more!!
HOWEVER, we did have some entertainment from ...

Eric who, being from the far off land of Yorkshire, taught us some Yorkshire phrases and read a poem about Yorkshire Pudding.

Cindy sang us a popular Taiwanese song

Misha & Lena sang us a Russian and English song

We ended the evening with a few manic games to burn off some calories, including my favourite hula-hoop game :-)

Day Trip to Troon

Day Trip to Troon

- a very windy day ...

I came home with half a kilo of sand in my handbag (not intentionally!!)

(left to right) ERIK (Sweden), FU YU (China), LENA (Russia), EMMANUEL (Nigeria), RAZVAN (Romania), PATRICIA (Germany), GLORIA (Ghana), JOEY & LIMING (China).

Day Trip to the LOGOS HOPE

The LOGOS HOPE

- bringing 'knowledge, help and hope' to many around the world

Another great day out - 12 students joined several friends from Hopehall Church to visit the OM (Operation Mobilisation) ship Logos Hope which was docked in Edinburgh.

One group was given a tour of the ship by the tallest man onboard (6' 8")!

(from left to right) Gloria, Theo, Lynne, Wendy, Cherry, Liang, Alistair & Julia
(from left to right) Titi, tour guide, Patricia, Aileen, David, Liz, Cindy & Abiola

Easter Sunrise Service

Several students were brave enough to rise early and join our inter-church Easter Sunrise service up Gleniffer Braes. It was a great time to come together and celebrate the significance of Easter.

Afterwards it was back to Lynne's flat for a cooked breakfast!

Day Trip to the Easter Play, Edinburgh

THE EASTER PLAY

Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh

This is the group of students who joined our annual trip to Edinburgh to watch the outdoor Easter Play.

Misha & Lena from Russia

Cindy from Taiwan and Titi from Nigeria

Gloria and her sister Theo from Ghana

Liang & Cherry from China

The play takes place in six different sites around the gardens and we, the audience, follow the actors as they unfold the story of Jesus. The play begins in a market place where we see and hear of the many miracles Jesus performed.

Here Jesus heals a sick woman

(Matthew 9:18-26)

Zacchaeus climbs a tree in order to see Jesus

(Luke 19:1-10)

Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, comes to question Jesus.

(John 3:1-21)

Jesus speaks with his disciples at the last supper.

(Matthew 26:17-30)

Jesus is arrested after praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

(Matthew 26:36-56)

The Roman soldiers mock and beat Jesus.

(Matthew 27:27-31)

Jesus is crucified

(Matthew 27:32-56)

But the story doesn't end there ... as he foretold, on the third day Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to many of his followers.

(Matthew 28:1-10)

The message of Christianity is a message of the empty cross - Jesus died in order to reunited us with God but He didn't remain in the grave, He rose again!!!

We were all grateful for great weather and such a moving, thought-provoking play ... after a welcome cup of coffee we headed home.

Fundraising event

COMMUNITY CAFE, CAR WASH,

SALE OF BRIC-A-BRAC

& HAND-MADE CRAFTS

Our fundraising event on Saturday, April 4th was a great success and I'm sooooooooooooo grateful to all the students and volunteers who helped to make it a great day. Everyone worked so hard!!!

Our craft stall was a big hit with many and such an encouragement after our many hours of work.

We sold cards, gift scrapbooks, bookmarks, gift boxes and fridge magnets.

Cindy, Magda & Ania worked non-stop in the cafe serving numerous bowls of soup & toasties & baked potatoes ... there were a few muddles and some really manic moments but all-in-all most people went away happy.

A BIG THANK YOU goes to Volker, Abiola, Sugu and others who washed car after car in both sunshine and drizzle ...

FINALLY ... after four hours of hard work, we all got to sit down and enjoy a toastie and tea.

Many, many thanks go to Richard, Sandra & Lorraine for their partnership and all their help.

We raised a grand total of £800 !!!

Crafts, Meal & Movie Night

For several weeks students and volunteers have been working away making crafts for a TABLEtalk fundraising event ... it's always a great time and everyone gets rewarded for their hard work with a meal and a movie.

Jessica, Sarah & Lena

Mandy, Judy & Christina

Christina, Lena & Barry

(apologies for Barry's 'sweat-shop face')

Jiaozi making lesson

Ryan, Alison, Lynne and 'the undercover genius' Lena all enjoyed a great evening with Jessica, Sarah & Fu Yu - learning to make jaiozi (Chinese dumplings).

Whilst we all rolled and stuffed - Jessica beavered in the kitchen making a zillion other dishes ...

Oh what a great feast!!!

Thank you soooooooooo much!!!

TABLEtalk - Chilli & Chat

Once or twice a year we enjoy a Chilli & Chat evening at TABLEtalk - no set discussion theme but simply the opportunity to enjoy each others company, hopefully some good chilli (hmmmm) and a variety of games.

A huge thank you goes to Fu Yu who spent the day helping me shop and cook and set up!!

TABLEtalk - Valentine's Night

Valentine's Night at TABLEtalk is always a lot of fun. Below are some photos of our DATING AGENCY role play in which students need to visit a number of 'agencies' in order to try to find their soul-mate.

Meal @ Katrina's

THANK YOU, KATRINA

for your invitation and for such a great evening!!

(left to right) Cloud, Tifa, Lynne, David, Aileen, Vicky, Katrina & Katie

Many thanks also to Katrina's Mum for her wonderful cooking!!

David proved to be a great student and very soon mastered the art of using chop sticks - well done!!

TABLEtalk - Games Galore!!!

Games Nights are always a lot of fun!!!

Here the teams put theirs heads together for a round of 'categories' - some interesting answers were given and one or two weren't allowed.

Let me introduce the teams ...

'The Ligers' - Lena, Magda, Abiola, Cindy, Ramon & David

'The Tigers' - Teresa, Judy, Sarah, Keyur & Bastien

'The Kangaroos' - Fu Yu, Montse, Lukasz, Razvan, Emmanuel & Billy (the winning team)

'The Snakes' - Jessica, Kristina, Andrea, Ishan & Misha

Amongst other things we played a round of 'Pass the Polo' where teams competed to successfully pass 15 polos from one table to another using only toothpicks!

The Ligers are to be especially commended here for their excellent team work!!

International Student Weekend

I'm so grateful to Friends International Dundee and Dundee University Christian Union for extending an invitation to their international student weekend in Pitlochry.

Misha, Lena and I joined almost 30 other students & volunteers from Dundee. We stayed in the Pitlochry Youth Hostel which was lovely and warm and welcoming on a rather cold weekend. Each day there were optional Bible times which were wonderfully led by Alisdair & Mary Morrice; and many of the students chose to come along.

Friday evening provided some opportunity for us to get to know each other and there were games & a movie to round off the evening.

Many of you who know me know that I'm generally NOT a morning person but God honoured me scraping myself out of bed for breakfast on Saturday morning by painting the most wonderful sunrise ...

Looking down on the town of Pitlochry

There were several options of activities on Saturday. The more energetic of the group chose to go on a long walk through the countryside. Others of us piled in to several cars and drove to Blair Atholl Castle and spent several hours touring the castle and learning more of its splendid history.

Saturday evening there was a ceilidh for all to enjoy. For many this was their first experience of Scottish dancing.

In the foreground of the photo below are my colleagues Ruth & Malcolm Farquhar from Friends International in Dundee.

Below is a photo of me and my weekend room-mates Nkiruka from Nigeria and Liz, one of the Dundee church volunteers.
Nkiruka was very gracious as we struggled all weekend to pronounce her name properly!!!

Our weekend was rounded off with a Christian service (optional) on the Sunday morning. Many people participated in the service through readings and songs and prayers. Then a final cuppa and a cake before packing up and heading off home.

Misha, Lena & I decided to drive home the scenic route through Crieff, Comrie, etc - stopping for a welcome drink at the Lodge in Luss. It was the most beautiful drive through snow-capped hills and passing pristine lochs.

TABLEtalk - Chinese New Year Celebration

Welcome to the Year of the Ox

What better way to begin our new semester than to welcome the new year in Chinese-style ... and all this was done with the very able and sacrifical help of Fu Yu, Jessica, Sarah, Bora, Kiwi & Rain. I am indebted to these girls for all their hard work.

THANK YOU!!!!!

They made over 300 jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) which were dutifully enjoyed by all (especially me).

This was achieved by much chopping ...

and mixing ...

and kneading ...

and rolling ...

... until we reach the finished product.

Sarah, Kiwi, Katrina and her Mum

Eric, Razvan, Emmanuel, Ian & Cathy.

In addition to all the good food, we played several games include a Chinese version of 'the word race' in which our teams of non-Chinese were competing to copy Chinese characters - points were awarded for both speed and accuracy.

Our second game caused much hilarity as teams competed to complete several rounds of Chinese Whispers using authentic phrases in Mandarin. My favourite outcome to this game was when the phrase 'sui sui ping an' (which means 'wish you safety & health every year) somehow ended up as ... 'sweet, sweet ping pong'

Fu Yu, Katrina, Kiwi, Rain, Jessica & Sarah (left to right) rounded off our evening with two beautiful Chinese songs.

Lena with all her Chinese buddies!

Burns Supper & Ceilidh @ Nazarene Church

Eight students came along to the Burns Supper & Ceilidh at the Paisley Nazarene Church and everyone enjoyed the evening.



Good food ...

(left to right)
Arthur, Bora, Gloria, Lynne, Fu Yu, Misha, Lena & Magda










Great company ...








Great music and dancing ...

Many thanks to all at the Nazarene Church who made us feel so welcome!!

Student Comment

My stay in Paisley was a great experience, though the initial period was bit difficult as I had a major personal set back. My primary focus was to do well in my studies. It was a difficult phase where I had lot of pain within me as I was missing my family but alongside there was enough determination to do good and be good. The first friends that I made in Paisley were at TABLEtalk. TABLEtalk gave me an opportunity to make new friends and also provided me with a warm and welcoming environment which made me feel at home away from home. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and all the people behind TABLEtalk for the good work that you do. I owe a part of my little success to TABLEtalk ...
With Kind Regards,
Dharmraj (from India)

New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve Sugu & Fu Yu hosted several students who enjoyed a meal and card games 'til the wee hours of the morning ...

Thanks Chang for these photos.