it's done...

final countdown...

After a short run in the morning we were perfectly prepared for another day full of work. The lessons were again very interesting and helpful. During our first class we had to develop a cause related marketing campaign. We came up with a really great idea - POWER to SupPORT - which is a fundraising campaign to raise money for special services offered to cancer patients. In our class with Rebecca we found out more about our personal strenghts and weaknesses.

Just ten minutes ago we finished correcting our report and finally we managed to send it to Carolyn, which is a great relief.

Good night and sweet dreams...

We are a nice team...

Some pictures of us...


....at work...

and late at night!!

We have always a nice time!!

just another two days...

It is Wednesday afternoon and we are working on our project. In the morning we visited a very beautiful hospital called "Western Community Hospital" in Southampton. Firstly, we had a session about the NHS Community Services. We heard something about their management and several reforms. Afterwards we got a short overview about the "Walk in Centres" in Southampton and had a talk with the manager of one of these.
Moreover, we were let through the nice hospital and one of the nurses working there showed us around different rooms.
On our travel home we all were very exhausted because of this interesting and also impressing excursion.

As I said before we are working on our project right now and we are making real progress.
Hopefully we will finish the report and the power point presentation in the evening. So we'll have enough time to practise for our Friday's performance.

Now I have to go into the kitchen to prepare a special meal for my colleagues....mhhh!

See you soon...

Business English

After another day full of English lessons we really have to say something about the classes. The whole program is very well organised and the information we get is useful for our studies - especially for the project about cancer care! The teachers are friendly and cooperative as well. Furthermore, we have much fun although we are working hard. They really try their best to create a comfortable atmosphere.

greetings

time of my life...

Tonight we went to a quite nice pub just across the street. Every Monday they have karaoke night in there. So we were looking forward to having an exciting evening. Caro and Jo had already decided to sing... others were quite spontaneous (due to the number of drinks).
All of us enjoyed the great show.

After some glasses of wine, bear and cider we thought it would be the best to go home.

Big Kiss and good night!

stonehenge is boring!

Today our trip took us to Salisbury and Stourhead. Why aren't we studying in Salisbury - this was the first thought when we arrived there: nice little houses, an overwhelming cathedral, lovely cafes and inviting shops...

Unfortunately we just had 2 short hours to explore the town. Afterwards, on our trip to Stourhead we passed Stonehenge. If the bus driver didn't drive slower, we wouldn't recognized it.

In Stourhead a short lecture about the history and the management of the National Trust. Furthermore, we had another hour to relax in the great and beautiful garden.

Now, as you can see, we are spending another evening working at this stupid computer, finishing our report and letting all of you know, what's going on here in Southampton.

Good night and good sing...

our weekend...

This was an exhausting weekend, full of experiences, sunshine, work and more work! On Saturday we started writing our project and recognized that it won't be that easy. But we worked hard and...after several hours the first part was done. After a short lunch break we got power to go on. Researching, translating, writing and searching for more vocabulary. We saw the sun shining through the windows but even this couldn't stop us. In the very last hour of our work-session we weren't able to keep our eyes open any longer. And so we decided to spend the evening in the city. Unfortunately, all of us had been very tired and we didn't stay very long. But it was quite interesting to see the English fashion and clothing habits....

Sunday.....wow what a great day! We couldn't imagine what we had to expect but it was wonderful!

At 7 a.m. we started at our hostel to the harbour side. There we went on by a big ferry boat to go to "The Isle of White". After arriving we get on by bus to the needles rocks. These are huge rocks standing in the deep water at the west coast. For many of us it was the first time seeing the Atlantic Ocean. We were really impressed by this geological wonder.......

The rest of the day we spent in restaurants on the beach at the east coast of the island or by drinking coffee. On our trip home we had to fight hard for not falling asleep.

Now it's time to go to bed and dream of this amazing day.
Good night, sleep well, see you tomorrow

sun is shining...weather is sweet

Good morning everybody!

I'm very surprised that I could open my eyes at seven a.m. - especially on Saturday. Whatever!!
So, I really have to say we're all impressed by the nice weather here in the UK. One could be of the opinion we need our umbrellas, raincoats or even wellingtons! But it isn't raining at all. In contrast to the temperatures in Austria we have beautiful summer days all the time. Hopefully it goes on like this!
Today we have a lot of work on our "to do list". So, it's advantageous to start this Saturday as early as possible. First of all, we want to go for a short run, afterwards we work on our project and if there is some time left....we go out to enjoy the nice weather!

Have a good day!
Katha

late night shift

After working hard on our project we are quite exhausted and tired and decided to go to bed now. We hope that we'll regain new strength by tomorrow!

So good night to everybody,
Lisa & Dani

great day

As we had expected this Friday was full of information concerning our project. Although the sessions in the morning weren't really important for our task we enjoyed listening to the guys from Portsmouth Acute Trust. We were overwhelmed by their presentation skills - they seemed to had been instructed by Mario Klarer ;)

After a short lunch break we visited the Queen Alexandra Hospital. We used the time on bus very wisely and looked through the books we had borrowed in the library.

When we arrived at the hospital we were quite shocked. Compared to Austrian conditions the rooms in there were overcrowded with patients and it smelled odd. The whole atmosphere was terrible. We can't imagine people go there to get well. If nurses from England and Austria would switch their positions they both won't believe it.
But maybe we are only spoiled by the looks of our hospitals in Austria.

Our second excursion took us to Macmillan Cancer Care. This organisation provides information and support to cancer patients, their relatives and carers. We were very impressed by their work and engagement. Most of the volunteers who work there were affected by cancer or its consequences. So they are able to deal sensibly with this severe topic.
After the lecture we had the chance to talk to Paul and Nikki who are both working there. Although they could only provide us a little insight into this huge topic we all were very impressed and deeply moved.

Have a good night, see you tomorrow
Lisa, Katha, Kathi, Dani

Good start, good day

It's 8 o'clock in the morning and we've been awake since half past 6. We went jogging to a nice place down the harbour side and now we are fit to start the day. Our visit at Macmillan Cancer Care will be very interesting for us. Hopefully we can use lots of information from this session.
And last but not least: Today is Friday and we all look forward to the weekend! ;)

So a very good morning to everyone, I hope yours is as fine as ours.

hugs & kisses
Dani

The early bird catches the worm

It's half past 6 in the morning and I'm really looking forward to the excursion concerning our project! Carolyn told us that we'll get an awful lot of information...
I'll start the day with a short run with my project partners - to strengthen the team spirit ;)

have a nice day
kiss

thank you...

... for the dinner and the great and lovely talk

good night, see you tomorrow morning

Weekend is coming soon

After having had lessons in English and Adult Care the whole day, we are allowed to do some self-directed work. So, we're looking for some information about our topic. Lisa is the perfect girl to find something in the library...nobody else could do this as well!

See you in the evening!!
Bye bye...

login

Finally it worked - I'm signed in at our blog... I really hope that there won't be problems anymore.

So now, my dear colleagues, I'm ready... ;)

By the way, I'm looking forward to going shopping with you this evening.

hug & kiss
Katharina

Another day in paradise

Today was another quite busy day at the University. In the morning we had a debating-lesson which was quite fun. We also got further instructions in academic English writing and quoting. During the lunchtime we picnicked in the park right opposite the University. As we heard Tyrol's weather is very cold but lucky us, here we have at least 25°C.
After the break Carolyn answered all our questions about our projects. The last session for today was a lecture about adult care.
So now we will use our free time wisely by working on our report about cancer care.

Just one more thing to say is, all lovely people at home do not worry, the next summer will come (maybe)! ;)

greetings
Katharina & Dani

early in the morning...

I can't believe, but it is true...I'm sitting in front of my computer at half past seven in the morning. And the best thing is the following: we already have been jogging!
This was a wonderful start for this Thursday. After our run to the harbour, we're now looking forward to what ever will come.
At the university we will hear some more facts and details about quotation rules, and afterwards there will be time to do self-directed work for our projects.
I really have to say that although the timetable is hard and full of tasks we have very much fun and enjoy the time in Southampton!
Have a nice day!

Greetings

First excursion

Today Carolyn took us to the CIS (Children's Information Service) which is a free service that provides family information to everyone in Southampton. If it's about children or childcare, they are your one-stop shop to finding out everything you want to know. All their advice is impartial and regularly updated.
CIS is part of a network of organisations both in the city and nationwide, so if they can't answer any questions by themselves, they'll do their best to find someone who can. There is also a free call service line which is 24 hours available.
Although this trip didn't concern our project we found it very interesting. We were surprised by the huge amount of services in the field of child care offered in Southampton - especially in contrast to Austria.

After lunch we worked on our weblog and listened to the rest of the prepared presentations.
During the afternoon sessions Carolyn and Jo talked to us about quotation rules. This is a complicated but also very important topic. As we have to write a report on our project about support to cancer patients we found these regulations very useful.

Practising presentation skills...

We started this Tuesday morning with a sporty activity - jogging. After the exhausting run we had a Speaking and Communication lesson and two sessions about housing in Southampton.
Later we got the chance to improve our presentation skills. Therefore we continued to prepare a short presentation about several private hospitals. At the end of the lesson Jo, one of our teachers, commented on our performance. This should help us to get used to speaking English in front of others. Now we are really excited if we can implement Jo's tips in next Friday's "big presentation".

Our first day in Southampton

Although we had some difficulties in the beginning, we finally managed to open our blog. The design isn't perfect yet but we're trying to do our best...

YESTERDAY:
In the morning the head of the Centre for Languages and European Studies, Colin Beaven, welcomed us at Solent University. Afterwards we had a short guided tour around the campus.
The first lesson was very exciting because Carolyn gave us an overview of the next two weeks. She also introduced a pool of different projects of which we could choose one. As you can see above the topic of our project is a very serious one. It is of big interest to us because everyone could be affected by cancer and its consequences.
At the end of our first day at Solent University we had a Speaking and Communication unit to improve our presentation skills.

To finish this day full of new impressions in a relaxed atmosphere we went for a walk at the harbour side.

dickes Bussi
Katha, Lisa, Kathi, Dani

Our trip