The ELI Weekly
Photo of the Week: In the French Fries
One famous landmark something in a city or landscape that is easily recognized on the University of Florida campus is a sculpture art in 3 dimensions created by John Raymond Henry in 1987. While the formal name of the sculpture is actually Alachua, students and locals call the landmark ‘the French fries.’ If your friend says, “meet me at the French fries,” you should go to this sculpture!
Notes from the Office
Student Addresses: It is important that the ELI has each student’s address. If you have an F or J visa, you should report a change of address within 10 days of any change. You can update your address in myELI using the ‘Basic Information’ tab in your ‘My Profile’ page. All students should update their address in myELI by January 29th. If you need help updating your address in myELI, please contact Daryl at studyenglish@eli.ufl.edu.
Deadlines: The deadline to drop or add a class, pay tuition, submit proof of insurance and immunizations, and turn in a signed waiver of liability, is Monday, January 20th. If you miss any of these deadlines, you could be removed from classes or charged a late fee! If you have questions about paying tuition or submitting a financial guarantee, email Jennifer Vann at jvann@eli.ufl.edu. If you have questions about insurance or immunizations, email Victoria Dolce at vcshelly@ufl.edu.
Withdrawing: Students who withdraw from a course or from the ELI after the drop/add deadline (January 20) will not be able to receive a refund or credit for their courses. Their transcript will have a grade of W (withdraw).
Masks: Please wear your masks in ELI classes and offices. Everyone is expected to wear a mask at all times when inside any UF building, even if you are vaccinated.
CIP Weekday Activities
Sign up for all activities here:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4BA9A823A02-student21
Monday January 17–No Activities Monday in observance of the MLK Day holiday
Tuesday January 18 – Soccer – 6:30 – 9:00pm
Come play Soccer on campus at Flavet Field! No experience necessary!
- You must sign up on the weekly activity signup to attend this activity.
Wednesday January 19th – Volleyball – 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Come play volleyball and hang out at Lexington Crossing Apartments Phase 2! No experience necessary! Take bus 34 or 35.
- You must sign up on the weekly activity signup to attend this activity.
Thursday January 20th – Rotating Thursday: Gator Salsa – 6:00– 9:00 pm
Learn how to dance Salsa and Bachata! No experience necessary! The UF Gator Salsa Club will give lessons for beginners and advanced dancers, then at the end there will be open dancing after the lessons! It will be outdoors in downtown Gainesville in front of The Bull, meet us there! If you don’t like dancing, come watch or explore downtown with friends! Take Bus 1, 46, 5 and more to downtown!
- You must sign up on the weekly activity signup to attend this activity.
Friday January 21st – Gator Nights – 7:30-10:00pm
Come join us at Gator nights for the fun event that has a different theme every week. This week’s theme “Dinosaurs”, come see what cool activities, crafts, movies, and more the Reitz will have related to this fun theme! Bring your Gator1 ID. Hang out with ELI friends and LAs! Meet at the Reitz Union Subway area.
- You must sign up on the weekly activity signup to attend this activity.
Weekend Activity
Saturday January 22nd – Hoggetowne Medieval Faire – 11:00am – 3:00pm
Travel back in time to historic and fantasy lands! See magical performances, meet kings and queens, and buy cool crafts from old times! Eat food and see tons of cool costumes! Cost to enter is 20 dollars at the door of the event. Meet at Norman Parking Garage to get a ride with LAs. Sign up on the weekly signup if you need a ride. Rides are limited!! If you have your own car, consider driving yourself and friends if the signup is full.
Self-drivers can meet us at Norman Garage.
Conversation Partners (CPs)
Want to meet with an English speaker once a week and make a new friend?! Sign up here! https://forms.gle/k7Z826F2LU9gekrU7
Returning students who want a CP should still fill out his form, even if you had a CP last semester!
This is optional, but if you sign up, you agree to meet your partner once a week for one hour to speak English and respond to them when they contact you to make plans to arrange a meeting.
Try meeting them on campus or a coffee shop! Try chatting about your family or home country to start practice English with your new friend! CPs are excited to meet you! Wait two weeks after signing up to be paired.
Email conversationpartners@eli.ufl.edu if your partner does not respond after one week.
Remember, CPs are not tutors, they will not do your homework or teach you grammar. They are fluent English speakers who will help you speak by having one-on-one practice and being your friend!
Manners & Culture
Q: I need to ride the bus, but I don’t know how to make the driver stop for me.
A: This is tricky problematic because the driver will not stop if no one signals that they need to stop! The bus has a bell that is operated by a pull-cord. Pull the cord to signal to the driver that you want the next stop. You need to pull it early enough that the driver has time to stop, but not so early that she stops at the previous stop. Also, you can tell the driver when you get on the bus, “I need to stop at _______ (fill in the name of your stop), but I don’t know where it is.” The driver will remember to stop for you. Visit this website for more How-to information about the RTS bus system: http://go-rts.com/rider-information/
Here is another fun fact about buses in college towns: Notice how everyone thanks the driver as they leave the bus!!
Birthdays
Students:
- 1/18 Chaewon Lee
- 1/18 Hisham Nadrah
Staff: None
Notes from the Editor
The ELI Weekly needs you! You can participate in several ways:
- Email grammar questions for me to put in the Weekly.
- Email manners and culture questions for me to put in the Weekly.
- Write a paragraph about your experiences this semester. You could write about an ELI activity, a Gainesville event, a fabulous local restaurant, or tell us about a place or event in your country that we should visit!
Send your questions and reports to Maya (mshastri@ufl.edu) Use the subject heading: the ELI Weekly.