Volume 159, Issue 4- February 9, 2026
Valentine’s Day
Do you have a Valentine this year? A Valentine is someone special to spend time with on February 14th, Valentine’s Day.
St. Valentine’s Day (also simply called Valentine’s Day) is a day that celebrates love and friendship. Although it is not officially a U.S. holiday, most Americans celebrate this day with small exchanges of gifts, cards, or a special dinner. In school, children often have a party in their classroom with some sweet treats. They usually exchange little Valentine’s Day cards with each other that look something like this:
Even adults might give their close friends a card or some candy to show their love and affection.
You might be wondering who this holiday is named for. Not much is known about Saint Valentine, but legend has it that he was the bishop of Rome in the 3rd century. Because of his faith, he was imprisoned and died, but not before curing the jailer’s daughter, who was blind. He was known for his love and devotion and signed all his letters from jail “Love, your Valentine.” After his death, he became the patron saint of love, physicians, and beekeepers!
Have you ever heard this classic American song: My Funny Valentine? It’s one of my favorites!
A Special Farewell to Our Myongji Students!
We are sad to see you leaving us, but we hope you had a great time and learned lots of English while you were here! You are always welcome back to the ELI—and you will always be part of the Gator nation!
On Thursday 2/12, we will have a certificate ceremony for Myongji students in front of GUS (the Gator Ubiquity Statue) at 2:45pm. All are welcome to attend!
CIP Photo of the Week: Coffee Talk
CIP Weekday Activities
| Monday, February 9th – Coffee Talk – 6:00-8:30pm NEW TIME | |
 Socialize with LAs and ELI friends at Tea Bestea! Play games, speak English, and try this Gainesville famous ice cream or get dinner nearby! Take bus 1, 38, or 12 The location will change each week. Address: 3045 SW 34th St #20, Gainesville, FL 32608 |
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| Tuesday, February 10th – Volleyball – 5:30-8:00pm NEW TIME | |
 Play volleyball and hang out at Lexington Crossing Apartments Phase 2 Volleyball Courts with us! No experience necessary! You can also watch, socialize or play other games if you don’t want to play volleyball. Take bus 35. Make sure to check both volleyball courts in the complex. We are often at the one in the very back.Address: 3700 SW 27th St, Gainesville, FL 32608 |
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| Wednesday, February 11th – Soccer – 5:30-8:00pm NEW TIME | |
 Come play Soccer on campus at Maguire Field on campus! No experience necessary! You can also watch, socialize or play other games if you don’t want to play soccer.Address: Bledsoe Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611 |
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| Thursday, February 12th – Museum Nights – 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Address: 3259 Hull Rd, Gainesville, FL 32608 |
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| Friday, February 13th– Reitz Game Room – 6:30pm – 9:00pm | |
 Hang out with friends in the Reitz Game Room! You can go bowling, play pool, and play board games! Bring your Gator1 ID for cheaper rates. Some Fridays, the Reitz plans Gator Nights! Check out the fun themed activities they may have this week.Address: 655 Reitz Union Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611 Call Tate or Paola if you have any issues finding the ELI at an activity. Their numbers can be found on the signups. |
Weekend Activity: Gator Baseball
Saturday, February 14th – Gator Baseball Game – 5:15 to 8:30pm
Come see the Gators play one of America’s favorite sports – baseball! Wear orange and blue and cheer on your team while you learn about baseball game culture. Tickets can be purchased ON the day of the activity at the Box Office near the main entrance of the Condron Family Ballpark, where we will meet at 5:15pm. Tickets cost $16.13 and purchase is cashless, so card only. There is no assigned seating. This ticket is considered General Admission. No bags or backpacks allowed in this space. Make sure to meet LAs at the box office at 5:15 because, once inside, it will be difficult to find seating together if we do not enter together.
February 18: Gator Spirit Day
In honor of UF’s Gator Giving Day, the ELI will have our own Gator Spirit Day. Please dress up in your best Gator gear and orange and blue clothing. Show as much UF pride as possible! Christine will have a table outside her office where you can make your own ELI button.
Be sure to come to the main office on February 18th for a picture that we will post on social media. Our followers will vote for their favorite Gator Spirit outfit, and the winner will get a small prize. Go Gators!
CIP Recommendations
Get different recommendations from your LAs and CIP friends each week! This week is restaurants in Gainesville and what to order.
Gainesville Restaurants and What to Order:
- Aurora: Poke Bowl Station – Create Your Own Bowl
- Elijah: Tup Tim Thai – Pad Thai (try it with fried tofu and medium level spice)
- Kemarah: El Indio – Veggie Burrito (double-wrapped!)
- Lexa: Tinker – Pabellon Arepa
- Paola: Tela – Build Your Own Bowl (in my opinion, it’s better than Chipotle!)
- Sam: Momoyaki – Vegetable Pajeun
- Shawn: Dick Mondell’s – Burgers!
- Tate: Flying Biscuit – Eggs Benedict (try it with salmon instead of ham)
Talk to LAs and the CIP Office to learn more about their favorite restaurants and tell them about yours and what you like to order!
Other CIP Reminders
Conversation Partners
Want to meet with a fluent English speaker and make a new friend? Sign up for a CP! If you choose to sign up, you must meet with your partner for one hour a week. It can take up to two weeks to get a partner from when you sign up. Please sign up here!
Returning students, you will not automatically be paired again if you had a CP last semester. Please make sure to sign up again here for the Spring semester if you did not request a Spring partner in your end of term evaluation from last semester.
Please email Elijah at conversationpartners@eli.ufl.edu for any issues, questions or concerns or visit her in the CIP Office during office hours.
Other CIP Reminders
Don’t forget to get your CIP Passport hole punched from the activity leaders AT the event (not after). We don’t hole punch passports after the event. Redeem your completed passport for a small gift, a photo for the ELI Instagram, and your name published in the ELI weekly!
Need a new CIP Passport? Stop by the CIP Office!
Remember the CIP Pineapple is hidden in a new place every Monday in the CIP office. Stop by and find it for hole punches!
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Need a new CIP Passport? Stop by the CIP Office!
Find the Pineapple
Remember the CIP Pineapple is hidden in a new place every Monday in the CIP office. Stop by and find it for hole punches!
Notes from the Office
People Out: Tate will be out of the office from February 11th to February 17th. Christine will be out of the office on February 20th. Please plan accordingly if you need to speak to them.
No ELI Classes: Monday, February 16 th is an ELI Instructor Workday. There will be no ELI classes, but the ELI main office will be open.
Measles Information
The University of Florida shared an important message about measles. You can see the message here: https://statements.ufl.edu/statements/2026/february/important-information-about-measles.html
If you have any questions about the information, please talk to Christine in the main office.
Birthdays
| Students | Staff | ||
| None this week! | None this week! | ||
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Student Questions: Culture
Q: Why do Americans say “gotta” all the time? What does it mean?
Gotta is a common pronunciation of got to, which comes from have got to, a phrase used to talk about necessity or obligation.
For example: I’ve got to finish my essay tonight.
In casual conversation, speakers often drop have from the phrase. So, I got to finish my essay tonight is pronounced as I gotta finish my essay tonight.
Gotta is not actually a word! It’s only used in informal spoken English.
Joke of the Week
Q: What flower should you never give your Valentine?
A: Cauliflower!
Student Voices
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Every semester, we have amazing student writers, so we take your writing and publish it in an online collection called Student Voices. In past semesters, students have written paragraphs, essays, creative stories, recipes, letters, obituaries, poetry, and more. You can see past editions of Student Voices (https://eli.ufl.edu/news-publications/, scroll to the bottom of the page) for inspiration. |
We encourage you to submit anything of your work that you wish to see published. It can be from any class or something you have written on your own but ask your teachers for help editing! You can email it to Olga Moody (omoody@ufl.edu) or to your teacher. Please include your name and class on your submission. The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 27th.
From the Editor
An invitation to contribute:
Would you like to see your own writing published in the ELI Weekly? Here are some ways to contribute to our newsletter:
- 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 me grammar questions for me to put in the Weekly.
- Send me manners and culture questions for me to put in the Weekly.
- Send me jokes to put in the Weekly.
Send your paragraphs and/or questions to Jen Ramos (jenramos@ufl.edu) Use the subject heading: ELI Weekly.