The ELI Weekly
Out and About: “Rainesville” and “Jailesville”
by Suji Kim, RW20
I’ve been in Gainesville since September 2022, and I love living in here. However, as a Korean, there are a few things I’m not used to. The weather in Gainesville is almost always warm, but it then rains suddenly almost every day. Therefore, we call this city “Rainesville”. In this city, there are many places to go and things to do, such as springs, parks, and downtown. However, for people without cars, getting around is too difficult, so we also call this city “Jailesville”. Now, I’m overwhelmingly happy and satisfied with my life here in Gainesville, but I think that I would love this city more and more if I had my own car.
CIP Weekday Activities
Weekend Event
Saturday, November 5th – Florida Museum of Natural History – 1:00-3:30pm
See amazing fossils and learn about Florida’s natural history with ELI friends! Go to the butterfly garden to see hundreds of butterflies and get some great photo opportunities! Free with a Gator1 ID! Meet in front of the museum at 1:00pm. Take bus 20 or 21!
Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4BA9A823A02-museum
Address: 3215 Hull Rd, Gainesville, FL 32611
Other CIP Reminders
CIP Passports: Don’t forget to get your CIP Passport Stickers from the activity leaders AT the event (not after). Redeem your completed passport for a small gift and photo for the ELI Instagram! Remember the CIP Pineapple is hidden in a new place every Monday in the CIP office. Stop by and find it!
Conversation Partners (CPs): Want to make a friend and speak English? Sign up for a conversation partner! Wait two weeks to be paired and then meet your new partner for one hour a week to practice conversation and make a friend! If you are a returner and still want a CP, you should still sign up here, even if you had a partner last semester.
Sign up for a CP here!: https://forms.gle/h5NyWTrkpE331zzS7
Remember, if you sign up, you must meet your partner at least once a week and respond to their messages. Email conversationpartners@eli.ufl.ed if you have any questions or problems.
ELI Day at Santa Fe
Santa Fe College is hosting an ELI Day at Santa Fe. On Monday, October 31st, any current ELI student can visit Santa Fe College to finalize the steps for their admission in the spring, review their pending application, or start a new application to the College. ELI students will meet one-on-one with an Advisor at Santa Fe. ELI students will also be able to take the Santa Fe College placement exam on the 31st and discuss their spring classes. October 31st is an ELI teacher workday, so there are no ELI classes that day.
October 31st is Halloween, so everyone at the SFC ISS office will be dressed up in Halloween costumes. ELI students can also attend ELI Day at Santa Fe in Halloween costumes and will be able to win prizes for the best costumes! Later that afternoon, the ELI activity will be Boo at the Zoo at the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo, so you can make a day of it!
ELI Day at Santa Fe will be on October 31st from 9am to 4pm. Students should sign up for a slot to meet with a SFC Advisor on this electronic sign-up form using SignUpGenius.
International Education Week #IEW2022
International Education Week (#IEW2022) is November 14 – 18, 2022. UF is hosting many events, like the World Flags Display Event. You may sign up to carry one or multiple flags at the Plaza of the Americas on November 14, between 11am-2pm. Sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/4rj8xj3y The ELI family is welcome to attend any of the UF events on campus, listed here: https://internationalcenter.ufl.edu/events/international-education-week
The ELI also has activities to celebrate International Education Week. Join in the Spirit Week activities and show us your country’s language, colors, and clothing!
Also, tell us your international stories and we will share them in the Weekly and on social media! Tell us stories about study abroad, an international friend, or a language or culture study. Send video, audio, or brief written stories with photos to show how being involved in international education impacts your life. Please make sure audio and videos are brief and clear. The deadline is November 12th. Send your international stories to Maya (mshastri@ufl.edu).
Notes from the Office
Teacher Workday: There are no classes on Monday, October 31st, so that your instructors can have a planning day.
Out of the Office: Min will be out of the office on November 7th, and Jennifer Van will be out on November 10th. Please plan around these days if you need to speak to Min or Jennifer.
Time Change: On Sunday, November 6 at 2am, we will change from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. Your phones, computers, and most computer-controlled devices with clocks will automatically set themselves back one hour, but you will have to manually set your other clocks (like on your microwave) back yourself. If you somehow forget, you could wind up showing up an hour early for classes on Monday!
Check your I20s: If your I-20 is expiring soon, make an appointment with Daryl in MAT 223 to renew your I-20 before it expires.
Financial Guarantees for Spring: Dear scholarship students, we hope to see you again in the Spring! Therefore, we have sent you an early reminder to request your new financial guarantee letter for the Spring semester, if you plan to return. Most of your financial guarantees will expire this December, which means that you will need to submit a new financial guarantee by the tuition deadline of January 26th for the Spring C semester to avoid owing a late fee. If you need an enrollment letter or if you have any questions, please email Jennifer Vann at jvann@eli.ufl.edu.
Student Voices: Don’t forget to send your original writing to Student Voices so that the ELI can celebrate your writing. You can submit any 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, November 18th.
Photo of the Week
Birthdays!
Students:
- 11/3-Seoyoung Kwon
Staff:
- none
Grammar
Q: Why don’t Americans pronounce the words the way they are written?
A: English is a combination of many different languages, mainly with
Germanic, Latin, and Celtic roots. Because there are so many different languages with their own sound system and spelling system, the spelling in
English got a little crazy over the decades and centuries. In addition, there was NO standardized spelling in English at all until well into the 19th Century. On top of that, the way words are pronounced today has changed, but we keep the old spelling. For all these reasons, learning how to pronounce words correctly is frustrating. Here are some crazy examples:
- too, shoe, flew, through, true
- toe, sew, flow, though
- laid, paid, said,
- bread, bead, lead (verb), lead (metal)
- bologna, pony
Manners & Culture
Q: Why do Americans hug so much?
The hug is a greeting that says “you are my friend and I trust you like family.” On the college campus, students are away from families, so hugging might be more common on campus than in other places or in other stages of life. Luckily, American culture is also fairly accepting of people who do not like to hug. If you do not like to hug, a wave is acceptable in informal situations and a handshake in formal situations.
Q: Why do Americans wear casual clothes to class?
There is actually a book called, Dress Casual: How College Students Redefined American Style, by Deirdra Clemente. She claims that college students in the last century have increasingly caused American clothing to become more and more casual. She recounts the history of casual clothing US campuses from sports coats to tennis shoes to shorts and how this clothing became more mainstream. So when you see those students in their pajamas walking to class, you might be seeing the next big fashion trend in American clothes!
Notes from the Editor
- Share your special experiences of campus, Gainesville, Florida, and your country by sending me your stories for the Weekly.
- Do you have grammar questions? Do you have manners and culture questions? Share them with us!
- Send stories and questions to Maya (mshastri@ufl.edu). Use the subject heading, ‘ELI Weekly.’