This week in Student Services...
Student Services - Reading College
Happy Thanksgiving!
Time to celebrate!
Any excuse to be thankful!
...or to roll out the Stars 'n Stripes as a reason to eat Thanksgiving food, at least!
While our American cousins celebrated yesterday on the 27th, why not fire up the oven over the weekend and start getting your taste buds prepared for all that festive food headed our way all too soon?!
We've linked you up to some delicious Thanksgiving Recipes from good ol' Jamie Oliver below, to get you in the festive mood:
And..time to say goodbye
Today is Jordan's last day, and we'd like to wish him all the very best with the future. It's been great to have you here, Jordan!
If anyone would like to say farewell outside of the office, Jordan is having leaving drinks next Thursday from 4.30 pm onwards, round the corner at the Abbot Cook.
Keeping children safe in education: Statutory guidance for schools and colleges
Action required (if you haven't already done it!)
FINAL REMINDER!!
Food for Kitties!
Shake off your Scrooge - it's December next week!
Got your Secret Santa yet...?
The price limit is £6.00 and we're handing out our gifts on Wednesday 17th December.
Got your gift yet...? :)
Christmas Craft Corner!
This week, learn how to make a cute christmas tree paper ornament! :)
Play your cards right...
The Temperance card is the card of balance and moderation. It also means the brining together of both the nice and the bad to become a well-rounded person. The bringing together of these two sides of human nature brings harmony. It show that one must accept both the dark and the light can we truly appreciate the dawn and the dusk.
During a reading this card could be considered an alarm to try and fix a situation before the damage becomes too great to be fixed. The white dress signifies purity and purity of mind and heart are solid foundations that you can always fall back on.
The lovers’ card is an easy card to understand. This is because it represents love in its purest form. This is the card of emotion and but must be handled with caution because even that which starts out with the purest intentions can become quite dangerous. For example love can go from being pure and innocent to a dangerous fire that can have drastic consequences.
The man and the woman are representatives of the human consciousness. The man represents the conscious mind trying to reach the divine angel/ higher power and the woman, the unconscious mind is the bridge, it is said that through love we get a brief glimpse of haven.
Language Corner
Jenny's Japanese Corner
可愛い
Kawaii (ka-wa-ee)
People often say that Japan has a ‘cult of cute’, and the word for “cute” is kawaii. In Japan EVERYTHING is cute, and all Japanese people - from small children to straight-laced businessmen - are compelled to stop and gush over cute things every chance they get. As an unofficial rule of thumb, the more of a drawn-out ‘-eeee!!’ sound on the end of the word when people comment on something, the cuter they tend to think it is.
Culture note: The newest trend (and something I think we should have a word for in English) is busukawaii, literally ‘ugly-cute’. The best examples of this (and something I personally find utterly horrifying, but that Japanese people seem to find completely adorable for some reason) are the ‘kobito zukan’ characters whose grotesque images are splashed across every bit of merchandise you can imagine, and presented for your amused disgust below. Sometimes I feel like I don’t understand Japan at all…
Kristine's Latvian Corner
CANDLE = SVECE (SWET-SE)
"In honour of Christmas being so close, I thought we could do some DIY. I love DIY! Here is a wonderful idea about making TEACUP CANDLES. What a treat! Candles always make me happy and little DIY projects definitely cheer me up. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I will. Candles symbolize warmth, joy, light in the world and love."
Amazing step-by-step picture tutorials linked below:
Vanessa's Spanish Corner
We have to defend Vanessa on Number 2 however, as she's always here early...and staying late, bless her! :p :
Samina's Urdu Corner
As we gear up for for our biggest religious holiday of Christmas, Samina wanted to share some of the important religious holidays celebrated by Muslims.
Eid al-Fitr, also called Feast of Breaking the Fast, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting (sawm). It fell on the 28th of July this year. Muslims fast for the 29 or 30 days preceding Eid-al-Fitr.
Eid al-Adha also called the Feast of the Sacrifice is the second of two religious holidays celebrated by Muslims worldwide each year. It fell on the 4th of October this year. It honors the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his promised son, Ishmael as an act of submission to God's command, before God then intervened to provide Ibrahim with a lamb to sacrifice instead. The meat from the sacrificed animal is preferred to be divided into three parts. The family retains one third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors; and the remaining third is given to the poor and needy.
Cute Puppy Corner!
Hollie's birthday is on Christmas eve, hence her festive name.
Who could refuse that cute little face though, huh? :)
And..somewhere under that blanket.....
Luna is Claire's Ghost Rex Rat (aww!) This breed's coat is cute and scruffy instead of smooth.
Luna is 1 and a half years old, and loves a blanket to snuggle up with on your lap. She is also partial to a little cider!
And she likes her food, too! Her ethos is "oh look you have food, that’s mine now!"