Words of wisdom from ELC students

Last week, love was in the air at ELC Boston!  Our annual Valentine’s Day celebrations commenced last Thursday with our traditional bake sale and candy gram deliveries to benefit the American Red Cross.  Through delicious staff contributions, we were able to raise just over $100!  Students went crazy for Mei’s chocolate filled cookie cups and the scrumptious brownies from Andrea and Danielle.  Our candy gram deliveries were a surprise to students who received a chocolate rose from their secret admirer. 
ELC’s Valentine’s Dance was an enormous success!  Students danced the night away to music from all around the world as Migren, ELC’s resident student photographer, took beautiful portrait pictures of everyone with their dates.  The fashion was simply to-die-for as students followed our dress code of “fabulous.”  Overall, the Valentine’s Day FUNtivities were a great way for our students to experience the chocolate-filled holiday that is Valentine’s Day. 

The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League. The Patriots may not be in the final game this year, but that doesn’t mean Boston won’t be celebrating! For the ultimate American Football experience, peruse this list of places to go, food to eat, and beer to drink so you don’t miss out on this time-honored American tradition!

What to eat:
Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest day for food consumption in the United States (second only to Thanksgiving Day, of course). Traditionally, there is no meal on Super Bowl Sunday – we snack all day on finger-foods, appetizers, chips, dips, and beer. Prepare yourself for a day of delicious, fried food!

• “Sliders” – Mini hamburgers, turkey burgers or veggie burgers.
• Wings – Deep fried chicken wings, best when dipped in blue cheese or ranch dressing
• Dips & Salsa – You will find a vast selection of sauces, dips and salsa to slather over all of the delicious finger food!
• Chili – Chili is a thick, chunky meat stew that is often spicy. Be sure to ask how spicy it is and don’t forget to add cheese!! (*Remember – chili can often have pork in it! Check with your server if you do not eat pork!)
• Tacos/Taquitos/Nachos/Quesadillas – TexMex food is extremely popular on game day! These foods often consist of four tortilla, covered in or filled with ground beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese and guacamole!
• Beer – Boston is America’s beer city! Drink up and enjoy!

Where to watch the game:
Boston is home to some of the oldest & best sports bars in the United States! Pick any one of these well known pubs, grab a bar stool and enjoy the game!

• The Greatest Bar: (262 Friend Street) This bar celebrates the greatest aspects of Boston’s rich history in sports, politics, entertainment, and architecture. If you’re looking to watch the big game, you’re sure to get a great view with this bar’s 14-foot flat screen TV – the largest in Boston!
• GameOn!: (82 Landsdowne Street) GameOn! is the mother of all sports bars. This place is home to over 90 HD TV’s and a sound system that could blow out the windows. At this bar, you can find any game playing at any time; but on February 3, prepare yourself for Super Bowl Madness!
• McGreevy’s: (911 Boylston Street) McGreevy’s Irish Pub & Sports Bar is known as America’s first sports bar! Since opening in 1894, McGreevy’s has been Boston’s go-to bar for big sporting events!
• Cask’n Flagon: (62 Brookline Avenue) This world-famous bar is located directly across from Fenway Park – the epicenter for Boston sports fans.
• Jerry Remy’s: (1265 Boylston Street) Whether you’re searching for the perfect place to catch a game or a late night hot-spot, Remy’s is the place for you. With two 6.5 X 11 foot HD televisions and thirty 60-inch TVs, you wont miss a moment of Sunday’s big game!
• Brighton Beer Garden: (386 Market Street) The Garden is one of Boston’s best and oldest bars. They also have an excellent and extensive domestic and imported beer selection!
• The Four’s: (166 Canal Street) A Boston tradition since 1976! This bar was voted #1 sports bar in America by Sports Illustrated magazine!

When fresh snow covers the city, Boston turns into a charming, winter wonderland. Boston celebrates the winter through activities inspired by the snow. Below are some of our some of our favorite things to do. These activities should not be missed, especially if you are from a warm weather climate! You should experience everything winter has to offer. Come play in the snow with us!

Ice Skating at the Frog Pond: This activity is one of Boston’s oldest and most fun traditions! Each winter, the Frog Pond attracts thousands of visitors looking to have fun, get moving and take in some breathtaking, romantic views of the city. The rink is open Sunday - Thursday from 10AM – 9PM and stays open until 10PM on Fridays & Saturdays! Admission is only $5.00 and you can rent skates for just $9.00.

Sledding at Jamaica Pond: A bit off the beaten path, this pond is a local landmark and offers some of the best hills in the city for sledding. Pick up a cheap sled at Yumont Hardware on Center Street in Jamaica Plain (known as JP by the locals…) and walk down Burroughs Street to get to the pond. Be sure to take part in the “Sugar Bowl Challenge” – slide down this inverted hill and see if you can build enough momentum to make it up and over the bowl on the other side!

Go Skiing: This year, the Wachusett Mountain has teamed up with Boston’s MBTA to create a round trip “ski train” that leaves North Station at 8:35AM on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. A free shuttle bus will take skiers directly to the mountain and back at the end of the day to catch the 5:35 train back to Boston. This special train schedule will run from December 10 – March 31. Ski Train (commuter rail) fares as low as $7.75 one way! Visit www.wachusett.com for more information, prices and schedules.

Play in the Snow: Step One: Bundle up! Step Two: Gather friends and head to any of Boston’s beautiful snow-filled parks. Step Three: Pick up a handful of snow and throw it at your friends!

Climb the Bunker Hill Monument: At the top of this 221-foot granite monument you will see some of the best views that Boston has to offer! The monument is open to the public from 9AM – 5PM every day with the last climb at 4:30PM. You’ll certainly break a sweat climbing the monument’s 294 steps!

Join a Gym: Many Boston gyms offer pools, rock climbing and best of all: saunas! For indoor rock climbing, visit Rock Spot Climbing! They offer Student Nights on Friday & Sunday with discounted rate! The Boston Rock Gym offers indoor and outdoor climbing. For $58.00 you get a two-week course that includes three hours of lessons and climbing, equipment rental, a day pass and a two week gym membership! For more info on this awesome deal, visit bostonrockgym.com/indoor.htm!

As you probably know already, we LOVE celebrating holidays at ELC and Thanksgiving is no exception.  It is a time to share food and to give thanks. We are thankful for all our wonderful students, teachers, and staff that make ELC such a welcoming and supportive community. The people are what make ELC so special.  

ELC Boston

Thanksgiving in the United States is a fabulous, food-based holiday. The entire day focuses on preparing an artfully cooked meal and then devouring it in under 30 minutes. As Thanksgiving has come and gone in chilly Boston, our students experienced two new food-related concepts: Food Comas and Food Babies.  A food coma can be defined as the feeling of listlessness, lethargy, laziness or sleepiness that one can feel after indulging in a large, carbohydrate-filled meal.  Food comas are a direct result of the blood rushing to your stomach to aid in digestion.  Food Babies are the temporary gut that results from these enormous meals and are often alleviated by unbuttoning one’s pants or belt buckle. Our annual Thanksgiving Feast at ELC aims to teach students not only about these wonderful American ideas, but to be thankful for all the blessings in our lives. 

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn off the cob, cranberry sauce and LOTS of gravy were among the delicious dishes served last Wednesday before our Thanksgiving vacation.  Everyone piled a mountain of food on their plate and grabbed a seat at the table with friends and loved ones.  

Thanksgiving is a warm and inviting holiday where we take time to share with each other what we’re thankful for while succumbing to a sedative food coma. This year, ELC staff and students were most thankful for friends, family, learning English, and of course delicious food!

~ Cara, Student Services Coordinator at ELC Boston

See more pictures of Thanksgiving at ELC Boston on Facebook! 

ELC Santa Barbara

This was, hands down, the best first Thanksgiving party for ELC Santa Barbara since the reopening of the school. You could feel the excitement from the students all morning; they all couldn’t wait for the Thanksgiving party to begin! We enjoyed a delicious turkey feast; many students and staff went back for seconds. To top it all off, the pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie were a hit with the students. Everyone was stuffed to the brim! 

As everyone’s stomachs became full, we started a friendly round of Thanksgiving Jeopardy followed by a new-to-the-students game called Fish Bowl, which is a hybrid between Catch Phrase and Pictionary. That has probably unofficially become ELC SB’s new favorite game! The students liked it a great deal and insisted on playing a second round. That game requires a pretty strong command of English, and our students definitely stepped up to the plate! 

With all the aromas from the feast and Christmas music floating in the air, we can confidently say that our students’ first Thanksgiving experience was a successful one! Now we can add that to the list of things that we’re thankful for.

~ Elizabeth, Director of Courses at ELC Santa Barbara

ELC Los Angeles

We had a great Thanksgiving feast at ELC LA! By 12:40 p.m., a bunch of our students were eagerly lined up at the door to get their share of Thanksgiving food. Some students were surprised about eating cranberry sauce with turkey, but discovered that it was a good combination. After they all got their food, everybody gathered around some classrooms to share a delicious meal with their fellow friends. Many were satisfied and happy with the food, and also came around to get seconds!

Thank you to all of staff and teachers for helping out!! We couldn’t have done it without everybody’s support! 

~ Cyndi, Student Services Coordinator at ELC Los Angeles

See more pictures of Thanksgiving at ELC Boston on Facebook! 

Since February, our Santa Barbara school has been up and running. Slowly but surely, we’ve been growing and getting into the groove of things. As Halloween crept around, we got more and more excited as it would mark our first ever ELC SB party. We decorated the school with spooky spider webs, creepy cockroaches, terrifying tombstones and other eerie things that crawl the earth.

For Halloween, we had candy (of course!), pizza, and a healthy competitive spirit floating around the school as many students carved their first pumpkins. Teachers and staff voted on favorite pumpkin and best costumes, and fun was had by all! We had such an amazing time, and we can’t wait for our next all school celebration. Gobble gobble?

See more pictures on Facebook!