EC Malta English Language School

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110428/local/Superyachts-bring-touch-of-class-to-Grand-Harbour-Marina.362578

Nearly every town and village took part in the Masses, ceremonies and processions organised during Holy Week. There was so much happening from sacred exhibitions, to concerts, religious displays and quiet processions with a full array of costumes and symbolism. The Holy Week activities began on Friday15th when a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, known in Maltese as Id-Duluri, was carried with great devotion throughout the many towns and villages. The community participation was widespread: locals of all ages sang hymns and prayed along the way. On this day, many people also remembered Our Lady’s sorrow by fasting on bread and water, and some walked barefoot behind the statue. At the beginning of Holy Week, bakers prepared delicious breads with sesame seeds and almonds, called the “Apostles’ loaves”, to recall the meal served to the apostles at the Last Supper. For the Maltese, the commemoration of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday (21st April) included the popular tradition of holy exhibition tables. Tables were arranged with plates of rice, grains, olives, dates and nuts in eye-catching designs to celebrate the Last Supper. Much of this food was later distributed to poor families in the parishes. In the evening the ‘seven visits’ took place, which are the visits to seven different churches, to pay homage to the Altars of Repose. Temporary steps were placed in front of the altars; they were covered in red damask carpets with elaborate side curtains to match. Special flowers, such as anthuriums, roses and posies, decorated the tabernacle, and 12 large candlesticks, which represent the apostles, were placed on the steps. By far, the most memorable of all the activities in Malta during Holy Week were the Good Friday processions. An impressive group of statues depicting scenes from the passion of Christ were carried in procession through the towns. These life-size statues were made of either wood or papier-mâché and dressed in rich velvet clothes with real capes and swords. The statues were mounted on platforms elaborately decorated with flowers, olive branches and lights. Local participants dressed in biblical costumes and brought the important characters from the Old and New Testament to life. Children carried banners and tablets with religious quotes. There were also Roman legionnaires carrying spears and shields, these were announcing themselves with trumpets and drums while Roman soldiers in full armor and helmets rode on horseback followed by hooded penitents who carried heavy wooden crosses; other penitents dragged long chains behind them. Accompanying the processions were local bands playing traditional marches and giving the entire scene an almost cinematic feel. Finally on Easter Day the Statue of the Risen Christ was carried out dancing in the village street accompanied by church bells and fireworks. After listening to Holy Mass families and friends gathered together to feast over a great lunch after which children exchanged Figolli (almond cakes) and Easter eggs.

EC Malta held Easter celebrations on Thursday by giving out Figolli and mini Easter eggs at the Reception to all the students and staff. Tours were organised to all the processions and an Easter boat party was also held on Thursday evening.

I’m Krittayaphorn Yoophumphruk, a student from Thailand . I came to EC Malta to study English. I prefer Malta cause I like this country. I choose EC school because EC is perfect school. I like the system here. There are a lot of students from Europe, Asia, and South America… so I can learn English language. If I have chance I will come back here again!!!
Thank you for my English. Thanks for teaching me to improve my English.
Thanks for taking care of me,
Love you EC Malta

Upon arriving a representative from Farsons greeted us and informed us he will be the guide for the day. We were taken into a room and given a brief explanation about the history of Farsons. The students were then shown a presentation on the history of one of the presentation on the history of one of the island’s leading companies; Farsons.

We then saw the medals and the trophies Farsons have won throughout the years (in the old board room). We also were shown the very first advertisements used for cisk, the beer the company’s top selling local brew and the brew it is famous for.

We then were taken to the brewery and we were briefed on the various ingredients used to make the beer. Then we were moved into the water treatment plant. The next tour was to see the new brew house to be used by may 2012. Finally we moved on to see the final filtration stage.

The last part of the tour was the room where the soft drinks are bottled followed by the beer bottling.

Finally we were given a complimentary drink and we discussed the day’s events.

Faye,

EC Juniors Blogging Team, Malta.

Hello, Jason!
How are you?
Already two weeks since we left Malta!!!!!!!
My students would willingly come over again just now: they did enjoy their trip, the school, the excursions and everything they did.
Sure their favourable feed back will encourage lots of other students to attend the EC school lessons in the future…. AND I WILL BE HAPPY TO ESCORT THEM!
Meanwhile, here are the photos Mario took: hope you will like them!
Please also say hello from us to your colleagues.
Very warm regards.
Giovanna D’Amato

The picturesque parish square in the agricultural village of Mgarr, surrounded by lush green valleys will host ‘Festa Frawli’ – the annual Strawberry Fair – which is held every second or third Sunday of April. Now in its 5th edition, this event is a much awaited fixture in the Maltese calendar. A constant supply of freshly picked strawberries will be on sale throughout the day, ferried regularly to the square by the farmers themselves. A wide variety of desserts, snacks and beverages will be available in our open air kitchen, all made with fresh Mgarr strawberries. Professional chefs will also be preparing novelty strawberry based gourmet dishes such as soup and ravioli.

EC Malta has successfully organised a fund raising event in aid of Japan on Thursday 07th April.

The main event took place at the school where students and staff brought in different traditional food items for the buffet table.

Our Japanese students cooked many traditional dishes and spent most of the morning rolling sushi for the event. There was also a sushi bar set up with a sushi chef from Zen restaurant which is found in the area.

A Japanese Calligraphy section was also set up where staff and students could buy a poster or get a henna tattoo of their name or favorite symbol such as ‘love’ and ‘peace’.

Students could also purchase traditional Origami or a traditional Maltese EC Figolla from the Reception.

A message board was also created by one of our Japanese students were people were encouraged to write their thoughts and message to the survivors.

All the money collected during the event will go towards the Japan Tsunami Fund. Meanwhile money is still being collected throughout today through a lottery. A Sushi Lunch for Head Office staff at EC Central will also take place on Monday in order to add on to the sum already collected.

Seventh Day (03-18-2011)

It’s a big day today! Everyear, Kindai students who come visit our islands are lucky enough to meet with the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism – Dr DeMarco. Malta being a small island benefits alot from tourism so the minister is always very happy to meet such particular students such as Japanese, that come from so far away living in a very different culture.

Once Sensei (their teacher) gave them a pep talk and made sure everyone looked smart, we where off to Valletta. On arrival, we noticed that we where very early, so we decided to go to one of the very nice gardens in Valletta, this particular one being ‘The Upper Barrakka’. This was ideal, as the students could reflect and sooth any nerves about the meeting that was to come. Of course once here, one had to take a few pictures for memory’s sake – and so we did! My favorite one of these was a group photo at the viewing point that oversees the harbours of Malta.

When it was time to go, we met with the four people from EC who have worked very closely with this group and who will be attending the meeting aswell; Michael Pisani – Junior Programme Manager, Simon Formosa – Junior Coordinator, Haruka Nakamura – The Welfare officer for this group and Mika Kaneko – A Japanese intern with EC who was helping out with the group. Once everyone was present, we made our way to the Oberge D’italie where the meeting will be held

To start off the meeting, Dr DeMarco gave the students a short speech expressing how happy he was to have another meeting with Kindai this year. He also took the occasion to express his feelings about the current national tragedy that has been going on in Japan. He assured the students that Malta will offering all the help that we could provide and that we are here to help. After the Minister’s speech, a student from the group presented a speech of his own – which also pointed out how honored the students where to be given this opportunity.

Finally to finish off, a book was presented to the Sensei, the student’s teacher from Japan and Ayako their tourguide that also came with them from Japan. The students were also given a bag full of souvenirs to remember this event. With a final goodbye we just took a final picture with the minister and that was the end of this memorable day!

Matt,

EC Juniors Blogging Team, Malta.