The week started off with a bang with 12 new students joining us. It’s great to have you all here, and on behalf of the GV team I’d like to welcome you all to the school and Byron Bay. It’s going to be a great summer!!
Welcome Maria, Evi, Daniella, Nadia, Vanessa, Yong-Sik, Janina, Daniel, Linda, Lea, Jong and Gabriella. If you guys need anything, please drop into the office and talk to either Kate or I, any time! We’re here to help.
Posted in Announcements, Pictures, Student News
Spring in all its joys is here. Rothy, our beloved teacher Andrew’s mother, took our students down to the beach to build a labyrinth. (Another new word for the vocabulary book!) I’m told that this is an ancient ritual originating from ancient Crete taking the form of an elaborate structure designed somewhat like a maze, but with a clear pathway.
These days. labyrinths can be thought of as symbolic forms of pilgrimage; people can walk the path, ascending toward salvation or enlightenment! So.. (after that explanation I hope you are still all with me!) we went down to the beach to make a labyrinth, which was lots of fun, and appreciated not only by the students but also by walkers by. Thanks very much Rothy, we hope the path to enlightenment is now more clear!
Posted in Activities, Byron Bay Secrets, Pictures
On top of welcoming all of our new students to GV Byron Bay this week we have also had the pleasure of having a family being born right in the garden! The Pluvers, (birds) have been extremely protective of their babies over the last week or two.. but we are now delighted to welcome the new members of the GV family to the school!
Mama & Papa Pluver’s chicks are finally out of their shell just in time for the first day of Spring. So cute! We love watching them learning with mum and dad in Global Village’s backyard.
Posted in Announcements, Events, Pictures
What a great way to end a fantastic week! The usual perfect conditions of Byron Bay offered all of us keen surfers another chance to have surfing lessons with Gaz on Friday. We cheered when we stood up and laughed when we fell down! So much fun! Can’t wait for the next lesson on the 22nd September!
Posted in Activities, Pictures
Spring seems to be here with some wonderfully warm and beautiful days. To celebrate this (and of course to try to see any Whales that might be lurking) we went up to the lighthouse.
The lighthouse tour is always really fun. We get to go inside the actual lighthouse and the tour guides are typically funny Aussies. And.. we saw Whales! Yay!
Posted in Activities, Byron Bay Secrets, Pictures
The weather has been wonderful recently, beautiful days, crystal blue skies and gorgeous sunsets…
all of which means… it’s BEACH SOCCER time again. We had a lot of fun on the beach and Kate proved to us for once and all that she is the soccer queen, much to Eduardo’s surprise!! Zac, as always, was a wonderful addition to the team (although no one is quite sure which team he was playing for!) and made us all laugh with his ball skills.
Good on you guys.. see you next week for round two!
Posted in Activities, Pictures, Student News
There are many many wonderful things about living in Byron… and of course one of those is all of the colourful people who live here.
This afternoon we spent some time trying to look like a “local” by making Tye Dye shirts… very successfully it would seem!
The results speak for themselves..
Posted in Activities, Pictures, Student News
To brighten up everyone’s day last week we had a mid-winter Xmas. It was pretty wild weather outside and so the treasure hunt was a unique experience!
The chocolate game was a real winner with Marie and Ellen partaking with full gusto! Merry mid-winter Xmas everyone!!
Posted in Activities, Pictures, Student News
The week has kicked off with a real bang! We welcomed new students, had lunch and then got right into Zumba hip hop style.
Lots and lots of fun… thanks for participating so willingly everyone! You all looked brilliant!
Posted in Activities, Events, Pictures, Student News
As always the circus was a huge amount of fun… the pictures below tell the tale!
It’s so nice to see everyone being so supportive and encouraging of each other as well as fun to see everyone learn to fly! Thanks!
Posted in Activities, Pictures, Student News
We have been most fortunate over the last week to have some great new personalities around the school.
To celebrate this we have been doing some fun activities (as well as some serious studying of course!!)
A very special hello and warm welcome to our Hatsushiba Hashimoto High school students. It’s great to have you here and we wish you all the best for your upcoming study and life in Byron Bay.
Posted in Activities, Announcements, Pictures, Student News
We have been enormously lucky these days in Byron with a fantastically mild winter, days of beautiful sunshine and whales swimming in the sea!
To celebrate these lovely days we had another fun BBQ. Thanks to everyone for making it another fun day!
Posted in Activities, Announcements, Pictures, Student News
The pressure has been building and the newly rectified table tennis table has been seeing a flurry of recent activity.
After many requests we had to have a competition to see who really is the TRUE GV Byron Bay table tennis champion! And the winners were …
1st place) Eduardo
2nd place) Fe
3rd) Eduardo Lage!
Well done guys. What a marathon!! They played for three and a half hours!! Fantastic! Hope you enjoyed the chocolate!
Posted in Activities, Pictures, Student News
This afternoon we went up the lighthouse to do the tour.This is always an interesting experience as the tour guides are both informed about Byron’s history and also very funny!
The afternoon shaped up into a lovely day after we got there. Incredibly enough there were quite a few whales, which you can see the very top of in one of the photos!
Good fun was had by all… Don’t forget guys.. surfing today!
Posted in Activities, Byron Bay Secrets, Pictures
As part of our regular General English classes we ask our students to reflect on their lives in and around Byron… This is Sergio from Spain’s story! Thanks!
There are so many awesome places where you can travel to in Australia and especially near Byron Bay
I’ve been in Aussie for three months now and have been to lots of different places! Some of my favourites have been Lennox Head (except when we had that crazy water day), Nimbin, Gold Coast and Fraser Island. Each place has had its own special meaning to me, and almost everywhere is beautiful.
I want to talk about a funny trip I had the other week. My friends and I rented a “Byron Juicy Camper” with GPS. After an hour or two, the GPS stopped working. Of course.. we got totally lost! But, luckily, Australia is quite easy to drive around as once you find a highway, then is only one way to go and you can work it out really easily!!! We were all laughing at this…
One of my favourite things to do in Byron Bay is ride my bike around the town. There are some great places to visit and see all over Byron. Going up to the lighthouse (phew!!!!!) is hard work, but once you get there it’s so pretty. We even saw some whales the other day. That was so special! I’ve never seen a whale before… and it was a memory I will treasure forever!
Posted in Activities, Byron Bay Secrets, Pictures, Student News
This morning I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Kathrin. Kathrin is from Switzerland and works in a restaurant near a golf course!
We are all very excited about that and we will look forward to having Kathrin teach us how to make some beautiful Swiss food to help get us through the colder mornings! Welcome to GV Byron Kathrin, I’m sure you will have a wonderful time here.
Posted in Pictures, Student News
The start of the week was kicked off by the first reported sighting of a Whale for the season! It’s a beautiful Monday and seeing a whale at the start of the day is an amazing way to start the week..
We strongly recommend that you all go to the lighthouse to look out of them. They are beautiful creatures and we can look forward to seeing them for the next four or so months! Yay!!
Posted in Announcements, Byron Bay Secrets, Pictures, Student News
I caught up today with some of our FCE and CAE students and this is what they had to say about studying at GV Byron..
Hi Akane, why are you doing the CAE program?
I thought the CAE class would be a very focused and difficult classs which would push my English skills to their limit and really make me work hard to improve all areas of my language skills.
Why are you doing it in Australia?
I had heard many good things about Australia, it is a very different life than the one I knew in Japan and so I wanted to come to Australia to see how I felt about it, and to see whether what I had heard was true or not. I had also made some Australian friends in Japan, and they recommended that I come to Byron.
What will you use your CAE course towards?
I think that this course will help my life in a few different ways. Firstly it is good for my general English ability but also the CAE is recognized in many countries around the world and could be useful for future opportunities.
Do you enjoy the CAE course at Global Village Byron Bay?
Yes! Very much.. The classrooms are nice, the environment is nice. But, honestly, it’s mainly about my teacher Ginny. I have a lot of respect for her, she makes the classes interesting, her knowledge of English teaching is really impressive and she is, more than anything else, a very nice, warm funny woman.
What do you like most about studying in Byron Bay?
The life in Byron Bay. By that I mean, I find the life quite different here than the life I lead in Japan. In Japan, things are very regimented and fixed. Here I find things to have a more relaxed feel about them, the people are quite open and approachable. I feel like it’s a bit of an adventure living here, and I really wanted that feeling before I came to Byron.
Hi Tanja..
Why are you doing the FCE program?
Hmm. I’m trying to get better in English and it’s good for my job in Switzerland. I’m an office worker and I will have much better chances to get a better job and earn more money!! Also, I just want to do it for me, because I like English!
Why are you doing it in Australia?
I went to America, and it wasn’t much fun, as I wasn’t 21 and I wasn’t treated as an adult. My best friend was based in Australia, and said it was a great place to be. I talked about this with my father and he also said that he thought Australia would be a good place as there aren’t many opportunities to live this kind of life.
What will you use your FCE course towards?
To get a better job, and of course English is an important language. It’s useful, and it helps me communicate with.. well… the WORLD!
Do you enjoy the FCE course at Global Village Byron Bay?
Of course! It’s a nice place, the people are very helpful. My teacher, Andrew, is really helpful with the preparation for the exam and I have found that I have learnt lots of vocabulary that is really useful!
What do you like most about studying in Byron Bay?
The people are really helpful, it’s very different than Switzerland. People talk to you a lot and I never really feel alone. The climate is great and of course…. the beach! .
Posted in Pictures, Stay in Touch, Student News, Study
Roger left us this morning and we will miss him. He has an excellent sense of humour and has made us all laugh on a daily basis. His farewell was unique, as the pictures show!
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and where you are from?
I’m from Switzerland, from a small village in the south west, a place with 2700 people in it.
What did you do back at home and what made you decide to come to Australia?
In Switzerland I am a house painter. I decided to come to Australia as I spent 10 weeks in NZ last year, where I met a girl from my village who had lived in Byron Bay before, she had the best time here, and so I promised her that I would come to Byron! So now I’m here….
How long have you been at GV Byron and what were you studying?
I was here for 10 weeks, studying general English
What do you plan to do when you have completed your studies with us?
Well, sadly, I have to go home to start work and see my friends and family again.
What has been the single best moment that you have experienced since you joined GV Byron?
Ahh.. so many things.. The teachers have been really friendly and nice. Rebecca and you have been great, looked after me and made me smile a lot. Kayaking, the circus … these things were great, BBQs! As is say.. so many things
What is your favourite place in Byron?
The Main beach is my favourite place, I stayed there a lot of the time, when I wasn’t studying!!) and of course Cocomangas and the Rails..
Is there anything you’d like to add??
If I could find a real long term job here, I think I would live in Byron Bay forever. It’s a really nice place, it’s beautiful, the people are cool and it’s a great life.. I’m going to miss it!
Thanks Roger for all the laughs. You really have made the school a funny place to be! Take care, all the best and keep in touch!
Posted in Activities, Pictures, Stay in Touch, Student News
Some of you have been asking me for some of the photos we have taken over the last few weeks.. so here is a small selection of our lives here! Thanks everyone for making this such a great place to live, work and of course study in!
Posted in Activities, Announcements, Pictures, Stay in Touch, Student News
A few weeks ago Katie joined the adminstration team here at GV Byron Bay. She wanted to let everyone know what she is doing here and so I had a quick chat to her yesterday afternoon. Welcome Katie!
How long have you been working at GV Byron Bay and what did you do before you worked here?
Hi my name is Katie, I’m from Taiwan from a big city just outside of Taipei. I have just recently started working here at GV Byron Bay, and am working to help support Rebbecca and to help with some of the student services.
At home I was an English teacher, teaching kids. I studied Italian at University and spent almost a year in Italy which was great fun in many different ways. It has been really nice to be here at GV to meet all the international students and to meet the Italians here.
I came to Byron as a great friend of mine highly recommended the life here and I had heard that Byron Bay is paradise! I also checked the blog and it looked like a great time! Besides this I really wanted to improve my English and I knew that GV Byron would be ideal for this.
Do you speak another language and what was your biggest challenge when learning it?
Well I obviously speak Chinese (Mandarin), some Taiwanese, Italian, and English. I really like learning languages, I have found that by learning a different language my whole world has opened up, and I find it fascinating to get a real glimpse into other cultures, and I think the only way that you can do that is by speaking different countries languages. I guess the most difficult thing about learning a language for me, is that I have to study after class!!
What has been the single best moment that you have experienced since you joined GV Byron?
I love my job and I loved the interaction with all of the students from around the world and making friends with them all. I am really thankful to the school for offering me the opportunity to work here and I really appreciate this chance.
What is your favourite place in Byron?
Wow this is a hard question to answer. I have to say there are two places that I really love. One is the bicycle path from my home to school as it feels like going on an adventure every time I come to work. During the day time I can see beautiful trees and animals and in the evening the sky looks so amazing. There are millions of stars and it’s astonishingly gorgeous. The other place I really like is the beach of course!!
Is there anything you’d like to add??
I just want to let the students know that I really understand where they are coming from as English is not my first language either. Please feel free to come into the office at any time to talk to me. If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know!
Posted in Activities, Pictures, Student News
Our FCE and CAE classes left us on Friday and to celebrate we had a BBQ in the sun. It was a day of mixed emotions, as everyone was happy to have the exams out of the way, but over the last three months really good friendships have been forged, and it is very sad to say goodbye to such a special group of people. We will really miss you guys, thanks for making the last few months such a great and special experience!
Posted in Activities, Pictures, Stay in Touch, Student News
Thanks Monica! She prepared some Swiss delicacies for her fellow students this afternoon.
It was really delicious!!! Remember if you want to cook some recipes from your home country for your fellow students GV Byron Bay will be happy to help out by paying for some or all of the ingredients.
Posted in Pictures
