Trip to Glasgow!

Glasgow

On Saturday the 25th we went to Glasgow by train. On the trip we were sleeping because we were so tired. When we arrived there, we first took the underground, which was tiny compared to the Madrid one. After that we took the ferry to go to the Riverside Museum. There were many things and we took a lot of photos. Then we walked to another museum, the Art Museum but before going in we had lunch. It was very big and we enjoyed it more than the other. There were lots of things such as: stuffed animals, paintings, monuments, ancient culture stuff, etc. After having visited the museum we went to the University of Glasgow, which is very important and beautiful. Also, there JK Rowling got the inspiration from the towers of that university for the first Harry Potter book. We took some pictures there and then we took the underground again to the centre of Glasgow to go shopping or whatever we wanted. When we finished we caught the train to come back, where we had a lot of fun. When we arrived in Dundee it was time to say goodbye L L because the next morning the main group were returning to Spain except two.

US - Cristina and Noelia.

        

A day out!

Strawberry picking and Monikie Park

On Thursday the 16th of July we all went in the Land Rover to a farm to PYO (Pick Your Own) Strawberries. It was great fun. We picked lots of strawberries. They were very big, red and so delicious.

When we finished we went to Monikie Park. As it was raining we had lunch in the Land Rover. After lunch we rested on the grass. In the mean while, the southern Spanish boys arrived. After that we got divided in groups for the afternoon activities. We built our own raft and then we raced. It was cold but we enjoyed it a lot. It was also very funny when people fell into the water!!

To finish of, we had a shower and a hot chocolate. It was a great day.

Cristina and Noelia

Cooks and Trucks

Pizzas and Monster Trucks

On Tuesday the 14th, after doing our CVs and visiting the bank, university and job centre we went to the West House. There we cooked Pizzas, one each. We were able to choose our ingredients and then we ate our pizza. After having dinner, we had free time. 

At half past six we met up at the bus stop and took the bus to go and see a monster trucks show. The show lasted an hour and a half. At the show we saw motorbikes jumping and bikes and trucks doing tricks. We also saw monster trucks smashing old cars. There was even a man on fire!! 

It was a great day, we enjoyed it a lot.

Working hard

CV/ Job Centre/ Banks/ University

CV

On Tuesday the 14th, while Gavin (one of our teacher) was picking Noelia up from the airport, we spent time with our teachers Derek and Fiona. In that time we had to make our own CV. The first thing we had to do was put our personal details on the top of the page. The we had to write about our education: the name of our school, our subjects and grades, any academic records or achievements. Then we had to write about our work experience. We discovered that wee could put more things than we expected, like volunteering, or babysitting, etc. We also had to write about our hobbies and relate everything to our skills. At the beginning we didn´t understand why we had to do that by the end of the day we found out it´s important so that they know a bit more about us and our personality. 

JOB CENTRE

We were told to go to the job centre. There we had to ask what papers we needed to have to be able to get a job. We spoke with a woman who told us that we had to apply online. We went to the computers, but to use them and to get a job we needed a special number that we didn´t have. A part from the number we had to be 18 or over, and we are only 15/16. 

Celia and Cristina

BANKS

Santander. After writing our CV and having lunch we were divided in pairs. Juan and I (Luis) had to go to the Santander Bank. There we asked about the papers we needed to create a student bank account. Finally they told us we needed our passport and a paper that said that we had been accepted in the University.

Luis and Juan S

Royal Bank of Scotland. Our group was sent to go to the RBS but we made a mistake and we went to the Bank of Scotland. There they told us that we didn´t need anything special to open a bank account. When we got back to the class room, Fiona told us that we had to go to the ROYAL Bank of Scotland. When we got there we asked a woman what we had to do to open a bank student bank account. She told us that we had to be 17 or over and we needed to take our passport and a document that said that we are residents in the UK. In the RBS we were told that we could have 24/7 access to our money!!

Alejandro and Juan R

UNIVERSITIES

Abertay University. We went to Abertay University to get some information about what to do if we wanted to study there. The receptionist told us that this year was full, but she gave us some papers about the University for the following years. About that, she told us that there are no formal entrance requirements other than having been out of the education for 3 years or more. All students will be interviewed to ascertain their motivation to study and the suitability for the ahead program. In this University you can study Business Studies, Computer Arts, Computer Game Application, Development, Ethical Hacking, Food and Consumer Science, Game Design and Production Management and Sports Development.

Lucia and Maria

Dundee. We visited the University of Dundee. We had to ask about the Erasmus programmes. To be able to do this we need a level B in English, to have good grades at university and the desire to discover new cultures and people.

Paula and Gerardo 

New Girl

 Interview

On Tuesday the 14th a new girl came to Scotland, her name is Noelia Gomez Acedo.  She is part of a family of four. She has one sister, Leyre, who is eight. Her mother is called Pilar and her father Rafael. She lives in Alcorcon, where she was born. 

She doesn´t have any pets. She really likes the Spanish food like rice, pasta, paella etc. But she really hates cheese and milk.

Next year she is going to study 4 E.S.O, as she was born on the 12^th of May, 2000. Next year she want to study biology. In the future she wants to study INEF.  

Her hobbies are swimming, shopping, going to the cinema and going to parties. In her free time she likes watching films and her favourite types are fiction, adventure, terror and children's films. She also enjoys listening to music specially pop music, and she really likes the group Auryn. She is an honest person and an open mind girl. Her favourite colour is red . She loves dolphins but she hates spiders. One of her fears are the insects, she thinks that it's more than a fear, she detests them. She loves travelling and has been in France and now she is in Scotland.

At first she came to Scotland because her parents made her come. On this trip, she hopes to improve her English, and have a nice time. 

From left to right: Cristina, Juan R, and Noelia

Highlands

Two day trip to the Highlands

On Thursday the 9th, we left Dundee at 10:00 am. The twelve of us went in the Land Rover on a 2 hour trip. It was a little bit uncomfortable because we didn't have enough space, but it was still a cool experience.

We stopped to have lunch and then went to a theme park. We rode on various attractions. First we went on a roller-coaster, secondly we went on water slides, then we went through a maze and finally we went into a "sensations" world. It was really fun and we enjoyed it a lot.

When we arrived at the hostel, we left our bags and went to have dinner in an Indian restaurant. Most of us thought we didn't like Indian food, but Gavin offered to order different types of Indian meals. We tried them all and we really liked them. After dinner, we went to Tesco's to buy something for breakfast. Then we walked around the village and finally we went to bed.

The following day, we had breakfast and then we went to Tesco's again to buy our pack-lunch. Then we got on the Land Rover and went to Loch Morlich. There we played on the beach and went on a nice and long walk. Juan Ramos even swam in the loch!! We also played in a park near by. Some of us had lunch there. It was a really beautiful lake and landscape.

We continued our journey towards Loch Ness. On our way there we stopped at the Inverness Lock and saw the boats passing through. When we got to the Loch, it was nothing like we had expected because most people had told us that it wasn't nice because it always rained but it was a lovely day. Then we went to Urquhart Castle. We liked it a lot and we took a lot of pictures.

On our way back we stopped to have fish and chips and we enjoyed it. Finally we continued on our journey and Gavin dropped us of in our houses.

It was a long trip, but we enjoyed it a lot and we now know more places in Scotland!

Maria, Celia, Lucia, Cristina and Paula

Broughty Ferry

Trip to Broughty Ferry

The 7th of July we met in the West House at 9:30. In the classroom we did a preposition exercise worksheet. When we finished we went to a sports shop and bought two balls and a frisbee. Then we took the bus and we went to Broughty Ferry. When we got there we did a scavenger hunt for the Gala week.

We stopped playing to have lunch by the beach. After that, we had tea and coffee with biscuits in a church. The Ladies of the church invited us! Finally we kept on playing and then we took the bus to Dundee.

Celia, Paula, Cristina, Gerardo and Juan R.

What  each student thought about Broughty Ferry: 

     - I enjoyed the game, it was fun. (Lucia)

     - Broughty Ferry is a really beautiful place and I enjoyed the game a lot. (Maria)

     - Broughty Ferry looked like a rich place and it was so clean. The game was good too.         (Luis)

     - I didn't like the game, but Broughty Ferry is a beautiful city. (Juan Santos)

     - I enjoyed the trip but the game was a bit boring. (Alejandro) 

     - It was a fantastic day and I really enjoyed it. (Juan Ramos) 

     - I think the Broughty Ferry is a fantastic place to relax with friends and go shopping.       The problem is that it is too far from the centre of Dundee. (Gerardo)

     - It's a very beautiful city and I had a lot of fun. (Cristina)

     - Broughty Ferry is a special village because you can discover the real Scottish lifestyle      and the people are really nice. (Paula)

     - I liked Broughty Ferry so much and I enjoyed doing the scavenger hunt. (Celia)

St.Andrews

Trip to St. Andrews

On Tuesday the 30^th of July, we went to St. Andrews. We took the bus in the morning in Dundee.

We had to find places and take pictures so we had to ask the locals where and for directions. When we arrived the first thing that we had to find out was the Swilcan Bridge and we took a photo with it. Then we had to find the beach. When we found it, we went to put our feet in the water and it was very could. Then we played with some jelly fish that were on the sand and then we took some photos on the beach. After that we sat down on the sand to started eating but the seagulls started to attack us and we had to move. Also it started to rain, so we had to find a place to eat. We started looking for a shopping centre and we asked the people where it was. We went into a hotel to ask and they told us that there wasn't a shopping centre, but there was a street with lots of shops. Finally we found a band stand and ate there because the seagulls couldn't enter there. After eating we went to the cathedral. When we arrived there, we were really surprised when we saw it because we expected to see a normal cathedral, but it was the ruins of it. It was really beautiful and we took some photos there. Finally we went to see the famous St. Andrews University and we also took some photos and then we went back to Dundee. We enjoyed a lot the trip because St. Andrews had a really beautiful landscape and we had a lovely day.

María y Juan Ramos

Edinburgh

Trip to Edinburgh

The 3rd of July we went to Edinburgh on the train. It was a really long journey. From the train we you could see a beautiful landscape. At the beginning when we arrived Gavin explained us that the town was divided in two different parts, the Old city and the New Town. When we went out of the train station, there was a very nice building in front of us. It looked like if it was burned, and Gavin told us that it looks like that because of the coal, and as nobody can clean it, it looks like that. Then we went up to the National Gallery and we stayed there for half and hour looking all the different pictures. They had interesting and nice draws. When we finished, we went up stairs, and we started the walk to the castle. Finally we got there. We saw the change of guard and as we didn't have enough time to go inside of it, we saw the outside part. It was beautiful. We were hungry so we went to have lunch. We tried a typical Scottish meal, with pork, bread, sauce or onion or haggis. When we finished the lunch we went to the cemetery where Harry Potter´s writer took names for the main characters of the book. It was an old cemetery. When we went out we could see the Greyfriars Bobby. It was a statue of a special dog. It was in memory of the dog that when his owner died it visited every day his owner’s grave until he died. We also went to The National Museum of Scotland which had interesting, old and nice things. We have to stay there for an hour, so in that time we have to saw all the things we could. Then we went to the Elephant house. It was the pub where Harry Potter´s writter started the first book. Finishing the trip, we went to the cathedral. It was old. Finally we went shoping, but we had a problem. The train was going to leave, so we had to run a lot. Finnaly we took the train and we arrived to Dundee at 9:30. 

By Paula and Lucia

First week!

Summary Week 1

This week has been very good. We did fun things, we visited two different cities. At the begining of the week we were nervous but now we are very happy with our families. We are doing very interesting things in Dundee every morning. We went to St. Andrews where we visited the cathedral and famous Golf Course. The weather was bad. We were very cold because we were next to the beach. We went to Edinburgh too, there the weather was so nice. We enjoyed it a lot.

The next two weeks we hope that it is going to be better than this one. We are going to visit the Scotish lochs that we are looking forward to go. Also we are going to go to Glasgow, a beautiful city. We hope the weather is nice! We would like to go to the theme park and the swimming pool. We hope that we are going to enjoy this trip so much.

By Celia and Juan S.

                                                                              St. Andrews

                                                                                 Edinbrugh

The Girls

Girl's perspective

At the airport we were a little bit nervous, as we had never seen each other before nor been to Scotland. Our flight took off at 22:00 o'clock Spanish, and we arrived at Dundee, Scotland at 1:30 Scottish time. We were exhausted! Our host families were very nice and kind. The next morning we visited Dundee and we enjoyed it a lot. 

We really like the way of doing the classes. Instead of staying in a classroom all day listening to the teacher and getting bored, we get to go to the street and practice. We ask for directions, prices, how to get the bus tickets, and things like that. It's the best way of learning English!

PS: The weather is very changeable!!!!!!!

The Boys

Boy's perspective

Sunday, 28^th June, 1^st Day.

We arrived at the airport at 7:30 PM and we met each other. the flight took 3 hours.

We got here at 1:30 AM (Scottish time) and we met our host families.

Monday, 29^th June, 2^nd Day.

We visited Dundee for the first time and we bought a book. We went to the shopping centre too.

Tuesday, 30^th June, 3^rd Day.

We divided ourselves in pairs and each group had to find different places in Dundee and then talk about it to the group.

Wednesday 1^st July, 4^th Day.

We visited St. Andrews and a group of seagulls attacked us, they even ate Gerardo's sandwich!!!

PS: Every morning we have got English classes.

Spanish Students

Introduction

Queens Language School is an English academy in Madrid, Spain that organises various trips to the UK during the summer holidays. On this blog we will be talking about one of them, our trip to Dundee, Scotland. July 2015.

These are all of the students that have come on this years trip:

Name: Lucia Marcos Jimenez

Age: 15

DOB: 13/10/1999

Home town: Pozuelo de Alarcon

School: Instituto Veritas

School year: 1º Bachiller

Favourite colour: Blue

Favourite food: Pasta

I hate: Spiders and cockroaches 

I like sports, such as Basketball and Paddle. I also enjoy going to the gym.

In my free time I like meeting up with my friends, go to the cinema and listen to music.

Name: Celia Del Pozo Mena

Age: 15

DOB: 04/09/1999

Home town: Pozuelo de Alarcon

School: IES Gerardo Diego

School year: 1º Bachiller

Favourite colours: Blue and red

Place of birth: Cuenca, Spain

Favourite food: Pasta

Least favourite food: Green beans

I like listening to music, doing sports, spending time with my friends and going shopping.

Name: María Pérez Casado

Age: 15

DOB: 12/09/1999

Home town: Pozuelo de Alarcon

School: Instituto Veritas

School year: 1º Bachiller

Favourite colour: Red

Place of birth: Madrid, Spain

Favourite food: Spanish food, pasta and pizza

I love playing basketball, listening to music, going out with my family and friends and  travelling. 

Name: Juan Ramos

Age: 17

DOB: 26/01/1998

Home town: Pozuelo de Alarcon

School: Tres Olivos

School year: 2º Bachiller

Favourite colour: Blue

I have got one younger brother and his name is Carlos.

I like sports and I play football, paddle, and I swim. I also like meeting up with my friends.

Name: Juan Santos Pacheco

Age: 15

DOB: 13/11/1999

Place of birth: Madrid, Spain

Home town: Getafe

School: IES José Hierro

School year: 1º Bachiller

Favourite colour: Blue

I like listening to music,meeting up with my friends and playing computer games.

Name: Gerardo José Rodríguez

Age: 16

DOB: 04/04/1999

Home town: Getafe

School: IES José Hierro

School year: 1º Bachiller

Favourite colour: Green

Favourite food: Pasta

Least favourite food: Cheese

I like writing, spending time with my friends, listening to music,etc.

Name: Alejandro López Serrano

Age: 15

DOB: 04/09/1999

Home town: Madrid

School: Nuestra Señora de las Nieves

School year: 4º ESO

Favourite colour: Green

Place of birth: Madrid, Spain

Favourite food: Pizza

I like playing video games and playing sports.

Name: Cristina Rejas Mateo

Age: 16

DOB: 19/03/1999

Home town: Madrid

School: Nuestra Señora del Pilar

School year: 1º Bachiller

Favourite colour: Blue

Place of birth: Madrid, Spain

Favourite food: Pasta

Least favourite food: Fish and mushrooms 

I like listening to music, playing sports, spending time with my friends and family, and going shopping.

Name: Luis Rodriguez Rubio 

Age: 16

DOB: 11/02/1999

Home town: Getafe

School: IES José Hierro

School year: 1º Bachiller

Favourite colours: Blue and white

Place of birth: Madrid, Spain

Favourite food: Pasta and meet

Least favourite food: Most veg

I'm in a professional music school as a hobby. I can play the bassoon and the piano.

I like playing and listening to music, playing computer games and meeting up with my friends. 

Name: Paula Aranda Salamanca

Age: 18

DOB: 08/08/1996

Home town: Madrid

School: Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

School year: 2nd year at Uni

Favourite colour: Green

Favourite food: Pizza

I hate: Olives

I like meeting up with my friends, reading books, sports and travelling.