Student blog courtesy of Frank at Harbour Sports

Frank Sobey, one of our longest serving and most popular work placements always encourages his students to reach their potential and become involved in all aspects of the business in the beautiful Paignton Harbour. He currently has a German student with him...here is her blog and in her own words...

 "Hey guys,
I’m Elisabeth (Lisa) Schoenen, the new business intern at Harbour Sports.
This week was great, the weather was beautiful and we we...re quite busy at work.
I’m so happy to be here that I don’t want to leave in four weeks! ;-)
I hope that the weather doesn’t change next week so I can relax in the sun again!
The Training Partnership Torquay has arranged the internship and they have been very supportive.
This weekend Paignton Sailing Club has a championship and I have offered to help. It will be a good opportunity to meet new people and to spend time in a boat.
Hey Leute!
Ich bin Elisabeth (Lisa) Schoenen, die neue Praktikantin bei Harbour Sports.
Diese Woche war toll, das Wetter war wunderschoen und wir hatten ziemlich viel zu tun. Ich bin so froh hier zu sein, dass ich in vier Wochen garnicht mehr gehen moechte. ;-)
Ich hoffe wirklich, dass das Wetter so bleibt wie jetzt, damit ich wieder die Sonne geniessen kann.
Das Auslandspraktikum wurde von The Training Partnership Torquay organisiert. Sie unterstuetzen alle Praktikanten sehr und sind jederzeit fuer einen da, wenn man Hilfe braucht.
Dieses Wochenende findet eine Meisterschaft des Paignton Sailing Clubs statt und ich wuerde mich freuen den Seglern zu helfen. Diese Veranstaltung waere eine gute Gelegenheit um neue Leute kennen zu lernen und um etwas Zeit auf einem Boot zu verbringen."

 

Student meeting at Brixham

Brixham by Boat...

 Summer is came finally, and what’s the best way to celebrate if not with a boat trip in the bay!
The meeting is at 1.30 pm at Torquay Harbour for another students meeting.
There are 18 degrees, the sun shines up above a clearly sky and the sea is completely flat.
Students join the boat and here we go! The captain of the ship sets sail, Brixham destination!
The weather is awesome and everybody take advantage by having a perfect sunbath and take pictures together!
Arrived in Brixham, me and my friends take a long walk to the lighthouse, enjoying the fantastic seaside walk and the wonderful landscape that Brixham offers.
Unfortunatly with so much to do we missed the last boat to Torquay, and we had to take a bus trip back! But hey, it was a great day. Next week we are at Torquay so it should be very enjoyable.

 

A students view of a weekly meeting - Thank you Lorenzo!

Good morning everybody! Finally it’s Friday and as The Cure singing “Friday I’m in love”, the weekend is knocking at the door. But now I just want you to know what an amazing Thursday afternoon was yesterday.

Another students social meeting organized by TTPL, this time at BOWLING!!!
The windy weather is perfect for a bowling competition and a lot of excited students can’t wait for challenge each other. People come together and in a few minutes all the tracks come to life.

A hundred people from all around the world yelling, clapping and cheering turns the bowling into a big do! And here I am! Fighting for the second position because the first one is already assigned to Alvaro, a 19 years old Spanish guy, who is a little champion in bowling.

Meanwhile the German group seems to be a kind of professional bowling team, because they don’t miss a shot and our scoreboard is embarrassing  compared to theirs. The atmosphere still grows, someone takes a beer to relax, someone else jokes and annoys the friend who is ready to throw the bowl.                                                      

When the game is over, some guys leave the bowling to enjoy the sunny day, others stay for a pool match!
At the end, I've got a 3rd position, beaten by an Italian girl at last shot!

What a great afternoon.

Lorenzo,

Work Placement Student from Italy  

'Rosamunde Pilcher' Tour for our German teachers

On Thursday 4^th April a  small group of  5 teachers from Germany travelled from Torquay to Truro; driven by Brian (of Top Cabs) to meet  with a Blue Badge Guide for a  ‘Rosamunde Pilcher’ Tour in Cornwall.  On meeting, the enthusiasm and anticipation of having an enjoyable day out was infectious and as the day progressed it was a bonus that Brian, the driver, was more than willing to accommodate all requests related to making the most of the tour.

 

After the brief stop near Truro,  St Michael’s Mount  was the first destination – an iconic castle set in Mount’s Bay  and the location used in several Rosamunde Pilcher  films such as ‘Wolken am Horizont’  and ‘Heimkehr’.  Arriving in the ancient town of Marazion at high tide meant that the journey to the Mount had to be by small boat. Thankfully the crossing was smooth, even if chilly. Once landed on the island quay  a steep climb had to be undertaken to reach the castle. The walk was warming and along the route there was time to hear stories and legends of the giant once lived here. The walk was warming on a cold day but the sun was shining down and views from the island of the Cornish coast with its villages and towns were spectacular. After touring the warm rooms of the castle, followed by surviving the cold winds on the battlements it was back to the harbour to catch the boat back to Marazion.  From here we made for St Ives – Rosamunde Pilcher’s ‘Polkerris’. En route we detoured around the village of Lelant to view Rosamunde’s birth place and home in later years as well as the church in which she married. The cameras continued to click!

On arrival in ‘Porthkerris ‘, which had such an influence on the artists about which Rosamunde Pilcher wrote,  the priority was to seek lunch in warm surroundings which is exactly what was done by descending on a small café in  one of St Ives quaint lanes known as The Digey. Here hot local food and …….. plenty of homemade cakes were consumed  before exploring the harbourside and town which featured not only in novels but also provided the backdrop for many German-made television programmes.
A  visit to the Carbis Bay Hotel, otherwise known as ‘The Sands Hotel’ in Rosamunde Pilcher’s most famous novel ‘The Shellseekers’ , rounded off the day. Here the expanse of St Ives Bay and North Cornish coast was the stunning view enjoyed from the conservatory whilst enjoying refreshment which varied between tea and a glass of wine!
A great day was had by all with there being many comments related to wishing to return to see yet more of Rosamunde Pilcher’s Cornwall. 

My name is Tabea Bitz, I live in a small village near Heidelberg in Germany.

At the moment I do an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk at the Rudolf Wild GmbH & Co. KG in Eppelheim near Heidelberg. WILD is worldwide leading in manufacturing natural ingredients and developing complete solutions for the food and beverage industry. The production and sale of the Capri Sun, as well as the beverage Libella, represent the company's second core business.

When my trainee supervisor told me that I’ve got the opportunity to do an internship abroad in an English company I was really interested. She told me that I have to write an application to the Organisation “Fairbund” and hope that they choose me for a stipend for 3 weeks in Torquay. So fortunately Fairbund chose me!! I was really happy but also a little bit afraid to go alone in another country for 3 weeks.

I arrive on a Sunday evening. On Monday midday was my welcome meeting.  So I’ve got a little bit time for get to know Torquay better.

On Tuesday I started working in the Training Partnership. I was a bit nervously but that changed very quickly. All my colleges at the Training Partnership were so friendly and helpfully to me. They explain me all my tasks very good and give me not the feeling to be a misfit or something like that. I really liked go to work. My working time elapsed very quickly every day. I really enjoy the 3 Weeks at the Training Partnership.

Torquay is a really beautiful city and has a lot of nice shops, so you can go shopping very well.              I also like the harbour from Torquay so much. When the sun is shining you can really enjoy your days here like in holiday.

I also liked the student meetings very well. I think that is a really important for the students here. It’s really good to get some connections with other people. We had always a lot of fun together.  For example:  we went to the cinema in Torquay, to a karaoke party and to the zoo in Paignton. So a big thank you to the people who organize the meetings.        

All in all I can say it was a really great time in Torquay, I think I improved my English and I think I’m more independent now.Thank you Training Partnership for this great time, I’ll never forget this experience!

Student blog – Visit to Torquay Museum

Last Thursday took place a new student meeting. In that case it was a cultural meeting. We visited the Torquay Museum!

Several days ago, when I knew where would be the meeting, I had looked for some information about the exhibitions to share it with other students throw Facebook. So, when Thursday arrived, all students gathered with TTPL staff at the entrance after the lunch to undertake that adventure together.

 

I remember that we had to enter in small groups and divide us into different rooms. The first that we found inside was a room dedicated to Sci-Fi movies, where we could see the costumes and props of some of the famous characters of Alien, Matrix, Star Wars, Terminator, Star Treck, Dr Who, I Robot, Fifth Element, V, Battlestar Galactia, Red Planet and Planet of the Apes. At the same time, other students and I had the possibility to take a photo with Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers or R2D2 and Darth Maul for instance.

Going on with our way, we arrived at Agatha Christie’s room where there were the original covers of the books which were drawn by Tom Adams. It was really interesting to be able to see with my own eyes those paintings which accompanied me lots of nights before felling sleep.

Then we could contemplate the oldest anatomically modern human fossil in north-western Europe and other samples which were found in Kent’s Cavern, one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe.

Eventually, we crossed a room which contained some discoveries about Egyptians like the coffin of the son of a king or more interesting findings that I just saw in the movies. All of that was incredible!

I really enjoyed the visit very much. It was a nice time as for the things that I saw as for people who were with me!

Students view of Torquay

It’s just three weeks ago I was in Spain with my family and my friends spending the time going to the beach and enjoying that I had finished the University. Nowadays, my situation is a bite different. The reason is why I wanted to live a new experience; I wanted to go to England to improve my English level, start to do some work practices related on my studies and, at the same time, learn to look after myself. So, in 15^th of July I took a plane to Bristol.

The first proof was not to lose when I got off the plane. I decided to do this trip alone so I had to be consistent with my decision. I had to buy the tickets and look for the bus and two trains which they would bring me in Torquay train station. I have never travelled alone and I have some problems to understand the English language when people speak with me quickly, so it wasn’t easy for me.

When I arrived in Torquay my host family went to the train station to welcome. They were very kind with me. They gave me a round by car to show the city and afterwards, they introduce me other students who live in the house as well.

I knew that I worked in The Training Partnership, the company which managers and organises the students’ stay. However, the first day that I stepped the building wasn’t my first day at work. The day before, I had a meeting with other newly arrived students. There were Italian, Germany and Spanish people and all of them probed to be nice people. After the meeting we went to drink something in a pub together and some of them have become to my first friends here.

About my job in the company, I have been helping to research some useful information by Internet, write some documents and use the network Facebook to contact with other students. The work environment is great, all the people are good with me and I’m practicing English a lot.

What’s more, I have met a lot of people; Italian, Germany, French and, of course, lots of Spanish. I have visited with some of them some near cities like Brixham, Paignton or Exeter. Also I have gone shopping and to the beach, using the good time of this week.

Although I miss my family and my friends, really I’m spending a good time here.