When you’re a lover of music and dancing like me, you must see some musical! I attended Phantom of the Opera and I loved it! Great music, excellent dancing performances, professional actors. If it isn’t your cup of tea you can choose something else- Mamma Mia, Singing in the Rain, Thriller, Chicago and the others. Most of the theatres are in the centre of London, a stone’s throw from the underground and bus stops. I’ll miss London so much!”- Marketa, Czech Republic

“As you must know, there is a lot of free museums in London, but it doesn’t mean bad museums (the absolute opposite!). Me, as a scientific man, cannot recommend enough the Natural History Museum. It’s absolutely amazing, there you can satisfy all your curiosity about dinosaurs, exotic animals, and the evolution of the earth and humanity. Also, there are temporary exhibitions, that are usually as interesting as the museum itself. When I went there, there was happening an exhibition about animals bodies (dissected) that was fabulous.”  -Michael, Brazil

“If you want to have a good time with friends, we cannot recommend you Camden Town enough. It’s a wonderful place with a friendly atmosphere and a lot of activities. The first thing you see is the shops; they offer everything you could want: tea clothes, jewels, music, pubs, street performances…It’s conveniently located and offers a beautiful architecture. We cannot even describe how great this place is. So, we just want to say: enjoy!”  – Antonio, Italy; Souba, France

“If you wanna have a relaxing picnic in London or you’d like to take a break and spend some nice moment between one shop and another one, you have to visit the Kensington Gardens, close to Hyde Park. The wonderful multi-coloured garden made of lots and lots of types of flowers and species of trees makes Kensington Gardens a must-see of London!” -Gabriele, Italy

“The Tower of London: If you’re a lover of history like us, this is a must-go! Here you can find: King’s jewellery, knights’ swords and dresses! You can walk inside the palisade and the Tower Bridge is a stone’s throw from here!

Hyde Park: On a warm, sunny day, this is simply one of the best places to be in London! Here you can walk, you can run or you can just relax laying down on the grass! It is conveniently located very close to Kensington Palace.    -Serena, Italy; Asuka, Japan

“One of the most popular British dish for foreigners is ‘fish n’ chips’. I like this dish very much, but it’s difficult to find the best one, because the products aren’t always fresh. Every dish is almost healthy except when you always eat the same dish. In India, [where my family is from], the most popular dish is rice. The speciality is the ‘Biriyani’= a mix of rice, spices and vegetables. We always eat this dish with chicken tandoori, yogurt, and a sauce. So it’s not much healthier than British food! I think in general, each dish is good, and people have to be reasonable and to eat in a balanced way.”

-Souba, France

“I haven’t a favourite dish in the UK, but last time I had dinner with my host family, I ate chicken wings with rice. This dish we have in Slovakia too but we serve it with potatoes or bread only. I like that dishes are served with some kind of vegetable- with broccoli, carrots and beans. A favourite national dish in Slovakia is noodles with a special kind of sheep’s cheese and bacon. This dish you can get in pubs and in more expensive restaurants. It is served usually with some milk.”

-Silvia, Slovakia

“In France, there lots of variety of food dishes such as vegetables, onions, salad, potatoes. The ingredients are generally fresh. French people don’t use to eat in a fast food restaurant. A dish is composed every time of meat or fish with bread and wine. Before the dessert, we eat some cheeses with salads. It’s a little bit fatty and salty. About the price- it depends! The French gastronomy is very important, you can find many different prices according to where you are in France. The government campaigns to the children to eat five fruits and five vegetables each day.”

-Constance, France
“Maybe I still don’t know British food completely and I should taste countryside recipes, but what I think about it, generally speaking, is that it does not fit with my idea of healthy food. I really like fresh vegetables and hate fried food and usually dedicate time in choosing natural ingredients at the supermarket and in cooking home-made dishes. I usually avoid industrial ‘ready to cook’ things, which are added in industrial flavourings that make me feeling unwell.”

- Ema, Italy

“I think British food is not healthy. There are so many fried things! It is said that Japanese food is healthy, but we have fast food too. And most of young people likes fast food. Sushi is one of Japanese favourite national dish! We eat them with soy sauce or salt. I think healthy food is to not eat too much and to eat nutritional food!”

- Asuka, Japan

“I think the British food is generally more unhealthy than Italian food- not because British people don’t know how to cook, but because normally the dislike cooking so they frequently buy ready-to-eat food that is more processed. In Italy, we have a long tradition of cooking so we usually spend more time to prepare meals. This, I think is the main reason why Italian food is healthier than English food.”

-Gabriele, Italy

“Unfortunately, food here, in London, is not to my taste. Most of the products are processed, artificial and fatty. Despite fruit or vegetables, I see not a big amount of healthy food, maybe only fish and meat (which you can cook at home). But there are a lot of muffins, cakes and so on that you can try! A big variety! In my country, there are a lot of meat or fish which are lower in price, and more fresh. You even can buy live fish! I’m used to eating soup everyday, with a boiled chicken for example. Or stewed vegetables with boiled potatoes or rice. But in some cases, just meat with vegetables; it’s very healthy.”

-Alina, Belarus

“I didn’t try any traditional food here in London…Usually my diet is not really healthy, all based around coca-cola and pasta! Here my favourite dish is the burger, but not from fast food places. This kind of dish is quite healthy, but off course not in excess! But the typical burger or other fast food is easy to find in London and this isn’t very healthy. Also the food in the markets, I’m not sure if it is really healthy like in my country!”

-Antonio, Italy

The distance is gruelling, and the sense of achievement having pushed myself to physical extremes that I did not think my body capable of was incredible. The congratulations of my friends and family have also been nice – everyone likes to be complimented after all, and I could rest on Sunday night knowing that every morning I wake up for the rest of my life I will know that I can and have run a marathon. Finally and most importantly, I ran this marathon in the memory of a friend that I lost to a sudden cardiac arrest 4 years ago and raised money for the work of the amazing charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young. This was dedicated to my friend, and I hope that it paid fair respect to his memory.

What is truly amazing about this day, of all days though, is the community spirit of the marathon, not my own spirit. Every runner had an inspiring story, from the Kenyan who crossed the line in 1^st place, to the guy in the Bagpuss fancy dress. All those charity runners were thinking of their own loved ones, or the little good that their little contribution might do around the world. Individually this is nice, collectively it makes even the most cynical re-evaluate the human condition. Then you add to this the amazing supporters, who stood for hours not just to see their son, brother or friend, but to cheer a total stranger in a heart costume (that was me) until they were hoarse in the throat. The crowds did not come to see the peak of physical achievement, if they had they would have gone home after Wilson Kipsang sprinted past 2 hours before me. They came in such big numbers because it is nice to feel part of something, and for that something to be unarguably a positive thing.

I could never have completed the marathon without the money raised by my friends, my memories, the other runners and their stories and the amazing crowds. I ran the marathon and I am so proud of that. But I did not run it alone, and everyone else involved should be equally proud of that. By 8pm on Sunday everything was packed up, and people went back to normal, knocking into people on the tube and worrying about their own lives. For a while we all saw what it could be like if instead of working alone we worked together, and that will stay with me for as long as my personal achievement, and for a lot longer than the blisters.

“National celebrations are important because of our history, about history of the country where we rise up. It is important for national culture and we can remember this day every year. The children learn about history in the school.

An important national day in my country is “Day of winning against fascism.” The Slovak people celebrate the freedom in the country. They have won against Germany in the Second World War. They have a bank holiday and stay at home.

For St George’s Day, there could be museums for free. There can be pubs open until morning. People can celebrate in the streets with masks and drink typical English drinks and food like fish and chips!” -Silvia, Slovakia

“In Italy we celebrate the national day on 2nd of June. All the activities, except for some shops in downtown are closed. We have an exhibition of the national airplanes, known as Frecce Tricolori, in the sky and they do some spectacular shows. Moreover, during this day, people can visit the President of the Republic’s garden. This garden is normally closed to the public during the year.

I would like to suggest some fireworks for in red and white for St George’s Day, and some free food and drinks in pubs. All the normal activities should be cancelled.”

-Serena, Italy

“National celebrations are important for keeping in our memory something what happened a long time ago. It’s a proud for the last generation. And these celebration lets us not forget what happened.

An important national day in my country is the 14th July. We can see everybody doing the party all day and night. There are lots of concerts, the national army representation in the morning on Les Champs Elysees, and fireworks setting off at midnight.

For celebrating St George’s Day, the British should organise a big party in the centre of London with some concerts and a lot of beers in the pubs. -Constance, France

“Everything in London is fast, people walk fast and talk fast! All the time I feel in a rush even if I don’t have nothing to do. The most different thing between London and Tel Aviv is the transportation. Here in London most of the people don’t have a car and also the business man take the tube. In Tel Aviv there isn’t a tube so everyday people have a car.

I really like London, especially when the sun rises and then all the people going to the park and everything is more relaxing…” -Michael, Tel Aviv

“My first impression of London was that the people are friendly and they like to help. And there are so much nationalities- it’s great to meet them! The transport in London is similar than those in Berlin. That’s why it’s normal for me and I can use it easy.

Different to Germany is that the prices for food and drinks are expensive And another ting is the traffic- it’s crazy in London! That was a suprise for me. Being in London is a very good experience for me. I already learned a lot of vocabulary in my first week and I spoke so much English- more than I’ve spoken in the last few years! -Tina, Germany

“I think that London is very beautiful city and very big. I like the food, the transport, and the people. At first, I thought that the people are not polite, but now, after a month, I think that English people are very funny, polite and generous.

I like the food because you can find a lot of food from the world. My favourite food are the double cheeseburger and the typical FISH N’ CHIPS. I think that the transport is organised, I prefer the tube to the bus because is fast but the tube is more expensive, as all of London! This transport are very different to my city, becuase I live in Venice and don’t know the bus or the tube but only the boat.

My feelings now are very good, I love this city, each day I make a new experience and I take London into my heart.” -Andrea, Venice

“My first impression of London was that you can get almost every food you want, from almost every country, especially the Asian ones. The first thing that is different to my city is that London is much bigger. You’ve got a lot more opportunities for food, shopping and entertaining.

I think being in London is a very good experience because you can do a lot of things and try many new things. You just have to watch at your things, especially in the tube.” -Giulia, Italy

“When the plane was preparing to land at the Heathrow airport, the first impression I had about London, looking to the city through the window was,’Oh my God! Look at those buildings!’ It seems that architecture shaped in a time long ago; most of the buildings are classical and so beautiful! I think it’s a characteristic of Europe as a whole maybe.

Then when I took the transfer to go the student residence, I realised other surprising-but familiar- thing: there is heavy traffic here, just like in Sao Paulo, and I find it’s an inevitable symptom of big cities.” -Camila, Sao Paulo.

Firstly, Happy Birthday to our bright and beautiful teacher Margarita today!

And happy 5th Language in London anniversary to Ash and 1st anniversary to Angie Thanks for all your hard work and long may you continue loving Language in London!

“The second Monday of January is Coming of Age Day in Japan. This day is for people who turn 20 years old. Boys wear suit and girls wear “Furisode” which is Japanese traditional clothes. It’s kind of “Kimono”. “Furisode” has beautiful patterns. People who turn 20 years old to to the celebration. You can meet classmates of junior high and high school. At night you have reunion party. Then you can dress up. It’s exciting event in Japan!!”

Chika, 21, Japan