It’s Fiesta Time

Posted on by efsbnews

Patrycja Iwaniuk, The Netherlands

The Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara is a week of celebrating the traditions, history, heritage, and culture that has been in Santa Barbara for hundreds of years. Since the beginning of the week, the first preparations can be seen. Music can be heard on every corner of the street. The first Fiesta eggs can be bought and smashed to color the streets with colorful confetti and even the people dress up in beautiful and traditional costumes. They proudly walk through State Street giving it wonderful ambiance.

Also, here at the EF school and in the Santa Catalina residence the feeling of Fiesta is in the air. More and more decorations are being hung up in the school and even some teachers can be seen wearing some great colorful outfits. Wednesday was Tamale Day and some students had the opportunity to make some beautiful Fiesta eggs, which are by the way strictly forbidden to use in the residence. Luckily for us, there is enough space outside to break these eggs and throw some confetti on our friends. As Wednesday night was the grand opening at the Mission, Thursday morning the decorations were even greater. In the afternoon students were welcome to enjoy some chips with salsa and delicious churros. To add to that, in what way can you end the day better than having people break a piñata in the middle of the schoolyard?

The big days, however, were without hesitation Friday and Saturday. Before the big parade, everyone started to get out their chairs and blankets to save the best spot for the whole family. After a very long wait in the sun, the parade had begun. Dozens of beautiful horses gaited through State Street and the music played by the musicians completed the picture. It was really a new experience for me as a foreigner, since I have never seen or been to this kind of a parade. Over the past couple of days, I have really seen that the people of Santa Barbara cherish this week of joy and a lot of tourists who walk down the streets with the biggest smile when someone throws confetti to them. We can still savor the moment for a few weeks until the confetti disappears and then the first eggs can be eaten as a preparation for next year. As for me, this was my first time and hopefully not the last… VIVA LA FIESTA!

Paseo Nuevo

Posted on by efsbnews

by Romane Millet, Ines Lorand, Antoine Marotte and Bettina Clauss

  • Where is it ?

Paseo Nuevo is located in the downtown of Santa Barbara. The complete address is 651 Paseo Nuevo, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.

  • What is it ?

This establishment is a shopping with a lot of brands like Sephora, Victoria Secret, Aveda and 50 more shops. There are also restaurants like Marketplace Café, Eureka, Gourmet Burgers, …

  • Who are the visitors ?

Paseo Nuevo is a familial place where you can go as well with your friends than your family. We observed that the average age was young.

  • How is the architecture there ?

It’s a modern place with white walls and red roofs inspired by Spanish Colonial. We feel when we walked there that there is a relaxing ambiance. It’s very chill.

About me – Tim

Posted on by efsbnews

by Tim Schwehn from Germany

Hey! 🙂

My name is Tim and I am from Germany. I just arrived in Santa Barbara and I love the city by now. The beautiful streets and houses with the Spanish style look great. That’s one reason I chose this location for my EF study time.

What do I normally do in Germany?

I finished my exams in January and want to start my university studies in business education in October. So I have enough time to explore the world. For my study time I want to improve my English speaking and writing skills so I chose an English speaking country, but also one where the sun is shining quite often.

I like to do sports very much. I play soccer at a local German soccer club and go the gym at least two times a week. Playing sports is a very good balance for learning or working and you can turn your head off for a time.

soccer_1

Furthermore, I love music. On the one hand, I like to listen to different kinds of music as well as making music on my own. I can play the piano and the guitar and I really enjoy creating music with some friends of mine.

My favorite food is pizza, but I can’t wait to eat some good Mexican food or beef burgers in Santa Barbara. I already went to one Mexican restaurant and the food tasted great. Maybe you can give me some suggestions about where to go. I will try as much as I can.

burger

I will stay in Santa Barbara for at least two months. I think it will be a beautiful time that I will never forget. So if you have some questions, feel free to ask. J

Interview with Katharine Coenen from Germany

Posted on by efsbnews

By: Marina Santos, Brazil

 

kathi

 

How old are you?   A: 24 years old.
What’s yor favorite food? A: Pizza.
What do you like to do in your hometown?  A: Hangout with friends, ride bikes and go to the gym.
What’s your favorite place here in SB? A: Steans Wharf, a pier with many restaurants.

Why did you choose SB to study? A: Because I love small cities and California is a  good location and the weather is nice.

 

Trip

Posted on by efsbnews

Stian Glatthard | Switzerland | 3/22/2018

 

Santa Barbara, Young Students Night Lifestyle

Posted on by efsbnews

Gabriela Fernandez-Chile

 

Have you been to Santa Barbara, California? If you have been there, you will know a little bit about the parties there. I have been here for almost 3 months and I have been out with my friends a lot of weekends. There are parties for young students of the universities in Santa Barbara… but, Are the parties fun? In my opinion, they are. Can you find a party every weekend? Yes, you can. But the real question is, Are the parties of Santa Barbara safe?

Image result for parties isla vista night

Most of the parties are in Isla Vista, that is a few minutes from Santa Barbara and is the place where the UCSB campus is located. There are parties every weekend, but one of the things that caught my attention was how early the parties end. The parties are between 9:30 and 12pm. There are a lot of cops, going around the streets and my first question was ‘Why?’ The parties in my country are between 11 pm until 5 or 6 am, and I was wondering why it is so different here.

Related image

I asked and I found out that a few years ago, on May 23, 2014, in Isla Vista, a 22 year old killed six persons and injured fourteen others, before killing himself inside his car. I think that is one of the reasons that the parties end so early and that is full of cops. Also two weeks, ago a 24-year-old woman was taken to the hospital late Friday, after being stabbed in Isla Vista (she was a student of UCSB).

Image result for santa barbara shooting

I think that the most of the parties in Santa Barbara are really safe, because the police have taken precautions and security measures. If you are a young student that wants to have a fun night, IV is for you, but you always have to be careful and consider every risk all the time.

Image result for santa barbara shooting

 

 

 

 

All around the world

Posted on by efsbnews

Dana Lazzaro

Switzerland

Traveling is a way to see new places, learn new things and different cultures. It is a way to see different points of view and to grow up as a person. Every trip changes you a little bit, and when you come back home you’re a different person in some way.

 

Lately, I had the chance to go to lots of places with my family because they like traveling as much as I do. Last summer we went to Florida for two weeks and we traveled around Florida so that we could see all the different cities. We saw “small” cities, like Fort Myers and Daytona, and also big cities, like Orlando and Miami. I could see the differences between those cities, the small neighborhoods with a lot of lovely houses in Fort Myers and the big ones in Miami with a lot of mansions, the small and empty beaches and the crowded ones.

I liked everything about this trip. I had the chance to see a lot and to see how real life is in the USA. I live in Switzerland and I always watch American movies or tv series, and I’ve always dreamt about going there. So this trip was a kind of dream that became true.

This year I also went to London and Amsterdam for a few days.

I had the chance to see a lot of history and museums and they were really interesting but it was also interesting to see some characteristics of the countries.

For example, did you know that in Britain all the people always stay in line on the escalators on the right side? Because in this way the people that are in a hurry can go on the left side. I was really impressed about that! I’ve also been to Italy and to the seaside of Greece, but that was more of a relaxing holiday than a real trip.

I would really like to go far away, like in Asia or Africa to see some really different cultures.

Another way to see new places and new cultures are going abroad to learn a language.

You can learn a new language and you can actually live like a native of the place. You can change your lifestyle for a period and I think that this is really a great experience!

I study a lot of languages at school, and I like to travel in the summer and improve my additional languages. I’ve already been to Germany a couple of times to study German and I really liked that. So this summer I’m in Santa Barbara for a month to work on my English.

I think that this has been a really great experience, an experience that I will remember forever!

You live for a month away from your home and you are away from your everyday problems. You live a different life and you learn new things. When you come back home you will be an improved person, and maybe you will see things in a transformed way.

In conclusion, traveling is a way to change your personality and it is an experience that you won’t live again, and you will always have it in your heart, because it’s going to become a part of you. This experience is going to become something that you’ll never forget.

 

TO EAT HEALTHILY IN CALIFORNIA

Posted on by efsbnews

By Helene Messie, France

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « california flag »

A lot of people in the United States of America don’t eat healthily, there is a huge percent of obesity in this country. But one state is different from the others : California. A lot of Californian people want to have a perfect body and for that they eat healthy food. I have also to say that being healthy is not just to eat healthy and to do sport, no, it’s almost like a philosophy of life.

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « junk food »Résultats de recherche d'images pour « healthy food »

Wednesday, the 21 of February, I went to State Street and to the EF school to ask people four questions. I talked with three persons : Dan, an EF student; Jessica, a native English speaker and Carolina, a women I met on State Street.

The first question: What do you eat in the morning?

In the morning, Dan eats French toast with butter and drinks water. He is an athletic person. Jessica eat cereals and Carolina likes to eat bacon with eggs and pancakes with her coffee but not every day.

The second question : Do you think that you eat healthy food (that you eat healthily)?

Dan told me yes because for him it’s important. Jessica told me yes too and Carolina told me that she don’t really eat healthy. She doesn’t really give an importance to that.

The third question : Do you like to cook healthy recipes ?

Dan told me that he doesn’t really cook. Jessica said yes and Carolina said no because it doesn’t interest her.

Fourth question : If you had the choice between a soda and a fruit juice, what would you choose?

Dan and Jessica would choose the fruit juice and Carolina told me that for her, it depends of the time of the day.

• With this survey, I can say that Dan is an athletic teenager who isn’t really interested to have a healthy lifestyle but pays attention to what he eats. Jessica may be a healthy person who likes to cook healthy recipes and Carolina isn’t really interested to be a healthy person.

Let’s watch this short video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35qoEXCHIwM

This video shows us how to prepare healthy lunches really fast. Because sometimes, the reason why we don’t eat healthy food is that we miss time for the lunch. So now, no more excuses !

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « girl who eat healthy food »

Lunch in Santa Barbara

Posted on by efsbnews
By Cristhian Sanchez,EC

When you do not have enough time to eat, one solution is to buy lunch at a restaurant. The people repeatedly go to fast food and it is so bad for health and, if they do not play sports, they could become overweight and have serious problems.

 

PICS.PNG

This article tries to explain about the time spent at lunch, if people make lunches by themselves or if they prefer to buy it, and if they include rest time spent after the lunch.  These questions are related to health and being overweight.

Five people were asked about these topics, two Japanese students, a Peruvian student, a Spanish student and a retired Native American.

“How much time do you spend at lunch ” The results about the question number one are between 30/50 minutes. The students have less time to have lunch because the classes have a short intervals to rest and eat. The students prefer to buy their lunches and the half of them have a nap before dinner. The retired man has more time and he prefers to make meals by himself, and, of course, more time to rest after it.

It is necessary to improve eating habits, especially for students. There are some ways to adapt to the system. Having small healthy snacks and eating them in intervals of two or three hours may satisfy hunger and maintain good healthy.

LOGO

Dogs for People with Challenges

Posted on by efsbnews

By Luca Wislsperger, Germany

For many years people had to go through difficulties and had to struggle with doing certain tasks or activities by their own, but now they can have a support dog.

Emotional support dogs are dogs that provide comfort and support in forms of affection and companionship for an individual suffering from various mental and emotional conditions. An emotional support dog is not required to perform any specific tasks for a disability like service dogs are. They are meant only for emotional stability and unconditional love.

dog44

There are 2 different types of support dogs:

One kind is the emotional support dog which can assist with various kinds of mental and emotional conditions like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder/mood disorder, panic attacks, fear/phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts/tendencies.

The Therapy dog which provides affection and comforts to individuals in hospitals and nursing homes. It is also used, as you can guess, for therapies so the clients have certain lessons together with these dogs to cure different types of diseases.

The second one is the service dog that is helpful for people which are limited by their disabilities so they function as an assistant for performing a normal life.

dog11

Have you thought of making your dog a service, therapy or emotional dog?

Some people say that the dog is the humans’ best friend. Whether or not this is true, it is certainly a fact that dogs can provide a lot of help and companionship for those with disabilities. If you have been wondering how to make your dog a service dog, an emotional support dog, or a therapy dog, there a lot of companies like “USA Service Dogs” that help you to train your dog to these kind of assistant.

Here is a link to a website where you can train your own dog: https://zoomroom.me/portal/own-your-own-zoom-room/?utm_campaign=1045189562&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=247365016752&utm_term=%2Bown%20%2Bdog%20%2Btraining&adgroupid=58184426624

How much does a service dog cost?

The price range for a service dog can be anywhere from $3,000 to train it personally to as much as $35,000 if you use a popular and expensive organization.

dog33

It generally takes 1–2 years to train a service dog. The dog must be trained to mitigate your disability and must behave appropriately in public to avoid being removed. This means there are two main facets of service dog training: first of all public access behaviors and secondly disability-related work and tasks.

Rescue Dogs:

There is also another type of support dog. It is used for environmental catastrophes like the heavy mud slides in Montecito the previous month.

dog22

For this disaster the firefighters use highly trained search dogs, most of them were schooled by the “National Disaster Search Dog Foundation”, located in Santa Paula.

It’s a private non-profit organization where the dogs are trained for about 8-10 months. Afterwards they can tell you if a body is either still alive or dead. Furthermore, they can differ between a live body and fresh clothes. The dogs which are only trained to detect dead bodies are called “cadaver dogs” or “HR” which stands for human remains dogs.