ELC Newsletter



ELC Newsletter
Halloween Special

Volume 5.6 October 2001

Ghoulish greetings to you this October! You’ll find this month’s issue of the English Language Centre’s Newsletter chock full of interesting facts and language about Halloween. There may even be a joke or two. So don’t be frightened, read on.

Time for a Joke
How does a witch tell time?
She looks at her witch watch.


MAKE YOUR OWN MOON CAKES!

Step 1 Syrup for Moon Cakes
Put 1200g sugar, 1 litre water, 1 lime (cut into 4 pieces, squeeze in the juice and put in the skin as well), 3 tbsp. maltose into a pot and bring to a boil till sugar has dissolved. Lower heat and continue to simmer till thick and syrupy. Switch off the fire and add the maltose. Stir well to dissolve. Leave to cool and keep for use as syrup for the dough (skin).

Moon Cake Pastry
Ingredients: 400g golden syrup, 1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda, 1 1/2 tbsp. lye water (kan sui), 100ml peanut oil, 550g flour. Pour golden syrup, bicarbonate of soda and oil into a mixing bowl. Add in lye water and mix with a wooden spoon. Fold in flour gradually and stir to form firm dough. Let dough rest for five hours.

CILL (GILLS)
Independent Language Learning with Guidance! Go for it! Learn English at your own pace with your own tutor. Visit CILL and learn more about The Guided Independent Language Learning Scheme. In this scheme students work in small groups with a tutor to improve their language communication skills. Come see us in L008, Core E.



ENGLISH CLUB NEWS

Big Mouth Corner & Pop Culture Night



After the Welcoming Party and Cultural Ambassador Programme, The English Club will present two more activities in October: The Pop Culture Night and a career talk.
A Pop Culture Night will be held on 16. 10. 2001 (Tuesday) from 6:30 to 8:30 at the DE podium. If you meet friends and chat about the hottest pop songs and pop movies in the world, don’t miss this opportunity.
A talk with invited businessmen and professionals about interview skills will be held in late October. If you want to know about the expectations of employers, this is a programme for you. Details will be announced later.
For more information about the above two activities, please visit our website at
http://welcome/toenglishclub or send us an e-mail to englishclub@polyu.edu.hk.



FEATURED STAFF

Seline lived in Australia for 15 years before returning to her native Hong Kong. While "down under," she earned a degree in psychology from the University of New South Wales and her TESOL certificate. She is currently working on her master's in applied linguistics.

Outside the classroom, Seline's passion is cooking. She specialises in Southeast Asian food and is the proud owner of more than 100 cookbooks. In Australia, she spent 3 months as an apprentice to a professional chef. Her dream is to someday study French cuisine in Paris.



Step 2 Making Moon Cakes
Lotus Paste Filling for moon cakes (Lin Yoong)
Ingredients: 500g lotus seeds (seong lin), 1 1/2 tbsp. lye water (kan sui), 340ml peanut oil, 450g sugar, 1 tbsp. maltose, 1 tbsp. kao fun (cooked glutinous rice flour) Add lye water into lotus seeds, mix well and leave aside for 20 minutes. Pour in boiling water and cover up for 20-30 minutes. Strain and wash the lotus seeds to remove the skin. Boil lotus seeds till soft. Put them in a blender with some water and blend into a thick paste.

Heat wok with a quarter portion of oil and a quarter portion of sugar. When sugar turns light brown, put in blended lotus paste and the Remaining sugar. Stir constantly until paste is smooth and thick in consistency. Add in the rest of the oil gradually. Keep stirring the paste until thick. Lastly, add maltose and stir well. Sieve in 1 tbsp. kao fun for a thicker and firmer consistency in the paste. Leave overnight before use. (Continued on page 4)



This semester, The PolyU International Film Society has already hosted two film and discussion nights featuring ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Suzhou River’. These events attracted more than 100 members of staff and students. Around 65 participants joined the two discussion sessions. The atmosphere was warm and lively with staff and students engaging in conversation about different aspects of the film. More than 60% of those participating were students actively expressing their point of view in English.

The PIFS has a line-up of five more film and discussion events. Highlights include a fun Gala on 29 October (Saturday Night Fever) with a live band performance in the Jockey Club Auditorium and Metropolis, a silent German film on 9 November. Do join these and become part of the PIFS’s multi-cultural community that meets every two weeks.

The PIFS Events Calendar

Thursday 11 October

Monday 29 October

Friday 9 November

Friday 16 November

Friday 7 December

Diva (French)

Saturday Night Fever

(Halloween GALA) *

Metropolis (German Silent)

High Noon (US)

Personna (Swedish)

Food Alert! PIFS serve warm food during the discussion session.

Venue: Chiang Chen Studio Theatre and the Theatre Lounge

*Halloween Gala will be held in the Jockey Club Auditorium

For free membership and tickets, visit our promotion counter in front of 7-Eleven three days before the event. Please visit our website at http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/filmsociety



THE GHOSTS AND THE MOON GODDESS
This October, we feature the history of Halloween and legends of Mid-Autumn Festival.


Halloween – How did it all begin?
Halloween, the Eve of all Saints, or the Eve of all Hallows, originally dates back to an ancient Celtic festival called Sambain which was the New Years Day of the Celts and was celebrated on 1 November. It was a harvest festival when the souls of those who had died in the previous year were admitted to the land of the dead. People used to leave offerings of food for the wandering dead spirits and charms and spells were thought to have more power on the eve of 1 November (31 October).

The pagan Lord of the Dead festival continues to be celebrated today and it has become synonymous with revelry and wearing weird and ghostly costumes and masks.

Jack O’ Lantern - Pumpkin

During Halloween, pumpkins carved into lanterns shimmer in the evening. Have you ever thought about the association of these lanterns with Halloween? Well, these lanterns represent the spirits of the deceased searching for the land of the dead. The story goes that an evildoer and drunkard named Jack refused to accompany the devil to hell and deceived him several times into letting him live a little longer. However, he died a year later due to his evil ways. Having been refused entry into heaven, he headed for hell. The devil immediately recognised him and did not let him enter hell either. Surprisingly, though, he threw Jack a piece of burning coal to find his way in darkness. Jack put the burning coal in a carved turnip and this became known as a Jack O’ Lantern. He is considered to still be searching the skies. The use of Jack O’Lanterns as festival lights for Halloween is a custom descended from the Irish who used to carve turnips for lanterns. The Irish immigrants in America could not find enough turnips and so substituted them with pumpkins
and this became an essential part of Halloween celebrations.



Phrasal Verbs for Fall

Fall on one's feet - To recover quickly from a difficult situation
Jane has a knack for turning bad things into good. She always seems to fall on her feet.


Fall through - When a project or plan fails
Her plans to spend the summer studying English in London fell through. Her parents insisted that she get a part-time job instead.


Fall flat on one's face - To fail at something in an embarrassing manner

John had been boasting about his musical talents for some time, but when we asked him to play piano for us he fell flat on his face.


Fall overboard - To fall off a boat

Lee is lucky that he is a good swimmer. Otherwise he might have drowned when he fell overboard.


Scary Adjectives

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Step 3 Making Moon Cakes
Divide your dough into even pieces of 40g each. Roll the dough into a ball and flatten out with your hand. Weigh the lotus seed paste. If you like the yolk of salted eggs, you can insert one in the centre. Place the filling in the middle of the flat dough and slowly wrap around it. Seal the edges and roll dough lightly between your palms until the filling is hidden. Dust mould lightly with flour. Press dough ball into the moon cake mould. Knock the mould against the table to dislodge the moon cake.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 10 minutes. Remove and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Brush on beaten egg glaze. Return to oven for another 10 minutes or till golden. (To make egg Glaze mix these ingredients together: 1 egg yolk, 1/2-tsp. water, and A pinch of salt)

Looking for back issues of the ELCNewsletter? You can read our past issues to learn idioms and phrasal verbs or to know more about past and upcoming events in ELC. http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/elsc/elsc_newsletter/Back_issues/back.htm