My name is Irina and I play the role of the Accommodation Officer here at Langports on the Gold Coast. I look after the accommodation placements on the Gold Coast, group placements, student’s welfare while in the home stay, airport transfers, coordinating student house Australia and student residences bookings, acquiring new home stays and conducting home stay visits, liaising with over 100 different agents on a daily basis from various countries and that is just to name a few of my responsibilities. I love my job.
So I got asked to write a blog and here is the part, where I tell you all about myself and that I am Russian originally… born in Ukraine… lived in NZ for years .. have taken over the reins from another Accommodation Officer whose name was Irina as well and she was Russian also – coincidentally. Also how I traveled the world near and far; have seen and have been lucky to experience some of the most incredible things in the world like swimming with dolphins, skydiving, bungy jumping, helicoptering in Alaska and hanging out with the huskies, walking in Jesus’s steps in Israel, running from Komodo dragons in Komodo Island, rock sliding in Samoa, parasailing in Mexico, running from the typhoon in Tokyo Disneyland … and oh the list can go on. But wait… no .. I thought I would like to write about the most important to me here at Langports – and it is the people 🙂 For it is the people that make our experiences and our life worthwhile and memorable.
Gold Coast can be your paradise!
Gold Coast is a beautiful little resort city where you have the best of both worlds – the beautiful white sandy surfy beaches and the sunshine filled lifestyle that comes with it, on the other hand you have the beautiful hinterland and lots of places to hike and get lost in nature, so to speak. In additional if you are a city girl like me, Brisbane is just a stone throw away if you need that city fix which in official terms – 1hr by car. So back to the people. Gold Coast is known by the people who come to live here from other cities/countries as the “transit city” for some as a lot of people come here for a little while and then move on to other destinations. But if you are lucky enough to find your tribe then this place will be paradise 🙂
Finding your tribe is important to all of us.
Finding your tribe is important to all of us and the literal meaning of tribe from the dictionary is tribe trʌɪb/noun noun: tribe; plural noun: tribes 1. a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader. So it is my tribe here at Langports that I would like to briefly (haha) talk about. If any of you who attended our Christmas function are reading this (as if) I only scratched the surface in my Christmas speech. From the moment you walk in through the doors at our school you will feel welcome and right at home (even if you are miles and miles away as you are literally down under) 🙂 Excuse the pun.
Introducing my amazing tribe!!!
On your first day at Langports as you walk through the door you most likely to meet first our lovely receptionist Ana from Brazil or Bruna from Brazil who is our admin assistant. So we will start with these two lovelies first – two beautiful ladies from inside and out who will make you feel welcome every time you see them with their pearly whites and their Brazilian charm and who are there to help you at a moment’s notice. Do remember that a lot goes behind the scenes and besides being the face at reception they have lots of other duties so please be patient at busy times and don’t forget to smile or even give them a hug when you see them.
Next coming in from around the corner, or his office is our Principal – John Flinstone aka John Flinlayson (choose whichever name sounds better to you is what I say) – hailing all the way from Kiwiland (it was a long trip). He is our peace maker and school chief. He is the calm that makes the school run like well-oiled groovy machine – yes I just used the word groovy – haha.
Next smiling character and a character he is – it is no other than our activities officer – Shane or aka Mr. Taylor Swift (although you might not see him on a Monday as he might of had a Big weekend of activities). Some of you coming to Langports might have already heard or seen him around social media or from previous students. Now he is the man you want to make friends with! He has all the scoop and the great deals for all the great activities around PLUS you get to improve your English whilst hanging out doing cool stuff. Yes, I said cool stuff.
Next you will meet, who will be testing your English skills on your first day are our awesome Director of Studies – Hayden – Kia Ora bro (also a Kiwi) and our beautiful Assistant Director of Studies – Rachel – an Ozzie lass. You will love Hayden’s humour and down to earthiness – I just made up a word. Rachel is very fun and gives great hugs. But please remember she is not a morning person 🙂
Next person on this list and that recently came back from a well-deserved holiday is our beautiful enrolments officer all the way from Iran – Sara. You see, we are very international here at Langports Gold Coast. Sara is one of the most professional and the most efficient person I have ever met in my life. Also of the kindest. She will help you with any course changes, if you would like to take a holiday or any other questions regarding your enrolment with us. She is amazing in every way and we are very lucky to have her here at Langports. We appreciate every little thing she does with all the changes that might happen in the course of a person’s enrolment. She is totally enrolled in all of our hearts. Yes, I did – very cheesy. Hmmmm… wouldn’t mind some cheese. Whose idea was it to write the blog hungry at midnight?? Moving along Sara gets more lines here in my blog as she just came back today and we missed her dearly.
Of course then they are the teachers… They are here of course to make you reach your English goals. When I first started here at Langports there were lots of people to meet and lots of names to remember, like with any job so I gave teachers nicknames… I won’t say who is who but you will figure it out when you meet them – The Red One, The Long One, The Old One (hehe just don’t tell them), The Bearded One with a Skateboard, The Surfy One, The South African, The lovely Ester (I knew this beautiful lady as it turns out from before, so didn’t need to remember), The Curly One, The One with the Teas, The Lovely one with a Fringe, The Blonde One, The Smiley One, The Laughy Short One and the list goes on. So as you can see it is definitely a house full of characters. These teachers put their heart and soul into your classes.
Every institution gives credit to its people and I would like to give credit to the people of Langports Gold Coast. This is my campus – my life and I love it because of the people in it. I love people! Please remember to smile randomly, laugh uncontrollably, hug tightly and breathe deeply with happiness in your heart.
Here at Langports Gold Coast we are a tribe and we are a family and from your first day at school you will feel the energy of the tribe as it is amongst us – you will see us hugging, laughing and helping you and each other.
Here is to my tribe ! Love you xxx
Related topic:
Ana’s blog “My experience as a past student at Langports.” :https://www.langports.com/experience-past-student-langports/
Shane’s blog “My experience on The Chase, an Australian television quiz show” :https://www.langports.com/chase-experience-chase-australia/
Shane’s blog “An amazing journey across the world!” :https://www.langports.com/an-amazing-journey-across-the-world/