* Volunteer Day
* Countries

The FIT Weekly

U

Volunteer Day
Help others while helping yourself

This Saturday, January 30th, we are holding
our first Volunteer Day of the fall term.
This is your chance to help out the
community while practicing your English
in a real-life environment. Below is a
description of the volunteer activities going
on this weekend. We will meet at different
times. Students, language assistants,
teachers, and staff will meet and head to
the different sites. Please sign up on the
Activities Board for your choice of activity
by 4pm on Thursday, January 28th. There
is no cost to volunteer. Wear comfortable
clothes and sneakers. You should bring
waterto each volunteering activity

Project Downtown Gainesville- Want
to meet new American friends and UF
students? Help serve lunch to the
homeless with a UF student organization
called Project Downtown Gainesville from
12:40-2:30pm. Meet at Norman Garage.
Emeritus- Play games and talk with
elderly people of Gainesville from 1:45-
4pm. Meet at the Cabana Beach rental
office.
St. Francis House-Help with projects
inside and outside the homeless shelter
from 12:30-4pm. Meet at Norman
Garage. Wear work clothes!
Air Potato Roundup-Help destroy
invasive plants in Gainesville parks and
nature areas from 8:30-11am. Meet at

Norman Garage and wear clothes that can
get dirty.
If you have any questions about any of the
activities, see Nate in the CIP Office,
Room 318.

Have a great day, everyone!

r Immunizations-Don't forget; we
must have proof of your
immunizations for you to be allowed
to attend classes. The deadline this
semester is Wednesday, January 27th.
We often have quite a few students
who are very surprised to be pulled
out of classes at this particular time for
this particular reason. Don't be one!
r Smoking-Remember, folks, that
there is no smoking within 50 feet of
any building on campus. Here in
Norman Hall, this includes the
covered walkways around the library
and the courtyard with the big tree-
these are NO smoking areas.
r Personal Belongings-
Unfortunately, one of our students
found out the hard way last week that
it's never a good idea to leave your
personal belongings unattended, even
if it's just for a few minutes. If you
have to leave an area, such as an

empty classroom before class or your
table in the library, be sure and take
your stuff with you to ensure that you
still have it when you return!

Next weekend, we will be going to the
Hoggetowne Medieval Faire. Details
will be on the Activities Board and in next
week's Weekly.

The following are ELI birthdays from
January 29-February 4:

Students:
January 30: Ho-on Seo
February 4: Suhail Al Mazrouei

Staff:
None this week!

Happy Birthday to one and all!

There has been some confusion about
the use of UF recreational facilities. ELI
students are able to use the pools, Lake
Wauburg, Florida Gym, O'Connell

* Birthdays
* Manners

She Weekly Newsletter o
the English Language Institute
Volume 111, Issue 2
January 29, 2010

Highlights I

Center weight rooms, and other outdoor
fields and courts by showing their Gator
1 card.

On the other hand, ELI students do not
have access to the Student Recreation &
Fitness Center, Southwest Recreation
Center and the Broward Outdoor
Recreation Center without paying a
membership fee because these facilities
are funded by UF degree-seeking student
activity fees.

The following is a list of ELI Countries
represented by our students, listed by the
country or area you put down when you
signed in:

Benin
Brazil
Burkina Faso
China
Colombia
Cuba
Ecuador
Germany
Honduras
Iraq
Jordan
Korea
Kuwait
Mexico
Niger

Oman
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Saudi Arabia
Spain
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
Turkey
UAE
United States
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen

Q: I wonder about American tUp culture. Who
should I ti? How much? In my country, we
don't tip.

Interesting you should ask; usually, we
don't have any questions yet, and I run a

tip column instead of a manners column.
So, I'm going to give you my standard
answer!

Well, most often, you tip for services
received. The origin of the word "tip" is
something that is not 1(." ,, certain, but
the most common story is that it comes
from the acronym To Insure Prompt
Service. There are many situations where
tipping is expected, but there are some that
you might think require tipping that don't.
The following is a pretty good indicator--
though not a totally exhaustive list--of
when and where and how much you
should tip:

Hairdressers and Nail Sculptors: 15 to
2i .. of the total bill
Hotels: Bellhops, $1 per bag; $5 minimum
total; Concierge, $5 to $10 for special
services; Maids, for long stays, $1 per
person per night, at the end of stay; Room
Service, 15% of total-sometimes this
amount or even more is already added in
bill (check!)
Parking: Valet parking at a hotel or
restaurant, $2. Note that many people
now tip both dropping off and picking up.
Pizza Delivery: $1 per pizza
Restaurants: 15 to 2 I" .. of the total bill;
more if the service was particularly
memorable or if you have many special
requests which are promptly and cheerfully
honored. Tipping in restaurants is
particularly important here in the US;
servers in restaurants have a minimum
wage of only '2 1 3 an hour-less than
.41" .. of the national minimum wage.
Taxis: $1 minimum, 15% on fares over $8.
Drivers in large cities expect 2, ." ..

Additionally, in some places, there will be
people who help you outside with your
purchases (as in the grocery store). With a
particularly helpful person or a particularly

V 1J UNIVERSITY of
UF FLORIDA
English Language Institute
PO Box 117051
315 Norman Hall
Gainesville, FL 32611-7051, USA
Phone: (352) 392-2070
Fax: (352) 392-3744
Email: StudvEnglish@eli.ufl.edu
Webpage: www.eli.ufl.edu

large order, you may offer a tip of a dollar
or two--but if you see a sign inside the
store (once again, as in many grocery
stores), that employees are not allowed to
accept tips, don't offer. Another note to
remember about tipping is that when you
are part of a large party in a restaurant and
you are splitting the bill, make sure that
you calculate and include the tip in the
amount you contribute to the total amount
paid; this is a common error which often
shortchanges the service person. Some
restaurants nowadays automatically include
a 15% gratuity in the bill for large groups.

Q: Why do Americans ike beer so much?

A: It seems that way, doesn't it? You're in
a college town, and college students tend
to drink more beer than a lot of the
population at large. It's a fairly inexpensive
way to consume alcohol. The US, though,
isn't even in the top 10 when it comes to
per capital beer consumption-we rank
only 13th. The top 12, in order are: the
Czech Republic, Ireland, Germany,
Australia, Austria, the UK, Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovakia,
and Spain.

No grammar questions yet this week! Be
sure to send me some.

One has to get on with life and I haven't
done badly. People won't have time for
you if you are always angry or complaining.

Stephen Hawking