The University of Ruhuna is situated in a beautiful campus within an idyllic setting. It is surrounded by palm trees and is set back behind an enormous lake. We approached our first day with some uncertainty after our unexpected and overwhelming welcome that we received the previous morning from the Palana West community.

We met the Vice Chancellor in a grand conference room. He is an extremely warm and energetic man and made us all immediately feel welcome and at our ease. He started with some general information about the University, it was constructed in 1978 and has about 7000 students and he seemed extremely ambitious to promote Ruhuna on a national and international platform. We introduced ourselves and explained our role within the group, he seemed so delighted that we were visiting and he was very keen on us integrating into daily student life here. He planned for us to have Sinhala lessons and to have Sri Lankan dancing and painting lessons. We will also play sport within the University and we will put on a cultural show in our last week. At the end of our meeting he warmly shook our hands before giving us each an enormous hug, which was unexpected but characteristic of his friendly and happy personality.

Mrs Jaggerty from the International Office gave us a tour of the University Library, a light and cool room spread over three open-plan levels. It is here that we will have access to the internet and perhaps some dissertation research if any of the group is feeling studious in their spare time. We spent the rest of our day at the ELTU (English Language Teaching Unit) where we will be based during our stay. Dr Fonseca the head of the department explained what he expected of us. We will be working on developing an English curriculum within his department with focus being especially in improving listening and speaking skills. We will also be working within the Careers and Management Department providing advice on CVs, interview techniques through meeting with students in twice weekly Open Forums. The free slots in our timetable will be sent to other Departments where we will provide whatever help is necessary.

We left the University our heads bursting with all the new information but we were all very satisfied with our future tasks. We will really be able to improve the English Facilities at the University and establish long-term links between Durham and Ruhuna.