Thursday 31 May 2012

Down in Albion

You'll never find me in this picture
When I was 16 all I wanted in my whole life was to learn English, go to England and work there doing the dishes at some bar or restaurant. Seriously, with my best friend from school we used to daydream about this (well, I'm not sure she daydreamed about the 'washing the dishes' part, because she's never liked doing dishes in the first place, but she certainly dreamt about being there with me).

We were so silly, really, because we had this strange idea that life there would be different and funnier than life here (as if there were no Sundays in England or something) and that we would meet Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, and Thom Yorke so easily just because we were Chilean, hence, exotic (yeah, right) and we would have their thousand babies and all.

Well, our original plan didn't really include the washing the dishes bit as part of our goal, really. What we wanted to achieve once there was higher education and stuff. We wanted to study film making and become film directors and make movies and meet Ewan McGregor and have his babies also (OK. We didn't really want to have their babies, but we wouldn't have minded...) I know we were kind of desperate back then, but that's one of the things that can happen when you study at a girls school xD

For us, England was a dream. We were young and shallow (the latter I still am, though), we didn't care about imperialism and things like that, we thought our lives would change if we spoke English, we wanted to go to England and visit all those places we'd heard about...

I think we were quite silly, really, but one is allowed to be silly when she's in her teens, I think... so I don't feel embarrassed about it at all.

Now, what you have to do today is tell us what country you'd like to visit. In your post, include the following:

- Which country would you like to go to? Why?
- What do you know about it?
- What would you like to do there?
- Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain.

Remember to:
- Leave comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts
- Word Count: at least 160 words

Ask me if you have any queries!!

Thursday 17 May 2012

People Take Pictures of Each Other

I like this picture a lot. I think it really captures they myth that has been created around the person in it. 
That person is Ian Curtis, the singer of one of my favourite bands, Joy Division.
I don't know if you know who he is or if you have heard this band. They were an English band formed in 1976. They only released 2 records, the first one while Ian was still alive, the second one after he had already died. 
His life story is quite interesting. He got epilepsy and that is believed to be one of the reasons why he decided to commit suicide back in 1980 (since the medicine he had to take to keep his disease under control is supposed to have caused him depression) among other things, such as the fact he had a lover and no longer wanted to be with his wife, or something like that (the essence of those troubled times can be felt in one of their best songs: Love Will Tear Us Apart). 
When he died, the band continued to exist, but they changed their name to New Order, in case you know them. However, Joy Division's music is really different from New Order's. Joy Division are considered a Post-Punk band, while New Order played electronic, synthpop music.
Anyway, this photo was taken by Anton Corbijn, a Dutch photographer, music video and film director. He is famous for having worked with U2 and Depeche Mode, so maybe you have seen some of his work... or maybe you haven't xD
The story of the photo is simple, it was taken during one of Joy Division's rehearsals, when Ian was taking a break. That was back in the 70s.

Today, you'll have to choose one of your favourite photos and tell us about it.

In your post you can mention:

- Who took it
- What it shows
- When it was taken
- Why you like it
- Any other information you think is important.

Write a minimum of 150 words.
Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

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If you want to know more about Joy Division and Ian Curtis in particular, you can watch Control, a movie directed by the same Anton Corbijn about Ian's life with the band. This is the trailer:

Thursday 10 May 2012

London Calling


Hi all! Today we have a special task or what is known as a WEBQUEST!! Yay!!!

A Webquest is a quest you must do on the web, hence the name. The idea is that you look for information using Internet ;)

For the task you have to imagine we are very rich at Universidad de Chile and are going to give you and your classmates a great end of year study trip to London, all expenses paid!

If you are going to London you will have to do things there, right? Remember the University is paying for the imaginary trip, so we have to invest all of their (our ¬¬) money in great activities that involve knowing the place, not getting drunk or other silly things you young people do [I don't do those things because I'm not young anymore :P :'( ]

Below you'll find a list of things you want to do while you are there. Follow the links and fill in the table I sent to your e-mail. Then, e-mail the list back to me ;).

For each location say:
  1. What day you will visit.
  2. How much you will have to pay to get in.
  3. Which Tube station you will travel to (nearest to location), and the zone it is in.

What will you do on the other days? (2 full days / 4 half days / 1 full day 2 half days)
  1. Search the web for other things to do in London.
  2. What is the total cost?


Half Day Outings

London Eye
http://www.londoneye.com/

The British Museum
http://www.britishmuseum.org/

The Tower of London
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/ (including Crown Jewels)

Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum
http://www.madametussauds.com/london/

The Natural History Museum
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/

The Tate Modern Art Gallery
http://www.tate.org.uk/



Full day

Kew Gardens
http://www.kew.org/

Camden Market
http://www.camden-market.org/

Thursday 3 May 2012

Some Girls are Bigger than Others


For me, the best TV show of all time has to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This TV show tells the story of a girl who suddenly becomes the slayer, a girl in charge of protecting the world from all the demons and vampires on it.

Buffy’s story is very sad, as she had to struggle with a responsibility she never wanted in the first place, having to do things she doesn’t really want to do and being considered as a trouble maker even by her mother, who doesn’t know the truth about Buffy’s behaviour, that is, the huge responsibility she has on her shoulders.

However, that’s not all there is about Buffy! The plot thickens when she falls in love with a vampire, the only vampire who has a soul (hence, he doesn’t kill people). His name is Angel (or Angelus when he becomes an evil vampire). Angel is one of the oldest vampires in the world, who was known for being really evil until he made the mistake of killing a gipsy princess. When that happened, the gipsies put a spell on him giving him his soul back, which made him feel really bad for all the evil things he had done in his past. Because of this, Angel spends his never-ending life looking for the slayers and helping them fight the evil in the world. That’s how he meets Buffy, and eventually falls in love with her. Now this bit is really terrible, as they love each other but there’s nothing they can do about their love, first, because she’s supposed to kill him, secondly because he’ll never die and Buffy will, and third because even when they love each other they cannot ‘consummate their love’ as that is the only thing that can take Angelus soul away, which would make him extremely evil again.


I really liked Buffy! Lots of things happened on this TV show, things that could make you think about life, what’s real, responsibilities, and other things. When I was in my teens, my sisters used to watch this TV show and I would laugh about them because I thought it was terrible, but when I started watching it that completely changed. I became addicted to it. For me, Buffy was a real inspiration, especially when I witnessed unfair things happening around me. For example, one day these people were making fun of a Japanese boy on the bus and I defended him feeling all Buffy. Another day this guy started telling me really gross sexual things on the street and I kicked his ass and hit him real hard feeling all Buffy. Buffy rocks! She was a girl and she fought against evil monsters, she killed vampires, demons and trolls. I really wanted to be like her (even if instead of trolls I had to fight horny men on the street, or racist people on the bus). Buffy is the best and I cried my eyes out when she died (SPOILER). I didn’t even want to eat my hamburger that night and I never lose appetite (especially when there are hamburgers for supper). In the end I ate it anyway (but I didn’t enjoy it, OK? Because I was really sad).



Is there a TV Show you really like? I really hope there is one because today you have to write about it. In your entry, you could include the following things:



- What’s the TV show about

- Why you like it
- How it is different from other TV shows you’ve watched
- How it made you feel
- What the characters were like
- Etc.
  • Write at least 140 words
  • Please, leave comments on 3 of your classmates' posts.
  • Include a photo/video/something visual on your entry.