GAP YEAR IN ATHENS

Link: http://www.workaway.info/639218849353-en.html

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF IDEAS

In this post, I will talk about a thing that has bothered me since some time ago. About a year or so, I noticed that some of my posts have been copied. I am not talking about the idea or the theme of the posts, I mean that some of my writings have been copied by someone else literally; word by word.

At first, I didn’t focus on that too much. I didn’t give it importance, until one friend told me that I should tell my teacher or someone. I thought: “What a stupid thing to do, go and complain to the teacher. We look like children”. I don’t like to make people feel uncomfortable and telling them about it would be a bit awkward. This mind-thinking, however, changed recently, when I saw that nothing's gonna change if I don’t do anything. Then, I had a brilliant idea. I decided to make a “your-say” where I would talk about it and see if it would make any difference, and here I am.

On one hand, when it comes to the idea of working on a blog in English, it is quite hard. I think it is difficult to make yourself start to write the posts, mainly because of the limited time. On the other hand, it is a laborious task to think about the topic you could write about. In my case, every time I have any idea, I write it down. Then, when I think it’s time to start to write some posts, I really go for it. I must say that I end up enjoying it. I also like to make it perfect (even though it is impossible). I always think that considering that I will have to start someday to do the posts anyway, why doing it wrong? Let’s do it right and feel proud of it at the end. That’s the reason why it feels horrible when, after  putting so much effort into something, someone else takes it without even asking, without sacrifying their time. It is not about egoism, it’s about the work I put into it.

Finally, I would like to say that there is always a positive part in everything. In this case, I have to thank them. I get to write this post without even have to think about an idea or a topic.

I really hope this will never happen again.

EUROVISION 2017: PORTUGAL'S BALLAD WINS CONTEST

Salvador Sobral with his award.

This news was published on the 14^th of May by the BBC newspaper. This news talks about the Eurovision Song Contest hosted that same day in Kiev, Ukraine.

The news stats by announcing the winner, Salvador Sobral. It was the first time Portugal won this contest. It was Salvador Sobral who broke the bad streak of his country with his song Amar Pelos Dois in Portuguese. The love ballad was written by his sister, Luisa, who later joined him for a duet.

According to the news, Sobral was in a serious heart condition. That’s the reason why he missed the first week of rehearsals. The song won by 758 points.

On one hand, there has been other actuations which were the odds-on-favour. For example, Francesco Gabbani, representing Italy. On the other hand, there has been an incident in this event. During the actuation of Jamala – the winner of last year-, a man was flashing his bottom, wrapped in an Australian flag.

OPINION:
This year, the Eurovision Song Contest surprised me a lot. It has been the first time I liked some of the songs. My favourite one is Occidentali’s karma by Francesco Gabbani, who was representing Italy, even though I didn’t understand the meaning of the song. After making some research, the song was about how Westerns use Easters philosophies and culture but they will always be tourists or even immigrants.

I totally agree with the audience and the judges in awarding Salvador Sobral. His actuation was surprising for good despite it was also a little bit creepy his movements. It looks like there’s a full story about him behind, without considering his health condition which, by the way, it was so brave of him acting in that condition.  

BRITISH LAW STUDENT CAUGHT USING INVISIBLE INK TO CHEAT IN UNIVERSITY EXAM

This news was published on 5^th of May of 2017 by the Huffington post newspaper. The news talks about a British student who is studying Law in the University was caught cheating in an exam in an original way.

According to the news, the student was caught with 24 pages of notes written in invisible ink, hidden inside a book, which she was going to use for the test. It looks like she was inspired by James Bond when it comes to the gadget she was using during the exam.

However, the student was spotted cheating by her classmates. Her notes were immediately confiscated and she failed the subject as a punishment.

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator explained that this occurrence took place in 2016. They also revealed that in the past four years the number of cheating has increase a 42%.

When I read this news, I found it very funny. I was impressed by the technique the student used to cheat on the exam, but, unfortunately it did not work out well for her. It is quite sad that her classmates informed the teacher because it looks like she put so much effort to make 24 copies of her notes and to make work everything with the gadget. But, on the other hand, it’s unfair for the rest of the students who studied.

VOCABULARY:

Ink: tinta

Red-handed: con las manos en la masa.

Breach: infracción, violación

PARENTS' MOBILE USE HARMS FAMILY LIFE, SAY SECONDARY PUPILS

This news article was published on 23^rd of April by the bbc newspaper. It talks about the overuse of mobile phones and other devices by parents.

According to some studies made by the Digital Awareness UK and the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, secondary pupils reported that the use of mobile phones by their parents stopped their families enjoying each other’s company, leaving behind the fact that most of them use it in meal times.

Most of the children said that after asking their parents to put down their phones they didn’t took no notice, which that led them to feel ignored and upset.

However, children are also very addicted to different kind of devices, being online between three and five hours a day at weekends or even 15 hours a day. This causes tiredness and a lack of sleep but most of the parents aren’t aware of that.

When I read this news, I immediately thought of my parents. They often stay starring at their phones in meal times. They use their mobile phones even more than me. I don’t really like it. I really like when it’s meal time because it’s the time of the day where I sat with my family and when we talk a lot. With the homework and studies, I barely have time to even spend time with them. That’s why I really take advantage of that time.

I think that these devices will always be a discussion. On one hand, I think that it consumes you little by little, pulling apart the real life and people, but, on the other hand, I think that these technologies can be a beneficial use for everything.

VOCABULARY:

Lack of: falta de

Poll: votació, enquesta.

HAPPINESS

One of the most important topics about life is happiness. If you are unhappy, you are not really living your life. Happiness is just a state of mind, a good one, unique for each person. Sometimes it might look impossible to achieve it considering the bad things someone can go through, but, depending on the behaviour they have when they face those situations, happiness can be reached easily.

On one hand, the most important thing that makes me guarantee happiness is the circles. It’s primordial to surround myself with positive people: good friends and family. Only the real ones. That makes people feel loved and wanted.

On the other hand, I found it essential to tap into gratitude.  Sometimes the only thing we have to do to be happy is to stop for a moment and think of something or someone in our life that you are grateful for. Sometimes we only focus on bad things and with only changing that focus, we can end the pain easily. Be thankful always for what you have and appreciate the smaller things in life which we usually take for granted.

There can be a different cause of unhappiness. Some might be unknown and some we might have conscience of. Stress, the feeling of being useless, alone, lost and little in this big world, can be the reason of the sadness.

However, people can be unhappy not because of their life but because of the others and the world in general. I think this happens because we think just way too much. All the unfair things and situations in the world makes us feel sad. But it’s important to remember that being happy doesn’t mean being careless. It has nothing to do with the idea of “happy idiot”, the belief that anyone who is too happy must be not intelligent enough to see potential problems.

I think that the best think to do when you feel sad is to disconnect from everything. Going somewhere you like by yourself can help you to reduce stress, anxiety and sadness, without bringing any devices obviously. Even so, sometimes we can find the solution with social media. It is kind of stupid but, the idea of watching your favourite youtubers can help you to take off of your life, specially the funny ones considering that humour is a good ingredient to be happy.

In the following video, Will Darbyshire explains what exactly means having a happy place.

ISLAMOPHOBIA

Recently, the word Islam has been everywhere. If you turned on the TV, the media would be probably name it. If you checked the social medias you would see how many hashtags were dedicated to Islam. The mainly thing in common about it is that the word Islam is always related with something bad. It is quite funny because the word Islam and what goes behind it is the opposite to bad. This wrong comparison happens when people don’t bother themselves to do some research.

Since I was younger, I thought: “After all the mistakes the humankind has made throughout history, when it becomes to the discrimination of people and hate, they didn’t change anything about their mindset”. But as soon as I got older, I got to know that it’s all about the interests of people. It interests a lot the existence of hate.

A few days ago, I found a video where the 2016 finalists from the National Poetry Slam where performing such a good poem. The poem was about islamophobia. They talked very well about this issue, giving convincing arguments during the whole video.

I think that we don’t usually give importance to islamophobics because we rather focus on racism on black people, South Americans or Asians. Muslims have been forgotten about what they go through for something which is not even they fault. Hating Muslims for the actions of some is like hating Germans for what some of them did during the Nazi period to Jewish people, for example.

Here's the video which in 3 minuts leave things understood:

In the following video, we can see how Adam Saleh, a well-known New Yorker youtuber, was kicked out from the airplane from Delta Airlines because some passengers felt uncomfortable when they were talking in Arab, their native tongue. I have to say that it was the most ridiculous thing on behalf the passengers’ behaviour, waving their hands in the back, so disgusting.

In my opinion, I think that the worst thing is when low key racist people act against racism. I really hate when people complain racist people, saying that it so bad or unhuman, when in real life they are the ones. A clearly example could be seen during the election of the USA president. I had been hearing on repeat how Trump was so racist by people who actually are or act like it.

REVIEW: "GAP YEAR"

Last Wednesday we watch the first episode of the series Gap Year in class. This is an English TV series which its premier was on February of this year. It is characterised by being a comedy and dramatic series.

In the first episode, Dylan and Sean travel to China. Sean thought the travel was about escaping life back in the UK, with a purpose to live adventures However, as soon as they arrived, Dylan revealed that he booked the whole thing just to get back with his ex-girlfriend, Lauren. After, the two friends met a in a public toilet a group of American people who are also traveling: Ashley, Greg and May. Unluckily, Dylan left his money in there which, after, Greg found. Later on, the two groups met again. Dylan got back his money and then, they went to a festival next to the Great Wall of China. There, on one hand, Sean got into a fight, accidentally. He run out of the scene which is why he got lost. On the other hand, Dylan met Lauren. That meeting didn’t end well considering that Dylan was worried about Sean. Finally, the episode ends by Sean getting in a car, thinking that the driver might take him to the festival. Unfortunately, the driver was friend of the person Sean fight with before. He got kidnapped by them considering that he could get out of the car.

As I said before, this TV series is about Gap years. The episode starts with a good talk between the two friends, Dylan and Sean, with a woman about what they had in mind to do in China. She immediately denied those things. The two friends might have had elevated expectations about the trip and the woman knew that. Everyone thinks that traveling is fun, but in real life, it all depends on where you are going to. It is not the same going to China than to Thailand.

Another thing that I found it relevant is the tiny details in some of the characters’ behaviour. The first one was Sean’s impression about a natural park in China. Dylan kept saying how traditional and important it was but once they were there, it looked insignificant. Also, when May wanted to see the sunset from the Great Wall, they looked at it as if it was something they had to do because everyone does it.

Finally, when Dylan took a photo from the two strangers who were camping in the Great Wall, the couple pose like if it was the best time of their life, but, however, it wasn’t like that.

In my opinion, this TV series shows how Gap year works and tries to break the cliché in one way. The series represent how Gap years are not about having always a good time and living life freely because it’s very important to be responsible.

This episode was very funny, mainly because of Sean. I quite liked it but I don’t see myself watching the rest of it. I don’t really like the topic.

THE BEST EUROPEAN CITIES TO TRAVEL TO

In this post, I will talk about some of the cities which I would like to visit. There are European cities which are highly recommended to travel to and others which are not that famous.

Starting with the bests ones for me, Dubrovnik and Prague are the current cities I want to go to.

Dubrovnik, just like Split, Pula or Poreč, is one of the most symbolic town of Croatia. Dubrovnik is characterized for being and old town with a determinate aesthetic, when it becomes to the buildings. Apart from that, the most beautiful thing about the city are the views to the Adriatic Sea. I got to know this town because of Game of Thrones. It looks like King’s Landing is Dubrovnik in real life.

On the other hand, Prague, unlike Dubrovnik, is in Czech Republic and it hasn’t got a coast, but, even though, the city is full of rivers. It is considered a city with a bohemian heart, considering its architecture. I think the best time of the year to visit it is in Spring because of the vegetation. It must be such a good feeling waking through the city with a green landscape.

Moving to the northern cities, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Edinburgh are the most interesting for me. These cities are quite different to what I am used to.

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark. The city keeps various lakes and rivers, where you can take a ride with a boat while visiting the city. There are a lot of palaces, cathedrals, parks and squares to visit. Copenhagen is well-known for being one of the most expensive city. This says a lot about the standard of living.

Edinburgh is a unique capital in Western Europe. There, you can find a medieval Old Town, which is the most iconic place of the city. I could like to go there in Winter because the city looks cosier.

Finally, Oport is one of the cities which I like most of Portugal. The reason why I really like the city is because of the colorful neighborhoods and its views. I would love to go there to get off everything, because it looks like really relaxing.

Dubrovnik, Prague, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Oport, respectively.