Something Special

Hi FAU Bloggers,

Today I've like you to write about a "special" thing you own. It could be something you were given or something you found or bought. In my case, the thing I'm going to write about is a stone one of my sisters gave me about 40 years ago. It's a piece of stone called Tiger Stone and it's rumoured to have physical, emotional and spiritual benefits. My sister gave it to me in 1983 when I moved to London to try my hand at being a musician. Tiger Stone is meant to enhance your will power, increase your confidence, and to protect against negative energy. I don't know how long I carried it around for but it's been with for 6 years in London, 4 or 5 years in Spain 4 years at Uni and a bunch of years in Chile. I like this stone for a number of reasons. The stone is polished, so it's smooth and cool to the touch, and I guess it's this that causes a calming effect. It has really interesting markings due to the grain of the stone. I like that it's small which makes it easy to carry around in your pocket. It has no monetary value (that I'm aware of :) so losing it isn't a worry either. Actually, I only came across the stone again a couple of weeks ago. My wife and I were doing some spring cleaning and I came across it in a box of trinkets. It was nice to find it as it brought back some happy memories. I also like the fact that this is, in many ways, a mundane object. Somehow, I feel the real value lies in the act of giving not in the object itself. The object elates to me as a person by someone I love and because it was given to me at a happy moment in my life when I was setting off to explore the world. 

I have lots of other "things" I love, such as my guitar or my computer, but I see these as expensive tools rather than something I class as special in a sentimental manner, or in a way that is more connected with emotions and feelings than a "regular possession."

Write about something special you own.

Say;

What the thing is,

When you got it,

How you got it,

What it looks like (or what characteristics it has),

Why you like it,

How it relates to you as a person.

Try to write at least 250 words. Mention anything else you thing is important or interesting. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

2 Photos of moments in life

 Hi FAU Bloggers.

Today I'd like to talk about 2 photos. I guess the world was very different when I was younger. Not many people I knew had a camera. Photos were for special occasions. We'd have a school photo or photos when cousins came to stay or if we went on holiday. When I was a child, photographs were taken on reels of film that needed to be developed. It was usually a couple of weeks before you could see the photo, look after the event had happened. Nowadays, everything is instant:)

This photo must be from the 1960's. I guess I must be about 7 or 8 years old but I can't be 100% sure. It's taken outside the house I grew up in from the age of 6 years old in Abbot's Nook, Chester. If I remember rightly, we were just playing in the street outside my house. My eldest sister, Terri, is in the background on the right hand side. I'm not sure who the other person is. Possibly a cousin. I think my eyes look like "anime eyes", sort of dark and upside down half-moon shape:) I remember the jumper I was wearing it was very warm (pure wool). The collar is quite retro.You don't see jumpers with that kind of collar very often these days. 

This next photo is about 12 years later in 1980. It was taken in a photo booth in Leeds where I'd gone to a music festival called Futurama. I went with one of my school friends. It was a really good 2-day festival of punk, post-punk and new wave. I doubt you would know any of the bands but Siouxsie and the Banshees, Echo & the Bunnymen, Soft Cell and The Psychedelic Furs were maybe the most well known. My hair was red (I think the hair colour was called "Fire") and my outfit consisted of jeans, T-shirt, Leather Jacket and diamanté earrings:) I remember meeting a famous Radio DJ at the train Station. 

I think the thing the photos have in common is that they were both happy times in my life.

Write about 2 photos of different moments in your life.

Write about each photo. Say:

How old you were,

Where you were,

What you were doing,

Who was with you.

Mention anything else you remember that is interesting or important.

Try to write at least 200 words.

Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

An Ideal Job (plus a song)

 Today I´ve asked you to write about an ideal job on paper. Once you´ve finished that task, please answer the following mini-post:

Write about a song you are listening to at the moment.

Say:

Who it´s by,

What genre it is,

When you heard it for the first time,

Why you like it,

Mention anything else you think is important or interesting. Try to write at least 100 words.

Leave a comment on your teacher´s blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

 The song I have been listening to recently is Little Foot Big Foot by Childish Gambino.

It´s a R n´B infused rap song with an amazing video. I guess I like the production of the song and the amazing choreography in the video. I first heard it about 2 months ago.

I like it because it´s a catchy tune with a fun video (a special kind of humour). I think there is a definite message behind all the Childish Gambino videos that try to show modern reality and how it can impact poor, especially black, people in America.

I like most of the Childish Gambino tracks I´ve heard and I hope to see him on tour next year. 

Actually, I´m watching the series Ätlanta¨ that stars Childish Gambino (actor Donald Glover). It´s really enjoyable watching but it shows a tough side of life.

Your Semester So Far

This has been a busy semester for me so far. I usually teach 3 English courses and an a cross-curricular elective on Manga & Anime which I participate in with FAU Academic Diego Vallejos However, this semester, I started teaching a pilot of a new CFG FAU called English for Work Purposes. Also, for the last 12-months I've been the coordinator of Home Working (teletrabajo) in FAU. 

The English for Work Purposes course has been very time consuming because I'm creating all the materials from scratch and trying to teach career-related content to students from the 4 careers in FAU. I enjoy doing this sort of thing but I think I'm going to get a teaching assistant or do some co-teaching next semester. The teletrabajo work was very busy in August and September but it's been a little quieter since fiestas patrias. 

On a personal note, life in general has also been busy. It was my wife's birthday in September and her sister visited (she's from Santiago but she lives in London), and we went to the beach for a few days (I wrote about it in my fiesta's patrias post). Apart from that, we have also got together with friends and socialised a fair bit. For example, last Saturday, we went to visit an ex secretary from FAU, and on Sunday we caught up with some friends for lunch at my favourite Indian restaurant.

Although I've been busy, I still found some time to practice my hobbies, I dedicated some time to music making and released a new single (Electrified) last Saturday:) 

I also did some reading and manage to finish the Neal Stephenson novel Anathem - which I really enjoyed. It's a science fiction novel about alien contact with earth 2,000 years in the future. It's not short, almost a 1,000 pages long but it's a satisfying read.

Write about your semester so far.

Mention:

Your favourite classes. Explain why.

Classes that you aren't enjoying, Explain why.

How you manage your time.

Why you do in your free time.

The highlight of the semester so far. Explain why.

Mention anything else you find interesting or important. Try to write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blogs and one the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Dramatic images show the first floods in the Sahara in half a century

 I read the article ¨Dramatic images show the first floods in the  Sahara in half a century: by Eromo Egbjule, published in today´s Guardian. The main topic is climate change or extreme weather conditions. The report talks about recent rainfall in the Sahara region and how it has filled reservoirs and created new bodies of water. Additionally, a lake that had been dry for 50 years started to fill up. The article describes the rainfall in different parts of Morocco and how 18 people have died has a result of this situation.

The key facts discuss the amount of rain in relation to previous years. The people quoted are Houssine Youabeb for Morocco´s meteorology agency, and  Secetary General of the World Metrorological Organization, Celeste Saulo. Images from NASA satelites are also used.

The only bias I noticed was the in headline which mentions weather conditions unseen for 50 years whilst the body of the text talks about 30 - 50 years.

This article caught my eye because climate change is a big issue now. However, global warning might not be the only cause of the change in weather as according to the article in the link below, the Earth's magmnetic field is overdue a flip ........

https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/earth-magnetic-field

Newspaper Review

Visit The Guardian newspaper (https://www.theguardian.com/uk)

Choose an article.

Fill in the worksheet your teacher provides.

Link the article you read in your post and upload a screenshot/mobile photo of the article.

Leave a comment on your teacher´s blog, and the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A School Teacher

 A school teacher I remember was Mrs Burrows, who was my first English teacher when I moved to school in England. I was born in Wales between Mold and Buckley, but I moved to Chester, in England, when I was 6 years old. 

I don't really remember any of my teachers in Wales but Mrs Burrows made a big impression. She was always jolly. She smiled a lot, and I remember her as a very gentle person. The main thing I remember from the English classes is the stories she used to tell us. Her and her husband had lived many years in China working as missionaries and she loved to tell us about her travels and experiences. 

I also remember we read short stories and poems in class and then worked to create our own stories and poems. It was a long time ago but I distinctly remember being very proud of a poem I wrote about a leaf. I can't remember how many years Mrs Burrows taught me but it can only have been 2 or 3. Unfortunately, her and her husband died in a car crash whilst on holiday in Italy. If my memory is correct, that happened in my final year at High School (but I'm not 100% sure). I think the last I saw Mrs Burrows was at the end of my penultimate year at Middle School.

I think the most important thing Mrs Burrows taught me was to use my imagination. I was inspired by her stories and I guess her encouragement to write poems was the start of me writing songs.

Here's a photo of my Middle School.

Write about a teacher from school that you remember.

Say:

Who they were.

What subject they taught,

What you remember about the teacher,

What you learnt from this teacher,

When you saw this teacher for the last time.

Mention anything else you think  is important or interesting. Try to write a least 200 words.

Leave a comment on your teacher´s blog, and the blogs of at least 3 classmates.