English language challenges (12)

I liked to study English at university more than I liked it when I was in school. I found English in school really boring, because we always did the same things and talked about the same subjects. English in my school was really bad, the most of my classmates never learned to write a simple text; they just repeated and repeated everything as teachers taught us.

Blogging was really nice. It was also a challenge because sometimes I didn’t know how to write some ideas in English. But I think it’s not really necessary to have a class just to write the blogs, because we could perfectly write the entries at home so we can use our time better and save money in our student cards.

I think I need to improve my pronunciation and my security when I speak in English. To be honest, I don’t know how I’m going to solve this problem. Maybe I can practice more and focus on the pronunciation of the words I find difficult. Talking is probably the best solution.  

I usually use a lot the language outside English class. I read in English and I try to do it without dictionaries or translators, but there are always a few words that I don’t understand. Sometimes I even use urban dictionary because I don’t get some expressions. I also watch films in English and sometimes I can’t find them with subtitles, so I have to watch them and try to understand as much as I can. I listen to a lot of music in English and I hate when I don’t understand what I’m listening to, so I use English when I’m listening to music as well.

2013 good and bad points (11)

2013 was fast, really fast. I still can’t understand how fast this year is going away. In a few weeks it’ll be over and we’ll be welcoming a new year. A lot of good things have happened this year. I got to meet some wonderful and lovely people and I’m so happy because I met them. I started to live by my own and it was a good (and bad) thing, because I realized I can do stuff alone, live and earn money far from my mom.

I had a lot of bad moments too, situations that did not go so well. I don’t like the place where I’m living (happily I’m leaving soon) and being in Santiago, studying and working was so tiring. I guess I’m not used to live like this. I also had a lot of personal troubles, but I’m not going to talk about that here.

I think my biggest 2013 achievement is surviving until now. Really, the only thing I wanted to do was leaving this city and coming back to home with my friends, family and cats. I’m so tired of Santiago and the career. But I’m finishing I don’t have any troubles with the subjects, so that’s good. 

I haven’t traveled yet! And that’s terrible because I won’t travel this year. I was really excited about going to the south by backpacking, but I don’t have any money and I still have to pay December’s rent. But maybe I’ll travel somewhere in February because if I find a job in Curicó (where I can live for free), I’ll have all that money to spend it on traveling and doing anything I want to do.

I need to highlight this: I went to Blur’s concert. That was honestly the biggest and most magical thing I saw this year. It was on November 7^th and I’ll never forget that day. I got to meet come members of the band the day before and my favorite person alive said hi to me. It was perfect.

2013, what a great/terrible/fast year.

Christimas! (10)

Ok, I know it’s too late to talk about Christmas but I’ve seen things on stores and I’m getting a bit excited about it. It’s weird but one of my favorite things on the entire world is wrapping gifts. I love to buy cute papers to make cute gifts, the Christmas tree looks so cute then.

I usually buy really but really really cheap things but make they awesome by making them look cute. I like them to look perfect! I love the way everybody knows which gifts are from me by just seeing the envelopes.

I started thiking of what I’m going to do this Christmas. I thinking about the colors and the textures, and I don’t have to many ideas. Maybe it’s because I’ve already done all my good ideas, but I’ll think in something cool.

I just want this term to end so I can start doing my envelopes and buying gifts! I’ve seen a lot of awesome and cheap things in Santiago, this city is the paradise of cute things. I’m thinking about buying in the cute corean libraries in Patronato or good books in San Diego. I’m definitely going to Meiggs too, my little brother likes toys. My dad is hard, I don’t know where I can buy something he likes, maybe I’ll go to that Feria Mix’s outlet in San Pablo.

The only thing I don’t like about Christmas is that I end up so poor.

I hate working! (9)

I have to admit it: I hate working!
Oh well, maybe I’d like working if my work was better, but I hate my current work. It’s terrible. I wish the goverment gave better mantention scholarships to people who don’t live in the city they go to university and whose parents don’t have enough money to pay everything. In that case, I wouldn’t have to work and I could have more time and be more relaxed. Or maybe if my university realised that even when I have goverment’s scholarships I need the internal scholarship anyway. I mean, who can rent a room with $15.500?
I’m supossed to study in Santiago, but I end up working until 3 am to have somewhere to sleep forsome hours. Ugh, I hate work and people that don’t leave tips or leave miserable tips. I usually just can buy breaksfast with that money. And I also hate my boss, he haven’t payed me yet. He requires me to be punctual at work but he’s not punctual with payment. Not fair.
It makes me so angry the fact that in this city everything is so expensive. In my town there are cute houses with two rooms for less than $50.000! And with a garden and two floors! I’d live like a queen in Molina with the money I have to spend here to pay my little room, buy food and recharge my student card. It’s definitely not fair.

How green are you? (8)

There are many places where people can learn about enviroment, the problem is they don't use those places. People can learn on magazines, internet, books, television, schools and more.
I used to recycle when I was living in my family's home in Curicó, but I find it really hard to do it in Santiago. I think it's because I'm so busy with university and work that I don't think about it, but I'll try to start doing it again.
I use my legs all the time! I don't have a car, and neither a bike, so I always walk everywhere.
I have never joined any eco-friendly organisation, I think because I haven't meet any that makes me trust in them.
But I have done a lot of things for our planet. I have planted trees and helped cleaning the streets. Also, I'm a vegetarian and I think that's one of the greatest things you can do for enviroment. That's what I've done to reduce my carbon footprint.
I think what is missing is mostly education. People need to know what they are doing, what they are not doing and what they can do for Earth. People need to eat less meat and buy less things.

Traveling (7)

If there's something I love is the world. Unfortunately, I haven't have the opportunity to travel the world yet, but I'm sure I'll make it someday. I feel it, hopefully soon.

I've never gone to other countries. I don't even know Chile too much. I've been to La Serena and all those gorgeus valleys in the north, also to Puerto Varas, Osorno, Valdivia and the magical south. But there's a lot of corners of Chile I want to get to know.

I hope I can travel to Perú next year, and wander through the south by backpacking. My dream destinations are the north of Europa and Bali in Indonesia. And I want to travel through South America also, learning more about my own culture.

I'd just love to travel. By earth, air or water, I don't care. I've never been on a plane, so that would be exciting. I've traveled by boats but just very small distances.

I always think that if I travel I can't bring too many things with my -and I love bringing a lot of things with me! I think that if I had just a backpack I'd bring clothes (obviously), food and water, my cameras, some warm blankets, a book and money to buy cute things. And a dictionary if I don't know the language! 

Summary from The Guardian (6)

News is bad for you – and giving up reading it will make you happier

Written by Rolf Dobelli for The Guardian, on April 2013.

According to an article of The Guardian, reading news is bad for health, it leads to fear and it's bad to creativity and deep thinking. Reading news is too easy to digest and don't allow us to think; news can be toxic.
News misleads us by focusing on irrelevant things, unlikely books and long articles from magazines that allow us to think and are more complex. Most information that news give to us are irrelevant; they usually don't make us take better decisions or change some points in our life or mind, they're just irrelevant. They have no explanatory power, they just let us know the surface of a deep world that hides behind the lines.
News is toxic to our body, because they trigger the limbic system, by making our body feel on a constant state of chronic stress that is really bad for human health. They increase cognitive errors and inhibit thinking. They work like drugs, because we want to know more and more information from something, and they make us waste time in irrelevant things. News makes us passive and kills creativity.
We need another kind of journalism, like investigative journalism that allows us to think and undercover corruption and relevant aspects to our society.
The author of the article says that he has been four years without reading news. It’s been hard but now he can feel the effects of it: less anxiety, deeper thinking.