Last written assignment

This is to remind you that you need to send me the last written assignment - The Personal Statement, by email. You have until the 23Dec to do this. Also, if you have done the homework in the book but haven't let me see it you, you can email it to me by this date. I'll be getting in touch soon with your marks from the last speaking assignment.

Happy holidays!

my name is...

Hello everybody!

Here s Anca: Romanian, second year student, second year in Portugal and I badly miss my family... I enjoy playing tennis, I adore Marat Safin and I love samba and the Br. Portuguese...nice to meet you all! :)

The house of beauties

All I could see was darkness; a sinister atmosphere where all I could breathe was fear. I didn t remember how I got here, but I did recognize the place, and even the feelings it created insie of me. The only light that was guiding me was the moonlight, a beautiful and always a complete one, that reminded the terror books I used to read, where all crimes were commited at night. I tried to calm down, as my heart seemed to thro out of my chest; I laid down on the wet ground, facing up, looking at the moon, as searching for direction: these are the bizarre feelings we all had when we left the "Temple". Once a week, we were obliged to have a short, night walk through the forrest that surrounded the House, in order to oxygenate the brain, refresh the sight ad breathe pure air.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a creepy man s voice called my name and he took me by the hand: "It s time to go back now. Your walk has finished; say goodbye to the moon! Come!" I reacted naturally and, in spite of his weird appearance, he inspired confidence. We walked in silence; our footsteps and the breeze of the night were the only sounds around. By the time when we arrived home, he pushed me into a big room, which seemed more like big cage. The Temple s entry was made through a little garden, full of big red flowers that emanated a strong opium fragrance, which in a few seconds would leave ourspirit lazy, as though it were in a daze.

The Temple was inhabited mostly by women, the only man allowed being Owen, the guard that accompanied us outside. All of us weresupposed to be sold. Until the transaction was done, we had only to wait, to take care of our bodies and maintain a younger appearance. To find a buyer could take months and sometimes years; the deadline for a transaction to be made was up to five years. After this period of time, the women who continued unsold were burnt, as their feminity was considered lost. In fact, what was sold was the concept of beauty; each one of us had different features, because we came from all over the planet: from tall, blonde, blue-eyed Russians to body-curved ebony Africans and mysterious, submissive Asian women, we were all beauty icons for the rest of the world.

I knew this day would come and I felt happy for Anna, eventhough I was already missing her. Anna was one of my best friends. She was bought by Chanel and had to leave the Temple. This was our purpose, this was what we all were waiting for: for a famous, rich company to buy us. Anna had fulfilled her mission and I was sure she would be fine. As for me, I m still waiting...

Bang Yong Guk (방용국) _ I REMEMBER (WITH Yang Yo Sub OF BEAST) _ MV

Coming assignments

For those of you who weren't in class on Friday the timetable for assignments is as follows:

Friday 2nd Dec - discursive writing in class - everyone must be present
Wednesday 7th Dec - preparation for speaking assignment
9th and 14th - speaking assignment in class - everyone must be present
16th preparation for personal statement writing
Personal statement must be sent to me by 23/12 carolynleslie25@hotmail.com

Are children the new slaves?

Are children the new slaves?

According to the statistics given by International Labor Organization there are about 218 million children between the age of 5 and 17 working all over the world. This includes the use of children for military purpose and child prostitution
After the class where we discussed about sweatshops I remembered Martin Niemöller `s poem and I asked myself when did we stop caring for others (especially children)? If we stop caring for others why should others care for us?
And there are so many things we can do in order to help others. Don´t Know where to start? Then here it goes some ideas. Some are very easy. Just call a charity to volunteer, donate something you don’t use, buy food for a homeless person, stop to help, do a chore, lend your ear and voice . I am ashamed to admit that in the last couple of years I haven´t done enough to help others. But I decided that it has to stop because if I want to live in a fair world I have to do my part. I have a dream that one day things and money won`t be more important than people.

Poem
First they came for the communists ,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

CONEHEAD`S LAND
They were lost in space for 105 days. The food had almost gone. In the last 20 days they had been eating only one meal per day. Another day had passed. They were getting desperate when thunder was heard, and a ray of light lightened the spaceship. Next thing they knew they were in the greenest planet they had ever seen. For a moment they thought they were back home. But a climatic change in the last decade had made the Earth nothing more than a desert, where most of the food had to be grown in greenhouses. Looking around them, they saw strange creatures eating grass, others walking on a small river and what looked like cats jumping from cloud to cloud.
“John”, called Peter.” Where the hell are we? ”
John shook his head while looking mesmerized at an animal that seemed like a square and said, “I have no idea!”
Meanwhile, two dwarves with cone heads approached and before they were able to grab their guns they were once again teletransported. They were now surrounded by hundreds of dwarves and in front of the most beautiful woman they had ever seen.
“Greetings “she said. “ I’m Angel, the guardian of Conehead`s land. I want to know who you are and why you are travelling through space”
“My name is John and I’m the captain of the spaceship. We came from planet Earth and...”
She didn’t let him finish and with disdain she said “You’re humans! I have heard about you. You have almost destroyed yourselves. You have any respect for nature and now you’re suffering the consequences”
They were now ashamed because no one could deny the fact that mankind have been selfish for centuries. To everyone’s surprise Dan who was the shyest one of them all started talking “You’re right. It’s embarrassing to admit it and as a biologist it is even more that we didn’t care enough about the environment and other species.”
“Admitting it doesn’t change things “she said, “And you haven’t yet answered why you were so far from home”
“We were on mission to find a new planet where we could live“, said John.
“What! Isn’t it enough that you have destroyed yours? Now you want to destroy another one “her voice was becoming more enraged “You will never learn. You were just trying to solve the problem instead of trying to understand and fix it. That way you will never learn “
“What else can we do?” asked John “We have tried everything and not even the most brilliant minds of the world have found a solution.”
“We can help you “she pointed to the dwarves “But in exchange mankind will never again be allowed to rule the Earth. No human being will ever have the power to put himself above other beings. Think about it, because once you say yes there is no comeback”
They looked at each other and at the same time they all yelled “Yes”.