Blogging in FAU

Hi Blogsters!,

Today is our last blog post so I'd like to write out the blogging experience this semester. First off I really enjoyed reading (and occasionally) commenting on your blogs. I would have liked to comment more but finding time is not always easy. 

I think the post I enjoyed writing most was the one entitled "Something you feel passionate about". It reminded me of how much I love reading and all the great authors I've read, from childhood favourites like Enid Blyton or Arthur Ransome, to Kafka, Dostoevsky, Herbert & Kerouac in my teens and on to my current favourites of David Mitchell & Haruki Murakami.  It also made me see how obsessive I am about reading and reading different authors. If I like one novel, I then set out to read everything by that author.

Maybe my least favorite post was writing about "What you did last weekend". Don't get me wrong, I loved writing about my weekend activities but maybe a lot of you spent your free-time studying or build models so that might have been less interesting for all of you to write about. I think the most difficult post to write was the special meal as there are too many to choose from.

I honestly don't have a favorite blog. I enjoyed reading about all the things you've done or your opinions on different things and I loved reading all your comments. I guess the most interesting think for me as a teacher is seeing the progress you all make as that is very rewarding for me. At times I worry what you think about the blog as I know it can be difficult to motivate yourself to write about something if you don't find it beneficial or interesting. So, I truely hope you enjoyed the blog experience and found it a useful English learning tool.

I look forward to reading today's posts and I hope you enjoyed learning together this semester.

Write about your blog experience this semester.

Say:

Whether you enjoyed it of not,

Which post you enjoyed most and why,

Which post you enjoyed least and why,

Which post was most difficult to write and why,

Which of your classmate's blogs you enjoyed reading and why,

Try to write 300 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A City You Would Like To Visit

Hi Bloggers:)

Today I'd like to tell you about a city I'd like to visit. At the moment, I think the city I'd most like to visit is Berlin. I've been lucky enough to visit some amazing cities in my time but for some reason I never made it to Berlin. I visited Germany a couple of times when I was younger but went mainly in the south-west (the Black Forest area) and Munich, which is in the south-east.

I don't really know much about Berlin but I have heard people talk wonders about its architecture and how, nowadays, it is a very modern, vibrant place. I also know that it has a great underground music scene and that it's a very open-minded society, being home to Europe's biggest Gay & Lesbian street party. It's also a historical city and I imagine that it has a similar feel to other cities I've been to such as London, Paris or Milan.  I enjoy these cites for the way that they have incorporated new architecture in harmony with the old and I'm sure Berlin is that way too. Obviously, going to the site of the Berlin Wall would be a highlight of any Berlin trip. I guess it must be a city to see on foot and

one thing I'd love to do there would be a David Bowie Walking Tour. Bowie lived in the city for about 3 years and produced a trilogy of albums (Low, Heroes, Lodger) as well as producing, co-writing and playing on 2 Iggy Pop albums (The Idiot, Lust For Life). The tour lasts about 3-4 hours and I think it would serve a double function. Not only would I hear about Bowie and his time in the city, but also see a different side of the city that most tourists wouldn't necessarily see.  I think the places the tour visits must be quite mundane as Bowie led a very "ordinary" life when he lived there.

Obviously, I'd like to go there with my wife. I don't know any German except counting to 10 and ordering a coffee or a beer, but my wife speaks some so she would have to do all the talking:)

Write about a city you would like to visit.

Say:

Where it is,

What attracts you to the city,

What you would do there,

Who you would like to travel with.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Special Meal

Hi Blog Heads:

Today I'd like you to write about a special meal you remember. As I'm almost 100 years old, I've got lots of memorable meals to recall. A family food fight in Scotland, fish & chips on a bench by the sea in New Zealand with my wife and my brother surrounded by sea gulls, sitting on a mountain peak in the Pyrenees,  conveyer-belt sushi in Tokyo, or romantic meals with my wife. Anyway, I've decided to write about a childhood memory of going to an Indian restaurant in Chester on Christmas day when I was a child. All the family went, that's me my mum and dad and my 8 brothers and sisters. To tell the truth, I think Ged, my youngest brother hadn't been born so it would only have been 7 brothers (2) and sisters (5).

It's actually the first time I remember eating out with the whole family. I didn't know at the time, but I think my dad planed the meal so that my mum could enjoy Christmas day without having to spend the day in the kitchen cooking and washing dishes.

The restaurant was called the Bombay and it was about 3 blocks from our house. It's unusual for people to eat out on Christmas day, and more so when I was a child, The restaurant was virtually empty and the waiters made a big fuss of us. I think I'd only ever eaten take-away Indian food before and I'm sure my dad ordered something mild like chicken Korma (a mild coconut curry) for us all to share. I remember we had samosas (a type of Indian empanada) and poppadoms (a sort of crispy fried batter) as a starter. I'm pretty sure we had ice-cream for dessert. We took traditional Christmas crackers (a package shaped like a big, twisted, sweet wrapper that makes a loud bang when opened, and contains a little toy, a fortune message or joke and a paper crown) that you pull between 2 people until they burst open to reveal the contents and so the meal still had some traditional elements.

The main thing I remember about this occasion is that it was a really happy day.

Write about a special meal you remember.

Say:

Where and when it was,

What the meal was for,

Who you ate with,

What you ate,

Why you remember this meal.

                                         Internet picture of Christmas crackers

Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Friend

Good Morning Bloggers!

Today I'm going to talk about a friend. The person I'm going to tell you about is Martin. I first met him in 1978 when he auditioned as a drummer for the band I played in. I was 18 or 19 and he was 16. We got on well from the start. I like Martin because he has a good sense of humour and is generally a very easy going person. I guess the main things we did together apart from playing music was to go for a drink or watch movies together. We also went to a lot of concerts together like The Clash and David Bowie. We played in the same band for about 5 or 6 years then Martin went to study art in Hull, a city in the North of England, and I moved to London. We kept in touch and Martin used to come and stay with me whenever he was down south. When he finished university he moved to London and we lived in the same place for about 6 months. A few years later we lost touch. I was living in Spain and Martin moved to the USA. We had no contact for about 10 years but I finally managed to track Martin down on the internet. Nowadays Martin lives in New York working as an illustrator and doing restoration of old art works. A few years ago, I went to stay with Martin for a week. It was my first time in New York and it was great to have someone who lived there show me all the sights. We spent lots of time walking and talking and it was really nice to catch up after all this time.

Here's a photo of when we were younger:)
 Write about a good friend.
Say:
Who they are,
How long you've known them
Why you like them,
What things you do together.
Mention anything else you think is important.
Write at least 250 words.
Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Chilean Building or Landmark

Hi there FAU Bloggers:

Today I'd like you to write about a Chilean building or a landmark that you like. I've opted for a landmark I visited last year, "the Marble Caves" on General Carrera Lake near Coyhaique. I went with my wife and her mum to celebrate my wife's birthday. Up until that point, the furthest South I'd travelled was Chiloe and I was really eager to see what the landscape was like.
Well, it was amazing, the area surrounding Coyhaique is beautiful and, for my taste, the most beautiful place of all was the Marble Caves. It's a 4 or 5 hour drive from Coyhaique to General Carrera Lake. A lot of the route is unpaved and also winding and bumpy. The boat tour to the caves departs from Puerto Tranquillo - a tiny village that is basically 2 shops, a petrol station and 5 or 6 little businesses offering boat trips to the caves. We were lucky with the weather, it was mid-September and the sit was really sunny with very little wind. However, once we got out on the lake it became quite cold. It took about 20 minutes or so to reach the caves. They were only us and another couple on the boat so we had plenty of time to look around and take photos. I guess summer would be a better time to visit because the water-line is lower and you can go further into the caves with the boat as more caverns are exposed. However, I think the bad thing about going in the summer would be the amount of boats. We only saw one other while we were out on the lake but I'm sure there would be dozens during the high season. It's hard to describe how beautiful the caves are because it has to do with both the experience and the environment. It was amazingly peaceful and quiet, just the sound of the water lapping against the boat and the rocks. A wonderful memory of a beautiful landmark:)

Write about a Chilean building or landmark you like.
Say:
Where it is,
When you visited it,
Who you went with,
What you did there,
Why you like it.

Mention anything else you thing is interesting. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Free Post: Something you feel passionate about

Hi Blogheads,

Something I feel passionate about is reading. I don't know how I "got the reading bug" but I've loved reading since I was very young. I guess my earliest memories are of going to the local library at age 7. It was amazing that you could borrow 5 or 6 books at a time and keep then for 3 weeks or even renew them if you need more time. So, I became an avid reader from the age of 7 or 8 years old, maybe what some people would call a "bookworm". I remember going to bed and using a torch to read under the covers. Eventually, when my parents found out they used to confiscate my torch and I remember I secretly bought a second torch so, if they caught me I had a back up.

As a child my favourite authors were Enid Blyton and Arthur Ransome. Enid Blyton wrote over 250 books and I must have read most of them, many 4 or 5 times. Later, at school I joined the book club and we had to read at least 4 books a month. As a teenager I got into Science Fiction and read 100's of Sci-Fi novels. Usually, if I like an author I read all their works. At different times in my life this has included: Tolkien, Franz Kafka, Dostoiefski. Jack Kerouac, Michael Moorcock, Frank Herbert, Ray Bradbury, Tricia Sullivan, Elmore Leonard, Herman Hesse, George Orwell, Mervyn Peake, Frank Herbet, Robert Heinlein. Phillip K Dick and lots of others I can't really remember now. Currently, my favourite modern authors are Haruki Murakami, David Mitchell and Margret Atwood.

I often read books more than once. For example, this year I read 1984 by Orwell for the 5th or 6th time. At the moment I'm finishing (& really enjoying) All Tomorrow's Parties by cyberpunk author William Gibson. Now I have to decide what to read next. Any suggestions?

Write about something you feel passionate about. Write about 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog & on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Holiday

Hi Bloggers!

This week I'd like you to write about a great holiday you had. I'm going to tell you about a trip my wife and I made to Peru and Bolivia in 2001. We flew to Arica and stayed the night in a hostel. The next day we took a minibus to Tacna and a bus to Arequipa. We stayed in a cheap hostel in Arequipa but also spent one night in Colca Canyon (to see the baby Condors). On the trip to Colca we made friends with 2 Italian guys and 2 Israeli girls who we kept meeting throughout our trip. After about 4 days in Arequipa we took a flight to Cusco. We could have taken a 19-hour bus ride for about 2 dollars but we decided on the 30-minute, 50 dollar flight because it was rainy season and some of the roads were blocked. Also there had been rumours of bandits holding up the buses and robbing the tourists. Cusco was great. Obviously we went to Machu Picchu which was amazing. It was raining when we arrived but the sun came out late in the afternoon when all the one-day tourists had left. My wife and I had arranged to stay overnight in Aguas Calientes, the nearest village, and we walked up to Machu Picchu again the following day at 8 am to see the sunrise. We also climbed Huayna Picchu as well which has an amazing view and is a great place to take photos. In Aguas Calientes we met a group of Argentines in a bar and they told us about an amazing hotel in Coroico, Bolivia that involved travelling down the "Road of Death". So, off we went to Coroico via Puno (for 30 minutes), Copacobana for two nights, with trips on Lake Titicaca to La Isla del Sol and La Isla de la Luna included, and La Paz. Coroico was great.

The Road of Death was scary and the hotel was just as amazing as the Argentines had said it was.
Actually, the Road of Death was so scary I didn't want to leave Coroico! Eventually, I had to. Luckily we made it back to La Paz safe and sound. A couple of days we took a bus back to Chile via Lake Chungara. Great trip!

So, write about a great holiday you had.
Say:
Where you went,
Who you went with,
How long you stayed,
What you did,
Why you enjoyed it so much.
Mention anything else you thing is important.
Write at least 250 words. Write a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.