Why I'm Studying ............

Today I'd like you to write about why you decided to study the subject you chose to study. I studied modern languages at university. I didn't give in much thought actually. I studied as a mature student and I took the course because it was related to my área of work at the time - teaching English.
I had been living in Spain teaching English and I went back to Britain to do a TEFL qualification. Once I'd finished I started to notice that most good Jobs required a university degree. Anyway, a friend of mine taught on a modern languages course and he suggest that I apply.
I enjoyed studying. I made some good friends and one of the attractive things about the course was that I had to live in a foreign country for 12 months during my 3 year. This is how I first came to Chile. What I didn't like about the subject was that it was very business oriented. I chose courses related to literature and culture but I still had to do some courses on economics which I found very boring.
I think being a mature student made a big difference on how I approached studying. I didn't go out as much as my classmates and I spent more time in the library than the majority. Coming to Chile was obviously the best part of my student life. I spent a year as a Language Assistant in Universidad Metropolitain de Las Ciencias de La Educación (UMCE) and had a wonderful time. I think living abroad as part of my study programme was a great experience and a wonderful opportunity to learn. In my case, it was the beginning of a new period of my life that is still going on today.

Write about why you decided to study the subject you chose.
Say:
What factors influenced your decisión.
What you like about the subject
What you dislike about the subject,
What you intend to do once you graduate.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Something you are proud of

Hi Blogheads.

Today I’d like to talk about something I am proud of. I know pride is one of the seven deadly sins but it isn’t always bad. Bad pride is bragging about something or – to use a common English saying,  ‘blowing your own trumpet’.  In another context, the feeling of satisfaction you get from having achieved something difficult or complicated could also be described as pride but it’s a very personal sensation. It could be from running a marathon, winning a prize at school, learning to drive or play a musical instrument or simply from making someone else feel good.

Well, one time I had this feeling was when I got my MA result. I foolishly did my MA by Distance Learning but because it was my only option. I couldn’t afford to take a year of to dedicate to studying. Additionally, I wanted to study in an English speaking university. Working full time and studying was a problem and took me 4-and-a-half years to finish a 3-year course. I took a 6-month break after the first module because I was overwhelmed. I also have to take a yearlong break after module 3 because of a stress related virus. Writing my dissertation was a nightmare but it was the part I was most proud of and was actually my highest mark. I often had to read and write all night and go to work without having slept. I cross-referenced a huge amount of sources but, despite the sleepless nights and days, I really enjoyed the experience. I wouldn’t like to do it again but I guess I’m proud I did a good job.

Write about something you are proud of.

Say:

What it is,

Why you are proud of it,

How difficult or easy it was,

Whether you would like to relive the experience.

Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Donnie Darko

Don't forget your Donnie Review!

A Concert or Exhibition

Hi Blogheads: Today I'd like you to write about a concert or exhibition you went to. I'm going to tell you about the last gig (concert) I went to. So, on October 9th, I went to see Damon Albarn in Teatro Caupolican. It was a really great show. I was never really a fan of Blur, the group Albarn became famous with, but I liked the Gorilaz stuff and loved The Good, The Bad & The Queen. This concert featured songs from all of these sources plus tracks from Albarn's latest solo album - Everyday Robots. The musicians were top quality and they put on a fine show. The band were joined by special guests including a rapper, an 8-piece Gospel choir, and a Norwegian trumpet player. I liked the fact that the concert was varied. Damon had a really good connection with the audience and it was a great atmosphere - lots of sing-a-longs and friendly banter. Teatro Caupolican is a great place to see live acts, especially if you are in the standing area. It's a very intimate venue and this helped make Damon Albarn's gig something special. The only bad thing was that the crowd didn't encourage the band to do a second encore. This is a major flaw in nearly all the concerts I've been to here.

Write about a concert or exhibition you went to.
Say:
What (who) it was,
When and where it was,
Why you went,
What you liked about it,

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.

Something You Are Reading

Hi Thursday Blogger,

Today I'd like you write about something you are reading at the moment. I often tend to read various things at the same time. I read the Guardian, a British newspaper, online everyday and novels, academic papers, mangas and comics (when I have time). I also have to read things students have written, essays, blog posts and that sort of think. Currently, I'm reading a novel called "The Bone Clocks" by my favorite (living) British autor David Mitchell. It's a sort of modern day fantasy/drama/thriller thing and although I've only read the first 50 pages or so, I'm really enjoying it. I'm reading it because I'm a big fan of Mitchell - I've read all six of his novels. It's a bit difficult to tell you what it's about at the moment because I'm still trying to get the gist of the story. It's Split into six different sections and I've just started the second one. The first was set in the 1970's and is about a 15-year old girl who runs away from home. She keeps having strange "day-mares" - like nightmares but that happen when you are awake. And in the last one a stange spirit is after her. She witnesses him killing some people she has met but is saved when another spirit enters her body. The second part, which I've just started, is about a 22-year old student at Cambridge University. He's quite well off and is a bit of a casanova. I think Mitchell's most weel-known novel is Cloud Atlas (El Atlas de Las Nubes) which was made into a film recently. That was also a great novel. Here's the tráiler:)
Write about something you are reading at the moment.
Say:
What it's called,
What genre it is (novel, academic, manga, newspaper, etc)
Why you are reading it,
Whether you are enjoying it,
What it is about.

Mention anything else that is important. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Special Talent

Hi Blogheads,

Today we're going to write about a special skill or talent. It could be playing a musical instrument, doing magic tricks or standing on your head (a yoga asna!). Anyway, I'd like to tell you about my wonderful sense of direction. For some reason, I rarely get lost. My wife says that I'm a human GPS, and I do seem to have some sort of sixth sense when it comes to finding my way around. I've travelled to different places and managed to get from one place to another with relative ease. Additionally, if I go back to a place for a second time, I have no problem in recalling routes I'd taken on my first visit. I've no idea how I developed this talent but I think it's quite useful. One or two other people have commented on this ability but often because it's something they don't do well. I guess your average person my not think it is anything special so I can't really make any comparisons.  I guess it’s been most useful when I’ve been visiting other Citys and Countrys but it’s also good for locating cars in crowded car parks:) Actually, I don't know anybody else with such a good sense of direction although I'm sure there must be others out there.
Maybe I should have been a taxi driver!!

Write about a special talent you have.

Say:
What it is,
Why it is useful,
What other people thing of your talent,
How you acquire this talent.

Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Group Activity

Hi Blogheads,

Today I'm going to tell you about a group activity I like to do. Actually, there are lots of group activities I've done on a regular basis all my life. When I was younger my I would go on long walks with my family. Then I joined the scouts as a young boy. I've also made music in lots of different groups (and places) as well. However, today I'm going to talk about playing football. I got into football and I've played that in a group for over 40 years (phew!). I played in my school team from the age of 10 or 11 until I left school. Then, we a group of friends, we joined a local Sunday league and after that I've played more or less non-stop since. In Chile I play with a team on Wednesday evenings at Zamorano's in Bilbao with Padre Hurtado. I meet these people though a friend of a friend at a party and they invited me to play. That was about 8 years ago. Actually, I've only played a few times this year because had an injury and then didn't have enough time.
The last time I played footbal was about two weeks ago in Perth (Australia). I was on holiday and Pedro, a Chilean friend, invited me to play with his work mates. I enjoy doing this group activity for a number of reasons. Firstly, it helps me relax by getting rid of built up stress and tension. When you're playing you forget everything. It also helps me keep a fairly good level of fitness although it's easy to injury yourself if you're not careful. It's very easy to organise. You only need 2 or more people, a ball and a couple of jumpers for goalposts and then you can have hours of fun. Finally, it's a great way of sharing and working with other people in a fun environment.

Write about a group activity you do now (or did in the past)
Say:
What it is,
How often you do (did) it,
Who you do it with,
How long you've been doing it,
What it involves,
Why you enjoy it.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blog of at least 3 classmates.

Fiestas Patrias

Hi Blogheads!

Today I'd like you to write about Fiestas Patrias:)

Tell me:
How you normally celebrate,
What you did last year,
What was the best Fiestas Patrias you remember,
Why it was so good,
What you think of the typical activities like rayuela,
What you think of the Chilean rodeo.

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 Teacher

Dear Blogheads:

Today I'd like you to write about a teacher you remember. "How boring" I hear you say. But maybe not. Read my story for some inspiration.
When we are asked to write about a teacher people automatically think we mean a good teacher, however, today I'm going to write about a teacher I remember who wasn't so good.
Many hundreds of years ago when I was a schoolboy (yes, amazing! I was a child once) I had a maths teacher called Mr. Kinland. He was famous in my school because he was the teacher who punished naughty children and we used to call him "Killer Kinland".
Anyway, in my second year at high school I was put in his maths class. I'd started my first year in the top grade but I didn't do any work and I was relegated to the second grade. Killer's classes were a joke. He spent most of the class telling us stories about his fishing trips on his yacht and about all the sharks he had caught. The one thing he never talked about was maths! Usually he would tells us to do our classwork as homework and I'm quite sure I never learnt anything about maths from him.
Nevertheless, thanks to my first year in the top grade I already knew most of the material we needed to study. In my final year I had to take a CSE in maths (something like the PSU), there were 3 papers. I remember I did each one in less than 30 minutes and then I calculated my error margin at about 97%. The next week I told Killer I'd get an A in maths and he laughed. He then announced to the class "If Higginson gets an A in maths I'll give him 100 pounds". I was so confident I asked him to shake hands on the deal which he did with my 30 classmates as witnesses.
Sure enough, when the results came out I got a grade A. Killer however claimed he'd never made the bet although my schoolmates backed up my story. I never really expected him to pay me but I didn't expect him to deny what had happen. Anyway, that's life!

Write about a school teacher you remember:
Say:
What the teacher's name was,
What the teacher taught,
Why you remember the teacher,
What you liked or disliked a
bout this teacher,
What good or bad qualities the teacher had.
Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Family Meal

Hi Blogheads:

Today I'm going to tell you about a family meal I remember. It was in the 1980's but I don't remember what year. I think we were celebrating my youngest brother's birthday which is on December 23rd. The most important thing is that it was the first family meal after my mother's death. All the family were there. My Dad, my sisters - Terri, Clare, Moe, Lizzie and Fran, and my brothers - Ady, Colin and Ged (the birthday boy). My nephew Dan was also there.
The meal was memorable because it turned into a big food fight. My dad had always been very strict at meal times but on this occasion he just sat there laughing at his crazy children.
I think it was Ady who started the fight by putting a plate of birthday cake in Moe's face. Ged thought this was fun and threw cake at Lizzie, then all hell broke loose. The fight lasted about 5 minutes but it took us about an hour to clean up afterwards. There was cake everywhere! The floor, the ceiling, the walls, the curtains, and of course, al over me, my brothers and sisters. My dad was the only one who escaped food free.
A wonderful memory:)

Write about a family meal you remember.
Say:
When it was,
Who was there,
What you were celebrating,
What things you remember.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Higginson Tribe 2010

A Field Trip

I've never been on a Geography field trip so I'm going to tell you about a time I went looking for fossils in Gloucester. I think it must have been in about 1994. I was living with some friends, Pete and Lucy, in Bristol and one day, totally out of the blue, Pete asked me if I wanted to go for a walk by the river to look for fossils. I'd never thought of doing it before but it sounded interesting. We drove for 30 minutes to a part of the River Severn in Gloucester. The Severn is tidal and when we arrived the tide was down. This meant that a lot of the river bank was exposed and it was here that Pete found his fossils. He dug out a small area of the bank and picked out all the medium sized stones. When he washed them in the river I realised that they were snail-shaped fossils. Pete told me what kind of fossils they were but it was so long ago I don't remember.
The reason I thought I'd tell you this story is because some of my ex-students said that they found some fossils on a field trip in Cajon del Maipo and I thought that this was the closest experience I'd had to a field trip.

Write about a field trip you went on last semester.
Say:
Where you went,
Who you went with,
The theme of the trip,
What you did,
Whether you enjoyed it or not and why.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Winter Break

 Hi Blogheads,

Welcome to English 4


I had a rather busy Winter break. I actually only managed to get a couple of half days to relax. I spent some time making music but mainly I did things with my wife: cooking, watching movies and getting together with friends. I had lots of work to do and I still feel a bit stressed. Nevertheless, I still found time to have some fun. I think the most interesting think I did was to take photographs in the General Cemetery in Recoleta at night. I went with a group of 15 other people plus a photographer and a guide. The photographer gave us tips on how to take good photos at night and the guide told us about the history of the cemetery and the people buried there.
Below are some of the photos I took.

Write about one interesting thing you did during the Winter break.
Say
What it was,
Where you did it,
Who you did it with,
Why you enjoyed it.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of a least 3 classmates