Blog Session 8. How green are you?

The Environment should be protected but I’m afraid that we still doing things against it. There’re a lot of initiatives and educational programs who talk about how we can use better our energy or to save the environment, but they aren’t very effective and the costumes of people don’t change very much.

I can’t say neither that I do very much for the environment. Certainly, I know about the environmental problems that has the world and our country but in my day-to-day I don’t do special things to help to solve that problems.

I recycle in my house, principally newspapers, plastic and glass bottles and I tried to do the same when I am not in my house and I have to throw out garbage. I don’t use cars, but I don’t use bicycle neither. To go to the university or other places, I use the public transport that still polluting.

I agree the environmental cause, but I’m not part of any organization. These years I have gone to some demonstrations against energy projects like HidroAysen or thermoelectric plants, but I haven’t had major commitment.

I think that we have very important challenges to the future about this matter. In the first place, we have to do more daily thing about reducing our carbon footprint, and secondly, we have to be more active to denounce polluting practices and to call for more strict environmental policies in Chile, one of the most affected countries in the world by the global warming

Blog session 7. Free post 3

Today, I am going to talk about one of my favorite hobbies. To play chess.

I started to play chess since I was child, when my father taught me. I was five or six years old when I learnt the basic rules of this game and I tried to learn fast to overcome my dad, but I never could do that until I was in high school.

I am not a great chess player but I like to play that game and to learn about different strategies of this game. I have a great book of Capablanca (one of the best chess player ever) with different strategies of chess. I have not never played a tournament or things like this but sometimes I play with friends (and I usually win because my friend are worse players than me).

One of my personal treasures, is my chessboard. My chessboard has more than 50 or 60 years old (I really do not know how old is it), and belonged to and uncle that gave to me. Also, I have a few of old books about chess and sometimes I used my chessboard to practice the games referred in the books.

Today, I play chess when I have time and usually I play online. On internet or with a smartphone I could play when I am going on the bus or in the subway.

Blog session 5. Free post 2

On this free post, I’m going to talk about how I lived this year one of my favorite sports: soccer. In one of my videos (I don’t remembered if I did it too on this blog) I talked about soccer as a hobby, but today I’m going to talk about soccer as a sport fan.

In general, this wasn’t a great year for me, because my club (I’m member of Colo Colo Social and Sport Club) didn’t play very well, didn’t win any championship and stayed in an institutional crisis. As a solace, I can say that Colo Colo won the last “superclásico” against Universidad de Chile, eliminating them for the second-semester championship fight.

In terms of the national team, there are good and bad news. Good news because we qualified in very good position to the Brazil 2014 World Cup, but bad news too, because in the world cup draw, we stayed in a very difficult group (with Spain, the actual world champion and Holland, finalist in the last edition) and if we pass to the next round, we would have to play against Brazil, the local.

English Language Challenges

Today, I’m going to talk about my experience with English and English classes in University. I began to do English in first year of sociology, and after the exam, I started in level III. When I did that course I hadn't many problems because I continued doing –with little differences- the same things that I did on school. Unfortunately I couldn't do English IV the same year (I had to do CFGs and sport classes those semesters), and I continued with classes just in fourth year of my career.

These classes have helped me to practice English, writing as much as talking, and to keep my knowledge about this language. I think that English program is necessary because in sociology you don’t read or use a lot of foreign languages, and if you don’t use a language, you’ll forget things learned before.

About aspects of my English that need to be improved, I think that is necessary principally when I speak. With my knowledge I can understand most of the books and articles that I read in English (If I’ll start to read more sociology books in English I think that I should learn more technical words), and I think that I have a “decent  level” when I write.

Outside the classes, I always have to use English, but principally reading it, more than having communication with it. On internet, television and books, there’s a lot of information that only exists in English, and I have to read it in English because there’re no options. I hope to finish my career knowing the principal things that I need to know to use English in everyday life.

Blog Session 10: Good & bad points

This was a special year for me. It was one of my last years in the University, I had to do a lot of things for my career, and I didn't have a lot of time to do another things.

In general this was a good year. I could pass all my subjects (I’m not free yet, I still have to pass my second semester subjects) and I could spend my free time doing another jobs. On first semester, I did for first time a part-time job as a sociologist, doing with a friend a survey and getting pay for the job.

Besides the University and job, I didn't have a lot of time, and I should spend less time with my friends. For that reason, I couldn't have more than a few extra activities this year. Last year I practiced more sports and used my time doing other things like reading books aside from the career books, but this year I couldn't do the same activities, or I could but with less frequency.

When the year started, I didn't think that it would be as complicated as it was, and I thought that I would be able to have more hobbies or to do other things like traveling. Finally I didn't have more hobbies and I didn't travel this year. I wish that in next year I be able to do the things that I couldn't do this year. Apart of these activities, next year I would like to learn another language like French or German, a thing that every year I would like to do, but for different reasons, I can’t ever do.

Far-right's surge could paralyse Europe, warns Hollande as NF passes socialists

This article is about the threat of the far-right´s parties in Europe in a context of a social and economic crisis in the old continent.

The surveys in France for the next european ballot, gives the first place to the far-right party National Front, that declares its self as “anti-inmigrant party” and with a clear “xenophobia and Holocaust-doubting rhetoric”. This situation is similar in others countries of the region. Far-right parties are winning voters in UK, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary and Bulgary.

Holland said that the causes of the rising of the far-right Eurosceptic parties in Europe are diverse –like the nationalism caused by a not-planned immigration policy, the problematic relation with Islam, and conservatism associated to ageing of the population among others-.

That situation -said the article- could be the same in other countries with leftist “Eurosceptic” parties that could win more seats in the European parliament. The president of France Françoise Hollande, warns about the risks for Europe if these parties have a big presence in the European parliament “It would be a regression and a threat of paralysis” said the French president.

This statement was given to Holland in a context of rising of NF in polls and next to a cantonal election in France that gives the majority to this party.

link of the original article in theguardian.com/uk

My next vacation

Today I’ll talk about my plans for the next vacation. I really like to travel and this summer I would like to travel to the south of Chile.

Last summer I went the south too, specifically to the Austral Road. To do that, I took a bus to Puerto Montt, and then I took a ship to Chaiten. After that, I went over the road until Coyhaique, my southern limit in my travel. This year therefore I’d like to continue this travel, going southern that the last year.

I haven’t a plan yet for this trip, because I’m not sure if I could go. The first reason is money, because to do that trip I should have savings that I don’t have yet.  A trip to the south requires a lot of money, and I have plans to work this summer but I don’t know if I’ll get all the money. The second reason is time, because this year we’ll end the academic semester at the beginning of January and probably I should do things in Santiago during the holidays.