Self Evaluation of my academic year (2009)

This essay is for my English class, and it’s a self evaluation of my academic year. Like I’ve said many times in my blog, this year (2009) it’s my first at University, which makes this year special and very different from the past ones. In general my year was very good, not just in an academic way, also in a personal one. My grades were fine, I learned a lot; I made a lot of friends and loved the University of Chile. But let’s talk about academics, because when I was at school I didn’t imagine how interesting could be subjects at University.
This year I started University to get a Sociology degree. Like I said before, University is like a new world for me, with new people, new books, projects, challenges, etc. My subjects during the first term of 2009 were Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Contemporary world´s history and Methodology. Beside my regular classes I took a circus class. My second term subjects were Latin American social history, Statistics, Social psychology, Methodology II, and Social science’s philosophy, which it’s some like epistemology. Beside those regular subjects I took a CFG (general formation course) about Basque culture, called “Euskera and Basque culture: the elder of Europe”.

At the beginning of the year I didn’t know a thing about sociology, today I think I know a little bit more. Some subjects like Sociology and Methodology, in my first term gave me an approach to what a sociologist do, things you can research about and how to do it. Certainly I loved subjects from my second term like Latin American Social history and Social science’s philosophy, because they open your mind and make you think and ask yourself about lots of things you hardly could imagine before. Even though I liked lot of subjects, I also disliked a few. Social psychology was a real waste of time; I didn’t learn anything that I couldn’t learn from common sense. Methodology II theoretical classes also where useful, it’s enough if you read your texts and do a lot of terrain job.

Well, putting all what I’ve lived and learned this year, I can say I love the “university life”, because I’ve learned a lot of new things. For now, I can say I like very much my degree; I hope I continue learning and that the passage of time doesn´t changes my opinion about Sociology.

Sociology's current challenges

Hello fellows, today before midnight (in order to save Judy from becoming a pumpkin) I have to write about important challenges my discipline (sociology, as the rest of the class) is currently facing connected to each of the following areas: technology, social matters and education. I have to make clear (like I’ve done it several times before when Judy asks about our degree) that I’m only in my first year so I really don’t know anything about sociology.

Let’s see, in the technology area, I think the most current challenges are directly linked to statistic’s programs that make easier putting the survey’s results in digital files. Also I think technology challenges have to do with make new voice analysis software to transcribe interviews and recorder machines to (obviously) record them. The technological improvements are most than anything tools that makes easier the sociologist’s work.

On the other hand, talking about social matters, I see a lot of areas that sociology could have influence in but it doesn’t, like politics, Latin American situation, primary and university education, labor relationships and other things. Although, let’s talk about some positive things that sociology takes care of (talking about social matters) that is social stratification, gender matters, etc. But I’m not shore if sociology really does something in order to change situations. But that’s my opinion, so I feel that as a challenge for the discipline, but you can agree or not with my thoughts.

Speaking frankly, I couldn´t mention the specifically critical issues involved in the social matters and education area. And it’s difficult to give a verdict about how these issues should be resolved in each case. All I can say from my brief experience in sociology is that this degree has become super commercial and don’t care enough about real sociological problems, in stead of that, most sociologists are working for private enterprises that don´t care about people’s welfare because they just want to sell and get richer.

Well, it’s time to say goodnight. I hope you have enjoyed this boring post. I’m sorry to fill this with useless words but I don’t know what more to add. Bye!

My free time

- What do I like doing in my free time?
In my free time I love to ride my bicycle, watch movies, read, listen to music, and hang out with my friends. I also like to go out and take walks around the city, cook for my family or friends and sleep until late.

- Why I like doing these things?
I like doing these kinds of things because they entertain me, make me feel good. But I love to do these things (less reading or some time listening to music) with someone I like to spend time, that make things a lot more fun.

- What would I like to have more time to do?
I would like to do if I had more time… I think that doing a lot more the things I mentioned in the first answer. I would love to have more time to read novels and mythology books. Especially I would like to spend a lot more time with my friends and to have time to travel abroad to see my dad in Argentina, and spend much more time with him. Maybe if I had more time I would like to play a sport at university or maybe take some dance lessons. But even if I had the time to do that I think I would prefer go out with my friends and have some freeze “chelitas” (beer) with lemon.

- What forbidden/illegal things would I like to do?
I would like to take and acid with my two best friends and run naked in the city’s night. Of course I would like to do that in a summer evening, because I don’t want to freeze myself. Tell me it wouldn’t be fun!

- What do I not like doing that eats into my free time?I hate when I turn on my computer and I go in the internet for hours, but I’m really doing nothing, just surfing useless web sites. I lose a lot of time that I could enjoy doing my favorite things or just studying.
Well, bye. You will know about me soon with another super boring post.

My (beloved?) Faculty

WHAT IS THE CURRENT SITUATION IN YOUR FACULTYI just arrived this year to University of Chile`s Social Sciences faculty, so I don´t know much about it. I can´t compare the current situation with a previous one, and I don’t exactly love my faculty, but I’m going to give my opinion anyway. The faculty’s library is very little and do not has all the books that should. The canteen is small; it hasn’t the properly size for all the students. Another important issue is Education degree hasn’t had a floor with its own classrooms.
WHAT THINGS NEED IMPROVEMENT?I think this faculty desperately needs a new library with a silence room to read and more computers to look for information. The canteen needs to be enlarged and students from Education degree need their own classrooms. Beside that students need rooms for studying and do their group works.
HOW WOULD YOU RESOLVE THIS SITUATION?I really don’t know how to resolve this situation; I think it’s a structural problem that needs to be solving with an investment of time, ideas and material resources.
WHAT COULD BE THE REAL BENEFITS/IMPACT OFTHESE IMPROVEMENTS?
I think the benefits of the improvement of the library, the canteen and the classrooms for Education degree would bring life to this faculty. Life, because students would use the faculty much more and really “live” their university life.
NEXT STEPS & FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
I frankly don’t know what to comment here, I don’t what to recommend solving the situation. I only want Judy to gives me a done mark.
Bye bye!

CHIGAGO the movie

Chicago’s storyline it’s about a chorus girl named Roxie Hart. She wants to be famous and she is willing to do whatever it takes. Roxie is married but she has a lover, unfortunately an unfaithful and liar one. When Roxie find out about his lover cheating, she shoots him to death.
Roxie goes to jail because of the murder, and there she meets famous Velma Kelly. Velma was a legendary chorus girl who murdered her husband and her sister. Roxie gets to be defended by the renowned attorney Billy Flinn. But Flinn also defends Velma, so the two chorus girls try to get the media attention and of course, freedom and fame.
At last both girls get free and take their own ways. But soon they find out that dancing and singing murderess cannot get attention alone. Velma and Roxie need each other. The chorus girls make and incredible couple and finally get famous and rich.
Now, let’s talk about the film’s cast. Roxie is played by Renée Zellweger, Velma by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Flinn (the attorney) by Richard Gere. The prison matron (Mama Morton) was played by Queen Latifah, and Roxie`s husband by John Reilly. Chicago was directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall, and adapted for film by screenwriter Bill Condon.
About the movie`s soundtrack I have to say it`s one of the most important characteristic of the film, because it’s a musical one. Songs and choreographs were amazing! I loved the movie because it`s super entertaining. After I watched it I only wanted to dace!

Alcohol death toll to reach 9,080 a year in the U.K., study predicts

Denis Campbell, health correspondent of the British newspaper The Guardian, said that experts call for urgent action to reduce 'unacceptably high' death toll from diseases directly linked to drinking.

In the United Kingdom, the experts predict that over 90,800 people could die the next ten years because of diseases related with alcohol like chronic hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease or alcohol poisoning. A research made by Professor Martin Plant, of the University of the West of England, give as result that alcoholism and deaths due to drinking in the U.K. have risen to over the last 25 years to become one of the highest in the European continent.

The over 90,000 deaths predicted for the next decade does not include deaths caused by drink-driving or those related with the exacerbation of an illness because of the alcohol, like some kind of cancers could be.

One way to reduce drink-related deaths could be to implement measures like establish a minimum price per unit of alcohol. In Scotland the introduction of this measure is being explored.

British government is extremely worried about the alcohol related problems. The number of alcohol-related deaths has risen in every age group since 1990. That’s why the government is working harder than ever -says Gillian Merron, public health minister- to help alcoholics and reduce alcohol-related deaths.

The news link is http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/oct/19/alcohol-death-toll-rising, visit it!

Bye!

What to do and where to go in Santiago

Hi foreigner tourist, today I’m going to recommend you some places to visit in Santiago, Chile.

The first thing you have to do when you arrive here is get Chilean money and buy a BIP! Card. This card is for paying the bus and the subway, in order to get anywhere you want to. Some places you should visit/activities you should do if you are in Santiago are:

- Plaza de Armas
- San Cristobal Hill
- Get a teleferico (cable car)
- O`Higgins Park
- Quinta Normal Park

The first place in the list, Plaza de Armas, is the most typical place. There you can find a Cathedral and several Chilean food places. A place you certainly have to visit is the San Cristobal Hill, in Providencia. It has a beautiful road that goes up the hill, following the shape of it. In the same hill, you can get a teleferico (cable car) and see the incredible landscape from above.

O’Higgins Park is another typical place. There you can take long walks, make pick-nicks and hang out with friends. You can do the same things in Quinta Normal Park. You also can visit MAC (Contemporary Art Museum), it´s near the Park and there always are good things to see.
A useful advice could be to be aware of your personal things like camera, cell phone and wallet. Some months ago I was near Plaza Italia and I saw how an American tourist was robbed. So, watch out!

That’s all for this week, bye bye friends!

ALAS, the Congress in Buenos Aires

Hello fellows, today I`m going to tell you about my last trip to Argentina. I attend (as most of my degree classmates) to a sociology congress in Buenos Aires. ALAS (Latin American Sociology Association) organized the congress. It took place in the UBA (Buenos Aires`s University), specifically in the Medicine, Deontology and Social Sciences, from August 31st to September 4th 2009.
The weather in Buenos Aires wasn`t the best. The day we arrived it was so hot you hardly can breath, and the next days were cold and rainy. Lots of places were flooded! That was one of bad points about the congress. The organization wasn`t good. Formal aspects were really a mess.
Anyway, the best conference I went to was “Women`s movement and the fight for legal abortion”. I liked it because -however you agree or not with the exponent’s opinion- you could learn a lot both historical and sociological aspects about the topic. The people who gave the conference (mostly women) were super prepared and where very clear, beside a critical opinion about our patriarchal society.
The highlights of the trip were not only the good conferences, but share a lot with my classmates for a few days. Because of I`m in my first University year I haven`t spent too much time whit my generation. Knowing them better was great!

Transantiago :/

Hello friends, today I´m going to talk about Transantiago. This system was applied during Michelle Bachelet´s government, but it was planned since Ricardo Lagos´s government. The idea was to change the old transport system, the one with the yellow buses, for a new and technological one.
The change was a little bit precipitated, so at first everything was disorganized and chaotic. People were angry because they couldn’t get to work or to school at time, mostly in the poorest areas. Nobody knew how the system worked, the buses routes or where the bus´s stop where. Transantiago has been a big alteration on Santiago´s citizen’s life. It functions with a couple of principal line buses and with little ones in every suburb, so it is difficult to remember all the routes.
Since it was applied some years ago, Transantiago has improved a lot, I haven´t had much problems these days, I only think it’s a little slow and “pick” hours are terrible, you hardly can breathe when you are inside a bus! Millions of dollars has been spent on making the service better, but always by private business who makes money with this kind of projects. Although Transantiago doesn´t function too bad, I think public transport should be financed by the State, as should be education and health. Good bye fellows, see you next time.

A country I would like to visit.

Hello again, today I´m going to talk about Greece, a country I would like to visit. Greece is a European country situated in the south of the Balcanes Peninsula. My interest on visit this country begun when I was just a little child. For my seventh birthday my father gave me a lot of books about Greek mythology. I learned who the Gods where, the classical myths and a little bit of Greece´s geography, but it has always been my dream to visit the country. Last year, I saw the classical film “Zorba, the Greek” and loved it, the music and landscape where incredible. Maybe I have a romantic idea of the Greek people and their country, I admire their culture a lot, and that’s why I would love to visit the Hellenic Republic. It´s possible that my dream never comes true, because the trip it´s too expensive and I don´t have any friends to visit there. Anyway, I would love to go there for a few months and travel around Greece, I even would enjoy studying there in order to learn the language and getting to know people and their way of living. Well, it´s lunch time so that’s all for today. Bye!

"Chewing Batteries" has begun!

Hi, I´m Carla. Today I´m in my english class, and I have to write in this blog about my self. I´m 18 years old. I´m writting with Domingo because he doesn´t have a computer for him self. But lets talk about me. I was born in San Rafael, Argentina. I live in in Santiago, Chile with my brother and my mother since 2002. I love to read, watch movies, listen to music, hang out with my friends, ride bikes and roller skating.
This year I started University to get a Sociology degree. I´ve learned a lot of new things and had a lot of fun. University is like a new world for me, with new people, new books, proyects, challenges, etc.
My subjects during the first term of 2009, were Sociology, Anthropology, Psicology, Contemporary world´s history and Methodology. Beside my regular classes I took a circus class. It was so fun, I learned to do pirouettes and also learned some tips to be a clown.
This year I moved, now I live in Ñuñoa, like twenty blocks away from the University building. Now I can get to my Faculty by bike!

Well, I have introduced my self so it´s time to go. Bye bye, see you soon!