An important event

An important event in my life was my graduation from highschool. I graduated from Palmares Bilingual High School last year (2009). It was a friday night in the high school gym. All the students of my generation were outside of the gym waiting to get in (there were around three hundred students). When we were all ready, we walked in into the place and sat in our places. Then it was the moment to hear the speeches of a few people. When it was the time to receive the diploma, I was a little nervous because we had to walk in front of everybody in order to get it, but when I finally got it in my hand it felt so good, , because I realized that it was really over. My family were there to congratulate me ( my mother and nieces). When the event was over, my family and I went to a restuarant to celebrate my achievement.

I'm very happy being out of high school now, because those five years were very long and I'm excited about getting into college and prepare myself for what I'll do the rest of my life.

The Goonies

My favorite character about "The Goonies" was Chunk, he made the movie so fun to watch. Chunk is a fat kid who loves food, he's always thinking about eating. He was captured by the Fratellis who were a family of criminals that tortured him and then locked him in a room with a large and deformed brother of the Fratellis. Chunk became friend with this deformed person named Sloth, who later would help Chunk and his friends to reach their goal.

The hook on the car door (urban legend)

The legend is about a couple that were sitting in a car in a lover's lane, when suddenly they hear a news bulletin about a murderer that has escaped from a hospital. It's a tall, and skinny guy with a hook instead of his left hand. The woman feels so scared so, she asks her boyfriend to take her home. He gets really angry with her decision but he does what she asks and drives to her home. When she was going to close the car door, she screamed in horror, his boyfriend got out the car to see what was going on. He, too, is shock to see a hook dangling from the door handle. The killer was about to open the car door when they got out of the parking place.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was originally a celebration to thank God when really good happened, now is all about a Thanksgiving feast.The pilgrims were a group of people, that were seeking for religious freedom. They escaped from persecution and sailed from England to Massachusetts. The used a small ship to travel named "Mayflower" for 66 days.The Wanpanoag is a nation of people in North America. Their name "Wanpanoag" means people of the first light. 90 of these native people joined the english colonists in the festivities to celebrate their first harvest. During their first winter in America, over half of the pilgrims died, likely causes were starvation, cold, and disease. The Wanpanoag shared their knowledge of local crops and navigation with the pilgrims and helped them survive. The first thanksgiving was held by the pilgrims and Wanpanoag to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest. Currently, thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. I wasn't sure about what this holiday celebrated, now I've learned a lot of Thanksgiving day. What I like about this holiday is that it reminds us that we all have something to give thanks for.

A first experience

I was asked to write about a first experience, so I'm going to write about my first days at this town. When I was 10 years old and in forth grade of school, I was told that my father was planning to move from san jose. I didn't like the fact that he made the decision by himself but at the same time I was a little excited for living in this new place. In my last day of school in San Jose, I received some presents of my classmates to remember them. The next day, when I got to Palmares, the house still was very messy but I had to prepare myself for the first day of school. I actually wasn't too nervous but I didn't know what to expect of it. Most of the people were friendly so it wasn't difficult for me to meet new people. I got used to the town pretty soon and I really like it but I really miss living in San Jose too.

Crime and legal system

For this topic, I saw an episode of CSI. It was about a murderer who wears a form-fitting black latex suit that doesn't leave evidence behind. The first case the detectives take part in is when an old women is seriously wounded while she was sleeping. When the detectives are researching they discover that the killer has been watching the woman through a lipstick camera. The next case is of a woman that was killed in a car wash. A detective talks with her husband and finds out that she was attacked previously.

Trying to find clues at the dead woman's house, the detectives find a cd with a video of this woman cheating on her husband that the murderer left under the bed, and like they did in the first case, they also find a camera in an attic hole.

After these situations, the CSIs came to the conclusion that the killer knows deep secrets of his victims and he wants them to reveal them, he gives them a warning but if they don't do what he wants, he will kill them.

Because of the killer's suit it's difficult for the detectives to find some evidence that leads them to him, so by the end of the episode he stills undiscovered.

I chose this tv show and episode, because I think it's very interesting the procedure the police have to follow to reach the truth and how good a criminal can be deceiving the authority.

The link of the episode: http://www.watch-csi-online.com/Watch_CSI_Online_Season_11_Episode_4_Sqweegel.html

Halloween

I read an article about the customs of halloween. On October 31, every year people celebrate this date. Halloween is celebrated by both children and adults. Playing trick or treat is a custom for children, they wear costumes and go door to door asking for candies. This practice dates back to the middle age, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All souls day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy.

There are many games and activities associated with Halloween parties. One common game is apple bobbing, in which people have to remove apples from a barrel with water with their mouth. In Halloween parties is also common to tell ghost stories and watch horror films.

I've never celebrated this holiday, but I would to do it, wear a costume and go to Halloween parties, it sounds to be a lot of fun.

My goals

At the end of this bimester at the CCCN course, I feel that i didn't get everything out of class that i was hoping to get. But I sure did get some things out of it, I learned some new concepts, was able to pratice it, and remember a few things about the past bimesters.

I enjoyed the reading out loud activities for improving fluency and pronunciation and the ones about making up dialogues, because i believe that's an excellent way to practice english. There should have been more of these kind of activities.

Another thing that I liked about the course is that the teacher wouldn't accept any word in spanish in his class, so we were forced to try to explain what we wanted to say in english.

I tried to collaborate in every activity with my classmates. I think I didn't participe enough in class and that's something i should have done more. It's part of my personality being a quiet person but I know it's something I have to improve.

I started this advanced english course looking forward to improve my english. I was expecting to acquire a really good fluency and be able to speak it without being afraid of being wrong. I might haven't achieved it yet, but I Know that with a lot of practice I will do it. That's why I plan to continue studying english.

Homework

Bombs kill three afghan civilians and seriously wounded a child.
If the bombs attacks had happened in a crowded place, more people could have died.

American forces threw a grenade trying to free a hostage.
If they had failed, they could have hurt the hostage.

Police seek clues in girl's disappearance.
If the parents had taken care of their child, she might have never disappear.

An 8 year old boy was repeatedly stabbed at a restaurant.
If there had been police officers around , that might haven't happened.

Yesterday a man was hurt in the head by a man with a broken bottle. If he had cut him in an important area, he could have died.

Swiss complete world's longest rail tunnel. If they were in an economic crisis, probably the tunnel wouldn't exist.

T.I. sentenced to 11 more months in prison for violating his probation. If he hadn't done it, he would be free now.

Most Americans Lack Basic Knowledge of Climate Issues. If they had shown more interest maybe they would know more.

33 Chilean miners are trapped in a cave. If there were an earthquake, the miners could have died there or never get out.

More than 200 passengers have been rescued from a Baltic Sea ferry after it caught fire near the German island of Fehmarn. If they were in the middle of the ocean maybe no one would find them.

Jacó

Jacó is a city located on the Pacific coast, in the province Puntarenas.
For many years this area only could accessed by boat, until the road to Orotina was opened. The development process of Jacó was slow.
Intensive development started in 1983, when Jacó was named the capital of the Garabito region. From the on, Jacó has experienced faster population growth.
Tourism has been the main engine for development, and the most important economic activity in the region.

There's a national park in Jacó, "Carara", recognized for its exuberant wildlife. Tourists are also attracted by the surfing and the quality of restaurants and hotels. Jacó has a very active night life, with several bars, nightclubs and discos.

To visit Jacó, different variety of transportation are available: shuttles, taxis, and private transfers. There are some pages on internet where tourists can look for schedules and book online.
Some of these pages are:

• www.CostaRicaShuttle.com
• www.qualitytransferscr.com
• www.anywherecostarica.com

Nowadays, Jacó is a major destination for international and domestic tourism that seek beach, nature, and water activities such as surf.

Review

This review is about my favorite café, called "Le café du plaisir". It's located on Palmares downtown. The person who first introduced me to it was a friend from high school. I haven't visited this place since last year. I used to go almost every sunday but I stopped going that often because I've been very busy lately. The last time I went to the café was with my boyfriend, it wasn't a special occasion we just wanted to go there and eat something. I ordered a vegetarian pizza and a "frío irlandés". That's my favorite, I used to order it everytime.
What I like the most about the café is that it has a balcony with tables, so you can sit in there and have a view of the park. I would recommend "Le café du plaisir" to everyone, it's a great place to visit!

Christine's profile by Kevin

Christine is 18 years old and she lives in Palmares. She's originally from Guanacaste. Christine has 3 sisters and 1 brother, all of them are older than her, their names are Leticia, Florita, Liliana and Alejandro. She has a good relationship with her siblings.
Last year she was in fith grade of highschool, now she´s studying at the UNED general studies but she wants to study at the UCR. An important detail is that she doesn´t know what to study yet.She´s kind of bored of Palmares, she want´s to be in another place. Also she is a very lazy person, some of her favorite activities are surfing on the internet, watch TV, to chat, use facebook but she also focus on her studies. She doesn´t like to go out, she prefers to stay at home. Her greatest achievement is the graduation from highschool and the CCCN.The best moment for her was when she finished highschool becuase she didn´t like it. The reason why she likes English, is that she considers that this language is really important in our lives to have better oportunities. Her greatest ambition is to have a job and a nice car.
Her favorite trip is to go to the beach: " I like when I spend time with my family", she said. Her family is really important to her.
She´s a responsable and generous person.
She would like to be an athletic person : "I like when people worry about their health and want to be on fit", she said.

Homework

Kevin is a 16 years old boy, he lives in San Ramon but he's from San Jose. He has a little sister named Stephanie. He's currently studying at Patriarca high school, the tenth grade. He enjoys practicing sports, his favorite one is soccer, and he’s on San Ramon's soccer team: "Playing soccer is away to feel relaxed"

He's always doing things, is a very active person, whenever he is not practicing any sport he's surfing on the Internet or playing videogames.

When He finishes high school, he wants to study business administration. His greatest ambition is to have a good job and a nice car. His idea of perfect happiness is not being afraid of changes. The best decision he has ever made was studying English because he knows the importance of this language nowadays.

He believes he hasn't made big or bad decisions in this life because he still is too young for that. His greatest achievements are the graduation of CCCN and English courses in TEC. He likes going abroad. "I would like to visit interesting and beautiful places"

He describes himself as a generous and humble person.

While i was talking to him I noticed that he's a friendly person, he gets along with everyone.

KLDA-HERCOLUMBUS (Kevin's planet)

I think inhabitants of kevin's planet are more like venusians because as he said they're always thinking about helping and making the others feel good. His planet has some similarities with mine becuase both of our planet's inhabitants are concerned about the well-being of everyone and they are such a nice people to meet.

It would be nice to live in his planet becuase I think I'd feel so comfortable between the people in there, they seem to be easy to get along with and I'd would have a great time in that planet.

KRONOS

The name of this planet is based on a Greek titan, Kronos the father of time. the people of Kronos are nice people. their diet is based on plants, they respect the living things, which means that they don't kill anything that moves. They are mysterious and dark on the outside but nice in the inside, you just have to get to know them well to notice, their planet is a little moon near the alpha-centaury solar system, their science is really advanced, they make their own energy, the wild life is very abundant. there's lots of plants and trees the oceans and rivers are clean, the air is carbon dioxide free. Their atmosphere is based on gold and oxigen, they explore the universe to collect this precious element. They are more like Venusians because they are very sentimental and they don't have any similarities to the Martians.