Saturday, September 22, 2018
09/22/18. 8:59 p.m.
TOPIC 1. HOW MY LIFE HAS CHANGED SINCE I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES.
My life has changed a lot since I came to the United States. It´s been already 4 months since I came here and a lot of things have happened since then. I am living with a host family, so I am staying in a house with five more people; the father, the mother and their three little kids.
These 4 months have been crazy. At first it was hard since I couldn´t be with my family, and I missed them so much. Also I didn´t know not even a single person in this country. But I took those kind of things as challenges. And that changed me in many aspects.
I got to meet many new people and that made me less shy and more outgoing. Also, not being around my family or any friends made me more independent and I also learned how to solve problems by myself. I definitely have a bigger self-confidence than I used to.
Another big change is my surrounding. I came from being the youngest one with two brothers in my house to be the oldest "kid" with three others little kids. They were 6, 2 and 1 years old. Also the room that I had to stay in was so different to the one I was in Spain. That was hard to get used to. But with any doubt the most difficult change was the parents. It was weird at first. I was living with them in their house but however I didn´t know them. Obviously I wanted them to like me and also to let them know that I was so thankful with them for hosting me in their house.
Sometimes I spend time with the kids so the can be more relaxed, I clean the dishes when we finish eating.... These sort of things are making me more responsible. This experience was really hard at first, but I am getting used to these big changes. I don´t regret coming here. And I´m learning a lot and I´m also becoming more mature every day.
9:23 p.m.
09/29/18. 6:45 p.m.
A SPECIAL SKILL I HAVE.
It´s hard to think of a special skill that I have. I actually can´t think of a physical skill, although those are usually the type of skills people usually talk about. However I think I´m really good at problem solving abilities and I definitely count that as a skill. When there is a problem, people normally stress and panic.
I used to be like that too. But now I have a better way to face problems. It´s hard to control yourself because you might be under a lot of pressure. The first thing I do is to try to calm down, also I say to myself that everything´s going to be alright and that being nervous is not going to work. Before solving any problem, what I always do is to relax. I try to think that whatever it is, it can´t be such of a big deal.
Also I think that there is always a solution for everything. I always try to think those kind of things when there is a problem. I´m not saying I can always solve problems. But not being nervous and worried too much definitely helps.
I used to be like that too. But now I have a better way to face problems. It´s hard to control yourself because you might be under a lot of pressure. The first thing I do is to try to calm down, also I say to myself that everything´s going to be alright and that being nervous is not going to work. Before solving any problem, what I always do is to relax. I try to think that whatever it is, it can´t be such of a big deal.
Also I think that there is always a solution for everything. I always try to think those kind of things when there is a problem. I´m not saying I can always solve problems. But not being nervous and worried too much definitely helps.
I also think that I´m very creative, and that´s a good thing to solve problems, since I can think of a lot of solutions and then I can pick the best option to solve the problem.
Also, very important it´s necessary to be as possitive as I can when there is a problem. I´m really good at being calmed under a the pressure of problems. And that´s one thing I love about me. And that´s a skill I have which I think it´s really useful.
7:02 p.m.
A HOBBY.
A hobby that I have always had and that I still have is playing videogames. I love it. I have always liked it. I started with this hobby when I was 7 years old. I used to play a lot of games but now I play different kind of games. I usually use my Playstation 4. When I play I always have fun, and I also think it is a good activity to relax and disconect with my surroundings.
I usually play on weekends or days that I have more time. I think that even though not everybody likes playing videogames, they would love to if they tried. There are plenty of different kind of videogames, people just need to find the kind that the like the most. It is also a good hobby if I ever want to spend time with my friend. I don´t play always by myself, many times I hung out with my friends to play.
Also, it is not an expensive hobby. Although there are games that are very expensive, on the other hand there are others that are really cheap. I just have to find the best sales and opportunities to spend the least.
I usually play on weekends or days that I have more time. I think that even though not everybody likes playing videogames, they would love to if they tried. There are plenty of different kind of videogames, people just need to find the kind that the like the most. It is also a good hobby if I ever want to spend time with my friend. I don´t play always by myself, many times I hung out with my friends to play.
Also, it is not an expensive hobby. Although there are games that are very expensive, on the other hand there are others that are really cheap. I just have to find the best sales and opportunities to spend the least.
I think tis hobby is for all ages, because for example as I said before, I started when I was 7 seven years old, and now that I am 18, I enjoy playing as much or even more as I used to.
It is true that it is not a good hobby to keep in fit such as sports, however there are a lot of times that I have learnt curiosities and history playing videogames. As I said before there are plenty of kind of videogames, even those ones that you can learn while having fun. Of course that I have more hobbies, but I wanted to talk about this one since it has been so many years since I have it. And I reccommend everyone to try it.
It is true that it is not a good hobby to keep in fit such as sports, however there are a lot of times that I have learnt curiosities and history playing videogames. As I said before there are plenty of kind of videogames, even those ones that you can learn while having fun. Of course that I have more hobbies, but I wanted to talk about this one since it has been so many years since I have it. And I reccommend everyone to try it.
LEARNING TO PLAY A SPORT.
I have always been interesting in tennis. I didn´t know the rules at first, but after watching poeple playing I learnt most of them. However I never tried to play it. Until last year. I wanted to know the rules much better and also I tought that if I liked watching other people playing tenis I might also enjoy playing tennis.
So I joined classes twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. There were other people around my age that also were interested in playing this sport.I already knew the basic rules, but after going to classes I realized there were many other thing that I had no idea. Obviusly at first I wasn´t really good playing, but I was enjoying a lot. Every day I felt I was improving and I was so happy because of that.
I´m not sure why I chose tennis, I guess I liked it because it´s a sport which it depends on me if I win or lose. I mean it´s an individual game, I don´t have to play with others. Although I also like playing sports with more people such as basketball. I think tennis is a hard sport, it is required a lot of resistance, speed and perseverance.
AN ACCIDENT.
The last accident and the only one I think I have ever had or at least I that I can remember was actually a only three moths ago. It was this last summer. I remember that day I was going to hang out with my friends at the mall in the afternoon.
So my father took me there by car. There were any problems during the ride. However when it all happened, was in the parking lot. That was supposed to be one of the least likely places to have annaccident with a car. That was what I used to think, before having it. My dad was looking for a spot, when suddenly a car that was supposed to wait until my dad passed, kept going, so we got hit from the right side.
I am glad that it was in the parking lot, since that is a place where cars can not go fast, so the hit was not severe at all. It was a woman who was driving, and she was also with her dad. She got out of the car worried, however she admitted quickly that it was her fault and that she was really sorry. She and her dad seemed really nice. After talking for a little bit the agreed in everything. It was not such a big deal at the end, but at first we were all a little bit worry thinking the way we were going to handle the situation.
This accident made me think, and maybe because of a parking lot seems more secure than a road and it is much less likely to have an accident, people do not pay as much attention as they should. They should pay as much attention as they do in the road.
BEING ON TIME.
To be honest, I have to admit that even though in many situations is really important, I am not really good at being on time. The times that I always try to be on time is when I go to classes, since if I´m late I would miss part of the lesson. However there are other many occassions that even though I try I always end up being late.
For instance, whe I hang out with my friend. Ever time I meet them, I think that this time I will be on time, however I don´t know why there is always something I realize I have to do before leaving. Or also I might get distracted with something and I don´t realize what time it is.
Also when I go to the cinemas, most of the times, I enter the room when the trailers have already started, and I always have to walk carefully because the room is already dark. It is true that many times I am late, it is usually for 15 minutes or so. It is really weird when I am late for more than 15 minutes. Also, when I have to be on time on important occassions, I always try to get ready much earlier.
Being on time is a sign of respect, and although there are sometimes that I am a little bit late with my friend or to watch a movie, I would never be late for instance when there s an important meeting, or when I have to go to classes. I think in this kind of occassions to be on time is a sign of respect.
That is why although I am not really good at it, I always try to be on time, to show respect and also, beacuse if it were me, I know I wouldn´t like to be waiting for someone for a long time. I think that is really annoying.
THE PEOPLE I LIVE WITH.
I am currently living with my family. My father, my mother and my older two brothers. My father works as an office worker, he usually works in the mornings, so since now I have college in the afternoons, I can´t see him a lot. He is the only member in the people I live with that drives. So he is the one who gives us a ride by car when if we need it.
He is really good at maths, so when I was in high school, and I didn´t understand somethimg, he used to expalin me everthing. My mother is a housewife. She can drive, she got her driving license many years ago, however she doesn´t like driving a lot, and actually she barely needs to use the car.
I usually talk to her a lot, and she is very good at gibving me advices. As my father, she is also very tall. So I guess I am also very tall because of them. My mother is very talkative and friendly with people and she also likes reading books. She usually reads every day a little bit.
I also live with my two older borthers. The oldest one is 25 years old. He is currently studying. We talk a lot with each other. I would say I talk to him even more than I do with my other brother. We both like playing videogames, and I really like and enjoy when we play together. My other brothers is 23 years old. He is also studying to become a policeman. He is a very sportive person. I think he is the most outgoing of us three.
To be honest I get along with all the people I live with. Basically because they are my family and I look like them in many aspects. Also I like that I get to live with my family because I know that they wil always be there to help me. Also we are very close to each other and confident.
I don´t know when I will move to another house, but it will be hard because I won´t be living with them anymore. I have been living with them since I was born so I am used to seeing them everyday in the house.
9AMERICAN CUSTOMS I LIKE/DISLIKE.
To be honest the United States is my favourite country. But that doesn´t mean that I like all of its customs. Last year I got to visit this country and there were many things that I liked however there were also others that I wasn´t used to and that I didn´t like.
I am going to start by saying some the many customs that I like. I like the custom of celebrating Thanksgiving Day and also the way the celebrate it. The eat a lot of food with their families and also say why they are thnakful for and I think it is a beautiful day.
Also, dressing up for Halloween asking for candies door by door. It is true that nowadays this custom has been going all arounf the world, and currently it is not a custom only in America. But it is better known to be done there. Also I like that when they meet someone, they don´t give two kisses to each other, instead the either do a handshake or just smile.
I have never liked the custom of kissing someone when you meet that peson so that is why I like this American custom. Also I like that they are usually more polite when they are talking to someone.
For example students call their teachers by their surnames, saying either Mr. or Ms. I like that because it is a good way to show respect to someone. Although it might not be good to me, I like that tips are almost compulsory for waiters. I think it is fai and if the waiters know that depending on how they work, they will get either more or less money, they will work better and harder.
But also as I said befor, there are some customs that I don´t like.
For example the schedule that they have to eat. Many people eat only three times a day. Because of this, they eat big meals however it is reccommended to be five meals. That is a custom I don´t like at all.
10. AN IMPORTANT STORY IN THE NEWS.
An important story in the news that now I can think of is the brexit. I don´t usually wacth the news however this story made me to wacth them more. To be honest I didn´t expect such a thing like this to happen but I guess that many people didn´t expect it either.
I remember when they first talked about it but I never thought it would get this far. Soon it will be a reality. And to be sincere, I don´t really understand much about politics, but I can´t see the point of doing it anywhere. I don´t understand why there are so many people that don´t want to be part of Europe anymore afer so many years.
As you can see I disagree about the Brexit. I also don´t understand why thy feel different and they don´t want to stay in Europe anymore. As I said before I´m not really into politics, and there might be good reasons that people have to do the Brexit. But still, I think there was no need to do such a big deal like this. I even think that in they future they would regret, and they will see that they were better before.
Also it will complicate things for immigrants or even for tourists that are from Europe. European citizens will be required more things if they want to visit the United Kingdom and I think that will also be bad for the money they get from tourism. I think that even though this, got much farther than I expected, there is still time to take it back, and to make british people see that it is not really worth it.
I have talked from my point of view. Maybe if I were british I would think different. I agree that british people have the right to do this but I disagree about doing it.
11. THE WORKING STUDENT.
A working student is a person who studies and also at the same time has a job. I think that a working student needs to be really responsible because it is really hard to be able to do both things. A working student needs to be rally organised and has to know perfectly waht to do and when to do it, if that person really wants to both get good grades and be able to work correctly in the job.
Actually I have been thinking about this lately: would I be able to be a working student? Because as I said before it´s not easy, and not everybody can do it. To be a working student must be also really tiring, there is barely free time for yourself.
Sometimes I have even thought about being a working student, however, later I think more, and I feel that I would be really stressed and I wouldn´t be happy because I woulnd´t have any time to do the things that I like. Besides, fortunately, at the moment I don´t need the money to pay for my studies, since I am living with my parents, and I feel very lucky, because they can afoord my studies.
However not everybody can say this. And I think that most of the working students, need money to pay for their studies and also for other things. And they have no other option that to study and also to work to be able to keep studying. Many students have to rent a house near their colleges, and that costs a lot of money, that is why many students have to work in order to be able to afford the rent house.
I know a few working students, and I admireall of them, because to be honest, I am not sure if I would be able to do that right now or in a future.
12. A BIG MISTAKE I ONCE MADE.
Actually I have made plenty of mistakes in all my life, and I could mention many of them. But right now I can think of a big mistake that I can talk about right now. It is actually a really funny mistake, and I like telling it to my friends.
I was 14 years old, so it was 4 years ago. I was in a school trip to France, it was in an exchange so I was going to live with a french family that I didn´t know at all for a week. It was also my first time traveling in a foreign country.
So after this introduction, I am going to explain that big but also funny mistake that I made. I was with another espanish girl that was from my school and two other girls from France. School had finished, so we got on the school bus, but it was really full, so the spanish girl and I sat down in a place, and the other 2 girls from France had to sit in seats far from where we were. Me and my friend were close to the door of the school bus.
And after a few minutes the bus stopped in a bus stop. We saw many students getting off, so we supposed that was where we had to go. So I told my friend to get off, and to wait the other two girls outside. After getting off, the doors closed, and the bus left. We were shcocked at first, I was wrong, that wasn´t our stop. But we were really lucky because a few meters far from us the bus stopped because there was a traffic light in red.
So we started running as fust as we could and we were able to get the bus. We saw the two girls from France telling the bus driver to open us the door. I felt so bad, because it was my fault because it was actually me who said to get off the bus. Luckily it all ended up in a funny story to tell. But next time I know that I always need to wait for other people if I am not sure.
13. USING E-MAIL.
Nowadays, e-mails are very useful. However I think they are becoming less and less used. A lot of new technologies have been creating lately, such as, Skype, Whatsapp... And because of those new disposibilities, people don´t need to use e-mails to send anything. For example, in my case, I still need a lot the e-mails.
For instance, when I am going to send a project or whatever to a teachr. The only way is to do it by e-mail. But to be honest, apart from those cases, I do not really need e-mails for anything else. So I guess, that people that are no students do not really need e-mails neither. However sometimes I have wanted to send something either to my friends or my family, however, the archive that I wanted to send them was too big to send to for example with Whatsapp.
So the best option for that i to send it by e-mail. I think nowadays, e-mails are mostly used either by students, to send projects or questions to send projects and questions; and also elder people, that got used to using e-mails, and now they don´t use new technology facilities to communicate, because they use e-mails instead.
Also, e-mails are good for business, stores... I have seen in many cases that,for example when insurance brookings send ads, they usually put two ways to be able to cummunicate to them. One, is their phone number, and the other one, is ther e-mail adress.
In my opinion, I believe, that even though, it might be used less than it used to, e-mails will always be very useful, and there will always be people who need it and use it. I think, nowadays it is very necessary and helpfull.
14. CELL PHONES.
It is crazy to think how fast and the way cell phones have developed these past years. When our parents were young, cell phones didn´t even exist. However, to be honest, right now, I can´t imagine any teenager without one. They have become a fundamental part in our lives, and we use them every day, almost for everything.
Especially, these past years, cell phones have been improving a lot, there are some, that can do things, that to be honest, a few years ago, I would never believe a phone, could do. It is true, that cell phones are really necessary and helpfull, for every day. They can help us with multiple things, such as: finding an adress, text someone while you are outside from home, call anybody you want, take pictures and videos, watch videos... Cell phones are good for both entertaining and helping people every day.
However, since cell phones are getting this good, people can get too adictive to them. And things that create addictions are not good, since they make people depend on something to be able to feel good. I remember, one day, one of my friend´s cell phones broke. They had to fix it, and he couldn´t use his cell-phone for 3 days. He was really mad those days, and felt strssed, because he didn´t know if someone was texting him.
Also, he used to using his cel-phone for many hours every day, however these three days, he didn´t know what to do in those hours. People need to be careful with this, and they need to limit the time that they use their cell-phones. Cell-phones are a great advancement in our lives, however, if we do not know how to use them, they can become dangerous. I believe people should use cell-phones less time, that way they won´t become addictive.
And to be honest, it is easy to say it, but I also need to do that with myself. And although I try to use my cell phone the less time I can, it is hard, many times. I hate the feeling of not knowing if someone is texting me, and I think that is the case of most of the teenagers nowadays. That is why, I think we should all reduce the time that we spend with our cell phones every day.
15. TEENAGERS.
I am eighteen years old and I still consider myself as a teenager. It is said thta when you turn 18, you become an adult and you are not a teenager anymore. However I do not agree with this, I think it depends on the person. So I am going to talk mostly about my experience.
Teenagers have always been known as being "complicated". The reason for that is because it is a part of the life which many changes are happening. It is like the journey from being kids to become adults. It is like being in the middle of the two things but actually not being any of them. These changes affect teenagers in a very different way depending on the person. Some change their humor, and they become more sensible and get mad easier. Others, change their likes completely.
Others want to become independent, however they don´t realize that they are still "half-kids". Also, when you are a teenager, normally studies get more complicated. To be honest at least for me, that was the hardest thing. It was big change from school to high school, studies were becoming harder and harder.
However my interest in studying was becoming smaller and smaller. This was really stressful for me. And I think for the majority teenagers. But although as I said before, that teenegars are considered to be "complicated", there are also good things. Teenagers are more independent than they used to be. Also they are becoming more mature.
Besides, they are old enough to make some decisions by their own. To be a teenager has its good but also bad parts. I think it depends on every person, some may remember beeing a teenager as a godd memory, however, others as a bad memory.
16. THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED.
This is an interesting topic, since it depends on the people, they will either say one thing or another. But this will be from my point of view. The way I see it, marriage is for adults, that means for people who know what they want in their futures.
However this sentence is very relative, because at what age a person knows that? That depends on the person, there are some that would want to marry really young, others bery old, because they want to enjoy their youth without being married. Or even there are many people that never want to get married.
So basically what I am trying to say with this is that marriage has no age. It all depends on the person. It is a fact that nowadays, we are used to seeing people getting married from 30-40 years. So if when we see someone, for example getting married, and that person is older than 60 years, it will feel strange for us at first.
However, that shouldn´t matter. Every person should get married whenevr they feel ready or whenever they find their true love at any age without being judged. On the contrary, there are also cases, that teenager between 18-22 years old get married. This used to happen more some years ago.
However there are still cases. It is true that I´ve said before that marriage should have no age, however I think nobody can be mentally prepared to be engaged at the age of 18, no matter how mature that person is. Although, if I knew someone at that age that wanted to do it, I wouldn´t try to stop that person.
If they feel like doing it at that moment, they have their rights to do so. They will have time in the future to get divorced and realize of their mistakes. So, that is my conlusion to this topic. I think the right age to get married depends only on you, and you are the one who decides that, not somebody else.
17. A GOOD FRIEND.
We all have friends, better or worse. And it is easy to describe one, however when it comes to a good friend it can be more complicated to have one. First of all, what does a person need to be a good friend? I am going to answer this question and talk about this topic according to my experiences and from my point of view.
I have some friends from school and high school, and I usually hang out with them. At the moment, to be honest I love all of my friends and I cond¡sider them all good friends. But each one has their own reasons to be a good friend. SOme of them is because they make me laugh, others because they listen to me, others because they give me advices... So after saying this, it is kind of hard to describe how a good friend should be.
However there are some things that all of my friends have, although they are different as people, I think they have some fundamental quialities to be good friends. First of all, there has to be trust between you and your friend. You need to feel confident with them, and he/she has to make feel as if you trusted him/her and vicevers.
Also a good friend needs to be honest, if they lie to oyu, that means that you are not that important for them. And lastly and very important there must also be loyalty. They need to respect you, adn treat you well.
I am sure there are more qualities that a good friend has, but right now, when I think of my friends, I can say that those three qualities are necessary to become a good friend.
SHOPPING.
Shopping can involve many things. To go shopping for clothes, food, games.... Also you can go shopping with your friends, by yourself, with your family.... Obviously, I rather to buy some things than others.
However I have to admit, that I love go shopping for almost everything. I just have fun. Even when I go shopping for food in a supermarket. However, as I said, I enjoy more buying some specific things. I would say that when I go shopping, I prefer to buy either clothes or videogames. I thing those are my two favourite things to buy when I go shopping.
Nevertheless, I recognize that I like buying food too. I like the feeling of being able to choose what I like, and seeing al the different things that there are to buy. It depends on the situatuon, that I rather either go shopping with my friends, family or by myself.
For example, when I go shooping for food I prefer going with my family, however when I go for buying clothes I prefer going by myself and when I go shopping for videgames I enjoy it better going with friends.
However shopping can also become dangerous if you can´t control yourself when it comes to buy things. As I mentioned before, I love shopping, but I always know that I can´t waste the money. It is good caprices ocasionally but that´s it. If you can´t control yourself, that can led to very serious economic problems such as not being able to afford necessay things for every day life.
So that is why I always try to be cautious and understand that I can´t buy everything that I want. I first try to buy what I really need, and then if there is still some money left, I can decide if I either want to spend it on something that I want or save it.
It is also a good option to save sometimes instead of spending it. You never know if someday you may need some extra money to buy something that you didn´t think of. It is always good to have at least a few savings.
YOUR LAST DAY IN YOUR COUNTRY.
Right now I am really nervous while I am writing this. It is 9 p.m. and this is my last night in my country. Tomorrow I will be taking a plane very soon with a destination to the United States. I will be staying there for a year. And although I am excited I have to say that I am also nervous and kind of sad.
It is a mixture of feelings. I won´t see my family nor friends for a whole year and I know that will be the hardest part because I will miss them a lot. I know it will be hard, but I also know that I will learn and enjoy a lot this year. So today, I didn´t want any kind of goodbyes parties. I knew that was going to make sad.
So, instead of that, I just decided to enjoy my family and spend the day with them, doing things that we all like. We went to a restaurant to eat all together. After we finished, we ent to watch a movie in a cinema. Then we came back home and played videogames, and also board games.
After that, we stayed like an hour talking to each other about my trip and ohter things. It was 6 p.m. and I hung out with my friend just to talk for the last time face to face in 1 year. We didn´t prepare anything, we just went walking around the city and we talked for over 2 hours. We also had dinner.
It was hard to say goodbye to them but I knew that we were going to keep in touch during my staying so that made me fell much better. After I arrived home, I made some calls to some members of my family and also some friends that I couldn´t see that day. I have been taling for an hour with different people. And now that it is 9:14 p.m.
I am writing this and I am about to go to bed since tomorrow I will have to wake up and I don´t want to be tired. Today was a good day, I did many things that I enjoy doing, and I laughed a lot. However it is also needless to say that it felt a little sad sometimes. But still I am very happy and excited for this adventure that starts tomorrow.
YOUR FIRST DAY IN THE UNITED STATES.
After more than 8 hours travelling, here I am, finally in the United States. I feel exhausted, because I barely could sleep in the airplane. I have also been nervous all the journey. I couldn´t stop thinking how it was going to be the first time that I was going to see my host family.
It is 10:14 p.m. right now, and I am laying in me bed. I feel like sleeping for a whole day but before that, I wanted to right my feeling about this day. Although I have been really nervous the whole day, once I saw my host family, I felt much better. I saw them at the airport, they were holding two banners, one of them said "Bienvenida Andrea" and the other one "Welcome Andrea".
They also had ballons whit the shape of the United States. They were all smiling and happy to see me, that calmed me down a lot. We got into their car, and they started talking to me about where they live and how is it. Once we arrived at their home, they had prepared a big meal.
They told me that they knew I was going to be too tired to get out the house, so they decided to prepare a lot of food to eat in the house. There was pizza, chips, soda drinks, chicken.... After finishing eating and talking a lot, they told to go to my room because they were sure I needed to rest.
And to be honest, at that time, a bed was the thing that I wanted the most. So after saying thank you for the welcoming and good night, I went into my new bedroom. I tried to put most of my clothes in the wardrobe and after that I laid down in the bed like never before.
I had never been more exhausted in my life before, it was the outcome of barely sleep and a whole day feeling nervous. But right now, at this moment, I feel really happy, and excited for what awaites me tomorrow and the whole year that I am going to spend in the United States.
DISCRIMINATION.
Sadly, nowadays, there is still discrimination. Discrimination is a way of treating someone worse because of their race, age or sex. And that is really unfair. Everyone should be treated the same way.
For example, one of the most common cases where discrimantion is found is the differences that there are beteween men and women. It is getting much better than it used to be, but can not say yet that women are always treated the same way than men.
Because some people have prejudices and were taught in a way, they really think women are inferior than men, treating them worse, that is discrimantion. But the same thing happens with the differences between races. It is believed by many that the best race is the white one and that the others ones are inferior. Because of this thought, many people from different races (black, asian...) suffer constant discrimination.
Luckily, as I said before, it is currently getting much better. More and more people understand that discriminate someone because of eitheir their sex or gender does not make any sense. But also, there will always be the other part, those people who are really colsed-mind, and maybe because they got used to discriminating people, they will not change.
Because of there are still people like this, we all need to contribute and try to make them see that, that is not correct at all. Discrimantion only makes the world a worse place and full of hate. We can avoid that, but it will take a lot of time.
However, we can say that we have progressed a lot these past years. I wish every day, more people realize that everybody should be treated the same way, no matter their conditions.
MY FAVOURITE FOOD.
I love a lot of different kind of food. Actually this past year I have discovered that I like almost any kind of food from others countries (Mexican, Chinese...). I love trying different food that I have never tried before, because I always find something new that I love.
But I have to say, that my favourite kind of food have always been American food. This does not mean that I always want to eat American food, I always want to try different things. And if I had to pick a favourite food from the American food, I have to say hamburgers with fries. I will never get tired of eating them, I try to eat as few times as possible, because I know they are unhealthy, on the contrary I would eat many more times.
Obviously, I also have a favourite kind of hamburger since there are so many types. The one that I like the most is a hamburger with beef, cheese, onions, pickles, ketchup and moutard. That would be my perfect hamburger, also I love eating fries with them and a soda.
Also there are many places where you can get a hamburger. And I also have a favourite place to eat a hamburger. Here in Spain, the two most famous chains of food that sell hamburgers are Burger King and McDonalds. Between those thow I have always preferred Burger King.
However when I went to the United States, I got to know more chains of food that sold hamburgers. One of my favourite ones was Sonic. Nevertheless, now that I am in Spain, I usually choose Burger King.
THE BEST CAR TO OWN.
First of all, I have to say that I barely have any idea of cars. Since I was kid I always wanted a yellow car. That was the only thing I knew that I wanted from a car. Now that I am older, and I actually even can get a driving license I more or less know the same about cars.
However I have a better idea of what would be the perfect car for me. So basically, that is what I am going to talk about, the best car for me to own. I love pets, and I know for sure, that when I get older, I will get a dog. This means that for example if someday I want to take it to the country or some place far from home, my dog will need to stay in the car.
So I found out, that there are cars where there is a place behind, especially for dogs, when they are in cars. Actually, although I have seen many dogs on the backseats with their owners, that is not correct and illegal. So apart from being yello, my ideal car also needs to have a special space for dogs. Another thing that I would require for a car is to be automatic.
Nowadays, most of them are automatic, but there are still some that are not. Maybe it is because I do not have my driving license yet, but I think I will get really nervous when I drive, so I want a car as easy as possible to drive it. And I am going to say the last thing that I would like from a car.
I would want it to be small. At least my first car. They are easier to park and to drive, and I think those are two good elements for a first car. And basically that is for now. As I sai, I don´t know much about cars, so at least for now I don´t ask many things from a car.
For now I would like a yellow car, automatic, small and with space for a dog. I know that when I get older and have the decision to buy a car, this list will get much larger. But for now, those are the elements that need to be in my car in a future not so far way from now.
SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES.
First of all I don´t smoke. I have never smoken yet. And I am going to talk about what do I think about other people that smoke in public places. I have to admit, I don´t really like when for example I am eating in a restaurant and there is someone next to my table smoking.
And obviously I would just rather not to be smelling the smoke form others. However I also need to understand their situation. Those people that smoke get addicted to it currently. And once they are addicted, it is really hard to quit smoking. Some people say it is their fault, others that it is not.
From my point of view, it is half and half. I think that when they started smoking, they never thought that they e¡would end up being addicted. However they also knew that althought they didn´t think that it would happen, there were risks. Nowadays, more and more public places are building special room for smokers and I think that is correct.
However there are still others public places that still do not have one. In those cases, I alwasy imagine this situation. I imagine that I am a smoker, and I am eating relaxed in a restaurant, however suddenly I need to smoke a cigarette and until I don´t smoke it, I won´t be relaxed.
In this kind of cases, there are two kind of people, the ones that go outside to smoke and come inside again, and the ones that smoke inside. I think it is perfect for those people that go outside to smoke, and that is really polite. On the contrary, those people who smoke inside, I think at least, before starting smoking, they should see around them if there are any kids or old people.
I understand them and their situation, that sometimes they need to smoke, but they also need to understand the other people and know that sometimes it is disturbing.
25. A MOVIE STAR OR SINGER I LIKE.
I am going to talk about a movie star that I really like. I have been watching a lot of movies of him and to be honest I like all of them at the moment. His name is Mark Wahlberg and he is a movie star from Bosto, in the United States.
He has appeared in many movies. But what I like the most about him is that he can either be in comedy movies or in drama movies. Besides they are two very different genres, from my point of view, he is really good in both. I think he is really funny in comedy movies and also his acting in drama movies is really intense and good.
Some of the movies that I have enjoyed the most are Ted and Ted 2. These are comdey movies, and they really made me laught a lot. It is really funny the way that Mark Walhberg talks and acts.
However, as I said before, he is also good acting in more serious movies. For example I like his acting in the last two Transformers movies. I like Transformers, and I have watched the first 3 movies, where he doesn´t appear. Since I like Transfromers, I expected from him to do a good job, and that was what he did, from my point of view.
He is currently married to a model and they both have 4 kids together. He is 47 years old and he keeps appearing in a lot of movies.
26. A BELIEF YOU HAVE OR USED TO HAVE.
As it usually happens, when we are kids we are more likely to believe what we are told even though it doesn´t make any sense. In my case, I used to be a good example of that. So I am going to talk about a belief (in this case nonsense belief) I used to have when I was a kid.
When I was a kid, I believed that toys were real. I know this is a very common belief when you are a kid. But in my case, I took it too far. I really thoguht they were real.
To make you understand, I am going to give some examples. When I was a kid I had a lot of toys, however there were only some of them that were my favourites. So although I thought all the toys were alive, I just treated "as humans" my favourite toys.
I made little beds for them. I used small boxes and put cotton inside. I thought they would sleep more comfortable. Also I used to put put next to their mouths. I really thought they were eating. And another good example is that when I was playing with them, and accidentally I dropped one, I felt so bad because I thought I hurt them.
Obviously this was a belief I used to have. Now I look back and smile because of how innocent I was. I don´t really remember for how long I used to have this belief. But I remember that when I was around 5 I still had it.
27. A STORY FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD.
I am going to talk about a story from a childhood that I usually like telling it to my friends or anybody that I know. I was 11 years old So I was in 6th Grade. To be honest I feel really stupid when I think about it but I also laught a lot.
So this all started one morning when I was at school. I was in math class and the teacher told us to prepare for the following exam. So she told us that we had to do at least 2 exercises from every Unit given in class to revise.
So for now there is no problem with that. The problem was that I misunderstood EVERYTHING. I don´t know why but I understood that she wanted us to do all of the exercises of all of the Units that she has teached. I was mad but I really thoguht that is what she said.
So she said this on Thursday. And these exercises were due to Monday. So on Saturday I went to the library with my mom, and we literally spent over 4 hours doing all of the exercises. My mom couldn´t believe I had so much homework, but I was sure at that moment that, that is what the teacher told us.
So after working for so many hours I finally finished each one of them. I was exhausted but at the same time really proud that I had all of them done. It was hard but at the end I thought it was worthi it and useful for the exam.
So it was Monday. And the teacher started revising our homework. It was my moment to show her mine, and she didn´t understand whye there were so many exercises. So I told her that I had done all of them. She started laughing and explained that it was 2 exercises every unit. I felt horrible but at the same time, as the teacher said, I was going to be 100% ready for the next math exam.
28. A FAVORITE POSSESSION.
When I read this topic, at first I wasn´t sure what I was going to talk about. I have thought of many things. And to be honest the first thing that I thought about was my phone. However the I thought longer and decided that my favorite possession is my laptop.
It is my favourtie possession, because it is the thing that I have been using the most these last months. I didn´t use to use it as much as I do now, however when I started college, I use it every single day.
It is really useful to have a laptop in my computer, and I think that every student at the university should own one. however I do not only use it to do my projects and homework. I also use to entertain myself.
For example, I use it to listen to music. Also I always watch videos with my laptop. I also like to read the news, I think it is more comfortable. And well in conclusion, it is my favorite possession because I use for both, to work and for fun.
29. MUSIC THAT IS SPECIAL TO YOU.
This is actually a hard topic, at least for me. Because I consider myself as that kind of person that likes almost every kind of music. However, obviously I also have favorite types of music. So I guess my favourite type of music is really special to me. So in this case, I am going to talk about pop music.
To begin with, I have to say that I am always listening to music. Even when I am doing homework or studying. Although it might not be the best kind of music to study, it really makes me feel like studying more.
Also, this might be the best reason that makes it so special to me. When I am not really happy, I usually start listening to music. And when I listen to pop music, most of the times it makes me feel more happy and energetic. I don´t even know why but it really encourages me sometimes.
Music is really special. It depends on each person, it might mean more or less, but still I think everybody should listen to music someimes, to either relax, concentrate more to cheer themselves up... I think a little bit of music each day is really good for people.
30. A SPECIAL GIFT I HAVE GIVEN OR RECEIVED.
I am going to talk about ta special gift I have received. This has been the best present I have ever received at the moment and I will always remember this day. It was in my 9th birthday and they gave me a dog.
This meant a lot to me. I have always been asking for my dogs to my parents event to my grandparents. However I always got the same answer every time I asked for on, "no". So I started thinking that I would never get one.
However that wasn´t the case. I rememmber that the previous months before my birthday I barely told my parents to give my a dog as a birthday gift because I already knew the answer. However, I was wrong.
So it was finally the my birthday. I remember it was Monday and when I got out of school, my mother was waiting for me to take me home. So when I entered, I saw my parents, my brothers and my granparents. They were all smiling and they all said happy birthday to me. There was also a chocolate cake with cookies, which is my favourite one.
So after eating the cake, it was time to open the presents. I remember some them and I like them. However I didn´t like them as much as the last present. Suddenly, they told me to go to my room which I hadn´t entered yet. So that is what I did, and I saw her, I saw my future dog. I couldn´t stop smiling and I couldn´t believe it. I finally had the dog I had always been asking for.
31. A SPECIAL DAY OR EVENT IN MY LIFE.
This was on May 12th of this year. However I remember it as it was yesterday. It was a special and unforgettable moment in my life that I will never have again. I am going to talk about my last day of school in the United States.
That day I woke up kind of sad. Everything felt really strange, that was my last day of high school not only in the United States, but forever. I also had 2 global exams for US History and Algebra and that made me more nervous. But to be honest I was not too worried about the exams, I just wanted to focus on enjoying my last day there.
So after doing the 2 exams, all the students from the last year met in the playground. We all threw all of the papers that we have been doing the whole year. It was really pretty to see all the papers flying and all the floor covered with white sheets.
Also, the Chemistry teacher made a little party for me to say good bye and wish me the best in Spain. I didn´t expect that at all and it was a really special moment. I got to talk to all of my classmates and friends and to say good bye.
And that is the special moment in my life that I always like to remember it and share it with everyone. It was a really special day that not everybody got the chance to live it.
32. MY WORST HABIT.
To be honest, I have a lot of bad habits. I don´t know if this is my worst habit, but I have been having it for a long time and I hate it. A lot of people have already told me about. My bad habit is that I bite my nails.
I hate because of two main reasons. One is because my nails are getting shorter every time I bite the and I don´t like that. The other reason is that some people don´t like to watch me biting my nails and I understand that.
Despite knowing all of these disadvantages, sometimes I still bite my nails. I usually bite them more when I get nervous. I guess it is a way to try to think about other things and kind of calm me down sometimes.
But I also have to admit that I don´t bite them as much as I used to. And I am glad of that. BIt might not be a horrible habit, but I don´t like it at all and I know that I can get rid of it if I want to.
33. A FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE.
A frightening experience that right now I can think of is one that happened to me at the beginning of this year. I was at school in the United States. And it was a normal day as always until the alarm sounded.
I though it was a fire drill because the shcool has to do one once a year. However it was different this time. We couldn´t get out of our classrooms. We also had to be really quiet. Some of the students were saying that it was drill in case someone comes to the school with a gun.
However I couldn´t be 100% sure about it. It was really frightening that there was a little chance that someone was out there with a gun trying to shoot us. When I got ven more scared was when someone knocked the door of our classroom really loud. Nobody said anything and could hear the person leaving.
Finally, after 10 minutes, we heard by the speakers a woman saying "all clear" three times. That was the sign that everything was under control. Finally the teacher told us that it was a drill and that he couldn´t tell us so we could act as if it was real.
To be honest, I thought it wasn´t real. But that 1% that it was real was in my mind and that was a really intense experience.
So I joined classes twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. There were other people around my age that also were interested in playing this sport.I already knew the basic rules, but after going to classes I realized there were many other thing that I had no idea. Obviusly at first I wasn´t really good playing, but I was enjoying a lot. Every day I felt I was improving and I was so happy because of that.
I´m not sure why I chose tennis, I guess I liked it because it´s a sport which it depends on me if I win or lose. I mean it´s an individual game, I don´t have to play with others. Although I also like playing sports with more people such as basketball. I think tennis is a hard sport, it is required a lot of resistance, speed and perseverance.
AN ACCIDENT.
The last accident and the only one I think I have ever had or at least I that I can remember was actually a only three moths ago. It was this last summer. I remember that day I was going to hang out with my friends at the mall in the afternoon.
So my father took me there by car. There were any problems during the ride. However when it all happened, was in the parking lot. That was supposed to be one of the least likely places to have annaccident with a car. That was what I used to think, before having it. My dad was looking for a spot, when suddenly a car that was supposed to wait until my dad passed, kept going, so we got hit from the right side.
I am glad that it was in the parking lot, since that is a place where cars can not go fast, so the hit was not severe at all. It was a woman who was driving, and she was also with her dad. She got out of the car worried, however she admitted quickly that it was her fault and that she was really sorry. She and her dad seemed really nice. After talking for a little bit the agreed in everything. It was not such a big deal at the end, but at first we were all a little bit worry thinking the way we were going to handle the situation.
This accident made me think, and maybe because of a parking lot seems more secure than a road and it is much less likely to have an accident, people do not pay as much attention as they should. They should pay as much attention as they do in the road.
BEING ON TIME.
To be honest, I have to admit that even though in many situations is really important, I am not really good at being on time. The times that I always try to be on time is when I go to classes, since if I´m late I would miss part of the lesson. However there are other many occassions that even though I try I always end up being late.
For instance, whe I hang out with my friend. Ever time I meet them, I think that this time I will be on time, however I don´t know why there is always something I realize I have to do before leaving. Or also I might get distracted with something and I don´t realize what time it is.
Also when I go to the cinemas, most of the times, I enter the room when the trailers have already started, and I always have to walk carefully because the room is already dark. It is true that many times I am late, it is usually for 15 minutes or so. It is really weird when I am late for more than 15 minutes. Also, when I have to be on time on important occassions, I always try to get ready much earlier.
Being on time is a sign of respect, and although there are sometimes that I am a little bit late with my friend or to watch a movie, I would never be late for instance when there s an important meeting, or when I have to go to classes. I think in this kind of occassions to be on time is a sign of respect.
That is why although I am not really good at it, I always try to be on time, to show respect and also, beacuse if it were me, I know I wouldn´t like to be waiting for someone for a long time. I think that is really annoying.
THE PEOPLE I LIVE WITH.
I am currently living with my family. My father, my mother and my older two brothers. My father works as an office worker, he usually works in the mornings, so since now I have college in the afternoons, I can´t see him a lot. He is the only member in the people I live with that drives. So he is the one who gives us a ride by car when if we need it.
He is really good at maths, so when I was in high school, and I didn´t understand somethimg, he used to expalin me everthing. My mother is a housewife. She can drive, she got her driving license many years ago, however she doesn´t like driving a lot, and actually she barely needs to use the car.
I usually talk to her a lot, and she is very good at gibving me advices. As my father, she is also very tall. So I guess I am also very tall because of them. My mother is very talkative and friendly with people and she also likes reading books. She usually reads every day a little bit.
I also live with my two older borthers. The oldest one is 25 years old. He is currently studying. We talk a lot with each other. I would say I talk to him even more than I do with my other brother. We both like playing videogames, and I really like and enjoy when we play together. My other brothers is 23 years old. He is also studying to become a policeman. He is a very sportive person. I think he is the most outgoing of us three.
To be honest I get along with all the people I live with. Basically because they are my family and I look like them in many aspects. Also I like that I get to live with my family because I know that they wil always be there to help me. Also we are very close to each other and confident.
I don´t know when I will move to another house, but it will be hard because I won´t be living with them anymore. I have been living with them since I was born so I am used to seeing them everyday in the house.
9AMERICAN CUSTOMS I LIKE/DISLIKE.
To be honest the United States is my favourite country. But that doesn´t mean that I like all of its customs. Last year I got to visit this country and there were many things that I liked however there were also others that I wasn´t used to and that I didn´t like.
I am going to start by saying some the many customs that I like. I like the custom of celebrating Thanksgiving Day and also the way the celebrate it. The eat a lot of food with their families and also say why they are thnakful for and I think it is a beautiful day.
Also, dressing up for Halloween asking for candies door by door. It is true that nowadays this custom has been going all arounf the world, and currently it is not a custom only in America. But it is better known to be done there. Also I like that when they meet someone, they don´t give two kisses to each other, instead the either do a handshake or just smile.
I have never liked the custom of kissing someone when you meet that peson so that is why I like this American custom. Also I like that they are usually more polite when they are talking to someone.
For example students call their teachers by their surnames, saying either Mr. or Ms. I like that because it is a good way to show respect to someone. Although it might not be good to me, I like that tips are almost compulsory for waiters. I think it is fai and if the waiters know that depending on how they work, they will get either more or less money, they will work better and harder.
But also as I said befor, there are some customs that I don´t like.
For example the schedule that they have to eat. Many people eat only three times a day. Because of this, they eat big meals however it is reccommended to be five meals. That is a custom I don´t like at all.
10. AN IMPORTANT STORY IN THE NEWS.
An important story in the news that now I can think of is the brexit. I don´t usually wacth the news however this story made me to wacth them more. To be honest I didn´t expect such a thing like this to happen but I guess that many people didn´t expect it either.
I remember when they first talked about it but I never thought it would get this far. Soon it will be a reality. And to be sincere, I don´t really understand much about politics, but I can´t see the point of doing it anywhere. I don´t understand why there are so many people that don´t want to be part of Europe anymore afer so many years.
As you can see I disagree about the Brexit. I also don´t understand why thy feel different and they don´t want to stay in Europe anymore. As I said before I´m not really into politics, and there might be good reasons that people have to do the Brexit. But still, I think there was no need to do such a big deal like this. I even think that in they future they would regret, and they will see that they were better before.
Also it will complicate things for immigrants or even for tourists that are from Europe. European citizens will be required more things if they want to visit the United Kingdom and I think that will also be bad for the money they get from tourism. I think that even though this, got much farther than I expected, there is still time to take it back, and to make british people see that it is not really worth it.
I have talked from my point of view. Maybe if I were british I would think different. I agree that british people have the right to do this but I disagree about doing it.
11. THE WORKING STUDENT.
A working student is a person who studies and also at the same time has a job. I think that a working student needs to be really responsible because it is really hard to be able to do both things. A working student needs to be rally organised and has to know perfectly waht to do and when to do it, if that person really wants to both get good grades and be able to work correctly in the job.
Actually I have been thinking about this lately: would I be able to be a working student? Because as I said before it´s not easy, and not everybody can do it. To be a working student must be also really tiring, there is barely free time for yourself.
Sometimes I have even thought about being a working student, however, later I think more, and I feel that I would be really stressed and I wouldn´t be happy because I woulnd´t have any time to do the things that I like. Besides, fortunately, at the moment I don´t need the money to pay for my studies, since I am living with my parents, and I feel very lucky, because they can afoord my studies.
However not everybody can say this. And I think that most of the working students, need money to pay for their studies and also for other things. And they have no other option that to study and also to work to be able to keep studying. Many students have to rent a house near their colleges, and that costs a lot of money, that is why many students have to work in order to be able to afford the rent house.
I know a few working students, and I admireall of them, because to be honest, I am not sure if I would be able to do that right now or in a future.
12. A BIG MISTAKE I ONCE MADE.
Actually I have made plenty of mistakes in all my life, and I could mention many of them. But right now I can think of a big mistake that I can talk about right now. It is actually a really funny mistake, and I like telling it to my friends.
I was 14 years old, so it was 4 years ago. I was in a school trip to France, it was in an exchange so I was going to live with a french family that I didn´t know at all for a week. It was also my first time traveling in a foreign country.
So after this introduction, I am going to explain that big but also funny mistake that I made. I was with another espanish girl that was from my school and two other girls from France. School had finished, so we got on the school bus, but it was really full, so the spanish girl and I sat down in a place, and the other 2 girls from France had to sit in seats far from where we were. Me and my friend were close to the door of the school bus.
And after a few minutes the bus stopped in a bus stop. We saw many students getting off, so we supposed that was where we had to go. So I told my friend to get off, and to wait the other two girls outside. After getting off, the doors closed, and the bus left. We were shcocked at first, I was wrong, that wasn´t our stop. But we were really lucky because a few meters far from us the bus stopped because there was a traffic light in red.
So we started running as fust as we could and we were able to get the bus. We saw the two girls from France telling the bus driver to open us the door. I felt so bad, because it was my fault because it was actually me who said to get off the bus. Luckily it all ended up in a funny story to tell. But next time I know that I always need to wait for other people if I am not sure.
13. USING E-MAIL.
Nowadays, e-mails are very useful. However I think they are becoming less and less used. A lot of new technologies have been creating lately, such as, Skype, Whatsapp... And because of those new disposibilities, people don´t need to use e-mails to send anything. For example, in my case, I still need a lot the e-mails.
For instance, when I am going to send a project or whatever to a teachr. The only way is to do it by e-mail. But to be honest, apart from those cases, I do not really need e-mails for anything else. So I guess, that people that are no students do not really need e-mails neither. However sometimes I have wanted to send something either to my friends or my family, however, the archive that I wanted to send them was too big to send to for example with Whatsapp.
So the best option for that i to send it by e-mail. I think nowadays, e-mails are mostly used either by students, to send projects or questions to send projects and questions; and also elder people, that got used to using e-mails, and now they don´t use new technology facilities to communicate, because they use e-mails instead.
Also, e-mails are good for business, stores... I have seen in many cases that,for example when insurance brookings send ads, they usually put two ways to be able to cummunicate to them. One, is their phone number, and the other one, is ther e-mail adress.
In my opinion, I believe, that even though, it might be used less than it used to, e-mails will always be very useful, and there will always be people who need it and use it. I think, nowadays it is very necessary and helpfull.
14. CELL PHONES.
It is crazy to think how fast and the way cell phones have developed these past years. When our parents were young, cell phones didn´t even exist. However, to be honest, right now, I can´t imagine any teenager without one. They have become a fundamental part in our lives, and we use them every day, almost for everything.
Especially, these past years, cell phones have been improving a lot, there are some, that can do things, that to be honest, a few years ago, I would never believe a phone, could do. It is true, that cell phones are really necessary and helpfull, for every day. They can help us with multiple things, such as: finding an adress, text someone while you are outside from home, call anybody you want, take pictures and videos, watch videos... Cell phones are good for both entertaining and helping people every day.
However, since cell phones are getting this good, people can get too adictive to them. And things that create addictions are not good, since they make people depend on something to be able to feel good. I remember, one day, one of my friend´s cell phones broke. They had to fix it, and he couldn´t use his cell-phone for 3 days. He was really mad those days, and felt strssed, because he didn´t know if someone was texting him.
Also, he used to using his cel-phone for many hours every day, however these three days, he didn´t know what to do in those hours. People need to be careful with this, and they need to limit the time that they use their cell-phones. Cell-phones are a great advancement in our lives, however, if we do not know how to use them, they can become dangerous. I believe people should use cell-phones less time, that way they won´t become addictive.
And to be honest, it is easy to say it, but I also need to do that with myself. And although I try to use my cell phone the less time I can, it is hard, many times. I hate the feeling of not knowing if someone is texting me, and I think that is the case of most of the teenagers nowadays. That is why, I think we should all reduce the time that we spend with our cell phones every day.
15. TEENAGERS.
I am eighteen years old and I still consider myself as a teenager. It is said thta when you turn 18, you become an adult and you are not a teenager anymore. However I do not agree with this, I think it depends on the person. So I am going to talk mostly about my experience.
Teenagers have always been known as being "complicated". The reason for that is because it is a part of the life which many changes are happening. It is like the journey from being kids to become adults. It is like being in the middle of the two things but actually not being any of them. These changes affect teenagers in a very different way depending on the person. Some change their humor, and they become more sensible and get mad easier. Others, change their likes completely.
Others want to become independent, however they don´t realize that they are still "half-kids". Also, when you are a teenager, normally studies get more complicated. To be honest at least for me, that was the hardest thing. It was big change from school to high school, studies were becoming harder and harder.
However my interest in studying was becoming smaller and smaller. This was really stressful for me. And I think for the majority teenagers. But although as I said before, that teenegars are considered to be "complicated", there are also good things. Teenagers are more independent than they used to be. Also they are becoming more mature.
Besides, they are old enough to make some decisions by their own. To be a teenager has its good but also bad parts. I think it depends on every person, some may remember beeing a teenager as a godd memory, however, others as a bad memory.
16. THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED.
This is an interesting topic, since it depends on the people, they will either say one thing or another. But this will be from my point of view. The way I see it, marriage is for adults, that means for people who know what they want in their futures.
However this sentence is very relative, because at what age a person knows that? That depends on the person, there are some that would want to marry really young, others bery old, because they want to enjoy their youth without being married. Or even there are many people that never want to get married.
So basically what I am trying to say with this is that marriage has no age. It all depends on the person. It is a fact that nowadays, we are used to seeing people getting married from 30-40 years. So if when we see someone, for example getting married, and that person is older than 60 years, it will feel strange for us at first.
However, that shouldn´t matter. Every person should get married whenevr they feel ready or whenever they find their true love at any age without being judged. On the contrary, there are also cases, that teenager between 18-22 years old get married. This used to happen more some years ago.
However there are still cases. It is true that I´ve said before that marriage should have no age, however I think nobody can be mentally prepared to be engaged at the age of 18, no matter how mature that person is. Although, if I knew someone at that age that wanted to do it, I wouldn´t try to stop that person.
If they feel like doing it at that moment, they have their rights to do so. They will have time in the future to get divorced and realize of their mistakes. So, that is my conlusion to this topic. I think the right age to get married depends only on you, and you are the one who decides that, not somebody else.
17. A GOOD FRIEND.
We all have friends, better or worse. And it is easy to describe one, however when it comes to a good friend it can be more complicated to have one. First of all, what does a person need to be a good friend? I am going to answer this question and talk about this topic according to my experiences and from my point of view.
I have some friends from school and high school, and I usually hang out with them. At the moment, to be honest I love all of my friends and I cond¡sider them all good friends. But each one has their own reasons to be a good friend. SOme of them is because they make me laugh, others because they listen to me, others because they give me advices... So after saying this, it is kind of hard to describe how a good friend should be.
However there are some things that all of my friends have, although they are different as people, I think they have some fundamental quialities to be good friends. First of all, there has to be trust between you and your friend. You need to feel confident with them, and he/she has to make feel as if you trusted him/her and vicevers.
Also a good friend needs to be honest, if they lie to oyu, that means that you are not that important for them. And lastly and very important there must also be loyalty. They need to respect you, adn treat you well.
I am sure there are more qualities that a good friend has, but right now, when I think of my friends, I can say that those three qualities are necessary to become a good friend.
SHOPPING.
Shopping can involve many things. To go shopping for clothes, food, games.... Also you can go shopping with your friends, by yourself, with your family.... Obviously, I rather to buy some things than others.
However I have to admit, that I love go shopping for almost everything. I just have fun. Even when I go shopping for food in a supermarket. However, as I said, I enjoy more buying some specific things. I would say that when I go shopping, I prefer to buy either clothes or videogames. I thing those are my two favourite things to buy when I go shopping.
Nevertheless, I recognize that I like buying food too. I like the feeling of being able to choose what I like, and seeing al the different things that there are to buy. It depends on the situatuon, that I rather either go shopping with my friends, family or by myself.
For example, when I go shooping for food I prefer going with my family, however when I go for buying clothes I prefer going by myself and when I go shopping for videgames I enjoy it better going with friends.
However shopping can also become dangerous if you can´t control yourself when it comes to buy things. As I mentioned before, I love shopping, but I always know that I can´t waste the money. It is good caprices ocasionally but that´s it. If you can´t control yourself, that can led to very serious economic problems such as not being able to afford necessay things for every day life.
So that is why I always try to be cautious and understand that I can´t buy everything that I want. I first try to buy what I really need, and then if there is still some money left, I can decide if I either want to spend it on something that I want or save it.
It is also a good option to save sometimes instead of spending it. You never know if someday you may need some extra money to buy something that you didn´t think of. It is always good to have at least a few savings.
YOUR LAST DAY IN YOUR COUNTRY.
Right now I am really nervous while I am writing this. It is 9 p.m. and this is my last night in my country. Tomorrow I will be taking a plane very soon with a destination to the United States. I will be staying there for a year. And although I am excited I have to say that I am also nervous and kind of sad.
It is a mixture of feelings. I won´t see my family nor friends for a whole year and I know that will be the hardest part because I will miss them a lot. I know it will be hard, but I also know that I will learn and enjoy a lot this year. So today, I didn´t want any kind of goodbyes parties. I knew that was going to make sad.
So, instead of that, I just decided to enjoy my family and spend the day with them, doing things that we all like. We went to a restaurant to eat all together. After we finished, we ent to watch a movie in a cinema. Then we came back home and played videogames, and also board games.
After that, we stayed like an hour talking to each other about my trip and ohter things. It was 6 p.m. and I hung out with my friend just to talk for the last time face to face in 1 year. We didn´t prepare anything, we just went walking around the city and we talked for over 2 hours. We also had dinner.
It was hard to say goodbye to them but I knew that we were going to keep in touch during my staying so that made me fell much better. After I arrived home, I made some calls to some members of my family and also some friends that I couldn´t see that day. I have been taling for an hour with different people. And now that it is 9:14 p.m.
I am writing this and I am about to go to bed since tomorrow I will have to wake up and I don´t want to be tired. Today was a good day, I did many things that I enjoy doing, and I laughed a lot. However it is also needless to say that it felt a little sad sometimes. But still I am very happy and excited for this adventure that starts tomorrow.
YOUR FIRST DAY IN THE UNITED STATES.
After more than 8 hours travelling, here I am, finally in the United States. I feel exhausted, because I barely could sleep in the airplane. I have also been nervous all the journey. I couldn´t stop thinking how it was going to be the first time that I was going to see my host family.
It is 10:14 p.m. right now, and I am laying in me bed. I feel like sleeping for a whole day but before that, I wanted to right my feeling about this day. Although I have been really nervous the whole day, once I saw my host family, I felt much better. I saw them at the airport, they were holding two banners, one of them said "Bienvenida Andrea" and the other one "Welcome Andrea".
They also had ballons whit the shape of the United States. They were all smiling and happy to see me, that calmed me down a lot. We got into their car, and they started talking to me about where they live and how is it. Once we arrived at their home, they had prepared a big meal.
They told me that they knew I was going to be too tired to get out the house, so they decided to prepare a lot of food to eat in the house. There was pizza, chips, soda drinks, chicken.... After finishing eating and talking a lot, they told to go to my room because they were sure I needed to rest.
And to be honest, at that time, a bed was the thing that I wanted the most. So after saying thank you for the welcoming and good night, I went into my new bedroom. I tried to put most of my clothes in the wardrobe and after that I laid down in the bed like never before.
I had never been more exhausted in my life before, it was the outcome of barely sleep and a whole day feeling nervous. But right now, at this moment, I feel really happy, and excited for what awaites me tomorrow and the whole year that I am going to spend in the United States.
DISCRIMINATION.
Sadly, nowadays, there is still discrimination. Discrimination is a way of treating someone worse because of their race, age or sex. And that is really unfair. Everyone should be treated the same way.
For example, one of the most common cases where discrimantion is found is the differences that there are beteween men and women. It is getting much better than it used to be, but can not say yet that women are always treated the same way than men.
Because some people have prejudices and were taught in a way, they really think women are inferior than men, treating them worse, that is discrimantion. But the same thing happens with the differences between races. It is believed by many that the best race is the white one and that the others ones are inferior. Because of this thought, many people from different races (black, asian...) suffer constant discrimination.
Luckily, as I said before, it is currently getting much better. More and more people understand that discriminate someone because of eitheir their sex or gender does not make any sense. But also, there will always be the other part, those people who are really colsed-mind, and maybe because they got used to discriminating people, they will not change.
Because of there are still people like this, we all need to contribute and try to make them see that, that is not correct at all. Discrimantion only makes the world a worse place and full of hate. We can avoid that, but it will take a lot of time.
However, we can say that we have progressed a lot these past years. I wish every day, more people realize that everybody should be treated the same way, no matter their conditions.
MY FAVOURITE FOOD.
I love a lot of different kind of food. Actually this past year I have discovered that I like almost any kind of food from others countries (Mexican, Chinese...). I love trying different food that I have never tried before, because I always find something new that I love.
But I have to say, that my favourite kind of food have always been American food. This does not mean that I always want to eat American food, I always want to try different things. And if I had to pick a favourite food from the American food, I have to say hamburgers with fries. I will never get tired of eating them, I try to eat as few times as possible, because I know they are unhealthy, on the contrary I would eat many more times.
Obviously, I also have a favourite kind of hamburger since there are so many types. The one that I like the most is a hamburger with beef, cheese, onions, pickles, ketchup and moutard. That would be my perfect hamburger, also I love eating fries with them and a soda.
Also there are many places where you can get a hamburger. And I also have a favourite place to eat a hamburger. Here in Spain, the two most famous chains of food that sell hamburgers are Burger King and McDonalds. Between those thow I have always preferred Burger King.
However when I went to the United States, I got to know more chains of food that sold hamburgers. One of my favourite ones was Sonic. Nevertheless, now that I am in Spain, I usually choose Burger King.
THE BEST CAR TO OWN.
First of all, I have to say that I barely have any idea of cars. Since I was kid I always wanted a yellow car. That was the only thing I knew that I wanted from a car. Now that I am older, and I actually even can get a driving license I more or less know the same about cars.
However I have a better idea of what would be the perfect car for me. So basically, that is what I am going to talk about, the best car for me to own. I love pets, and I know for sure, that when I get older, I will get a dog. This means that for example if someday I want to take it to the country or some place far from home, my dog will need to stay in the car.
So I found out, that there are cars where there is a place behind, especially for dogs, when they are in cars. Actually, although I have seen many dogs on the backseats with their owners, that is not correct and illegal. So apart from being yello, my ideal car also needs to have a special space for dogs. Another thing that I would require for a car is to be automatic.
Nowadays, most of them are automatic, but there are still some that are not. Maybe it is because I do not have my driving license yet, but I think I will get really nervous when I drive, so I want a car as easy as possible to drive it. And I am going to say the last thing that I would like from a car.
I would want it to be small. At least my first car. They are easier to park and to drive, and I think those are two good elements for a first car. And basically that is for now. As I sai, I don´t know much about cars, so at least for now I don´t ask many things from a car.
For now I would like a yellow car, automatic, small and with space for a dog. I know that when I get older and have the decision to buy a car, this list will get much larger. But for now, those are the elements that need to be in my car in a future not so far way from now.
SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES.
First of all I don´t smoke. I have never smoken yet. And I am going to talk about what do I think about other people that smoke in public places. I have to admit, I don´t really like when for example I am eating in a restaurant and there is someone next to my table smoking.
And obviously I would just rather not to be smelling the smoke form others. However I also need to understand their situation. Those people that smoke get addicted to it currently. And once they are addicted, it is really hard to quit smoking. Some people say it is their fault, others that it is not.
From my point of view, it is half and half. I think that when they started smoking, they never thought that they e¡would end up being addicted. However they also knew that althought they didn´t think that it would happen, there were risks. Nowadays, more and more public places are building special room for smokers and I think that is correct.
However there are still others public places that still do not have one. In those cases, I alwasy imagine this situation. I imagine that I am a smoker, and I am eating relaxed in a restaurant, however suddenly I need to smoke a cigarette and until I don´t smoke it, I won´t be relaxed.
In this kind of cases, there are two kind of people, the ones that go outside to smoke and come inside again, and the ones that smoke inside. I think it is perfect for those people that go outside to smoke, and that is really polite. On the contrary, those people who smoke inside, I think at least, before starting smoking, they should see around them if there are any kids or old people.
I understand them and their situation, that sometimes they need to smoke, but they also need to understand the other people and know that sometimes it is disturbing.
25. A MOVIE STAR OR SINGER I LIKE.
I am going to talk about a movie star that I really like. I have been watching a lot of movies of him and to be honest I like all of them at the moment. His name is Mark Wahlberg and he is a movie star from Bosto, in the United States.
He has appeared in many movies. But what I like the most about him is that he can either be in comedy movies or in drama movies. Besides they are two very different genres, from my point of view, he is really good in both. I think he is really funny in comedy movies and also his acting in drama movies is really intense and good.
Some of the movies that I have enjoyed the most are Ted and Ted 2. These are comdey movies, and they really made me laught a lot. It is really funny the way that Mark Walhberg talks and acts.
However, as I said before, he is also good acting in more serious movies. For example I like his acting in the last two Transformers movies. I like Transformers, and I have watched the first 3 movies, where he doesn´t appear. Since I like Transfromers, I expected from him to do a good job, and that was what he did, from my point of view.
He is currently married to a model and they both have 4 kids together. He is 47 years old and he keeps appearing in a lot of movies.
26. A BELIEF YOU HAVE OR USED TO HAVE.
As it usually happens, when we are kids we are more likely to believe what we are told even though it doesn´t make any sense. In my case, I used to be a good example of that. So I am going to talk about a belief (in this case nonsense belief) I used to have when I was a kid.
When I was a kid, I believed that toys were real. I know this is a very common belief when you are a kid. But in my case, I took it too far. I really thoguht they were real.
To make you understand, I am going to give some examples. When I was a kid I had a lot of toys, however there were only some of them that were my favourites. So although I thought all the toys were alive, I just treated "as humans" my favourite toys.
I made little beds for them. I used small boxes and put cotton inside. I thought they would sleep more comfortable. Also I used to put put next to their mouths. I really thought they were eating. And another good example is that when I was playing with them, and accidentally I dropped one, I felt so bad because I thought I hurt them.
Obviously this was a belief I used to have. Now I look back and smile because of how innocent I was. I don´t really remember for how long I used to have this belief. But I remember that when I was around 5 I still had it.
27. A STORY FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD.
I am going to talk about a story from a childhood that I usually like telling it to my friends or anybody that I know. I was 11 years old So I was in 6th Grade. To be honest I feel really stupid when I think about it but I also laught a lot.
So this all started one morning when I was at school. I was in math class and the teacher told us to prepare for the following exam. So she told us that we had to do at least 2 exercises from every Unit given in class to revise.
So for now there is no problem with that. The problem was that I misunderstood EVERYTHING. I don´t know why but I understood that she wanted us to do all of the exercises of all of the Units that she has teached. I was mad but I really thoguht that is what she said.
So she said this on Thursday. And these exercises were due to Monday. So on Saturday I went to the library with my mom, and we literally spent over 4 hours doing all of the exercises. My mom couldn´t believe I had so much homework, but I was sure at that moment that, that is what the teacher told us.
So after working for so many hours I finally finished each one of them. I was exhausted but at the same time really proud that I had all of them done. It was hard but at the end I thought it was worthi it and useful for the exam.
So it was Monday. And the teacher started revising our homework. It was my moment to show her mine, and she didn´t understand whye there were so many exercises. So I told her that I had done all of them. She started laughing and explained that it was 2 exercises every unit. I felt horrible but at the same time, as the teacher said, I was going to be 100% ready for the next math exam.
28. A FAVORITE POSSESSION.
When I read this topic, at first I wasn´t sure what I was going to talk about. I have thought of many things. And to be honest the first thing that I thought about was my phone. However the I thought longer and decided that my favorite possession is my laptop.
It is my favourtie possession, because it is the thing that I have been using the most these last months. I didn´t use to use it as much as I do now, however when I started college, I use it every single day.
It is really useful to have a laptop in my computer, and I think that every student at the university should own one. however I do not only use it to do my projects and homework. I also use to entertain myself.
For example, I use it to listen to music. Also I always watch videos with my laptop. I also like to read the news, I think it is more comfortable. And well in conclusion, it is my favorite possession because I use for both, to work and for fun.
29. MUSIC THAT IS SPECIAL TO YOU.
This is actually a hard topic, at least for me. Because I consider myself as that kind of person that likes almost every kind of music. However, obviously I also have favorite types of music. So I guess my favourite type of music is really special to me. So in this case, I am going to talk about pop music.
To begin with, I have to say that I am always listening to music. Even when I am doing homework or studying. Although it might not be the best kind of music to study, it really makes me feel like studying more.
Also, this might be the best reason that makes it so special to me. When I am not really happy, I usually start listening to music. And when I listen to pop music, most of the times it makes me feel more happy and energetic. I don´t even know why but it really encourages me sometimes.
Music is really special. It depends on each person, it might mean more or less, but still I think everybody should listen to music someimes, to either relax, concentrate more to cheer themselves up... I think a little bit of music each day is really good for people.
30. A SPECIAL GIFT I HAVE GIVEN OR RECEIVED.
I am going to talk about ta special gift I have received. This has been the best present I have ever received at the moment and I will always remember this day. It was in my 9th birthday and they gave me a dog.
This meant a lot to me. I have always been asking for my dogs to my parents event to my grandparents. However I always got the same answer every time I asked for on, "no". So I started thinking that I would never get one.
However that wasn´t the case. I rememmber that the previous months before my birthday I barely told my parents to give my a dog as a birthday gift because I already knew the answer. However, I was wrong.
So it was finally the my birthday. I remember it was Monday and when I got out of school, my mother was waiting for me to take me home. So when I entered, I saw my parents, my brothers and my granparents. They were all smiling and they all said happy birthday to me. There was also a chocolate cake with cookies, which is my favourite one.
So after eating the cake, it was time to open the presents. I remember some them and I like them. However I didn´t like them as much as the last present. Suddenly, they told me to go to my room which I hadn´t entered yet. So that is what I did, and I saw her, I saw my future dog. I couldn´t stop smiling and I couldn´t believe it. I finally had the dog I had always been asking for.
31. A SPECIAL DAY OR EVENT IN MY LIFE.
This was on May 12th of this year. However I remember it as it was yesterday. It was a special and unforgettable moment in my life that I will never have again. I am going to talk about my last day of school in the United States.
That day I woke up kind of sad. Everything felt really strange, that was my last day of high school not only in the United States, but forever. I also had 2 global exams for US History and Algebra and that made me more nervous. But to be honest I was not too worried about the exams, I just wanted to focus on enjoying my last day there.
So after doing the 2 exams, all the students from the last year met in the playground. We all threw all of the papers that we have been doing the whole year. It was really pretty to see all the papers flying and all the floor covered with white sheets.
Also, the Chemistry teacher made a little party for me to say good bye and wish me the best in Spain. I didn´t expect that at all and it was a really special moment. I got to talk to all of my classmates and friends and to say good bye.
And that is the special moment in my life that I always like to remember it and share it with everyone. It was a really special day that not everybody got the chance to live it.
32. MY WORST HABIT.
To be honest, I have a lot of bad habits. I don´t know if this is my worst habit, but I have been having it for a long time and I hate it. A lot of people have already told me about. My bad habit is that I bite my nails.
I hate because of two main reasons. One is because my nails are getting shorter every time I bite the and I don´t like that. The other reason is that some people don´t like to watch me biting my nails and I understand that.
Despite knowing all of these disadvantages, sometimes I still bite my nails. I usually bite them more when I get nervous. I guess it is a way to try to think about other things and kind of calm me down sometimes.
But I also have to admit that I don´t bite them as much as I used to. And I am glad of that. BIt might not be a horrible habit, but I don´t like it at all and I know that I can get rid of it if I want to.
33. A FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE.
A frightening experience that right now I can think of is one that happened to me at the beginning of this year. I was at school in the United States. And it was a normal day as always until the alarm sounded.
I though it was a fire drill because the shcool has to do one once a year. However it was different this time. We couldn´t get out of our classrooms. We also had to be really quiet. Some of the students were saying that it was drill in case someone comes to the school with a gun.
However I couldn´t be 100% sure about it. It was really frightening that there was a little chance that someone was out there with a gun trying to shoot us. When I got ven more scared was when someone knocked the door of our classroom really loud. Nobody said anything and could hear the person leaving.
Finally, after 10 minutes, we heard by the speakers a woman saying "all clear" three times. That was the sign that everything was under control. Finally the teacher told us that it was a drill and that he couldn´t tell us so we could act as if it was real.
To be honest, I thought it wasn´t real. But that 1% that it was real was in my mind and that was a really intense experience.
