My favourite book and film

"Books and movies are like apples and oranges. They both are fruit, 

but taste completely different." - Stephen King

Books are a pleasure that good readers enjoy. They lead you through mysteries, such as Agatha Christie's detective stories or Dan Brown's plots, to scientific, philosophical, historical, romantic issues in an endless number of genres written both in formal and informal language, fiction and non-fiction. 

When I was about ten, my father gave me a book to read it carefully, as it contained "messages that I would cherish all my life long". He was not fond of reading, but that book had meant a lot to him and wanted to transfer his feelings to me.

From Enrico's diary

I enjoyed reading it! The book written by Edmondo de Amicis, “Cuore”, the Italian term for "Heart", tells us about  Enrico—the main character—who is a nine-year-old boy, who writes about his life at school, his friends and not so much friends, their families, his teachers ... The novel covers one year of Enrico´s life at school narrated in the form of a diary; each classmate´s life develops and grows in your mind and you end up by feeling love and understanding for them. As Enrico’s classmates, you also waited eagerly for reading the story of the month; these remarkable “monthly stories” were short stories full of sensitivity, braveness, endurance, warmth and genuine love—one of such stories was “From the Apennines to the Andes”...

Grand Rex, Paris, France

As a teenager, I developed a liking for watching films in those attractive buildings with a superb architecture, similar to opera houses, where you could enjoy watching both the surroundings and the films and everyone would be quiet and respectful... no popcorn existed… Technicolor and Cinerama brought elegance and modernity, and super-productions became common. Ben-Hur, The Sound of Music, Star Wars and E.T The extraterrestrial were invested with the stateliness of the theatres.

Although technological advances have made possible to give life on screen to Tolkien's fantastic world, The Lord of the Rings; and Crichton's Jurassic Park;  I'd have liked to have watched them in the magnificent buildings of the past century without the sound of popcorn around me.

I enjoy watching films, so naming my favourite one is  especially hard to me. Big Fish, As Good as it gets, The lord of the rings, Sense and Sensibility, Skyfall, La la Land, Rainman, The Cyder House Rules, Faceoff, Dead Poet's Society ... are just a few of films that come to my mind...

Yet, there is a film that I think everyone should watch to live and learn from. We often hear that books are far better than films. A long time ago, I watched a film named "The Shawshank Redemption", a beautiful story of a man accused of murdering his wife and how he faced his life in prison; it has an extraordinary ending. Great casting, well-structured film.

I looked for the book and I realized that it was a rather short  (about 50 pages long) story written by Stephen King. The author and the director of the film worked together; the film was nominated to several Oscar awards, but won none. To the critics' surprise, the video was a complete success and today is considered a real masterpiece...! And I must say that the film was to me better than the novel; the music, the location, the casting and the direction contributed to the enrichment of a solid story.

Now, it is your turn:

Tell me what your favourite film and book are
What makes them attractive
When  you read/watched them
Why you recommend them
Minumum length :180 words.
Remember to make comments on 3 of your classmates' posts and also the teacher's 

The best holiday/concert I´ve had

a) Holidays...

Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.

 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Holidays mean fun, relaxation, enjoying yourself, plenty of free time to do anything with no obligation, no concern. You are the owner and master of your life and everything is within your reach, or at least you want to believe so. The mountains, the lakes, the beaches, the parks ... are waiting for you.

Going on holiday is so natural today that we feel frustated when we don't have them--even ashamed. This is so much so, that some people may spend a couple of days off a few miles away, just to say that they had spent wonderful holidays somewhere.

Yet, only wealthy people could afford "holidays" until the 19th century; their young sons spent sometimes a (long) time abroad in Europe, as part of their education.

Just at the beginning of the nineteenth century, in England, every worker got a Sunday off and about the end of that century some skilled workers had a Saturday afternoon off. Late in the nineteenth century, a few skilled workers obtained paid holidays in some countries . In the twentieth century, holidays gained space and from then on they are considered indispensable in our modern world.

Holidays mean memories and "carpe diem". I recall wonderful memories of journeys, travelling by train and enjoying with wide open eyes the landscapes, the trees, the forest...

 Market Place, Castro, Chiloé Island

In rather recent holidays, a couple of years ago, in Chiloé, I opened my eyes to my mother's birthplace. Beautiful views, piers, market places, hundreds of churches and the friendliness of Chilotes gained my heart. My wife and I went on tour to the "pinguineras" in Puñihuil and also visited many churches on the island. The weather was great, so we had splendid views. We also moved to Puerto Varas and Frutillar, spending some time admiring All Saint's Lake and Petrohue's waterfalls...

Petrohué Waterfalls, Puerto Varas

As my son and daugther had never been there, we planned to spend our holidays again in the south of Chile last year, having Puerto Montt as our lodging city. Our son-in-law and our son's fiancée joined us in this new adventure.

The weather was not benevolent, though. Stormy, rainy, cloudy and windy days did not permit to visit the spectacular places such as the Petrohue waterfalls or  All the Saints' Lake because of road closures. Yet, we were able to spend some time at various attractive places in Puerto Varas and Frutillar. We did also go to Chiloé under difficult atmospheric conditions; we visited a curious Mythological Theme Park, a few churches, piers, folk craft shops ... together with the folk Chiloé's typical cuisine. Our holidays in the South of Chile were different, but enjoyable by all means, with the warmth of being together...and this is what matters the most in one's holiday.

 Patrimonial Church, Castro, Chiloé

I would be unfair if I told you that  I spent my best holiday in Chiloé. I have been to other wonderful places  that certainly deserve a post as well.

By the way, why do we speak of "holidays"? In the Middle Ages and earlier, pilgrims went to shrines to show their devotion; they were on holidays (holy=sacred).

Now it's your turn:  Choose Holidays or Concert

Holidays:                                                                         Concert:
- when it was                                                                 - when / where it was
- where they went                                                         - the artist they saw
- how long it was                                                          - a bit of info about the artist
- people they went with                                                - describe the atmosphere
- things/activities they did                                               during the event
- why it has been the best so far                                    - describe how they felt and
- any other relevant info                                                   why they enjoyed it
                                                                                      - any other memories about it
Wordcount: 170

Leave comments on 3 of your classmates posts + comments on your teacher's post.

A country I would like to visit

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes

Marcel Proust 

Travel agencies tempt tourists to discover new places and people during their holidays: "Visit and enjoy the wildlife in national parks and game reserves, Meet new people from all continents, Learn about their culture, Take delight in watching the architecture and art of ancient civilizations, ..."  

Missing the opportunity to travel seems to be out of the question ... if you are willing and have saved some money for food, transportation and lodging,....Hostals, B&Bs, cabins, campings, ... offer varied solutions to your stay.  Much better if you have friends or relatives abroad, they are a plus....

Mole National Park, Ghana, Africa

Where to go? The answer is simple: anywhere or everywhere as the world is becoming within your hands' reach and finding your place in the world is, for some people, a must. 

Technological advance in air, land and sea transportation has significanly contributed to make man's dreams come true, permitting to fly comfortably around the world, to cross the oceans in modern ships, to take high speed trains, to move in modern vehicles, ... 

  

I think back in time to the incredibly unglamorous long journeys across the sea of ancient sailors; most of them, explorers looking for places to settle in or treasures to take to their countries. Some were adventurers, but most of them, people in need. Ferdinand Magellan started a dangerous three year-long circumnavigation of the earth (1519-1522); he died during a battle in Phillipines... his expedition was completed by Sebastian Elcano. Others like Marco Polo (born in 1254), Vasco de Gama (1469), Sir Francis Drake (1540), James Cook (1728), ...  remind us of the sacrificed endeavour of ancient explorers. 

A few decades ago, a bold Chilean pilot, Roberto Parragué Singer (born in 1913), was able to fly for the first time to the Eastern Island (1951). The flight was considered suicidal by the experts of the time. The plane, named Manutara, took off from La Serena, went over  the Pacific Ocean and landed after a 19-hour flight on the island... the danger of running out of fuel had disappeared.

This exciting venture led me to Around the word in 80 days, the novel writen by Jules Verne in 1873 that reflects the restless, adventurous nature of man in a world too big to be known in such a short period of time... and with this in mind, I start thinking of the country I would like to visit... just for the pleasure of it.

Venice, Italy

Italy is certainly a must! Mediterranean climate, warm people, varied monuments, superb natural scenery, magnificent castles and churches, art everywhere, modern and ancient cities at the same time, air filled with music, elegant and mysterious places... Venice with their channels, gondolas, bridges and floating constructions, .... Italy is a country with plenty of interesting cities and towns, a country that deserves a visit to enjoy, learn and breathe historical events... a place that will surely be painted in the canvas of your mind for a long, long time. 

Acropolis, Greece

And, of course, Greece is at hand to go on... I imagine myself lying on the grass or sitting on a rock watching in my mind famous Greek gods and goddesses such as Zeus and Aphrodite.... On the other hand, can you imagine yourself being in Socrates', Plato's and  many other philosophers' land? Maybe some day....

Now, it´s your turn

- Which country would you like to go to? Why?
- What do you know about it?
- What would you like to do there?
- Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain.
- Upload pictures
- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on your teacher's post
- Word Count: 160 words

A bit about me

Claudio Telha M. is the only son of my parents. Unfortunately, my father passed away some years ago after a sudden disease, but my mother is alive and kicking, healthy and smiling. My father came from Europe after World War II and my mother travelled from Chiloé to Santiago where they met and  got married. This information may be irrelevant to you, but to me it meant to grow up without uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, granparents and so on....

When I was a teenager, I enjoyed going to the cinema, hanging out with my few, but good friends, collecting stamps, reading books and magazines....

I studied in Liceo Valentín Letelier and then I went to the university (Universidad de Chile)  where I enjoyed wonderful moments. I became a teacher of English--both social and scientific English. There I met the girl of my life, we got married and after a couple of years we became parents of a son and a daughter. My son is an engineer, lives in Brussels, Belgium, and is engaged with a Romanian girl;  my daughter is also an engineer now happily married; my son-in-law is an engineer as well; they live in Santiago.

I started giving classes of English in the Fac. of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences quite a long time ago. For about forty years I have been giving classes of Scientific English and from time to time Social English as well.

As I said above, as a single son, I have no brothers nor sisters, but now  I have my wife's relatives,  my son-in-law's relatives, Faculty friends and a large number of students who have been under my care along all these years, who have become, in a way, part of my family as well.