Monday, November 29, 2010


I would stare at the grains of light suspended in that silence space, struggling to see into my own heart.What did I want? And what did others want from me? But I could never find the answers. Sometimes I would reach out and try to grasp the grains of light, but my fingers touched nothing.

Haruki Murakami, in the novel "Norwegian Wood"

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Gloria Wants to Work at Camp Active!!!


Here is another great application letter for the imaginary camp job at Camp-Active.

It is written by Gloria NI2 who hails from Andalusia.


Dear Sir or Madam,
I would like to apply for the job as Camp-Active counselor, recently advertised on your website.
As you can see in my CV, I have previously worked as a babysitter, entertainment organizer and in a school. All these posts involve work with children so I possess relevant experience.
In the different hotels where I have worked, we played games with children and this required considerable creativity to come up with new games every day. We practiced different sports such as cycling, tennis, sailing, windsurfing and all types of outdoor activities. At the school where I worked, I taught languages.
I am particularly interested in this job, because I love working with children and establish good relations with them. I feel sure that this experience would be valuable in the post as counselor.
Enclosed please find my CV. Thank you for taking the time to consider this application. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Yours faithfully,
Gloria

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Tennis Coach Post Sought -- Nancy NI2A


Nancy NI2A is applying for an imaginary job. Her qualifications are also fictitious, but well written! She actually works in computers. This is a great model letter for anybody seeking employment.


Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in reference to the advertisement on your website.

I finished my degree three years ago. At the moment, I am in charge of the Happy Valley Tennis Club, teaching children how to play tennis. As a physical education teacher, my responsibilities range from organizing timetables and managing instructors to giving classes.

I have worked as a primary school teacher for two years. I believe that my experience with children and education make me a very competitive candidate for this position.

As you can see from my CV, I have worked as an instructor at various summer camps for children when I was studying. I am physically fit. I like to run every day and I hike once a month.

I would be pleased to discuss this letter and my enclosed CV at an interview. Thank you for taking the time to consider this application.

Looking forward to hearing from you.



Yours faithfully

Nancy

Mercedes and her Sister!

(We have been discussing the merits of growing up as an only children. Mercedes NI2 wrote a nice essay on this subject. Please note the clearly organized structure with an introduction, central body and conclusion.)

Nowadays people start their own family later than our parents, and they often have to work long hours each day. So, many families have one child.

Parents with an only child can buy everything that a child needs, such as: clothes, shoes, computers and toys. They also can bring up a child better than many children. Only children are more independent because they don’t have siblings to help them. However, children without brothers and sisters may feel loneliness. They are often selfish because they don’t lend their toys to other children.

In my opinion, my sister is the most important person in my life, because she always helps me when I need it. She is very loyal and kind. I love shopping with my sister and my cousins, especially in the boutiques in Triana.

“Csarnok Market” Laura (NI2) takes us to Budapest



Csarnok is the name of the biggest market in Budapest. It is a beautiful 19th century cast iron building. The famous architect Gustave Eiffel, (well known for the Eiffel Tower in Paris), went to Budapest to design the East Station. The market was built at the same time, in the same style as the train station.

Csarnok Market is well-stiuated, just by the Danube river in Pest side, (the name Budapest comes from the join of Buda and Pest, the two big parts of the city separated by the Danube). It is easy to reach Csarnok, there are many buses and trams that stop near there.

The first thing you find when you arrive, is a sight of the wonderful building, the bridge, the river, and the Buda foot hills. As you enter the market, the great space overwhelms you. Though somewhat gray and not very bright, it teems with stalls that break the darkness with colorful vegetables and fruits, apples, peaches, strawberries… and bananas that come from South America or even the Canary Islands!

I think there are three big groups of stalls, the first one sells fruit and vegetables, where the colors abound ...but take care! These stalls sell different types of Hungarian peppers (or paprika), the little dark red ones, strong green ones which are bigger than the reds, and finally a lovely innocent light green pepper. Guess! Which one is the most spicy?.... The innocent light green may kill you! You don’t need to eat it, just hold the pepper in your hand to cut it, and touch your eyes or mouth with the same hand, and you will start to suffer its effects…just try it if you are brave!

The second group of stalls sells meat, milk, eggs and cheese. In this part of the market the smell is not so good, but you can buy fantastic meat, and also a vast array of Hungarian cheeses, very tasty and not dangerous.

Finally you find spirits, sweets and bread, these are my favorites. I love biscuits and cakes, and I could find there a wide range of them, very cheap. You can also buy strong popular Hungarian alcoholic drinks such as Palinka or Unicum. The bottles seem so rude, you can imagine they are very strong before you buy them. It doesn’t happen the same with the peppers!

As for the sound of the market? Csarnok is not a noisy place, which intrigued me, people don’t talk much to each other, when you go to a stall and there are people waiting, you find a perfect queue! Thus they avoid to ask the other persons whose the last one or whatever, with this system somehow they avoid communication!

This happens very often in Budapest, often gray and nostalgic, but always beautiful.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Spooky Story by Mercedes NI2


There are many versions of this old tale, but Mercedes made this one her own! Although Halloween is already gone, I wanted to include the story in our blog. Thanks to Mercedes for sharing her imagination with us!


Last Sunday I went to a Halloween party with my friends in an old house in Santa BrĂ­gida. We prepared a barbecue in the garden and my friend Peter told me a really scary story about himself. It went something like this...
One day, I worked in my grandfather’s house until midnight. The weather was awful, so I was driving slowly. Suddenly I saw a young girl standing on the road and I stopped. The young girl moved in my direction and got into the car. I took her to the town because she told me that her car had got broken down. Her name was Molly and she lived in a farm near the road. When we arrived in the town, I lent her my jacket because she was cold. I left her at the door of her own home and, after that, I left.
I returned to Molly’s farm to pick up my jacket two days ago. The farm was very old and untidy. I saw an old woman and I asked for Molly. The old woman was surprised and she told me that Molly died many years ago, and that her tomb was near there. I went to the cemetery and I discovered her tomb. I was quite surprised to see my jacket on her tomb!

Since then, Peter doesn’t drive that road at night.



Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Idaira: Our World Explorer



Idaira (NI 2) enjoys undertaking great adventures. Last summer she went with her boyfriend and a group of intrepid Spaniards on a trekking holiday to Papua, New Guinea in Indonesia. There they learned about a very different culture and savored the great outdoors with great forays into the hills and jungles. We would like to thank Idaira for sharing her slides with us of the trip in a fascinating presentation she made at EOI Santa Brigida recently. In the photo, Idaira crosses a very unusual footbridge in the wilds of Papua New Guinea.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

MEMORIES

I just read an amazing novel by a Japanese writer.
I found this quote in the text and would like to
share it with you. -- Delmar Lemming

"…I think … people's memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive. Whether those memories have any actual importance or not, it doesn't matter as far as the maintenance of life is concerned. They're all just fuel. Advertising fillers in the newspaper, philosophy books, dirty pictures in a magazine, a bundle of ten-thousand-yen bills: when you feed 'em to the fire, they're all just paper. The fire isn't thinking 'Oh, this is Kant,' or 'Oh, this is the Yomiuri evening edition… ,' while it burns. To the fire, they're nothing but scraps of paper. It's the exact same thing. Important memories, not-so-important memories, totally useless memories: there's no distinction--they're all just fuel." — Haruki Murakami (After Dark)