Blogging

I found that writing this blog was funnier than writing essays every weeks on a piece of paper! It created interaction and it allowed us to get to none better the others, especially for us exchange student since we did not know anybody in this class. It was quite funny actually! It is a way much more adapted to the modern world for practising our English, since we can use at the same time visual supports, wordreference.com (my favourite website!), make comments, add links, etc. However, I am not sure that it had a different impact on the improvement of m language skills than a more common way to write. Moreover, if it was a very good idea in theory, I found it was less the case in practice. Indeed, I found it very annoying and irritating sometimes giving the conditions we were working in. I think I spent more time searching for a computer working and having access to the internet than writing during the whole semester. Moreover, blogs have disadvantages in terms of privacy issues. However, I would say that “English-class-blogging” was a globally positive experience, and I think this idea should be spread!

Working all night working all day to pay the bills I have to pay?

Last month, as I had to choose the speciality of the master I am going to do when I go back to France, I had to think seriously about what I wanted my future and my career to be like. So I freaked out. Since the age of six, I have always known what I wanted to do as a job, I have always had an answer to the typical question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, even if it changed a lot, from veterinary to teacher or journalist. Since I entered university, I was sure I wanted to work in the highest realms of French public administration, especially in local authorities. However, when I had to tick the box of the Master I wanted to do, in front of such a large range of choice, I was not that sure anymore of wanting to do “Public Affairs and administration”. Living a whole year as an exchange student in Chile made me realize that having a prestigious career maybe was not that important and that politics was a definitely a ruthless world. Moreover, I was afraid that choosing to study public administration would ruin my possibilities of working in outside the borders of France.

However, I decided to choose public administration, because it is what I am interested in, and that I would improvise in two years what to do. I would like to have responsibilities, and wages corresponding to my level of studies enabling me to leave a confortable life and to travel, without worrying me to much for money, and I would definitely like to work abroad. But I know I do not need to earn a lot of money to be happy, and what matters to me is having a profession I find very fulfilling, and which enables me to have a blossoming social and family life.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them - Ray Bradbury

I used to be a “bookaholic”. I spent my childhood reading, to such an extent my mother was worried, and forced me to play more and to read less! Since I entered university, I have stopped reading novels because I have to read a lot of academic papers. Moreover, I think that the fact of having a laptop drove me away from books. However, I feel very guilty about that since I consider books fundamental for our personal and intelectual development! I enjoy reading fiction in general, detective novels, historical novels, theater plays too. I am currently reading “Confieso que he vivido”, Pablo Neruda's memoires, in which he recounts his personal, literary and political fascinating life.

I suppose that digital books will replace their actual format. It makes me sad because I am used to it, but it may be positive, since it could make books to be more accessible.

“Are you looking for a VIP club very selective and reserved to men? Register to parliament.com”

“Are you searching for a VIP club very selective and reserved to men? Register to parliament.com” proclaimed the last campaign of a French feminist association a month ago, protesting against the inequality of access between men and women to the public sphere. Even if nowadays,in not a single country women are denied the right to vote anymore, there is clearly no similar opportunities for both men and women to participate in politics. Only 20% of French deputies are women, and it is still very difficult for them to break the glass ceiling. As both a feminist and a political activist, gender equality, especially in politics, has been one of the issue I am most interested in for a long time. I am already trying to contribute to it by volunteering in a Chilean association called “Communidad mujer”, but this issue is definitely the one of those I would campaign for in the future.

My favourite piece of technology

I am more afraid by technology than hooked on it. However, I have to admit there is a piece of technology I could not live without: My laptop.
My parents offered it to me three years ago, when I had to move to Paris to study. In my school, it is nearly impossible to survive without a computer, since we have to do research on the internet and type essays most of the time. Actually, the majority of the students even bring their laptop to university. This notebook pc turns into one of the most important items of my life, and even more since I have been living in Chile. In this computer are all my documents: The records of my three years of university, my CV, all the pictures I have taken during my trip around South America, my music…I use it to phone my family and friends, to send e-mails, to upload pictures, to study or to work for my internship, to watch movies and series, to listen to music and to the French radio, to chat, to Google …I have the feeling that this laptop contains my whole life!
However, I am unfortunately preparing myself to kiss it goodbye. Indeed, three years old is a lot for a laptop, and it is getting slower and slower. Two weeks ago, I could not start it, so I started to panic. I finally realized it was only the battery charger that was not working anymore. However, I decided to buy an external hard disk to save my files, my music and my pictures in it. I guess I will have to buy a new laptop when I go back to France.

The films of y life

When I was still leaving in Nantes, I was going to the cinema once a week. However, I had to restrain myself when I moved to Paris, where a cinema ticket is really expensive! I am quite disappointed by Santiago’s cinemas. Indeed, most of them only show American blockbusters I dislike. I really appreciate the cinema “El biografo but it shows most exclusively pretty good French movies I have already seen! That explains why I have abandoned a little the cinema since I arrived in Chile, and why I watch much more films at home.
I’m keen on art house especially. It is always a little risky to go to see a Art House movie, since it is probable that it is going to be an unintelligible underground film, but it can also be a source of good surprises…I also enjoy classic actions movies, like Indiana Jones’s or even super heroes movies. I also like some science-fiction movie like Star Wars or the 5th element. However, I generally prefer when the story happens in a more real world. That is why I am crazy about films by Sofia Coppola and romantic comedies like “Four weddings and a funeral”. I fancy historical movies, from dramas taking place a long time ago such as “Gone with the wind” to movies taking place during WWII.

I have been all the year long to watch as many Chilean movies I could, like “La Nana”, “Te creis la mas Linda”, “Isla 10”, or unknown and weird Chilean art house, but I was a disappointed each time. To put it in a nutshell, I really do not mind about the special effect and if there is a lot of action or not, what matters to me is the script, the way it is acted and the message behind.

Thank you for the music

I can not say I am fan of a specific kind of music. I would say I have eclectic tastes as far as music is concerned: Whatever type of music it is, what matters to me is the quality of the music and of the lyrics. However, I have to admit I really do not appreciate metal and that I am not found of hard rock and rap either. I enjoy rock, pop and folk, especially bands from the 60’s and the 70’s. Moreover, most of the discs I listen to are soundtracks. I especially enjoy the soundtracks of “The boat that rocked” – my favorite-, Forrest Gump, Garden State, Shrek, Dirty Dancing… I also have to admit that I frequently listen to the recording of some musicals, singing in chorus with the characters of Grease, Singing in the rain or Moulin Rouge.

I am pretty bad at downloading music so I get it from my sister who likes exactly the same music than I do. I like a lot of groups and singers, but I would say that what I have listen the most this last month has been Nouvelle Vague, a French group singing in English, and an Uruguayan singer called Kevin Johansen. I enjoy his sense of humor so much; the lyrics of his songs are both clever and funny! I have seen in concert several bands I really like in Santiago: Chico Trujillo, Banda Commotion, Manuel Garcia… I even had the luck to see Manu Chao’s concert in the Estadio Nacional!

I can not listen to music while I am working, it prevents me from focusing. However, I enjoy listening old pop songs, like Madonna or ABBA, when I am cleaning or tidying my room.