As a younger girl, I tendend to be a complaining person. This was certainly a consequence of the famous teenage difficulty to manage with the world, it was a kind of refuse to rules, society, and so on. Simply I didn't feel fit to other people especially older, and maybe didn't want to.
But nowadays at 21, I feel like more tolerant, and often I can't stand very strict people. Everyone getting disappointed for everything could happen,and any trouble...for instance: your boyfriend forgetting the aniversary of the beginning of the relationship,the long queue at the supermarket, an odd joke played by friend that makes you worry, and many other things in the daily life.
It's not worth to think seriously about all unpleasant things could going on through life, either caused by people or by any other kind of reason. On the contrary, little bad events let us the occasion to laugh a bit.
My opinion is, that irony saves our lives and brain health,and we just have one life, and it would be a pity to live it always complaining and getting angry. So let's make a laugh. As Murphy says, it could be worse.
Valentina Gironella
Thursday 22 April 2010
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Bedtime Story
It was a bright day because the sun was shining yellow as ever.
Jason woke up that morning feeling because he could walk to school. He loves to walk and started school this year. He went to the bathroom, washed his face and ears and brushed his teeth.
Suddenly, he heard his mother calling: "- Jason, hurry up! Breakfast is ready.". He raced downstairs and saw his mother still in her robe, and started wondering why. His mom told him: " - You must catch the school bus today because I'm going to stay home working". " - But, ... but, ... but mom!" said JAson sadly. It was no use, his mother hat to stay at home and he couldn't go to school on foot alone.
He thought how much he didn't like going to school on the bus: the other kids always yelling and pushing. Also, he thought that he didn't like school because he was afraid of not learning to read and write.
As he got off the school bus he saw two cats very alike. They were both grey, the same height, had a white spot on their chests and a black spot on the tips of their tails. So Jason exclaimed: " - How could people distinguish between you?!", and then he heard a little voice: " - Hi, I'm Luigi and she's Fluffy. We have lived here for a long time and know everybody, but you are the first person who talked to us". Jason blinked at the cats, not believing what his eyes were seeing.
From that moment on, they became good friends, talked about everything, playing together, they even helped each other. The cats were feeling lonely until the day that Jason talked to them, and Jason started to get better grades, because Luigi and Fluffy helped him how read and write. When Jason finally learnt to write, he shouted " - I'm writing...", and he laughed and he wrote, and he laughed and he wrote, from that day to this.
Helena Pinheiro
Jason woke up that morning feeling because he could walk to school. He loves to walk and started school this year. He went to the bathroom, washed his face and ears and brushed his teeth.
Suddenly, he heard his mother calling: "- Jason, hurry up! Breakfast is ready.". He raced downstairs and saw his mother still in her robe, and started wondering why. His mom told him: " - You must catch the school bus today because I'm going to stay home working". " - But, ... but, ... but mom!" said JAson sadly. It was no use, his mother hat to stay at home and he couldn't go to school on foot alone.
He thought how much he didn't like going to school on the bus: the other kids always yelling and pushing. Also, he thought that he didn't like school because he was afraid of not learning to read and write.
As he got off the school bus he saw two cats very alike. They were both grey, the same height, had a white spot on their chests and a black spot on the tips of their tails. So Jason exclaimed: " - How could people distinguish between you?!", and then he heard a little voice: " - Hi, I'm Luigi and she's Fluffy. We have lived here for a long time and know everybody, but you are the first person who talked to us". Jason blinked at the cats, not believing what his eyes were seeing.
From that moment on, they became good friends, talked about everything, playing together, they even helped each other. The cats were feeling lonely until the day that Jason talked to them, and Jason started to get better grades, because Luigi and Fluffy helped him how read and write. When Jason finally learnt to write, he shouted " - I'm writing...", and he laughed and he wrote, and he laughed and he wrote, from that day to this.
Helena Pinheiro
Complaint
I don't like people who complain about everything, everyday... Usually, they don't have any purpose.
I guess they like to hear their own voice loudly and clearly, and also have a little pleasure annoying other people who are in the same space as them.
This kind of situation irritates me so much.
It makes me think about how the person who is getting the complaint feels with that circus. Poor guy!
Helena Pinheiro
I guess they like to hear their own voice loudly and clearly, and also have a little pleasure annoying other people who are in the same space as them.
This kind of situation irritates me so much.
It makes me think about how the person who is getting the complaint feels with that circus. Poor guy!
Helena Pinheiro
Something from far away
There is a legend that tells of something magical that happens when a child falls down and hurts himself.
In a shiny cloud appears a delightful scarecrow. This breathtaking scarecrow comes and puts his fingers above the injury and covers it with caramel and cures it. This amazing creature comes from a land far, far away, where everything is made of chewing-gum, chocolate and other sweets. This land is called Marshmallow Town.
On a certain afternoon the little boy Johnny went down to the skate park near the river to try his new skates. He was a bit scared because it was his first time on them. Johnny sat down on a bank to put on his skates and after doing that he stayed there and stared at the river while he was plucking up courage. A few minutes later he started to skate, first slow and then faster. After skating for about twenty minutes he fell down and hurt his knee. Johnny started to cry very badly as he saw his injury.
Suddenly a big shiny cloud appeared from nowhere and it was the most mysterious creature Johnny had ever seen. Although he had tears in his eyes because of the injury he started to smile on seeing the sweet lollipop eyes of the scarecrow. The amazing creature put his fingers on Johnnys grazed knee and cured it quickly. “Who are you? Where are you from?” asked Johnny and hoped he would get an answer, but the only thing that he heard was “Take care of yourself!” The scarecrow disappeared immediately.
Johnny looked after his knee and saw that it was fixed. Since then he hoped he would see the wonderful scarecrow again, but without getting hurt.
Diana Antunes 28927
In a shiny cloud appears a delightful scarecrow. This breathtaking scarecrow comes and puts his fingers above the injury and covers it with caramel and cures it. This amazing creature comes from a land far, far away, where everything is made of chewing-gum, chocolate and other sweets. This land is called Marshmallow Town.
On a certain afternoon the little boy Johnny went down to the skate park near the river to try his new skates. He was a bit scared because it was his first time on them. Johnny sat down on a bank to put on his skates and after doing that he stayed there and stared at the river while he was plucking up courage. A few minutes later he started to skate, first slow and then faster. After skating for about twenty minutes he fell down and hurt his knee. Johnny started to cry very badly as he saw his injury.
Suddenly a big shiny cloud appeared from nowhere and it was the most mysterious creature Johnny had ever seen. Although he had tears in his eyes because of the injury he started to smile on seeing the sweet lollipop eyes of the scarecrow. The amazing creature put his fingers on Johnnys grazed knee and cured it quickly. “Who are you? Where are you from?” asked Johnny and hoped he would get an answer, but the only thing that he heard was “Take care of yourself!” The scarecrow disappeared immediately.
Johnny looked after his knee and saw that it was fixed. Since then he hoped he would see the wonderful scarecrow again, but without getting hurt.
Diana Antunes 28927
Complaint
Don’t you just hate people who hear loud music in buses or subways with their mobile phones? It’s incredible how high their self-esteem is.
I really do like music. In fact, I love it, but it’s really annoying when somebody force you to listen to their music even if I like the song. Maybe you don’t feel like to listen to a song.
Why don’t they buy cheap headphones and listen to their music with them? So they wouldn’t go on somebody’s nerves.
The truth is that this is irritating and I don’t think that this is only my opinion.
Diana Antunes 28927
I really do like music. In fact, I love it, but it’s really annoying when somebody force you to listen to their music even if I like the song. Maybe you don’t feel like to listen to a song.
Why don’t they buy cheap headphones and listen to their music with them? So they wouldn’t go on somebody’s nerves.
The truth is that this is irritating and I don’t think that this is only my opinion.
Diana Antunes 28927
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Arrogant Travellers
Despite what many people think, the worst kind of travel companion isn’t the one who complains constantly. On the contrary, the most annoying of them is the one who spends the whole trip contesting everyone’s complaints, in a permanent need to defend himself, as well as justify every decision or choice he has made. Whoever has had the unfortunate opportunity of travelling with this “friend” has realized this: arrogance is infinitely more irritating than grumpiness.
While the first one is merely a kvetch whose most annoying character flaw is his unnerving childishness (normally, after the whining comes the sulking), the second is an insufferable and cocky idiot, whose unyielding pride prevents him from admitting even the possibility of having made a mistake while planning the vacation.
Both travellers’ discourse is unceasing and infuriating, but the difference lies in the stubbornness. A whiner will eventually quiet down: sooner or later he will run out of steam and resort to sulking, not before uttering his final threat, which you know he will never carry out (“I’m not coming on a trip with you ever again!”). But it is impossible to silence an arrogant traveller. His imagination and his profound knowledge coupled with his immense culture and extensive travel experience enable him to have a comeback ready every time someone questions his judgment.
Laden with the burden of having to organize the entire holiday by himself, this martyr of enterprise and resourcefulness would rather dodge every criticism than admit he wasted time making plans that weren’t the most suitable, in terms of price, location or available time. Proud is his character and indignation is his profession. Self-righteous in nature, his job during the holidays is to become outraged at every slight contest of his line of action.
In short, these are the three main principles which guide the conduct of this tourist:
1. “If this is bad, there is (far) worse” (or its alternate version, “if we’re bad, we could be (far) worse”);
2. “If this is bad, it’s not my fault”;
3. “If you don’t like it, try to do a better job than me”.
All three, needless to say, are based on the self-righteous and self-victimizing reasoning of “I’ve done the best I could with the time I was given”.
The MO of this true embodiment of human pride (very often in a masculine form, curiously) consists, generally, in one of three alternatives (ordered here according to the level of aggressiveness towards the complainer): to evoke a worse situation than the one they find themselves in, to come up with an excuse or (and this is the most violent of the three) ask others to do better, placing the responsibility of the decision on the person who complains.
Bearing this in mind, the derogatory comment “This hotel looks quite filthy, George” could lead to three possible replies, followed by a brief explanation to corroborate what has just been said and further exaggerate his point of view:
1. “There were far worse hotels than this one. In fact, this is even included in the Michelin Guide. You should have seen a hostel where I stayed when I went to Bratislava. There was a common bathroom for the whole floor. At least this one has a functioning shower.”
2. “I told you to book the flight earlier. That way we would have had more to choose from.”
3. “You don’t like it? Find another one. Good luck trying to find a hotel at these hours…”
The first one is a classic: praising the place he has chosen, conjuring up a worse scenario than the one in which he finds himself, in order to seem better by comparison. Normally, it is accompanied by references which account for the choice as well as mentions of past experience as a traveller, aiming to discredit the naïve opinion of the complainer, who barely knows what he’s talking about. The Inter Rail is a common mention, essential paradigm of the sacrifices one has to endure when travelling, and a fundamental part of his supercilious sermon. One of his frequent fallacious tactics is appearing to be reasonable: he will never say “it was the best of all”, because he knows that is a ridiculous statement, but he will probably say “it was the best there was, at this price and this distance to town”.
The second is the also classic cop-out and, in a way, constitutes a prelude to the third one: by not taking responsibility, he blames the person who was complaining in the first place.
The final kind of reply is the most aggressive and confrontational. The intention, however, is to always maintain a confident look, of a man who puts an unwavering trust on the decisions he has made, and is only willing to change if the others do something about it. Nevertheless, it poses a great danger: that someone might, in fact, find a better hotel than his, forcing him to admit he made a wrong call. That is why he will only do so in the presence of less experienced travellers, who are not in the position of demanding better accommodations.
Therein lays the distinctive feature that makes this person so infuriating: his obsessive pertinacity. In order to defend his choice, the arrogant traveller will stand for the most despicable lodgings, the steepest routes, the most uninteresting museums, and the least attractive attractions. Regret is never an option. A proud traveller will never answer to the comment “George, this restaurant you picked is quite rowdy and untidy” with “You’re right. Next time I’ll try to check another guide”. He will always assume a defensive posture: “It was the best listed in this guide. At this price and this distance, you couldn’t get any better.” Indeed, a true arrogant traveller would rather insult an official institution or document like a map or a brochure than admit he made a mistake. “George, we’ve been running around for over half an hour and we still haven’t found a place to eat.” “It’s not my fault. This guide was poorly printed. It has the restaurant marked in four different streets. You should have brought the GPS. If you want, look for it yourself. Here’s the map. You should have seen me in the woods of Bavaria, in the Inter Rail. We had to use a compass and hunt game for dinner.”
At the end of the day, one thing’s for sure: it is easier to please a whiner than to make an arrogant traveller admit a mistake.
While the first one is merely a kvetch whose most annoying character flaw is his unnerving childishness (normally, after the whining comes the sulking), the second is an insufferable and cocky idiot, whose unyielding pride prevents him from admitting even the possibility of having made a mistake while planning the vacation.
Both travellers’ discourse is unceasing and infuriating, but the difference lies in the stubbornness. A whiner will eventually quiet down: sooner or later he will run out of steam and resort to sulking, not before uttering his final threat, which you know he will never carry out (“I’m not coming on a trip with you ever again!”). But it is impossible to silence an arrogant traveller. His imagination and his profound knowledge coupled with his immense culture and extensive travel experience enable him to have a comeback ready every time someone questions his judgment.
Laden with the burden of having to organize the entire holiday by himself, this martyr of enterprise and resourcefulness would rather dodge every criticism than admit he wasted time making plans that weren’t the most suitable, in terms of price, location or available time. Proud is his character and indignation is his profession. Self-righteous in nature, his job during the holidays is to become outraged at every slight contest of his line of action.
In short, these are the three main principles which guide the conduct of this tourist:
1. “If this is bad, there is (far) worse” (or its alternate version, “if we’re bad, we could be (far) worse”);
2. “If this is bad, it’s not my fault”;
3. “If you don’t like it, try to do a better job than me”.
All three, needless to say, are based on the self-righteous and self-victimizing reasoning of “I’ve done the best I could with the time I was given”.
The MO of this true embodiment of human pride (very often in a masculine form, curiously) consists, generally, in one of three alternatives (ordered here according to the level of aggressiveness towards the complainer): to evoke a worse situation than the one they find themselves in, to come up with an excuse or (and this is the most violent of the three) ask others to do better, placing the responsibility of the decision on the person who complains.
Bearing this in mind, the derogatory comment “This hotel looks quite filthy, George” could lead to three possible replies, followed by a brief explanation to corroborate what has just been said and further exaggerate his point of view:
1. “There were far worse hotels than this one. In fact, this is even included in the Michelin Guide. You should have seen a hostel where I stayed when I went to Bratislava. There was a common bathroom for the whole floor. At least this one has a functioning shower.”
2. “I told you to book the flight earlier. That way we would have had more to choose from.”
3. “You don’t like it? Find another one. Good luck trying to find a hotel at these hours…”
The first one is a classic: praising the place he has chosen, conjuring up a worse scenario than the one in which he finds himself, in order to seem better by comparison. Normally, it is accompanied by references which account for the choice as well as mentions of past experience as a traveller, aiming to discredit the naïve opinion of the complainer, who barely knows what he’s talking about. The Inter Rail is a common mention, essential paradigm of the sacrifices one has to endure when travelling, and a fundamental part of his supercilious sermon. One of his frequent fallacious tactics is appearing to be reasonable: he will never say “it was the best of all”, because he knows that is a ridiculous statement, but he will probably say “it was the best there was, at this price and this distance to town”.
The second is the also classic cop-out and, in a way, constitutes a prelude to the third one: by not taking responsibility, he blames the person who was complaining in the first place.
The final kind of reply is the most aggressive and confrontational. The intention, however, is to always maintain a confident look, of a man who puts an unwavering trust on the decisions he has made, and is only willing to change if the others do something about it. Nevertheless, it poses a great danger: that someone might, in fact, find a better hotel than his, forcing him to admit he made a wrong call. That is why he will only do so in the presence of less experienced travellers, who are not in the position of demanding better accommodations.
Therein lays the distinctive feature that makes this person so infuriating: his obsessive pertinacity. In order to defend his choice, the arrogant traveller will stand for the most despicable lodgings, the steepest routes, the most uninteresting museums, and the least attractive attractions. Regret is never an option. A proud traveller will never answer to the comment “George, this restaurant you picked is quite rowdy and untidy” with “You’re right. Next time I’ll try to check another guide”. He will always assume a defensive posture: “It was the best listed in this guide. At this price and this distance, you couldn’t get any better.” Indeed, a true arrogant traveller would rather insult an official institution or document like a map or a brochure than admit he made a mistake. “George, we’ve been running around for over half an hour and we still haven’t found a place to eat.” “It’s not my fault. This guide was poorly printed. It has the restaurant marked in four different streets. You should have brought the GPS. If you want, look for it yourself. Here’s the map. You should have seen me in the woods of Bavaria, in the Inter Rail. We had to use a compass and hunt game for dinner.”
At the end of the day, one thing’s for sure: it is easier to please a whiner than to make an arrogant traveller admit a mistake.
Report on the Military Museum
The Military Museum was founded in 1851 by General José Baptista da Silva and was known as the Artillery Museum, but in 1926 it changed to Military Museum.
This museum offers to visitors the chance to learn about Portugal's history. It contains uniforms an historic military documents.
During the visit, what stands out is the Vasco da Gama room that has an old collection of cannons and murals describing the discovery of the sea route to India. It even has Vasco da Gama's sword. The first floor is dedicated to the First World War and there are two rooms dedicated to Napoleonic Invasions. Some of the rooms have Baroque decoration and paintings of battle scenes and military themes. The courtyard is full of cannons and tiles explaining the history of Portugal, from the Christian Reconquest to the First World War.
The Military Museum is very accessible: you can walk from Baixa, catch the bus or go by train or subway to Santa Apolónia. You can choose if you want a guided tour or not. It opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 5:00 PM and only costs 2 euros for adults. the only problem is that it is closed on Mondays and Sundays, the day that Portuguese people like to go for a walk or go to exhibitions and museums.
It is the perfect museum to go with friends and family when you don't have anything else to do. It's a place where you can have fun and learn at the same time and maybe bring something home from the gift shop.
Daniela Aparício - 27881
This museum offers to visitors the chance to learn about Portugal's history. It contains uniforms an historic military documents.
During the visit, what stands out is the Vasco da Gama room that has an old collection of cannons and murals describing the discovery of the sea route to India. It even has Vasco da Gama's sword. The first floor is dedicated to the First World War and there are two rooms dedicated to Napoleonic Invasions. Some of the rooms have Baroque decoration and paintings of battle scenes and military themes. The courtyard is full of cannons and tiles explaining the history of Portugal, from the Christian Reconquest to the First World War.
The Military Museum is very accessible: you can walk from Baixa, catch the bus or go by train or subway to Santa Apolónia. You can choose if you want a guided tour or not. It opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 5:00 PM and only costs 2 euros for adults. the only problem is that it is closed on Mondays and Sundays, the day that Portuguese people like to go for a walk or go to exhibitions and museums.
It is the perfect museum to go with friends and family when you don't have anything else to do. It's a place where you can have fun and learn at the same time and maybe bring something home from the gift shop.
Daniela Aparício - 27881
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