The Kite Runner

Hello :)


We are reading a book called "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini in class this semester.

The book was published in 2003, and it's Hosseini's first novel. The novel is set in Afghanistan, in the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, and it is about a boy named Amir and his friend Hassan who is the son of his father's Hazara servant. The period of time where the story is set includes important settings, for example from the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy though the Soviet invasion, the mass emigration of refugees to the United States and Pakistan, and the rise of the Taliban regime. Hassan is guilty for abandoning his friend in his country and returns to Afghanistan and to his childhood home to correct his past. A movie based on the novel was made in 2007, directed by Marc Foster.

I've read three chapters and my first impression of the book is not so good. This is probably because it has a slow start and I don't find it very interesting yet. But I hope, and think, that this will change when I read some more of the novel. Because most of the people I have talked to, says that the book is a great book, extremely interesting and when you start reading it, it's really hard to put it away. I hope this is true!



One thing I like about the book is that it is written in an easy language, so it is understandable for those of us who are not native speakers of English. I really liked this quote from "The Kite Runner":
"I looked up at those twin kites. I though about Hassan. Though about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I though of the life I had until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me who I am today". (page 2). I like this quote because it tells me that he thinks that his childhood has formed him and made him who he is. When he is thinking this he is sitting on a bench in San Francisco, and he is thinking about how different his life was back in Afghanistan.


I haven't read as far yet, so this post will be longer soon! I just have to read some more in the book :)

Anna

Advice to fellow students!

Hey readers!

This time in International English we got a task to discuss an article called "Facebook hits exam results by 20 per cent" and then write about it in our blog.
Here is a link to the article

Basically the article says that the students who used Facebook (or any other social networking site) during their study-time, scored lower on their exam results than the students who did not use the website while studying. The test shows that the students who did not use Facebook while studying scored on average 3,82 out of four, meanwhile the student who used the website scored a grad point average of 3,06. This was based on 219 students aged from 19 to 54.

The study was made by Professor Kirschner from the Open University in The Netherlands, and it also showed that non-users of Facebook also spend 88 per cent more time studying outside of the lessons. I think this is because you get a lot more done if you aren't doing anything also besides studying, and then you will have more free-time. When you are doing many things at the same time, it's easier to make mistakes and you need more time to get your work done.

I think that the reason people who have Facebook score lower on their exams is that you get so easily distracted and if you start chatting with someone for instance, you won't be able to stop. When I was writing this blog post, I caught myself logging on to Facebook a couple of times, just automatically. This shows how addicted the youth and any Facebook-user has become of the website, and this has a bad impact on our studying.

The moral of the article is definitely that when you are studying you should stick to that, and not log on to different social networks, because then it's hard to log off again and continue with the studying. We should all limit our time spent on Facebook, or at least put off special time for that activity, and not mix that time with study-time.

- Anna

Erin Brockovich - the movie

Hey!

In International English last week, we watched the movie "Erin Brockovich", which is a drama film from 2000 based on the true story about the female lawyer called Erin.

Erin is a twice-divorced mom, with three kids, who gets a job at a lawyer firm after a trial with the same lawyer who runs the firm that helped her with her case. Since she lost her case, and had no money left, she refuses to leave the office until she gets a job there. After almost begging, her lawyer agrees to offer her a job. She starts to sort different documents, and after a while she comes over some very interesting papers. Erin starts digging and soon she finds out that something is up with the case in Hinkley, California. She discovers that the company PG&E is responsible for the sickness of all the people in this small-town, and she wants to make it good again by getting the recidents of Hinkley the money they deserve and need from the big company. Erin, without education and money, becomes the spokeswoman for many sick people against a billion-dollar-company.

I thought the movie was great, and really interesting, because it's based on a true story. It was inspiring to see one person making her way thought the crowd and making so much different. It shows that if you fight hard enough for what you want, you'll get it. You should never give up, like Erin never did, no matter how hard things get and how many people who are against you. She definitely sacrificed a lot when she worked on her case, for example spending time with her kids and new boyfriend. But in the end, it was all worth it because she won her case and got enough money to support her kids. Erin Brockovich is definitely a role model for everyone in this world. She shows us that you don't have to be well educated and brought up in a nice home to make a difference in the world! If you really want it, you can do it!

Trailer:



Anna :)