Our Experience in Glenfield College

Benjamin Cabrera, Camila Moro

We are Benjamin and Camila, international students who had the lucky to study in Glenfield College for four months. 

We arrived to Auckland three months ago, and the first day (at the beginning of the 3rd term) we met the staff of the school and they gave us a warm welcome in Maori style and we met Linda, our international delegate, who had been help us in everything.

After that we met our dean and chemistry teacher, Mr. Fulby. He helped us to choose our subjects and he introduces us two girls from the last year, to help us to find the classes rooms. 

In that moment we noticed that everybody were kind and friendly, every single teacher gave us a welcome and good wishes for our stay here. 

The school motivate us to do different activities, like tramping, kayaking, sports, arts and all that stuff. 

We did a tramping weekend with the staff of the school in Waitakere Rangers, was simply amazing. 

We took sports too. 

In the 3rd term Benjamin took football, he enjoyed playing in the team, he had matches every Saturday against different schools. 

I took archery in the 3rd term too and i learned a lot of things because was my first time. 

Our classes here are really different and exciting compares to our classes in Chile. In the Chemistry class we can experiment, we have theoretical and practical lessons and we think that is really good, because you can put into practice all the things that you learned and finally you can learn more than just only doing test and exams. 

In our country we have fifteen subjects, we can not choose, everything is obligatory and you are stressed all the time. Here we only have six subjects and we can choose what we want. 

We think that is better because you are focused on what you want to be. 

Now we are enjoy our last month here, and we already now that we are gonna miss the Glenfield Family.

Inventame otro final/ Invent another end

Cuidame esta noche                                             Take care of me this night
Tengo miedo de perderme                                   I am afraid of get lost
Tu vestido es mi sonrisa                                      Your dress is my smile
Me ahuyenta los delirios                                      It take away my delusions

Besame despacito                                                 Kiss me slowly
Esta fiebre no es una excusa                                This fever is not a excuse
Para tenerte cerquita                                             To keep you close to me
Esta noche para quererte mas                               This night is for love you more

Esta no es la forma en que                                   This is not the way that I
Pense declararte mi amor                                     Thought to declare my love
Quise ruborizarme                                                I wanted to blush
Y no me queda color                                            But i don't have colors any more

Inventame otro final                                            Invent another end
De esta historia que acaba mal                            about this story which ends badly
Como quisiera quedarme aqui                             How I want to stay here
Viendo girar tu vestido                                        looking spin your dress

Esta no es la forma en que                                   This is not the way that I
Pense declararte mi amor                                     Thought to declare my love


"Inventame un final" is a song of Prehistoricos, a chilean band.
I love this song, I translated the lyrics, enjoy!

Mission Bay

Two weeks ago, I went to Mission Bay beach.
Six friends and me were enjoyed our holidays, in the city.
We were telling our stories about our experience here when we had an idea, was a nice day and was really hot outside so we thought that we would hanging out and go to the beach!
So first we went to the Countdown and we bought the necessary things to have a beach day, and we took the next bus to Mission Bay.



After arrived we noticed that Mission Bay was a beautiful place,
very clean, with kind people and a lot of good looking man.
We walked around and we found little stores and cafes,
restaurants and big stores.
We down to the beach and we had a nice picnic lunch. (poverty)
We ate sandwiches, and we drunk fruit juice.





Was the first week of holidays and we decided that we have to enjoyed a full, we took off our closes and we swam in the sea, that was really cold at the start, but after the water was really nice.
We had a nice view of rangitoto Island too.

After swim we noticed that the another people was kayaking in the beach, so we tried too!

Was the best 15 dollars spent!

With Nicolas, one of my best friends in Auckland, walked around all the beach, just talking about the life and all stuff, and we found a little sea stars!! And we called Virgo an Taurus! 

Nicolas Oporto, Camila Moro

 

                                                                   

                                                            

When was 6 in the afternoon, we went to a café and we drunk a hot chocolate, to finish this amazing day. 

Four hours in Devonport

 The last weekend, my friends and I did something unusual. 

We took a ferry, and we went to Devonport, in Auckland. 

We did not knew what to do, so we just walk around of this beautiful and Historic Village. 

 In contrast to the another people, we did not went to the boutiques, or cafes, we went to the small waterfronts, and we enjoyed the sea.             

Nicolas Oporto, Milan Menke. 

After that, we went to the Most Victoria,a hill and we roam the tunnels, we enter for the dark alleys and we got scared because everything was too dark.

After that, we arrived at the climb  and we enjoyed the beautiful view with a good conversation. 

Photo from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/16098/devonport

Was amazing, because we can saw all the city of Auckland.

Night View

Was the first time that we had a  relaxing day, I discovered that is not necessary have a plan to enjoy this big and beautiful city, with the people that i met is enough to have a good time, far of the city, just with us, we noticed that we have to enjoy this last two months. 

The Chileans Penguins 

Book Review no.2

                                           

   The Eyes of the Siberian Dog (Los Ojos del Perro Siberiano in Spanish)  is                                        a book written in march of 1998 by Antonio Santa Ana,

  an Argentinian writer, about a adolescent who is preparing to travel to U.S.A.

  He starts to tell his story, which starts when he had 5 years.

"There are things that it is better just do not talk", this is that the mother and father of Ezequiel says, but his little brother thinks different and he want to know what is happen, when Ezequiel leave the house because he is sick and one part of the family decides ignore him, and pretend that he does not exist.

His brother try to know why, and this story is about his search, with a lot of memories and experiences with the innocence that  just a boy can have during his childhood.

This book surprise us with the metric and metaphors, every word have a incredible sense, and every detail is important for this play. 

The Bach suites, the books that are mentioned and reading by the narrator have a little touch of sensibility that just the readers can notice. Santa Ana catch the emotion of the unknown things, the incomprehensibly significance of the things that have repercussions in the childhood and after,

manifest during the adulthood. 

Personally this book means a lot, indicate the feeling who one have when something change abruptly.

A classic Latin juvenile book, with more than 400.000 copy and translated into Italian.

                      

Tramping Weekend!

This is one of things that you have to do once time in your life. 
Take your feelings, your troubles and your energy put in your bag and let's go for the adventure!
Two weeks ago, I went to Waitakere Ranges, in Auckland, New Zealand, with international friends and the staff of the school.
I had 17 kilos on my back, and I was exhausted at the 2 first hours.
I just wanted to go back home, I hated everything.
But my tutor teacher said to me that I was doing that really well because was my first time.
I believe that, and after our first stop, I was on the top of the group.
I take this opportunity to learn about myself, I was conscious about my physical conditions, about the thing that I could do and the things that I could not.
I discovered my abilities.
This was the first time that I understand that thing that everybody says "It is really hard go to the climb of the mountain, but the view worth it."
I learn about the different cultures

We was four Germans, one Japanese, one Nederland and two Chileans.
We sang ours nationals songs,  we spoke about our reality in our countries, the identity of our culture and ours points of views.
I learn one story of the Maori culture, about one woman who died waiting for the love of her life and I notice that the "Love" is the same in every part of the world.

I made great friends, seriously, i love those two girls.

I saw Amazing things 

And i learn a lot about myself. The things that I want, the things that I chose, the opportunities that I have and i change my perspective about the things that I want to do in the future.

I learn how to build a tent and how to make fire, I survived in the cold night and in the hot day. 

Going up was difficult, descending too, sometimes just walk was terrible, but I struggled and I did it, and this adventure it is just starting.

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradburry it surprise us with an interesting novel, about authority society, when the firefighters don't off the fires, they provoke it, burning all the books, to keep a safe society without thinking.|
Guy Montag, the principal character is an exceptional firefighter, his boss is very proud and he are gonna to ascending Montag.
But one night, when they go to one house to burned, Montage have curiosity and he takes a book.
Montag met Clarisse, a young girl who is very weird, she enjoy talking and cutting flowers, something that the society didn't accept, she ask Montag if he is happy, and a lot of things more, that Montag only discovers when he starts to read.
This is an interesting novel that captures the principal problems about the today's society, Bradburry describe a problem about the apathy, and the people who lives in them, apparently in "happiness", had a big problem, they can't communicate they feelings, they lives in a bubble, made by they owns ignorance.
Fahrenheit talk to us about the mediocrity and uniformity, and describes the smart people like persons who threaten against the order of society, something unfavorable for the persons who domains us.
They prefer that we are ignorant to make their job more easy, they want that we follow the rules, and keep silent about the injustices and crimes that they commit.
The "fires" plays an important roll in the novel, because we can interpret like something to destroy, but something to purifier too, the fire means the end of the unpleasantness and means the new beginning.
The people on the novel are people without Knowles, without culture and without history, so after the war, the "book men" are the managers to recall they who are they.