A Thousand Splendid Suns

The Relationship between Mariam and Laila

Mariam is a harami, a child born out of wedlock, whom after her mother’s death is abandoned by her dad, who marries her off to Rasheed. Her childless marriage to Rasheed forces her into a life of oppression and violence, until Laila enters her life and provides her with some hope. 

Laila lives down the road together with her parents, who eventually dies when a bomb strikes down right outside their house. Laila is taken care of by Mariam and her husband Rasheed, who later on marries her as well.

To begin with, the two of them have a relationship characterized by conflict and disagreement. Mariam would be angry because she’s feeling threatened by the humble new girl, who seems to be replacing her as Rasheed’s wife, making her a servant in a house were she’d lived alone for years. But not long after Laila enters her life, there becomes an understanding between them that blossom into a mother-daughter like relationship. 

When Laila had her first baby, a mutual friendship developed between Mariam and the child, Aziza. Needless to say, Aziza is the one bringing the two women together. Neither of them had the greatest relationship with their mothers, but they complete each other like the pieces of a puzzle, leading to a turning point in their lives. Mariam became the caring mother Laila never had, and Laila and her child became the source of love Mariam never had experienced in her life.

Mariam and Laila stands up for each other like real friends do, both knowing that they can’t achieve freedom without the help of each other.

Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on the 6th of January, 1955. He is an English comedian, screenwriter an actor. Atkinson is famous for the sitcoms Blackadder and Mr. Bean, and in 2005 he was amongst the top 50 comedy actors ever, in a poll of fellow comedians.

Atkinson, the youngest of three brothers, was born in Consett, County Durham, England. He began his career as actor in 1983, with a supporting part in the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again, and a leading role in Dead on Time. After that he has appeared in several movies, e.g. Rat Race (2001), Scooby-Doo (2002) and Love Actually (2003).

His most famous creation, perhaps the character most people think about when hearing his name, is Mr. Bean, who first appeared on New Years Day in 1990. The character described as "a child in a grown man's body" has been in both TV-series and different movies. It's a character it's impossible to not fall in love with!

Videoblog - Invisible People

When I first heard some of the stories told by homeless people from different parts of the USA, as well as watching some episodes of "Skid Row", I was truly shocked, but at the same time amazed about how optimistic many of them were. I also started to think about how much we, especially here in Norway, take for granted. I'm sure that lots of people have experienced bad things during their life, but when you see these videos you realize that you have never truly experienced the desperation of homelessness. And I'm very lucky that I haven't.


The different stories tells us that there's so many homeless people living in the states, and their life is a struggle. And the fact that homeless people is looked upon as invisible is, unfortunately, true. We see them often, but we just ignore them and walk by, thinking that they don't exist, so we don't have to care about them or doing anything with the problem. Several of the homeless people also says that they've had to go to the hospital, paying lots of money, and afterwards they get problems with paying their bills and they see no other way than living on the streets. 


On the other hand, the different stories tells us about the personality of people living in the USA. Even though they're homeless, they're optimistic, hoping, and not at least working, for a better future. It shows us that Americans are hard-working people. After reading and extraction from Magasinet I saw that even though they've had a hard life, or having a hard life, they really loves their own country and they can't imagine a better place to live. The national pride, patriotism, is really strong.


The inventor of this website is a living example that proofs that everyone can break out of their lives as a homeless person, get a job and a place to live. Once he was one of many persons that lived on the street, but he managed to change his life for the better. Today, 3.5 millions in the USA are homeless. It's an increasing problem for the community, as well as it develops into a problem for those who's homeless. Something needs to be done to this, but it's guaranteed that not everyone would be satisfied with what has to be done about it. So how are we supposed to get more people off the streets?

Crash

Today we, my class and I, watched a movie named Crash down in the auditorium – a movie about multiculturalism in the USA. Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles, and in the end we get to know how all stories end, and that some of them relate to each other. I think it was a very good directed movie, with excellent actors. All in all it was very interesting and exciting to watch.  I would absolutely recommend you to watch it!

How to behave when stationed in your mentor business

How to behave when stationed in your mentor business

When stationed in your mentor business it’s important that you’re polite with your mentor, as well as the rest of the business. You must listen to what your mentor has to say, and not at least, show interest for the business, that way, you’ll have a lot more fun. You must also do what your mentor says, and simply show good manners!

How not to behave when stationed in your mentor business

When stationed in your mentor business you must not be rude against your mentor, or others working in the business. You should not be walking around, not doing what your mentor tells you. If you act like this, you’ll not have any great benefits of your visit.

Australia 2010 - 1st post

G’day mates!

Well, I’ve finally arrived in The Great Down Under. After a 38 hour long trip, including changing of planes in both London and Singapore and all the waiting it included, I’m exhausted. However, it’s completely worth it when it’s incredibly 34°C outside and you can’t spot a single cloud on the sky no matter how far you look.

I read a lot about Australia before I came, and now I’m going to give you a short résumé:

Australia is a land in Oceania with approximately 21,3 million habitants and its situated south for Indonesia and Papua New Guinea separated by the Arafura Sea. It’s a huge country covering more than 7,5 millions square kilometers, or almost twenty-four times the area of Norway, which makes it 6^th biggest country in the world in area.

The Great Down Under is also the flattest continent in the world and it has the oldest and least fertile soils. Only the south-east and south-west corner of Australia has a temperate and sub tropic climate, and the major part of the population lives here. The Northern part of Australia has a tropical climate and consists of rainforests, forests, plains, deserts and mangrove sumps.

Let’s go over to the history of this magnificent country in short moves:

After decades of research scientists believes that the first habitants came to Australia from Indonesia for over 50 000 years ago and spread over the whole continent. Thousands of thousands years later the first Europeans started to explore the coasts of Australia. In 1770 the English explorer and navigator James Cook settled in Botany Bay (a bay in what’s Sydney today) and claimed it as a part of Great Britain.

This was the beginning of the colonization that exploded in 1787 when eleven ships full of prisoners left Great Britain heading southwards against Australia. A member of James Cooks crew said that this huge country would’ve been a great place to keep prisoners as the jails in England where crowded. Later on others came to Australia as well, and when they found gold in 1850 it started to flock in with immigrants. In 1868 the transport of prisoners ended and by then more 

than 160 000 criminals and lots of other people had settled down in The Land Down Under.   

Since Australia was so far away from England and it was such a huge country, the habitants wanted their own government. One by one the different colonies (regions) got their own self-government. January the 1^st in 1901 all the colonies became one and Australia was now an own nation. It was still a part of the Commonwealth of Nations but it was now and own independent country with its own self-government.

I’m pretty tired right now so I think I’ll go to bed within a few minutes. Tomorrow, I’m going to spend a day on my own wandering around Sydney. I promise that I’ll post some pictures!

Australia 2010 - 4th post

Hey guys!

This will most likely be the last post on my travel blog before I head back home to Norway. Here it goes:

 

I spent my last full day at Australia Zoo which is located in Queensland, the north-eastern part of Australia. And man they had lots of animals: Cheetahs, dingoes, kangaroos, koalas, red pandas, Tasmanian devils, crocodiles, lizards and a load of exotic birds. And many of them are endemic to Australia. Since they were gathered in one place I didn’t have to hackle the whole country to see them.

The area where the park is standing was bought in 1970 by Lyn and Bob Irwin, the parents of the famous Australian television personality Steve Irwin. 

Steve Irwin, also known as “The Crocodile Hunter”, was a wildlife expert and conservationist. You’ve probably seen him on TV channels like Animal Planet, Discovery and TV Norge. I would say that he’s Australia’s most famous person, at least he’s the one of things I think of when someone says “Australia”. Unfortunately he died on the 4th of September 2006 after being stabbed by a stingray while filming an underwater documentary in the Great Barrier Reef.

Oh no, I forgot something! My mom isn’t very with computers and stuff, and since she visited Australia some years ago she has wanted to get an explanation of the Australian flag. She doesn’t know how to search for something at the internet, and she’s kind of lazy so she hasn’t bothered asking someone for it either. So this is for you mom, here it goes:

The Australian flag is blue and it has three elements in it: the Union Jack, the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross. The Union Jack, in the upper right corner, represents Australia’s history as six British colonies. It also demonstrates their respect for the British Empire. Below the Union Jack you’ll find the Commonwealth Star. This represents the seven British colonies that federated and became one country. On the right side of the flag we can see the Southern Cross, a constellation which consists of five stars. This can be seen from all of Australia’s states and territories.

That was it, right now I’m sitting on the balcony watching the beautiful sunset while thinking back on all the wonderful days I’ve had her in Oz. It has been an experience I’ll never forget, a memory for life. I have to shed a tear. I really hope that I’ll get another opportunity to come back to this terrific country. I’ll tell you more when I’m home in Norway…

See you later, alligator!

Australia 2010 - 3rd post

G’day!

Today I’ve had the best experience of my life, no doubt about that! I’ve been diving in The Great Barrier Reef. It was so beautiful I can’t describe it with words. The Great Barrier Reef is situated off the coast of Queensland at the north-east of Australia, and it’s the worlds largest reef system stretching over a distance of incredibly 2 600 km. The reef has got a diversity of life, among them many vulnerable and endangered species. More than 1500 species of fish, 30 species of whales and dolphins and 215 species of birds is a part of the wildlife here. So if you have the opportunity to visit The Great Barrier Reef during a stay in Australia, do it! I promise you won’t regret.

But when I arrived back at my hotel and read the newspaper I forgot this morning, I was a bit surprised.

“Federal Government approves coal seam gas projects in central Queensland”

The government in Australia has given a green flag to two major coal seam gas projects in central Queensland worth $16 billion dollars. "We must protect the Great Artesian Basin, our threatened species, our waterways and the Great Barrier Reef," the environment minister said.

To be honest I’m a bit skeptical about this. First of all the danger with projects like that, I’m thinking of the disaster in Mexico some months ago when 185 million gallons of oil was released into the ocean. Of course the engineers said it was safe and things like that would never happen. But you never know! And you saw what this disaster resulted in. Big parts of the sea life in the Gulf Coast were completely ruined. And all this goes into a bad circle. What I try to say is that, in worst case, similar accidents, like a gas explosion, could happen with the gas-projects in Queensland as well. Can you imagine what would happen then? The marine life on the Great Barrier Reef could be seriously damaged, people could be killed, and not forget The Great Artesian Basin could be ruined which is the only reliable source of freshwater through much of inland Australia. I don’t dare to think about what would happen if the whole population in Australia had lost all of their freshwater.

And it’s not only me that’s skeptical about this. Several “Green Groups” and farmers have raised concerns about coal seam gas development. This week four toxic chemicals were discovered in eight of the gas wells.

In addition to this I read that indigenous groups have to leave their homes in advantage of gas development. The Australian Aboriginals has been driven away from their homes since “The White Man” settled in Australia. If this continues, we may have lost one of the oldest native people in the whole world within a few years. What a disaster that would’ve been!

Furthermore gas production isn’t very eco-friendly. And if we want to reduce the effect of the global warming and what it brings, gas development is not the right way to go.

The only positive thing I see about this project is that it makes jobs, about 5000 construction jobs and 1000 jobs on a permanent basis.

But that’s it for today mates! Time to go to bed…

Australia 2010 - 2nd post

I woke up by the sun shining through my window. I jumped out of my bed and rushed out on my balcony with panorama view. The sky was clear, the temperature was just perfect and the city had woken up from its sleep and had just started to move. This was sure going to be a beautiful day. I ate an extraordinary breakfast at the hotel, went back to my room and brushed my teeth, made sure that I’d got my money, camera and all that other stuff, and I was ready to go.

Because this city, with almost as many inhabitants as Norway itself, has so much to offer you don’t have time to visit all the attractions or do all the things you want to. Therefore, I decided to visit the market at the dockside and visit the world famous Sydney Opera House. 

I walked down to the market at the dockside, The Bondi Beach Market, since it was just a 15 min. walk from the hotel I’m staying at. When I came down at the market I was overwhelmed over how huge it was! It was stands everywhere where they sold everything you could imagine and cooked delicious food. I could easily have spent a whole day here.

I was walking around at the market for about three hours I think. Both locals and tourists seem to visit the market, and today it was crowded. However, I had a great time.  I ate kangaroo and crocodile meat and different kind’s Australian food and at 11 o’clock a group of aboriginals was playing indigenous Australian music. I was told that one of them was Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, a well known indigenous performer who sings in the Yolŋu Matha languages, which is a language used by some aboriginals.

After I’d walked through the whole market and had a look at and tasted some of the food, I realized that Australia hasn’t got their “own” food since those who settled here brought the food they used to eat in their own countries.

For about 40 000 years ago, before the Europeans came to Australia, they natives ate what we can call bush food (food you can find in the nature; meat, berries, plants etc.).  Later, in the 18^th century, Australia was introduced to food from the British Isles. In the 19^th and 20^th century the Australian cuisine was influenced by Mediterranean and Asian cuisine, brought by immigrants to Australia. In brief we can say that the Australian cuisine is a product of the colonization and the globalization.

As I mentioned, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was performing at the market. People gathered around them, and I must confess that I’ve never heard such lively music in my entire life. They were singing on their original language and they were playing on instruments like the didgeridoo, a hollow log who’s between 60 and 240 cm long. I couldn’t resist, and actually bought one myself. They’re so awesome!

I also visited the Sydney Opera House, but it wasn’t that great. Of course the construction is pretty cool, but there were way too many tourists there for me, so I didn’t stay long.

See you later guys!

Pros and cons about computers in classrooms

Write two paragraphs on a topic of your choice where you use at least 5 of the linking words/expressions you’ve found:

Pros:

Firstly it's much easier for most people to take notes and do tasks on a computer (especially for those who can't read their own handwriting), since many types faster on a computer then they write by hand. This way classes could be more effective because the teacher don't have to wait that long before his/her students have written down what's on the blackboard, or what's being told. Furthermore it's easier to organize your work on a computer screen, unlike in a book where you write something and afterward crossing in out. Lastly the computer is a good remedy to find information when doing project work.

Cons:

There are also negative sides about using computers during lessons in school. The main reason is that computers may distract the students. For instance when working on projects, some may be distracted by other things they find on the internet so they don't do what they're supposed to. Moreover, students who are bored could just log onto the internet and surf the web, as a result, they won't pay any attention at all to what's being told in class.

Task given in class

Read the analysis of the short story. Why is this a good analysis? What can you learn from this analysis?

I think this is a very good analysis because the writer has managed to include all the important parts that you're supposed to write about in these kinds of texts. As well as they're well written. 

Furthermore he/she has structured the text very well. He/she has divided the text into paragraphs where each of them says something about one topic, such as the setting, point of view, theme and so on. 

In addition to all this, I must say that I liked the introduction and I loved the conclusion/ending. The introduction is short and catchy. It tells the reader about which story the analysis is written to, a little bit about the author, as well as he/she says what the story is all about. And the ending sums up the whole text in a very clever way. We get to know the writers opinion about the text, moreover it makes the reader really starting to think. 

From this analysis I would say that we can learn how to write short, but good paragraphs, as well as we can learn how to structure a text in a proper way.

Blog assignments

A) Write a little something about yourself on your blog. 
My name is Odin, I'm sixteen years old and I live in a red house in Ladehammerveien 31A. In my sparetime I like to be with my friends, play football and basketball. But at the moment I ain't doing any sports because i broke my ancle during a football cup in Frederikshavn, Denmark, this summer. So when I'm not doing any sports some of the things I like to do is to hang around with my friends, watch TV and just mess around on the computer. I also have a lot of time to do my homework...


B) Write a short text where you reflect on the different ways the English language affects and influences you in every-day life. 
I'm surrounded by the English language everyday. I'm listening to music, watching English TV-series and browsing the internet. All in all I think that the English language affects me in many positive ways (see: the Mind map "Why do we need to learn English?"). One of them is that I learn more and more english for every day (vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation). But there's also something that can be negative about it, it's that many english words simply can take over for words in your own language (in this case: Norwegian). 

Mind maps for y'all!

Here are two mind maps that I've made during our last English lesson, 14th September:


- Different strategies to learning English
- Why do we need to learn English?