Good Bye 2008 Hello 2009

Seasons greetings everyone,

Your task over the holidays is to tell everyone what you're up to/what you've done/what you'll be doing. I'm staying in Porto for a week and then off to visit a friend in Norway, where I'll be for New Year. I'm not sure how cold it's going to be but it's sure to be a lot colder than here. Still, the houses have heating so I may not notice it :)

What about you?

Paul

keeping fit

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posting this one :) . For the final one of the year could you tell us all what you do, if anything, to keep fit. Myself, I'm not a particularly sporty person but I do walk everywhere. I walk to work, to visit friends and occasionally to the beach on the Gaia side and I think that makes up for the fact that I don't do any sports. Anyway, what about you?

See you on Monday

Paul

Food memories

Hope your week is going well, everyone, and you're not working too hard :) . This week I'd like to know what you were like as a kid with food. I don't remember having too many problems with food when I was young. Whatever was in front of me I usually ate, unlike my brothers who hated most vegetables and would go to any length to hide bits of cauliflower or carrot under furniture, which my mother would find a few days later, often covered in mould :( . I do remember finding the taste of tomatoes very strange and it took a long time before I grew to like them. They were an acquired taste. I love them now of course. Beer was another thing I turned my nose up at. When I first tasted it (I must have been about 14) it was so bitter! Now, there's nothing better than a cold beer on a hot summer's day. One thing that I hated and I still hate is pickled beetroot. Absolutely revolting.

What about you?

TV

I don't have a television myself, or rather I have one but it is not connected to cable or an aerial so I can't watch TV even if I wanted to. I don't miss watching TV as I have plenty of other things to occupy my time. But I do admit I occasionally watch it when I go round to a friend's house when they might already be watching CSI, National Geographic Channel or the news. Thirty minutes to an hour is all I can manage - after this I become a bit like a zombie :) . When I was young (many many years ago) I think I used to watch quite a lot of TV: soap operas, documentaries, sports programmes, music programmes. What a waste of time that was! There was a children's programme called 'Why don't you...', which began with the song 'Why don't you....why don't you.....why don't you go and turn the TV off and do something else instead?'. Very good advice but a bit strange as I wouldn't have been able to watch that programme if I had turned the TV off.

Anyway, what about you? What do you watch?

Paul

Reading

Hello again everyone,

Hope your week's going well and you're not working too hard :)

This week I'd like to know what kind of things you like to read. I wouldn't call myself a prolific reader but I like to read a book every now and again. I can never seem to read at night time, which for me is a time for watching films, cooking and relaxing with friends. Morning is the best time of the day for me. I like a book that makes me think, that is not too easy to read and that I can put down every so often and think about the story. If I am able to read it very quickly then it's not worth reading. I like thrillers and anything with an unexpected twist. Romances, like Barbara Cartland novels, are not for me :) . I really like travel literature, where I can lose myself in a faraway exotic place......tropical island with lots of palm trees.....

Anyway, how about you?

Food shopping

Hello again everyone,

This topic isn't really connected to what were are doing in class but it's been something I've been thinking about recently. Where do you do your food shopping? Do you look at labels to see where the food has come from? I never used to but now after noticing that garlic in Pingo Doce comes from China, asparagus comes from Peru and peppers from Morocco I've started looking for things that are from Portugal - more difficult than it seems! What about you? Do you care about what you eat and where it comes from?

Looking forward to reading your entries

Paul

You and your family

Hello again everyone,

Hope you're all having a good week and you're not working too hard :)

This week's task is to write about you and your family. Are you like certain members of your family or are you different? Are you the black sheep of the family? Do you look like your mother or father (or none of them)? Do you take after any of them? Do you spend a lot of time with them or do you see them only every now and again?

Can't wait to read about you

Paul

Do you like an easy life?

Hi everyone!

Would you like to have the security of an easy life, where everything is predictable and you do the same things day after day and week after week? Or do you like to do something different every now and again to add a bit of spice to your life? Perhaps you do a dangerous sport, or change your partner every now and again :) (only joking!). Would you find life boring if there was no danger anywhere?

As for myself, it's a bit of both. I have to confess that for the most part my life is routine. But saying that, I do like to visit new places every year, try new food and meet new people when the opportunity arises. I think one of the things I would like to change, sometimes, is to leave everyday chores until the last minute, or even do things late, to leave time to do other things, I don't know whether it's a fault, or a British quality, or both (!) but I always tend to be on time for things.

Anyway, what about you?

A film I have seen recently

Hello everyone!

This week is about films and it would be a good idea if you could write about a film you saw recently.

I don't often go to the cinema and it's more usual for me to rent a film from Blockbusters or, if I like it, I might buy one from Amazon. Anyway, a recent one I bought from Amazon was 2046, a Chinese romance, by the director Wong Kar Wai. The cinematography is amazing and it's just like a piece of art, good art. The cast includes some of the most famous Chinese actors and actresses, like Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang and Tony Leung - I don't know whether you've heard of them. The plot is based in the future but it's really about the past and this can make it difficult to understand. It makes you think, though. I'd give it 5 stars.

What about you?

Paul

First class

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to the 'bestclassblog' to all those that are returning and a big welcome to all the new students.

As we haven't got a topic yet I suggest you just write something about your summer. Maybe you went away or maybe you didn't. That doesn't matter, just write and tell everyone what you got up to.

Looking forward to reading about you

Paul

Hello again!

Dear all,

No, I hadn't forgotten you all :) . I've just had so many problems getting internet at the flat I bought that I spent the whole summer without internet. It was actually quite nice being 'low-tech' for a change, doing lots of reading, entertaining visitors and visiting lovely places close to Porto, like Pinhão for example.

Anyway, I'm back at work today (Judite, unfortunately I've missed your dinner but please invite me to your next one :) ) and preparing myself for teaching, which begins at the end of this month. There's a possibility that I'll be your teacher (I can hear you saying 'oh, no!' already) to take you through to First Certificate but that will be confirmed next week.

Anyway, how was everyone's holidays?

Lots of love to everyone

Paul

Back to Porto:-(( working again...

Hi everyone!

Did you have nice holidays?

And plans for the new school-year? Everybody go to the British Council again? and about your life, do you have news? weddings, children, new boy/girlfriend, new job, something interesting to share with us? NO??!!! I don't belive...we need having a dinner together and talk about ALL of this, yes, in English:-)) I suppose Paul will go.... by the way, are you here? yes, Paul, I'm speaking to you! are you in Porto? Why didn't you write in the blog? Did you forget your "BEST CLASS"? Ok, you don't need to answer, we forgive you...

I hope see you soon! but outside the British Council, I won't go this time...yes, I'm crying...because I miss all of you!!!

Knoc...Knoc...Knoc...is anybody there?

Well...are all of you on holidays???!!!
Are all of you so busy???!!!
Did you forget we are a team???!!

I'm very happy because I'm going on holidays soon:-)))

Last week I was in Galiza, a mix of fun and work. Now, I'm City Ambassador (Porto)of Couchsurfing, it means more work, more responsability but also travelling more and more fun:-)))) I'm really busy...but happy!!

I didn't decide yet if I'd go to the British Council next school-year. I'm thinking about private lessons, it depends on the price...

I hope hearing from all of you soon, even you are in Tonga Islands :-))))
Judite

The summer

I'm not sure if any of you are still reading this but, if you are, are you interested in keeping the blog open over the summer?

Paul

last lesson :(

Hello everyone!

Just a few thoughts about our last lesson of the year next Monday. I don't know if you'll all agree but how about bringing some photos from your past in to talk about informally? I could bring in photos of my family in Manchester and even photos from my school days (that's a long time ago :) ) . I would love to see some family photos from your past but you could bring in photos from your travels too. The photos could be either hard copies or digital - up to you. What do you think?

Also you mentioned bringing something to eat in. Use this blog to say what you're going to bring! 

Enjoy your day off tomorrow!

Paul

Summer

You wouldn't know it, with all the rainy weather we've been having over the past week, but summer is approaching! What are your plans for the summer?

I was planning on going to Thailand for the summer but I can't seem to find a reasonable flight anywhere. The price seems to be almost double what it was a few years ago. I suppose that's the price of oil. Another option would be to buy an Interrail ticket (adult version) and go exploring Spain and France and England visiting friends. But if that works out too expensive I shall stay here in Porto. That's really not a bad option.

Paul

Crime

This week tell me about your experience of crime. What's Porto like as a city? Is it safe? Have you ever been mugged? Do you know anyone that's been mugged? Is there much violent crime here? Has anything ever happened to you on holiday, either in Portugal or abroad?

Have a good week

Paul

Europe Day

This Friday 9 May is Europe day. What does Europe mean to you? For me, Europe is a great acheivement after so many years of war. Europe is about different, but similar, countries working together. Europe is about freedom and social justice - sorry to sound a bit like a politician ;) And what a fantastic acheivement the Euro is - unfortunately Britain isn't a part.

Anyway, your views please...

Luck and superstitions

I don't think I'm a very superstitious person but my grandmother was. When I was a boy I remember I could never open an umbrella in her house as she thought it would bring bad luck. She also used to tell me I had to say 'white rabbit' when I woke up on the first day of every month - I often did looking back. She used to rub her money plant (a plant common in England) before she went to play Bingo as she believed this would bring her good luck. There's a long list of things she used to do........

Are you superstitious? Do you believe in luck? Do you know anyone who is superstitious?

Paul

long weekend

Dear all,

Sorry, there's no new subject this week but I would like to know what you're all up to this long weekend. I'm going to relax and enjoy the sunny weather after all this rain we've been having!

Enjoy

Paul

Music

Every week I download a few tracks from Itunes and transfer them to my ipod. I love to listen to music when I'm in the mood, which is any time when I don't need to concentrate (I can't listen to music while I'm reading for example). My taste in music is pretty varied too and you would just have to look at what music is on my ipod to realize that! I'm an eighties boy and music from the eighties features a lot - Alison Moyet, Howard Jones, Kraftwerk to name just a few. Nowadays I download a lot of electronic music and Brazilian music too. Celso Fonseca and Zuco 103 - does anyone like them? Oh, and I have a lot of classical music too. I used to go to bed with classical music playing in the background but I haven't done that for a long time :)

Anyway, what role does music play in your life? What are your favourites?

Paul

Easter break

Two weeks holiday. I wonder what everyone is up to. My holidays start tomorrow and I am going to try and catch up on things I haven't been able to do recently. I really need to dig the garden and clear it for the tomatoes and chillis I am going to plant next month. Then I need to go and look for a christmas present for my mother. Yes, a christmas present! I didn't visit my family at christmas and instead I am going to Manchester this Saturday for a week, so I will take her a belated present. The weather forecast for Manchester next week is snow, freezing rain and wind so I am not looking forward to that. Lucky Rita, going to Bali!

Anyway, what about you? I'll try and check the internet in Manchester to read what you're up to.

Have a good Easter

Paul

Animals

Hello!

This week's topic is animals. Have you got a pet? What is it like? Does it need much attention? Do you spoil it? Does it get on with other people?

Have a good week everyone

Paul

My favourite teacher

Think back to your school days. For some of you this may be a bit more recent than for others. What were your teachers like? Did you have a favourite? Were you the teacher's pet? Did you have a teacher that you absolutely hated? Do you still see any of your teachers around now?

Have a good week everyone!

Paul

What would you do if .....

What would you do if you suddenly came into a lot of money? It's a difficult one to answer as it's not very probable but almost everyone I know thinks about it.

If it ever happened to me, well, who knows what would happen. I would probably buy a reasonably expensive flat in Porto overlooking the river and also an old flat in Bordeaux, probably. If I won the first prize in Euromillions that would leave me an awful lot of money, so I would probably set up my own business doing web design and I've always fancied breeding cats, especially Bengal cats (10% Asian Leopard). That would also mean I would have a lot of money for my favourite pastime, travelling. Oh dreams.............

Money, money, money

Hello everybody,

A simple topic this week. Money. What's your opinion on it? Have you got too much money? Haven't you got enough? Do you think the best things in life are free? Do you think money is the root of all evil?

Looking forward to reading your comments.

Paul

Horoscopes

Do you read your horoscopes? Do you believe in them? Has anything you've read ever come true? What about your Chinese sign? Do you know anything about that?

Looking forward to your comments.

Paul

A sportsperson I admire

What sportspeople do you admire? Why? Do they do anything apart from sports? Have they broken any records? Are they physically attractive?

Looking forward to your comments

Paul

Sports and leisure activities

Hello again,

I do a lot of walking in my free time but I don't practise any sports. What about you? Are there any sports you enjoy doing and would recommend?

Paul

Bullfighting

Hello everyone,

Bullfighting is a popular sport in Spain and in some parts of Portugal. I went to a bullfight in Azambuja a few years ago just for the experience. Personally I am not in favour of it. What is your opinion on it?

Paul

My history

Hello everyone,

The next task is to write a little bit about yourself (you should be experts at doing this now). Include your work experience, your studies as well as any personal information you would like to include.

Paul, Porto 16 January 2008

Introduction

Hello everyone out there,

I'm going to keep this short as this blog site has been created for my students to use outside class time, so I'm hoping they will take the lead. I will, of course, comment from time to time or initiate a discussion but it will mainly be up to them.

Anyway, the task for this week is write a little about what you think is the best job to have. It can be the job you are doing at the moment or it can be a job you would like to have.

Paul Jackson, Porto January 2008