What is your dream job, Alice?

 What do you do for a living? Is that your dream job? What IS your dream job?

PERSONAL QUESTIONS

1) Where are you from?

I am from Crete, an island in the South of Greece. Particularly, I'm from Heraklion which is the capital of island.

2) what's your hometown like?

My hometown is one of the biggest towns of Crete with many facilities because it is the capital of the island, so many services are concentrated there, regarding entertainment and life in general.

3) What do you like about where you live?

What I like about living in Heraklion is that the distances are short, so everything you want to do is easy. Heralion is situated by the sea but at the same time you can go to the mountain and the countryside.In addition,it has many restaurants where you can taste the traditional cousine and many bars and cinemas where you can have fun with your company.

4) Would you like to live anywhere else?

No, I thing that I couldn't live anywhere else because here in my town I can find everything I want.It is the place where I was born and all my relatives, my parents,my friends are here. Everytime I leave the town for a while, and I return after a few days, it's very relaxing to be again in a familiar place, it makes me feel good.

5) What kind of vacation do you enjoy?

I enjoy going to different places and not staying in the same place every time. Even if I go to the same place I like exploring what else is nearby, and every time I find something interesting that I hadn't seen the previous time. I don't like staying only on the beach without doing anything. I prefer to be more active. This means that I swim a lot, play rackets or volleyball on the beach. Towards the end of the day, and after all these activities I like relaxing on the beach.

6) Did you go on vacation last summer?

Yes, I went on vacation last summer with my husband and a couple of close friends too, in a place which is named Ligres in the South of Crete. It was very restful, without stress at all. We had a good time all together and we laughed a lot.

7) What are you planning for your next vacation?

I would like to go abroad, in Romania where I studied some years ago. I am planning to be there for my next vacation because I heard that everything has changed. So I am very curious to see the place where I lived for 5 years and I have so many memories. I look forward to seeing all the classmates too.

8) What are you doing tonight/this weekend?

I don't have any plans for tonight, but for the weekend I would like to go on excursion in Athens to visit some good relatives and to have good time together. We can go to the theatre to see a good performance which I heard that is on now or we can go to a big concert in the music hall.

Halloween, tradition and technology

After surfing the Net and googling certain concepts, answer the following questions:

What is Halloween and what do its celebrations involve?

Is keeping traditions important to a nation? Is knowing about foreign traditions equally important?

How can tradition be combined with cutting edge technology that has radically altered the way we used to live?

Two extra activities! :-)

1) Visit www.sixflags.com and leave a written comment about which theme you would choose and why, using the words you learnt in this unit.

2) Visit www.earthtv.com/en and write about which place you would like to visit and the reasons for your choice.

Many people believe it is better to spend their money enjoying themselves and not worry about saving for the future. Do you agree with this?

I personally believe that all of us should worry about saving for the future and especially for our children's future. So we should save money for a rainy day.

It is true that most people spend money on things that they don't need such as new mobile phones or to cheer themselves up with a trip, but one day they maybe will find themselves in a difficult situation and in this case they should cope with their problems. For one thing, we should always be prepared to pay fore health's problems. In my opinion this is the most important reason why people should think about saving money for a rainy day. For instance, a cousin of mine had such a problem with his child who was ill and when he needed some money for the hospital, he couldn't pay because he had just returned from a trip.

For another thing, people should be worried about saving money for life's big events, and one such event is a wedding or their children's well-being. I think that a parent derives big pleasure when he is be able to provide some things to their children's wedding. I felt this when my brother got his son married, and he could pay for all arrangements of the wedding. He was very happy for this.

Finally, to be able to help your children when they start making their own start in life is another reason to save money. This does not mean that we must be stressed for all these, but we ought to think in such a way that will help us have a good life, satisfy our needs as well as the needs of our own people.

To sum up,it is a good idea to save money for a rainy day, but without this making us very anxious, because anxiety does not solve problems.

Interesting articles about today's topic

Money Brings Happiness — if You Give it Away

Does Money Bring Happiness?

Why Money Does Not Bring Happiness – It Brings Unhappiness

Calendar (August)

1) I like this dress so I want to know in which retail price it is.

2) The t-shirt which I liked was a famous-label cloth so I didn't buy it.

3) This is a good period of time to shop around if somebody wants to buy things.

4) It's sounds that a well-known actress is going to come to our town.

5) I had a very convenient offer to purchase a big house in the countryside.

6) It's welcome by everybody to get a gift card to manage it as he/she wants.

7) When I graduated from high school I promised to our classmates that I would organize a reunion party after few years.

8) Every time I visit the aquarium I feel excited about the wide range of fishes.

9) When you are in a foreign county, you need a guided tour to show you all the attractions.

10) I prefer going to a casual dining instead of a formal restaurant.

11) I love cooking and I like tasting different cuisines from all over the world.

12) I would like to be a member of an extreme sports club.

13) Many times, I am not in the mood of going shopping, so I prefer to buy everything I want from the comfort of my house.

14) Every time I receive a letter from my friend in America, I am very pleased.

15) It would be nice if the Municipality gives food to the homeless free-of-charge every Sunday.

16) Before you buy a product, it is useful to take some samples.

17) Each occasion in our life demands a different way to be dealt with.

18) There is a specialty store with footwear downtown in our city.

19) The blouse which I bought two days ago doesn't fit me, so I will go to exchange it with a skirt.

20) A famous singer will come in our town but I didn't find a ticket for his concert. All were sold out.

21) I don't like buying anything which is non-refundable.

22) When I was child, I gave away all my toys to a poor girl.

23) We must give up all bad habits!

24) When you rent a new house, you must pay two rents beforehand.

25) I he from one place to another in ave run out of money again so I should borrow some from my friend.

26) It's very difficult to move from one place to another in Athens because the fares are very expensive.

27) I keep all my things that are of great value, particularly things with sentimental value.

28) To keep fit you should eat small quantities of food.

29) I think that the sales clerk didn't give me the change correctly back.

30) He is stingy and has many problems because his wife is very extravagant.

31) In my neighborhood you can't buy a house because the square foot is very expensive.

Small pleasures

Once upon a time in a country far far away a boy lived, very different from all the others. His name was Eftichis. Everything ran smoothly in his life until one day, many many years ago an incident made him see life from a different perspective. And suddenly, a big secret was revealed.

1) Mention some examples of small pleasures presented in the video.

2) What is the big secret revealed in the end?

3) What is the message sent through this video?

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Hello Alice! Since you liked that video so much, I am reposting it here, also having a few questions to ask you:

1) Which of the two stories impressed you the most in Steve Jobs' speech? Why?

2) 'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says. What does this mean exactly? Do you agree with this statement?

You can find the speech in written form here. Have a fascinating weekend, Alice!  

ECCE speaking part two

Situation:

Imagine that you have won a scholarship to study at a college in America for three months. You are looking for a place to live while you are studying. The choice has come down to two places.

A. First place: Student dormitory

Student: Could you tell me where the student dormitory is?

Examiner: It is in the campus.

Student: How much will it cost to stay there?

Examiner: It will cost 800$ a month including breakfast and dinner.

Student: Does the student dormitory have any sports or entertainment facilities?

Examiner: Yes it has a TV lounge, a cafeteria, a gym and a fitness center.

Student: It is nice! I am very excited about these facilities. Finally I would like to know how to get to the college from the student dormitory.

Examiner: It is very easy! It is only a 10-minute walk from the lecture halls.

Student: It is very convenient for a student.

B. Second place: room in private house

Student: I would like to know where the house is?

Examiner: It is a big traditional house 4 miles from the campus.

Student: Could you tell me how much it will cost?

Examiner: It will cost 450$ a month for only one room.

Student: Please let me know if the house offers any special facilities.Is it convenient to use public transport from the house to get to the college?

Examiner: Yes, it is very convenient because there is a bus every hour from the house or you could ride your bike to get to the college.

Student: Yes, it sounds good! But I would like to know if this house offers any special facilities.

Examiner: Yes, you can use a shared kitchen, laundry room, but there are no shops or entertainment nearby.

Student: This would be very uncomfortable.

Choosing an Option:

My first choice would be the student dormitory because I think that it would suit me best. I thing that I would have more fun with the company of the fellow students and also there are some facilities which would make my life easier and more entertaining. The distance from the dormitory to the college is convenient and if I go on foot or by bike it's a good way to do exercise every day to keep fit and healthy.I wouldn't probably choose the room in the private house because I think that to stay with a family would be pressing for me and makes me feel very uncomfortable .In addition, the facilities which are offered in a room of a private house don't meet my needs,as the lack of transportation methods would be a problem.

As a result, I'd choose to stay in a student dormitory because it is important to me to feel relaxed and pleasantly.

LETTER OF ADVISE

Dear Troubled

I am writing to give some suggestions about your problem with your roommates.I know what it is like to feel angry and confused because you can't study or sleep because of the loud music and you have to do more chores because of their mess.I had a similar problem when I was your age and I am sure that the situation can be improved.

It might be a good idea to explain to them how difficult it is for you to study with so much noise around and make them understand that you have important exams soon and if they were in your place, you would do everything you could to support their attempt.

Another suggestion is to make a deal with them about the chores, telling that it is not fair to live in a house with other people and undertake all the chores.Everyone has the obligation to do anything they can to make sure things go well. The place which is shared by a lot of people should always be clean and tidy because it is a moral issue to respect the person next to you. By telling all these to your roommates I am sure that they would understand you and your feelings and they would try for the best.

I thing it will help you to try these suggestions. I am sure everything will be fine in the end.

Yours Aliki

What would you like about living in a smart house? Do you thing there are any disadvantages? What do you thing houses will be in 50 years' time?

I would like living in a smart house for awhile, because I thing that it has a lot to offer.Such a house with its techonology, makes the occupant's life easier.Everybody wants to have comfort and convenience in his|her life.

On the other hand, in my opinion,it can have a negative impact on the grounds that by living in a smart house where everything is automatic, your life would be very monotonous as you have nothing to do and this situation makes you be inactive with many negative effects on your health.

Also, there's no doubt in my mind that houses will be more advanced in 50 years' time which means that people probably will have a robot in their position to do everything for them, so I'm certain that this may have destructive consequences on people's life.

How would you feel about living in a igloo for a couple of days?A month or two? Why?

From where I sit, I feel that I wouldn't live in an igloo for a couple of days, because it is a very small home and it seems to me that I wouldn't breathe freely into it. I would have the sense of claustrophobia.

Another thing is that, I can't stand the idea of living on ace even if it is covered in furs. I believe that I'm far away from these living condition despite the fact that if I were in an emergency situation or ran a health risk,I would necessarily live in such a place!

What is your main interest?

I think that I'm a restless person and I have lot of energy to do many things during the day so I have many many interests. This period of time I'm passionate about cycling.

I love my bicycle! First of all, it is a big white bicycle, very comfortable and full of technology. This means that every time I ride it,I enjoy going to my destination with it.

Secondly, I save time which is very valiable in our days, because by bike you can go everywhere without delay.In addition, by cycling I can keep myself healthy because it is one of the best types of exercise and, therefore,I control my weight.

Taking all the above into consideration,I thing that I will use my cycle until I become old.

Calendar (March)

1.There are many races all over the world, but everyone probably feels that his\her race is unique.
2.Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another.
3.I don't like people who provoke others with their bad behavior.
4.These days the police fines many drivers in the centre of the town.
5.When my children are absent from our home, it seems to me that the house vacates.
6.My mother in law was a seamstress, and she makes me many nice dresses.
7.All of us know that we don't defy the law because we will suffer the consequences.
8.It's very difficult for senior citizens to get on or get off a bus.
9.In politics, it is very common for someone to charge somebody else with doing something.
10.We mustn't violate the laws of nature, because the results will be catastrophic.
11.People who accept the oppression without protest are very weak.
12. I am very happy that I belong to the female gender, although it is very difficult to be a woman sometimes.
13.Every person determines his\her lot by him\her self.
14.I think that many times I am very rigid with my children...
15.But as I am their mother, I am in charge and  they can't do anything about this.
16.People who lived through a  civil war have only bad memories.
17All of us ought to defend our civil rights, for a better future.
18.Because of this, in a fascist state people protest for the oppression which they face.
19.During the year, I save some money for our holiday in the summer.
20.I love to be on the beach when the sun rises.
21.Every day many problems arise for everyone, but we ought to solve them.
22.In a trial the most interesting part is the verdict. 
23.It's nice to uphold emotionally somebody who you know that he\she is in your need.
24.My friend was sacked from her job last week but it doesn't matter because she found a newone immediately.
25.Woman suffer from sexual harassment very often.
26.Forty days before the Easter we must fast not only for religious reasons, but it is also good for our health.
27.When I go to Church I want the preacher to speak very clearly.
28.Children usually have many stains in their clothes.
29.When we are young we don't think that when we are older, perhaps we will be a burden on our childen.
30.The last days I heard about some accidens on T.V because some people exceed the speed limit.
31.This summer I am likely to do many different things compared to what I did in other summers.

The road to be taken!

I think that all the people have felt the challenge in their life to make some serious decisions which can influence the rest of their life and, consequently, the lives of the closest persons.In this situation I am in this period of life, since I should make a decision about my professional career, and I must choose between two roads.

The main reason why I feel this is because long time ago I left my work to bring up my children who were at a very sensitive age. They were aged between 9 and 15 years and they needed me to support them in what they had to do.There is no doubt in my mind that I did the best thing I could do, but now the situation has changed.
The children grew up, so they don't need me so much any more.As a result, I have more free time for me now.This means that I can return to my job and to be more creative again.

Recently, I had a very attractive offer for some Pilates seminars, a new type of Gymnastics, and I am very interested in this, but I have a dilemma.I wonder how I can manage the distance between my hometown and Athens.I am thinking that it is very difficult for me to immediately leave my house and my family to live for a long period of time in Athens alone.However, I feel that I ought to make this decision because in this way I can balance family and work which I love very much.

Taking all the above into consideration I have to say that by choosing to make the next step in my life the satisfaction I will feel will be my reward, and as the past has taught to all of us, every moment we have to choose anything we do.This is our daily lesson if we want to go on in our life.

February (words)

1.I didn't like the fact that I was obliged to resign from my job for personal reasons.
2.Beethoven was a person with admirable expertise in music.
3.Somebody spoke on tv last night and he highlighted the problem of pollution.
4.When somebody speaks of you badly, you must overlook his rudeness.
5.In my job I want to be very polite with my fellow workers.
6.The police has many enquiries about the crime.
7.Because I like tidiness, I always file my bills.
8.Every time I give exams I keep my fingers crossed.
9.First day at work and my senior told me what my duties will be.
10.In my family it is traditional to name children after their grandfather or their grandmother.
11.When I decide to do something well, I can work miracles.
12.Two days ago I was in Athens on a business trip and I got in touch with my children all the time.
13.I saw the crash and I wonder if somebody survived this accident.
14.I can't stand people who insult me.
15.I don't know why, but all the time I mislay my glasses.
16.When I am in a difficult situation, I adjust to the new conditions.
17.As I grow up, I feel that I don't put up with many things.
18.I have a new friend in my life and I like that he's a decent sort of man.
19.My husband had an accident with his bike and now he can't walk, he limps.
20.Although it is raining, I keep on walking to my house.
21.Old people are usually more conservative than young people.
22.What I like about my teacher is that she has very progressive ideas.
23.The fiancé of my brother is a very beautiful girl with a strong personality.
24.When somebody is very ambitious, this can be negative for his life.
25.We must keep some bad things off our lives.
26.Last night I dreamed that I was on a ship and I fell in the sea and I drowned.
27.When we are children, we liked chasing each other.
28.Each time I'm in a awful hurry, I usually become careless and I hurt myself.
29.A friend of mine, ruined her life because of her wrong decisions.
30.When a person is mean in terms of money, possibly this person is mean in terms of feelings too.
31.Every day I say to my doughter to lay her bed before she leaves for school, but she never does it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The picture of Dorian Gray is a story about a young man who was very handsome and innocent at first, but with the bad influence of his friend Lord Henry, we will see how he ended up.

The story starts when Dorian Gray went to his friend Basil Hallward's studio, who was an artist and had just finished Dorian's Gray portrait.There he met Lord Henry, who was 40 years old and he didn't believe in anything and he didn't care about anyone.He only saw the negative aspect of everything and ridiculed the positive one.Nothing was important to him and spent his life going to parties and drinking.Dorian Gray was innocent as I said and he didn't know anything about life so he adopted Lord Henry's cynical way of thinking and his life changed under this influence.Dorian's life became more and more decadent and his beautiful picture reflected what was happening to him.So in this way, he was responsible for three deaths.First,it was the death of Sibyl Vane, an actress who was in love with Dorian and he promised her marriage,but after a while he regretted his decision and the girl took some poison and died.

The second death was the one of his friend Basil, the artist who painted his portrait.Before that, Basil tried to tell him that everyone. In London was talking about him and was saying terrible things, so he was worried about all these.Dorian full of hatred, took a knife and stabbed Basil in the neck.Finally, the third person who died was the brother of Sibyl Vane, who was a sailor and when he heard about his sister's death he returned to take revenge, but he didn'tsucceed.

After all these, Dorian wasn't satisfied with his life.He realized that he wasn't a nice person so when he looked at the portrait which reflected his evilness all these years, he turned ugly and he took the knife and stabbed the picture with all his strength. There was a terrible cry, and the servants were frightened when they saw Dorian Gray dead with a knife in his heart,and his face was very ugly and his eyes were evil.On the wall they saw a beautiful picture of Dorian Gray looking young and handsome just as they knew him.

THE TREASURE OF HAMILTON HALL

The story begins with the death of James Hamilton who was a widower,a rich old man and had no children.Hamilton Hall the name of a big stone house owned by James Hamilton and many generations of Hamiltons lived and died there.

Now after Jame's death,this house and money would go to the person who could solve the mystery of Hamilton Hall. Three relatives and one family friend were the four competitors who had a puzzle to solve:what and where was the treasure of Hamilton Hall?They had seven days to find out and the person who would solve the puzzle would get the house and the money.
All of them stayed at Hamilton Hall with Griff,the butler who looked after them.They were two women and two men.The two men died in their effort to find out the answer to what and where was the treasure and Griff was charged with the murder of those two men,so he went to prison.

Thus,the two women remained to solve the mystery.One of them succeeded in getting there but with the help of a man who was the doctor of Mr Hamilton in his last illness.The doctor fell in love with the woman and was very happy with the result of this story and the woman too.So they inherited the house and money and they could live there happily!

JANUARY. (words)

1.Many times I say to my daughter that she should mind her manners.
2.The first thing that I look when I set foot in a place is if it'clean.
3.Every day I give my daughter a lift to her school because it is far from here.
4.I don't like betting money on horses.
5.I rejected your marriage proposal and I regretted my rushed decision.
6.It's nice when people's dreams come off.
7.I hate these days when I feel let down, without energy at all.
8.When somebody offers me a chance,I take advantage of it.
9.If I want to be member in a gym club, I should sign up for that.
10.If I was a manager in a company, I wouldn't give the elbow to my employees.
11.I will not allow myself to be impolite to anyone.
12.To protect my children I take some precautions.
13.If you run a company, you don't want any counterproductive employees.
14.Some times, I become disrespectful to my parents and then I feel very bad about it.
15.I would like to confront all the problems in my life with optimism.
16.As I grow up, I notice that I try hard to memorize things.
17.I know some people who don't want to face facts because this is a grim truth.
18.If I happen to break somebody's heart, it will be only by mistake.
19.When I must take a serious decision for my life, I don't make up my mind about it quickly.
20.When I got the elbow from the company, I felt angry with my boss.
21.Every day, I have my hand so full that I wish to have more hours in a day to finish what I have to do.
22.My wonderful teacher Christina wants me to learn all the new English words by heart!
23.Nowadays it's very difficult to find someone who you can see eye to eye with.
24.I always wonder, why children are so cheeky to people of older age.
25.I don't like to be nosy, especially about matters pertaining to other people.
26.Always I find a way to catch somebody's eye without being perceptible.
27.My sister asked me to give her a hand to clean her house, because she had an accident and she broke her arm.
28.Today my son sat for an examination so I keep fingers crossed for him.
29.I can't overlook the fact that he has some negative feelings about me.
30.When I go abroad, I want to liaise with my business partners there.
31.Women cope with many things compared to men who are able to do only one job.

In search of Happiness!

This is the story of Green's family.Peter and Ann Green are married, with two children.They seem happy, but their life is not easy because the money which Peter earns isn't a lot.

So all the time Ann nags to her husband for a better life,which means:a bigger house, a modern kitchen and more money in general.However, when Peter achieves this target under different conditions,Ann isn't pleased with the new way of life again.There is always something else:a bigger house to buy, a larger swimming pool e.t.c.Peter starts to wonder where all this stops.They had everything they wanted but they weren't happy.He worked very hard and he never was at home,while Ann was often lonely in the big house.

Thus, Peter thought that he must do something about all these, because they were unhappy.So he decided that he didn't want to be rich anymore.They sold the house and the big car and they bought a little sweet shop where Ann made special sweets from all around the world.They made enough money to live, they worked together and finally, they were happy.

Another world

This book is about a city named Eden City which is a part of another world.All the people in Eden City are always happy:they never fight,they are never ill,they never grow old. The "Team" was the group of people that was responsible for the people's happiness.They made the laws.They were the most important people in Eden City.

Student BZXY741 was the best student of the year and the teachers and all the Students loved him.He dreamed to be part of the "team".Eve was a beautiful girl in the College for Advanced Studies in Personal Happiness, together with BZ.A man from the Ministry of the People's Happiness gave Eve an important job:to find out if BZ was the right man for the "Team".She tried to persuade him that she comes from another world, and that her world was better than Eden' City which was an artificial world because the air,the sky, the moon and every single thing was artificial.She told him that in her world people live real lives,they don't learn how to think and to feel.They live together in families,not just as friends.They love, they hate,they fight, they get ill and they grow old and die.They are free!

All this contrary Eden's City world where people have no freedom and they can't decide about anything because the " Team" decides for them.Eve led him almost five kilometres above to the real world and showed him how real people live there.He felt very unhappy and he saw only dad things like the noise and dirt, the tired depressed faces,so he decided to be back in the college with his friends.

After Eve's report to the Ministry of the People's Happiness, they decided that BZ was the perfect man for the "Team".