American Gun Culture

In our last lesson we talked about the American Gun Culture. Farah told us some interesting facts.

There are three reasons why the Americans wear weapons:
- struggle against the British --> People have guns to make sure that the government doesn't go bad.
-frontier life --> People who live at the frontier have to protect themselve because there is no police around.
-hunting

At the and of the lesson we watched a video on Youtube which was about the shooting in Arizona. A young Republican wanted to kill a congress woman. Fortunately the woman stayed alive. A doctor said that she is in good condition for someone who is shot in head.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

The first Thanksgiving was 1621. The pilgrims invited other Native Americans to eat with them, because they wanted to celebrate their first harvest.

Nowadays, Thanksgiving is celbratet on the 4th Thursday in November. The whole family eats a big Thanksgiving dinner.

Typical Thanksgiving dinner:

Turkey, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, pecan pie, mashed potatoes, ...

The day after Thanksgiving is called "Black Friday". Black Friday is the beginning of Christmas shopping. The shops open very early in the morning and they grant a lot of discounts only on this day. For children there are toys very cheap and for older people electronic products.

Halloween

Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallow's Eve.
Halloween means holy.
Eve is the day before a holy day.
Halloween was an ancient Brititsh Celtic festival.
At Halloween the souls of the dead returned.
People lit bonfires to frighten evil spirits.
Now bonfires are only burnt on November the 5th, bonfire night.
Masks, customs, ghosts, whitches on broomstickst with black cats, skeletons, bets and spiders and Halloween lanterns have all become part of Halloween
Children play trick or treat.
They ask for a treat
hoping to get sweets




That's my favourite Halloween clip. I chose it because I like "Home Improvement":


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwNuxwmocdo&feature=related

My favourite advertisement!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40DykbPa4Lc&feature=related

Farrah

Yesterday, Farrah, the exchange student of our school, spent an English-lesson with us. Farrah is 22 years old and she is from the United States, exactly from Maryland, that is in the north-east of Washington DC. Sarah lives in Linz and she stays in Austria until May 2011. Farrah does not have any brothers or sisters. Her hobbies are to meet friends, listening to music, ... but she does not like sports. She likes Austria and she has already visited Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck and Saalbach.

The development of advertising

I have just read an article called "The development of advertising" and it talks about the history of advertisement.


Advertising started in the 19th century, also called the Industrual Revolution. First it was only for novelties and fringe products. Later, when more and more companies produced the same goods, brand-naming of products was necessary.

The economic depression from 1873 to 1894 hit the big industrial firms because the produced products were not sold. So prices and profit fell. The small companies realised that they are in a better position and so they combined with other businesses and widened the range of goods. This period was the start of "Monopoly Capitalism". After the crises the big companies started mass advertising.

Manufacture and distribution changed a lot at the beginning of the new century. 1850 there were a lot of anonymous manufacturers whose goods were distributed by wholsalers. But at the beginning of the new century companies wanted to get away from the rivals. So they decided to "brand" the goods by selling it in distinctive packages in order to facilitate recognition and encourage customer loyalty.

Lord Leverhulme was one of the first industrials who realised that advertisement must be eye-catching and should have funny slogans. It is important that people remember advertisement no matter if they like it or they don't like it.

"Write the Future"

My favourite spot is "Write the Future" by Nike.
I like it because there are some famous football stars who show their skills and tricks. The company wants to show with this advertisment what you are able to do with the new Nike-shoes. A special scene of this spot is that Homer Simpson was outsmarted by Cristiano Ronaldo.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE

My grade at the end of the 3rd year.

In the winter term I got an A. On our presentation about Money and Banking I got a B. My 2nd test was also a B. I think my work in class is also ok.
So I think I deserve a B.

Our trip to Italy

1st day

On arrival we made a stopover in Udine. In groups we visited the city. After a 2-1/2-hours-stay, we drove to Bibione. At about 18 o clock, we moved into our mobile homes. Then we went into the sea. After dinner we walked into town and we werde allowed to move freely.

2nd day

On 2nd day we started early in the morning and drove to Venice. After Professor Huber had told us the city a little closer, we had to complete a questionnaire about the city in the next three hours. On the way back we made a short stop at a supermarket. As on the day before we went to the sea and after dinner we were allowed to move freely again.

3rd day

On the third day we could sleep a little bit longer. After breakfast we went swimming again, the first time in the pool. Then we went 1 1/2 hours archery. At 14 o clock we made then a 2-1/2-hours bike tour. Then we went back swimming again. After dinner we could see a representation of a group of artists. In the evening there was a disco on the program.

3th day

At lunch's time we went in a fishing village. After lunch we drove back to Bibione. In the afternoon was doing sports on program. I went with my group to play beach soccer. In addition, we had plenty of time to go swimming again. In the evening we were allowed to move freely again.

5th day

On the last day we got up very early in the morning and packed up our things. At 9 o clock our mobile home must have been completely cleared. Half an hour later we went back on the way home. At about 17 o clock we arrived in Perg.

Let's go green!

I have just heard a presentation and its name was "Let's go green". It was about environment and climate change in the world. I think it's a very intersting theme because it concerns all of us.

Climate change is one of the greatest environmental threats of our planet. There are natural and human causes. Natural causes are for example the earth's orbit or the volcanic eruptions which is a very important theme these days because of the volcanic eruption in Island last week. Human causes of climate change are for example greenhouse gases.

There are some organisations which look after the climate change and other threats of the world. Two well known organisations are WWF and Greenpeace. These organisations tell what we can do to help our earth.

In my opinion we all should think about climate change and what we can do against. Car producer and industrial companies should reduce emissions. But I think everybody can do things against climate change. As for me, i use public transport and I do waste seperation.

Loneley Planet

After the presentation of the company KMME about "Tourism" i looked at the website loneleyplanet.com. which they explained. I think it's a very nice homepage because the content is very clear.

The site is devided into 6 parts: Home, Destination, Communitiy, Shop, Hotels & Hostels and Travel services. I like this website because you get very much information about any contry where you want to go. In the part "Destination" you first have to chose continent and then any country. In "Community" you can get a member and write with a lot of other people. There are also hotels you can see.

I think this website is very nice and perfect of planning a trip.

My comment about the presentation "Tourism"!

I liked the presentation about tourism. I think the content was really good because the speakers explained every point of the overview in detail. I also liked the song of the musical "Mary Poppins" and the podcast about the sights in London. I think it was a good idea to explain tourism with the example London. Well done!

Marc Janko - most effective striker

I read an article the other day in the online-version of Austriantimes.at and it talks about Red Bull star Marc Janko.

I thought you might be interestet because Marc Janko is one of the best strikers in Austria.

Basically what it says is that Marc Janko was the most effective striker in the world last season. He scored 39 goales in 34 matches. The International Federation of Football & History (IFFHS) said that no player in the 60 strongest leagues in the world has scored more goals than Janko. He was honoured at a gala held in London on February 1st.

I think Marc Janko has deserved this honouring because he played a very good season. It is also a good promotion for Austrians football league and maybe he can change to a famous football club in future.

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Vocabulary:

striker (Stürmer) = Marc Janko earns his money as a striker.

score (treffen) = He scored 39 goales last season.

honour (ehren) = Marc Janko was honoured at a gala held in London.

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http://www.austriantimes.at/news/Sports/2010-01-14/Double_laurels_for_Red_Bull_star_Janko

Christmas Traditions

I have read an article at share-christmas.com and it talks about Christmas traditions.

I thought you might be interested because it's very interesting to know about Christmas traditions of other countries.

Basically I have chosen 3 countries: America, China and Spain.

The Americans put on the top of their Chrismtas tree an angel. They celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. The Americans call father christmas, Santa Claus.

People in China decorate their homes with colourful paper lanterns. Compared to America Christmas day isn't a holyday. The children must go to school and the adults go to work. The Christmas trees are decorated also with paper lanterns.

The people in Spain sing and dance on the streets after Christmas mat on Christmas eve. A very famous song is "Feliz Navidad". This song is known in a lot of countries. The Spains have their christmas dinner after midnight.

What surprised me most was the fact that in Spain people dance and sing on the streets. I didn't know that but I think it's a very nice tradition. What shocked me most was the fact that in China people must go to work or to school. I think Christmas day should be also a holiday in China.

Some sentences about Paul and Flora (page 10/1)

Paul (USA)

Paul was very nervous before he came to Austria. He asked himself if his German had been good enough to comunicate fluently? After one year in Austria he can say that it was great. He met lots of nice people and took good memories back to the USA. There was only one thing he couldn't believe: the alcohol law. He told that a lot of people drink alcohol and they do that also on public places.

Flora (Ireland)

Flora was looking forward to see Austria. She met friendly people. Flora said that the more she learned about the Austrian way of life, the more she learned about the Ireland culture. She added that there is a big difference between Austria and Ireland. For example in Ireland it isn't allowed to smoke on public places. Flora enjoyed her stay in Austria.

Press Review - Traffic volume down in Vienna

I read an article the other day in "Austrian-Times.at" and it talks about Vienna's traffic volume.

I thought you might be interested because it is a very important theme nowadays.

Basically what it says is that the traffic volume in Vienna went down. In contrast to the year 2004 the traffic decreased in the roads of Austria's capitle city. It went down about 930 kilometres to seven billion kilometres in 2008. The Austrian Traffic Club (VÖC) said that every car had covered about 12,666 kilometres last year - a decrease of 1,100 kilometres compared to 2004.

What surprised me most was the fact that the traffic in this city decreased. I thought that it got more. This fact is real good because polution is a big problem in our time. If people use public transport it is very good for the environment.

As for me, it is important that the traffic volume is decreased. I hope that it will get down in other cities too.


Vocabulary:

traffic volume (Verkehrsmenge) = The traffic volume goes down.
cover (zurücklegen) = You must cover 100 kilometres to get to Vienna.
environment (Umwelt) = Less traffic volume is good for the environment.


http://www.austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2009-09-17/16462/Traffic_volumes_down_in_Vienna_#

Press Review British Airways

I have just read an article in the today’s online version of Austrian Times and it talks about British airways.

I thought you might be interested because it’s a very important theme at the moment.

Basically what it says is that the British Airways open a new route to Austria. There were only the routes to Vienna and Salzburg but now there will be also a route to Innsbruck. There will run five more flights between Gatwick and Innsbruck a week.

I think that’s a good idea to have one more route. The connection between the two countries is better and people can fly easier because they have more opportunities.

Press Review European Election

I have just read an article in the today's online version of Austrian Times and it talks about the european election.

I thought you might be interested because it's an important theme these days.

Basically what it says is that the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) was the loser in the election. They won just 29,3 per cent and lost about 10 per cent. The winner of the election was the People's Party. They won the election with 29,7 per cent. An other winner was the list Hans-Peter Martin with 17,9 per cent.

The frustration at the Social Democratic Party was big.

What me surprised most was the fact that the list HPM won a lot of votes. I wasn't voting but I am satiesfied with the result of the election.

Press Review St. Patrick’s Day

I have just read an article in Bernhard Ebner’s blog myblogebner.blogspot.com and it talks about St. Patrick’s Day.

I thought you might be interested because St. Patrick’s Day is a very popular day in a lot of countries.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in lots of countries around the world. In the eighth century he became the patron of Ireland. He was taken away from home from Irish raiders when he was 16 years old. St. Patrick lived there for six years and then he escaped and returned to Wales. After he entered the church he returned to Ireland as a missionary.

What interested me most was the fact that he was taken away to Ireland and then he became the patron of this country.

I agree with the author’s posting about St. Patrick’s Day and it fascinates me that this isn’t only in Ireland celebrated.

St. Patrick's Day

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. I have found some information about this important day in lots of countries.



St. Patrick's Day is a feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland. This day is celebrated on March 17 th . Today is bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Montserrat. In Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the United States and New Zealand it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday. It became a feast day in the Roman Catholic Churche in the early part of the 17th century and it is a holy day for Roman Catholics in Ireland. If St. Patrick’s Day is on a holy day like Palm Sunday like in the year 2008, it is celebrated on March 15th.




Everybody who celebrates is dressed green and drinks a lot of alcohol and there is also a lot of Irish music in pubs. On St. Patrick’s Day there is nearly everything in the colour green (except the Guinness beer). In some areas there are rivers painted in green only for one day.