REVIEW: "Gap Year"

In class we have watched the first episode of the series Gap Year. It is a British comedy-drama series about the adventures of a group of backpackers taking a trip through Asia. 

The first episode talks about Dylan and his old mate Sean, taking a Gap Year. At first, Sean thinks they are on vacation to escape from their life in the UK, though he totally preferred going to Thailand Dylan convinced him to go to China. But soon, he discovers that Dylan has booked the whole thing to get back with his ex-girlfriend, Lauren.

 Before finding Lauren, they meet the Americans, Ashley, Greg and May in toilets in Beijing. May has been sent to China by her mother to explore her Asian roots with the company of Ashley. Greg, who is English, travels with the girls just because he wants to protect them, but May doesn't like him. Dylan forgets his and Sean's money at the toilets, which Greg finds. Ashley, Greg and May initially take the money and begin spending it before unexpectedly finding Dylan and Sean again to return the money. They join together and head to a festival at the Great Wall of China. There they accidentally they enter into a fight and Sean scapes running and he gets lost and doesn't know how to return to the group because he has no phone and he is completely lost. Meanwhile, Dylan met Lauren at the party, but they didn't end well because Dylan was worried about Sean. 

Finally, the episode ends with Sean getting into the car of the person he fought with on the festival. But then it was too late and he wasn't able to get off the car.  

In my opinion the Gap Year series tries to show people that traveling is not as great and easy as we think it is. Going on an adventure as backpacking is very dangerous and also not as fun as we think. As we can see in this series they have some problems as losing their money, getting into a fight, also being lost or with bad company. Dylan and Sean were not happy because Sean wanted to travel to Thailand and Dylan because he understands that he has wasted a good opportunity to travel with his best friend but he decided to focus on his ex-girlfriend. Also, we can see that May is not happy with his mothers intention of discovering more of the Asian people and culture because Chinese people doesn't like her for being American and not speaking Chinese. 

MY GAP YEAR

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Advantages and disadvantages of learning English abroad compared to learning in your own country

Some years ago I had the oportunity to travel to Plymouth, UK to learn some English and to visit new pleaces. I've never been away from home that much time but it was a great expirence and I've learn a lot of English and a lot about England. 

Learning English abroad, especially in the UK, has a great advanage as you have to speak the lenguage all the time whether during classes or in daily activities such as shopping , asking for directions, and watching TV. It will certainly improve your accent and make you used to thinking in English, not in your native language. Not everyone can afford studying English abroad as it is very expensice. Also, some people cannot get along with a different culture and suffer homesickness. 

Learning English in your own country  has its pros and cons. Being with students speaking the same language and having the same problem makes studying more fun, and sometimes competition urges students to work harder. At the same time using the native language in class limits the ability  to speak English fluently. 

Taking into consideration the high expenses of learning abroad, I prefer to study in my own country and make efforts to improve my Englishby making friendships with English native-speakers who live in or visit my country. 

Portugal's Salvador Sobral wins Eurovision song contest

The 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest took place in the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine, following Ukraine's victory at the 2016 contest.  

The contest consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and a final on 13 May 2017. 

Forty-two countries participated in the contest, but the winner was Portugal with the song "Amar pelos dois" (Loving For The Both of Us) performed by Salvador Sobral and written by Sobral's sister, Luisa, who joined her brother in a duet of the song when the winner was announced. They finished with 758 points. 

This was Portugal's first win in 53 years of participation and it was also the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since 2007. 

The top three countries were Portugal, Bulgaria, represented by Kristian Kostov singing "Beautiful Mess" and Moldova represented by SunStroke Project singing "Hey Mamma!", and all of them achieved the highest position in their Eurovision History. 

You can read more here

MY OPINION: 

This year I didn't like many of the songs that participated on this edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. My favourite song of the night was the winner's. I liked a lot the way Salvador Sobral sang in that emotional way and though at first I didn't understand the lyrics of the song because it was in portugese I found out that it is a love song. So I completely agree with the judges and with the audience in their decision of awarding Salvador Sobral.

Also, my favorite moment of the night was when Luisa, Salvador Sobral's sister joined him in a duet of the song.

WOULD I TAKE A GAP YEAR?

There are many advantages about taking a Gap Year but also there are some disadvantages that we have to consider if we are planing to have a year off. 

When you travel outside of your country you learn many things. First of all you learn how to move all around the world which is very important when you grow up and you start living your live by your own. Apart from this, you will learn many things depending on what trip you choose. You can focus on a particular activity as a sport or just find a work or volunteer on some research... There are many possibilities depending on your personal likes. 

Another advantage is that when you travel to another country you've never been before you learn a lot about their culture, their language and their  activities. And finaly you will meet many new people and make new friends for life because you will experence many things together. 

But though there are many things you  will have to go through while you are on this new country. One is that you will be away from your family for a long time and sometimes it is hard. Also, you have to be very extroverted because you will have to meet need people. And finally, because depending on the trip you choose it could be dangerous so you have to plan a little bit the places you're going to stay at night also discover with whom you are going to stay and the activities you are going to do.

So my final conclusion is that I would take a Gap Year because it is a great oportunity to learn many things and also because it isn't very expensive depending of what trip you take because while you make many activities you can work on something. 

PERSONALITY OR PHYSICAL ATTRACTION?

When you meet someone for the first time you notice the way they dress, their body, their face's beauty, their hair, height... Basically their appearance is the first thing we see of a person even before they say a word. It's normal because we don't know at first how their personality is. So, we only see their physical appearance and we don't know anything about them. In that point, some people ask: should we focus on the physical appearance over they personality? Or their personality over their appearance? 

We live in a society where physical appearance is very important. Also, our idea of beauty may be a bit unconsciously marked by the media: Internet, television, magazines... Although we all have an own pont of beauty, most of the people have quite the same idea, which is the one that says the media. For example, the prototype of the perfect women nowadays is slim, tall but with boobs and butt. Of course, not every men and women think the same but that's. 

Also, we took as an example the celebrities; a lot of celebrities are recognized as being "the most beautiful people in the worlk" like Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Emma Watson... And there are lists that rank the celebrities based only on their looks. All of this tells us that appearance is most important so some people have a tendency to be very superficial.

Talking about love, when you are searching for your "soul mate", a good personality should definitely be at the top of your list. Of course you would like to have a partner that you are physically attracted to. But you shouldn't be in a relationship with somebody only becaue of their look. Remember that the outside beauty doesn't last forever; the inner beauty does.

But though all I think that both of them are important. I think that a part from having a good personality it's such an important thing to feeel attracted to you partner. So when we first see a person it's good to be attracted by the physical appearance but then when we start to talk and know each other we finally decide if we like their personality and we want to have a relationship with them or if not. 

'Hell' of exploited models to be revealed in landmark court case

Eight of the biggest modeling agencies in the world are going to court next month to fight a case that is going to show the horrors of the modeling industry, and if it's successful, thousands of models will cost te agencies an excess of $100million and change the way they do business forever. 

There are claims of thousands of dollars taken away from they paycheck for; extortionate rent charged for model apartments; late or missed payments and interest charged on advances that keep the most successful girls indebted and dependent on their agency.

The case is to be strongly defended by the modeling industry, who says that it would devastate them and that the claims are baseless. They say models get a fair deal, and that claims of financial wrongdoing are entirely untrue.

Louisa Raske was a model since high school who discovered her face on a box of L'Oreal hair dye in CVS, without her being paid, prompting her to begin what is now a large-scale action against modelling agencies.






"The same had happened to numerou girls" Louisa explained. "I contacted the other girls and we were like 'Let's do it'"

New York lawyer, Christopher Kercher, took on the case last spring.

'We realized this was about much more than just some agencies withholding payment. This was about the whole business model,' he said.

Rachel Blais, now 30, was 14 when she was spotted in her native Montreal. She was taken on by Canadian agency Folio and worked in Milan, Tokyo, Paris, New York and London.

'When I was 19 my agency asked me to have liposuction. That's how they also get you into big debts. They pay for it but then you owe them." Rachel explained.

'When I said I didn't want liposuction they said they had put together a little list of photographers I should be 'hanging out with,' wink, wink, sleep with.'

MY OPINION: 

I think that the modeling industry is a total lie to the everyone because we just see the result and not the process which is the most important and difficult part. We just see a magazine photo and not what this person is going through for appearing here. I think the way that this girls are being treated is horrible and this should be controlled. Also, to be a model you have to be very strong minded to support all the pressure that they suffer, because they have to be "perfect".

I just hope that they win the case so that they can work in better conditions and nobody else has to suffer the injustices that these girls have been through.

Passenger dragged off overbooked United flight

On 9th April the United Airlines overbooked the Louisville, Kentucky-bound United flight so a disturbing scene happened when a man refused to give up his seat and the airline police forced him to leave. 

Several passengers recorded the incident on their phones and posted video on social media showing three Chicago Department of Aviation security officers dragging the man, who has not been identified, down the aisle by the arms and legs while other passengers shout in protest. The man continued to resist after he was removed and ran back onto the airplane, face bloodied from the encounter. 

The incident and the system that allows airlines to involuntarily boot passengers from flights has been very criticized. But United Airlines was acting within their rights and following policy until the situation turned physical. 

First, United asked passengers to give up their seats voluntarily for compensation because four crew members needed to get on the flight in order to work another one in Louisville, if not, the flight would be canceled. 

But when no one volunteered because it was a Sunday night and the next flight was not until the following afternoon, the airline was forced to de-board people involuntarily, but though they explained to the man the situation, he refused and they followed Department of Transportation protocol and called local law enforcement to remove him from the plane. 

Two officers tried to calmly talk to the man but a third acted in an aggressive manner. The officer told him he had to get off the plane, and when he resisted, the officer grabbed him out of his seat and carried him out with the other officers. 

The man hit his head on an armrest and the he started yelling the he was a doctor and that he was being treated this way for being Chinese. 

The scene left everyone in shock, including children who started crying. 

MY OPINION: 

I don't think that the officers of the airline acted ethically and also I think that overbooking should be illegal because then some people had made plans to go back home one day and maybe they have something important to do and then they don't have a sit and they are not able to return home. 

My solution to this problem would have been asking people that didn't have a family waiting for them and also offering them a room in a hotel to stay that night because it is the airlines problem that they have to wait until the next day to have another flight.

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