EAP III

Well, I am enrolled in the last level of English : EAP III. For me, it is a continuation because I was in EAP II last semester. This semester, new instructors: Murray and Ilana. They are great teachers with both a captivating teaching style. There are new students and there are students from last semester. Well, what to add about EAP III? Different cultures, different nationalities. It is a real opportunity to discover new horizons, to strengthen my English skills and to develop my critical thinking. So there is a bunch of positive things. EAP III, it is also the last semester before starting serious things. I mean the academic courses. In September 2008 I will hopefully start my first year of business school. I am very excited about it. I can’t wait to pass this level and to start the academic classes.
As an aside, before coming to Calgary, I did not know that a program called EAP existed. I only knew about ESL. So discovering EAP was a great surprise. I knew that I would learn lots of things. What else? Time is going very fast. I’ve already have my first grammar quiz, my first reading exam! I have to hand in my attending lecture next week and my first essay tomorrow. So the schedule is busy. But I like studying under pressure, with lots of things to hand in. It pushes me, even beyond my limits.
Actually, I hate blogging because I never know what to write down, and it is annoying. Blogging would be fun if the student could choose his own topic, and if he had not to write at least 250 words. I think that blogging is a cool thing to do, but those academic requirements turned it into a chore.

Best wishes to everyone. Good luck for your future!

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

As I recently learned how to paraphrase and summarize, I am going to use my skills to write about an interesting passage named the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad was a fascinating phenomena established in the late 16^th century that emerged from the history of American slavery. It was a highly secretive and extremely well-organized network of people whom purpose was to help black slaves escape from bondage (means the state of being a slave or prisoner) to freedom. The Underground Railroad was made up of “stationmasters” and “conductors”. The first ones were people who provided food and refuge to escaped slaves, and the second ones were people who guided slaves along the difficult routes to safety. A wide variety of people worked on the Railroad, such as former slaves, farmers, preachers, and even Native Americans. The members of the Underground Railroad were all united by their hatred of the institution of slavery and their high sense of solidarity. The conditions faced by runaways were extremely difficult. They had to travel at night, and could carry only a little amount of food. Most of them had to travel on foot. Sometimes, they were forced to take residence in swamps or in mountainous areas during a long period of time. Strength and speed were critical in order to escape successfully. Furthermore, the risks faced by runaways were formidable. Recapture was unthinkable. Recaptured runaways would endure severe punishments such as harder labor, mutilation, amputation of limbs and so on. Due to the high rate of escaped slaves, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850. Professional slave-hunters were formed and paid handsomely to catch escaped slaves. They had the right to pursue them even into the free northern regions.

Finally, on December 18, 1865, the ratification of the 13^th amendment to the U.S Constitution that stated “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude….shall exist in the United States” abolished the institution of slavery.

HUMAN BEHAVIOR

I watched an interview of Tony Robbins yesterday. I did not know him before. But the interview showed me that he is truly a remarkable person. The biography at the beginning mentioned that he works in the field of leadership psychology, organizational turnaround and peak performance. He also has a non-profit foundation which aim is humanitarian. Tony Robbins thinks that everybody has a different personality, culture, value, but we have the same human needs and our nervous system functions the same way. According to him, the state of mind in which you constantly impress yourself must be triggered. Indeed, the more you make things that impress yourself, the more you will have a better self-esteem.
Another important point of the interview was depression. Why people are depressed? Tony Robbins revealed that when your life doesn’t match your expectations, you are going to be in pain. Most of people are depressed because their life condition doesn’t match with how they think it should be. For example, he worked with a women who always has believed that she would have three perfect children. In reality, she is 61 years old, she has been married twice, and she never had children. This is the real problem and the cause of her depression. Her co-expectation can’t be met. So she has to change that blueprint, that belief, because it could never be fulfilled. So the solution to the depression in this context is to change the condition of your life and to make your blueprint match with reality. In this respect, you would be able to enjoy your life again.

WEATHER AND MOOD

Do you think that the weather influences our mood? Personally, it does affect my mood. For example, I like snow. As an aside, it’s weird because I come from a very warm country, and I don’t like cold weather. However, I love snow. Today, when I realised that it was snowing, I was glad. And it was like that all the day. I had no particular reasons to be happy, but I was in a good mood all the day. I think that it is psychological, because as soon as I saw the snow, I immediately thought that it would be a good day. So maybe, the weather affects the mood, in a positive or in a negative way. Or maybe the state of mind that you have at the beginning of the day plays a role. For example, when I miss my bus to go to the University, I automatically think that this is not a good sign, and that the worst is coming. In this state of mind, it is highly possible that the day will be a bad one. Besides, some people don’t like when it is raining, and they are in a bad mood, only because they consider that rain falls are depressing. Another example is that people are more likely to be happy and nice at summertime, because the sun makes them more relaxed and less stressed out. So maybe the weather has an impact on our mood. Furthermore, I read on ABC News website that a research on the correlation between weather and mood revealed that the fact of spending some time outside on a nice day can have a positive impact on your mood. Also, sunny weather can have a positive impact on mental health.

C-TRAIN

Every day I take the C-Train to go the University. Inside, it is always a little bit awkward, because no one knows each other, and you have to spend a little time of your life with strangers. Sometimes people are friendly and smile; sometimes they are in a bad mood and have a nasty, almost scaring eye contact. Now and then, some exceptional things happen, like a fight, or a technical problem. There are two kinds of C-Trains: the old ones and the brand new ones. I like taking the brand new ones, they are more comfortable.

As an aside, did you notice that I am totally uninspired? That’s why I am writing about a so common topic. I feel quite embarrassed. So should I erase the paragraph and close the blog page, or should I keep on writing about C-Train? Besides, I don’t think that I could write 200 words about the C-Train…unless I search for information about it on the internet; yet, I think that a paragraph about the history of the C-Train will be boring for the readers, and even for me. For those who will read it until the end, the following are the points I consider noticeable in the C-train history.

v May 25, 1981: the first line of C-Train was opened

v Calgary Transit is the first public transit system in North America to use wind-generated electricity. It is a good ecological cause, because it will reduce pollution.

v The passengers of a three-car C-Train represent the passengers of 545 private vehicles

v In 2001, The Calgary Transit received the Pollution Prevention Award

PARIS

I lived in Paris for 3 years. To me, it is the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen. The first time, I found difficult the transportation system. There were so many subway lines and correspondences that it scared me. It took me time to be at-ease with it. But once you get used to it, everything is more easy. It is a city where you can’t get bored. There is always something to do, or to visit. This is my top 5of the places I like the much in Paris.

1) Le champ de Mars: it is a huge green space; From there, you have a complete view of the Eiffel Tower. I liked hanging out there with my friends. Next to it, there is “ Le mur de la paix”. It is a monument with peace messages written on it, in different languages.

2) “Les Champs Elysées”: A large avenue with shops, such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Bulgary, Gucci, Prada, and so on. I mean it is a very fancy avenue, and you can even meet celebrities sometimes. Beyond its material aspect, it is a really beautiful avenue with an original architecture. All those fashion temples are an art work, because the design of each shop is completely stunning.

3) Bastille: It is an area full of pubs, cafés, bars, restaurants. This is the perfect place if you want to hang out and party all the night.

4) Opera : I discovered it just a few months before I moved to Calgary, thanks to my brother. I like it for the majesty of each monument, of each building. Every single building is a creative work.

5) Le XVème arrondissement: I like this area, because there is no agitation, it is calm, peaceful and safe. I used to live there with my parents. Besides, my last high school Camille Sée is located there. I was living 10 minutes from my high school at that time, and it was really great!

NIGER

I just became aware that each entry of the blog must have a minimum of 200 words! So I am going to try to write longer paragraphs. Yet, let's go back to the main point. I come from Niger, not Nigeria. The capital city of Niger is Niamey. Niger is located in West Africa. At the North of the country, there is the Desert of Sahara. Tuaregs live there. Tuaregs represent one of the ethnic groups of Niger. They are nomadics. It means that they constantly move from place to place. The others ethnic groups are hausa, zarma, gobir and fulani. Each ethnic group speaks his own language. As a result, there are a lot of local languages. I belong to the hausa ethnic group, and I speak hausa. The hausa are sedentary people. It means that we always live at the same place; We do not move constantly. The main religion in Niger is Islam. It influences a lot people daily lives.
Another important fact about Niger is the language. The official language is french. Actually, France made Niger a colony in 1922. It administered the political, economical and social matters in Niger. The choice of french as the official language is related to its colonial history; But Niger became an independent country on August 3, 1960. Most of the others french West African colonies as Senegal, Mali became independent from France in the 1960's.