Switzerland Update #4: Kiosks and Trams (plus a little video =))

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

inside a kiosk

inside a kiosk

Kiosks

 

 

 

 

 

              Kiosks are a huge part of Swiss culture. A “kiosk” is a little pit-stop where people go to buy thier cigarettes, candy, magizines with junk toys in the plastic seal and other such things. (A kiosk is like a hot dog stand . . . but built into a building and it’s larger than a hot dog stand).

 

 

 

 

Trams

           Trams are a major part of public transportation in Swiss cities. In Basel there are about 20 different lines criss-crossing the entire city so that you can reach a tram to get to any destination of the city in under 10 minutes or so. At every tram station there is a little machine that you have to put coins in and get a ticket to ridethe trams. Trams come in two different colors. Green and yellow. The newest tram is called a “tango”. I got a picture of one.

This is a tango

This is a tango

                               

 

                

 

                                                    I have a video of my mom, my dad and I getting on  one

                                                         (They’re very rare to find)

Switzerland Update #3: Smoking and Ferries

Smoking

Everyday my parents, myself, and sometimes my grandma go on a journey to all kinds of different places in Basel. One of my observations was that a good majority of the people in Basel are smokers. When I say “a good majority of the people in Basel” I mean, there are so many smokers. I went to a restaurant and there were smokers a couple of tables away. Now, the craziest, I mean craziest thing, is that everyday I go to see my grandpa in the hospital and I see tons and tons of smoking people outside. But when I see those smokers at the hospital, I think: Out of all the places in Basel, why the hospital?! (Even the doctors and nurses smoked).

Ferry Ride

Today, 29 September, 2009, I went on a ferry (a boat), it was a nice ride across the river taking pictures left and right, lots of amazing new sights. The ferry doesn’t have a motor because it’s pushed by the river current. The only controlling there is to do is to push and pull the rudder left and right. It costs Sf. 1.60 (1 Frank and 60 cents) to ride the ferry.  On the ferry there’s an inside room with seats, the rudder, windows, and other stuff. There’s also an outside deck with seats and two flower pots on each side (with flowers in them). The river we crossed is the Rhine. When we went back home, we walked across a bridge instead of taking the ferry.                                                  

Pictures

The Ferry

The Ferry

Me in the ferry

Me in the ferry

Portugal Country Facts

  • portugal-flag[1]Motto: The good of the nation.
  • Anthem: “A Portuguesea” or ” The Portuguese Song”
  • Continent: Europe [this is also a link to a map Portugal not just Europe.]
  • Capital: Lisbon
  • Official languages: Portugese
  • Ethnic groups: 96.67% Portuguese and 3.13% Legal imigrants
  • Demonym (Demo = people; -onym = name): Portuguese
  • Government: Executive, Legislative, Judcial
  • Independence: December 1st, 1640 from Spain
  • Area (include % water, if you can find it):35,672 square  miles water area is .5%
  • Population (current estimate & density)10,707,924 is the current population the population destiny is 300 per square mile.
  • Currency: Euro
  • Flag: Green represents the hope of the nation. Red represents the blood that was shed to protect the nations flag.
  • “Did you know”:Did you know during Roman times Portugal  was called Lusitania?
  • Any other facts you find interesting/noteworthy: The average Portuguese  persons main diet is dry cod with a mix of vegetables.
  • work cited: CIA world factbook,”National Geographic Student Atlas of the World”, Wikipedia

    Summary Vs. Retelling — A Lesson with Star Wars

    Students are expected to summarize their readings 3 times per week in their reading log.

    You might be wondering, “Well, what is a summary?”

    A summary provides a basic snap shot of the main ideas or plot developments from that day’s reading.  This is different from a retelling in which a student shares the sequence of events.  Retellings, by contrast, are essentially a type of story telling and often stress details, details, details. Essentially, retellings retell the story.

    A summary, on the other hand, might be analogous to brushing your teeth — you only squeeze out the toothpaste you need and leave the rest in the tube.  (This is the analogy Writer’s Express uses to characterize summary.) An effectively written summary can demonstrate comprehension better than a retelling.  A summary requires reflecting on the reading and pulling out the main ideas while a retelling requires less reflection and thought. It simple requires the memorization of a specific series of events.

    “How will I know if my child has done this correctly?”

    You will know when the pieces they write provide sufficient big picture information to give you an idea of what they are reading, but do not go so far as to provide so many details that you feel you’ve read the book yourself. Basically, your child should provide the main ideas of the passage(s) they read.

    An example from Star Wars, A New Hope:

    Summary of Obi Wan and Luke Skywalker at the Cantina:

    Obi Wan and Luke Skywalker brave the brawn of a rough-n-tumble intergalactic “watering hole” in search of a pilot.  The one they find, Han Solo, proves to be both confident and sarcastic, though it would seem as though he will bring along some problems of his own.

    Retelling of Obi Wan and Luke Skywalker at the Cantina:

    After using a Jedi mind trick to gain entrance to Mos Eisley, a rough freighter town on the planet Tatooine, Obi Wan and Luke Skywalker head in to Chalmun Cantina in search of a pilot who can transport them to Alderann.  While Obi Wan talks to various pilots, Luke goes to the bar where he has a run in with the bartender as well as an alien that is bent on solving a problem with Luke through violence.  Obi Wan shows up right in time, and slices off the alien’s arm with his light saber.  Surprisingly, while the crowd barely flitches at the violent outburst, they seem more taken aback by the weapon used — a Jedi’s lightsaber. The other bar goers give Obi Wan and Luke a lot more space after that.

    Then, Obi Wan and Luke sit down with Han Solo and his furry co-pilot, Chewbacca, to negotiate the terms of their contract. Luke feels quite convinced that Han’s rates are outrageous, but Obi Wan understands the need for secrecy and settles Luke.  After they agree to meet at the hanger soon, Han has a run in with a bounty hunter, Greedo, whom Han shoots under the table.  When he and Chewbacca leave to meet back up with Obi Wan and Luke, he flips the bartender an extra coin and apologizes for the mess.

    Under the Oaks

    Monday’s “Snapshot” from the weekend.  One moment, as representative of my weekend.

    Picture this . . .

    A family of 3 lie sprawled out on a blanket under a moss draped live oak on the edge of a large field bordered by a dense forest.  A steady breeze keeps the moss swaying as the father and daughter engage in a game called, “Bet you can’t get my acorn.” Her arm is extended, reaching for her daddy’s acorn bowl, and she is laughing. Her stash of acorns reveal that she is either part squirrel or quite good at this game of thievery.  The pregnant mom is lying down, with eyes closed and a contented smile across her face.  The pooped out dogs lie panting in the grass nearby. It is, by all recollection, a perfect Sunday morning.

    Snapshot Monday!!!

    *Picture This*

    You and Oscar have just finished Master of Puppets on Guitar Hero Metallica, (an awesome overdue game from Blockbuster) The crowd is cheering, the lights are flashing (well atleast on the TV they are) Oscar is on the Guitar and you are on the Drums and you both get 5 stars!!!

    *Ker-Chunk*

    P.S. I recomend  this game to everyone!

    Image: http://playstationlifestyle.net/

    Switzerland Update: Sunday with Leandro

    Leandro is  a boy my age, a little bit older than me, and he has a little brother named Gabrielle. Leandro’s parents are friends of my parents. Today Leandro’s parents took me, Leandro, and Gabrielle to some mountains where they have these go cart things that allow you to go very fast. We went on one together and went full speed never slamming on the brakes. On the way there I was sitting in the car next to Leandro and his brother and I was sitting there listening to Leandro and the rest of his family argue with each other. I was just sitting there listening to Sicilian friends argue in a foreign language. It was very boring, but when I looked out the window I saw the mountains.

    After gooing on the slide, we went back to his house and we  made stuff out of paper. Leandro and his tiny brother don’t speak English so I had to use sign language by pointing things out, shrugging shoulders, and making faces. Besides that I had lots of fun.

    Here is something I notice about Switzerland that is different from Tallahassee: all the kids who live in Basel have to ride a scooter, skateboard, bike, tram, or bus (the bus looks like an acordian). They go alone through the city on one of those vehicles usually. I thought that was very cool to be able to go through the city as a kid alone. I went to the skate park with Leandro and I rode a scooter and he rode a skateboard and we both cruised through the city to get to the skate park. After crossing streets, dodging the Swiss, and observing as we go, we got to the skate park where we found very skilled skateboarders doing amazing tricks. On the way back we took the tram back to Leandro’s house to find my parents, Leandro’s parents, and little “Lele” (his brother).             Here is a picture of a  tram                                                                                

    Switzerland Update: First Day

    I am currently living at my 70-year old grandmother’s (Grossmami in Swiss German) rowhouse with a small kitchen and swirly staircase. Plus with my grandma’s collection of (literally) 138 (I counted) owls sitting on a dusty shelf on the second floor. On the day my mom and I landed in Zurich, one of my mom’s friends came to pick us up from the airport and to take us to the hospital in Basel. When we were picked up, our friend had a nice sip of coffee with us and I had a hot chocolate (in Swiss German: heissi Schoggi). Then we went to the hospital in Basel where my grandpa is. We then picked up my dad from the hospital where he was visiting my grandpa with my grandma. My dad, my mom, my mom’s friend, and I then drove to my grandparents’  house (well, when we were on our way to the house, my dad told us all about a building we were going to pass called Sympony, scary, right? Then we saw the building and it had four giant windows with abstract sculptures in them. The last sculpture was SCARY! It showed a crazed man riding a  huge, here let me emphasize that, HUGE! dragonfly. It was the creepiest thing ever.

    Switzerland Facts

    • Motto: “One for all, all for one”
    • Anthem: “Schweizerpsalm” (in English) Swiss psalm
    • Continent: Europe
    • Capital: Bern
    • Official languages: German, Italian, French, Romansch (see language map below)
    • Ethnic groups: 65% German, 18% French, 10% Italian, 1% Romansch, 6% other
    • Demonym: Swiss
    • Government: A direct democracy
    • Independence: August 1, 1291
    • Area: Total -41,277 sq Land- 39,997 sq Water- 1,280 sq
    • Population: 7,604,467
    • Currency: Swiss Francs
    • Flag: Red backround with a white cross                                         
    • Did you know? . . . . . . : That German is the largest language group in Switzerland?
    • Did you know?. . . . . . . : That there are 26 cantons ( states)?
    • Did you know?. . . . . . . : That one of the largest industries in Switzerland is tourism?

     

    Drapeau suisse

    Israel Facts

    is-lgflag

    • Motto: Sorry, Israel has NO motto.
    • Anthem:Hatiḳṿa הַתִּקְוָה‎, The Hopeis_large_locator
    • Continent: Asia
    • Capital: Jerusalem
    • Official languages:
      Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language
    • Ethnic groups:
      Jewish 76.4% (of which Israel-born 67.1%, Europe/America-born 22.6%, Africa-born 5.9%, Asia-born 4.2%), non-Jewish 23.6% (mostly Arab) (2004)
    • Demonym: Israeli
    • Government: Same as ours, Judicial,Legistlative, and Executive branches.
    • Independence: 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
    • Area: 20,330 SQ KM: Water: 440 SQ KM
    • Population:

    About 7.4 million people, of whom approximately 5.62 million are Jewish/

    Population Density: 324 km/2
    • Currency:

    The Israeli New Sheckel PICTURE

    • Flag:

    Just click the link. THE LINK

    • Geography

    Desert to the south, snow capped mountains to the north

    • 47 airports as of 2008
    • 2 million internet users as of 2007
    • Time Zone: UTC +2/DST +3
    Israel Website
    Sources: WikiAnswers, CIA World Factbook(website), and Wikipedia(website)