JOURNAL WRITING

1. HOW YOUR LIFE HAS CHANGED SINCE YOU CAME TO THE UNITED STATES 

What has changed most in my life since I came to the United States is the value I give to people I love. When I was far away from my family and friends, I realized how important they are for me. I missed them too much and it is in this moment when you are aware of the things that you have. In addition, I grew up as a person as I went to the United States alone and I had to get by on my own. I finally understood the appraisal of my country and I knew as in Spain I would not be anywhere else. However, going to the United States was a unique experience that I would like to repeat in a few  years. I went to the United states in order to learn new things, know new cultures and specially to learn to speak English perfectly. To be honest, it was a really hard decision to make. But it was the best thing that I could do if I wanted to learn English. In addition, when I was young, I have always wanted to live in the United States because I watched a lot of films which are recorded there. Finally, despite the fact that I was slighly scared to go there alone, it is an experience that I would repeat without thinking.

2. A SPECIAL SKILL YOU HAVE 

I absolutely love dancing. I have been dancing since I was 5 years and I dance several type of dance such as flamenco, contemporary and hip hop. My favourite style is the contemporary as the movements are more delicate. Dancing you can express your emotions and feelings in a very beautiful way. Currently, there are many people who like dancing hip hop. I like dancing that type of dance but I prefer flamenco or contemporary. I stopped dance two years ago because I wanted to go to the gym and now I would like to dance again. Despite the fact that I do not go to dance, I go to zumba classes at the gym. In the future, I would like to go to dance classes again but this time far more professional. I would like to go to the conservatory to learn more about the classic dance. One of my dream is to dance in a dance company and travel around the world doing what I like. This would be fantastic but at the same time is difficult that this happen. I admire people who do this because they have to stay far away from his family a lot of time and this can be very frustrating. But it is also a good oportunity to meet new people and make new friends who are going to spend with you most of your time and they will be your new family.

3. A HOBBY 

I have several hobbies but the one I like the most is reading.  I am keen on reading romantic books. I like other types of books but the theme I like the most is love and action. Reading is a good way to learn new words and while you are reading, you can imagine the scenes and the characters. I think that reading a book is very interesting since then, you can watch the film of the book and compare what happen in the book and in the film. Normally, people prefer reading a book instead of watching a film and I agree with this because it is more interesting and you can reread a page that you like and use the imagination for the scenes. I recommend reading books for many reasons. A book usually gives a lot of descriptions so you can imagine pictures in your mind. Besides, in books,  the conversations between the characters are more detailed and describe what are the characters' feelings. Reading a book and watching a film are two different activities and experiences. There are many people who say that they don't like reading books. As I see it, they have to buy a book which they find interesting and a sort of book they like. If you read a book you don't like, you won't want to read again.

4. LEARNING TO PLAY A SPORT

To be honest, I do not like too much playing any sport because I prefer going to the gym and do another type of sport. But if I had to choose, I would say that I would learn to play basketball because when I was seven years, I learnt how to play. I went to play basketball twice a week with my friend Laura and we were on a team. First, we had to practice throwing the ball into the basket and then we started to know some rules and different types of how to dunk. Later, we were divided in two teams and we started to play a match. The winning team could take a ball home. I was very happy when my team won the matche because I could take a ball to my house. I spent all my afternoons at home playing with my brother and we were so happy that I would repeat these moments with him. Playing basketball help me to make new friends and develop my skills in this sport. It is a good sport that I do not mind if I have to play again with some friends.

5. YOUR FAVORITE SPORT TO PLAY OR WATCH 

I do not like playing any specific type of sport because I usually go to the gym. Furthermore, I like watching football witch my brother and my father. Every Sunday night, we order some pizza and we spend our time together watching football. It is an "activity" we all do together and it is very special for me as it is a way to be always connected with them. We never watch football with other people and that is what makes it special. I want to do this tradition for the rest of my life because my brother and my fahter are the most important people in my life with my mother. I think this tradition is very beautiful and makes us always united. However, I hate playing football, I do not know why. But if I had to choose, I would choose to play basketball because I played it ten years ago. Sometimes, I call my friends and we go to play basketball, it is very entertaining to play with friends.

6. AN ACCIDENT

I have almost never had accidents but I can remember one that has marked me for all my life. When I was 5 years old, my teeth had already grown because they all fell off very soon. One day, I was dancing with a friend because it was the parties of my town and we were with our hands taken and we started circling. I fell to the ground and my mouth hit the ground. I went to the bathroom to see if I had made blood and I saw that my palette was broken. The next day I went to the dentist and he told me that the only solution was to paste my palette. But since I was only 5 years, my mother decided that I would fill it when I was a little older.
When I made my communion, one month earlier, my mother and I went to the dentist and he pasted my palette because a photographer had to take photos of me and I had to smile. So my mother made up her mind and I was slighly scared. When I was young and I had to go to the doctor or he dentist, I felt very scared but now I don't feel like before.

7. BEING ON TIME

Being on time is something that this society is not used to. I always try to be on time beacuse if I have met with a friend, I like being on time. I do not like that my friends have to wait for me. That is disrespectful. You can arrive five or ten minutes late but no more than that. I believe that it is not difficult to be on time. You just have to start preparing with enough time in order to be on time. I am always on time and fortunately, my friends are always on time too. I am rarely late because when I meet someone, I tend to be there ten minutes before.

8. THE PEOPLE YOU LIVE WITH

I live with my parents my brother. We are a family very united because we spend a lot of time together. We like doing things together such as going to the cinema every Sunday and watching some football matches at the weekend. My father is a very important person in my life because we have a quite special complicity and we spend every day joking. My brother is 22 years and he would do anything for me. He pick me up from anywhere. And my mother is like my best friend. I know she will be here always for me and she is a person who I can trust, she is reliable. My neighbours are my cousins, my uncles and my grandparents. This make the family connected. Every Sunday, we have luch together. We usually eat paella. This is like a tradition that we have. We have been doing this for five years. Sometimes, we have dinner together too but it is not as common as have lunch.

9. AMERICAN CUSTOMS YOU LIKE/DISLIKE

One american tradition that I like is Christmas, the way the Americans live it. In Spain we celebrate Christmas as in the whole world but its origin is american. In America, every street, every house and every shop are beautifully decorated with a lot of lights. Everyone has that Christmas spirit that I like so much. For me, it is a very special and beautiful time of the year. In  addition, in America it is normal to snow and I love it. I would like to spend my Christmas holidays there with my family and my friends.

10. AN IMPORTANT STORY IN THE NEWS

The other day I was watching the news and I watched an impressive one. There are many children dying in africa due to the famine. Several ONGs are being organized to take volunteers there and help all those children. We have to collect a lot of food such as legumes. The volunteers have to prepare this food and help children to eat. We have to be more collaborative than before and make lots of donations for this type of problems. Together we can get it. With this kind of news you realize how lucky you are that you don't miss anything. You are also aware that there are many countries even that are very underdeveloped. 

11. THE WORKING STUDENT

Many students have to work at the same time as they are studying because they need the money. If you are studying at the university and you live far away from university, you will need to rent a flat in the center of the city in order to be closer where you study. This is necessary so that you can find amenity when transporting from one place to another. And it is for that reason students start working. And it is a good idea as they have to make a living. They are now independent and they have to solve all their problems on their own.

12. A BIG MISTAKE YOU ONCE MADE

I have the driver's license for 6 months and I am still inexperienced. One day, I had to go to the center of Murcia in order to pick up my parents. It was September and my parents went to work at the "barracas" every night. They didn't take the car because it was very difficult to find car park. So I took them there and at midnight I was going to pick them up. As it was dark because of the night, I went in a prohibited direction without realizing. In that moment, I felt very overwhelmed. I was lucky that there wasn't any car there. I calmed down and I got to go out of there and I continued my way. I picked my parents up and we went back home without any problem.

13. USING E-MAIL

Each time the e-mail is used less. In this society, we have become obsessed with the mobile phone. If we want to communicate with someone, we send him or her a "whatsapp" since it is the most amenity option. I think Whatsapp is one of the best invention in nowadays. However, the email is still used, for instance, at the University. When a student wants to communicate with her teacher, the student normally sends an e-mail to the teacher. And when a teacher wants to communicate with her student, it occurs the same. Therefore, the e-mail is important although it seems not.

14. CELL PHONES

Nowadays, we are misusing the mobile phone. There are lots of social network such as instagram, whatsapp, facebook, etc. This type of social network can be dangerous due to it can get out of hands. Social networks are a source of harassment.It is for this reason that they are dangerous. Cell phones can bring a lot of problems without solution. However, we can do a good use of it. We use the cell phones to communicate with our friends, our parents, our family. Phones are important for this but we have to keep in mind that we do not abuse its use.

15. TEENAGERS

Dealing with teenagers can be difficult for many reasons. They are in a step of their lifes that is a little bit hard since they are forming as people, they are growing up, maturing and learning about the life. They are also studying at the high school or starting Univertisy and all this can be difficult for them. Lots of teenagers have a lot of problems in their life.From problems at home with their parents to harassment in high school. Unfortunately, bullying in high school is a very common problem as there are many guys who are bad and they just think about hurting others. All about bullying has to change because it a serious problem.

16. THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED

To be honest, I don't think that there is a right age to get married. It is just when it has to happen. Normally, people get married between 23 and 30 years. But there are many different cases. For instance, there are people who get married at the age of 18 or even at the age of 50. And I think it is normal. When you know who is the perfect and right person you want to spend the rest of your life with, it is in this moment when you have to get married. And of course, you do not have to regret of doing something. You have to do what you want in every moment, that is so important in order to be happy.

17. A GOOD FRIEND

In your life, you know a lot of friends who you trust them. But one of them is more important than the others because he or she is the person who has stayed with you in every moment. My best friend is Laura. She is a incredible person and one of the most important persons in my life. I can trust her and if something happen to me, I know she will always be there for me. She also advice me on what should I do or not. We have a special connection and relationship that both know this only happen with us. I won't never find a person like she is, a good friend like her.

18. SHOPPING 

Nowadays, almost everyone likes going shopping. But to be honest, I have to say I don't like it too much. When I go shopping is because I need something desperately and I can't wait to have it. So, I go shopping every so often. However, if my friend asks me to go with her, I say yes because I don't mind. When I have to try on some clothes, I never feel like doing it as I have to take off what I am wearing and trying on the new clothes. Going shopping also desessperate me a lot because I go with my parents and my brother. As my brother looks for clothes too, I get bored. He has to try on his new clothes and it can take half an hour at least.How do they pretend not to exasperate? It is so boring.

19. YOUR LAST DAY IN YOUR COUNTRY

My family and I have to moved to another country because of my father's job. They have offered a better job in the United States and he has accepted it. I agree with my father's decision but not. On the one hand,  I want to live in other country, discover new people and know new cultures. I think this is a good oportunity to learn a new language such as English. On the other hand, it is sad because I have to say goodbye to all my friends. I can't see them anymore. I only could see them if I come to Spain. My last day in Spain was unexpected. I was coming at home from the gym and when I entered home, all my friend were there. My parents prepared the dinner for all of us and we spent my last night together. It was very special and I will never forget what they did for me. We talked about everything, we were laughing, we watched a film and we slept all together at home. The next day was The Day. I have to go to the airport that morning. When we woke up, we had breakfast and they walk with my parents and I to the airport.

20. YOUR FIRST DAY IN THE UNITED STATED

When I arrived to the United States I was very excited and scared at the same time. I was a little bit scared because all was new for me. I have to speak in other language. I can speak in English because I know it, but I can't speak it perfectly. We got home. The house where we were going to live for the next years is amazing. It is huge and very modern. My bedroom is spectacular. We met our neighbours and they invited us to have dinner with them in their house in order to welcome us. I thought that they were very kind and good people so I was very happy. My neighbours have a daughter my age. I was going to go with her at the class, so we met each other. I spent all my time ther with her and I feel very comfortable, like at home.

21. DISCRIMINATION

There are many people who discriminates others due to his economy situation, his nationality, his religion or even his sex. Unfortunately, many people are in a bad economic situation. For this reason, other people discriminates this. Another type of discrimination is the nationality. This is the most frequent in this day and age. People discriminates those who come from other country, specially if they come from Africa. This is the worst of all. I cannot understand this type of hate andd I will never understand it. Following this, there is the discrimination for the religion. People who are muslim are discriminated every day. Finally, many women feel discriminates in their jobs due to the simple fact of being women. Sometimes, they have less salary than men what it is a complete injustice.

22. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD

To be honest, it is a really difficult question as I like a lot of different types of food. But if I had to choose, I would choose hamburgers. Since I was young, I love eating hamburgers. In fact, when I go out with my friends or my family to have dinner, I always order a hamburger. My favourite restaurant was "TGB" until I discovered "Goiko Grill". Having dinner at "goiko Grill" is like paradise. The hamburgers there are delicious, they are the best burgers that I have ever tasted. I recommend this restaurant to everybody because you do not regret. Other places where you can eat burgers are KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, etc.
In KFC, they just sell chicken burgers which are fantastic. McDonalds and Burger King are very similar but I have to say that I prefer eating in a Burger King because their burgers and chips are better than in McDonalds.
When I go to "Goiko Grill", I cannot order any appetizer because the hamburger is too big and there are a lot of chips with it. 

23. THE BEST CAR TO OWN

I think that the best car to own is an electric one because nowadays, we are very unconcerned with the environment. Due to this unconcerced, this problem is becoming more more important in our lives. This reason is why I think that having an electric car is the best option. Furthermore, this type of car is the future as it does not pollute. Apart from this, we should be ware of environment's problem since it is too dangerous and I'm very afraid that nobody is doing anything and it is a shame.
My favourite cars' mark is toyota because my father has one and I always want to drive it. It is very comfortable and its logo is very cool.

24. SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES

This is a very important issue as many people usually smoke anywhere without caring about anything. I think this is pretty bad because there are many people who do not smoke and they do not have to be breathing that polluted air. Personally spreaking, I hate when people smoke near me. I can't breath that polluted air because it in not pleasant at all. People should take smoking more seriously in public places because it can bother other people a lot.
I have friends that when we go to out "coffee hour", they are smoking and I have to say to them: please, put the cigarette away so it doesn't give me the smoke. What my friends do is wrong because if you are smoking near other people who don't, the logical thing is that you directly put the cigarette away so as not to disturb anyone and nobody has to tell you.

25. A MOVIE STAR OR SINGER YOU LIKE

Mt¡y favourite actor is Dylan O'Brien. I discovered him in "the Maze Runner" film. When I saw him, I fell in love. He is very handsome. After that, I start searching other films where he appears. But I found a serie called "Teen Wolf". I decided to give it a try and currently, it is my favourite serie. Thhis serie is about a boy called Scott who is a wolf and he and his friend Stiles (Dylan O'Brien) have to solve a lot of problems that happend to them. It is very interesting.
My favourite singer is Cepeda. I discovered him in a TV programme called "Operación Triunfo 2017". He was my favourite contestant and I supported him until the end of the programme. I have gone to two of his signature album. Last year, he took out his first album. I love all his songs. All of the songs are beautiful with a very important message. He composes all his songs and he has a lot of experience.

26. A BELIEF YOU HAVE OR USED TO HAVE

When I was young I believed in Santa Claus and in Three Wise Men, like everyone else. It was a fantastic belief I think. You have this Christmas spirit that it is pretty special, mainly when you have from five to ten years old. It is a very Christmas time and every children love it. But unfortunetly, this belief can't be possible. However, we have that little illusion as if we are children. 
A few years ago, I used to be very happy and I always did things with much joy. In addition, I believed that if I misbehaved, they would bring me carbon. And if I behaved well, they would bring me a lot of presents that I wanted. To be honest, when I realized that Santa Claus was my father and my mother, I felt a little bit disillusioned.

27. A STORY FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD

I can remember a lot of things about my childhood. But I decide one that in the past it didn't seem me amusing. 
One day, I was at the supermarket with my mother and I watched something that standed out. And I separated from my mother in order to go for that thing. To be honest, I can't remember exactly what was this thing. I think it was something like "jam ruffles". When I arrived at the self where the "jam ruffles" were, I looked back and I didn't see my mother. In that moment I felt very nervous and scared because I lost my mother so, I went to the cashier and I told him that I had lost. Therefore, he picked up the megaphone and called my mother. When I looked at my mum, she was crying and I start too.

28. A FAVORITE POSSESSION

To be honest, I think that my favoutive possessions are my books. Probably, the After saga because they are my favourite books. It is a saga of five books and the first and the third are my favourite ones. I am very keen on reading and for this reason, my books are my favourite possessions. There are many people who does not like reading and I can't understand it. Reading you can imagine all the scenes in your mind. In books, there are more descriptions than in a film for example. Books are very detailing. One of the things that I like most is reading a specific book before you watch that film. You can compare the book with the film and obviously, the book is much better than the film. I have got a lot of books because when I read one, I prefer to have the physical book instead of reading it in a ebook. Therefore, I have many books but my favourite one is After.

29. MUSIC THAT IS SPECIAL TO YOU

My favourite Spanish singer is Cepeda. I knew him from a TV program called "Operación Triunfo". He was my favourite. Now, he is composing a lot of songs and doing many concerts. I have gone to a one of his concerts and it was fantastic. His music is very special for me because I love the lyrics of him songs. The lyrics are very romantic and he wrote them with a lot of feelings. They all are special for me. 
My favourite English singer is Ed Sheeran. I have never gone to a one of his concerts but one of my dream is to go to Madrid and see him singing. When he sings, it happens something magical. His songs are fantastic and I adore listening to him when I am driving. I  am crazy about his songs. His lyrics are fascinating and going to a concert must be very fantastic. I am looking forward to going to a Ed Sheeran's concert!

30. A SPECIAL GIFT YOU HAVE GIVEN OR RECEIVED

Personally speaking, the most special gift I have given is a travel. It was my best friend's birthday and I had a surprise for her. I gave her a trip to Madrid. I booked a hotel room there for two days. The first day, we went to a spa in order to unwind. The principal reason of this trip is to get relax after all the exams we had in second of bachillerato. That day, we also went to Gran Vía to shop clothes and to take pictures of us. 
The second day we were there, we went to a Mago Pop's show. It was awesome! I was looking forward to going to see Mago Pop since I adore magic. The tickets I bought were slighly expensive but it worth it. I would recommend this magic show to everyone. In the future, my friend Laura and I will go again to watch this fantastic performance.

31. A SPECIAL DAY OR EVENT IN YOUR LIFE

It is a difficult question as I have many special days that I can remember, but if I had to choose one, I would choose Cepeda's disk signature because it was the first time I met my idol. It was in December. I went with two friends at 7 o'clock in the morning and the signature was at half past six in the afternoon. We spent there so much time but it was necessary because there were many people. When Cepeda arrived, he talked to all of us with the microphone and he sang one of his songs. At that moment, I started crying because of the emotion. Then, he started to signature a lot of disks. When it was my turn, I felt very very nervous and I gave my phone to my friend in order to take a picture of Cepeda and me. When I was with Cepeda, I told him a lot of things and I was the happiest person in the world. I had my CD signatured and it was very special for me.

32. YOUR WORST HABIT

I think my worst habit is that I tend to waste my time when I am studying. I have a lot of procrastination. I hate it because when I have a lot to study for a big and important exam, I can be overwhelmed. For example, last year, I had to study for a History exam and I had to study six units. I had four days to study it what I think is too little time for this subject. Besides it is a short time, add that I waste too much time. In the end, the day before the exam I was the most frustrated person you could find. I was unbearable on that day. I could not talk to anyone. I failed that exam and I felt guilty, but I have to say that it was the first exam I failed in my life. That time it wnt out of hands, I was more lazy than usual. From that moment, I started studying without wasting any more time.

33.  A FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE

The worst experience I've ever had was when I was at my cousin's First Comunion and my family and I arrived at home. When we arrived at night, my house's door was open. We all were very scared. My father entered and my brother, my mother and I was waiting for him out of the house. My father told us there weren't anybody in the house so we entered. It was all upside down. The drawers on the floor, and everything in the beds. Fortunately, nobody took anything. No money, no laptop and no TV. We were lucky from that point of view. 
Since then, we changed the lock of my house and we put a new one more safe. When we go out, we always take precautions with closing the door well. In addition, we put bars on the balconies and in all the windows of the house because we still don't know how they got in.