CHRISTMAS IN SCOTLAND

Hi friends!

In this article I am going to write about Christmas in Scotland. In Scotland Christmas traditionally was not celebrated, because of religious reasons. The Church of Scotland was against the celebration of Christmas. As a consequence, Christmas Day was a normal working day in Scotland until the 1960s and even into the 1970s in some areas. But nowadays, Christmas in Scotland is a time for celebration because it's the birthday of Jesus. Decoration is very important and most houses are decorated with Christmas trees and different decorations. Children at this time often start to make Christmas lists, which are lists of the presents they want, like in the Basque Country with Olentzero. In the evening, they leave out a small glass of whisky or milk for Santa. But the most important celebration in Scotland is Hogmanay. It is the Scots word of the last day of the year, and it is celebrated on the night of the 31 December, until the morning of New Year's Day (1 January). Each area of Scotland often had different Hogmanay ritual. An example of a local Hogmanay custom is the performance with fire that takes place in Stonehaven. In Glasgow and the central areas of Scotland, the tradition is to celebrate Hogmanay parties involving singing, dancing, the eating traditional products and consumption of important amounts of alcohol, which usually is extend until the morning of January 1.
One of the most spread national custom is the practice of "first-footing" which starts immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the entrance of the house of a friend or neighbour and often involves the giving of symbolic products such as salt (less common today), coal,  whisky, and black bun (a rich fruit cake) intended to bring different things of luck to the neighbour. The Hogmanay customs of singing "Auld Lang Syne" has become common in many countries.These songs are traditional songs like the Hator Hator in the Basque Country.
These are the main characteristics of Chrismas in Scotland and I think that they have a very interesting culture.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

BIGFOOT: A REAL CREATURE?

Hi friends!

In this article I am going to write about "Bigfoot", also known as "Sasquatch". The name "sasquatch" is a derivative of the word "Sésquac", meaning "wild man". However, the name "bigfoot" was created by journalists. Most of the scientists say that bigfoot is not a real creature, but other people say that it is a real element and there are very developed descriptions.

Description:

The sasquatch is a large, hairy, bipedal non-human primate, ranging between 1.8–3.0 m tall, weighing in excess of 230 kg and covered in dark brown hair. The top of the head has been described as rounded and crested, similar to the male gorilla. The sasquatch has blue eyes, the nose is nearly human in shape and the mouth is often reported to be thin-lipped. The enormous footprints for which it is named have been as large as 61 cm long and 20 cm wide. Bigfoot is commonly reported to have a strong, unpleasant smell.

Physiology and behaviour:

Bigfoot is an omnivore with a substantial carnivorous component to its diet. The sasquatch is a predominantly nocturnal animal because it has very good vision at night. They seem to react in a more relaxed way to women and children and avoid men, but there is no documented case in the past 100 years of a sasquatch doing deliberate harm to a person. The sasquatch is distributed across the North American continent. Their highest concentration appears in Washington, Oregon and northern California. Total numbers for the species in North America have been estimated by various approaches to be from a few thousand up to 10,000.

Bigfoot sighting:

There are lots of bigfoor hunters. These hunters have found different footprints and samples of hair and blood, but these pieces of evidence are very polemic. Probably the most polemic one is the video filmed by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin on October 20, 1967.

In my opinion, bigfoot is not a real creature, I think that it is a legend created by journalists. Some people say that there is"physical evidence", but I think that this evidence is not enough, because they haven't found any skeleton of a bigfoot. This is my opinion, but only it is my opinion. What do you think? Is bigfoot a real creature?

My friend J. Z.

My friend J. Z. is 15 years old and he has a younger sister who is 9 years old. His favourite hobby is to play on the computer, and at school he likes physical education. Regarding music, he likes any musical style, but his favourite group is "kauta". Concerning the cinema, he likes going there, especially to see films of action, for example he likes the film “Troya”.




Regarding other personal opinions, his favourite colours are blue and black, his favourite number 10 and he likes to eat chocolate. He prefers summer to winter and in this period he likes to go to the mountain and to the beach, he likes both. He likes the day as much as the night. Finally, he doesn’t know why he has chosen ICTs.

TRAVELLING IN EUROPE: PARIS

Hi friends! Have you ever been to Paris? Haven't you? You can read this post to know more about this incredible city!

Paris is the capital of France, it is located on the river Seine, in northern France. The city has a population of  2,203,817 ( in January 2006). Concerning climate Paris has an oceanic climate, so it is warm and pleasant all the year. Regarding the beginnings of Paris, the first archaeological signs are from around 4200 BC. But some people say  that Paris was founded about 250 BC by a Celtic tribe called the Parisii.

WHAT CAN YOU DO IN PARIS?
There are many different activities to do in Paris. I selected some different places you can visit there:


Monuments and museums:

You can visit a lot of monuments and museums, but you can´t miss this place: the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is a global icon of France. It was built between 1887 and 1889, by Gustave Eiffel, and it has 324 m made by iron. Also you can see the Arc de Triomphe, another icon of Paris and also the famous cathedral Notre Dame de Paris. If you like museums and cathedrals I recommend you these three: the Louvre, the Sacré Coeur de Montmartre and the Panthéon.

Parks and gardens: 
Also you can walk in the fantastic gardens of Paris. Two of the oldest and famous gardens are the Tuileries Garden and the Champs-Élysées. The first garden is on the banks of the Seine near the Louvre and they are very visited by tourists. The second park is a prestigious avenue in Paris with its cinemas, cafés and luxury speciality shops. It´s one of the most famous streets in the world.


Entertainment:

• With the kids: If you want to have a good time with your child I propose you these two parks: Parc Asterix and Disneyland Resort Paris. The first one is based on the stories of Asterix and there is a large variety of roller coasters. The second park is a world of fantasy, very famous in all the world.
• For other people: If you like to go shopping Paris has more than one shopping centre, for example: the prestigious Vallée Village, Bercy Village or the Carrousel du Louvre. These zones are the most important ones to go shopping. Also you can go to the famous theatres and shows of Paris. There are more than 140 theatres and show venues, some of them very famous like Bal du Moulin Rouge, the birthplace of the can-can, or you can go to the Theatre de la Ville or the Opéra Garnier.

Transportation:

The best  transport to move in Paris is the Underground, it has more than 300 stations and 214 km, so, it´s a good way to move around. Also you can move by bicycle or walking and without contaminating. I recommend you to move by public transport.




Finally I can tell you that the perspective of Paris from the top of the Eifell Tower made a big impact on me, it is incredible: from there you can see the Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe...

What are you waiting for? Now you can visit Paris! Bye!

WELCOME!

Hi! My name is Josu Lizarralde and I am a student of DBH 4 in Laskorain Ikastola.
This year we are going to do ICT in English (Information and Comunication Technology). In this lesson each student is creating his or her own blog. But also we are studying more things connecting with ICTs. Before we created our blog we made a questionnaire and we created a gmail account and also we learned different options of the gmail account.
See you soon!