Favourite song

Hello everyone.

Sarah gave us rights to write posts here so our writings are going to come directly from us, yay. Btw first!

Well my favourite song is from Breaking Benjamin, it's called Dear Agony. I like it very mutch because it is full of emotions and the tune perfectly fits the lyrics. The two thing together makes the song sort of epic. Although the song is about agony it sort of makes me happy and sad at the same time, and it's really strange belive me.
You should listen to it (there are tons of videos on Youtube) and post your thoughts here.

Cheers: Zsolt

Talking to the World

Three of my students share what they would say if they could talk to the whole world and everybody would listen:

By Dini:
"Telling something to the whole world. Huh. It's not very easy. One thing is certain, I will speak about the problems of the world, for example, global warming and wars. The next thing will be God. It is a great opportunity, to share Him with the world world. I will say, 'He loves you, and if you believe in Him, you can find happiness.'
However, I think I won't be able to say anything. I will have a fever and after 290 seconds, I will only say, 'Thank you, I love you.'"

By Tamás:
"If I could talk to the world and everybody would understand me, I would say this:
Hello everyone, the whole human race, all people living on this planet (or orbiting around), please pay attention. Firstly, stop fighting. Wars never change, people die, the poor get poorer, and you can't expect to be able to convince somebody with violence. War is not about what's right, only who's left. Second, climate change is now something that we cannot close our eyes to. We must act as soon as possible, for example, support researching alternative energy sources. The rich countries should help the developing ones. We should ensure equal rights to everyone no matter where he/she lives; they have the same rights to live, learn, practice their religion. We don't need confrontation. The only way of saving our planet from ourselves is the way we can all work together for a better future for the next generation."

By Zsolt:
"Hello everyone from around the world. I'm going to tell you a few things, hopefully you will get the reason behind it all and make the world better.
First of all, forget about whether you are an Asian, African, European, etc. because it's only good for conflicts. You are all human beings and not mindless animals. If we would all forget the racial differences, this world would be much better.
Secondly, a few words about religions. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing if you believe in god(s) but it is pointless to hate each other for it. Think about the suffering in the Middle Ages. All those crusades because some guy said, 'We need to liberate the holy city,' it's pointless.
Thirdly, politics. Think of the Cold War. What happened there? The U.S. and Soviet leaders hated each other. Pointless. If you want good leaders go for the smart people, not for the charismatic.
And last, science. Scientists are always right! They never say things unless they are absolutely sure about it, and if they aren't, they will tell you that. If you all would trust them, this world would be much better and highly advanced. Our lives would be much easier with advanced equipment,.
In conclusion, we shouldn't think of nations. We have to think as a race and we need to care for our future."

Favorites...

Today is the first day of school, and as such, I thought it important to post a few more blogs from my students that they wrote last year. Get ready for some new posts coming soon :)

My Favorite Place in Győr
By Adam
"One of my favorite places in Győr is Püspök Forest. Though in the summer I call it the mosquito forest, it is a nice place for bicycling, running, and work-outs. I can't tell you how many times we went to the forest with my father. There, on a never ending road we rode our bicycles, stopping at a few places and resting. We had fun enjoying the mosquitoes, talking about life, and looking at nature.
I remember once we went on a mini field trip there with our class. We played hide and seek and king of the hill. We ate fried chicken and enjoyed the feeling that there were only TWO more weeks of school left.
All together, Püspök Forest is a good place for family fun, not far from there, there is even a swimming area! I believe everybody needs time to relax, and enjoy nature. In Győr this opportunity is far from impossible."

A Memory from a Class Trip
By Dorisz
"In May I went to Rome with my Catholic classmates. Our flight was delayed 2 hours, but we had a great time at the airport in Bratislava as well. Finally, we arrived in Rome at 9:30. The flight was fantastic. It was my first experience, but I hope not the last. We all slept in one big room. It was freaky. We had 5 wonderful days in Rome. We saw a lot of things, for example, Trevi fountain, lots of churches, and of course the Colosseum, which is my favorite building.
We ate loads and loads of ice cream, pasta, and pizza. The transport was ridiculous. We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw how they drive.
The Italian people are very friendly, helpful, nice, and really elegant. I'm fond of their language. It is catchy, I guess.
I hope I can go back as soon as possible. One day I will live there, I know. I fell in love with Italy."

School Memories

This blog post focuses on special events and memories involving school activities and trips.

Zsolt writes,
"One of the most recent events in our school was Sport Day. It was the best one in 3 or 4 years. Unlike these previous Sport Days, when we had to do something outside in June, this year we were in a tennis center. Everyone could change what he/she wanted to do. There was archery, tennis, squash, football, ping-pong, aerobics, and boxing too. I spent most of my time at the archery sessions because that's my favorite hobby. About half of the day was over when our history teacher tried out boxing. He was quite good at it, although he got a few hits. By the time he finished, half of the students were watching him. That was the most fun part of it, and we will remember it for a long time." (In the picture, you can see the history teacher - on the right - boxing with one of the students as the boxing instructor looks on.)

Virág writes about another activity,

"When we were 9th-year-students, we went on a bike-trip to Szigetköz. It was during a moody spring, so on the way to Lipót the sun was shining, and it was incredibly hot. In Lipót, we visited a beach and spent a lovely day there, swimming and having fun together. When we started on our way back, storm clouds were collecting. By the next village, it was raining heavily, so we stopped at a local pub. We were waiting there for a few hours, but the rain didn't want to get calmer. We decided to continue on our way but only a few of us had a raincoat. I also took out my raincoat, and then came the huge laugh. My coat was very enormous, but fortunately, it gave place to almost everyone. So five of use were cycling under the same raincoat. It was the most funny bike-trip."

Take a Look at Us

If you haven't noticed it already, I'd like to take this moment to direct your attention to the picture of my wonderful 11th grade class which appears in the header of the blog. These students are the ones contributing to the blog. Also, the picture above is another funny picture of the same class :)

Memorable Times and Places

This last week, my students could choose one of two topics to write about: a favorite place in Győr, or a childhood memory. Here's a selection of one of each:

"My favorite place is not exactly in Győr, but in Ikrény. Ikrény is a little village next to Győr. So the two places are locked into each other.
There is a cable park, where you can go wakeboarding, water skiing, or simply swimming and enjoy the good weather. I go there almost every day in the summer. Fortunately, it takes a very short time to get there for me. I have gone to the lake for 12 years.
I really like the people there. They are very nice and helpful. A lot of riders come from Austria and Slovakia, because they haven't got such a great line like ours. So there is a very good crowd. I've made lots of friends there.
This year, one of my dreams will come true, namely I am going to work there! I can't wait. It will be fun. It is like a big family, and I am really glad and grateful that I belong there." - Dorisz

"My story happened in 1997, when I was 3 years old. It was a lovely summer day, the sun was shining, there were no clouds in the sky. My sister was a little baby and my brother wasn't born yet. We travelled to Budapest to see the zoo of the capital city. I was a child who always searched for danger, and I found it in the zoo. I wasn't interested in monkeys or tigers, but in the great Indian elephant. However, their cage was large, and they were far from me. So I decided to watch them from a shorter distance. I was little and I could pass through the grating. Fortunately, I wasn't noticed or I didn't annoy them and now I am alive." - Robi

For those reading, what is one of your favorite places or childhood memories? (We read the responses together as a class, so feel free to let us know!)

Risky Business

Hello all readers! The last couple weeks in class, we talked about taking risks. It's quite an interesting topic, because many people view things that are more scary as more risky, when, in fact, they are less risky. For example, apparently now there in an equal risk of getting injured in a plane as there is of getting injured in a car (though I think a car used to be more risky). Even though this is true, many people are more scared of a plane crash and therefore see it as offering a greater risk.

Interestingly enough, I actually applied this lesson to my own life last week. I suffered an injury while skiing (partial tear of the MCL and complete rupture of the ACL), and I sat there in pain wondering if skiing is, in fact, a risky sport or if people just view it as such. I didn't come to any great conclusions, but it always excites me when what I teach can be applied to "real life."

This week, we learned about two preschools - one in Japan and the other in England. The one in Japan tries to take away any type of risk by using inflatable toys, tons of supervision, and even spraying the wheels of strollers for any germs. The one in England allows children to play outside almost the whole day - exploring in the field and learning by experimenting. Most of my students said they would prefer the English preschool. I'm not so sure - something about inflatable toys is appealing to me.

In any case, I feel that life is just plain risky sometimes. But we all learn through the risks we take, whether bad or good. If you feel in the responding mood, let us know what risks you've taken and how it worked out.