Right now, I live in a suburban neighborhood in San Mateo that is right next to a small pond. The pond used to be clear and OK for people to swim in and have fun, but ever since some sewage inadvertently spilled into the area, the waterfront location has given us a great view but little else, as nobody is really willing to swim in the water or go for a ride in a canoe. However, the situation has been improving, and recently we witnessed hundreds of people show up on our street to take part in a regatta that was happening on the beach right behind us, a competition between UC Berkeley and Stanford. Here is a picture of the pond:

I really enjoy the climate of our town because it never really changes throughout the year. One of my teachers has called it a Mediterranean climate, which means that it always stays a constant and comfortable temperature, perfect for those who enjoy being outdoors and enjoying a leisurely life seven days of the week, 365 days a year. What I enjoy most about this climate is that I never have to worry about wearing heavy clothes (even though I do so anyway just because I’m used to wearing baggy sweaters) and my parents never have to spend too much time poring over their heating bills and finding ways to stay economical on using natural gas. However, one bad thing about this weather is that it gets somewhat boring after a while; I begin to look forward to rain and I hope that some freak snowfall may strike our town just to get some variation in the sky. Also, there are no snow days; although we did have one “storm day” when I was a freshman in high school due to poor drainage of the school, the problem has been fixed and we now go through our classes, rain or shine.

In my hometown in Massachusetts, I looked forward to snow days every December, January, and February. They would inevitably sprout up in the school schedule, when there was simply too much of this white, fluffy, chilly stuff for the custodians to shovel out of the way for cars to get through. Getting to stay home and not worry about homework–or anything for that matter–was a blast. I usually stayed snug and warm in bed, flipping through channels on the TV, watching a movie or playing a game, or going out for a sleepover with some friends where we would make some popcorn and have an Adam Sandler marathon. I’d also go outside, build snowmen and snow forts, and fight with my neighbors in massive snowball wars that would last for over an hour at times. Summers in Massachusetts were great as well, because the warmth and brightness of the day were much more intense and the grass in that place was much more green and lush. However, one thing I could NOT stand was the few days during July and August when the thermostat would ratchet up to over 100 degrees farhenheit and I would be stuck inside with wonderful air-conditioning but also with nothing to do.

Besides the weather, the main difference between my hometown in the East Coast and my existence here is the level of rapport among myself and the neighbors. Living in a condominium complex very close to my neighbors, I made friends with a lot of the neighborhood kids and my parents knew basically everyone else in the area, especially since our place was rather cloistered from the rest of the town, set off about a half a mile into the wilderness from the main street that led into the small town center. Now that we live in a house in the middle of the suburbs in a city with a large population, my family and our neighbors are acquaintances with each other but we know little about each other beyond our faces and car brands. Still, I enjoy living in San Mateo because there is a ton of culture and sophistication here. Staying here and going to Aragon High School is a worthwhile experience.

I enjoy many different hobbies and have many different interests. Let me start with the hobby that I have already told you about; I love to watch movies! I especially enjoy science fiction and action movies, particularly those from the 80s and 90s. Movies like Blade Runner and Total Recall that are slightly cheesy from the subtle and sophisticated viewpoint of today but hold an imaginative appeal that I enjoy very much. The most interesting part about watching these movies is marveling at what special effects people were capable of doing before computer graphics ever became possible as a way to create new worlds and show the impossible. The skill and thought that was put into making the miniatures, matte paintings, sets, and lighting that throws the viewer of these movies into another world is simply staggering, and it makes me wish I could have that much skill someday in my life. Check out some of the beautiful artwork in these shots from Alien: Resurrection:

Isn’t it just fantastic? I loove science fiction! Speaking of that, I recently read a book called Schild’s Ladder by Greg Egan, a science fiction writer who does very esoteric and confusing stories about the nature of our universe and the people within it. This story takes place in the very far future, when people’s minds can literally be downloaded and saved onto a computer and “death” as we know it has been wiped out of existence. In this novel, humanity is divided into two types: “acorporeals,” minds that exist without bodies and run on a computer system, and normal, flesh-inhabiting people, who now carry electronic brains and can turn on and off various bodily functions at will. Apparently, an experiment carried out by scientists of this hyper-advanced era messed with the fabric of space and inadvertenly caused a chain reaction which threatens to destroy the universe as we know it. Thus, many people are working to stop this threat to humanity’s existence and figure out a way to reclaim their homes from the expanding ball of nothingness that is wiping these homes out.

However, there are a few people who wish to keep things as they are because this ball of “nothingness” may be humanity’s key to transcending its current state. Although people in this era enjoy the most advanced technology conceivable and don’t need to worry about famine, disease, or death, there are signs that they are beginning to stagnate and feel an oncoming nihilism and pointlessness consume their very souls. Some have resorted to proving exotic mathematical theorems in order to pass time, while others have put their minds on hold until something interesting comes along to justify conscious thought; yet others have decided to terminate their thoughts entirely. This expanding void, however, holds great promises for some; because the laws of this universe, or any other universe conceivable by mankind, occurs within the void, some believe that if they figure out how that universe works, they may be able to cross the border into the void and experience whatever lies inside…

I won’t spoil the ending of the book, but something very substantial and even humane dwells inside the void, and when our adventurers discover this, they embark on a quest to stop the world’s expansion and find a solution to this crisis, which is common to both those on the outside and those on the inside.

Schild’s Ladder and other work by authors such as Greg Egan and Kim Stanley Robinson belong to a realm of science fiction called “hard” sci-fi. Books within this category are made to work within the boundaries of our current body of scientific knowledge, and may be entirely realistic except for the occasional fudging of a scientific rule in order to make a plot device work. Books under this category are the opposite of so-called “space operas,” which are books that completely ignore science in favor of what can best be termed a futuristic fantasy. They ignore obvious facts such as the effect of gamma rays on the human body or the sound of objects floating in space. I enjoy reading hard science fiction more because it gives us a glimpse of what may actually be possible in the future, rather than nostalgic visions of what we would like to be able to do if we could control the laws of the universe.

I also enjoy reading a lot of classic books as well. I have read Moby Dick, the story of a whaling ship whose captain is called Ahab. The protagonist of this story, Ishmael, is a lost soul who goes on the whaling ship to find some sort of adventure and perhaps penance for his life. The story is beautiful, although it is very, very, very long. I really enjoy the cover of the book, which I’ll show you here:

The story is very romantic and full of vivid descriptions of the whaling life and interesting anecdotes on the subject of whales themselves. However, it does become slightly dull at times, and the vocabulary and language in the book is so complex that I often put it down in confusion and frustration. But when I finished the novel, I was very glad I took the trouble to read it. It gave me a better view on the small things in life and gave me a newfound appreciation for the complexity and danger involved in being a whaler.

Anyway, I think I went a little overboard (pardon the pun) in explaining my love for books. I do love them; I could talk for many hours about my interest in the whole Harry Potter series, my dislike of Ralph Ellison, and my interest in cyberthrillers. But all for another day

I have a job at Office Depot that I work at from Thursday through Sunday. Usually, I receive hours for about two days of the week and am free the other two days. I work as a cashier, and the job has become much easier over time. When I first started out, I felt completely lost! Thankfully, the manager was nice and helped guide me through the process of making a transaction, supervising me during the first few times that I exchanged money. Working at this store is great; I receive a large employee discount, my coworkers are great, and the duties assigned to me are varied and interesting.

One requirement for my job is that I wear a blue, collared shirt and black slacks. They look something like this:

Sorry I couldn’t find a better picture of someone wearing these clothes! I also wear some black shoes and dark socks, along with a pin that bears my name and a cheesy little flag denoting that I am just a trainee. The customers so far have been nice and understanding with me, since this is my first job. However, I’m learning quickly and I hope to get rid of that yellow flag before the month is up!

My family consists of my mom (not pictured), my dad, my sisters, and my cat (not pictured either). D

The girl in the center is my sister, Jennifer. The girl on the right is my other sister, Laura. They’re currently going to middle school, and they’re slightly rowdy because they always invite their friends over to play games and party. My dad, to the left, brings me to school every day and sometimes helps me out with math homework when I’m struggling with a problem. We used to go to the movies every Saturday, but ever since second semester of school started, I haven’t really had the time to enjoy a good movie with some tasty popcorn. Instead, we occasionally rent a movie and watch it at home. My dad has a movie pass so he is able to rent an unlimited number of movies so long as he returns them within three days and continues to pay the monthly fee. I tried to convince him to use Netflix instead because the service is cheaper, but he doesn’t really want to go through the hassle of mailing videos back to the company whenever he is done watching them.

My sisters sometimes annoy me, but by and large we get along. They don’t bother me much when I’m studying, but when I try to take the television away from them when I have a rare opportunity to kick back and relax, we sometimes argue over what show to watch. My sisters have become skilled in cooking dinner for the family, so my parents are able to work on other things or just play games while Laura boils water for spaghetti or prepares meat for cooking in the oven. I help my sisters at times with their homework and correct their spelling errors, and they, in turn, lend me money when I run short.

Whenever we are really bored, my dad and I often take a trip down to Fry’s Electronics, a store that sells computers, software, and cool gadgets like a talking robot dog or a video game dance pad. The store is all the way in Palo Alto, the same city where Stanford University resides and a hub for high-tech people. We often stop by a Vietnamese bakery that has spring rolls, which are made of rice paper wrapped around rice vermicelli, shrimp, and mint leaves. The taste of this food is divine; if you ever get the chance to try one of these rolls, go ahead and have a bite!

For a while, in our old house, my sisters had to share a room. They didn’t really argue much about it, but they were undeniably elated to hear that we were moving into a house in which they would each have their own space to live in and put their stuff. Today, my sisters live in different rooms with totally different “themes.” Jennifer has a room full of stuffed animals and a laptop computer, and the whole aura one gets while standing in that space is one of comfort and coziness. To contrast, Laura’s room is more spartan; she lives in a place that has a few posters of some of her favorite animals scattered across the walls and a carpeted floor that is free of debris.

Outside of our nuclear family, I have many, many uncles and aunts. One of them lives nearby, in San Jose, with his daughter. His other daughter, my cousin, currently goes to UCLA, the alma mater of my Spanish teacher I also have an aunt and grandmother who lives near Irvine.

Hi Empar! I’m Brian, your new penpal! This is going to be great! I live in San Mateo, California. The area is very suburban and the climate is always nice and sunny. This consistently nice weather gets somewhat boring, but it also has its advantages: few other places in the world at this latitude let you wear a T-shirt on February without getting major frostbite!

Although I’m often very busy with homework, clubs, tests, etc., I’m finding my senior year at Aragon to be very fun! I get to do fun things like go to San Fransisco, work at car washes and telephone fundraisers in exchange for free food, and see lots and lots of movies! ;D

I’m into politics, although definitely not as much as my post makes me out to be I enjoy old movies too, although I haven’t seen many from the 40s. I love movies by Hitchcock like The Birds, Vertigo, and North by Northwest.

I really want to travel when I find the time and the money to do it. I haven’t been outside the continental U.S. and I think it would be wonderful to be able to cross the vast oceans and visit exotic and faraway lands. I also like to take pictures, especially pictures of flowers and nature. I have tons; maybe I can find a way to post one of my images on this blog.

Sometime I might try to read Lolita. I usually read about a book a month, although sometimes it’s hard to fit literature into my hectic schedule. I guess choosing a single book is pretty hard; a lot of them are so good it feels unfair to rank one above another.

This is going to be a great experience and I’m looking forward to hearing from you! I’m glad to have you as my friend

Hi! Brian

Nice to meet you!

I was afraid because my teacher Ann says to us: “take it easy” your pen-pals are teenagers. Please “attention to how you say things” and on the first letter you tell me about political things and free love! I don’t Know what she means. I’m happy about that.

I’m against the war USA-IRAQ too. And concerning love questions… I do what I can… But freely. Of course! I was only joking…

I don’t have much time for hobbies. But when I Can I really like to go to the cinema. I like all kind of movies. I prefer the movies from USA but old film from the 40s (Black and white movies) actors like Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis. And I like to talk about it with friends or people who are mad about it.

It’s very difficult to me to choose only one book. Maybe Breakfast in Tiffani’s (I love Lula Mey) or Lolita…

When I can I like traveling, but I can’t travel too often. The furthest place where I’ve been to is… Guess¡ San Francisco…
You can see me in this picture (It is also another hobby).

Brian, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

In the first composition I talk about my family. Júlia is my little daughter. Júlia is a cheerful girl. She laughs all the time and makes me feel happy. She is six-years-old. We are living in el Prat de Llobregat since two years ago. Before that we were living in Barcelona. It’s a new life.

I also have a lot of cousins. We are all girls. We are living in far towns but all the summers we try to meet us in any place whith our childeren and the new members of the family.

My job now is in courthouse. I Work in three places in the week. On Mondays and Wednesdays I work in Gavà. On Tuesdays and Fridays I work in El Prat de Llobregat and on Thursdays I work in Sant Boi de Llobregat.

My job is helping the people how to work in courthouse With computers programs, applications and information processing. I explain to them the new developments and I repair some breakdowns.

My users don’t like changes very much. The worst thing is to try to change their mentality. And it also is a challenge.

Hello class!

My name is Amparo. I have got dark hair and a mixture of brown and green eyes. I love to laugh and to have many friends.

I’m proud because I have a six-year-old daughter. We can see her in this picture. She is lovely! Don’t you think so?

Her name is Júlia.

I have a red car. It’s very fast. I really love driving.

Now I work on computers in courthouse. I started to work in this job two years ago. I studied psychology and it is a tool in my work. The best thing of this job is the timetable. This is a typical day for me: I get up at seven o’clock and I have breakfast, a cup of coffee and an orange juice. Then I go to work. I start at eight o’clock. I finish work at three o’clock. Later I usually have lunch at home. I go to pick up Júlia at school at five o’clock. Then we go home and I have dinner. After dinner I read some book and watch TV. I go to bed at about half past eleven.

I’m happy I begin to study English again.