Wednesday, 24 August 2011

Latest tourism trends in Colombia


Colombia has had ups and downs with regards to tourism during the last 20 years, due to change in many aspects security issues. Narcotrafic, terrorism, kidnapping among others were the reasons why people were afraid of traveling to Colombia. However, this situation is turning into something really different.

For Colombian people, it was always a shame to be marked down as an inhabitant of a violent country, indeed it is, or at least it is compared with New Zealand, but the levels of violence and insecurity are getting smaller. As far as kidnapping is concerned, the rates have decreased by almost 80%; as a result, fear of foreign people visiting our country is decreasing as well making our country more appealing, because Colombia has a bunch of possibilities to offer in terms of adventure tourism and landscapes.

Colombia, a country with an invaluable richness of natural resources has been preparing to become a more attractive country for foreigners so adventure tourism has become one of the main reasons why people is interesting in visiting us, owing to the variety of activities you can enjoy being in Colombia, which includes extreme sports like rafting, canoeing, trekking, kayaking, and any kind of sport you can imagine that involve adrenaline in a natural environment.

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

There is nothing like the past


When you think about the future it is impossible no to think about technology, apparently  it is the subject which defines what is going to be or not in this planet. Technology is something unstoppable because even small improvements in our lifestyle are considered technological advances.

I tend to think that even though technology is here to make us life a more practical life, is also depriving us of enjoying the most basic tasks like a beautiful sunny day, hanging out with friends, or going to the cinema and is taking us to a dreadful future;

This is because we are relying on electronic devices or in virtual stuff more than our brain capability we  are reducing our analysis skills to machines and turning it into dependency. Furthermore, we have become in isolated human beings; Children and teenagers are everytime more interested in playing computer games or games console that going out with friends to watching a movie or just to going out from their houses or even bedrooms for simply human interaction.

As I have written before, it seems to me the future is not  totally promising, for sure we are going to have lots of fun, we are going to own devices which will do unimaginable things for us and we are going to have more free time to do what we really enjoy doing, but we will probably be trapped in a virtual world in which we have become virtual as well, in which we are only a credit card number, a funny, intriguing or strange nick name.

Overall, the future is not a beautiful place in which I want to live, obviously I’m living my future every day in my present but the future is not as appealing for me as it is for most people, I still believe that every time  in the past was better there is nothing like the past.

Monday, 22 August 2011

Fed up with SNOBS!!!

There are a lot of things which annoy me from one way or another but there is one special thing that drives me absolutely crazy and it is people who show off all the time, no matter how, when or what the person is showing off about; It just simply makes me sick.

In my view, the people’s personal life and their achievements are something very personal and you must be very tactful if you want to share something regarding these subjects to avoid creating the wrong impression.

There is a big difference between sharing your achievements with people you like or love and showing them off you can be proud of all you have done or for the skills you have without making people feel underestimated.
I feel that sometimes people with this sort of behaviour are always desperately  trying to catch everybody’s attention through the things they have got or what they have done, since their personalities are not appealing enough to attract anybody, and it makes me feel pity as well.

personalities are not enough appealing to attract anybody, and it makes me feel pity as well.

Thursday, 18 August 2011

Why do you think the pay gap between men and women is so common in different countries around the world?

Although the women role in the world have change throughout the years, it is seemed there is still along way to run about equity matter; It is true that nowadays women are been participating in different social roles. Nevertheless, the gap between genders is still a big issue in certain countries, in some the discrimination is more evident than in others.

It is important to consider particular facts which can promote the gender differences such as religion, culture or education in order to have a closer and deeper view of the problem in general and avoid preconceived judgments.

For instance, people who practise Muslim religion have a different conception about the women roll in society than the rest of the occidental world have and even though many people could find surprising the fact that Muslim women are not allowed to do many as many things as the women in the rest of the world are used doing, they seem to be very happy. Perhaps there are a lot of aspects of the Muslim life that we don’t know and make Muslim people happy, perhaps our preconceived ideas and thoughts are wrong and the life for those women are not as bad as everybody thinks.

On the other hand, is necessary for me to make a parallel with my country, Colombia, in which the women conditions are extremely different.
I honestly think women in my country are taking the men roll. Why? There are a bunch of reasons but i just going to explain some of them, to do so, I am going to expose them as follows.

Although my country is considered as a developing country we have already got over the “macho” idea and we have turned it into something extremely different. Women in my country have been enrolling the work force for almost 15 years or so, and for the men pity we have become in a very valuable asset for Colombian companies, so numerous are the occasions at which this occurs that women are getting a vast number of the most important position in companies and almost the 65% of university students are women. I am not exactly sure the reasons why this is happening; Is it an extreme wish from us to be noticed? it is a result of the men laziness?, reasons can vary from one case to another making the list maybe longer.   

Tuesday, 16 August 2011

Flatmates from hell




Juan Camilo my flatmate and me
Regarding living with people, I can say is definitely hard stuff, I have had the  experience to live with friends and with people I didn't know very well and the results of those experiences could be surprising for some of you.
My first experience was about two years ago I was living with my parents and I decided to reach my independence living in my own personal space. Of course, if I had done it on my own would have been difficult so I decided to move with my two best friends.

The first week was awesome, but everything started going wrong from the second week onwards. I knew backwards that one of friends was a little bit moody, but nothing was compared with what I had to deal living with her; her behaviour changed every day, sometimes twice or three times per day and she really was driving me crazy. On the other side was my other friend, she was very relaxing but the problems started when she lost her job. I was very understanding with her. I had told her that I would support her with the rent while she was able to find a new job but my patience turned into anger when I started realizing that she had become a laid back person who was always lounging around doing nothing more than watching tv, or sleeping during the whole day. She didn’t even help me to tidy the flat.

Nothing could have gone worst, I was really disappointed. At the end of the second month, we decided to leave the flat and reach our ways separately, since our friendship got over.

To be honest, when I first arrived to New Zealand I was really predisposed for all the situations I had got through, and yet at the same time I was expectant and open to any situation.
After I had lived there for two months  with a New Zealand host family, I decided to move to the city  and take the risk of living with a flatmate; on this occasion with a male I was really fed up with women. Everything has been so far so good, I have found it very easy because men are not as fussy and sulky as we women are; Sometimes I think I get on well with men than with women.

Ok finally, I have got over the flatmates fear and my attitude towards flat sharing have completely changed to positive.

Compensation policies

With regard of the previous cases seen during the class I personallyI think three of them need a different and particular treatment.

In the first one for example, I think the A person needs to be compensated, because sometimes journalists don’t measure the power of their words and of course they don’t foresee the consequences of what they have written, in this order of ideas A should have received a compensation equal or similar to the amount of money he stop receiving due to the show closing, for the time the show was expected to be available for public.

The second case is an easy one; Nowadays, everybody knows smoking is the main cause for lung cancer, that’s not a secret at all and it is very insensible to try to blame someone else for a choice someone has made forty years ago, is better for person B If he faces the problem head up. I think there not must be any compensation; Start smoking was his choice, now he must acknowledge the consequences.

The next case is a bit more complicated because of the events beforehand; Every single person should have job regardless culture, religion or physical condition as I guess was what happened with person C. If the company had considered hiring this man, they also should have considered the implications of this desertion, I mean,  they should have thought about the work conditions and whether they were convenient or not. It seemed the conditions were not and therefore, this employee has suffered from a severe back pain.

While others felt that he does not deserve any compensation, I think he does need one for medical treatment and for the time he has spent arguing for this case.

Finally, for the last case, truth be told, is just a case of a desperate woman trying to obtain money anyway she can, it is evident she only got married to this 89 year old man for convenience, and it would be very surprising for me if there was love in that relationship; as it seems to me like a marriage with fake intentions and as the dead man’s will is not to give her any money, I think she would not receive any compensation and the court would be respectful in regards to the old man’s decision.

Sunday, 14 August 2011

The Moment of truth


It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.  ~Henry Louis Mencken, A Little Book in C Major, 1916

It is almost impossible to say that there  is a person in the world who can always say whole truth. All of as have told lies; even a  small one but we have done it, thus, is very unethical for me to judge someone else for telling lies.

Nobody is perfect and trying to reach perfection is a waste of time, at  least for me; yet you can  avoid situations in which you will be bound to tell lies  to get your goals.
Although I consider myself a sincere person, I’m not exempt of telling lies, mostly when you know   you have done things wrongly, and you know if you tell the truth you will hurt someone else’s feelings.
Besides, if you  just simply want to keep some of your  life events in secret,  why do you have to tell the true to other people, you are free to expose your life as much as you want , but you can also have the freedom to keep your life as private as you want or need; Then I think  so as not to create a conflict, and avoid awkward situations sometimes it is better to lie.

Regarding on the tv reality show, of course she had the freedom to make a choice whether  to expose her private life or not, and she did it, she decided to  take the risk of losing everything. if I had been on her shoes I definitely wouldn’t have done it, I have a  great sense of respect for others people’s life, and I would expect the same sense from other people  to me.

Tuesday, 9 August 2011

Make up for time


I had the fortune to study in an excellent school in which I had the chance to learn a lot of things about different subjects, some of them very useful, some others not too much but all those things are useful in some point of your life.
In my high school I took ballet, chess, art history and accounting classes, also swimming, music, sewing, sociology and psychology classes.
Although I received a lot of useful knowledge information in the school, I wish I had received foreign languages classes so as to have basic notions and be better prepared. 
I think  languages are extremely necessary for the world we are actually living in; They can open your mind and help you to understand other’s people mentality. 
Not until you start knowing the countrie’s language will you understand its culture. Therefore, I think I would be more open minded.
If I had taken languages classes in school, maybe I wouldn’t have been here in New Zealand studying English; If I had studied English before, I would have been studying a diploma or a master degree, I mean, I would have make up for a lost time in school, if I had the chance.


How my education influenced the way I think?





I think in some way your educational background help you to open your mind to the knowledge maybe you cannot obtain in other way, it helps you to open your mind about some of the most interesting things in your life. When you study you f....and interesting things, yet also you find a lot of things you may dislike. However education helps you to redirect the course of your life in the way you think it must be. In my case for example I studied International Business Management and even though I’ve found it very useful for my everyday life, I realized it is not my cup of tea: there are a lot more interesting things in life to take care about than making business. It is true that business rules the world in some way, as them are the economic engine for companies and countries to commerce, but I would rather see the life in other way. After I had studied International business management and discovered that me and business dislike each other, I made up my mind and followed my hunches and gut feelings and started to study photography. Everybody thinks those are two very different, they are indeed. Nevertheless the careers I have chosen have made a particular profile on my mind and they have sharpened some features of my character, such as my ability to save or manage money properly and the ability to see further that the common eye can see.
Consequently, I strongly believe that even when the education you have had is not the one you would have chosen, it makes you more critic regarding to your life and what do you want to obtain from it.

Sunday, 7 August 2011

Back again, but in English

For those who don’t know who I am, I’m Jhennifer Zuluaga, Colombian, 26 years old, a music, arts and photography lover, for the rest of the people who know me yet, let me tell you, here I am, finally and after a lot of difficult circumstances I'm studying English in Auckland New Zealand.
I have been here for about four months, well, I think that I've been here probably more time, but I don’t really want to count the days or the months I just want to enjoy the time here while I have it, without any concerns more than learning, learning and learning.
At this moment I’m in one of the ELA’s rooms trying to make what I’ve been avoiding to do. Write, but is funny how life throw things your way, despite my terrible writing, it is seems that after all I will have to do it.   
It’s hard to try to write something, I can’t get the way to do it, there are no ideas flowing, but I guess I’m going to start making a brief introduction about myself.
I’m an international business manager and I got my degree in the year 2006 after that I decided business were not for me, so I started to study photography and I got my certificate on October 2010; photography is one of those things I enjoy the most and give more personal satisfaction to me, I can spend a whole day taking photos without taking any rest, and yet feeling good to another photo session.
As I wrote previously, I’m an arts lover, so I’ve always been keen to try any arts, I love to listen to music, I spend most of my spare time trying to come across with something new, nowadays I'm trying to read in English but it’s been a bit complicated with time issues, but is not impossible so I'm going to keep on trying, no matter how much time it takes.
About my life in New Zealand, there’s not too much to say life is slow here, I’ve been extremely relaxed, the time seems to go by very slowly, or at least slower than life in Bogota.
There’s no noise in this city, no pollution, no violence, everything is peace and quiet, in other words almost a Paradise, and yet I feel something is missing, sometimes I think New Zealand has a lack of thrill, which makes this city a bit boring.