Our working day
Dear Federico,
I’m starting today’s blog before I receive yours. The time difference between Peru and the UK means that it could be late evening here before you post your blog. By then I’ll be settling down to watch my favourite football team – Arsenal, of course – beat Porto (sorry to anyone reading this in Portugal, but I’m sure you’d all agree that Arsenal is a far superior team!!!). My daughter’s favourite team is Manchester United, so she won’t watch this match with me – unless Arsenal start losing, of course. Then she’ll enjoy it. But that’s not going to happen, is it?
I don’t know much about football in Peru. Perhaps you have a favourite team you support? Perhaps you can’t stand football. I’ll wait to hear from you on that.
It is already 6th December. We have opened another window in our Advent calendar. This year we have two. The first is from the National Gallery, here in London. Every window shows a detail of a famous painting. The idea is that you’re supposed to recognise which paintings the details are taken from. My daughter is studying History of Art so she has identified most of the paintings so far. The second Advent calendar is from Finland. It is a large box of chocolates covered with a huge Christmas picture. The picture has 24 numbered and perforated windows. Behind each window there is a GORGEOUS chocolate. Lucy and I take turns to open the windows. She, however, always seems to get my favourite chocolates! We also have an Advent candle which we light each morning while it is still dark outside, before Lucy goes to school.
OK, so what about your typical working day? I guess you’re going to tell me something about it in your blog, so I’ll tell you a little about mine first.
The first thing to say is that there is no typical working day for me. When you work freelance, as I do, each day is often very different from the one before. Sometimes I have a deadline to meet. For example, if the BBC has asked me to write a lesson plan for Words In The News, I have to have it finished before midday on Wednesdays. If I am writing a school book (which is not very often these days) I will set myself a daily writing routine. I usually try to keep to that routine until the first draft of the book is finished. I stopped teaching regular classes this summer, so none of my days now has a fixed pattern. I like that very much, but sometimes I think it must be rather nice to work with a group of colleagues and to belong to a little working community, to have a coffee machine and a photocopier to meet at – and to have a regular salary!
I can never remember jokes, but here’s a favourite of mine while I wait for your blog to arrive: There are two goldfish in a tank. After a while one says to the other, “You got any idea how to drive this thing?” OK, so it’s not that funny.
Hurrah! A blog has just arrived from you! I’ve been reading the comments from some of our readers. Everyone wants to know more about your job. It seems very dangerous to me. I understand that you have to be careful and that everything must be safe. You mention that you have to protect your hearing. Is that because there are loud explosions from the blasting? Is this a big risk? Do mining engineers often lose their hearing?
I suffer from claustrophobia. Even just reading your description of being underground, surrounded by nothing but rock in a labyrinth of tunnels makes me start to panic! You must be a very calm and focused person, I guess.
Yes, I can understand that everyone asks you about gold. I also understand that it cannot easily be seen. It must be very special to see natural gold shining brightly in the darkness.
Your day sounds very long. I tried to imagine what it would be like getting up at 4.30 in the morning. No, sorry. I just can’t! However, I think it sounds so romantic to be travelling to the oldest silver mine in Peru, by bus, so early. Of course, I understand that if you’re tired and the bus is uncomfortable and it is crowded, then that’s not really very romantic at all, is it? And then I read about the cold and the snow and the travel sickness, and suddenly there was nothing romantic about it at all. I think you are heroic! Especially since you managed to post a blog despite feeling so unwell. Well done, Federico. You deserve some sort of medal for this.
By the way, thank you for your tips about altitude sickness. I will start looking for a sheep’s head immediately! I like soup, but I have to admit that I have never tasted sheep’s head soup. Do you have a recipe?
This blog is far too long. I am sorry. You must be exhausted. Please don’t work too hard on this. Tomorrow will be a tough day for you at work. I will be thinking about you – all our readers around the world will be sympathising with you. Have a good day – if that’s possible.
Lucy has just come home from school so I guess it’s time for me to make dinner. I wonder if she’d like a nice bowl of sheep’s head soup?
Stay safe! Talk to you tomorrow!
With very best wishes,
STEPHEN
SOME USEFUL WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
can’t stand + SOMETHING
When you can’t stand something it means you really dislike it very much.
EXAMPLE: I can’t stand screaming babies.
Advent/Advent calendar
Advent is the period of four weeks leading up to Christmas. Advent calendars have 24 windows (or ‘doors’) numbered 1-24 to correspond to the 24 days of December leading up to Christmas. They are quite popular with families with children. The idea is that you open a window each day in the build-up to Christmas Day.
perforated
with a line of small holes designed to make it easier to tear, for example like a sheet of postage stamps
take turns
to do something one (person) after the other
freelance
someone not employed by a single employer but paid for each piece of work done for a number of different employers
deadline
a time or date when a piece of work must be finished
set
to set a target (or a deadline or a routine) means to fix, decide or agree an objective
to keep to
to do what you say you will do, for example to keep to a promise
first draft
first version, which will probably have to be revised or re-written
blasting
a way of breaking up rock by using explosives
claustrophobia
a fear of confined (small) spaces
recipe
step-by-step method for making a dish or meal
Comments
Hi Stephen I enjoy your blog. Your style of writing is great and very interesting! The words and their expresions below are great too! :o) I am looking forward to your next blog.
Hi Stephen, You know Stephen is a nice name for me.I've got an uncle who I'm really fond of called Stephen.He lives in Rio. He was patient enough to teach me English( I must confess I had the desire to speak but not the flair) and I loved his classes.They were really creative and light and he kept pushing me.That's probably THE REASON I ended up as an English teacher.You know, people say I'm half-English cause my grandpa was English but that doesn't mean much cause I still have to struggle to improve my English. So it's you then who prepares some of "the words in the news" lessonS! I always follow them. Your daily life sounds really interesting! It must be nice to be a freElancer. Like you, I fancy having an unpredictable routine, however being a regular teacher is not always possible.I liked the idea of the Advent Calendar! Every day a different surprise! Are Finish chocolates as yummy as Dannish? For sure they seem much better than Frederico's soup!!!Here in the state( region) where I live people have a typical dish: roast bull's head. They put it under the ground and on top they light a bonfire which goes on overnight and on the following day it's unburied and eaten. They say the cheeks , eyes and brain are delicious!Do you think Lucy would fancy a bite instead of Frederico's soup? Cheerio
Good morning, Stephen. It is nine clock in the morning in China. I have late morning class from 10 to 12 today, so it is nice that I still have some time to read your blog and check e-mail before class. Wish you a good day!
Hello Mr keeler . It seems very pleasure to have a teacher Which is a writer . I like detective novels but unfortunately I am n't familiar with new ones . sport ,travel , art all are my interest so I suppose your blogs would be very attractive for me . I live in north part of Iran . I 'm a jobhohder woman and a mother and ofcourse an house wife .I work in our provinc 's communication company . I live in ARDEBIL city in north of IRAN . ARDEBIL is located in the foot of an old volcano . It is called SABALA N mountain . It has a small lake in it's top . perhaps some day you come in our little city for climbing at SABALAN . I hope to improve my English talents for many porpuses . And I have learnt lot from this blogs . Have it for now . I wish you good luck. Have a grate time bye bye pary form nothr part of IRAN.
Hi Stephen, I saw the Advent calendar first time in the BBC advent calendar competition page last year. I tried all the days but I could not get gifts. This year also I am going to try. Let see the luck. From your post I could understand that advent calendar is popular in your country. We also do like that. At the time of Christmas or when we have carols gifts are wrapped in the parcel and put it in big boxes or hang it on the Christmas trees. If any one has luck they will get a good gift. Children will enjoy this game of luck. About your freelance job, it is quite interesting. You don’t have a structured regular time to work. You plan it on your own. You set the deadline for yourself. I like this kind of job.
Hi,Stephen Thank you for the interesting blog.I am very impressed your eagerness and kindness to share your daily life and to invite the readers in your world.you are a suppoter of Arsenal foolball team but you don't watch the program"MATCH OF THE DAY" every weekend in your bed.Do you? The reason why i said is my husband donimates the TV and watches the program nearly every week in bed.the worst thing is if he does miss the weekend he wants to watche the program next morning and he is arguing over with my son,who is four, which program to watch.The funist thing is he does't like to play foolball.Anyway i think i might be given dirty looks when he reads my comment.i don't care but i really thank you for giving me a chance to write this comment. have a wonderful day!!
Hi Stephen, Well, it’s a real blog – we are involved in something that is going here and now, and though you remember quite well about the time zones and almost abstract geographical distances you’ve been continuing your conversation with Frederico as if he were sitting beside you and drinking a cup of tea .. And Frederico responds with calm though he seems to in rather challenging situation. Yes, that blog has its own magic. When I read your useful words and expressions for the first time I found something familiar and immediately associated it with the 'Words in the News'. Yes, that is really a perfect subpage, I mean the merit and didactic benefits. Sometimes your (or other person) explanations of more difficult words or expressions make me even revise its meaning in my native language. I also appreciate comprehensive tests, especially all tricky questions which measure a real understanding of the text, though sometimes there are more than one correct answer (especially in the news on ‘School bullying in Japan'). Anyway, I usually start my English lessons with the 'Words in News", though recently it competes, with different results, with the blog. Best,
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