Task 6 - The Definition of Success

The writer Ralph Waldo Emerson has an easy definition of the word “success”, summed up in nine points, which all are achievable if you try.

How would you define success?

His first definition is “to laugh much”. Very achievable if you ask me.

If you live a good life, surrounded with friends and family that you care about, and that care about

you too, laughter comes as a natural reaction to fun. Is it fun to have success?

Is laughter a natural reaction to success?

His second definition is “to win respect of intelligent persons and the affections of children”.

Are you immediately successful if a little child gives you their love and affection?

I ask these questions because I want you to think.

Read over his points, and make up your own definition, and meaning. 

The writer has an easy definition of success. He means that if you manage to achieve these

nine points he mentioned, you have succeeded in life, and you have succeeded in the

relationships you have. I think that many of his points can, combined with the definition of

happiness, and the fact that you have done something of interest, be the definition of success.    

Of course, everyone should have, his or her, own opinion about the definitions, but this is a good guideline.

                             THE AMERICAN DREAM

Do people still believe that the American Dream can be achieved?

People do still believe in the stereotypical American Dream. The fact that you can come from almost nothing, with no means, and still manage to work your way up and succeed, still stands strong.

People do believe that hard work profits, and that the work will eventually pay off. It is just the moral and work ethic in America. You can get anything you want if you just dream big enough. The goal can be money, fame or material happiness, but also a healthy family, the ability to love someone, and so on. The reams are individual, and many will say that it is the dreams that keeps them going. In financial crisis, and when things get a little rough, people shift their impression of the American Dream, and it is suddenly more about values and not so much about material success.

More Americans says in the poll that they have reached “The American Dream”, or will so in a short amount of time. In 2005, there were approximately 32% yes, or will so in the nearest future. In 2009, to a difference, 44% said that they had achieved it, or was going to in future.

So more people believe in the dream today.

How has the definition of the American Dream changed?

The poll that the New York Times published shows us the difference.

People want opportunities, they want to make up their own decision and decide for themselves what they want to be, and when. The American dream before was about material success and material happiness, the tendency in this poll is that the people want the complete opposite.

People now appreciate values over material. They want to have freedom, opportunities and the insurance that their family can live a great life.

The Americans think about the future, and they want to make it their own.  

Quotes by Oscar Wilde

       Language workshop

      1) Definitions of words often misspelled and used wrong;

-          Then and than

“Back then, I had more than twenty friends home for dinner”.

-          Which and witch

“Which house is yours?” Are you a witch?

-          Through and threw

“I threw the ball through the open window”.

-          There, their and they’re

“There are two cats outside”. “Their house is blue”. “They’re all girls”.

-          To, too and two

“I am going to the zoo, are you going too?” “There were two monkeys in the cage”.

-          Lose and loose

“A lose is a pilot”. A tiger is loose in Paris.

2) A day in Mr. Person’s life

I am going to tell you about Mr. Person. He lived an ordinary life as an unknown Swedish man in the 20^th century. However, he worked as a Democrat in the White House in his early years. He was a good and understanding man, and the president always confided his thoughts of ruling with him. Until this one day when he uttered his opinions around religion, and that he hated the Buddhism. He did not believe in karma and reincarnation. The president got tired of this, and shot him on a Monday.

You may think this is a strange story, but believe me it happened. Read about it in the book; “The President’s Life and the People around Him”.

(Here I have used the eight-caitalised word groups). 

    Quotes by Oscar Wilde

Today’s task was to choose a quote, written by Oscar Wilde, and write an interpretation of it on the blogs. I chose a poem about life.

O

ne's real life is often the life that one does not lead.

- Oscar Wilde L'Envoi, 1882

This poem is about our life, and our expectations to it.

It means that things in life often happens for no reason, and that the life you live may not be the life of your dreams. You cannot choose the outcome, you can only dream of what to happen, and to take good decisions that does not harm others.

Many of us have an illusion of the “perfect life” that we want for us selves. This dream-life can give us the wrong impression, and make things harder. When life goes you trough, remember.

You do not choose what your life is like, and you may have a perfect life in your daydreams or in your imagination, but make the best out of your real one, ok?

ROADTRIP IN ENGLAND

We were so excited when we first started to plan this road trip. It started out as a joke, but after some time we realized how great it actually could turn out, and how much we would grow as persons. We ordered some spontaneous tickets the week before and we were ready for a road trip in the South of England.

Day 1 - Monday

Our flight went okay and we arrived at the airport in Bristol in time to pick up our car. We had searched for a car on the internet some days before. Because we needed a car with some space, and possibilities to sleep in, the solution was a Volkswagen type 2, built in 1951.

The car was so cool, and we even had a stereo that worked. We played typical road trip music the first hour, and then we got tired of it.

We started late, and we did not arrive our planned destination, which was Penzance. We arrived Hartland, where we had planned to eat dinner before we drove further down to Penzance, but it was already evening and dark. The rain was crazy.

This was the schedule for our trip. We started out in Bristol, and we had planned to take a stop in
Hartland before we drove to Penzance.

Then the plan was Plymouth -Torquay-Weymouth-Brighton-Hastings and London.

DAY 2 - Tuesday

We had decided the day before to start early. We got up around 6 am, ate some breakfast and left the nice bed and breakfast we had slept in.

The weather was lovely and we had a nice drive to Penzance, which lived up to the expectations we had. It was beautiful, and just like a little village in Italy.

After a lovely dinner, we visited the beach next to our hotel.

The water had a pleasant temperature and we enjoyed the evening to its fullest.

The picture below shows the view from our room. The hotel was so nice, and just a small walk from the beach.

DAY 3 – Wednesday

We were tired from the day before, and we therefore slept in late. The route was Penzance to Plymouth, and from there to Torquay. We drove from the hotel around 11 o’clock.

It was a pleasant drive, and a lot to see along the coast.

As we arrived the city we were starving. Fish and chips was on the menu and it tasted lovely.

We were satisfied with the lunch and we had some time to explore the city. The monument that caught our attention was the red and white lighthouse.

The tower is called Smeaton’s Tower, and it is the third most known and notable Eddystone Lighthouse. It marked a big step in the design of lighthouses and it stands at Plymouth Hoe as a memorial monument to its designer, John Smeaton. The lighthouse was in use from 1759 to 1877. 
The schedule for this day was very tight and we had planed to visit Dartmoor national park, but the time was too little and we did not make it. We therefore drove from Plymouth direct to Torquay and arrived around six.

DAY 4 – Thursday

The car did not start, so we delivered it to a garage to get it fixed. The man at the garage said that it would probably take the whole day to fix it, and he recommended us to visit the beach in the meantime.

The sun was stronger than we were thinking, and we both were sunburned.

I was the worst, but Marthe was red herself.

We slept very badly that night, and when we ran out of after sun I almost started crying. The shops closed for the night and we were burning up.

DAY 5 – Friday

We were one day behind schedule, but fortunately the car was fixed and we were back on the road again. This time from Torquay to Brighton.

In Weymouth, we ate lunch a good lunch. Salad for myself, and pizza for Marthe. She is always  unhealthy. After the lunch, we took a “swing” to Dorset to see the horse made out of chalk.

It was quite a view. The horse is called the Osmington White Horse, and can be found in the limestone Osmington hill. The horse was sculptured in the hill around 1808.

The figure is showing King George III on one of his visits. It is imposing 85 meters long and 98 meters high.

After the visit we drove directly to Brighton. It was dark before we got there.

         DAY 6 – Saturday

We spent all the day in Brighton. It was a beautiful town with a lot to see. In the daytime we took theferries wheel, and after that we shopped a little.

In the nighttime, we visited the pier after a lovely dinner. We played some games and had a really good time

Brighton is an old town dated back to the Roman times. Now it is known as a beach destination for tourists and British inhabitants The long, sandy beaches and seaside towns, in addition to the bustling, electric life in the city makes it an interesting city to live in. 

DAY 7 - Sunday

We woke up well rested and ready for the last stage by car, this time from Brighton to London, with a stop in Hastings to eat a little and to see an attraction.

We were going to see the ruins of the Hastings castle. Hastings has an important connection with the Norman conquest of England, and it was an important fishing post.

Today, the tourists mainly visit the city because of its beautiful golden beaches and warm weather.

William of Normandy built the Hastings castle in 1066. The castle was built up, and built down many times. The main damage came from the bombing during the Second World War, when Hastings was attached.

After the visit we started the drive to London. It was dark as we arrived, and we did not see much, but we knew that we would have an amazing time here too.

DAY 8 - Monday

Monday were our last day in England. It was finally time to go crazy in the shopping centers.

We started in the bottom of Oxford Street and worked our way up, between snacks and Frappuccinoes from Starbucks.

We were loaded with shopping bags when we returned to the hotel to check out, and pick up our luggage.  

We drove an hour to Gatwick Airport, before we handed the car over to a German married couple. We wished them good luck on their drive back to Bristol, before we sent our luggage and ate a good dinner. The flight home went okay, but we missed the car. It was an amazing experience, and I would love to do it again soon.  

The last letter

This is not going to be a long letter, and I am sorry for that. My husband Hani would not let me

write, speak or talk to anyone. I have sneaked out to our little garden to get some piece.

I miss you.

I am scared, my dear sister, so scared. When I lay alone at night, I dream ungrateful dreams.

Do you do that too? The dreams are mostly my inner call for something better, a search for a life worth living.

I am a housekeeper for him, you see, not a wife.

The awareness of you maybe living the same life is making me sick, and I cannot do anything about it. I have my life here, in Jamalpur, and you have yours in London.

My husband’s name is Hani Masouriha, and his relatives are known for their good look and their prosperity.

This does not include him, unfortunately. He has the look of a pig.

As I wrote earlier I am sitting in the little garden behind the little, yellow house that we are living in. This is my place for thinking, and my place for crying. He does not like me crying in front of him, so I hide in the shed when it is too hard to handle. This especially after he has beaten me. I hate him for it, but he says it is for the best. I have to learn, but in his mind, it is by beating me to bloods.

I hide the scars under my sari because I am ashamed of them. They show the disobedience of a woman, who is too afraid to say what she really mean.

I hear the steps of him now, and the letter has to stop. If he sees that, I am writing a letter to someone he does not know he will be furious.

Goodbye my dear sister, may your life bring more happiness than mine.

I love you.

PS: I will try to write to you as much as I can, I have a new one planned already.

(This was a school project. Our task were to imagine that we were Hasina, Nazneen’s sister. We were writing the letter Nazneen keeps in the shoebox at the bottom of her wardrobe)