Erin Brockovich

Before I started this English class, the class saw a movie called Erin Brockovich. Luckily for me, I have the movie, so Friday night I desided to watch it.

I'm actually a big fan of Julia Roberts, who has the lead part in this movie. Erin Brockovich is about a woman with three children, Erin. She has no education, but manages to get a job at a law firm. After working there for about a week, she gets fired for not showing up at work. What her boss doesn't know is that she has actually started investigating a huge case and finds out that a company named PG&E is responsible for the poisoning of the water in the town of Hinkley, and later covering it up. People from the town are suffering from different illnesses such as cancer, and people are dying. Later, her boss Ed learns that Erin was actually working during that week, and they start collaborating to sue PG&E. Despite the fact that Erin doesn't have an education, they win the case and PG&E are forsed to pay a settlement amount of $333 million that was divided amont 634 families. The movie is based on a true story.

What is interesting with this movie is Erin's personality. She is a strong woman who is a loving mother, and in order to support her children financially, she was brave enough to get a job at a law firm even thoug she had no education. Most people would have given up when they came to a place where everyone were judging them for their clothes and lack of education, but I guess most people don't get a movie made after them. Erin seems to really care about the people she is helping in Hinkley, and this makes the people trust her. She doesn't need to write on paper in order to remember all her clients. Actually, she knows their names, adresses, numbers and illnesses by heart. This also contribudes to the lawyers at the law firm to gain some sort of respect for her even though she isn't a lawyer. Her personality is very strong, and funny, and she has a response to every comment. She knows what she wants and what she needs, and isn't afraid to tell people. Pluss she never gives up. All of this makes us love Erin. Good movie.

I'm finished...

These last couple of days I've been reading a lot to finish the book for English class. I can't believe how The Kite Runner ends. I'm not going to ruin the reading for those of you who want (and should) read this book, but I must say I never thought it would end the way it did. I can't put my finger on it, but the ending was sad and yet beautiful. I can reveal one of the last sentences: "For you a thousand times over". When I read that quote on the first page, I never imagined how it would turn out to be the most important sentence in the book. It means so many things. It shows how much Hassan adores Amir. If you have read the book, and I mean really read the book (not just seen the movie, or read a summary on Wikipedia), you will recognize this quote and probably remember it for a long time. Instead of being just six random words put together, the quote has become the symbol of love and admiration. At least I think so.

It was good for me to read this book. Like I've said before it is very different from the books I normally read, crime books etc. However, this book actually had something to say to the readers. It tells us how honesty and standing up for the people you love is important. Family and friends are the only thing that matters, and you can never escape from your past, so you better do the right thing to begin with. I think this is a book people should read, not only for the sake of reading, but to get to know another culture. I was very skeptical towards the book to start with, but now I'm actually recommending it to you.

Anyway, I look forward to see the movie. My expectations are very high, and I hope I won't get disappointed.

Further reading...

During the holiday, I've been reading some more. I'm really starting to like the book. And still I hate it. It's weird. I've never read a book that gives me so many emotions. I hate Amir and the way he has become. A boy with no spine. I can NOT understand how he can turn his back on Hassan the way he has. Anyway, I have to read some more. The story is starting to get really interesting.

(By the way, the picture is supposed to show how Amir is behaving towards Hassan at the moment)

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner is about Amir who lives in Afghanistan with his father (Baba), Ali (the servant) and his son Hassan. Baba and Ali had grown up together, but Ali is a Hazara, which means that he is worth less than a normal Pashtun. Amir is a Sunni, Hassan is a Shi`a. Amir and Hassan are not exactly friends. Hassan will do anything for Amir. "For you a thousand times over", he says to Amir before running the kite for him. But Amir on the other hand, is not so friendly towards Hassan. He likes to look at himself as a smarter person then Hassan, and he never plays with him when others are around.

For this blog entry, I was asked to choose a paragraph that I liked in the book. Still I haven't read that much, but my favorite paragraph is when Amir is thinking:

"I watched him fill his glass at the bar and wondered how much time would pass before we talked again the way we just had. Because the truth of it was, I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn't I? The least I could have done was to have had the decency to have turned out a little more like him. But I hadn't turned out like him. Not at all".

The reason I liked this paragraph is that you can really see how fragile Amir is. He's just a child, and he feels like his father hates him. I think sometimes grown ups forget how much a child can feel, even though he/she is young. I can imagine that he's not the only child in the world that feels like his parents want another child.

I will keep posting on my blog when I've read some more.

Reading in class...

Today in class, I started reading "The Kite Runner". The first couple of pages were boring, but after reading a few minutes, I started liking the book. Usually, I only read crime books, however, I find this book interesting because I've heard so many nice things about it. Some of my friends have told me that this is one of the best books they have read, and that the author Khaled Hosseini is a great writer.

What I like about this book is that many of the words are written in Persian, and I can understand it. I haven't read that much, but I will blog more about it when I have.

Advice to fellow students!

According to this article, the exam results of students using facebook or a similar website while studiyng is 20% lower then the students who dedicated themselves fully to their studies.

My first reaction to this was: what?! Is this a joke? 20% lower is a huge difference! I mean sure, facebook is interesting, but surley not interesting enough to ruin the result of all the hard work by 20%... Right? WRONG. The truth is that even though many students will be horrified by reading this, eventually they will forget. Yes we want to do well in school, yes we want to have selfcontrol, but lets face it. When we have the opportunity, we will log on and see what is going on with our "friends".

I must admit, when I first signed in at facebook, I didn't think about how much of my time it would take. I was thinking what a great way to keep contact with my friends. And it really is. Especially when you have friends that live in the USA, Spain, Germany or whereever. We need to keep in touch. Or at least stalk the handsome guy we meet at a party last week. Facebook has become a big social part of our lives. If you don't have facebook, no one will bother getting to know you, because they can't keep in touch later. It's to hard.

Reading the artickle above opened my eyes. Usually I pay attention to what's happening in class, and I do what I'm supposed to do, but once in a while I get tempted to check my email, my facebook or just vg.no. At least after reading this artickle, I will think twice the next time :)

Who am I?

I'm just Nooshin, a 17 (soon to be 18) year old girl attending Sandvika High School. For my second year in high school, I had actually picked politics, but then I changed my mind and came to this English class. International English, that sounds like fun, but I have already noticed that the second year English is more difficult than the first year. I have to write a blog? Ok I guess, I can give it a go. I like to write, and I also like to read and watch movies, so this year can be pretty cool. I look forward to learning more about the International English.