Well, I'm a sedentary and a very idle person. Apart from that I'm despective to alternative practices, like be a green (like a life style) not because they want a world free of garbage or pollution (that's a very good idea, for example I do things to be more friend with the environmental, like ride my bycicle to came every day to the university or use recycle things, like papers or notebook), but they used that practices to create a fashion.

If you go to alternative places here in Santiago, you can find this particular kind of people. Peace and love, the most are veggies (vegeterian or vegans), ride colorfull and vintage bycicle...

AAAAA!

Ok, I will try to make and objetive post in my blog, but you can look that I have a idea about the "green people" and they horrible fashion.

Well, I really think that make environmnental friendly practices are one of the best proposition in the last 15 years. In a world where the biggest entrerprises (and countries) take the control of the economy, consume and of course, the production, the social organization (civil society) it is the last alternative.

In their beginning the ecological movement grew in the base of the society...like a independent social movement, specifically in industrialised countries. In that sense, if the ecological organization want to fight a way of production (in marxist terms), they are in the wrong way making a fashion around some practices. That's the reason because I don't support the actual movement, but I'm constant doing my own practices.

The chilean government doesn't want to promote a environmental policy because they are inserted in a dependent relation flow with the industrialised countries. Chile export prime material and that's the reason because our rivers and sea are full of garbage and filth.

Meanwhile there aren`t a change in the production way, the environmentall friendly efforts will be a residual and minimal forces. I hope that this reality change one day :)

An unusual chance

I studied in a private school, a very high class private school; The San Ignacio El Bosque school is an exlcusive education establishment in Providencia. If I have a good memory, at least a 80% of the teachers have postgraduate courses, including the jesuits priests, who studied 14 years to recieve the order. Inside, there are an olympic swimming pool, a real-grass soccer field with a athletic track around, an artificial-grass soccer pitch, 14 baby-soccer field (you can deduce that is a school only for boys, jeje) and an enourmus arena. Those are details that I can't avoid to make an auto-analysis of my high-school education. I think that I recieved a very sofisticated education. Just as well, because my parents paid a fortune.

My favorite subject were history and geography, the politics tendencies elective, literature, and of course, the football time. I still have contact with Carolina, the history teacher and with Guillermo, the teacher of Latinamerican Literature. This last one suggested me to study either Anthropology or Sociology. Firtsly I had intention to study Anthropology, but then, thinking and thinking I decided for the sociology.

I remember those conversations with Guillermo. We came to Plaza Ñuñoa at least 3 times to chat about my future, and eventually his future, because he is atheistic and that is a forbidden characteristic in a religious school, so he had problems with the superior priest and the school authorities.

With the tecnology I don't have much affinity. I only remember with happiness, the technologic evolution that my generation lived during the high-school. We were the generation that started presenting in card, then in diskette, years later in a cd and finally in a pendrive. I recall the pasion and dedication with my friends and I wrote in the cards, the subtlety with which pot glue in the newspaper clip...now with internet everything is easy, everithing is possible.

¿How Fair is Britain?

I study Sociology since 2007 and, for me, the most important topic are the social inequalities. That's the reason for why sociologist write about power, domination, authority, legitimacy etc.

I found in http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/11/equality-report-race-britain-launch?intcmp=239, an interesting article about ¿How fair is Britain?. It is new for me review articles with a sociological background of a european country, because I ussualy read about Latin America or specifically of Chile.

The social reality in those countries (european) it is completly different of our continent. For example, the inequialities are not the division rich/poor but european/foreigner. Also that categories have implicit power relations who influence the different kinds of social relations. In Chile we have that phenomenon with peruvian people. They are sistematicly marginalized of the social activities, for example, they are relegated to informal jobs.

In britain, "the commission's first three-year review, How Fair is Britain, shows that while some inequalities remain entrenched, new challenges are emerging as the country's population becomes older and more ethnically and religiously diverse".

The high rate of immigration seems to be a problem for British society. Dispite of good news like, "in education the Chinese and Indian people are streaking ahead at school", there are evidences to suggest that discrimination in the recruitment process keeps them out of jobs, specifically for Pakistani men who has to be self-employments ( a quarter of men of Pakistani descent drive for a living – mostly in a taxi cab).

The commission does say that Britain is a largely "tolerant and open-minded society", which has become more socially liberal in recent decades. In that sense, the article says that Britain is living the "immigration paradox": three-quarters of Britons say that they are concerned about the scale of immigration at a national level – about the same proportion feels that immigration is not a problem for their own communities".

Finally, a spokeman for the government say that ""When people are treated fairly, everyone in society benefits. That's why this government is committed to tackling all forms of inequality and discrimination"...

¡we are waiting that these words are not being the typical statements of good intentions of politicians!

Miners...the eternal wait

Since August 5th their family didn't have any notice about the 33 miners. Some people said that they will be die. Other, thought that only the most youngers will survive the bury...well, the 33 miners was a topic in the traditional familiary sunday lunch. Surely more of one of you had a long conversation with a brother, parents or even with a completly unknown person, like a taxi driver or the kiosk owner. There was no one who didn't have opinion in this dramatic episode.

The miracle happened the August 22th, near the noon. I remember that I was preparing the lunch with my mother when in radio cooperativa confirm the rumor that ran all the morning...the 33 miners were alive in the refuge. Independently of any politic position, that day it was one of the more incredibles that I can remember.

Ok, a lot of people hate Piñera and his despicable capacity of appear when anybody wants to see him, someone like me think that the chilean flag has a simbolic charge of death and intolerance can't understand why was in hands of innocent people...dispite of all of that negative things, that day, the day with the miners send the historic piece of paper with the sentence "estamos bien en el refugio los 33" was an historic day of our horrible country.

Historic day, like will be the day when the rescue be effective. Yesterday I saw in the midnight news that a rescue drill was in 300 meters and the other two drills was also with positive progress. I can't imagine the face of their families. One day, when I was child, I cry because my father was 5 days in Argentina...i can't think about, their sons, their wifes...oh my god.

I'm wating that day...even, i think that a tear will run down my face. Ja, i'm not a sensible guy, but specifically this news, broke my heart.

Santiago, a boring city

Really, I think that Santiago isn't very shiny. There are a lot of pollution, the people are angry and egocentric, it is a bad copy of any city of the United States; definitely I don't recomend it to any foreing tourist.

Ok, I can't be so bitter. There are very beautiful places like Santa Lucia hill or the Forestal Park. The first one is an amazing piece of nature in the middle of the down-town. It's full of water fountains and scultures sorrounded with shrubs and trees. It also has paths to walk, benches to take a rest or viewpoints to see the city. The second one is a huge park, also in the down-town. It starts near Baquedano Square (also known as Plaza Italia) and finish in front of Mapocho Station. Within the park is the Bellas Artes Museum (very affected by the earthquake, but it was recently re-opened) and interesting scultures. At the weekend, artistic organization goes and does different activities, so it is a special place to visit with children and the complete family.

There are other typcal places, like the Metropolitan Park (San Cristobal Hill) which has the zoo and an old cable car (special for a romantic date). Near that, there is a Pablo Neruda's house (La Chascona) and Bellavista, a bohemian and cultural neighborhood.

But, despite that, there are beatiful places, some with a tremendous cultural value, Santiago has no identity. People love going to the mall or prefer staying in there houses watching TV instead of visiting and walking around their city. Modernity not only produces changes in the sense of production, but also in the interactions and ways of relating to people. Santiago is a city which pretends to be modern...however, those who observe and analyze the contradictions of the globalization (see the other face of the coin) can say the opposite.

Everything is ok (I think so)

Well, I really don't know if it's everything ok, but it is a very nice way to start the second term.

The year started full of good news: I met a interesting girl (now she is my lovely girlfriend), went to Buenos Aires in my summer vacations and started to work in a real sociological organization as a assistant researcher. Nevertheless, our country was devastated by one of the most violent earthquakes in the world history, situation that plunge us into deep depression. Dispite the dark days of Febraury, my year is still shining.

I started my fourth year (the last with presencial courses) obtaining antecedents about the topic of my mayor: "new curricular strategies in elite schools". It's a research inspired in the high scores that those schools get in the PSU. I'm convinced, because I studied in such establishments, that there are more factors than just the possession of cultural capital (using a Bourdieu concept) or a socioeconomic variable. In the elite schools (with elite schools I'm trying to describe not only the best schools of the country in the standarized test, but also the establishment which recieves in their classrooms the highest percentage of revenue and the powerful groups of our society) there are special courses of PSU, even since 1st grade of highschool or pre-universitary courses that overlap the obligatory planning of the ministery. All this diagnosis is crossed by the neoliberal laws that the military gobernment, the "concertación", and now the "new way of governing" apply in Chile in the last 30 years.

Well, I exceed the word limit, therefore I say goodbye.

See ya.

Second Term

OMG
I'm in English IV :)

I am with those that always lose ... with those that build the country

The night before the earthquake, I was in my girlfriend house watching, as many people, the Arjona´s presentation in the “Festival de Viña del Mar”. I don´t like the romantic music, also Arjona, whom I detest. Their songs were all alike, are slow and dull. It is a contradiction that women are the fans, when he beats his wife at home (yes, I’m a gossip boy jajaja), but as the saying goes: “in taste there is nothing written”.

For some strange reason, I do not recall at this moment, I decided to go home, at about 2 am by bus and not on my bike, as always (situation that caused me problems after). I arrived home at about 3am and I was hooked to the internet. I didn’t want to sleep, yet, in that hot summer night. I remember I started to download a movie: "500 days of summer" when he began to tremble. Then came the power outage and we all remember what came next.

The first thing I did was be with my parents. Secondly, I call my little brother that was at a party. Then I tried to do the same with my girlfriend but communications were already cut: (.Just at 7 am I could communicate with her.

The next day everything on television was earthquake. I wanted to go home to my girlfriend, and having no bike, I had to walk. After an hour and a half walking Santiago, I arrived and they (my girlfriend family) were all sitting and watching what the media called "looting and theft". Too bad.

Luckily with the passage of days, stopped lying and started to show the truth: A town stomped and beaten, which rises as ever, despite the difficulty of fate

Improving my English blog after blog

It is a reality. I'm improving my English.

I started using a lot the google translator and now i'm thinking in English, even going so far as to have dreamed in English (jaja, that's not true but it's a white lie to get a smile to the teacher).

The blogging experience it has helped me a lot. Both in writing and in listening. In fact, I had the experience of being with two Americans, two weeks ago, and surprisingly I had ondly a few communication problems...even they congratulated me for my English. Well, the truth is that we only talk about football and basketball, but also I could hold a conversation with them, so I was very proud. So happy I was, that I told, as a child runs to his father to tell him that he did well in school, to my grandmother what happened to me, because she always scolds me for my bad English.

Specifically speaking of blogging, before this class, I wasn't very familiarity with the blogs. I just used to read some friend's blogs or to post news or information in my political group blog. The reason is that I don't like to be "airing" my thoughts or ideas...believe it or not, I am a fairly quiet person, who is uncomfortable with the trend of telling private things on internet. It seems to be a contradiction, since I have facebook and twitter (and I'm addicted to those two), but I never post very deep feelings.

The main advantage of the blog, even more important than post a blog, is that I have the opportunity to comment in my friend's blogs. This allows not only promote the improvement of English, but also of friendship. (Awwww, I'm getting so cheesy over the years).

For example (with Sebastian) commented on how fun it is to talk or tell stories in English. It is difficult at first to communicate, but when you get practice, it becomes easier and more productive.

Well, I'm, not sure to continue updating the blog after the English class, but what I'm sure, is that I'm improving my English blog after blog.

Take Care.

See ya!

University Teaching

The university where I believe is directly related to the "social world". Its classes and its research are targeted towards the needs and demands "of the great majority" (yeah I know, it's a clichè, but for me is a target).

Currently, the university points to the opposite pole. For example, in the Economics Faculty there is the "Andronico's Luksic Library" or the "PriceWaterhouse Cooper Audience". The university is more interested in receive the best PSU scores, make a link with big business to have more funding, than build university and educate professionals for Chile. The current authorities (and those that went well) have forgotten the meaning of the university...is not a business, is a service for the country

And I think in order to change this reality that the University teaching is central (that's the biggest reason why I also participate in a politic group). If I can change a subject that has no impact beyond the four walls of the room, for other that is coming from social demands and have national relevance, is an important switch in the way that we build University.

That's my main motivation. From inside, from the classroom, lead a revolution (yes, you're reading well, a revolution) in the University and being a professor gives you sufficient tools (or weapons) to do it. In your classes you can develop some interesting topics, both in your researchs or publications. And obviously have an impact on the discipline.

A sociologist committed to the social world is be an investigator who does not split theory and practice. The knowledge produced in the university is a public property, is for all, because use ideas and projects from the society and the state. Move towards a new university, adapted to the twenty-first century is the target in my "becoming-a-sociologist" process and in my professional future.

A passion since childhood

Catolica for my is life. I know, is very cheesy but that's actually..

I remember when I was a kid going to the stadium, not to watch the game but to play my own game. I went to the stadium dressed in the colors of my favorite team and with my best friend, the football ball. Alone, below, next to the grid, I ran from one side to the other avoiding papers. My brother, not too fanatic, went to play with his toy cars jaja.

The person who instilled in me this passion is my father. My mom did not accompany him since their marriage, so he had to wait a few years to find companion. And is a promise, my son will be my partner of wins and desertions, of championship and relegation. Because football is more than eleven players running behind a ball, is a passion since childhood.

Ipod Touch :)

It was in summer when I decided to buy some technology stuff. While I was thinking to buy a new notebook -because months earlier I had fallen on my bike and the computer suffered slight damage- I saw an offer to buy Ipod Touch on the internet and I had no doubt to buy it.

There are many reasons why I decided to buy it.

Firstly because it has a touch screen (the best invention of recent times) and motion sensors to play car games (not in class, obviously). It is incredible. You can move the ipod and the car turn with the same movement! OMG!

Secondly, because it has a capacity that allows me to store all my music and videos. My ipod touch have 32gb of capacity. That's the reason about I have a lot of free space on it.

Thirdly, because is so cute! jaja

Besides all this, it has Internet connection via Wi-Fi (so you don't have to pay to use internet...a big difference between Iphone and Ipod Touch), and you can use it like a agenda, to find a address in the Maps Application, to write e-mails etc.

The only thing I would like it to have is a camera, like the Iphone. Ohhh, with a camera the ipod touch would be just perfect!

Other thing that I would like to change, is the impossibility, in the first instance, to use as pendrive (I say first instance, because you can make a jailbrake to erase the initial configurations, but the problem is that you lose the official guarantee)...but it's really usefull also.

See you in a new opportunity

Return to Childhood

It may be surprising but my favorite kind of movies are cartoons ones.

While my friends in the school watched action movies like Spiderman or Batman, I was watching The Lion King or Robots. Cartoons, and specifically their movies, represent an essence, a kind of timeless situation that runs from the beginning to the end of my life.

I remember when I was in first year of Uni, and without any type of shame, I created my first and unique "fotolog", that was devoted exclusively to cartoons (http://www.fotolog.com/cuan_atroz). Well, now I'm feeling a little shamelessly, but a think it will be temporary.

Getting to the point, I think my favorite movie is Toy Story I.

Firstly, because is a cartoon movie about toys and toys are one of the things that allow you to return to childhood!.

Secondly because was the first movie of Pixar Animated Studios, the same animated company that created, just picking the first thing I remember: Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, Cars, Wall-E and Monster Inc.

And Finally, because has a lot of particular and special characters. Who has not laughed with Mr. Potato Head? Who does not remember how crazy it was Buzz Lightyear when recently arrived to Andy's room? Who does not remember the neighbor who destroyed toys?. Ufff, a lot of memories comes to my mind.

Now, I'm really waiting for the third version that is scheduled for release on June 18, 2010. The difference about this and the other version of the serie, is that this one can be seen, since opening, in 3-D technology (now are releasing the old versions in 3-D).

Greetings to all and see you at the cinema :)

Toy Story 3 Official Trailer!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f-MYl-HzNw

Boys and girls, pack your bags...

During my 21 years of life I have lived in three different countries:

When I was 5 years old, my father opened the door and said: "boys and girls, pack your bags because we are going to live to Colombia". Colombia? What was that? I really didn't know where Colombia was. After that, I took a world map and immediately started to cry. OMG, it was and other country and no one of my family lived there. It was very difficult for me to accept the new reality. However, as the time went by though I was feeling more and more comfortable, I made friends and gave my first kiss (awww) but one day, in 1997, my father said again "boys and girls, pack your bags because we return to Chile"

It was 2000 when my family decided to cross the Andes Mountains to live in Argentina. In this occasion I didn't cry, on the contrary, I jumped for joy! In that country I could find the best women around the world, one of the most important football tournament, and of course, grilled meat, chocolates and caramel sweet (I don't know the specific translation of "dulce de leche"). The problem was that I'm very shy, so I didn't met any girl (don't tell to my friends), but I played football every day and ate fabulous dishes.

In 2002 we went back to Chile and from there, we do our normal lives. My parents were tired of be traveling and be unable to enjoy with our family. I can only say, that it was a good decision.

Be Married with a Theory or be a GEEK?

That's the sad reality.

I'm studing sociology since 2007 and no one can convince me. Who are Marx, Weber and Durkheim?, Who are Parsons, Luhmann, Giddens, Habermas and Bourdieu? Who are member of the Frankfurt School?...All of them have reason, and that's the big problem.

If u are learning about systems theory, Parsons, Luhmann, Arnold & Rodriguez will be correct in their analysis, but if you are studing about marxist theory, all the different authors of that theory, will be your favorite. Has been common for me, be in the science's kiosk with my friends talking about this. One day I'm the biggest fan of Althusser, but the next day, I will "give a child" to Bourdieu.

And I think that's normal, because we are learning about it...we are just students.The reason about that, I think, is that I'm idealist (only in sociology). I'm expecting about "THE THEORY", one specific and perfect viewpoint. Other reason could be, the clear political position that I have about the role of the discipline in the society. If the sociology don't theming the social inequialities...NEXT!

I'm expecting to find my favorite theory or author, but actually, I'm just a geek.

Things that I like to do

Although the people say that I'm a bitter person, I have a lot of hobbies and things that I like to do. In this post, a will talk about three of them.

The first one is the classic "men's hobby": Soccer. I started to play this fantastic sport since I have memory. I remember that on every christmas, my partens gift me a soccer ball, but I must to play in the garden, because I could broke anything in the living room. My favorite soccer team is Universidad Católica (yes, I know that it is a "high class team" and that we have the reputation of being second in all the tournaments, but I don't care, I'm "cruzado"). So big is my fanatism, that I'm thinking to make me a tatoo of "La Católica". I go to the stadium every weekend (although it is over the mountains), and I travel to different cities of Chile, Argentina and Colombia following it.

The second one is surf the net (internet). The last year I bought a notebook (I really don't know if it is a "netbook" of a "notebook", because is a 12,1 inches), and has been the best investment of my life! Is easy to move (fits perfectly in my bag), is lightweight and it will sounds corny...is cute! (OMG! if my friends read this, i will be bother every day). My favorites web pages are gmail, facebook and rojadirecta. In the first one, I recieve my e-mails and chat with my friends; In the second one, I keep up contact with my old friends; The third one, is for watch all sport's game free on internet.

My last hobby, is being lie with my girlfriend watching a movie or a idiot T.V program (Calle 7 rulz!!) I reccomend it for all the couples. A cup of tea, chips and garlic mayonnaise...nothing better for this fall/winter.

Do you really want to know me?

Really really? Are you sure?

Well, as first I can told you is my name and other things. I'm Diego Corvalán, but you can call me "Diegue" or "Pez". I expect to be a Sociologist the next year (and my parents wants the same) because I want to start working and do something. I know that the life is not for sleep and drunk beer, but I would like that kind of life.

If you really want to know me, please visit my blog every day =)