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Marco Schoba, Switzerland

The One Thousand Steps Beach is close to Santa Barbara. It is so beautiful and near the Butterfly Beach. When you go there, you can see sometimes the dolphins and sea lions. When the sky was clear then we have a nice view of the Channel Islands. The beach is very clean and the water looks like the sea at the Maldive Island.

It has lagoon pools where we can swim.

It​​​​ is my favorite place in Santa Barbara then we can relax after school or work. I have been in many countries and beaches, but I can see that it is the most beautiful beach where I have been.

 

 

 

 

Ambre MAYEN

From Paris, FRANCE

Last week, I spent four hours at sea, on the “Condor Express” hoping to see whales and dolphins.

I’m a passionate photographer and I’m also for the preservation of the marine environnement.

Being able to approach them and seeing them swimming in their natural habitat has been an incredible experience.

The emotion was very strong.

My dream became a reality when a pod of white and blue dolphins appeared at the front of the boat.

They danced in the waves offered us an incredible spectacle.

Then two Humpback whales appeared farther away, accompanied by seals that dipped beside them.

The scene was magical, it looked like a dance ballet, when the birds and dolphines joined them.

It was meal time, they had stopped a school of fish.

A little later, we crossed the Risso’s dolphins road, which is rare because it remains very discreet, but this time they did us the honor of approaching the boat.

We were like on a cloud.

During this expedition I learned that each whale had her own identity.

The stains and shape of their tail are similar to our fingerprints.

It allows researchers to recognize them.

In June, 177 whales were hunted and killed in Japan for their meat and this situation occurs every year.

It’s a majestic animal and we have to protect it.

I’m part of a French association “TERRE MARINE” that is researching the impact

that noise pollution ( like sonar ) has on mammals.

A QUESTION ARISES !

Why do we find dolphins, whales and others animals stranded  on the beach ?

At the moment we don’t have the answer.

I became aware of the real importance of this research.

Every day we can make a small gesture to protect our planet and all the beauties

it offers us.

“ SO PLEASE, THINK ABOUT IT AND DO IT .”

The Earth will be grateful .

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0D5nhQSTGu1lhY

Click on the link to see one video and my pictures.

 

The Butterfly Beach is very beautiful beach,and if will pass through a very artistic railway. When you get to the beach,you will be attracted by this scenery.When I went to the Butterfly Beach that day,I just saw the setting sun and took such a dreamy landscape.

Oceane Mutzig, from France

Las Vegas and it famous casino was visited by a lot of people from the whole world.

Hotels and spectacular views were made popular in Las Vegas.

The lights at night made the view more incredible.

 

 

Alexandra Sitarova, Czech republic

Santa Barbara Beach is visited by lot of people.

Beautiful view in Santa Barbara Beach is watched from the boat.

Santa Barbara had a lot of beautiful streets.

I met a lot of new friends in little time.

 

Katharina Krainick, Germany

Jewellery,

One of the oldest ways to decorate and express oneself. Jewelry has been around for ages and lots of people cannot imagine their everyday life without them. They just give your outfit the personality it needs, right? So for those who love to find new unique masterpieces all around Santa Barbara you should stick to this article. There are lot of great shops and also markets where you can find them, just keep your eyes open. But I will talk about my favorite one, because there are just way too many shops to talk about.

First of all, there are not only such things as Tiffany, Forever 21 or H&M where you can get jewelry. No! Santa Barbara has so much more to offer. I was surprised to discover all the wonderful places where you can find jewelry and the variety that is offered here. And of all the places I’ve been to, this still is my favorite. Its called…

plum goods

For all those who love handmade jewelry this place will be great. It is located in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara. They also sell other stuff like books, clothes, body care and more . The shop runs 24 different lines of jewelers, but let me just show you the most popular ones.

The most popular designer in this shop is called Lily Lambert. She has been in business for around 20 years and she is doing great. Her jewelry has a magical touch, everything seems so spiritual. For her, everything, even the smallest stone on here jewelry, has a meaning. She actually believes in magic which in my opinion really is wonderful and so interesting. 

If your looking for jewelry  recycled out of  gold and silver you definitely should stick to the line called Tumbleweed. Also recycled is the jewelry from the brand called Article 22, their jewelry is actually made out of bombs of course just the silver jewelry. There are no such things as golden bombs haha. At least I hope that they don’t exist. By supporting this brand you are helping Vietnamese farmers.

Also local designers are represented in this shop one of them is called Hide and Stone. The designer is an elementary school teacher in Santa Barbara and the other designer, who I unfortunately don’t know the name of anymore, is 22 years old and also lives in Santa Barbara. She learned how to make jewelry at City College and her jewelry is made out of see glass which really is inventive.

Here are a few more pictures of the beautiful jewelry that you can buy in this store…

 

 

 

I would recommend that you visit this place and maybe you will find your next favourite IT piece.

 

This weekend I am going to LA. Here are some good things to do, and what I am going to do. After the trip I will write what I thought about it.

1. Bel Air and Beverly Hills, to the houses of stars (Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber)
2. Beverly Hills sign
3. Driving over Rodeo Boulevard
4. Walk of Fame
5. Walking over Melrose Avenue
6. Griffith Observatory
7. Hollywood sign
8. Urban lights (when it is dark)
9. Santa Monica

What I thought about the places I went to:

We could borrow the car form the uncle of a friend of mine. With that car we went to all the places. First we went to Bel air and Beverly Hills and it was very beautiful. We went to the houses of the famous people and they were unbelievable, so pretty and enormous.

Of course after that, we went to the Beverly Hills sign to take some cute pictures. Across from the Beverly Hills sign there was a pink wall with hearts on it and I needed a picture with that wall, so we had a little photoshoot.

After the photoshoot we went to the Walk of Fame. It was very big and very crowded. I was looking for the star of David Hasselhof, because our last name is quite the same and it was an inside joke with the staff from the residence. We went to all the famous places on the Walk of Fame. For instance the Dolby Theatre and the Chinese Theatre. We didn’t really went in, but we saw it from the outside and inside until we couldn’t go further except when you got a tour.

We drove over Rodeo Drive when we went to Melrose Avenue. I know Melrose Avenue because of its famous walls. There are a lot of coloured walls where you could take pretty photos, and of course we did that.

This is one example of a wall. This wall is saying GIRLS TOUR.

After the photoshoot we went to the Hollywood sign instead of going to the Griffith Observatory because the Observatory is still pretty with the sunset and you can’t take nice pictures with the Hollywood sign when it is getting dark. My friend knew a place where we could make pictures from the Hollywood sign pretty close. We needed to climb a bit but it was worth it. Not only the Hollywood sign was nice but also the view was stunning.

The sun was already going down when we drove to the Griffith Observatory. It was very busy because today the montly show was given. I fell asleep while trying to go up, but everytime we were send away. We went up for 3 times and then we decided to just go the next day and see it with daylight.

(next day to Griffith) We could just directly go up because there was no traffic. I already knew a lot of things that were displayed in the Observatory because I learned about it at school at home. Still it was very pretty and the view was beautiful.

(back in time again)

It was already dark when we arrived at the LACMA musea. We walked to the urban lights and I fell in love. I just looked at it for 5 minutes straight with not saying anything just observe the piece of art, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t take a picture of it.

We were all very tired of the long day and we went to the house of the uncle. We saw the movie SING and after that we all went to sleep. I slept very well. I slept for 10 hours straight. It was so lovely because I haven’t done that since two weeks.

Before we went to Santa Monica we went to the Walmart to buy all crazy stuff that they don’t sell in The Netherlands. We went to Santa Monica with a Uber and there we first went shopping. The stores were really big and fun to shop in. When we were done with that we went to the Pier. We justed walked on it and saw some streetartists perform. It was already dark so we couldn’t take nice pictures or see the view, but it was still very nice.

When we saw everything we went back to Goleta with the Uber and went straight to bed when we arrived.

The weekend was so much fun with my friends and the places where we have been to were stunning as well.

Bernou Hazelhoff Roelfzema, The Netherlands

Giulia Ferriani, Italy

Is it strange or not that American people include you in their community?

When I arrived, I was very shocked because of the acceptance of American people: now it’s clear that this is their way of life. In general, they accept everyone like members of their big family.

Here in Santa Barbara maybe people are accustomed to seeing students or in general visitors, but it’s so strange because the city is very full of people that are curious, or maybe interested in knowing other cultures.

In fact, the first time I went to a supermarket to buy something to eat, I had to talk with the cashier for maybe thirty minutes, because he wanted to know if in Italy we have good desserts. Besides, another night, when I was returning home, I met a bus driver that stopped me when I was getting on the bus, to ask me about my permanence here  in America. He was very friendly.

 

So it’s very unusual, because people here are very nice. In Italy, nobody stops you on the street, and if the cashier can’t talk with you is better. People in Italy (especially in the north) are always busy. Sometimes if you want to ask somebody information, people continue walking and ignore you: sometimes you look invisible, maybe.

In my opinion, here in America there is an important concept of community: all people try to help each other and to emphasize this notion they try to include foreigners. Frequently, along my holiday, I met new people and they were always friendly. For example, I was stopped by a young guy on the street because he was in love with Italy and he wanted to know more about this country. So we talked so much while he escorted me to the bus stop. It was an unforgettable experience because, before leaving Italy, I was very afraid of strangers, and now it’s like my everyday life to talk with them.

In conclusion, we should say that travel is a good way to meet new people and to discover the world, and you have to be sure that if you come to America, you will find your perfect place in the world.

by Nina Brietzke, Germany

“To be brave enough to show your weakness”- this quote is seen very controversial and is interpreted differently by people. The opinions of “showing your weakness” are often negative, because it is incomplete and something is missing. I mean, nobody likes a blank between their teeth or a blank in the fence. Is this adage nothing else as a succession of words? Or should we focus on this proverb more often, especially in our private lives? Should we take this as advice in a world full of ideals and prejudices?

“Mom, I can’t study for this test, I’ll show my “braveness for imperfection” tomorrow. This sentence comes in mind first, when people think of the topic of imperfection, but it means so much more than just a lazy excuse. It means to be brave enough to try something new or to be brave enough to be yourself, which isn’t easy the whole time. It can also mean to accept the imperfection to be different from the others. Now one should already see the wideness of this topic and the most exciting thing is that every person in this world gets confronted with this- even if they don’t want to. After a short survey of some of my friends I found out, that this “blank” is mostly seen as positive.

A “blank” in your personality is such a normal thing and is even necessary, because of the uniqueness. These things only make us interesting- and they’re right. So this “blank” stands for the uniqueness or just for the imperfection. To be different from all the others is interpreted as a positive aspect.

But, if you look on this extensively, you will know that this isn’t very easy, especially school kids can be very harsh to other kids. The girl that colored her hair blue and cut it short is the one the others are laughing at and that is because she is different. To open your character to others and show your interests requires much braveness. It’s sad that young people in particular are being influenced by the fear of being different or being imperfect, but they should risk this fear to develop their own personality and not just be a copy of someone else’s characteristics.

To be brave enough to show your weakness could also mean to find out your sense of life without knowing about it before and just being open to what the future will offer you. These experiences can be the reason of growing up to become an independent person and they also form our character. So we become who we are – perfect with our own imperfections. So the “blank” can be so much more than the translation of imperfection or wasted time.

Everyone aims for Perfection

Whether at work or in your private life: everything around you seems to be perfect. Often women are under so much pressure because the environment expects them to be dressed to the nines, take care of their children and cook all the time after they cleaned the house. Moreover, they have to be in a good mood all the time and when the man comes home from work they are expected to take time for him because he had “such an exhausting day”. At the same time, most of these women forget about themselves. These women should definitely free themselves of some expectations in their environments and take care about how they see themselves.

Set Priorities

Showing the courage to be imperfect- in this case it means to focus on the things which are really important and also to be brave enough to say “no” to certain things which are unimportant. First, you have to ask yourself, if it’s important for you how many friends you have on Facebook! Or, is it more important for you to be seen as a perfect person?! No it’s NOT! It does not make anybody happy or even better.

The braveness of imperfection- one can look on it from different perspectives. You can either see this as positive or you could be negatively biased, but all in all every one of us has to show their “perfect imperfections” in certain situations of life. The truth about that is that we can accept our own mistakes. We can’t claim that the “braveness for imperfection” will be easy all the time.

If you liked this and are interested in the topic click the link below. Thanks 🙂  https://youtu.be/GXoZLPSw8U8