FACTORIES

 

 

I have a strange hobby. It’s visiting factories. I’m really interested to see how things work and how they are made. I’ve learnt so many things on my factory visits. Factories are amazing. They are like mini cities. The thing that surprises me most is how everything works together. Everyone knows exactly what to do and when to do it. Even the robots. Car factories are cool, but very noisy. A car assembly line is like a giant ballet dance with everything moving perfectly together. It’s quite easy to visit factories. All you have to do is go to their home page and see if they have visiting times, or write to them. The best factories to visit are ones that produce food and drinks. You always get free stuff. Unfortunately you don’t get a free car at car factories.

 

 

FAMILY

 

 

What does family mean to you? In a perfect world, all families should be happy and everyone should get on well together. I know a lot of families that have many problems. Brothers and sisters who don’t like each other, parents who never talk to each other. I wonder why this is. How can you live so close to your family members and feel apart from them? There is a lot of talk in the news about the breakdown of family life. Divorce is rising everywhere in the world. This means single parents have less time to spend with their children, which creates problems. Maybe the stress of modern life puts too much pressure on families. It seems as though family life was better a generation or two ago. Is this true for families in your country?

 

 

FAMINE

 

There is no way that famine should be a problem in today’s world. We are so rich. Companies have billions of dollars. Countries have trillions. It’s a real shame that people do not give enough to help famine victims. It’s a sin. There is more than enough food in this world to feed everyone. Government leaders need to tell the world why they let people die of hunger. Even the United Nations can’t persuade governments to give enough money to help the starving. Of course, there are good governments and bad ones. The bad ones often let their own people starve. The leaders steal the country’s money. Some countries have a famine but their state TV tells people there are bumper crops. That’s shocking.

 

 

FASHION

 

 

Have you ever thought how strange fashion is? People tell us what clothes to wear. That’s weird. Fashion stores tell us what is “in” this summer or this winter. People then buy the same clothes and look like everyone else because they want to feel trendy. The thing is, fashion is about being an individual, but then we all wear clothes that are the same as everyone else’s! Keeping up with fashion is expensive these days. Everyone is into brand fashion. Have you seen how much the most fashionable sneakers are? How can kids afford those? The craziest fashion is the luxury brands. People spend a month’s salary, or more, on a handbag or watch. That’s crazy. I’m happy with an unknown brand at half the price. I don’t mind being unfashionable.

 

 

FAST FOOD

 

Do you like fast food? Lots of people complain about it but I think a lot of it’s quite tasty – as long as you go to one of the international chains like McDonalds or Kentucky. I think in today’s world, it’s difficult to avoid eating in fast food restaurants. They are so convenient and seem to be everywhere. Of course they’re not the same as real restaurants. I wonder if they are restaurants. There aren’t any waiters. Anyway, the most important thing to remember about fast food is that it isn’t so healthy. People who eat it every day develop health problems. I don’t understand why schools serve fast food during lunch time. Schools should encourage students to eat healthily. If you have time, look at a website on slow food.

 

FEAR

 

 

 

What are you afraid of? I’m not really afraid of anything. When I was a child I was afraid of the dark. I used to hear strange noises at night when I was in bed. I couldn’t move. I was frozen with fear until it got light outside. I’m no longer afraid of the dark, thankfully. I also used to fear speaking in public. My face would go red and I’d get very hot. I overcame this fear because I had to make many speeches at school. The more I did this, the more my public speaking fear disappeared. People are afraid of many strange things. Did you know there is a fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth? There is even a medical name for it. I don’t think fear is a bad thing. It probably stops us from doing really dangerous things.

 

 

FEET

 

 

Some people like their feet and other people don’t. I quite like mine. They’re not too big and not too small. Some people I know have huge feet. They even have problems trying to buy shoes that fit them. My feet are pretty normal. They’ve been very useful down the years. I’ve done a lot of running, loads of hiking and played thousands of hours of football. I’ve never injured my feet or my ankles. I sometimes get sore feet when I go shopping. That seems to be the only thing my feet don’t like. That and new shoes. New shoes usually give me blistered feet. Oh yes… and the cold. My feet hate the cold. My toes go numb. Especially my big toe. One thing I’m happy about is that I don’t have smelly feet.

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

 

People say first impressions count. What do you think? Can you understand a lot about someone from the very first time you see them or meet them? I think I’m good at judging someone’s character from the first time I set eyes on them. It’s easy to understand if the person is my kind of person. First impressions count most when you meet someone important. If you have a job interview, it’s very important to give a good first impression. The interviewer can decide if they like you as soon as you walk through the door. Are you well-dressed? Do you look happy? Do you greet the interviewer? All these things are important. I also think first impressions count when you meet your future in-laws.

 

 

FISH

 

 

I think fish are the most interesting creatures on the planet. They are absolutely fascinating. I love their different shapes, colours, social behaviour, everything. I can watch tropical fish in my aquarium for hours. Even the tiny little fish are so beautiful. When I go to the city aquarium, I can spend the whole morning or afternoon looking at the fish. I don’t have a favourite fish. I must confess that after watching the movie ‘Finding Nemo’ I do now like clownfish. As well as looking at fish, I also love eating them. Tuna is my favourite, especially raw tuna. When I visit Japan, the first thing I do is go to a sushi restaurant. Raw fish is so much tastier than cooked fish. And probably a lot healthier.

 

FISHING

 

I really don’t know why fishing is so popular. It’s one of the best-loved hobbies all over the world. Anywhere there’s a pond, a river a lake or sea, you see people fishing. I’ve only been fishing twice and I thought it was boring. I didn’t catch any fish. Even if I had caught a fish, I don’t think I would have been excited. To me, sitting next to a river waiting for something to happen is strange. I know lots of people who love fishing. They even get up at four o’clock in the morning in the winter to sit in the freezing cold. They say the best time to fish is before the sun comes up. I say they’re crazy. Big game fishing looks good. I like the idea of cruising on a boat near Hawaii looking for giant fish.

 

FLOWERS

 

 

Flowers are a true gift from God. They’re beautiful. All of them. One of life’s pleasures is looking at flowers. If you look at them really closely, it’s amazing just how beautiful they are. Their colours are so rich and deep. I don’t know of anything in the world more red than a rose or more yellow than a tulip. Flowers seem to be a big part of every culture. People give flowers as gifts, arrange them in their houses, grow them in their gardens. Some people even name their daughters after flowers. I can’t imagine how boring the world would be without flowers. I’m always coming across new flowers. Every time I travel to another country, I find lots of flowers I’ve never seen before. It must be nice to be a bee and spend all day flying from flower to flower.

 

FLYING

 

 

I absolutely love flying. I love everything about it, from buying my air ticket to getting off the plane and collecting my baggage. There’s something very special about getting on an airplane. It’s always a real adventure. I like short flights and long-haul flights. Many people say economy class is terrible, but I like it. There isn’t enough legroom but I don’t mind that. Many people also say they hate airplane food. I love it. The only thing I don’t like about flying is turbulence. I think that’s really scary. I always worry the plane will crash. Another thing I don’t like is waiting to get off when the plane stops. It takes ages before the flight attendants open the doors. One day I want to fly business class and first class.

 

FOOD

 

 

Isn’t food one of life’s greatest pleasures? Do you know anyone who doesn’t like food? I don’t. There is so much delicious food in the world. You could spend a whole lifetime eating a different dish every day. What’s the tastiest food in the world? This is a very difficult question to answer. My taste in food keeps changing. Sometimes my favourite is a dessert, but then I change my mind and go for a spicy curry. It’s great that countries have so many different dishes. Do you think your national dish is best? Nowadays we have to be careful about what we eat. Fast food is not good for us. We need to focus more on healthy food. Maybe we have to be more careful in the future. Make sure the food you eat is good for you.

 

FOOD SAFETY

 

Food safety seems to be a big issue nowadays. I can’t remember it being such a big problem years ago. With today’s technology, it shouldn’t be a problem. But it is. In fact, there are many problems. In my country, GM food is a big issue. People do not want to eat food that is genetically modified. They say it is unsafe. I know in America GM food is everywhere. Another issue with food safety is food imports. A lot of imported food has made people ill. Our government bans a lot of food from certain countries. This is a good idea. A concern in my country is with chickens and cows. We have bird flu and mad cow disease. It might be better to be vegetarian.

 

FOOTBALL

 

 

Football, that’s soccer to Americans, is the biggest and best sport in the world. There are millions of reasons why it is the world sport. For a start, it is played all over the world. The football World Cup is the biggest event on Earth. It’s bigger than the Olympics. More people watch the Final on TV than any other event. Football also brings nations together. The greatest of enemies put aside their differences for 90 minutes to play a football match. Then there are the teams, like Real Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool. These names are more well known across the world than the top basketball or baseball teams. A famous coach once said: “Football isn’t a matter of life and death; it’s more important.”

 FORMULA ONE

 

 

I’m really into motor racing. Especially Formula One. It really is one of the most glamorous and exciting sports. Of course, it’s one of the fastest. I’m amazed by the speed of the cars and how skillful the drivers are. I’d love to drive a Formula One car to see how fast they go. People say Formula One is a man’s sport. It isn’t. I know lots of women who love it. One day, there’ll be a female world champion. You wait. I got into Formula One years ago. I loved the names of all the drivers. I watched a few Grands Prix on TV and then I was hooked. I never miss a race on TV. One day, I’d really like to go to a circuit and watch a Grand Prix live. I guess Monaco would be best – they drive through the streets there.