Rest and recreation

In January, at the end of the winter term, students have got a whole lot of work to do. There are many exams and tests and they are often closely together. This period of time is always a real challenge and people have to find ways to cope with the stress.

Here are some useful hints:

Set aside time to relax...

 It is very important to make short breaks when studying hard for an exam. Take some minutes and try to relax. Have yourself a cup of coffee or tea, read some pages in a book or simply try to do anything but learning for these five minutes. After you have finished with learning, put away all the books and enjoy the rest of the day. 

Try out some sport ...

It is advisable to exercise a bit every day. It does not have to be the gym or a two-hour-run, but moderate activity. This could be a walk outside in a park or a tour on your bike. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Swimming is another great way to reduce stress, try out the local pool or a lake in summer and have yourself a bit of rest and recreation.

Practice breathing techniques...

 

 Slow down the breathing and concentrate on it. Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale as deeply as possible, hold your breath for some seconds and then exhale slowly. Do not inhale deeply all the time, you may get dizzy after some time.

Tour through Ireland

Trip to Ireland

 

I have planned a trip to Ireland because I am really fascinated by the landscape and the many historical sites. Ireland offers a variety of old buildings, castles and famous places to visit. I have searched for famous sights and places and based on them, I have created my own tour through Ireland.

The trip comes to €1,850.

Day 1:

Ø  Arrival in Belfast at the Airport

Ø  Hotel accommodations in the centre of Belfast. Transport to the hotel by taxi

Ø  Panoramic tour of Belfast city including the Albert Memorial Clock Tower, the Opera House and the City Hall and the Titanic quarter. It is a six floor building right beside the historic site of the original site of the original ship’s construction

Ø  Break at the Crown Liquor Saloon. It dates back to 1885.

Ø  Overnight in the centre of Belfast

Day 2:

Ø  Travel along the beautiful Antrim Coast. It runs from Larne through the Glens of Antrim and down to the seat at the Causeway Coast.

Ø  Crossing of the famous Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

Ø  Giant’s Causeway – UNESCO world heritage site

Ø  Travel to County Donegal for dinner

Ø  Overnight in Letterkenny.

Day 3:

Ø  Visit of the Donegal and Glenveagh National Park – a beautiful nature reserve. Mountains, lakes, woods and a herd of red deer.

Ø  Tea and scones at Glenveagh Castle

Ø  Dinner and overnight in Letterkenny

Day 4:

Ø  Leaving Donegal for Galway through the beautiful county of Sligo

Ø  Trip on the Rose of Innisfree tour boat to view the Isle of Innisfree situated on one of Ireland’s most beautiful lakes, Lough Gill.

Ø  Cruise across Lough Gill

Ø  Arrival and overnight in Galway city

Day 5:

Ø  Aran Islands

Situated on the edge of Europe and a short boat trip from Galway. A place of great peace and tranquillity.

Ø  Visit of O’Brien’s Castle

Ø  Island Lighthouse

Ø  Saint Kevin’s Church

Ø  The Plassey

Ø  Overnight in Galway

Day 6:

Ø  Full day journey from the West to the Southwest of Ireland

Ø  Tea and traditional Irish fruitcake at the Rathbaun Farm

Ø  Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs stretch for eight km along Clare’s west coast.

Ø  Dinner and overnight in Killarney

Day 7:

Ø  Ring of Kerry – Iveragh Peninsula

Ø  Seafood lunch in a restaurant along the coast

Ø  Greyhound Racing at the local track in Tralee

Ø  Overnight in Killarney

Day 8:

Ø  Journey to Limerick

Ø  Visit of the Foynes Flying Boat Museum

Ø  Lunch and an Irish Coffee

Ø  Visit of Adare Heritage Village

Ø  Traditional song and dance at the Traditional Irish Night in the Corn Barn in Bunratty

Ø  Overnight in Limerick City

Day 9:

Ø  Trip to Dublin through County Kildare

Ø  Visit of the Irish National Stud and Horse Museum

Ø  Visit of the Guinness Storehouse

Ø  Lunch at the Gravity Bar, where you can enjoy an astonishing view over the city

Ø  Visit of the Trinity College and Library

Ø  Kilmainham Gaol

Ø  Overnight in Dublin

Day 10:

Ø  Irish Breakfast

Ø  Morning City Tour

Ø  Dublin Castle

Ø  Transfer to the Airport for afternoon departure

Register-related post

 REGISTER

When I got back my first piece of homework, I was wondering what  Reg. above some of the words could mean. I had never seen this abbreviation before, but when our teacher put the explanations on the week by week, I recognized the term - REGISTER. This term is used for words which are not appropriate for a certain level of writing. In everyday life we use different words and phrases to describe situations or tell about happenings. 

If you write a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of a company, you use an appropriate language and you put in certain phrases and terms that occur in the business world. In contrast, if you write an email to a friend, you may use contractions, dashes and any other signs you

can think of. It can be really challenging to find the correct 

words which fulfil the requirements.

An example for the usage of a low register is a lot of/lots of. Instead of a lot of/lots of  you can use much or many, a number of and an amount of. Phrases such as kind of or what's more are inappropriate too. Words like thus and hence are used in texts with a high register and may sound rather strange in an essay or in a memo. Generally, it can be a real challenge to find the most appropriate version of words and phrases to write a well-structured, written piece of work.