Black Friday - are the sales worth it? Are the deals real or a con?

Black Friday.

We all know it isn't a common day in a person's life. We are flooded with ads and everyone talks about the day(s) when prices are lower than ever.  
In Portugal, there is not much need to buy what is cheaper at any cost like for example in the USA, but who doesn't like a good discount? Some people are craizier than others, some wait at the store door before it opens, others even sleep outside in tents just to get the best place for their purchases. There are still those who consider Black Friday a festive season.

The first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to holiday shopping but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market on September 24, 1869. Two notoriously ruthless Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, worked together to buy up as much as they could of the nation’s gold, hoping to drive the price sky-high and sell it for astonishing profits. On that Friday in September, the conspiracy finally unraveled, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from Wall Street barons to farmers.  

Personally, I do not usually shop at Black Fridays because in my opinion it's not worth the effort and dedication spent just to buy something 60% cheaper. Another much talked about theme during the Black Fridays are the stores that cheat us, also known as "Black Frauds" in which the shopkeeper raises prices about 15 days before that day and then says it has drastically lowered the price. 

In short, Black Friday depends on the personality of each person and has several points of view, from contributing to the national and international economy to encouraging more violent behaviour to get to keep something specific for you.

Check here some footage from 2017 Black Friday in the USA:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcYXkjRfS5c

Article written by our student Afonso Cadilhe

Entrega do 1º prémio - Concurso de Halloween

O Guilherme divertiu-se imenso numa pequena caça ao tesouro para encontrar o seu prémio.

E não é que o nosso mordomo de serviço, o Mr. Crazy Butler, fez as honras da casa? 

Foi tudo pensado ao milímetro, com susto incluído!

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween 2017 - Póvoa de Varzim

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween - Valongo

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween - Paredes

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween - Paços de Ferreira

Fotos do Concurso de Halloween - Bragança

Science is the answer (SHORT STORY)

   Once upon a time there was a very intelligent scientist. He built a time machine.
   One day he decided to travel to the future.When he arrived ,he found Mrs Zultron, a female alien. She came to earth to save the humans. When she looked at the scientist, Mrs Zultron fell in love. But the scientist didn´t feel the same thing.
   Anyway,they organized a team for the battle. Then, the battle started.
   Seven years later, they won the battle, but the scientist was dying. His last words were - "I love you, Mrs Zultron". Then, he died.
    Mrs Zultron built a science museum in his memory, with all her love.

Written by our student, João Pedro - Level KC

An adventure around the Planets (SHORT STORY)

One day my sister and I went to an old house and we found an old future time machine.
We looked at each other in surprise and decided to step in and sing the song of the planets, which was like this:
                                                     Mercury and Venus
                                                     Are so hot.
                                                     Please don`t take
                                                     me there.
                                                     Neptune and Uranus
                                                     Are so freezing.
                                                     Please don`t take
                                                     me there.
                                                     Mars,Saturn
                                                     Or Jupiter
                                                     You can
                                                     take me there.
 After we finished the song, the door closed very fast, the lights went off and we fainted.

 When we woke up, we were in a big rocket .We were really afraid, so we held our hands and closed our eyes.When we opened our eyes, we were in the future, on Saturn. My sister and I saw Humans and ETs talking in English and living together.We were very scared! So we ran back to the rocket.
We winked and we were then on Mars.We left the rocket and walked around for kilometres. During the walk we saw many portals to every planets of the infinite Universe, but we chose to go in the Earth`s portal .We were back on planet Earth, in the old house! We ran to the future time machine and we returned to the present. When we were back in the present, we went to our house, and we kissed our parents!!!!!

Written by our students, Ema and Mariana -  Level KC

PARQUE WARNER in San Martin de La Vega, Madrid (ARTICLE)

Hello!!
Have you heard of PARQUE WARNER in San Martin de La Vega, Madrid, Spain?

It's an amusement park with a lot of attractions with different degrees of intensity, for different ages and with amazing events throughout the year.
An example is the YOGUI BEAR (Zé Colmeia) attraction which can be rode by the whole family.

All of the thematic areas and attractions are based on Warner Bros characters.
The trip from Porto by car takes about 6 hours.
You can choose a package of two days with hotel for 39,90€ per person. However, the parking is very expensive and it has to be paid separately.
Like in most thematic parks, the queues are very long and can reach 1 hour.
Basically, I advise everyone to go to Parque Warner, not just kids but the entire family because it will be very fun and family moments are always important!

Written by our student, Afonso Cadilhe - Level B1.2

With you forever (A SHORT STORY)

With you Forever

Ding-dong! - the doorbell kept ringing. My friends were waiting for me so we could ask for sweets in the streets. 

To be honest, I wasn't really excited about that. My grandmother passed away some days ago, and I was really depressed. I just wanted to spend this all Halloween night under my blankets, next to my cuddling toys. 

- Dear, you should go and have fun - mum said.- You can't be under your blankets forever! 

- If you insist...

I put on my sugar skull costume and came out. My friends tried to cheer me up, but it didn't work. I just wanted to go home.

During the walk, my best friend noticed my sadness, so, she tried to scare me.

- BOO! - she screamed. 

I was so distracted with my thougths that I got very scared with that. I don't remember a lot of what happened next, but I remember that I woke up in a creepy foggy place. 

- Where am I? Hello? - I couldn't see anything.

Suddenly, I saw a shadow in the fog. It started geting closer and closer. I was really frightened.

- Bienvenida muchacha! - The shadow was actually a talking skeleton wearing a Mexican hat. 

- Come here, mortal! La fiesta está empezando! - He took my hand and we entered a city full of colorful skeletons wearing big sombreros, just like him.

That place looked familiar to me. That place was very similar to my neighbourhood!  I was confused.

- Where are we? 

- We are in the Country of the Dead! This is the home of people who have already died!

I immediately thought about Grandma. Was she there? I started running as fast as I could. That place was similar to my neighbourhood, so I ran to the second house on the left, Granny's house. 

I carefully opened the door. I immediately heard the sweet sound of Granny's voice:

- Is it you, my little candy? 

- Granny! - I ran to her arms and hugged her. 

- What are you doing here? Did you die? - Granny asked.

- No, I'm alive, but I woke up here and I have no clue why!

- My treasure - she said - you are about to come home again. Here you have my favourite ring. Stay with it, so you'll never forget that I'll always be with you. Forever.

- I love you, Granny!

- And I love you, my daughter.

Suddenly, the fog started covering me. I couldn't see anything! 

I opened up my eyes and I saw my best friend throwing a bucket with water to my face.

- Are you OK? - she asked. - You fainted! 

- I'm a little dizzy, but I'm fine. Let's ask for some candy! 

That was the best Halloween night ever! When I was coming home, I put my hand in my pocket and... there it was! Granny's favourite ring! 

I was confused. Was it a dream? Was it reality? I didn't know, but I was certain that my Granny was, is and will always be with me. Forever! 

THE END... ?

Written by our student, Francisca Moreira

Ganhei o 1º prémio!!!

 

Nunca acreditei que eu conseguisse ser o 1º classificado.

Muito obrigado aos professores e aos MEUS AMIGOS por terem votarem em mim. 

O Rapadijio da imagem é um "cat" muito colorido.

 Beijinhos do Guilheme Costa! (8 anos)