The Island of Damar

I looked down at the tiny island in the distance. The island that was about to turn my life completely upside down. It's name, Damar. It is a small island in Indonesia. It has a population of 23 people, everyone of these people archaeological diggers. My dad, Jay, was flying out to join them. There was some kind of dig on the go and my dad was called for. Me, being Rhia, had to go with him. Most kids of my age would stay at home with a relative. Unfortunately, I have none. My mum died about four years ago in a tragic car accident. She drove her car into a ditch and no one found her until the next morning. I don't know of any other relatives that i have. The only other family member I have is my twerp of a brother. He is 9 years old and is extremely annoying. His hair is like barbed wire, it is impossible to brush using any comb. My dad must have bought about 20 different sized combs to try and brush it and about 50 different shampoos. It is blondish-brown in colour and is kind of centre parted. He doesn't care in the slightest about his appearance and most of the time he just wears a pair of tracky bottoms and a pole shirt. His name is Pete. Any way, less of that twerp, back to me. I am 19 years old and currently do not have a boyfriend. I have blondish-brown permed hair just past my shoulders in length and have big, blue, dazzling eyes. Unlike my brother I care ALOT about my appearance. Everything has to be colour co-ordinated. My dad is always fussing at me, he says I have loads of clothes and hardly any of them are worn. It had been a long, tiring journey and a boring one at that. If I had been able to bring my friend Chazza, it would've been a right laugh. I was suffering from toothache because the cheesecake that we had for lunch hadn't been properly defrosted and I really hurt my tooth. Damar was getting bigger and bigger so I knew we were soon to land. From what I could see from above, it just looked like a floating rain forest. There were huge trees but I could not spot any houses or apartments for us to stay in. It was hammering it down with rain. I knew this because I could hear the rain drops bouncing of the roof of the plane. Touchdown. We had landed. We floated along the surface for some time before we came to a complete stop. I looked out of the cabin window and stared amazingly at a huge cliff that towered above the left hand side of the sea plane, I could not see the top of it. There was nothing else to be seen. My dad rose from his seat and turned round o face us, â€Å"Well then, we're here,† he said as if we were to be really excited. Me and my brother both looked at him as if to say ‘woopey-doo! ‘ My dad turned back round and headed towards the door and begun to open it. Once this was done he grabbed his binoculars which he had been looking through most of the journey whilst making notes, he looked into the distance. It was sometime before he shouted, â€Å"I can see them, they're coming straight for us! † Meanwhile Pete was taking all the cases from the overhead lockers and was placing them in a pile at the front of the plane. I looked out of the plane window once more nd spotted a small, yellow, rubber boat fighting against the treacherous waves to make its way to the plane. In it was a man dressed in a orange kagool. After some fighting, the boat reached the entrance to the plane. â€Å"You must be Doctor Shaw? † asked my dad loudly, competing against the noise of the waves. â€Å"Yes, that's right. Climb aboard,† shouted the strange looking man. My dad jumped aboard and almost lost his balance as a huge monstrous wave came from behind the boat. Pete tossed all our luggage to my dad who was piling them up in one corner. Once this had been done, Pete himself jumped aboard. I walked esitantly towards the door and stood for a moment watching the rain hammering into the sea. I turned round and faced Sam, the pilot, who I had become quite friendly with. â€Å"Good bye then†, he said, trying not to laugh, â€Å"and good luck! † I smiled at him, turned round and daintily made my way on board the boat. That was it, there was no way of turning back now. I turned and looked at the plane, taxiing into the dull fog which had fallen. â€Å"What? † I bawled at the top of my v oice. â€Å"This is your home for the next 10 weeks. † I looked down at a pile of raw materials: wood, palm leaves and a huge sheet of tarpaulin. You and your dad will have to build a shelter. † That was it, I'd had enough. Not only did I discover that there was no TV, computer or telephone on Damar, but now I have to build my own shelter. My dad had lied. He told me the complete opposite. I decided enough was enough i needed to get away from my dad before all hell broke out. I walked over to the shore and looked out at the waves smashing against the rocks. I was dripping wet and freezing cold. I made a huge X out of pebbles in the sand and walked to the left of me. As long as I kept to the shore line, I could turn round at any time and walk back o the X and then I'd know I was back at camp. It felt as if I'd been walking for miles. The shore line was rocky and in some places sandy. After some time I came to a stop and sat down on what looked to be a makeshift bench at the top of the cliff that I first saw when I had landed. I was there for a long while. The rain had got worse and it had begun to hail, they were not huge hail stones but big enough. â€Å"Hi there, I'm Jak! † called a voice from behind. I jumped up, scared stiff. I didn't know whether to turn around or not. Before I could, the person named Jak appeared at the side of me. He held his hand out as if aiting for me to shake it. I pulled my hand out of my jeans pocket and held his hand. I couldn't move it, it was as if they were frozen solid. â€Å"They're freezing,† he shrieked, â€Å"here, take my gloves. † I took the gloves from his held out hand and struggled to put them on. â€Å"I'm Doctor Shaw's son. You? † asked Jak. â€Å"I'm Rhia. Rhia Langton,† replied Rhia politely. â€Å"Oh, your new here aren't you? † â€Å"Yep, I just arrived today. † The conversation seized while we looked each other up and down. He was gorgeous. He had short black hair and had huge, dark brown eyes with long eyelashes. He looked about early 20's and had a well tanned body. I've been here 6 months now,† he said. â€Å"Really. † â€Å"Yeah. How long are you planning to stay? † â€Å"I think my dad said about 10 weeks. † â€Å"Cool, I'll have to get to know you more then. † â€Å"Likewise. † â€Å"I think I'll start by telling you about me then,† said Jak, â€Å"I'm 22 and i'm a dentist. Well at least I will be, when I get back to England. I've been offered a job. † â€Å"Oh really, lucky you,† said Rhia, shocked, † Well I'm 19 and currently have a job at McDonald's. Slightly different to you eh? † Jak trying not to laugh replied, â€Å"yeah! well it's better than nothing? † â€Å"I suppose so, it's only until I find another job. † We spoke for some time and we had got to know each other extremely well before Rhia decided to make her way back to camp whilst holding Jak's hand. When i arrived back at camp, my dad and brother had built their hut and were both sitting round a red hot fire at the foot of the hut. Jak however had already made his way back to his hut after a kiss at the edge of the shore. â€Å"You're back then? Finally over your little tiff? † asked Jay. I walked slowly towards the logs that surrounded the fire which had been used for benches and sat down. â€Å"So, do you want the guided tour? † asked Pete. â€Å"Sure! † replied Rhia. I couldn't sleep that night. Not only was it because of the rain gushing down on the tarpaulin but my tooth was still hurting from the frozen cheese cake on the plane. I had never felt so much pain in my life. After a long wait, I finally drifted into a restless slumber. Two weeks have gone now. The weather is at its hottest and my tan is coming along great. The island wasn't as bad as I though it was when I first arrived. In fact, I love it. I'm getting on really well with Jak now and we're going out. The only problem is he has spoken about taking our relationship a little further. I don't know if I'm ready for it just yet. I haven't as yet been down to the dig, my dad oesn't want anyone going down until he's given it the all clear (safety wise. ) Well, today's the day. I can finally go down and see what all the fuss about Damar is all about, I'm going down to the dig. â€Å"Come on then! † shouted my dad. I knelt down and picked up my bag and some of my dads digging equipment and followed him into the dark wilderness. My tooth was at its worst today. I wasn't really in the mood to go into a cramped, humid cave full of archaeological diggers and have to dig all day. My dad and Pete were some amount of metres ahead of me but didn't know how far I was walking behind. I stopped, and ropped my bags on the floor. Jak wasn't going down to the dig today so I wasn't really that bothered about going. He was spending the day on Karachi beach. I've decided that I am ready to take our relationship a little further but it has to be at the right time in the right place. I decided to make my way to the beach to see if I could see him. â€Å"Hi, how are you? † asked Jak â€Å"I'm fine now I'm here with you. My dad wanted to take me down to the dig today but I'm not really that bothered. I'd rather be sun- bathing on a beach with the one I love! † replied Rhia. I looked out at the sparkling blue water. I could see the fish swimming around legantly below the surface. It was perfect. â€Å"How's your t ooth? † â€Å"It's even worse today! it's really beginning to bug me! † â€Å"Give it time, it'll drop out soon, trust me, I'm a dentist! † He sat looking at me for some time as if he thinking before he said, â€Å"Wait here, I'll be back in a bit. † I knew what was about to happen, after all we were in the perfect place for it. I tried to calm myself but it wasn't working. Some time later he returned with a smug look on his face. He sat next to me and wrapped his arms around my body. â€Å"Lay back and close your eyes† he whispered softly into my ear. I did as he said and waited for him to say omething. He did the obvious. Before I let him go any further I asked him, â€Å"will it hurt? † â€Å"Of course not,† he replied, â€Å"it's just a simple process† â€Å"I'm rather frightened, I've never done this before. † He urged to continue, â€Å"It won't hurt much more, just relax. † I was in a great deal of pain but dared not show it. I felt tears come to my eyes. It's hurting something awful. â€Å"Calm yourself Rhia, open a little wider so I can fit more in! † Suddenly with a jerk I gave a screeching shout. â€Å"Now that's it, all over with,† he slowly pulled it out. â€Å"Well what a relief, I think I'll enjoy my holiday even more now that rotten tooth's out! â€Å"

Analytical Essay Sample on Internet Censorship Key Concerns

Analytical Essay Sample on Internet Censorship Key Concerns Nowadays, Internet is commonly regarded as the most widely used source and the fastest way to exchange information and knowledge all over the world. However, the freedom and democracy on Internet, being one of its greatest beauties and drawing features, is apparently abused by the population online. Pornography and hate literature are commonly used to lure Internet surfers attention and to generate profits. Representing the rights of the public and the power of a country while owning and operating the Internet, the government has the absolute responsibility to censor the internet so as to protect its own citizens from harmful and false information, thus in order to prevent any possible decay of social and moral values, though the extent of Internet censorship should be carefully measured to ensure the freedom of speaking of people. Since the invention of ARPANET in 1962 by the Department of Defenses Advanced Research Project Agency in United States, Internet has developed tremendously during the past half century with the improvement in modern technology with government sponsoring the researching program. It had formerly been made only for military and research purposes, where in 1974, the general public gets its first vague hint of how networked computers can be used in daily life as the commercial version of the ARPANET goes online. Hence it is quite obvious that without the financial investment and political support from the government, Internet, being such a new technological invention at that time would never achieve as great a success as what it has achieved by today; it is apparently wrong to say governments did not build neither did they own the Internet. As a result, being counted as partially a property of the government, Internet should absolutely under governments control. Besides to exchange information and knowledge and to facilitate communication, the most important role of Internet is to enrich people intellectually. This requires a clean and abundant source of information on the cyberspace that is provided to the public; it should be apparently free of indecency and obscenity that may cause any social problems, which eventually attributes to the decay of moral values. Human beings live in communities where easy access to indecency stimulates many people to adopt these lower moral values, as seemingly it is quite normal and perfectly okay to do so; the idea of Everybody does so and Everybody says so exerts a detrimental influence on peopleÐ ±Ã ¿s minds and that is what people are libeled to believe when the exposure to indecency becomes so common. What draws even more concerns of ours is of the children. We all know that children can easily be scarred and manipulated by all kinds of information. Parents can have some control over which books their children read as they can easily tell what the books are about; they do not have worry that their children will turn a page and be confronted with obscenities or other forms of indecency. While with the Internet, there is a whole different scenario. Anyone can flick a page and be presented with porn, denigration, discrimination, fraud and misinformation. As parenting is not only about chaining a child to a parental censor but about creating a safe environment for children to grow up in at the same time, an uncensored Internet is apparently not a safe environment for children. Due to the above reasons, it is my opinion that the flow of information should be filtered from anything that contradicts any of the abovementioned reasonable purposes. This includes filtering indecent expressions and obscene materials from access to the Internet. As a result, only the government has the power to take such actions so as to ensure the Internet is not over polluted by indecent garbage. However, it is very difficult to take modest steps in this sensitive issue of Internet censorship. Some people may say that certain information on the net, which might be viewed as obscene or indecent, are actually useful and helpful to people who are mature enough. This includes those obtained from adult sites. Though young people are not ready to get access to such information that may lead to their moral decay, mature adults certainly do not encounter the same problem. However they may be banned from acquire what they need from the net due to the possible existence of government censorship. Moreover, as community standards vary from community to community, it is not possible to find a guideline for the decisions of what is acceptable to be made upon; neither is it easy to be implemented. Furthermore, nobody is able to take full responsibility on such issues. Some people may argue that teaching children to deal with indecencies may shield them better and prepare them for the real world. And that the rights of free speak should never be violated. Yet that does not mean that we can do nothing about the existing and possibly occurring problems on net; government censorship is still necessary at this point of time and may have to go on for a certain period of time. In order to make sure desirable results can be seen, what seems to be necessary is the corporation and communication between the government and Internet surfers. General guidelines of censorship can be discussed and decided with efforts of both parties to reach a compromise. Feedback sites and forums can be set up to serve such purposes online. Eventually, the issue of Internet censorship is always controversial as the interests and concerns of different persons can never be the same as others; it can only be eased with internet surfers carrying out their social responsibilities. I think for government to step into the problem currently and help censor the accessibility of certain websites containing things such as adult materials is a modest measurement of control over Internet.

Essay on Drugs

Essay on Drugs Drugs addiction is a problem faced by many people of the world, it is a topic that interests many writers, and they wish to write an essay on drugs for this topic. Drugs are very harmful and keep the capability of dragging an individual towards death and destruction. People all over the world want to eradicate the adverse situation of drug addiction from this world and this is the reason why they are busy in writing essays on drugs. Essays on drugs are of many types such as war on drugs essay, essay on performance enhancing drugs in sports, essay on drug abuse, essay on illegal drugs, essay on drug addiction, essay on drug use, essay on drugs and alcohol and essay on drug testing, etc. The essays on drugs should be initiated by bringing in the information related to the topic of the essay on drug.You should know what drugs are. In an essay on drugs, you will have to write about drugs, their affects and the reasons due to which people use them, you have to include the information about why the drugs are so famous and how harmful are they. A persuasive essay on drugs will be one, which will be according to the topic of the essay on drugs. It should have a full-fledged introduction, which should introduce the topic completely. The introduction should also have a thesis statement that should be the main idea of the essay on drugs. A thesis statement should be based on the essay question to which your essay on drugs is an answer. A thesis statement of an essay on drugs can be one sentence or more than one sentence but it is suggested that it should be only one sentence. Essays on drug abuse or essays on drug addiction should be written by arranging the ideas in a format that should be understandable. You should divide your ideas in different paragraphs for an essay on drug abuse or for war on drugs essay. One paragraph should contain one idea and should not go towards a second idea, as it will reduce the comprehensiveness of the paragraph of essay about drugs. The essays on drugs should be written by researching the topic of drugs thoroughly so that the writer can depict information knowledgeably. If you feel disturbed by an exercise of writing an essay on drugs, you can also get plagiarism free essays on drugs from custom writing websites, which are there for your assistance and support in terms of writing essays on drugs.

Sociology - write an essay about the main theoretical perspectives

Sociology - write an about the main theoretical perspectives. Compare and contrast the explanations offered by the different theoretical perspectives with regard to the family - Essay Example Similarly sociology can be studied from a majority/minority perspective wherein the issues and problems faced by minority communities are given special attention. Ultimately, all these approaches have one thing in common, namely, the identification of pressing social problems and devising of ways to alleviate them. While these conceptual analyses are usually applied to large groups of people such as the inhabitants of cities, counties and states, the family could be considered the fundamental unit of society. Hence a good understanding of these interpersonal human interactions at the level of the family is essential for grasping the broader picture. The rest of this essay will delve further into various prominent theoretical perspectives with regard to the family. â€Å"Simply put, a theory is an explanation of a fact pattern. Social scientists generally do not develop theories to explain individual cases or incidents. Rather, theories are developed to explain how and why certain things happen, particularly when those things happen repeatedly. For example, scientists and therapists realized that a lot of couples who get divorced exhibit certain patterns of destructive conflict. Scientific theories serve a number of useful functions. Perhaps the most basic function of a theory is to explain how and why a phenomenon occurs or operates. A related function of theories is to predict when a phenomenon might or might not happen.† (Segrin, 2005) Hence, from the above definition of a sociological theory one can see its importance in resolving family issues and alleviating interpersonal conflict between family members. An important theory relating to the institution of family is called the Family Systems theory which was derived from the broader General Systems Theory (GST), â€Å"which is a theoretical perspective developed for explaining how elements of a

Marketing for Events Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Marketing for Events - Coursework Example ined by expertise, market statements and the added worth.1 the customer basis has to be defined clearly and the intent of the company in meeting the customers’ requirements. For Samsung to emerge top in the smartphone market it needs to focus on its key strengths and core company networks. Currently Samsung is the top manufacturer of smartphones in Europe. The tallied figures from 2012 revealed Samsung’s share of the market at 32.3% after overtaking Nokia. Samsung has set goals to attain by the year 2020 and it is reflected in its vision statement ‘Inspire the world, create the future.’ Taking focus on its key strength: creative solutions, new technologies and innovative products. In order for Samsung to reach its $400 billion revenue goal by the year 2020, there are three strategic moves that must come into play. They include: creativity, partnership and talent. Being an innovation leader is essential to Samsung, enough time has been spent being an innovation follower.2 This refers to the blend of product, evaluating, advertising and distribution approaches meant to satisfy exchange within the target market.3 the marketing mix incorporates the four Ps. Product, price promotion, and place. Over the past years, Samsung products have proven to be of standard quality in terms of performance. Choosing to market on this in the development of new products is a brilliant strategy because there is the quality assurance that the customers have. This is a strong hold especially in the Smartphone products. In the launching of the galaxy S4, there is no doubt that the customers are expecting a high performance quality device. Product portfolio is therefore a strongpoint that Samsung can boast of. With the wide range of products that Samsung has to offer, each commodity is accompanied by a unique pricing strategy. Taking into consideration at the complexity of this matter, price change due to outside change should be expected and therefore dealt with at the initial

Whether Differences in Flexible Working Practices Constitute a Barrier Research Paper

Whether Differences in Flexible Working Practices Constitute a Barrier to Multinational Corporations - Research Paper Example It is notable that most multinational corporations are experiencing the cross-national transfer of human resource practices in the expansive and widely spread subsidiaries. Flexible working human resource practices are becoming common in most corporations across the world. This practice involves flexible working arrangements in which the employers and employees agree on the flexible way of approaching work. Multi-national corporations and companies adopt this practice to attract a wide range of skills for flexible working positions (Romer 2011). These policies enhance employees to juggle their personal lives and work, this enables workers to be able to work at their convenience in any location. This approach of doing work within this flexibility varies from different employers and employees across subsidiaries in various countries (Ester 2008). Work-life balance practices in corporations are designed to enhance employees to be able to balance their work and their commitments with oth er personal responsibilities (Flechl 2010). Most companies have adopted these policies because of the positive impact on the employee’s motivation both in the workplace and away from work. In addition, these policies are essential in conflict minimization thus influencing positively employee experience in their personal life and performance at work (Batt 2003). These policies generally minimize conflicts between work and the commitments of family. Therefore, ascribing from this it can be argued that multinational companies adopt these policies to enhance employee satisfaction. As stated earlier that most companies have expanded to overseas markets opening subsidiaries and branches there are urgent issues to design the overall human resource system to fit into the context of these countries.  

Earthquakes And The Subtle Power Within Essay Example for Free

Earthquakes And The Subtle Power Within Essay Outer Banks is located in North Carolina. It is a narrow chain of barrier stretching 175 miles long. The area is frequented by high winds and storms. It is basically made up of sand dunes. Sand dunes are formed due to the prevailing winds. The winds come from opposite direction, northeast and southwest. Because of the natural occurrence, sand dunes were formed. The tallest active sand dune in Outer Banks is Jockeys Ridge. Some interesting features about the Outer Banks is that it housed the talled lighthouse. It also has the tallest san dune, Jockeys Ridge. Duck Beach is named one of the top beaches in America. Animals especially birds and horses are actively seen the area. Outer Banks 3 Outer Banks, North Carolina Outer Banks in North Carolina is a narrow chain of barrier islands. It is one mile wide or 1. 6 km. It stretches more than 175 miles along the coast. Main islands are Bodie, Roanoke, Hatteras, Ocracoke, Portsmounth and Core Banks. The area is prone to severe storms and high winds (Outer Banks, 2007). Outer Banks natural processes evolved from a predetermined conditions. Outer Banks can be well describe by its sand dunes. Migration of sand dunes is an important process on the Outer Banks. It is basically formed by two prevailing winds, northeast and southwest. Due to the different directions of the wind, volume of sand build up. With its sand dunes, Nags Head Woods were developed. It was inherited from what used to be sand dune and swale or a depression found between dunes and beach ridges more than 100,000 years ago. In some areas, the swales were internally drained and now contain freshwater ponds (Frankenberg Tormey, 2000). The Jockey Ridge is the most tallest active sand dune in Outer Banks. The sand is mostly quartz rock which comes from the mountains million of years ago (Ecology, 2006). Some very interesting features can be provided by the Outer Banks (Interesting Facts about the Outer Banks, 2006) ? Wild Ponies, descendants of Spanish Mustangs, still travel the coast. As per record, they run wild North Carolina since 1523 until present time. ? Tallest lighthouse in America, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is located in Outer Banks. It Outer Banks 4 is 198 feet tall. It has 257 steps. Beacon light can be seen as far as 20 miles out the to sea. ? Duck Beach is one of the Top Beaches in America. This was named because of the number of waterfowls that flocked during migration. ? Jockeys Ridge is the largest active sand dune in East Coast. Outer Banks 4 References Frankenberg, Dirk Tormey, Blair. (2000). The Northern Outer Banks. Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations pp. 3. Retrieved January 22, 2008 from http://www. learnnc. org/lp/editions/cede_nobx/3 Infoplease. (2005). Outer Banks. Retrieved January 22, 2008, from http://www. infoplease. com/ce6/us/A0921656. html Jockeys Ridge Sate Park. (2006). Ecology. Retrieved January 22, 2008 from http://www. jockeysridgestatepark. com/ecology. html Outer Banks Vacation Guide. (2006). Interesting Facts About the Outer Banks. Retrieved January 22, 2008 from http://www. visitob. com/outer_banks/trip/facts. htm