Monday, January 28, 2013

The last first day .

So tomorrow will be my last first day at high school ever. Its unbelievable. Today, when I went into school to check that my schedule was right, one of my friends pointed out that we are year 13's now, it still doesn't seem real.

So, this year I will be taking biology, classics, english, history and maths. I'm just glad that I don't need to take three science again, because its a lot to keep up with, and every teacher thinks that
a) You only take their class.
b)You have no life outside school.
c)You are able to study their subject for 10 hours a day.

We also are going on a camp to Pounawea on Wednesday, which will be awesome because its right beside a beach and the teachers will practically ignore us. Our menu is finalised and today I went shopping to buy food. I can't wait and I promise to take lots of photos, For those of you who haven't been to the Catlin's coast in New Zealand, it is one of the most beautiful places ever, in fact I think you should all go at least once in your life, it is truly amazing.

Also my little brother and sister think that I am a smurf for no reason. I'm not even blue. Apparently its because I'm ginger.

Have an awesome day :)

Monday, January 14, 2013

results

So NZQA finally posted our NCEA results, and to be honest I am quite disappointed with mine. I passed, but got no endorsement, I will not be taking level three physics or chemistry. Instead I'll be doing classics and general science. I definitely will not be pursuing a career in paediatrics, because to do that you need physics and chem, so the issues I had with deciding have been obliterated.

In other news, we are finally organised for our year 13 camp (have I mentioned it before now?). This school camp will be way different to any others we have been on because

a) We get to sort out our own food :)

 b)We get to decide where and when we sleep

and
C)We will we left alone by teachers 95% of the time

So this camp is basically a holiday with school friends, even though half of them cant come any more well still have a blast. I promise to take a bazillion pictures ,because we are going to Pounawea, which is absolutely beautiful in summer. We leave on the 30th of this month and return on the 1st of February (My Aunty and baby cousins birthdays !!!), I personally can not wait.

Have an amazing day :)

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Making dream catchers

 Here are some of my recent dream catchers. Enjoy :)                                

Pinned Image








 
And this is (a very bad picture of) my first attempt at making a big dream catcher
 
 
Have an amazing day :)

Friday, January 11, 2013

Les Miserables book review.



So I finally finished reading Les Miserables. To be honest I read it really slowly, because, as always, when I read a good book I get too emotionally attached to at least one of the characters. This time I completely fell in love with the story of Jean Valjean and how incredibly, beautifully, tragic his life was.

 I think that this novel would be quite fun to study in depth, as it is incredibly beautifully written (I imagine it would be even more beautiful in French) and is said to be one of the longest books ever (959 (According to Kindle) or 1488 (according to wikipedia) pages and it took me a total of (approximately) 17 hours to read).

Les Miserable, originally published in French in 1862 and written by Victor Hugo is an amazing novel that highlights what life was to the poorer people of France (Mainly Paris) in the early nineteenth century, while following the life of an ex-convict by the name of Jean Valjean, who was arrested for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving sister and her children.

The novel is filled with wonderful literary context and amazing quotes my favorites include:
  • "'One would say, to see all these snow-flakes fall, that there was a plague of white butterflies in heaven' "
  • "Diamonds are found only in the dark places of the earth; truths are found only in the depths of thought."
  •  "Who could have bound the lamb to the wolf, and, what was still more incomprehensible, have attached the wolf to the lamb?"
  • " To breathe Paris preserves the soul"
Les Miserables has recently been re-made as a film (although there has been a musical version for years), and I actually want to see it, because, Hugo's novel being as absolutely amazing as it was, would be quite easily interpereted into a film, and with actors such as Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter it must a great movie. Personally I believe that the book is ALWAYS better, but if the book was that wondrous, the movie will still be really great.

I would recommend this novel to avid readers, of at least fifteen years of age, because of a) The length, b)The literary context that is fairly complex and c)It has a fair amount of old English/ direct translations which take a lot of persistence.

I absolutely loved this Les Miserables and would give it a  score of 9/10!

Have an amazing day:)