(no subject)
We put up our Christmas decorations this evening. Myself, my parents and my 14-year-old sister are fairly happy about this- my eight-year-old sister, meanwhile, is almost ridiculously hyper. It's adorable- when Mum and I told her what 'the task for the evening' was going to be, she spent the next few minutes literally bouncing around the kitchen.
This is why I remain unsceptical about Christmas- the effect it has on little children. I don't like the rampant materialism, the lies about Santa and all, but I can just about allow it when I see Abby get that excited.
So that was fun. Plus, there was unexpected John Barrowman on Fifth Gear too, which made me grin like an idiot. And QI!
(Yet Another) Meme Time!
Leave a comment on this saying 'Resistance is Futile', or words to that effect, and I will give you five questions for you to answer in your journal.
1. What was primary school like for you?
Shite. I don't use that word often, but my experiences in the two primary schools (5-11 years, for non-UK people, since I don't know what you'd call that) royally messed me up. Reception was wonderful- I had a lovely, lovely teacher called Archana who realised that I was far ahead of what she was teaching and thus sent me to read in the year 1, 2 and 3 classes. I was only usually called back for story time, when she'd gather all the girls in the class onto the edges of her sari and read us brilliantly illustrated books. The only bad experience I had in that year was getting bullied by a rather sad boy in my class- I eventually punched him back one day, and while the school weren't too happy with me, he actually wound up being one of my best friends.
After that, though, things went downhill rather a lot. In year 1, my teacher Pritha decided that I was too far ahead, and that by sticking me in a corner and telling the other teachers to prioritise everyone else ahead of me, the rest of the class would catch up. It didn't work, and I went from being the life and soul of the party to a very quiet and really rather upset six-year-old. In year three, I moved to a new school, and after the initial 'new girl!' buzz died down, nobody liked me all that much, and I was often bullied for standing out in just about every way imaginable (being top of the class, musical, able to swim, one of the only five white kids in the juniors, etc), and at the end of year 6 I got several odd looks from parents as not only was I the only child not sobbing, I was actually running around cheering at points.
So... yeah. Not fun. Secondary's been so much better though, so I don't mind as much as I used to.
2. Favourite thing to drink?
Smoothie or hot chocolate- I honestly can't decide between the two. Favourite smoothie flavour would be any strawberry-based ones I can lay my hands on, methinks.
3. What sort of stuff do you read?
Anything I can lay my hands on, if I don't get bored of it halfway through. Currently, I'm working my way through R.J. Berry's God and Evolution, which is pretty cool, John Steinbeck's Once There Was A War, which is funny and beautiful and heartrending, often at the same time, and Tolstoy's War and Peace, which is a good deal less heavy-going than I was expecting.
4. Are you into other anime/manga apart from Death Note and Hetalia, and, if so, what?
Not really, no. I mean, I'm not even that much of a fan of the Hetalia anime/manga- I far prefer the fandom to the series. I feel like a very bad fangirl, but my history-geekish/sensible side rails at the crack in the Hetalia manga/anime, and even with Death Note, I've never actually read the whole of the Yellow Box scene. I've tried reading/watching a few other series, but they've never seemed to click. I do have a bit of a soft spot for Ergo Proxy, I'll admit, but that's mostly due to a Kamelot AMV from a while back.
5. What would your dream holiday be?
Ooh... that's hard. Had to answer it for my French GCSE aural, and I told them it would be a skiing/snowboarding holiday. And that would indeed be absolutely wonderful, but the other day my friend and I were discussing road trips, and we decided that if either of us did a gap year, a whistlestop tour of all the cultural hotspots of Europe would be amazing, so that. ^^
(wow that primary school one was long...)
This is why I remain unsceptical about Christmas- the effect it has on little children. I don't like the rampant materialism, the lies about Santa and all, but I can just about allow it when I see Abby get that excited.
So that was fun. Plus, there was unexpected John Barrowman on Fifth Gear too, which made me grin like an idiot. And QI!
(Yet Another) Meme Time!
Leave a comment on this saying 'Resistance is Futile', or words to that effect, and I will give you five questions for you to answer in your journal.
1. What was primary school like for you?
Shite. I don't use that word often, but my experiences in the two primary schools (5-11 years, for non-UK people, since I don't know what you'd call that) royally messed me up. Reception was wonderful- I had a lovely, lovely teacher called Archana who realised that I was far ahead of what she was teaching and thus sent me to read in the year 1, 2 and 3 classes. I was only usually called back for story time, when she'd gather all the girls in the class onto the edges of her sari and read us brilliantly illustrated books. The only bad experience I had in that year was getting bullied by a rather sad boy in my class- I eventually punched him back one day, and while the school weren't too happy with me, he actually wound up being one of my best friends.
After that, though, things went downhill rather a lot. In year 1, my teacher Pritha decided that I was too far ahead, and that by sticking me in a corner and telling the other teachers to prioritise everyone else ahead of me, the rest of the class would catch up. It didn't work, and I went from being the life and soul of the party to a very quiet and really rather upset six-year-old. In year three, I moved to a new school, and after the initial 'new girl!' buzz died down, nobody liked me all that much, and I was often bullied for standing out in just about every way imaginable (being top of the class, musical, able to swim, one of the only five white kids in the juniors, etc), and at the end of year 6 I got several odd looks from parents as not only was I the only child not sobbing, I was actually running around cheering at points.
So... yeah. Not fun. Secondary's been so much better though, so I don't mind as much as I used to.
2. Favourite thing to drink?
Smoothie or hot chocolate- I honestly can't decide between the two. Favourite smoothie flavour would be any strawberry-based ones I can lay my hands on, methinks.
3. What sort of stuff do you read?
Anything I can lay my hands on, if I don't get bored of it halfway through. Currently, I'm working my way through R.J. Berry's God and Evolution, which is pretty cool, John Steinbeck's Once There Was A War, which is funny and beautiful and heartrending, often at the same time, and Tolstoy's War and Peace, which is a good deal less heavy-going than I was expecting.
4. Are you into other anime/manga apart from Death Note and Hetalia, and, if so, what?
Not really, no. I mean, I'm not even that much of a fan of the Hetalia anime/manga- I far prefer the fandom to the series. I feel like a very bad fangirl, but my history-geekish/sensible side rails at the crack in the Hetalia manga/anime, and even with Death Note, I've never actually read the whole of the Yellow Box scene. I've tried reading/watching a few other series, but they've never seemed to click. I do have a bit of a soft spot for Ergo Proxy, I'll admit, but that's mostly due to a Kamelot AMV from a while back.
5. What would your dream holiday be?
Ooh... that's hard. Had to answer it for my French GCSE aural, and I told them it would be a skiing/snowboarding holiday. And that would indeed be absolutely wonderful, but the other day my friend and I were discussing road trips, and we decided that if either of us did a gap year, a whistlestop tour of all the cultural hotspots of Europe would be amazing, so that. ^^
(wow that primary school one was long...)