First week in the Underworld

So, what has gone on lately?

Sooo, sooo much.

First of all, my friend who lives in another country is coming on a plane, to England tomorrow. *squels* A cyber best friend is no good when all you want to do is fangirl and hug and cry together about all the shit in your fandom. *deep breath* But sooon we’ll have our time.

English. This is tough. I’m considering basing my whole future on this subject. And so far, I’m liking one teacher more than the other. I enjoy lessons about Victorian context, poetry, plays and novels – over Fingersmith our set text. O__O I know… It’s hard to get into the novel. I don’t know if it’s the writer, but I can read it, but I don’t particularly like it. It’s almost as if the writer is trying too hard? I miss Lady R, and most of all, I have had so much trouble deciding what to do with the Access to Bristol scheme chance. I know I’m just applying for it, and the chances of me even getting in are slim – but it’s something to consider beforehand. Missing lessons is a big deal for me, and even if it’s 2 English lit. lessons and 1 Biology lesson for 8 weeks (alternating) – it doesn’t sit well with me. Also, this idea of doing English as a career, taking it in uni? What will I do with English? Really become a teacher?! My ultimate goal of becoming a writer or anything remotely creative rests on only being a side job. *sighs*

Biology isn’t particularly anything really. Besides from the hardest subject – proteins (yes, I sound stupid, but the depth we’re going into now? It’s all about quaternary structures, α–helixes). And doing Biochemistry at uni is much like Law for me. It’s an idea but won’t go any further – probably. And as much as it sounds like Biomedical sciences, it’s not – but I would be researching medicine, I guess, if I took it.

Chemistry is all over the place. One teacher doesn’t really know what she does,  but is a good teacher regardless because she can engage the class and listen to our bad Chem jokes. But the other one? She’s old, deadpans and I don’t know what to make of her. And her face. Also, I’m not holding a grudge or anything, but I swear she rubbed me the wrong way too far when she talked about how she failed English because it was a useless subject anyway.

History – well, I can say I didn’t do too well for first impressions on homework. For some reason (I was ill and woozy, seriously I take so many drugs just to keep alive). But I’m better(ish) now! I mean, I’m still ill, but at least my liver won’t hate me so much for dosing up so much so I don’t come down with a fever or something.  I enjoy learning more about German and Anti-Semitism to an extent, before it becomes too repetitive. But Tsarist Russia? It’s hilariously worrying. What the heck was Alexander II thinking emancipating the serfs?! Oh, and of course, Hitler in Mein Kampf. Every revolutionary leader (well, different) is slightly wrong in the head, I swear.

All in all, I’m settling in more, for sure. And I’ve had lots to think about in terms of extra-curricular. I’m also doing Envision, for some debating and issue solving in and around our community. I’m taking up Japanese again (the hole is getting bigger) and then of course we’re back to Access to Bristol. Gosh damnit! I’m applying to do English. For sure. (Once I send the techies an email telling them how the online application is a massive fail and doesn’t work. Maybe volunteering for my Chinese school again. ALL FOR A CV.

I’ve also thought more about where I want to go for uni. Bristol, Birmingham and London are big city unis that are relatively close, so I’ll try them first. College wise, I guess Royal Holloway, and King’s for London. I’m not sure about Birmingham and Bristol though. Cambridge is a far away dream. A girl from Nishimiya went to Murray Edwards college there this year, and I’m obviously not going for Oxford, but I’ve got so many college ideas! St. Johns (Uncle Allan’s alma mater), King’s and Trinity Hall.

I have no words for what I’m feeling right now. Or what is going through my head 24/7 – except that it’s one big mess. *inner turmoil*

~ Persephone

On the Importance of Being in Sixth Form

So, the main point of this post is to tell the World just how busy both Lady R and I are. Seriously.

That meant the lack of time and energy to write anything substantial – besides having copious amounts of effort needed to type something out. However, I am determined not to let work overtake my life. So I’m going to just have to link school-life with… whatever this is…

In my school, sixth form is something different altogether. I’m not sure if Lady R is going to write a post about her school, but in all honestly, my school is much more structured and strict than hers. Our dress code, is what you would wear to an office, suits and heels (not for me, since I need to do lots of legwork – more about this later).

This new territory meant more freedom – however, in other fields. For example, I was now allowed nail polish, jewellery and my hair down. It’s a complete 360 degrees change from being in secondary school. Also, the way teachers now treated us as a whole. An example would be the hilarious Chemistry lesson I had just this Friday afternoon. All 10 (ish) of my classmates had arrived in the lab, expecting to see our teacher there. Only to find that she wasn’t, and moreover, after waiting for over 5 minutes. She was nowhere to be found. At this point, my friend pointed out how she had seen Mrs B going out for tea with some other teachers in our school. Had she forgotten about us?

Oh we wish. In a moment of complete idiocy, no one in the class had thought to look on the whiteboard for a sign of a message. Turns out. Mrs B left one. Work to do for the lesson, and a note telling us about a baseline assessment test in Chemistry next Monday. Followed by an ironically placed smiley face. Oh joy.

This hilarious (on our behalf for being so oblivious) but alarming incident made me think. Does being in sixth form really mean more independence and trust? Perhaps? Or even more work upon work and teachers caring less about us.

Legwork! Oh my goodness. I’m a book person. Not active till I need to be. My school has this newfound sadistic system of making sixth form students and teachers run from our main school building, to another one down the road. It’s a considerable distance if you include a 5 minute limit to travelling between lessons, and the signing in and out of all buildings slows this process down a lot. A lot, a lot. I was panicking all the time about being in time for all those lessons, and spent most of my lessons wondering about getting to the next one. Think again, school.

On another note, the décor in the new building is nice. We even have chandeliers in each room. And I’m not even joking. However, the tables are less than apt for subjects (all of them) which require us to lay out our notebooks, textbooks and notes in front of us. Lecture style tables are a no-no. I mean, we can’t even lay the tables straight! Proof? I put my pen down on it and it rolls off.

Classes are a little better now that I’ve settled in more. I think I will need to get used to the ‘wider reading’ part of my studies though. I like reading, but mostly leisure, so we’ll see how this goes. On the bright side, I get an excuse to buy lots of Classics and poetry collections – however, I may find I don’t like Rossetti or Wilde as much now. Pfft. Who am I kidding? I love them even more now!

Rant over, let’s just say this is a whole new experience for me. Despite this being the same school I’ve been to since Year 6, it’s a whole different world when teachers trust you alone in labs filled with various lab tech and equipment. Do you know I once put my finger in a Bunsen burner? There’s a trick, of course, to avoid getting burnt (ironically, taught to me by Mrs B) but still.

I am now going to do work. Like, homework. *sighs* But I shall finish my book first. I forgot how awesome I was, finishing a sizeable book in a day. (Yes, that’s my definition of awesome, unless you think it’s something like defeating Titans.)

~ Persephone

P.S. No, I won’t reveal this Bunsen burner trick on the Internet. Who knows what will happen. (For a reasonable brib- *coughs* No, no.)

A-Levels for September

Okay, I guess I’ve never told anyone about my A-Levels, even though Lady R has. As it is now officially September, and school is looming on the horizon, I figured I’d write a bit about my coming year!

English Literature – Haha, this was the only definite in my choices. I could not imagine a future where I’m not doing anything remotely related to English. However, I just have to say that, although it is not my mother tongue, and I’m certainly not half bad at the subject, many people shy away from this, simply because of the ‘overanalysing’ of literature, which is true. It pains me to enjoy and loathe lessons so much because of the way we now have next to no time to read through the set texts!

History – Oh gosh, this was a hard decision. Originally, I wanted to do Classical Civilisation, but my school never ran it. I’m not really that disappointed, but I knew that doing History would mean remembering a lot of things… It’s not actually that bad? Because I could really be in Hong Kong, and trying to even remember the dynasties of Chinese history is tough for me. All 4000 years of it!

Biology – This kind of ties in with Chemistry, since my uncle had a PhD doing Biochemistry at university, amongst other research (which I’ve forgotten) but is based on traditional Chinese medicine and having been to the labs – is amazing. So I’m simply not ruling out the option of having a science-based career. And because I loved learning about DNA and Punnett squares. ^-^

Chemistry – Now, clearly I’m not as interested in Maths as Lady R. Neither do I have a particular interest in Physics. Shame really. Natural sciences? My 6th form at Nishimiya doesn’t have the variety of subjects at the school Lady R now attends, but I’m thinking it’s for the best. Specialising in anything too early cuts out lots of options. *cough* No offense?

All in all, I think I chose subjects that I’ll enjoy in the long run. I’m also looking to continue studying a little Japanese on the side, and who knows? Maybe I can find a career which ties all these things in? Obviously, I’d want a job related to my interests too, so… Uhh~ I don’t know… I’ll get to it when I get to it.

~ Persephone

P.S. Oh, and for future reference, since we’re doing as much of this blog as possible incognito, all you need to know is that I went (as did Lady R) to a girls’ school in England. Which will be known as Nishimiya Girls’ High School – from a manga which I would love if anyone realised the reference, but it’s okay if you don’t. Challenge time? Hint: it’s shojo, and has a colour in the name and here are the main characters~