Emotional days...

8.35am- Morning everyone!  Today is a very strange Thursday as we have Friday codes. This is because we have the Interfaith conference tomorrow, from 9am-9pm. I am so excited!!!
    But, yes, we have a whole day of codes before that. It was also a strange night as all the second years applying to US Unis found out if they have been accepted last night. The hours of anxious waiting came to an end at around 10pm. Sadly, there were many sad faces in my house but others are SO happy right now. I know people going to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown...... the list goes on.  These include the Ivy League and other brilliant universities. It has been a huge mix of emotions, sadly many distraught faces, but seeing the ones of pure joy is an incredible feeling. I feel privileged to be here in this atmosphere of excitement and expectation.  The stress does not make me want to apply to the US however.....!
     As I said, we have Friday codes today. This means I have double Econ next. This afternoon we have to write a timed Histroy essay in class on Appeasement. I read and made some notes last night and I will make a plan beforehand. This evening all activities are cancelled in preparation for the conference tomorrow. We have people from a large number of religions coming and it is going to be an amazing day. Will go now but will write about it when I get a chance. Love to all.

Monday

6.55pm- Good evening everyone. I have had a great start to the week. I had codes until 11.30am and then I had early lunch. After that I had TOK which was very interesting today. We discussed the importance of learning language skills at a young age.  I had my last home visit of the year then this afternoon. The second years are preparing for final IB exams and so service is no longer compulsory for them now. Luckily for me I still have two other service sessions and so I will not miss out.
       I have just come back from supper and popped with my dormies to check my mail in the library. I am going to go back and work on my French essay before relaxing for the night. We are having a movie night in our dorm tonight. However, we are watching "The Last Emperor" and so it will actually help us with our History course!
    Am going to go now. Tomorrow will be a crazy day. I have full codes then a half hour break before service. I will have to run from my service to my flute lesson. I think I have around an hour then until a talk on applying to Oxbridge. After supper I have Gateways service until 9pm. At 9.30pm I have an interview to be Peer Listener. There are two Peer Listeners in each house, one boy and one girl. It is the Peer Listener's job to help fellow students who are unhappy, need advice or just want a friend. I would love to do it as I think it is a very important role. We will see, however, as there are lots of good candidates within the house. I will keep you posted on that one.
   Will go now. Love to all.

Time for flip flops!

9.35am- Morning everyone! I haven't written on my blog for a couple of days as I have been quite busy. Life has calmed down now and it feels like there are actually enough hours in a day once again. I have been working on important pieces of work such as my English presentation and a History test which I have later today.
   Yesterday was a great day. After codes I didn't have service so I went to Music and played my flute for a while. It was very relaxing. After that I read for History outside with some friends. We just enjoyed the sunshine and made daisy chains! We had a talk on UK Unis last night which was useful for learning about the process of applying. After that the Brits met some of our Zero years. It was very exciting and it made me feel very old! We took a group of them to PK and we sat in my dorm and chatted. I can't believe that this whole journey was only just starting out a year ago. Seeing them all brings back so many memories of excitement and fun. The British National Committee are interviewing people over the weekend as well, so we will meet our first years some time this weekend! There is a Brit bonding session tonight (for current students) and so it will be good to spend some time with my national group.
     Tomorrow I am going home to see my family. I haven't seen them all since break and so it will be really good. On Sunday I am going with my Japanese dormie to meet a lovely lady who looked after her Dad when he came to AC in the 70's. Weekends are always great at AC and so I am so glad it's Friday!
    Double Econ next and then a full day of codes until 4.45pm.
   Hope everyone is doing well. Love to all.
    

Why I love weekends...

6.50pm- Hello everyone. Once again I must be brief but I have had an amazing weekend. On Friday night I went to the International Show, which was fantastic. This is an annual show in aid of Save the Children. Students performed acts from their home nations, and varied from Hungarian poetry and Chinese lion dancing to Philipino singing and an African fashion show. Yesterday morning I had Dysparity and then relaxed. Last night we watched a lovely movie and then this morning was the AC 10K run. There was a great atmosphere and lots of very fit people! I marshalled at the finish line where it was a lovely place to see the happiness people felt on finishing. Seeing the pain also made me glad I hadn't run! Here is my weekend in photos:

The flag ceremony at the end of the international show- an incredibly emotional moment when it struck me how privileged I am to be here, with these friends from ALL OVER THE WORLD

 I just can't help myself- always taking photos of flowers!

 Our lambs are beautiful and they make my day every day.

My two Fairtrade bananas at the beginning of the 10K this morning.

Must go now but love to everyone. South East Asian national evening starts in five minutes.

Another week over....

8.45am- Well, what a busy week this has been. I have had a lot of work to do, along with service, activities and just general things to do. I am really glad that it's Friday but I know this weekend will involve a lot of work. First of all, we have the International Show tonight. Acts from various countries will perform and all profit goes to Save the Children. After that  I am going to have an early night. I need sleep! Tomorrow morning there is another Dysparity session and after that I will relax for a while. Sunday it is the Atlantic College 10K run but I am not running. I'm on the team counting the runners as they cross the finish line. I may be there for a long time! I have heard that it is a great event and so I am excited to help out.
     I have first code free right now but after this I have codes all day. It won't be to bad and I'm just glad it's Friday. This week has been a good week however, just busy. Am going to briefly read the paper now. The situation in Japan horrifies me and knowing that some of my friends' families are there makes it feel very close. A week has passed and every day we think of the devastation and suffering. I have just read about Libya and that is a very different, man-made situation but still innocent people are suffering.
    I have double Econ next.  Love to all.

Busiest day of the week

6.25pm Hello everyone! Can't be long. Today really has been a busy day. I didn't have any frees and so I had codes until 1.25pm. History was interesting and different as our class was the class taught by the two applicants for the vacant History job. It was interesting to meet the candidates and see the different teaching styles. It was also nice for me as I showed around another candidate for the job a couple of weeks ago.   Straight after my Maths test I went back to PK, had a quick lunch then went straight to Service. It was visiting the residential homes today and I met a new lady as the one lady I visit was watching the racing from Cheltenham. It was very funny as she was apologetic and asked us to please come next week. It is good that there is something she really loves and doesn't want to miss!  I used the ride on the way to service to revise for an E Systems test tomorrow. As soon as we got back to college I literally had to run to my flute lesson, which was good as always. I enjoy my lessons although I know I really should practise more. Following all of that I felt quite tired and went back to PK for a nice hot shower. It has been a lovely day here although I haven't been able to sit and enjoy the sun. Instead it has just felt hot and sticky! I have just popped up to the library after supper and must head back to PK soon as I want to try and work a bit before Gateways at 7pm. I haven't been to Gateways for ages and so it will be nice to go again.
    Quickly- yesterday was really nice. I went to meditation and afterwards felt refreshed and I am hoping that my cold will not get worse (fingers crossed!).  I have some work to do for tomorrow which I will do after Gateways.  
    On a far more sombre note, I am still praying for Japan. We held a minute's silence in assembly yesterday which I found quite moving. I felt a huge feeling of solidarity, with around 300 people in a small hall completely silent.  I feel disconnected from the severity of the situation as we cannot watch the TV updates. The internet somehow doesn't seem to convey it the same way as the newspapers too. I was suddenly struck by the devastation when I opened a paper yesterday.  Very moving and humbling.
       My time management is getting worse- must go!! Love to all.

Sun, Spring and Smiles

3.40pm- It is a beautiful day here today. The sun is shining, the daffodils are out and it is just a lovely day. I woke up at around 10.30am and had to ask my dormie if my clock had stopped or something as I had no idea it was that late! We did go to bed quite late but I didn't think it was too late! I think I needed the sleep.
    Had a lovely day yesterday too. We went out to the Italian restaurant for my Birthday, just 10 of us from PK. It was really nice and then when we got back a couple of us went around the houses but we didn't get any further than Gwynedd day room. I just love the people in that house!
     Yesterday morning I had a Dysparity session with parents and we are meeting our children next week. I am so glad that this project is going so well and it was a very positive and hopeful session yesterday.
     After brunch (which we had outside!) I went with a friend to work in the sunshine. We had to work but we decided we couldn't stay inside. We ended up in the Beast Garden. I took some photos of this lovey day while we were there:

A bee that found my Economics book comfortable.....!

Daisy, daisy.......

Proof that we were working!

Well must ran back from the library to PK to change for netball in 15mins. Love to all.

A disaster that feels so close

9.45am- I have just had an Econ test and we have a quick break and so I thought I would write a little more on here. However, I have just logged on and read about the huge earthquake off the coast of Japan. Many people here will be affected by this and the tsunami which is happening right now. E mails have been sent around school as there are people here from Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries which are under threat from the tsunami. It is very sad and also scary for those who know that their countries are in danger at this very moment. This would be terrible news wherever I was, but being here with a Japanese dormie and other friends from the area somehow makes the experience all the more personal and close. I just hope and pray for those affected.

Friday, Friday...

8.50am- Morning everone!  I am enjoying my Friday morning free as usual. I have been quite busy since I got back from break but it has been a good mixture of talking to people and a bit of work too. I had a lovely day yesterday. Thursday is my favourite day as I only have three codes. Also, we are analysing a great poem in English, so that was actually a good double code. I had a flute lesson in the afternoon and then I went to a talk on US Universities. I am still not going to apply to the US but I don't think it does me any harm going to the talks. After supper it was time for my Made in 48 activity and we are raising awareness of Fairtrade, a cause I strongly support. After that we had Open House with a Fairtrade chocolate fountain and fruit kebabs. Then it was time for my showering! It was supposed to be a surprise but I noticed that various people throughout yesterday were wishing me happy birthday and so I realised that an e mail had been sent to everyone but me. It was really nice that they wanted to surprise me.

Just noticed the time. Can't be late for Econ! Love to all.

Home from home

9.35am- Good morning everyone! I am back at AC after a lovely break at home. Since arriving last night it has been great to hear what everyone did during break. By the sound of it, I think I had one of the quietest and laziest breaks. I enjoyed my sleep, good food and my Birthday! Many people traveled a lot, partied a lot and didn't get much sleep!  I had a lovely time at home and I now feel as though I have come back to my other home. This is a different kind of home, but just as good.
   Well I am quite busy catching up with people, chatting, getting to lessons and must do some work sometime! Will walk in the sunshine to TOK now. Love to all from a sunny castle in Wales.

Almost there...

9.10am- Will be very brief as I am trying to finish all of my work before break. Tomorrow we have the long weekend and we won't be back until Tuesday. I am going home but I know many people are traveling to some very exciting places- Istanbul, Amsterdam, New York, Prague etc. I am looking forward to going home, seeing family and friends, eating and sleeping well! I had my Social service residential home visits yesterday afternoon. I was the only student, as I am the only first year in my group, and the second years all have exams. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to the elderly people, two of whom were 99 this week and one gentleman who will be 100 on Friday! Yesterday was St.David's Day and so the Welsh contingent in PK cooked for a special Open House. We made leek soup with crusty bread and Welsh cakes and watched Max Boyce on the TV. I think only the Welsh people understood his accent or the humour! The food went down very well however.   I have double free now as TOK has been cancelled for this week. Later I must finish my E Systems practical and then we are cooking as a dorm. We are all going to enjoy the last day before break. Hopefully I will see some of you over the weekend! Love to all.