Rain is good!

11.45am- Good morning! It has been miserable and raining heavily for the past couple of days and for once, I'm glad. It means I can happily sit indoors working and listening to the rain for hours! I had a good day yesterday. I think I worked well and then relaxed after check-in. My Turkish friend's parents are visiting and bought lots of food. We cooked and ate in the Dayroom for a while and it was great. My houseparent also made us some muffins (so much food!). I've been working on E Systems this morning and it's going quite well. My poor Japanese dormie has been ill for the past two days. She's never been this ill during the course of the two years. I think it can only be put down to lack of sleep and exhaustion. She's a little better today but she's resting so that she's completely better for English next Wednesday. Will finnish marking my past-paper and then will go to lunch. Love to all.

One week and counting!

3.15pm- Hello everyone! I had a day off yesterday, which was lovely. My Japanese dormie and I went to Cardiff with my parents. We had a great time talking, eating and shopping! When we got back we were supposed to work but we ended up cooking and talking some more. At 9pm I finally panicked and realised that I'd only worked in the morning. I ran out of the Dayroom with my tea straight to the Quiet Room! Today I've been working on Maths. I have my Paper 1 a week tomorrow. I actually start the IB with English a week today. Must return to my carrel unit now! Love to all.

Technical difficulties...

10am- Hello everyone! The settings have changed on the Blogspot website and for some reason I can't view the editing screen properly. I haven't even been able to do that for a couple of days. I'm trying to fix it but I think the college computer operating system is too slow. If this post appears in a strange format, that's why! Things are pretty much the same here. People studying like crazy and not much else! I've been talking to people in other houses however, and PK seems to definitely be the most intense house. There are people up in the Quiet Room until 2am every morning. I'm always fast asleep by that time but that's what I've heard.I had a History day yesterday which was nice as I love studying it! Today I plan to work on Maths, E Systems and a bit of English. We are on study leave and are not woken up as we do not have to be anywhere at certain times. I got up for breakfast however as I need to eat before I can work. Should really get down to working now. Have been reading about the French Presidential elections on the 'Le Monde' website for too long! Love from a rainy castle.

You know the IB is almost here when...

......you only ever see Second Years at breakfast and check-in and some briefly at mealtimes in between.
     - your social life seems to involve only those in your Carrel Unit.
     - everyone supposedly 'relaxing' in the Dayroom at check-in is talking about work.
     - everyone at supper is so tired they simply stare at their plate.
     - people start drinking coffee at 10.30pm
     - you go to the Quiet Room when you used to go to bed.
     - you see people walking around eating Nutella out of a jar.

Yes, the IB is starts in a fortnight and you can really tell by looking at the Second Years!! The First Years have exams now, and this year they count as their predicted grades for Uni. There are some stressed First Years on campus as well.  I'm trying to get my sleep but it is hard. Even if you don't work you want to be able to relax and talk to people about something other than work for a while. I'm working until 7pm tonight and then I will sit a Maths Paper 2. We did Paper 1 as a class last night as well. After that we don't have Open House as we're having House Breakfast on Saturday. However, I will bake a cake for my History class with my Dutch friend in our Houseparent's house. Tomorrow is my last day of Codes- ever! We seem to be having food in every class and probably have to dress up. We're going to my History teacher's house during our code which will be really nice.  Must go now. Love to all.

More drama...

4.30pm- There was another twist in my hectic and tiring AC day last night. After a long day studying and attending meetings my wonderful Turkish friend cut her hand and fainted in the bathroom. Luckily there were lots of us there as it was bedtime and we managed to catch her. However, it became quite scary as she then had some sort of fit. I left her surrounded by Lifeguards and ran to get our houseparent. My poor friend was taken to hospital and did not come back until 3am. We knew she was OK but it was very scary and many of us were up until late as we could not sleep. She has to return to the hospital soon for further tests but many of us would not be surprised if it was not in some way stress-induced. The levels of stress and anxiety here at the moment are incredible, and many Second Years are pushing themselves very hard- both physically and mentally.
   We had a meeting after supper yesterday entitled- 'Life After AC'. I have never seen so many serious people in one room!! We were given details on the end of term, results day and advice on starting Uni. Although many of us are excited for University, we all realise that it will be very different and that our two years here have almost come to an end. There were also details in the talk on remarks and resits of IB exams- I hope none of us have to go through that. We were told how many AC students find it hard to settle in at Uni at first as we have become used to this incredible place and have had an unique lifestyle for the past two years. We were left to ponder about many things, from the almost imminent examinations to what to do with the rest of our lives....
     After a late night last night, this morning was a continuation of End of Codes. This meant an early start- 6am but I was awoken just after 5am by some poor First Year being taken away! Tonight will be a very early night, and I think I'll need some coffee to make it to check-in!  I just had my last Computer Club Session with my lady, which was very sad. She's been a bit unwell but she has fully recovered now. She hates Goodbyes and so I said I'll pop in to the session next week to say Hello. I'll introduce her to her new First Year partner so that the transition is somewhat smoother for her. I've enjoyed every minute of my sessions this year and am so lucky to have found another friend through Service.
   Should return to my Econ book now. Love to all.

We can still have fun...!

6.45pm- Yesterday I went to Cardiff with my parents and best friend- it was just what I needed. I relaxed, had fun and enjoyed myself. I had a lovely day and then came back and worked until chek-in. I covered the whole of Mao's China for History and so went to bed feeling pretty happy with myself. My dormies and I planned to get  up at about 8am but none of us got up until after 9am! I've worked all afternoon but have actually enjoyed it. I've done a French past-paper and am now working on Econ. People were very stressed at the end of last week but luckily the atmosphere is now more relaxed and there are some laughs and smiles reappearing. 'End of Codes' starts tomorrow. The last week of Second Year codes is traditionally a time for Second Years to pull pranks and gently torment the First Years. However, we have been warned that some people were slightly too extreme last year and so we must make sure nobody is upset at all this year. The Brits are going to be very lenient on our First Years, mainly because we are too busy (and we also don't want to be too harsh!). We have some rather nice ideas and I'm looking forward to spending some time with my First Years. Must dash upstairs to my carrel unit now. Am going to go back to PK and then we have House Meeting at 9pm. Love to all.

And the days are long....

8.40pm- Good evening everyone. There are so many different parts to a day at AC that I sometimes feel like I fit weeks into days. I had a double free this morning so I've been able to work quite a lot today. We discovered that there had been a miscalculation and so I had my last Flute lesson today. I had to rush off at the end to the 1st Years Peer Listening training. The 2nd Years came towards the end of the session with the councillor so that we could have a short Q&A. I remember how excited I felt this time last year and have truly loved being PK Peer Listener. I guess this means my official role is now over but I know it will continue until the end of the year. My two 'little' First Years say they might contact me for advice next year as well....looks like I'll always be a Peer Listener! Hopefully it means I've done a relatively good job and I can't imagine my AC life without it.
    Am going to go back to the house now in the hope that we have Open House. If not, I'll work in the Quiet Room for the rest of the night. Good night. Love to all.

Something of interest....

I just came across this article on the Guardian website about the French film 'La Haine'. We watched it in our French class earlier this year and I would recommend it to anyone. It is very hard-hitting and I would usually refuse to watch such a violent film but sadly it is an integral part of understanding the lives of the people in it. I think it's very interesting that they're planning to base a community project on it in Tottenham, where the London riots started last year. I just hope that it is the right environment to show such a film and that it will initiate the positive dialogue the organisers are hoping for. I hope that it doesn't in any way act as inspiration for some people who may want to emulate acts seen in the film. I guess we would have to hope that the underlying message of attainable positive change will be seen even by those who are least willing to see it. Here is the link if you're interested:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/11/la-haine-screening-broadwater-farm-estate 

The Final Leg

6.30pm- Hello everyone. I came back from Easter Break yesterday afternoon. After catching up with friends I went straight to my carrel unit! I remember when the first day back was relaxed and full of nice chats... seems a long time ago now.  Most people seemed to enjoy Break although it wasn't really a break. Second Years worked a lot and First Years are also revising for their end of year exams. I didn't have Service today as the local schools are off for Easter. After codes I went to the gym as I always feel better after exercising. I've spent the afternoon doing little things that have to be done but aren't actually work or revision. I'm now almost up-to-date with e mails etc. and have booked tickets for my trip to Turkey. My Turkish friends' parents are incredibly hospitable and have organised every part of our stay. I'm so excited to travel to a different country (indeed continent for part of the trip) and experience a culture so very different from my own. I have only ever been to Europe and America therefore this will truly be something entirely foreign to me. It's also very UWC - travelling with friends from various countries to visit the home of one of our friends. I want to see (I know it's very cliche!) the "real" Turkey, not the touristy beach resorts we Brits often associate with it. We will be visiting many important historic sites, sampling the cuisine and also managing to find some time to relax on the beautiful beaches. Before I spend any more time describing my Summer plans, I should get down to work! There is the small matter of the IB to complete before I head off to the sunny Middle- East!  Love to all.

Easter Break

8.30am- Good morning everyone! I am in my carrel unit as my French teacher is ill and we don't have class this morning. There is a virus (or possibly more than one) going around at the moment. Many students are quite ill and some of the teachers have caught it as well. Other than having a slight sore throat for the past couple of days, I'm feeling OK. Luckily I haven't caught any of the viruses that have gone around since I've been here (hopefully I'm not speaking too soon!). One of the downsides of living in such close proximity to others is that illness always travels quickly. I'm going home for Easter this afternoon so hopefully I can get off campus and escape without getting ill.
     I'm really excited to be going home for a break. I'll be back on Tuesday, ready for codes next Wednesday. Most of the First Years are travelling but lots of the Second Years are staying on campus to work. We have the IB in less than a month so it really is time to knuckle down. I will work a lot at home but hopefully have some nice breaks as well.
       The lovely Spring sunshine seems to have ended and the daffodils on campus are all dying. I absolutely love Spring at AC and think it is the best time of the year. It's a shame I didn't get out to really enjoy it as much as I would have liked this year but even the walk to the castle from PK is beautiful on a sunny day.
    I have triple free and plenty of work to do. Happy Easter everyone!

Prom

11.45am- Good Morning! AC Prom was last night. I had a lovely night as I went with some girlfriends and we had lots of fun. Everyone was dressed up and looked amazing so we wandered around for a while taking photos. Prom itself was held in the Dining Hall, which was wonderful as it was the Ballroom when the castle was a private home. We had the chance to learn German Polonaise dancing and then Texan swing from some students before the normal Sosh disco started. Swing dancing was lots of fun as it is all to do with hand movement and spin. Few people mastered it but I guess that was part of the fun!
    I've just had brunch so must get on with some work now. It's another beautiful sunny day and I'll try to fit in a walk to the seafront later. Must also play my flute as I have a lesson tomorrow (early due to Easter break on starting Wednesday). Love to all.