3/29/11- Austria

3/29

Flowers my cousin picked for my grandma

Pretty Austrian landscape :)

Schweden Bomben!

9:30am: I woke up, watched my video diary again, and checked my email.

10:00am: I went downstairs to eat breakfast, packed my bag, charged all of my electronics, and got ready to go shower.

11:00am: I took a shower, changed, etc.
12:30pm: My grandpa and I went to go pick up Maximilian and Theresa from school. Theresa had brought some little flowers to give to my grandma, and I took a picture of them (above). Then, we arrived back at the house and had some delicious noodle-type food in soup, which tasted really, really good. We also had treats called "Schweden Bomben," which are chocolate round desserts filled with cream.
1:30pm: After lunch, we headed off to go to my dad's parents' house. My grandparents have wifi that they let me use (before, I was using a jump-drive-like thing that had five GB on it that cost a lot), so I went up to their living room and checked my email, facebook, etc.

3:30pm: We went to sit in my grandparents' terrace and had some ice cream with my grandparents and parents.

5:00pm: Then, my dad showed me some old electronic devices, like an Apple II and a huge "Portable Computer" (a.k.a. wanna-be laptop), which came with a strap to put over your shoulder because it was really heavy.

5:30pm: My parents and I left to go back to my other grandparents' house. I had a really bad headache, so I took a Tylenol. Then, we got back into the car a bit later to go to Theresa and Mathias's house.

6:00pm: We arrived at their house, had a really good dinner, and then promptly started working on a cool 1000-piece puzzle that they had been working on. It was a picture of a lighthouse and its reflexion in the water. It was really fun, and I had a great time!

9:15pm: It was time to go. :( We went back to my mom's parents' house, and I had a snack there.

10:10pm: I continued to write this diary and downloaded some pictures that I took today, and then worked on my vlog diary.

12:01am: Just finished my vlog diary from today- well, now i can say yesterday already! So I'm just going to rewatch it, make a few changes if necessary, and try to go to bed... talk to you later!
-Cora

3/28/11- Austria

Krapfen!!

3/28

I woke up this morning at around 8:30am and promptly fell back asleep until 10:30, which is late for me and would normally make me feel refreshed and eager to start a new day. Today, however, I felt as if I could sleep another ten hours. Nevertheless, I left to eat breakfast, and then I edited a bit of an old story I wrote a while ago.

Maximilian came to my grandma's house soon after, and we ate lunch. My favorite food that we ate was our dessert: some leftover chocolate cake (AMAZING!) and some Krapfen, which are round, doughy treats that taste like apricot jam and heaven.

Then, my parents left to go out together to Vienna, and I went upstairs to go play piano. One of the songs that I played was called 童话, which is Mandarin Chinese for 'Fairytale.' I sang along and felt immersed in the sad lyrics and the beautiful melody. It's about a man whose girlfriend is sick and is in the hospital, and he's singing this song to her, saying that he'll always be her prince an that together, they can write a new fairytale.

Another song I played was called The Legend of Arundel, which is a wonderful, expressive song. I love the mystery of its title and everything about how the song sounds and feels like as I play each note, each chord, and each measure. As I was playing, the window in my room was open, and the birds outside were twittering happily, and I felt as if I were actually in this mysterious place called Arundel.

When I stopped playing, I sat my the windowsill in my room, feeling the soft curtain against my skin, breathing in the crisp, cool air, looking at the beautiful mountains, hearing the lovely birds singing their many songs, and feeling the strong sun's beams as it peeked out of the clouds every now and then. I sat there, my knees drawn in to my body, and thought about life, and nature, and how too little people actually try to enjoy small moments like these, where nothing must be accomplished, where nothing really matters but the feeling of living. That's why I love to relax from time to time, other than the fact that it's enjoyable. People tend to be too busy in their everyday lives, and sometimes it seems as if everyone should enjoy moments of simple living as well as fulfill their to-do lists, finish all of their chores and errands. There should be room for both in everyone's lives: a balance maintained between the small things that must be accomplished and the larger, more meaningful aspects of life.

If that ^ made any sense to you, I suggest that you read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It's a really good book that touches on some of the things that I mentioned.

****

And now, as the sun's heat comes down on my head- as if it has eyes that are starting me down harshly, and I have to divert my eyes so as to not feel its sharp gaze- I smile, get off the windowsill, feeling as though the sun's burning heat could be an omen, telling me to follow my Personal Legend- to live out my dreams (again, read The Alchemist!)- and write.

****

Then, I left for Maximilian and Theresa's house. Theresa still had homework to do, so I played badminton outside with Maximilian for half an hour until she was ready. Then, we went inside, I showed Maximilian and Theresa the video I had made for them, we played Jenga, and then we went into their playroom, where I took TONS of pictures xD.

After that, I had to go, and when I arrived at my grandparents' house, I had dinner, I made a video version of my diary, and went to bed around 1am the next morning.


-Cora

3/27/11- Austria

3/27

I finished watching the movie and writing the email to Mollie around 1:30am this morning, and I fell asleep until 9 o'clock. Then, I had breakfast, sent the email to Mollie,  thought about my new story idea a lot, had lunch later, and eventually got to looking at the board game I got yesterday, Asara. It said that the instructions were simple, but inside the box, I found a whole piece of paper dedicated to the game's set-up, and then about six or seven pages worth of instructions. *sigh* I started the set-up process, did a sudoku puzzle- it was soo cool! It had little colored boxes, and this time, the numbers 1-9 were in columns, rows, 3x3 grids, AND color!- and then my mom and dad left to go visit an old friend. In the meantime, I worked more on my story idea, played piano for my grandma, and ate dinner. Then, I played UNO and Tabu (regular, not XXL) with my grandparents, and after a few hours, my parents came back, and I headed off to bed. There, I re-watched a few Leverage episodes and did a bit of English and Mandarin homework before finally falling asleep at around 12:30am.


-Cora

3/26/11- Austria

3/26


I couldn't sleep well at all, so I read more of Fang (sooo addicting!!). I ended up falling asleep at around 3:30am, which is pretty late by my standards. Theresa woke up at around 6:30am, which woke me up, so my amount of sleep was limited, and I had a migraine when I woke up.

After lying in bed for a while, feeling horrible, I took a Tylenol, got up, and ate breakfast: cereal and leftover cake. xD

After that, I finished reading Fang, my migraine faded away, and I immediately started Angel, the next book.

Then, my aunt took Theresa and me (Maximilian stayed at his house with his dad) to a store so that she could buy a birthday present for me that I liked. I found a game called Asara that looked interesting, yet slightly complicated. It said on the back that the rules were really simple, though, so I took it nevertheless.

We arrived back home, and my dad was there- he'd been working for the first week of my break.

After I said my hellos to my dad and my farewells to Theresa and my aunt, I had good food, and then I went to my room, read more of Angel. I simply couldn't put it down. My heart was pounding the whole time: I needed to know what would happen next. Maximum Ride is one of my favorite series after Harry Potter, right up there with The Hunger Games. James Patterson is fantastic.

Anyway, after I finished reading Angel, freaking out about how amazing it was, and getting upset about waiting until the last book, which comes out next year and just so happens to be called "The End of Maximum Ride," which makes me wonder if it's referring to the end of the series or the end of her life (because, though everyone dies at some point, it'd be creepy to read about her death), I watched a few of the Bonus Materials for Harry Potter 3. The last one I watched was called Creating a Vision, and it featured J.K. Rowling and Alfonso Cuarón, the director. It was really inspiring, and I got a really cool idea for a story I could write from watching it!

Then, I watched the Harry Potter 3 movie and started writing an email to Mollie, one of my BFFs from school, with a commentary of what I thought about it and basically noting all the parts that I cracked up at, quotes that I adore, etc. If I do say myself, it was pretty awesome.

-Cora

3/25/11- Austria

The playset my grandpa built for my cousins

3/25

It's my birthday! I woke up this morning around 7am and sighed happily. Another year had gone by. I looked outside the window. The sun was shining brilliantly outside, the mountains were in the distance, and everything was simply beautiful. Thinking about the exciting things that I would do today, I fell asleep again until 10am. Then, I had breakfast- bread and apricot jam- read more of Fang, and went to pick up Maximilian and Theresa from school.

****

The little stones on the road crunch beneath my soft boots. Warm air surrounds me, yet a cool breeze blows across my face. The sun hangs brightly overhead, its heat radiating out onto my face.
The breathtaking scenery surrounds me: mountains standing proudly on the horizon, grassy fields around me, and a serene, little town.

I see my cousins walking home from school with my mom, who had caught up with them on their way, and I smile at them. I reach them, they shake my hand and wish me a happy birthday, and I hug them both.

We went back to our grandparents' house, Theresa and I skipping and laughing part of the way, and then we had some delicious food, as usual.

After we ate, Theresa, Maximilian, and I went outside to play in the playset that my grandpa built for Theresa and Maximilian a few years ago. It was so beautiful and warm outside, and I took around 80 pictures and short videos.

Theresa and my aunt, who came back from work around that time, invited me to stay at their house that night, so I packed some of my belongings together.

Then, it was time for my birthday party, which would take place at my aunt's house. I started getting everything ready, and then my other Austrian friends, Mathias and Theresa, who are twins that are around the same age as I am, came over. We started by having cake- there were THREE kinds that my grandma had made- and talking a bit. Then, while the adults stayed downstairs to converse together, my guests came upstairs to play games. At first, it was a bit awkward, but then everyone started opening up, and it was really fun. We played Charades, 20 Questions, Tabu XXL, and a few games that don't really have a name. For example, there's a game in which everyone, in turn, is blindfolded, and has to feel an object and guess what it is. There's another fun game in which everyone gets in a circle around a chocolate bar. Everyone, in turn, rolls a die. If someone rolls a six, that person has to put on an old winter hat and a pair of thick gloves, and then attempt to cut as much chocolate as possible off the bar. In the meantime, everyone else is still passing around the die, hoping to get a six as well- because that means that the previous person at work cutting chocolate must immediately stop and take off the warm clothing and knife. The objective of the game is to get as much chocolate as possible! I ended up winning, though I cut off so much chocolate that I would've never been able to eat that much, so I gave most of my pieces back for everyone else to have.
We also played a game that's probably my second favorite game we played (after Tabu XXL) in which one player gets a picture- of a room, an assortment of objects, etc.- that they must describe as well as possible to the other players, who draw the picture based on what the first player tells them. When the first player is finished explaining, all drawings are shown and compared to the original drawing. It's actually really entertaining: we ended up playing it five times!

Anyway, after a while of having fun, the twins had to leave, and Maximilian, Theresa, and I started getting ready for bed.

3/24/11- Austria

3/24

Note: When I said I was going to bed last night, that didn't really happen. After I wrote that entry, I watched some movie makings and read a few chapters of Fang (the next Maximum Ride book) until 12:40am this morning.

****

I woke up around 9:30 and was really tired, but I nevertheless went downstairs and ate breakfast. I took a shower and a little nap afterwards, completed a few Sudoku puzzles, and soon enough, it was lunch time. I had some delicious pasta with ham and then I studied a bit of Chinese, played piano, played cards with my mom and grandma, etc.

****

Later on, it was time for dinner, and I had some leftovers from lunch and bread and honey. I called my dad, played more cards and watched another Leverage episode with my mom.

****

Now, I'm upstairs in bed and it's almost 11pm. It's dark outside, and the time is ticking by quickly. It's almost my birthday, March 25th. By the time I wake up, I'll already be able to say that I'm a year older. It's just another day, another 24 hours, another little bit of time drifting away. But it's a special little bit of time, and one to treasure. As I grow older, along with everyone else in the world, it just serves as a reminder that everyone is unique: everyone has a moment in their life in which they were born, and everyone has a story: a past that always stays with them, a present that they are living, and an unpredictable future that is yet to come.

The time is still flying by, every future becoming a present, and every present becoming a past. Time is a cycle, one that is everlasting and everchanging. And it's beautiful that way.

3/23/11- Austria

3/23

Guten morgen! Good morning!

I woke up at 5am and lay in bed happily, because I had slept for a good nine hours and almost gotten over my jetlag. I hadn't slept for 31 hours, so I was also glad to get some sleep since I had been completely tired the whole day yesterday.

****

The moon outside is attractive in some way. The moon was full a few days ago, so the moon is still almost full- except for a sliver that seems to have been removed. The sky is a pretty blue, though still dark, and the contrast to the bright white moon is beautiful. I can see the outline of the towering mountains in the distance, but closer are fields of grass that seem to stretch on forever.

****
In the course of the last hour and a half, the sun has risen, and the sky has become much brighter. I can now see a town at the foot of the mountain, and the grassy fields no longer seem to stretch on forever. It's a beautiful sight nevertheless- both peaceful and simple, both majestic and pretty.



****

After a while, I got up and went to eat breakfast, which consisted of bread with jam and cereal. Then, I read a bit of Max (a brilliant Maximum Ride novel), and I changed and rested a bit until my cousins came back from school. We ate more amazing soup as well as pasta with chicken. Then, Maximilian started his homework, and I stayed at the table with Theresa, who had finished her homework. A bit later, my aunt came back to pick them up, since Maximilian wasn't feeling very well.

Then, my grandpa showed us some new additions in his toolshed. He's so organized; it's incredible. He sorted dozens of pieces of wood by their exact length, all of his tools have a place hanging somewhere neatly ... it's really amazing.

Next, I went back inside the house because it was getting windy. I ate an Austrian pancake, which was extremely heavenly, and then I played a card game with my mom, which was really fun. :)

Then, I finished reading Max- which was amazing, one of my favorite books- and my mom and I gave my grandma an early birthday present, and then I went to go play piano with her. Whenever we meet, I show her the new songs I've learned since the last time we've seen each other. There is a clock in the room in which I stay whenever I visit, and it ticks audibly every second. At first, I was too deeply immersed in the songs, and I wasn't paying attention to it, but then I noticed it. I was playing faster than it's ticking, so I couldn't use it as a metronome, but it seemed to nevertheless work out- as if all the sounds around me were creating a beautiful harmony together.

Then, I went downstairs to eat dinner: a bunch of different breads, hams, and jams. Food is SO good!!!

****

Now, I'm lying in bed, looking around the room pleasantly. I have homework, and studying to do, but now I'm just sitting here, enjoying the moment, and relaxing. I'm tired, yet I know that when I will start to fall asleep, I will start to fall asleep. I'll be tired only when I'm tired.

The world is making sense, and I am content. Goodnight, write to you in the morning!

3/22/11- Austria

3/22

Willkommen nach Össterreich! Welcome to Austria!

I just arrived at the Vienna airport after a short flight to Washington DC and then a 8.5-hour flight (during which I tried to sleep, but failed) to Vienna (which is, by the way, Austria's capital). I'm here on vacation just with my mom for the first time; it's always been the four of us. This time, my brother is at college, and my dad's in New York for a business trip. He'll be arriving on the 26th.

I'm in my paternal grandpa's car on the way from the airport to our maternal grandparents' house, where we'll be staying during our two weeks in Austria.

The drive reveals the not-so-scenic parts of Austria- the factories along the highway and dark tunnels that crop up aren't very appealing.

The mountains in the background are pretty, but much prettier the closer you get to them. I love how their bases are dotted with houses in which people live; the lifestyle of so many Austrians is centered around the peaks in which, or near which, they live.

****

After a trip that lasted longer than it normally did (it took 100 minutes instead of the 60 it usually takes), partly due to a traffic jam because of a car accident, we finally arrived. I was really happy to be at home with my grandparents again and then my mom and I unpacked.
Though I was tired, I went with my grandma to go pick up my little cousins, Maximilian (9) and Theresa (10). Since I saw them last summer, they've grown so much- not to mention Maximilian's hair, which he grew out and is now curly.

When we got back to my grandma's house, we ate delicious soup followed by schnitzel (while we ate, Maximilian was talking the whole time, giving us riddles and telling jokes- he's hilarious) and then my mom and I gave our cousins a few presents, which has sort of become a tradition over the years. We gave Maximilian a Lego Technic car to build and a robot made out of K'Nex, a company that he had never heard of before. I gave Theresa a few shirts and a pair of pants, all of which I had either never worn or didn't want anymore, as well as a Playmobil Egyptian set (which, sadly, she had already been given by another friend) and a Fingernail Painting Set with a book of designs that she could make. Both of my cousins were really excited about their gifts.

Then, I started drawing Maximilian when he was three years old (I have a picture that my dad took of him; he was SO cute!!), while Theresa watched me. I can't say that the drawing is amazing, but my face-drawing skills have definitely improved a lot. In the meantime, Maximilian and my mom built his K'Nex robot, which didn't work very well because the batteries in the motor didn't work.

At around 4pm, Maximilian had to go to a music theory test, so my grandma brought him there, my mom went upstairs to sleep a bit, and Theresa and I started playing Tabu XXL, a German game that I absolutely love. My grandma went to buy some groceries- which included some delicious Austrian breads, hams, and salamis.

While my grandma and Maximilian were gone, my paternal grandparents came over and we saw some pictures of their stay in a couple of African countries like Namibia and Zimbabwe, and my mom came downstairs after her rest.

When my grandma came back with Maximilian, Theresa and I put our game away and we all started eating dinner. After a while, all of our guests had to leave, though, so my mom and I said our farewells, I quickly ate an Austrian pancake with apricot jam (amazing!!), and we all started getting ready for bed. My mom and I watched an old episode of Leverage, one of my favorite TV shows, and then after a while we both fell asleep.

2/20/2011- Boston

2/20

Today, I went to the Museum of Science. It was amazing! I went to many different exhibits that were all really well-organized and interactive.

I liked Seeing is Deceiving because I studied Psychology at Oxford Royale Academy for two weeks over the summer, and I loved learning about optical illusions.

Mathematica was really interesting, because it featured lots of different mathematical diagrams and cool 3-D objects that illustrated theorems and other math-related things that people had come up with.

Take a Closer Look was also really cool: it had LOTS of interactive things, as I said before, and it was probably my favorite exhibit.

Underneath the sign above ^, there was a sign that I immediately noticed had replaced the sense "taste" with time... I kind of took a double take...

In another exhibit, I saw a skeleton and I adjusted its arms, which were pointing down, to make it look like he was really happy, because I believe that optimism is just... awesome. xD

We left soon after to get ready to go to the airport and leave. Bye, Boston!

-Cora

PS: Sorry that this was such a short blog post... I hope the pictures make up for it!

2/19/2011- Boston

2/19

I arrived in Boston yesterday, so there isn't much to tell. It was a day of last-minute packing, of waiting, and of flying in airplanes.

Today- while I wasn't reading The Tension of Opposites (by Kristina McBride) eagerly, which I did whenever I had a chance- my mom and I went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

The first exhibit we saw was a display called Minerals, Gems, and Meteorites. The minerals and gems were beautiful and very intricate. Below is a picture of one of my favorites, called Calcite, from England.

Next, we went to the Glass Flowers exhibit, which has thousands of models of plant life, all made from glass! The first picture below is a model of a plant that I thought to look especially life-like, and the second pictures depicts one of the many rows of models that were in the exhibit.

After that, I went to some interesting exhibits on evolution, one about color, and another about arthropods.

Then, we left the museum, got a bite to eat at Au Bon Pain, and endured the cold winds outside for the shortest amount of time possible and took a taxi back to our hotel. Eventually, we met up with my dad, who had been volunteering at my brother's college in the meantime, and he took us to meet up with my brother.

We had dinner there, watched a Fire Arts demonstration performed by some students at the college (in which they twirled around poles, hoops, and chains that were aflame, which looked spectacular), and then we went to my brother's dorm room.

Sadly, though, we had to leave, and we headed off back to our hotel and got a good night's sleep, ready for the next day's adventures. :)

-Cora

7/16/2010- Oxford

7/16

This was the last day of classes. Pretty sad, actually. It was our last full day in Oxford. Read on.




I haven't mentioned this before, but my dormitory at Oxford had five floors, and I just happened to be on the top one. The stairs leading up to them were very steep, and I realized that I went up and down them a LOT, so I started timing my trips in order to see when I'd have to leave to get to meals on time and such. Today, I went up the stairs 9 times and down the stairs another 9 times. 45 flights of stairs up, 45 flights of stairs down every day. That was my exercise while at Oxford. :)



< This is a picture of the stairs from a bird's eye view... I thought it looked cool. :)





In Writing class, we read our stories out loud. Mine ended up being about 2 typed pages, with the title "Escape." Check it out!

Escape
The dark-colored bandana concealing her hair fluttered in the wind as she stepped out of the plane arriving from Athens. The scratchy fabric itched my fragile skin. I found myself wishing for limbs. Anything would be better than just a tail.
We were at an airport. I flew up and down as she walked, her high heels clacking annoyingly. I let out a quick accidental hiss of frustration and recoiled at the sound. She reached her hand backwards towards my friends and I, found me among us all, and squeezed my neck tightly.
End this life, I wished sadly; though I knew it would not be fulfilled. My voice would never be heard. I writhed around in pain, trying to break free of her grip.
She let go. Relieved, I lay down obediently, though I hated it. I hated my life as a slave.
She adjusted her dark sunglasses and marched up to the immigration check, cut to the front of the queue, and filled out the form, her pen flying down the page as if it were a boisterous storm cloud in a stormy night sky. She knew her character well, though it wasn’t even close to the reality of her situation.
I peeked at the words through a tiny tear in the bandana. She just filled out some random nonsense on the card, but I couldn't help imagining myself answering some of the questions on the card truthfully.
Age?
Lost count.
Birthday?
Somewhere around 50 B.C.E., though I can’t be certain.
I hated those things already.
Race?
Snake. I guess I’d fall under “Other.”
Yes, I know. Scream all you want. But I’d really appreciate it if you’d just deal with it.
She cleared her throat, reapplied her lipstick, handed the form in, and walked through the doors without uttering a single word.
I bounced against the other snakes, my fangs scraping at my scales in agitation. My “friends” and I didn’t really get along, but we were fellow brethren: living the same stressful lives, thinking the same horrible thoughts, hoping it could all stop. It was a mutual feeling; one we all knew was present. We all dreamed that one day we’d be free through death, rid of Athena, who brought us here in the first place, and of Medusa’s harassment. She knew we didn’t value our lives, though she constantly abused us, reminding us of our plight, our struggle to remain compliant to her orders.
Medusa was hurrying to the baggage claim area, though she was never in a hurry. You never have to rush if you’re thousands of years old, especially if you have more thousands left to go.
She went up to a man at some sort of a reception desk at the corner of the room. “Where are my bags?” she demanded, her voice still heavy with a thick Greek accent, “I’ve been waiting for hours.”
His eyes left his work. “I’m sorry, miss, you’ll have to wait for your luggage in the claim to circle ‘round.”
That response didn’t please Medusa, little did. She drew him to the side. “Can I speak with you privately?” It was more of an order than a question, especially because her voice was rising, giving way to a threatening tone.
“What’s going on?” His face betrayed fear and his voice quivered as he followed her to a secluded part of an airport hallway.
“It’s over,” she said, scoffing softly as she tilted her sunglasses down. Our cue.
I hated this part. If we weren’t vicious enough, we’d be punished, going through so much pain that we’d shed our skin.
She threw back her bandana and I slithered up with my brothers. Twisting, turning, spiraling, spitting. I wondered if there was a split second in which our victims saw our wrath before their death. They could never understand our masked misery.
We watched him suffering through a spasm of fear, hearing the cracking sound of stone hitting stone, colliding together, and shuddered to ourselves as the shell came together before his face.
No sign of life remained. Poor mortal. All that was left was the horrified expression depicted on the stone face; its parted lips and wide eyes: though they were rendered emotionless, nonexistent.
With the slap of a single hand, the figure shattered into pieces and disappeared into thin air.
I dove into the masses of snakes, hiding from the scene. Though I could still sense everything, distantly…
The problem with Greek mythology was that most stories ended in tragedy, I thought to myself, but what if tragedy is the only way to escape from our dilemmas?
I pushed deeper and deeper through the crowds of snakes, stretching myself as far as I could go, closer towards her neck. I crossed over the other snakes to her arm. She didn’t seem to notice. I had never seen her before, not without her disguise, but I knew that I must in order to destroy my depression, for the life I led wasn’t worth living.
So I jumped, and just glanced at her face for a moment, all of her hideous features glaring upon me, just for a second, and then a sense of dropping.
Falling; down, down, down. And I never stopped.


We gave theoretical "awards" to each other. My class voted my piece as the most original! :)

In Psychology, we analyzed our personalities. (Haha, that sounds really strange....) Apparently, I am an extravert, slightly stable, I barely give in to social pressure, and I'm in between conformity and determination to be different.
Interesting.
We also played a Jeopardy game. Our team, the Gryffindors (I know, it's awesome, right?) won! The other team was being obnoxious, though. *sigh*

For lunch, I had chicken and chips! Next, we headed over to Leadership and Team-building again. We mainly talked and filled out a quick survey about how we liked the class so far. Most people weren't very enthusiastic, since we play childish games a lot.

In our free time, my friends and I went to Michael's Crêperie. I got a DELICIOUS crêpe with Belgian milk chocolate and bananas! They made them directly in front of us... it was amazing.


< This is a crêpe that someone else got after me. I wanted to take a picture of mine, but I had already taken a bite, so it didn't look that amazing ;)






We also went to Ryman's to get Aubrey a folder,  the Stickershop, and Past Times, where I got a new locket.

Dinner was basically the same thing as lunch. After that, we all got dressed up and ready for the graduation and the dance that would follow.
Graduation was really great. Everyone got a graduation certificate that looked like a college diploma, and several people got prizes if they did well in their classes. Aubrey, Sophie, Diana, Megan, and I all got prizes! :) Diana and I both got the Best Presentation Award for Psychology class as well as the two Noble Prize Winner in the Making Prize for Writing Class!

When we left the graduation, I realized that Metodi had gone! He had already left, leaving us a note on the white board telling us that he missed everyone. Ahh, Teddy.

I wasn't excited for the dance at all. See, there was this guy...
It's hard to explain.
Anyway, it wasn't that bad.
My friends and I mostly hung out outside by a bench. I took pictures, we laughed, had fun, etc.

The Evening Shout came afterward, followed by tears and hugs. It was our last night at Oxford.


~Cora

7/15/2010- Oxford

7/15

After a croissant-filled breakfast, I had Writing class as usual. We edited one another's stories that we wrote yesterday.

Following that, we had more presentations, and our teacher gave us an amazing lecture about Personality. We took a test to see what our personality would be classified as. It was great!






Lunch was pretty horrible. I would have loved the food if it were a different kind. We had lamb and noodles, but they were both mediocre in taste. The only thing I liked was my banana. :)

Next, I went on a tour of the Bodleian Library. It was used for the exterior of Hogwarts Castle in Harry Potter, as well as the hospital wing and the library. Then, we had free time, where we got my friend Diana an Oxford sweatshirt, we went to MooMoo's and I got a delicious Oreo smoothie, and I went to Ben's Cookies once more.

Back at the college, we practiced for the talent show that would take place that evening, and then we went to St. Catherine's, the college that it would take place at, which was beautiful and large. It was also surprisingly modern compared to the rest of Oxford. We went to the dining room, which was about twice as big as ours at St. Peter's, though the food wasn't as good as ours.

At the talent show, a lot of people played piano and sang. I sang a song called Going Through the Motions from Buffy. I don't think I did very well, but I tried to shrug it off. Everyone who participated got a cute teddy bear that I named Teddy. It doesn't sound that creative, but the bear was named after a nickname that my friend, Metodi, had.

I finished my homework in bed, finished my milkshake, went back out for the Evening Shout, and then fell asleep once more. :)

~Cora

7/14/2010- Oxford

7/14

I'm going to skip writing about breakfast, lunch, and dinner from now on unless there is something important to mention.

< Though here's a picture of my breakfast today, anyway. :) Milk, of course. My favorite drink.










In Writing class, we started by writing a popular fairy tale in a different point of view. Here was my response:

Once upon a time.
What a strange way to start a tale, especially one of mystery, intrigue, and enchantment.
It tells the reader much, however. It happened once, not repeated, and the time could be any. It is not specific. Just a time, my friends. We can never be certain of anything. Even if the next few words on the page read, "in the 1800s," of if the title reads "The True Story of Something or Other," where's the proof? It is simply a book, my friends. It is simply a book.

Once upon a time.
What a strange way to start this tale.
And yet it is, my friends -- how strange! -- though yet it is.
They leave my side of the story out every time. And don't you dare get into all of that "supporting character" nonsense. Every character deserves their say. Yes, I'm mentioned in the book. But never noticed, always tossed aside, read over quickly as though it doesn't matter.

The posters all say, "Cinderella," with a pile of ashes, or a gloved hand, or a beautiful ball gown. The glass slipper is another popular one. And Ella's godmother's pumpkin carriage.

Did you really think that the godmother could do all that magic by herself? No. It was all my doing, and no one appreciates it.

Do you know who I am yet? Well, what I am, I guess. My mistress always takes credit for my hard work. It isn't fair! It's not like I can do anything to myself, and I can't walk away. And all of that Bippity Boppity Boo rubbish? Don't even get me started.

So Ella's godmother starts waving me around like she's waving to her friend. There's this rippling effect that courses through my spine until it reaches the tip, shoots out a spark of exhilarating light out of my head, and makes something magical happen.

It's hard work being me. And people are ignorant, as if I simply don't exist. As if I don't matter in this world. I'm the reason why Ella became pretty again. That handsome guy would have never fallen in love with her. Besides, he only did it because of her looks, and that isn't how a good man should judge a woman.

My mistress has taken me away. Claimed me as her own. I am not to be owned. She is not magical, and anyone can use me and blurt out whatever nonsense they want. I only performed my Mistress's bidding because I felt bad for Ella. I didn't like the ending, anyway.
And they all lived happily ever after.

Please set me free. I'm not in captivity, and I'm not trapped with no escape that I could arrange myself. I'm simply in the wrong hands.

And they all lived happily ever after.

What a strange way to end a tale.

Though I assure you, my friends, that it is not the ending of this tale.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Except for me.

Hope you liked it! In writing, I also worked on plot work and we had a brainstorming session.

It was raining before psychology, again. Maybe it wasn't just symbolic for yesterday.

In Psychology, we each had presentations to share with the class. They included Illusions, Bi-Polar Disorder, Psychopaths, and Freud. Diana, my partner, and I had a presentation about schizophrenia. I'm glad to say that it went really, really well!

After solving some computer issues on my friend's laptop, I had lunch, and then I thought about a short story that I could write for our Writing class assignment.

Then, I went to Leadership and Team-building class. We talked about the basic qualities of a leader (trust, confidence, honesty, assertiveness, commitment, open-mindedness, the ability to listen to others, etc.), and then we talked about decision-making. Though this is all fairly obvious, the following is what we discussed:

Decision Making:

1. Methods:
1. One person
2. Majority vote
3. Everyone
4. Selected, trusted few
2. Factors at play:
1. Time
2. Atmosphere
3. Importance
4. People (opinions, character)
5. Status
6. Leader's Absence
7. Size of group
3. To Keep in Mind:
1. Balance of Power
2. Fairness of the Decision and the Process

Then, we did an activity in which we were split up in groups and we received a sheet listing the materials we would need on a hypothetical trip to northern Canada. As a team, we had to put in order which items we would need to bring with us. Surprisingly, it was actually fairly difficult to decide what items would be needed most desperately.

After the workshop, we had free-time. We went to Ryman's to get a CD for the talent show, we went to Ben's cookies to get delicious chocolate chip cookies (AMAZING! The best cookie in the WORLD!) Look at the picture! >

We got really messy with them, since the chocolate had completely melted. 

My friends and I were laughing about different languages together. My friend Diana spoke Spanish, Sophie and I spoke German, and Aubrey spoke English. Good times. :)

We went back to the college and I wrote the beginning of my story, which you can read in a later diary entry. (Probably 7/16)

After dinner, we went to the sports hall, and I almost finished the first draft of my story for Writing homework. I had tried to sign up for watching Shrek instead, but there were no more spots for the three of my friends and I, so I went to the sports hall with Aubrey. I ended up actually being glad that I could go to the sports hall afterwards, since I had the chance to almost finish my story that way!

Afterwards, we had the Evening Shout, in which Martin, the director, returned lost items and went over tomorrow's schedule.

Before I went to bed, I checked my email and Facebook, finished my first draft of my story, and then tried to sleep- though it was hard because two of my roommate's friends came to our room and stayed there until midnight while I was trying to sleep.

~Cora