Our Christmas Tree!

Take a look our Xmas (Is it that time of year again?) Tree: 

We tried really hard this Year, and I think it looks good. Although the picky side of me thinks this festive Tree suffers from a bad case of TMSOI (Too Much S*it On It!). We had a great time putting it up though, we had the Disney Music on and everything! Too bad the Snow didn't hit though, I looked on the Weather forecast and while  everything around us is a Frosty/Blizzardy (not an actual word I know) mess, we're pretty much in the cold sun for tomorrow! Check it out here: http://france.meteofrance.com/france/meteo?PREVISIONS_PORTLET.path=previsionsdept%2FDEPT56%2F. So still no SNOW! GOD Dammit! Once we out up the Tree, we all sat down to watch Robert Zemekis's retelling of that good old Xmas Carol! It was pretty good actually (Lets hope Doctor Who can do it better!). Then of course Dad got all tempered with me, I put the Xmas lights on the Tree up BEFORE he could play the Disney Xmas Music (He likes the lighting of the Xmas Tree to be a 'Traditional' Ceremony! 

 

....But other than that it was quite an entertaining evening!

This Week In School: ITS VERY COLD!

If you're expecting a very long paragraph explaining why School sucks, then this Blog post isn't for you: School was rather relaxed this Week, few Tests, great results and Freezing temperatures.

Seen as we're just about to put up the Xmas tree, I'll keep this one relatively short.

Monday started off well with four (yes four!) Art Tests Results: 8/10, 8/10, 8/10 and yes, another 8/10 for my Art masterpieces (in other words: just drawing comics with stick men)! This Weeks task was to create a map from the College to our House and retracing our steps (every day you follow the same basic path to get to the School, this is supposed to showcase that) via dotted line. (UNRELATED NOTE: I'm currently typing next to father who is currently sound asleep and snoring his head off!). The Maths Test didn't go well, I got the definition right but when it came to application, I failed. 2/5. In Geography we have just started our first chapter on Europe, and I'm currently trying to remember the names for all the countrys, as surprise, surprise, WE'LL GET TESTED ON IT!

Tuesday was okay...apart from the fact that my alarm clock went off an Hour early and I lost alot of sleep! Not the best thing walking into School knackered seen as you have both a French and Maths Test in just a few Hours time! The French Test was a bit dodgy (as expected)....not looking forward to seeing that result! But surprisingly the Maths actually went pretty well and I got a 4,5/5! Don't really know how I did that....

Wednesday was fine, I really tried my best at the High-Jump this time, and I made it to Level 4 (although the rope was put a little bit lower than last time so Its probably the same). And the Teacher gave us our score for this Trimestre: Baseball = 12/20 Endurance = 12/20 Overall score: 12/20. 

Thursday was pretty good Overall (apart from F*CKING Ping-Pong, but I've already talked enough about that!) I got 18,5/20 in the German Test (much better than my previous 7,5/20!). In Music I scraped a awesome 27,5/30! My score was 16,75/20 overall for this Trimestre (my second best score!) but sadly didn't make Top of the Class because a GIRL (of all things) beat me to the punch by 0,75! I'll get her next time...

Oh, and one more thing: SNOW! It was a blizzard out there! Unfortunatley by the time the bell rang it had all stopped...which is just my Luck! 

Friday was a bit boring (terrible frost and the road was still icy, don't know how the School bus got through that!), nothing happened apart from a bad S.V.T Test and garnering a incredible 17/20 in Science! Luckily this time I'm Top of the Class with an overall score of 16,65/20! I think there's going to be alot of 16's and 17's in my report card this Year...

And that was this Week. Pretty boring really...

P.S

Merlin was so AWESOME LAST NIGHT! Morgana (that bitch) was crowned King of Camelot, OH NOES!!!!!!!

This Week In School: Education sure is hard work!

God, mentally right I am just sooo tired. And I'm not really that sure why, perhaps its just because I've just experienced my first 'full Week' after the Halloween Holidays. It wasn't exactly Test ridden either (Test count for this Week has only hit the 5-O-Meter), but I have been working pretty hard, that German conversation that I had to create took me about two hours Homework total (and THANK THE LORD for the English-German Dictionary!), and I had to scrap the original one (far to difficult to translate) and start anew (more Homework, yay). I can't say it was a bad Week though, in fact, pretty much everything I've done this Week has been of (I really do hate to boast!) really, really high quality. 

Monday was okay until Maths, and, as expected I got a measly 6/20 (NOTE: This is the Test BEFORE the last Maths Test so I'm still safe from being held behind in Detention). Can't say anyone else in my Class fared better, I heard the Teacher say that six out of the nineteen people in my Class got 0/20! In hindsight though it was probably a necessary loss because I really tried to get my act together for the next Test, and I can now say it payed off.   

I went back after Lunch feeling really down (I was so consumed by my down-ness that I didn't even notice that pile of Dog-crap in front of me...SPLAT! Mum practically blowtorched my shoes afterwards), but that faded away as soon as I set my eyes on the History Test Result: 18,5/20 WOW! I couldn't nitpick it this time, I got one question wrong fair-and-square! Besides I'd be a fool to not be happy with this Test, I might rub a bit after a 16/20 but a 18,5/20? Nahhh no hardfeelings this time, COS THATS A GRRRREAT (ala Frosties mascot)...RESULT. French had a silver-lining as well, the Teacher has postponed the next Test (which was originally scheduled for Tuesday) to next Monday! YAY! There's something to...not...look...forward too. 

Tuesday was fine, the English Test went well, another 20/20 in my belt (why do I even count this as a subject? At least I've got a lesson were I know that absolutely NOTHING can go wrong!). The German Test after lunch, which was a 2nd chance on the previously failed Test from last Week, went extremely well (So far, I think I've only got about 3 mistakes in the whole Test!). It was exactly the same, so I only had to fill in the blanks from memory. So how about we just forget that last Test...*SETS IT ON FIRE, ERADICATES IT FROM MEMORY*:

 

With the memories of last Week having been completely eradicated, I walked into School on Wednesday with a pretty high esteem level. I didn't quite fare too well in the High-Jump this time, the Teacher would play a game where you would try to jump without touching the rope, and if you failed you will then have two goes to get it right before ELIMINATION! My Class was pretty mean, they would boo and hiss at anyone that didn't make it. Anyway, he would put the rope higher every time, obviously making it harder. I survived without a single scrape until Level 3, where my foot had managed to brush against the rope ever so slightly...after three goes I was out (Reaction from the Class: BOOO!). In the first round, three of my Classmates were eliminated (all Girls), In the Second round no one got eliminated, in the Third round I was eliminated, in the Fourth Round two got eliminated (all girls as well), in the Fifth Round, one person got eliminated (a boy) and in the Final Round I think all made it par one (again a Girl). I don't think I could have standed a chance against beating the last one as the height of the Rope was up to my waist! The small French kids had somehow managed to jump nearly TWICE their height, and they did a backflip before they hit the mat! Say what you want about small people, but in France they're made of STEEEEEL! Technology was much better (finally something I don't suck at) and got rewarded with a welcome 9/10! In case you're wondering, the -1 was due to bad Spelling and I had to messily rub out a few mistakes for a few questions. Come on man, why can't you just gather the guts to give me a 10/10? *SIGH* 

Thursday was mostly a hoot, the Music Test went along smoothly (I had to really revise my ass off on Wednesday night!). Again I can only spot three mistakes, I forgot the names of two Instruments + a insufficent enough answer for one Question. I think with three mistakes I've really set the bar HIGH this time! I mean, how perfect can you get (again, hate to get all boast-y)? And, seen as the time had finally come, I had to stand up in front of the German Class with my Co-Partner to recite our well learnt German. I don't recall much from memory, but apparently everyone in my Class (including the Teacher) now seem to think that I speak really convincing German! The Teacher called it "A new Talent" or something (NO KIDDING!). Sport did seem to be the thorn in a nearly perfect day, with F*CKING PING-PONG! GOD DO I HATE THAT LITTLE PLASTIC BALL! First of all the table is far too small, even if I do manage to hit the bloody ball it just goes flying off the table and bounces all over THE GOD DAMNED PLACE! Secondly, who in the right mind thought that this was going to be a good Sport? Or perhaps its just because I suck at it...But the paddles just seem so uncomfortable in my hands, it doesn't feel right, yer know? I genuinely don't think my Body was built to do Sport!

 

Friday was cool, the Maths Test had me dripping with sweat throughout it though! In a bizarre, out of this World, completely bat-shit crazy twist though...I FINALLY GOT A GOOD MATHS TEST! NO, SERIOUSLY! Yes people, I managed to scrape a 15/20 in a Maths Test! No kidding! *PARADES AROUND THE STREET, SCREAMING VICTORY*. Anyway, the Science Test went really well also, cementing this Week as something that will probably go down in my TOP TEN SCHOOL WEEKS OF ALL TIME just for the sheer amount of good Results I've had. I did take away six hours of my life for Revision though....

And before I type the last words, can I just say that I am completely and utterly scared out of my wits right now: The Science Teacher announced to us that in January, after the Xmas Holidays, we are going to fill in what they call a "Brevet Blanc". Now this is basically a gigantic Test, taking place over two-and-a-half days that will cover EVERYTHING I'VE DONE IN SCHOOL FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS! Oh. My. God. Three Years? For nearly every subject? *FAINTS* Basically, I have now somehow got to revise and learn over THREE YEARS worth of material! I can't even remember what I learnt last Week, let alone three years ago! How am I going to remember that? Let alone have enough time to revise for it? I'll be playing with all my Xmas prezzies in the Holidays, I won't (and quite frankly shouldn't) have the time to Revise for all that! I can learn something off by heart for a Test that will take place the following day, but once its over and I have to fill my brain with more useless Definitions/Video Games/Movies/Historic Facts/Maths Equasions/Three Different Languages it kinda gets all chucked out for all the new stuff to fit in...Basically I'm not exactly looking forward to January! Well, thats the School recap of the Week done - Tim.

    P.S:

Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith....the Series 4 Finale was one of the better SJA Episodes me-thinks. The second part was quite action packed for a Kids T.V Show, and got a little teary eyed towards the end of Part 1 and 2! Not to mention some geat Special Effects shots: Hundreds of Meterorites falling to Earth, The Giant Stomach, Clyde trapped in outer Space ect.... Overall it was 50 minutes of what I could have mistaken for prime time telly! Goodbye for another Year, SJA! 

P.P.S K9 WAS IN IT AS WELL! THATS A PLUS!

Doctor Who - Christmas Special Preview!

                    


OMG! Seems like Doctor Who is doing a Christmas Carol 'themed' Xmas this year! Very interesting indeed, it doesn't really explain alot though...Are they on another planet? Future Earth? Whats up with the flying shark? Why is Catherine Jenkins cryo-frozen? Why can we see Roman (Auton?) Rory and Amy dressed up in her Police outfit? Why is Amy on a ship (Spaceship?)? What's with the whole 'Christmas Time can be Rewritten' tagline? Why does the Doctor come out of the Fireplace in a burst of flames? Whats with the little boy and all the pods? Why? Why? WHY? From the Trailer, it seems this is going to be another one of those complicated, head-ache inducing but action packed Xmas Episodes! CAN'T WAIT!

The Apprentice

Ahhh the Apprentice. I remember when I was watching Red Nose Day one Year, and it was pretty late, I think everyone had gone to bed. Why was I staying up so late? So I could watch Part 2 of the Celebrity Apprentice that had been shown the previous 4 hours. You know these charity marathons, they do this big list at the start of the show saying who is gonna preform, what parodys/crossovers they're gonna do ect... And all the things you want to see are right at the end, but they don't tell you that do they? Instead you have to watch the whole thing wondering when the hell the Doctor Who themed whatever is coming on. So I was waiting patiently for David Tennant to show his face again when they did the Celebrity Apprentice gig. It had Allan Carr, Jonathon Ross, Ruby Wax and some other nobodys trying to win the then (now Lord/Sir/Baron) Sir Alan Sugar's approval. I think they had to create a children's toy or something (it was a while ago) and Alan Carr was the one that got Fired at the end. It was split into 5 minute segments and was scattered across the night, and of course (me the sucker that I am) I stayed up late to watch all of them well into the night! I loved the whole "YOU'RE FIRED" thing at the end of the "Celebrisode" and I genuinely thought it was pretty good. 

I also created an interest into the show Dragons Den that night, but thats another Story. Anyway, when the new Series of the Apprentice aired, I sat down by the old telly and watched each Episode week-on-week. To be honest, I think its alot like Big Brother except more Buisness related. Alot of its popularity is due to the now infamous Alan Sugar as well as the wacky idiotic contestants that come every Year: At the Start of every Series, you get a montage of all the contestants saying how good and qualified they are, exchanging awful puns and weird catch phrases ("Buisness is like sex for me" or "I think out of the box, if I was an apple pie, the apples inside would be Orange!") and you just know that by the end of the Episode they will make complete £$%@s of themselves! All they say is how good they are, but half the time they just make plain dumb decisions! I mean sure, the tasks all have to be done in a matter of 24 hours, so creating, making and selling a product in 24 hours isn't exactly the easiest thing to do but these people are supposed to be the elite buisness people hand picked by Sir (sorry, Lord) Sugar out of thousands and they can't do crap! In one of this Series episodes, one of the candidates literary turns down the offer of exlusivity to one of the biggest retail stores in the UK! Hello?! In a task where you have to round up the most orders possible for a product and you turn down that offer? What was going through your head at the time? So basically you 
watch it to see the candidates %$£@ up and for Lord Sugar (I finally got it right this time) to really give them a piece of his mind in 'the board room'. And boy does he: I just love looking at his expressions every time one of the candidates opens his or her mouth to say something stupid. These are desperate people and they will say anything to get them out of being Fired (one candidate has to be 'fired' at the end of each show, and it continues until you're down to the last five). They stab each other in the back like you wouldn't believe! Its so funny to watch them act all nice until the board room and then just tear they're so called 'friends' to shreds. Although their are a few exceptions, some of them seem genuinely nice people but can't help being (seemingly) as dumb as a stick. Alex Epstein (pictured right) was someone that I really liked but he might just as well have put the firing gun to his head there-and-then! Check him in action here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9jHrwdlIuA, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg7NKTZjpys. Unfortunately, he was the one in the firing line this week and I was really sad to see him go. See his departure in this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3Z7XtzbSyg&feature=related. This series has been really funny for the most part, although not as good as last year but the candidates are just as funny as ever. Personally I'm rooting for Chris or maybe Stella to be in the final two. As far as competent buisness people go, they are the favorites (also, is it just me, but does Chris look like Christopher Nolan, the guy that directed The Dark Knight and Inception?). Anyway, pitted against the soley buisness approach to Dragons Den, the Apprentice wins for me, just because of Sir Alans insatiable temper and the funny contestants! It should be very interesting to see where this series goes, me' thinks. Right now, The Apprentice, Merlin, The Sarah Jane Adventures (whose Finale is vastly approaching, and looks pretty good, so catch it this Monday and Tuesday at 5.15pm English time!) and Doctor Who (the Christmas Special has now been confirmed to be titled "A Christmas Carol" which is just about the least original Christmas title imaginable!) seems to be the only shows that I dedicately watch right now. Doctor Who still reigns supreme for me, although Merlin and the Apprentice are quickly catching up. So apart from these shows, TV pretty much bores me now, and anything else I do is either surfing the web and doing Homework! Thats it from me, but watch out, because Sir Alan is waiting for you....

This Week In School

 
Because of Armistice day and some "other" Christian holiday the School was kind enough to let us off both Today and Yesterday. YAY! So I'm kinda in a 'mini holiday' right now which is pretty neat seen as I've only just come back from another Holiday! As much as they (arguably) overwork us you can't complain about all the Holidays. Good thing too, as Mon-Wed this week was a bit mixed overall. 

German is our first subject on Mondays, and remember that BIG Test last Thursday? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the catastrophe that was *SHUDDERS* 7,5/20 (or 15/40 either way its pretty hirendous)! My class didn't fare too well either...
I made practically EVERY mistake in the book, from spelling mistakes to bad grammer to, well everything! I EVEN GOT THE BLOODY DATE WRONG! The teacher was surprisingly calm with us, and she even gave us a second chance: we're going to have EXACTLY the same Test next week, so all I have to do is learn the corrected Test and I'm guaranteed to get a really good score. So lets just forget THAT travesty as if it never happened...
Next we had a Technology Test, and went spiffingly well (as usual), so no surprises there. The subject matter was boring though, we had to name 3 types of lamp bulbs (i.e LEDS...) and give a justification for each one (ex: LEDS don't take up alot of power but exudes alot less light ect......) so very boring but you just have to learn it and then your guaranteed a good result. After that I got the longly awaited Art Test Result: a good 15,5/20 which I think was the best in the Class! But of course Maths had to ruin it...
Although she hadn't yet corrected all the Tests, she assured us that so far, only THREE out of the NINETEEN people in my Class had a score above 10/20! She then said that she had showed the Tests to the Headmistress and, because the Results had been so atrocious that ANYONE in 4eme with terrible Results in Maths will be, as she put it: "Invited into her office, as well as being offered a place in the Homework class (after school, students who want to can stay behind for another hour doing their homework) and will stay untill they know their Maths off by heart, as the Class clearly doesn't revise enough! Also, because you refuse to work at home...you will now have a short Maths Test every day untill you get your act together!" So, as you can imagine...I was pretty much shitting my pants! We then had to write on a piece of paper why we have had bad bad Maths Results, whether or not we revise for the Tests, our attidude in Class and so on....
So as you can imagine the Maths teacher is cracking down very hard on our Class. I think in general, my Class hasn't exactly been top of the leader board on their Results. In short, I had better get my act together in Maths or I'll be stuck in Homework Class, ARGGHHH! Maths has basically become a living hell now for us!
After lunch, we had an English Test (another 20/20 no doubt), which is still the easiest thing alive.
History was mainly an entire lesson dedicated to preparing you for the big Test on Tuesday. Which was very handy, as the Teacher had said exactly what to learn, how to answer a question properly ect...
French was just doing a stack of French related-exercises and FLE pretty much the same.
So that was Monday, of course I was revising my ass that night as we had the Maths Test (I spent two solid hours alone learning Maths off by heart) and the big History Test.

Tuesday started (of course) with Maths, which simply consisted of us writting down on a piece of paper a Definition. Except she wasn't really that precise on what Definition we had to write (I can't remembeer whether she had asked for a precific definition) so I just wrote down one of (the many) I had leant the previous night. Fingers crossed that I don't get a bad Result. Cos if not...I just hate to think about it!
History was next (two Tests in a row...horay!), and I literary finished it SECONDS before the bell went! I didn't even have time to check if I had made any spelling errors but at least I knew that what I wrote was correct. Phew. No doubt she'll take a few points off for something but I know that I at least did good.
Everything else was fine, except in German we had an unusually sharp leaning curve! We have quite literary gone from learning the basics of the language to writing a full blown conversation that now has to be acted out (in front of the Class may I add) and pronounced correctly! And we weren't even allowed to use 'simple' words, it had to be a proper conversation and be at least 30 phrases long! I decided to write it in French first and then put it all into Google translate (which I have yet to do).


Wednesday was okay, in Sport we are now doing High-jump (so high jump on Wednesdays and bloody Ping-Pong on Thursdays) and was really easy because (obiously) I'm so tall and I barely had to jump (more like step) over the line! When the Teacher put the rope higher though it did get a bit difficult!


Thats Mon-Wed then. Maths is just a living nightmare now and I did make a mess out of the German Test, but overall I suppose it went well...
The end of the first Trimestre is nearly upon me, (two weeks time I think) and so far with the exception of Maths and French I think will be quite a positive report. Or at least it should be, because I've worked my ass off!

Last few days in School....

                     
                           Nice pic of me hanging out with 'Fluffy' last night.


Well It can't technically be called "Last Week In School" because we came back to School after the Holidays on Thursday....

Well it couldn't have started off worse to be honest, I have been suffering from a nasty sore throat and was pushed into School jacked up on painkillers and barely awake (I did not sleep well at ALL Wednesday night, had the highest temperature known to man and that god damn sore throat that hurt every time I swallowed). I hadn't left the house for five days and STILL somehow managed to catch malaria! Of course, the day had to start off with a Maths Test (seriously, whats up with all these Maths Tests?)! It should have gone fine (I had revised hard the previous night) but fell to pieces because I, like the IDIOT that I am revised for completely the wrong thing! I somehow had managed to write down in my book that I had to revise for Chapter 1 in Maths when you actually had to revise for Chapter 2. OOYS! I fell and hit the ground hard as you can imagine, another casualty for the already limping Maths, and the irony was that if only I had learnt Chapter 2 it would have been the only Maths Test that I could have had a good shot at to finally get a respectable score! Poor, poor Maths. Tears and throbbing throats aside, I then went into Sport. Now I hate Baseball and Endurance, but at least I'm good at them, Ping Pong (aka table Tennis) is just about the only Sport that I truely SUCK at. Trying to hit that pong ball is like trying to score 20/20 in a Maths Test (I pray for the day)! And why does it have to be table Tennis? Why not regular Tennis? We've got a Tennis court, so why do we have to do this crap? Trying to catch that ball after it bounces off the table is like performing an obstical course, with it bouncing under other tables, hitting walls and going in the other direction and its path just generally being completely unpredictable! Its hell trying to catch that thing! After that travesty, I went into S.V.T. That Test that I thought went well didn't end up with the Result I was expecting (I got a meagre 12/20, could have been 13/20 but of course I had to spell a few words wrong!), but at least the lesson was interesting (for once), we were studing volcanoes and had to write a short text about the infamous Pompeii fiasco. Volcanoes are cool, mainly because they make great material for Hollywood blockbusters (you only have to see 2012 to be blown away by those great special effects). 

After lunch (having spluttered down a bowl of soup, which tasted like acid with my sore throat and getting jacked up on MORE awful fizzy painkillers), we had another MASSIVE Test in German. Graded out of 40 points, it covered six pages and contained just about every single thing we have looked at in the past few Months, which just by sheer size alone made it impossible to remember EVERYTHING. I filled in a good portion of it, its just another one of those you-either-know-it-or-you-don't  Tests. I skipped a few things, with a few examples of that time when the answer is on the VERY tip of your tongue, but it just doesn't really form in your mind (its so faustrating when that happens! But you can't just write "It begins with a W" can you?). My multi-languistic brain was in overload, as when the Test asked you to translate the German phrases into French you mentally have to translate that into THREE differant languages. MULTI-TASKING OVERLOAD! A bit overwelming, but I should at least get 20/40, which wouldn't really harm my Trimestre Results because I already have a perfect 20/20 in German. After School on Thursday it was pretty much more painkillers and sleep! 

I had developped a headache AND a cold/cough by Friday, adding to my growing list of symptoms (both quite minor, and my nose is starting to clear up a bit now). I must have had every disease known to man by then! I STILL managed to walk into School, although I was careful to stay away from people just in case I infected anyone and turned them into a Zombie! I normally avoid them all anyway, so it wasn't a major change. Friday was okay, the only thing worth noting was my Science Test, which garnered a respectable (although the teacher could have given more) 16/20. I lost four points because I spelt kg and m3 with capitals when they were supposed to have been in lower case, not bothering to draw every single molecule in a syringe (which would have taken ages, and I only had 50 minutes to do the Test) and getting -1,5 because despite writing everying neat and tidy, screwed up on ONE question and had to scribble it out (they take points off if you write scruffy) and getting a Maths question wrong (you had to calculate the mass of air in a container). Apart from the Maths question, I consider most of the mistakes a bit nitpicky and could have garnered a well deserved 18/20. SIGH, Its almost impossible to get a 20/20 in France nowadays!



In other News, I have just watched the latest Episode of Merlin (with my dog Obelix pictured above and below, who enjoyed it as you can clearly see), and quite enjoyed it, and it seems to be really campaigning against Doctor Who. I now liken it to sort of a Medieval DW now. Although the hole "trying to kill the king with seemingly no reason" plot is really a bit tiring now! A bit of variety please?


Well this ends my recap, and I swear that if I see another 'GOD DAMNED PAINKILLER, I THINK I MIGHT JUST SCREAM!!!!'