Ubiquitous

On the phone a few days ago…

Me: I’M GOING SHOPPING!
Mum: Sure have fun.
Me: ALSO GOING OUT FOR DINNER!
Mum: Sounds good.
Me: CAN I GET A LAPTOP?
Mum: Yea okay. Call your dad.
Me: *jump up and down*

Ladies and gentleman, how does one convince one’s strict mother the necessity for the above three things - shopping, food, and laptop? Simple, one precedes the conversation with this.

Mum: Hello?
Me: GUESS WHAT?! I GOT INTO UCLA! MY FIRST UNIV ACCEPTANCE WOOOOOOT!!

The end. Go Bruins. Can’t afford it so probably not going there but oh well XD.

Popularity: 100%

Isn’t it odd when an unusually large number of people have their birthday on the same day? Yesterday was my dad’s birthday (along with a handful of classmates’) and my family went to dine at the highest revolving restaurant in downtown Vancouver, called Cloud Nine. Fortunately, we had the first clear day in the past few weeks and got a gorgeous view of Downtown Vancouver, the English Bay, and North Van. It spins quite slowly so the visitors won’t get dizzy - about an hour to go around 360 degrees. I was laughing at my mum because halfway through dinner, she thought she left her purse on the window ledge (only the inner ring spins, the centre and the windows stay still) and nearly had a heart attack. It was under the table, thank goodness .

Later mother dearest was commenting how the view from our own house isn’t bad either.

Mum: YES! I measured the other day, we have a 220 degree view from our balcony!
Me: Mum, you geometry nerd! [she’s an architect LAWL]
Dad: Too bad it doesn’t revolve, maybe you can spin yourself…

My family amuses me. Next week, there are my six mock exams, and I have drawn up the schedules (which I’ll probably never follow but oh well!). Luckily - can one really call this *lucky* - we’re exempt from classes next week and get a note to go home tomorrow telling those IB Parents how their sons and/or daughters will be going through the first ring of hell before long.

IB Coordinator, this cool British Doctorate: You must take this note home to your parents. We don’t want you running around the corridors when you finish your mocks, because people tend to gather in the corridors while classes are still in session.
Me: ZOMG! HE SAYS “CORRIDOR” INSTEAD OF “HALLWAY” LIKE PEOPLE IN HARRY POTTER! *SQUEEE*
My friend: Uh… yes… Crystal…
Rest of class: *thinks* wtf is she on… *goes back to studying calculus*

Gotta love sudden outbursts!

Popularity: 25%

Ah, so the dreaded IB Mock Exam season is upon us. So are the English Oral Exams. So are a bizallion other things. A lot of people are going out of their minds right now walking around dazed holding a thick package of Yeats poems in one hand, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in the other. Basically, the Oral Exam is a mandatory External Assessment. We’re given 18 poems (Yeats and Heaney), 1 novel (Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf), 1 memoir (Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje) and 1 play (Julius Caesar, choices depend on the school). During the exam, we randomly draw a 30-50 line package from the available 80 or so choices, get 20 minutes to prepare notes, and then have 15 minutes to analyze the passage and answer questions. Everything is taped on a cassette and sent to the IB Headquarters in Switzerland. Since I’m in Higher Level English, we’re expected to do about 200% more than the Standard Level people in terms of materials to be covered and depth of analysis. What a pain in the ass. I’m presenting tomorrow at 2:50 pm. DON’T GIVE ME JULIUS CAESAR OR ONE OF HEANEY’S OBSCURE POEMS. THANK YOU.

Has anyone seen the new Macbook Air? I don’t care about its functions and whatnot since I rarely buy Apple products, but look-wise, it’s stunning.

And isn’t the slipcover just adorable?

Haha yes, I’m all into the aesthetics and design!

Here’s how my next few weeks look.
Fri. Jan 18 - English Orals, Physics Test, 2 Labs Due, French Performance
Sun. Jan 20 - Youth Parliament Cabinet Meeting
Mon. Jan 21 - History Paper 1 Due
Wed. Jan 23 - Math HL Test on Solids of Revolution (Calculus)
Fri. Jan 25 - NO SCHOOL, STUDY!!
Mon. Jan 28 - University Alumni Interview AHH!
Tue. Jan 29 - Math HL Mock Exam, History SL Mock Exam
Wed. Jan 30 - English HL Mock Exam, French SL Mock Exam
Thur. Jan 31 - Chemistry SL Mock Exam
Fri. Feb 1 - Physics HL Mock Exam, Math Portfolio Assignment (Wow, in one week, about 80% of our term mark is decided!)

Surprisingly I haven’t been over-the-top stressed. Other stressed people are keeping me sane. And to finish off with a quotation…

Math HL Teacher: —–, you’re sleeping in my class again. Did your girlfriend keep you up last night?! *roars of laughter*
Student: *quietly to self* No, I was having a Menage A Trois with Yeats, Mrs. Dalloway, and Julius Caesar.

Ahh… gotta love math class!

Popularity: 23%