School

Ill do school first before i talk about Borland Lodge year 13 retreat because I am at school right now.

current location: southland boys high school library
time: fourth period (my free period) 1:21 pm

School is way different then i expected it to be from america. School works like this: there are five periods in a day with a tutor period inbetween 1st and 2nd and 4th and 5th(kinda like homeroom but you just read for about 15 minutes and its a few kids from each grade in there) and there is an interval break (its like morning tea here) inbetween 2nd and 3rd for about 20 minutes. lunch is between 3rd and 4th, so you can see that there is a significant break inbetween each period. very confusing my first day when no one told me this and all i had on my time table was 5 periods. all year 13 get a free period each day too, and the classes shift around each day so that ill have all of my five classes 4 times a week. if you took away all the breaks that we get here and lunch, we would get out at like 12. they seem a little unnecessary and completely SUCK if you dont know anyone... my first 2 days of school. Now its completely different now that i know the majority of my class, i now fnd school awesome. Also my first days i realized that you are allowed to just leave school for lunch or if you have a free period. now its great but the first days i just saw everyone from year 13 just walk right off campus and i was like well wtf am i going to be doing. And being the big lamo i am, i just went to the library and chilled. first 2 days like i said, not very good. we also have assemblies once a week on thursdays that take the place of our second tutor period. And another juge difference here is that there are no bells, none. ok well thats a little lie. they only have 2. one for when interval is over and... actually i think that might be the only one. teachers here just release you when the time is over.

my classes:
PE-fun
catering- awesome!
calculus-easy and i like it
geography- boring and easy, but i think itll get better
media studies- i really like it and its easy

all of my classes are very easy and have minimal work. it could just be because i am comparing it to my old school which i was taking 5 ap classes and it was very hard to keep up with sometimes. On the other hand I LOVE catering. you just get to go in there and the teacher (who is a really good chef) has up a recipe and all the ingredients and you just make the food. today we made savory scones with bacon onion and tomato. they were so good and i was pleased with my work. a very nice snack for interval. more people eat durring interval than they do at lunch it seems like. i have also been lucky enough to meet people that are able to drive me off campus for lunch which is fun.

side note- here you get a learners permit at 15 and when yout turn 16 you can get a restricted license which you can only drive by yourself. and if you get caught taking anyone then you get a major fine. people here take this very seriously. and it is at eith 16 1/2 or 17 which you get your full liscense. luckily everyone in year 13 is at least 17 so i have no problem.

Cussing is way more exceptable here. I here the f word, c word, and all the other ones so often here now that it just seems like regular language. even adults and at nice places, and teachers to students and students to teachers!! its just not a big deal at all.

there are houses here just like in harry potter. I am in pearce house which is traditionally known as the "shit house." there is a massive day here called sports day where all the houses i think there are 6 compete against eachother in a lot of athletic events. pearce has never won so i hope that changes. ok i got to go to my next class