Konbanwa, minna-san!
It's over. It's finally over. Semester One has finally ended!
We made it through the semester, with a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Congratulations, everyone!
Since today was the last day of classes, we had a party in ICS. The funny thing was, no one brought any plates, so we had to substitute napkins for them! It's okay, though.
Mr. Arkin brought in a big, rectangular chocolate cake. It was delicious! There were also chips and chocolate, which I happily snacked on. And, of course, Zarin-dono brought in her yummy cream puffs! (What's a party in ICS without her cream puffs? *smile*)
While we socialized, everyone's Culminating Activities were up so we could walk around and take a look at them. I was acting a bit drunk, yelling out "67 pages in three weeks! We did it!" to anyone who happened to take an interest in my group's manual. Ha... That's okay, ne?
It is also Zarin-dono's birthday today! She got embarassed whenever someone wished her happy birthday - how cute~! Teehee~
I spent the period drawing something for her. I hope she likes it!
In my English and Science classes, we prepared for the exams.
After writing two practice exams in English, I think I'm well-prepared for the actual one on Monday
afternoon. I have no idea how one can study for the English exam - which is basically writing an essay. So, I plan on going over the handout Ms. Fisher gave us regarding compare/contrast essays and review what happened in each of the literary texts we read before the exam.
In Science, we did a quick review of all four units - Chemistry, Ecology, Electricity and Astronomy. Mr. Pourkhatai gave us an idea of what would be the major focus on the exam. I plan on going over all my Science notes vigourously before thursday.
On the other hand, we wrote our listening exam in French. I found it pretty easy, and I'm confident I will get over 95%. Next year, I plan on taking Latin. It'll help me a lot with my writing, plus I've been planning on learning Latin since Grade 5. (I just never got around to doing it. Ha...)
After exams are over, I plan on creating a LJ account to put my fanfics up. I already have one on FF, but the quality or those on LJ are much better; and I hope to join their ranks. I also plan on drawing a lot more! I have art next semester, so that'll be sure to happen.
I want to become a PP editor - preferably for the Literature section. I'm going to dedicate more time to my writing as well.
Anyways!
My exam schedule is as follows:
Monday
- English @ 1 PM in the Caf.
Wednesday
- French @ 9 AM in S2
- ICS @ 1 PM in 105
Thursday
- Science @ 1 PM in the Caf.
I'll be sure to study this weekend, but right now...I'm just going to take a well-earned nap!
Thanks for the great semester, everyone! Now...we just have to tackle the exams!
---
Current Music: Anti-Paradichlorobenzene - Len and Rin Kagamine
(I actually like Len's version better, but this is amazing as well.)
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
In which we all breathe a sigh of relief...oh, wait, not yet.
Konbanwa, minna-san!
In case you were wondering, I just spent the last three hours writing an exam review for Science. Why? Well, Mr. Pourkhatai asked us to. Or, well, no, he assigned it for homework. I feel sorry for whoever gets mine. Ha! They'd better appreciate it, because right now, I'm exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open!
Tonight everyone is scrambling to finish their Culminating, including my group. We are basically done; all we have to do is add in the exercises and finalize everything. So far, there have been ten versions of the manual, all of them with major differences.
A few problems we had were the screenshots and the answer keys. It took forever to write the answer keys; probably because no one wanted to take the time to do work that seemed like homework. Well, I ended up writing the answer keys for the quizzes and part of the exercises. As for the screenshots, we had to remake them because the file name was "Unnamed #1". According to Mr. Arkin, it wasn't professional. There was some confusion about that, but I ended up making all of those as well. Hmm.
I think we should modify our page on the VPCA Wiki so that it's more specific as to who did what. Honestly, I can't remember every exact detail, but I'd like to give a guideline so Mr. Arkin will have a clearer idea of how to dole out the marks. Right now, it just says "collaboration" if more than one person worked on it.
Tomorrow is the last day of Semester One. Can you believe it? It all passed so quickly. Exams are next week, and after that, Semester Two will begin. I won't see Mr. Pourkhatai, Ms. Fisher, Mr. Arkin or Mr. Vretranos anymore; and that saddens me. To tell you the truth, I really disliked Mr. Pourkhatai at first, but now, I'm actually okay with him. He's pretty funny! I will miss Mr. Vretranos a lot - he's my favourite teacher at VP (Sorry, Mr. Arkin!). Next year, I plan on taking Latin, so if that works out, I'll get him as a teacher again. Hooray! *smile*
It was a great year--er, semester--with Mr. Arkin. Although Mr. Vretranos is my favourite teacher, ICS is my favourite class because I have so much fun in it! It's where I met Zarin-dono, and we're really good friends now. (By the way, her birthday's tomorrow. I'm going (attempt) to draw a bishie for her. Shhh! It's a surprise!) Mr. Arkin is also pretty funny, and he can teach much better than most of my other teachers. I'll miss him, too.
As I sit here writing this blog entry (and arguing with Andy about whether tea or coffee is better), I'm also reflecting on the past five months. This start to high school has been amazing, and I'll never forget it.
---
Current Music: Nishiki no Mai - Gakupo Kamui and Gakuko
In case you were wondering, I just spent the last three hours writing an exam review for Science. Why? Well, Mr. Pourkhatai asked us to. Or, well, no, he assigned it for homework. I feel sorry for whoever gets mine. Ha! They'd better appreciate it, because right now, I'm exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open!
Tonight everyone is scrambling to finish their Culminating, including my group. We are basically done; all we have to do is add in the exercises and finalize everything. So far, there have been ten versions of the manual, all of them with major differences.
A few problems we had were the screenshots and the answer keys. It took forever to write the answer keys; probably because no one wanted to take the time to do work that seemed like homework. Well, I ended up writing the answer keys for the quizzes and part of the exercises. As for the screenshots, we had to remake them because the file name was "Unnamed #1". According to Mr. Arkin, it wasn't professional. There was some confusion about that, but I ended up making all of those as well. Hmm.
I think we should modify our page on the VPCA Wiki so that it's more specific as to who did what. Honestly, I can't remember every exact detail, but I'd like to give a guideline so Mr. Arkin will have a clearer idea of how to dole out the marks. Right now, it just says "collaboration" if more than one person worked on it.
Tomorrow is the last day of Semester One. Can you believe it? It all passed so quickly. Exams are next week, and after that, Semester Two will begin. I won't see Mr. Pourkhatai, Ms. Fisher, Mr. Arkin or Mr. Vretranos anymore; and that saddens me. To tell you the truth, I really disliked Mr. Pourkhatai at first, but now, I'm actually okay with him. He's pretty funny! I will miss Mr. Vretranos a lot - he's my favourite teacher at VP (Sorry, Mr. Arkin!). Next year, I plan on taking Latin, so if that works out, I'll get him as a teacher again. Hooray! *smile*
It was a great year--er, semester--with Mr. Arkin. Although Mr. Vretranos is my favourite teacher, ICS is my favourite class because I have so much fun in it! It's where I met Zarin-dono, and we're really good friends now. (By the way, her birthday's tomorrow. I'm going (attempt) to draw a bishie for her. Shhh! It's a surprise!) Mr. Arkin is also pretty funny, and he can teach much better than most of my other teachers. I'll miss him, too.
As I sit here writing this blog entry (and arguing with Andy about whether tea or coffee is better), I'm also reflecting on the past five months. This start to high school has been amazing, and I'll never forget it.
---
Current Music: Nishiki no Mai - Gakupo Kamui and Gakuko
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
In which we start to wrap things up
Konbanwa, minna-san.
When you have a bad day....feast on chocolate! Or any other comfort food. For me, it's usually cookies, but I practically ate an entire bag already so I'm resorting to chocolate. And somewhat toned down Vocaloid music. I love the BLAZE music video. At first I was only going to download the song, but then I saw how...*ahem* cool Kaito and Len looked and decided to take the video. I mean, who can resist Len with a shuriken? *fangirls*
Err...yes. Well, today Mr. Arkin taught us how to print and laminate a PDF (or, well, any document, really) at Staples. I don't think my group will have to do that, since Tasfia's father owns a printing company...or something like that.
Speaking of Culminating, we're almost done! I'm finishing the Answer Keys up tonight and will add them in along with the references. The link will be up before everyone gets to class tomorrow. I also have to recreate certain screenshots. Phew! Luckily, I have no other homework.
Which brings me to my next topic. I completely failed my French and Science presentations today! *cries* I messed up some timing in French and in Science, I completely forgot what lines I was supposed to say. I want to apologize, but my friend told me not to apologize so frequently. *wince*
Exams are quickly approaching, and everyone - including I - is scrambling to review everything for each subject they have to write an exam for. I'm almost done my French notes, but I doubt I need to spend so much time on them. I'm most worried about Science and ICS. I will go on an extensive training (studying) regimen once this final Culminating project is handed in.
Wish me luck!
---
Current Music: Child's Garden - Len Kagamine, KAITO Shion, Gakupo Kamui
I'm actually listening to an entire playlist. My favourite Vocaloid songs are (in order):
When you have a bad day....feast on chocolate! Or any other comfort food. For me, it's usually cookies, but I practically ate an entire bag already so I'm resorting to chocolate. And somewhat toned down Vocaloid music. I love the BLAZE music video. At first I was only going to download the song, but then I saw how...*ahem* cool Kaito and Len looked and decided to take the video. I mean, who can resist Len with a shuriken? *fangirls*
Err...yes. Well, today Mr. Arkin taught us how to print and laminate a PDF (or, well, any document, really) at Staples. I don't think my group will have to do that, since Tasfia's father owns a printing company...or something like that.
Speaking of Culminating, we're almost done! I'm finishing the Answer Keys up tonight and will add them in along with the references. The link will be up before everyone gets to class tomorrow. I also have to recreate certain screenshots. Phew! Luckily, I have no other homework.
Which brings me to my next topic. I completely failed my French and Science presentations today! *cries* I messed up some timing in French and in Science, I completely forgot what lines I was supposed to say. I want to apologize, but my friend told me not to apologize so frequently. *wince*
Exams are quickly approaching, and everyone - including I - is scrambling to review everything for each subject they have to write an exam for. I'm almost done my French notes, but I doubt I need to spend so much time on them. I'm most worried about Science and ICS. I will go on an extensive training (studying) regimen once this final Culminating project is handed in.
Wish me luck!
---
Current Music: Child's Garden - Len Kagamine, KAITO Shion, Gakupo Kamui
I'm actually listening to an entire playlist. My favourite Vocaloid songs are (in order):
- Meltdown - Len Kagamine, KAITO Shion (Originally sung by Rin Kagamine)
- Paradichlorobenzene - Len Kagamine
- Romeo and Cinderella - Nodoame (Originally sung by Miku Hatsune)
- Uninstall - KAITO Shion (Originally sung by Chiaki Ishikawa for the anime Bokurano; the lyrics were rewritten for a yandere KAITO)
- Magnet - any couple (Originally sung by Luka Megurine and Miku Hatsune)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
In which Mr. Arkin gives us advice for the exam
Konbanwa, minna-san.
Oh my. Jenny really got me obsessed with Vocaloid. (Zarin-dono, soon you'll be glomping KAITO and Len too! Yes, I know they don't exist in real life, but has that ever stopped me from loving someone? *cough cough Shizu-chan and Firo cough cough*) I can't stop listening to their songs! And somehow... I think I'm starting to love Len more than KAITO... No!!! Don't worry, KAITO, I'll always love you...
Ahem! Ah, well, sorry about that. I get emotional when it comes to...er...yeah. Anyways! Today Mr. Arkin prepped us for the exam next week. I can't believe three weeks passed so quickly! But it's the harsh reality. Culminating Activities are coming to an end, while teachers are reviewing the semester's curriculum with their classes. In English, Ms. Fisher gave us a practice exam (shortened, of course) in hopes of getting us used to writing essays on the spot. See, the English exam is, in essence, writing an essay. It's sort of hard to study for that - all one can really do is practice! I've also gotten the test format from Mr. Vretranos, my French teacher, and of course, Mr. Arkin. Mr. Pourkhatai, my Science teacher, will give us the exam format around Thursday.
Besides giving us the exam format, Mr. Arkin gave us some exam writing strategies. Like how we should bring a timepiece (I have to get that watch this weekend!) so we don't spend too much time on one question; and how if we can't finish any one question in the allotted time, we should just move on (of course, we should write something down!). Moreover, we should always do the easy questions first.
I'm very grateful to you for doing that, Mr. Arkin! Arigato gozaimasu~!
The people who didn't get their Mosaic Projects yesterday got to see theirs today. I wish my background showed up - I don't know why it didn't! And poor Zarin, too... I'll leave it to her to explain what happened.
Ne, I worry about her. She stresses much more than I do! It's not good to work one's self up like that; especially when exams are coming round next week.
Well, talking and prepping for the exam took up most of the period, so we only got about ten minutes to work on Culminating. It's due on Thursday, so we must wrap everything up tomorrow! I'm working on the Answer Keys to the exercise Shreya made right now, and I plan on finishing everything up tonight. I need to talk to Lisa about proofreading the manual, because I don't want to edit something she already did - it'd be a waste of precious time.
I'm off now!
Oyasumi, minna-san. Mata ashita!
---
Current Music: Child's Garden - Len Kagamine, KAITO Shion, Gakupo Kamui
Oh my. Jenny really got me obsessed with Vocaloid. (Zarin-dono, soon you'll be glomping KAITO and Len too! Yes, I know they don't exist in real life, but has that ever stopped me from loving someone? *cough cough Shizu-chan and Firo cough cough*) I can't stop listening to their songs! And somehow... I think I'm starting to love Len more than KAITO... No!!! Don't worry, KAITO, I'll always love you...
Ahem! Ah, well, sorry about that. I get emotional when it comes to...er...yeah. Anyways! Today Mr. Arkin prepped us for the exam next week. I can't believe three weeks passed so quickly! But it's the harsh reality. Culminating Activities are coming to an end, while teachers are reviewing the semester's curriculum with their classes. In English, Ms. Fisher gave us a practice exam (shortened, of course) in hopes of getting us used to writing essays on the spot. See, the English exam is, in essence, writing an essay. It's sort of hard to study for that - all one can really do is practice! I've also gotten the test format from Mr. Vretranos, my French teacher, and of course, Mr. Arkin. Mr. Pourkhatai, my Science teacher, will give us the exam format around Thursday.
Besides giving us the exam format, Mr. Arkin gave us some exam writing strategies. Like how we should bring a timepiece (I have to get that watch this weekend!) so we don't spend too much time on one question; and how if we can't finish any one question in the allotted time, we should just move on (of course, we should write something down!). Moreover, we should always do the easy questions first.
I'm very grateful to you for doing that, Mr. Arkin! Arigato gozaimasu~!
The people who didn't get their Mosaic Projects yesterday got to see theirs today. I wish my background showed up - I don't know why it didn't! And poor Zarin, too... I'll leave it to her to explain what happened.
Ne, I worry about her. She stresses much more than I do! It's not good to work one's self up like that; especially when exams are coming round next week.
Well, talking and prepping for the exam took up most of the period, so we only got about ten minutes to work on Culminating. It's due on Thursday, so we must wrap everything up tomorrow! I'm working on the Answer Keys to the exercise Shreya made right now, and I plan on finishing everything up tonight. I need to talk to Lisa about proofreading the manual, because I don't want to edit something she already did - it'd be a waste of precious time.
I'm off now!
Oyasumi, minna-san. Mata ashita!
---
Current Music: Child's Garden - Len Kagamine, KAITO Shion, Gakupo Kamui
Monday, January 17, 2011
In which Pearl looks through her (almost empty) wallet
Konbanwa, minna-san!
I've wasted an hour watching Vocaloid MVs. (Ha! Zarin-dono, you'd better listen to that song I sent you the link for. You'll get enchanted by Nodoame's awesome voice! *fangirls*) There's not enough songs where KAITO and Len duet. *pouts* They're my two favourite Vocaloids, though. I realize now that I should've chosen Vocaloid as my topic for the Mosaic Project. I would've had so much more fun (and an excuse to listen to KAITO's voice for hours on end). Hee.
Anyways, today we had ICS first period. Luckily, Mr. Arkin was back (you see, on Friday he was out sick), so we were able to ask him any questions.
We also got our Mosaic Projects today (the laminated version, I mean). Well, no, that's not completely true. Everyone who made theirs letter or ledger size got theirs; while the legal people had to wait. Apparently, Staples hadn't done those yet. We hoped that they'd get to the school before Silent Reading ended, but they didn't. Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.
Nevertheless, I still had to pay - everyone did. That's another $3.40 out of my pocket. Sigh.
As for Culminating, my group has narrowed it down to about four or five things left to do. Lisa and I will proofread the entire manual over the next two days. Shreya has been assigned the exercises for both the CD and the manual. I'm glad - she didn't have much else to do, especially because she joined the group later.
I feel like I'm not doing enough. Then again, I always feel like this and then I end up doing more than half of the work. And I'm still not satisfied...until I realize how much I've taken over. Grah. Then I feel guilty. *cries* I hope I'm not doing that now.
There's literally only a week before exams start. I'm starting to stress out, because I haven't started to really focus on studying yet. Culminating has been taking up all my time. I've talked to some of my classmates, and they're just like me. Grahh... Next year, I'm going to start studying over Winter Break!
I have to leave soon, so I'm going to leave the Vocaloid songs playing in the background while I proofread. I already started to do so during class, but I only got to...about page four.
---
Current Music: Romeo and Cinderella (ロミオとシンデレラ) - Len Kagamine & KAITO Shion
^Nodoame and Usa's version is better, but hey, KaiLen is my favourite pairing so...
I've wasted an hour watching Vocaloid MVs. (Ha! Zarin-dono, you'd better listen to that song I sent you the link for. You'll get enchanted by Nodoame's awesome voice! *fangirls*) There's not enough songs where KAITO and Len duet. *pouts* They're my two favourite Vocaloids, though. I realize now that I should've chosen Vocaloid as my topic for the Mosaic Project. I would've had so much more fun (and an excuse to listen to KAITO's voice for hours on end). Hee.
Anyways, today we had ICS first period. Luckily, Mr. Arkin was back (you see, on Friday he was out sick), so we were able to ask him any questions.
We also got our Mosaic Projects today (the laminated version, I mean). Well, no, that's not completely true. Everyone who made theirs letter or ledger size got theirs; while the legal people had to wait. Apparently, Staples hadn't done those yet. We hoped that they'd get to the school before Silent Reading ended, but they didn't. Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.
Nevertheless, I still had to pay - everyone did. That's another $3.40 out of my pocket. Sigh.
As for Culminating, my group has narrowed it down to about four or five things left to do. Lisa and I will proofread the entire manual over the next two days. Shreya has been assigned the exercises for both the CD and the manual. I'm glad - she didn't have much else to do, especially because she joined the group later.
I feel like I'm not doing enough. Then again, I always feel like this and then I end up doing more than half of the work. And I'm still not satisfied...until I realize how much I've taken over. Grah. Then I feel guilty. *cries* I hope I'm not doing that now.
There's literally only a week before exams start. I'm starting to stress out, because I haven't started to really focus on studying yet. Culminating has been taking up all my time. I've talked to some of my classmates, and they're just like me. Grahh... Next year, I'm going to start studying over Winter Break!
I have to leave soon, so I'm going to leave the Vocaloid songs playing in the background while I proofread. I already started to do so during class, but I only got to...about page four.
---
Current Music: Romeo and Cinderella (ロミオとシンデレラ) - Len Kagamine & KAITO Shion
^Nodoame and Usa's version is better, but hey, KaiLen is my favourite pairing so...
Friday, January 14, 2011
In which Pearl works hard to finish the CA!
Konbanwa, minna-san!
I'm pretty tired today, but that's alright. It's Friday, so I'll have time to catch up on my sleep over the weekend. Hopefully.
Today Mr. Arkin was away because he wasn't feeling well. Zarin-dono and I were chosen to be the Student Hosts - what fun! Actually, I was pretty nervous at first because I wasn't exactly sure how I should take on the task. Nevertheless, Zarin-dono was very brave and took the lead. Ha.
I feel like class is getting shorter and shorter. I was working on the Glossary today, and soon enough, it was time to back up and get ready for the next class. I'm almost done - I just have a few more definitions to write out. I need to finish by tonight, so Tasfia can put everything together over the weekend. Then, Lisa and I will proofread and edit the entire manual by Wednesday. That's the plan.
Things are coming together quite nicely. There's only a few more sections that need to be finished.
As for other CAs, I've gotten my English one over with. The only thing that's left to do is write an in-class reflection, and that will be done on Monday. In French, we're making presentations about environmental issues. My group is talking about deforestation in British Columbia. There's no Science culminating, but Mr. Pourkhatai is giving us a big project related to Astronomy. Sigh.
I feel like there's no time to study. If I have spare time, I plan on finally getting to typing up my French and English notes and hopefully start on either Science or ICS.
Below is a video (courtesy of YouTube) of a new song from JASMINE. She's a Japanese singer. I really like her style. Ever since I heard the radio rip a couple of weeks ago on the rotation site I use, I've been wanting to get the song. The official release date is February 2nd. I can't wait!
ONE - JASMINE
Thursday, January 13, 2011
In which Pearl feels as slow as a turtle
Kon'ichiwa, minna-san!
Metaphors are awesome. Let's just make that clear.
Anyways! Today I got to wear my grade eight graduation dress and my new blouse as a costume for English. I played Yulia, the Ninny. And today, I realized that my dress could be considered goth-loli. Ha! So that website was right - H&M does sell clothes that can pass as goth-loli! I should shop there more often. *grin*
Although... I kept getting asked "Why are you wearing that?" Sigh.
ICS was second period, so I didn't forget about it and go to my locker. Ha! Take that, stupid short-term memory! But really... I keep forgetting whether or not I wrote my blog post the day before and start panicking. Then I see "Last post on [date here]" and I scramble to remember the current date.
Many people will and have already said "You're hopeless". That's okay, right?
For some reason, I feel like I didn't get a lot of work done. I started writing the Test, and Zarin pretty much finished it off. I will revise it and add some more questions as soon as I finish writing this blog post, then post it up on our Wiki so that everyone can access it. The good copy will be done tonight. Now all we have to do, concerning tests, is finalize them and create corresponding answer keys.
Lisa finished merging the two parts of the introduction, so I will also go over that for any errors or inconsistencies. Then I'll post the final Dropbox link up on our Wiki.
In class, I started to revise the glossary. I need to finish that as well.
Phew! There's a lot to do tonight. So, I'm off to work now.
Mata ashita, minna-san!
---
Current Music: Meltdown - Len Kagamine & Kaito Shion (Duet)
^I'm obsessed with this song. If you have time, you should listen to it!
Metaphors are awesome. Let's just make that clear.
Anyways! Today I got to wear my grade eight graduation dress and my new blouse as a costume for English. I played Yulia, the Ninny. And today, I realized that my dress could be considered goth-loli. Ha! So that website was right - H&M does sell clothes that can pass as goth-loli! I should shop there more often. *grin*
Although... I kept getting asked "Why are you wearing that?" Sigh.
ICS was second period, so I didn't forget about it and go to my locker. Ha! Take that, stupid short-term memory! But really... I keep forgetting whether or not I wrote my blog post the day before and start panicking. Then I see "Last post on [date here]" and I scramble to remember the current date.
Many people will and have already said "You're hopeless". That's okay, right?
For some reason, I feel like I didn't get a lot of work done. I started writing the Test, and Zarin pretty much finished it off. I will revise it and add some more questions as soon as I finish writing this blog post, then post it up on our Wiki so that everyone can access it. The good copy will be done tonight. Now all we have to do, concerning tests, is finalize them and create corresponding answer keys.
Lisa finished merging the two parts of the introduction, so I will also go over that for any errors or inconsistencies. Then I'll post the final Dropbox link up on our Wiki.
In class, I started to revise the glossary. I need to finish that as well.
Phew! There's a lot to do tonight. So, I'm off to work now.
Mata ashita, minna-san!
---
Current Music: Meltdown - Len Kagamine & Kaito Shion (Duet)
^I'm obsessed with this song. If you have time, you should listen to it!
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