Guild Blog, whatwhat?

[Choir-Angel]

lol. Well, yes, singing as a class. It teaches you proper technique, how to read/compose music. I plan on becoming a choir teacher. That's why I'm so involved in it, and about the Astronomy class, I'm dropping it for Music Appreciation. O_o Where do you live by the way? Europe? And what is Slovene? question

And yes, I will wholeheartedly agree with you. Public American schools are the most easy thing ever. It's almost childsplay. But, you'd be surprised at how many have failed. XD And don't do their work. People are to lazy. =/ Me, I dropped out of honors English cause I didn't feel like spending all that extra time to make a good grade. See? Laziness. At least I'm honest about it though. Okay, my school. Here are what is required in order to graduate:

3 science credits
3 math credits
4 English credits
3 history credits
1 artsy credit, such as drama or chorus, that kind of thing.
2 credits of a foreign language if going to college
1.5 credits of PE (or 1 credit if you're in band or chorus for 4 years, like me)
Um...And the rest are all electives...

This year, 11th grade, I've got 4 elective classes, and yes, astronomy is considered an elective, but it also works as a science credit. Next year, if I manage to pass geometry, (Gosh I'm awful at math..Good at everything else though. Ugh.) then I'll have 5 electives next year. Meaning, only 2 classes that I am required to take. And since I wont have French next year, I'm not really sure what I'll be taking...2 slots I need to fill. I think i'm going to take environmental science, and the other, I have no clue...O_o Oh, and my school, we only have to foreign language selections. French and Spanish. It's awful for those who want to learn something like Italian, or like Chelsea who wants to take Latin.....

Blah. Honestly though, I respect your school system. America (or at least where I am) raises lazy children who will never amount to anything. And thus, America is falling apart. The few scientists that we have are moving to foreign countries, where they're actually respected. And honestly, America doesn't generate many scientists...=/ Not as many as we used to. Sometimes, I wish I was living in another country where you were made to work and become something. Yet, at the same time, I'm glad I don't have to. *sigh* It's odd.

Anyways, today was my second day at school, and it was tiring. I fell asleep in math after taking a diagnostic test which I failed. sweatdrop Then I had a dream that I was scratching my cheek, and I woke up and I was scratching the underside of my desk. O_o Then I made a fool of myself in front of the teacher. I hadn't turned my test in yet, so, I took it up to him. Well, I had just woke up, so was a bit out of it. I ended up standing there leaning over a bit with my hands crossed trying to figure out which pile to put what in. The teacher was like, Val, no, this pile. No, Val, throw that away, the test goes here. Well, he ended up having to put them in the right spots. XD And then I saw him shaking his head. God, how embarrassing. XD lol.

Okay, well, yea. lol. heart  

[[Helmorana]]

Now that you mention it, we have Music in First year, but they don't teach you how to read music, you do that in Primary. It's more music history than anything else. And besides the class, tests and oral exams, you have to go see three music shows in a year. Which was really simple for me cause I'm a metalhead. xd But some suffered.

Yeah, Europe. Slovenia. Slovene is the language spoken around here. razz Ex-Yugoslavia, if it helps, it usually doesn't. I need to say that it's across the Adriatic from Italy... But I'm not sure if they actually know where the Adriatic or Italy is, or they just know the name.

I was always sceptical when people spoke of the low level of requirements in American schools, after all, you're the nation with NASA and Wall Street and all that jazz. You launch space shuttles on a regular basis... Though, interestingly enough - for me anyway - my bf just told me a few days ago that a Slovene company who makes ultra-light airplanes got the first prize from NASA. I was really surprised... Though our scientists are pretty good...

I'm not one of them though. I suck at anything vaguely scientific, you can tell by my choice of graduation subjects. English, Slovene and Maths are mandatory and then you chose two or three on your own. Three's considered suiccide, but some people DO manage it. I took History and Philosophy. Very un-scientific of me. I'd take French if I could, but unfortunately, I was the only one interested in the whole school, from my class.

What are credits?

I kinda like geometry. It's much easier than trig, I hate trigonometry, most of it anyway, the graphs are pretty nifty cause they're always the same, you just gotta move them around a bit. I like rational functions best, they're the easiest things ever besides vectors. But I passionately hate trig.

I had a maths test today, cause I screwed it up during the year, didn't really study back then. *shrugs* Goes around, comes around. I passed though, but it figures that on the oral part of the exam, I got trig. Murphy... Can't escape it.

At my school we only have French, Italian and German. Most people have german, out of 11 classes (A-J) we're the only ones (Č) who have French and Italian. Half of our class has French and half has Italian. I'm a frenchie. That's 2nd foreign language (and we're a linguistic department)... Horrid thought cause most of them suck at even English. Still forming 5-word sentences with a loooooooooot of errors.

Environmental Science?
You sure have weird subjects. confused

To take latin here, you have to go to a classic gymnasium (I'm a general gymnasium), in classic you have Latin or Old Greek, English, 2nd foreign language and 3rd foreign language, but the 3rd one only for a year. And you drop Chemistry and Physics in 3rd year. Pretty nifty actually, I wanted to go to that type, but I didn't have the guts, I thought I'd never get on it. I was wrong, I would, but... Our school's quite a challenge too. =/ Faculty professors say they like us best cause we're used to b/s by the time we get to Faculty. Which is... kinda sad really.

I passed maths today though =)))))))


(This is for the Imbolc puzzle. Please don't remove).  

[Choir-Angel]

Wow. You're far away. lol. A credit is....well. You need to make 7 credits each year. We have 7 classes a day. Each is 1 credit. And half year courses are .5 credits, meaning you need 2 of them. Meaning, at the end of four years, you have several extra credits in case you need them, which, you really shouldn't. Don't be skeptical about our school system. lol America is WAYYYY easy, unless you go to a private school. They actually care about the education of their students. =/ We may have NASA and other big time things, but the scientists of those programs are a LOT older than this generation. Things used to be harder, my dad marvels at how lazy we can be and still make A's. lol...It's sad...O_o But oh well, America obviously doesn't care that this generation won't be able to help at all...Just live off their rich parents' money...*sigh* And those that actually give a crap about their education and life can't afford to go to college. God this world has gone to dirt.

Heh...Sorry...I haven't had a very good day today...The school lunch has been reduced to crap. No more chocolate milkshakes, and we only have one choice of food...Ughh. Last year, there was about 3 choices. Also, ALL the coke machines only sell DIET sodas now. What is up with that? Don't they realize that diet sodas are bad for teenagers and children? We're still growing and there's chemicals in them that affect us badly...I rarely drink sodas, so this doesn't affect me to much, but when I DO want one, I want something that tastes good. Not like it's made out of water and...something that tastes awful. XD O_o Also, my school is very overcrowded right now. There's like a little over 3k people at my school. You can end up late for your class just because of the packed hallways. And then you have those obnoxious people that have to just stop in the middle of the hall, right in front of you, and then start yelling to others who then have to yell/talk back. *rolls eyes* People frustrate me. gonk And none of the faculty even care about the crowdedness. It doesn't affect them, so why would they care? Kids get out of there way. The school lunch? Teachers have their own refrigerators and microwaves in there room. They don't have to eat chicken that is more bone than meat. But what ticks me off even more is that they're now isolating everyone to this tiny space after lunch. There's this HUGE OPEN space, ramp, sidewalk, whatever, and they're keeping us contained in this tiny space. Keep off the grass! Stay behind this line! Grr..

Okay, i'll stop on my rant now. I'm just being stupid. My school is wonderful compared to most, and there's some that have no school at all. I'm truly lucky. =/ I just get ungrateful at times. It's a fault of mine. I'll admit it. And I have a tendency to forget all about : "Speak little and listen much". Yea...Mainly this is with my boyfriend, and then he eventually causes me to see what a dumbass I'm being...Then I feel awful. crying *sigh* It's one of the things I'm REALLY working on. REALLY! lol. O_o

Okay, i'm done now, for real. lol. ^_^  

[[Helmorana]]

LOL

There's no sodas in my school. xd So I don't really miss them. There's a vending machine with orange juice, lemon juice, water, red orange juice and some other jazz like that. And a coffee machine, you gotta have a coffee machine. xd Most of us don't eat lunch in school anymore, we decided we don't like the quality. The only 2 edible choices are the vegi-ones. A fruit plate or a salad plate. You get sick of that after a while. Most of us just go across the street to get a toast from one of the bars if we have a free period. Or to the mini shop thingie, they sell sandwiches and all that jazz. smile

Nobody cares much where you are during breaks, as long as you're in class by the time the bell rings. Most people go to the smoking area cause... well, they need a smoke. It's the only area infront of the school where you're alowed to smoke. There used to be no area, but... By popular demand... Not by demand, but they just couldn't prevent smoking infront of the school so they made a smoking area. I wonder how packed that'll be this year, they just raised the age limit to buy cigarettes to 18 a few days ago. xd I'm amused. As if that'll make any difference. Seeing a lot of the first years' drunk on a friday night really shows how effective the 18+ alcohol thingie is... It's never been an issue, getting drinks, getting cigarettes will be even less of an issue. Stupid government. xd Either way, no difference to me, I'm legal. And mom still owes me a bottle of Smirnoff. confused

I just watched "Hoodwinked" *giggles*... The best Little Red Riding Hood version I've seen. smile And I was to Kreslin's concert yesterday... folk music, divine voice... Mmmm *purrs*... And I met our Primary School's Ethic teacher there. xd Again.  

[dark_angel_32189]

To Val: The schools in your area are behind the ones where I live (and we only live 2 hours apart!) They took out all sodas, including diet last school year. And we have 8 classes at the high schools here, 4 each day.

And I thought everywhere in Florida had that Bright Futures thing where if you get have a certain GPA and scores on SAT and ACT you get most or all of you college tuition paid for just as long as the school is in Florida. They don't have that in your area? I have the one that pays for all of my tuition at a community college and 75% at a university.

Oh and I love those people that stop in the middle of the hall. My friends and I always call them herds of cows and whenever we walk past people like that, we say "look at the herd of cows... moooo" while looking at them. It embarasses the crap out of them, but some people usually stop doing it after that.

I understand about that whole limited space at lunch. Last year, they cut our space into about half of what it was before all because these stupid guys kept kicking each other in the nuts.

Damn Florida schools!  

[Choir-Angel]

Whispering kisses of goodbye...

My older sister used to have 4 classes a day like you, she was shocked when I told her that's not how it is anymore. lol. The sodas, I don't mind TO much, because i've stopped drinking them. I only drink water now, with the rare Dr.Pepper (my fave. xp ) But it still sucks. It's like they're trying to take away everything we love. =/

The Bright Future Scholarships, we have those also. It's just I don't know if i'll get one or not...I keep above a 3.0 now, but still, you don't always get what you want...And I took an ACT pretest thing last year, and I made a composite score of 22 on it. The thing said that when I take the actual ACT, I should make between a 23-27. Which is the selective-highly selective range. I also make 4's and 5's on my FCATs. 10th grade, the one that actually counted, I made a 5 on the reading, and a 4 on the math (I don't know how I did so well on the math...O_o) And I scored within the top 86% on the science FCAT, though this years science FCAT is the one that will actually count...I just pray that I can get a scholarship...If I keep good grades, and score really high on the ACT and SAT, then I should...Right? I hope so...It just seems like it's always the rich students, the one's who don't need the scholarships that get them...O_o Except for my boyfriend, he got a scholarship. But he didn't need it either because he's in the NAVY...*sigh*

About the cows, that is just hilarious. I should start doing that. Though i'd probably get beat up. LMAO. O_o

...And waiting for your return.

 

[dark_angel_32189]

A lot of the people I know who got the scholarship are people who actually needed it because they otherwise wouldn't have even been able to afford the books for college.

And I needed one because my brother and I are both in college right now. And my parents are still paying off my oldes brother's college (he graduated from college like 7 years ago). But my brother and I both have the scholarship, so it works. I'm not sure which one he has though.

And I'm pretty sure you don't have to score high on both the SAT and ACT. I think you just need one of them. Although I don't really remember, so you might want to check up on that. And you can always take those tests more than once if you don't score high enough the first time. I had to take the SAT twice because my score the first time was way too low to get the scholarship. And I got a 25 on the ACT the first time, so I didn't have to take it again.  

[[Helmorana]]

dark_angel_32189

Oh and I love those people that stop in the middle of the hall. My friends and I always call them herds of cows and whenever we walk past people like that, we say "look at the herd of cows... moooo" while looking at them. It embarasses the crap out of them, but some people usually stop doing it after that.

@dark_angel_32189: I'd hate to go to your school... confused Is everyone as rude as you? Why would you want to embarass someone on purpose? You just wait till they're done and move on. Or if you're in a real rush, ask them to let you through... But call them names? That's kinda low, don't you think?

@choir-angel: How is that hillarious?

Seriously, are you people really like that?  

[dark_angel_32189]

[Helmorana]

dark_angel_32189

Oh and I love those people that stop in the middle of the hall. My friends and I always call them herds of cows and whenever we walk past people like that, we say "look at the herd of cows... moooo" while looking at them. It embarasses the crap out of them, but some people usually stop doing it after that.

@dark_angel_32189: I'd hate to go to your school... confused Is everyone as rude as you? Why would you want to embarass someone on purpose? You just wait till they're done and move on. Or if you're in a real rush, ask them to let you through... But call them names? That's kinda low, don't you think?

Apparently you've never been to America.... that's how most (not all, just the majority) Americans are, which is why I hate living here. People rarely even say "thank you" or "please" anymore. I for one, always say "please" and "thank you", "yes ma'am" and "yes sir", even to people younger than me. My biggest pet peeve is when you hold the door open for someone, and they don't say "thank you". That's rude, but it happens a lot. So some people say "you're welcome" as if the other peson had said "thank you" even when they didn't. Sometimes they just forget to say it, and sometimes they're just too rude to say it. That's America for ya.

I haven't actually done that to someone's face since Jr. High, so like 5-6 years ago. And back then I did go through a phase where I was really mean and didn't care if it embarassed anyone. Did that make it okay? No, I know it didn't. Now we just jokingly say it after we're out of their hearing range. And I rarely even just joke about it anymore.

And I never said I did it to embarass them or to be mean to them. It's not like I woke up every morning thinking "oh, I wonder how many people I can embarss/be mean to today".

But you know, a lot of people in America, when you say "excuse me", they just look at you all weird and go back to their business. And when like 10 people are standing wall-to-wall and that's the only way to get to your class and you, as well as other people, ask them over and over again to let you through and they either just look at you weird or just ignore you. What are you suppose to do? Push them and take the risk of someone getting physically hurt? No, you deal with it and just get to class late and get in trouble for doing so. Being late for a class a certain amount of times can get you expelled or at least suspended at most schools.

Or yeah, you could wait until they're done, which is usually like a minute after the bell rings. So you'd still be late. And the teachers don't care why you were late. If you don't have a note, then you're marked late.

Which is why I'm glad I graduated high school last year. People don't do that in college. And if they do it's in an open space where you can actually get around them.

But yeah, you're right. It's not really necessary to call them cows.  

[Choir-Angel]

Yea, that's pretty much how it is in America...I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone (though they deserve it), but I still think it's funny. I'm not a mean person, but really...Everyone is just so rude I can hardly stand it. Today, on the bus, there's this huge group of ethnic people (no offense to ANYONE. I am not racists at all, but the majority of them at my school are awful...) well, EVERY day, they have to be listening to rap music. If rap isn't on, they're screaming and everything else. Well, today, the bus driver wanted to listen to country. Just ONE day to listen to something else. And you know what they did? They were stomping, and shouting and singing at the VERY top of their lungs drowning out the country completely. He had to pull over and he actually yelled at them and said they were worse than his kindergarteners and said they were ignorant...Bad thing is, it's the truth...*sigh* I wish people were raised with more respect and courtesy...Like you, Maggie, I still say thank you, yes sir, no sir. I was raised that way, and I've always thought it rude to not be polite. =/

@ Hel: I would love to ask politely for passage through the hallways. Or even wait till they're done...But when your school is as large and crowded as mine, it just doesn't work that way. It's kill or be killed pretty much. =/ It doesn't help any that everyone is stereotyped here either. There's pretty much two 'popular' groups at my school. You have your popular preps. And then you have your 'popular' African Americans. They don't intermingle much. If you're not in either of these groups, they'd rather cut your head off then let you through the hall. AND, if you ARE in one these groups, you're not going to try and get through the hall. They're the ones blocking everything. Next you have your 'goth' group, which i guess I would fall into...Just because of my clothes though. I don't talk to any of the 'goth' group anymore. They're bad influences. Then, branching off from the 'goth' group, you have your 'punks' or your 'scene' kids, who ALL look exactly the same. I kid you not, they even have the same haircuts...Alrighty, and if you're not in one of those groups, you're just a nerd and everyone hates you. It's depressing...There's stereotyping everywhere, but it gets downright violent here. OH!!!! And I left out the rednecks, how could I do that? We have a HUGE redneck group here...They remind me of the KKK...It's scary. They're always fighting...They fight everyone pretty much. Except for popular white girls. rolleyes And they always dip, how nasty...There was actually a big threat 2 years ago. All the 'goth' and 'scene' kids didn't come to school one day because a bunch of rednecks planned on bringing guns to school and shooting them...O_o I can't remember what happened though...

Yea, there are always fights in the halls, and the popular people always have to talk to one another. And thus, no easy trek to the classroom. Believe it or not, there was 2 fights in just the first 3 days of school. I want you to tell me how that is even possible....Sheesh...

Well, I should go now...I can't even remember what the 'point' I was trying to make is...Probably something about rudeness and hallway hazards...  

[[Helmorana]]

So everybody's the same. I don't get it, isn't it stressful, being in a place like that, day after day, after day? If you have a bit of manners everything becomes easier. I know there's a lot of people who believe manners to be trivial, but they're just a way to show respect towards another human being. It's less of a hassle to move for someone who asks you than cause discontent.

I never understood the whole clique thingie that seems to be so widespread in America. Here... I mean, sure you hang out with the people who are most like you, all metalheads on the school know each other, but that's because we are interested in the same things. Telling someone else, really happily, that Korpiklaani are coming again, has no reaction. Everyone hangs out with everyone here... As long as they get along. Nobody cares much if you're a metalhead, a Bosnian, a fancy chick, an emo... Ok, everybody tends to make fun of emos, but that's pretty much due to the ridiculous things they put on. I don't mind emos in general, I have a few friends who are emo, but I don't like the stereotypical - my-life-sucks-I-love-razorblades-and-wear-Shrove-day-tiaras kind of emos. You can't get anything sensible out of those. There are no popular groups, there's is no one person everybody knows... Well, except maybe my classmate, but she's such a social butterfly that it really makes perfect sense. Or if you really stand out... But generally, everybody's really nice.

Judging from your replies, I'd hate to go to your schools. confused  

[dark_angel_32189]

Not everyone is the same. But a lot of people don't believe in manners anymore I guess. I don't know, it really depends on where exactly you live. There are schools where people are a lot worse than any of the schools I've attended and there are some schools where just about every one is really nice.

I've never been in any kind of clique. I just hang out with whoever is actually interesting to me regardless of how they dress, what music they listen to, etc. I mean, it's nice to have at least one person who shares the same interests as you, but to have all of your friends having the same interests as you.... that's just plain boring. So, I never really got the whole clique thing either.

In Florida it's mostly the "rednecks" that are really rude. The majority of them are really racist and pretty much think they're hot stuff. So they treat anyone who's not a "redneck" badly and if you're of a different race, they treat you even worse.  

[[Helmorana]]

That's reassuring. smile Your previous post got me worried.

The most problems here aren't inside school walls. In school, subcultural or cultural differences are mostly put aside, skinheads befriend punx, Albanians get along with Serbs, etc. But outside, the people who don't know eachother from school, often clash.

You don't want to wear Doc's with white shoe laces to Fužine, an area in Ljubljana, if you want to come out with your face intact. You don't kiss your same sexed partner if you see a skinhead, if you're a punx and see a skinhead you don't know, and you're outnumbered, you turn the other way. If you're female, and you see a group of Čapci (čapci or čefurji is... a subculture of very nationalistic young people from countries of former Yugoslavia, that aren't Slovene and rarelly Croatian) in the evening, and you're alone, you either avoid them if possible or pray they'll leave you alone. They're usually all talk and no act, but you can't be certain. If you're a skinhead and you see a bunch of Čapci and you're out numbered, you turn the other way too... And so on.

There's a lot of these things, but not in school, and not if you don't belong to a subculture. I was quite surprised a few days ago, when I realised that no one in my class, except for me and a girl who hangs out with Čapci, herself being Serbian, actually knew these things. It just proves that being normal is very comfortable. The use of word normal here, meaning being of an unspecified majority.

Not so much racism, as subcultural discrimination. Nobody minds people, from countries of former Yugoslavia, by default. Just čapci or čefurji... But that dislike comes from their behaviour, which is... to say unpleasant would be putting it mildly.  

[StrawberryDaifuku]

Everyone's talking about school...
XD

Anywhoo...
Erm...
I kinda got into a huge fight/stopped talking to an old friend, who happens to be one of my good freind's nieghbors...

It kinda sukced...

I forget exactly how it started...

Oh yeah... Basically, he sent me this list of witty rhetorical questions, and I was bored and I answered them.
Then he said I was being too serious and I had no sense of humor.
Then I stated that I was bored, and that's why I answered them.

Then somehow we ended up arguing about homosexuality. I don't know how we even came upon the subject.

Basically he said that ANY male who embraces another male in any way shape or form is either 1) gay 2) mentaly messed up 3) pretending to be gay or 4) one of my friends who hugs everyone he knows (which I dont' see whow that seperates him from the rest of humanity)

So I freaked out at him for being a homophobe, and we started debating it.

Then he randomly called me emo...

I'm not emo...

Ask almost anyone on my friendslist (those who actually know me)

I'm not an emo.

Gah...

Then he said that if everyone was given a survey, I'd be the last person they'd want to hang out with because I "do nothing but mope around all day."

Then I asked my friend Emily about that and she said that aside from Vicky (my boyfriends step-sister) I'm just about the most hyper insane happy-go-lucky freak in the school, or at least in our little group...

So... I kinda sorta gave up...
Actually, I had the last say, so he kinda sorta gave up. Anywhoos...

It really really sucked...
And I kinda don't wanna go anywhere near him anyore...
Which is kinda hard...
His locker's really close to mine in school...
And a lot of people I hang out with are like... uber chummy with him.

Anyway, it's upsetting...
And...
Yeah...

I'm also having a lot of trouble telling my parents and boyfriend about my decision about paganism...
Gah...
Oh well...
My parents have to live with me no matter what...
But Tony's another thing... He doesn't have to live with me...
*smashes head against stuffs*
TT-TT

Yeah...
I'm tired now...
That was kinda exausting...
And now I feel like bitching even more...
But I don't know what to b***h about...
I bitched about all the stuff I can already....
Or that I can think of...

Well, good night...  

[Choir-Angel]

I'm really sorry to hear that...I just recently lost a very good friend of mine also...Well, more like 2 of them. One has now become relatively 'popular' and doesn't have time for me, and the other is a stupid pothead and i'm tired of him. The last straw was him calling me last saturday night and then screaming and calling me a b***h...Um, yea...I hung up on him, and we haven't spoken since. I'm tired of him going crazy at me like that. It's happened a couple of times...

It's really hard to lose a friend, and it takes some getting used to...But maybe you don't have to never speak again. Has he gone crazy on you like this before? Or was it some random crazy accident? I know i'll overreact sometimes and be really angry, but then i'm so embarrassed, that I don't even want to apologize...Maybe you two can patch things up...I hope so at least.

And about the not telling your parents or boyfriend about your decision. You should be able to trust your boyfriend to not bail on you. If he doesn't love you enough to deal with it, then he's not the right one. Religion shouldn't come between two people that love each other. If he's not a crazy religious fanatic, then there should be no problem...You should start off small with him, ask what his views are, that kind of thing. If he starts to freak over small stuff, like you asking him his views on paganism are, then I'd advise waiting a while, or just getting it over with, dealing with his reaction, and hopefully moving on...

Now, your parents, I don't really know. If they're strictly Christian, and you know they'd kill you, then maybe you should keep it a secret...If they wouldn't support you, then they'd either just ignore it, or try to keep as much of an eye on you as possible. You'd never see candles again, that kind of crazy thing. I don't know. But hopefully they would support you and love you no matter what. I don't know what some peoples issues are...Just because they're your parents, doesn't mean they have the right to completely control your life. I think we're old enough by now to decide what religion we want to be...I hope everything goes alright for you, and I hope you and your friend are able to work things out.

Best of luck. I'm going to go make breakfast now. heart