Welcome to Gaia! ::

Oh, right--about the losingyourmessage thing--I usually have my internet browser open, and a halfscreen-size word document opened on one side so I type long messages on word. It makes it easier to see what other people have said without scrolling up and down, and there's no way it'll disappear on me XD

Kitsune, it’s cool that you have so many pets. I heart animals, too! I personally only have a kitten named Cinderpelt, but my family has more.

Kineka, I’m sorry that you have to listen to them having sex. That’s really disturbing. gonk Too bad there really isn’t such thing as a Silencing Charm!

Turayza, thanks for voting! whee My friends took Japanese, and they said it was very difficult, so I imagine Chinese is challenging too since they have a different alphabet than us and everything. Congratulations! By the way, the drawing of your new white and gold avi is really cute!

I'm a little short on time, so I can't make a long answer...

Kineka: Lol, I never noticed that about swear words.
I voted for Minerva's entry in the avatar arena (:
The cards are a pretty interesting idea...but our school fails so much, it forgets people's birthdays a lot (we have this big birthday calendar with a bunch of names missing) and it'd be really sad not to get a card.
An A+ is a good reward for really high grades (: It looks prettier XD

Minerva: Yep! n.n
Yeah, using a different language is really weird o__O; The most annoying part is how very few parts of the written language actually are phonetic...it's all pictures and occasional pieces of a word that are there for the sound. There's no rhyme or reason to anything DX
The spoken language is actually a lot easier to learn than most of the romantic ones though, because there aren't any tenses. (:

Kineka, you can name a cat Lupin if you have one...It's just that "lupinus" is Latin for "wolf-like," so I'm not sure how that would work for a feline.

I love fan fics where the Marauders don't like cats (even though they're my fave animals) because there's a wolf, dog, and rat in the group. rofl

No tenses, turayza? That does sound easier! razz Written must be really stresful, though.

Wow, 5 kids? That's too much for me. And whoa, between 3 and 9 years old? 3 is my limit. Unless they're family, I won't babysit anyone over 3 years old. I'd probably end up like, hurting them. I lose my temper with them sometimes. newborns to 3 are cute and fun. And honestly, knowing that they have to listen to me, they can't talk yet, and they look up to me is pretty freaking awesome! It's so nice when I was babysitting a 2 year old and every time I came over, if he was up, he'd be like biggrin YOU'RE HERE! and he'd give me this huge hug. Aww...so cute.

Oh, I hate putting them to sleep...but mine have been pretty good since they're usually on a schedule and get tired around the time they should be going down for a nap. I'm usually not there that late at night, so I never had to put them to bed. Just naps usually. But I love it when you get there, the kid's already asleep and should stay asleep until the parents get home and you get paid for doing nothing, I love that! Not that it's ever happened to me, but...xD

Ohh yeah, I forgot that you guys have different currency than we do. $100 is probably equal to about $25 here, or what's the normal pay for a babysitter. 2 pizzas...a PS3 game...yeah, I think that's about right. Well, unless it's the new HP6 game for PS3, then it's like $40...

Okay wait a minute...how can you get the highest you can get on a test and not get the highest grade? That doesn't make sense to me.

Yeah, that's showing your work in math. That's what we had to do for our free response questions on our math exam. And if the work wasn't good enough, but we got the answer right, then we got 1/2 credit. At least that makes more sense then my 8th grade algebra teacher...if the work looked good but the answer was wrong, she'd still give you half credit. That's just weird...but it saved me from getting a lot of crap wrong, so I guess I owe her for that.

Yeah, that happens to us too sometimes. Just like my History exam, our teacher gave us a study guide of what's all on the test and told us just to study that stuff. Well, I studied all that stuff, but, of course, none of it was on the test. Or it was just worded differently and it just confused us. But for us, the only detailed answers we need are in English...History we never even used the book, we just did slideshows on a projector, and sometimes we would get a worksheet that just has one answer, like it's a fact and you don't need an explination. Science we don't have a book, it's more projector stuff, and then we have worksheets, which again, only have one answer. Math it's always just showing work, but sometimes it's not a lot of work we need to show, so it's not that bad. And none of my electives we really need detailed answers. Just English. But it's also not required, he just likes detail. If you explained it fairly well in 3 lines, he'll give you as good a grade as someone who wrote 1/2 a page. So it all really depends on what you explain and if the answer's right.

Ohh okay. Our teachers usually have rooms to themselves, but they let the new teachers or the ones that don't have their own rooms yet use it. Like Mr. Peacock, Mr. Rutz, and Mr. Wall, they're algebra teachers with their own rooms. But my geometry teacher, Miss D'Amato, is new and doesn't have her own room, so she goes back and forth between Mr. Peacock's room, Mr. Rutz's room, and Mr. Wall's room, while they either go teach in some other room if they have a class that hour, or go to the teacher's lounge until the next class they have.

Oh, I hate when that happens. Pushing backspace and it goes back a page. GAH that annoys me! But yeah, that's what happens with me. Such wonderful things, these computers, aren't they?

Well, 6 - 7 paragraphs is considered an essay here. When we have to do 6-Straight Writing (when we have a prompt, like year round school or when to start and end school, etc, and we have to write an essay explaining our feelings on it, using the 6 prompts...which I can't remember at the moment), it usually ends up being a 6 - 7 paragraph essay. But, we, again, only have the hour to do it, so it has to be a bit shorter. They don't allow extra time, so it has to be reasonable for the time given to us.

Well, the only exam I was allowed to use notes on was Math. But it would take us forever to do all the math by hand, so they let us use calculators. They do give us scratch paper if we need to show our work for like, a multiple choice question. But most of it is on the calculator.

Haha, that's good. But only some of our more caring teachers would do that. A teacher that doesn't care wouldn't make them do it. But that's why we try to keep our birthdays under wraps. None of us make a big deal out of it because heaven knows it's embarrassing to have someone sing Happy Birthday to you in high school. But most of the teachers don't do anymore than wishing you a Happy Birthday and maybe asking what you're doing. That's it.

I don't think you're mistaken, Kitsune. I'm guessing most people think that if you live near something, it's not as special to go there, so they just don't. It's like, you've lived there for a while now, you're just used to it. It loses it's flair after a while.

Yeah, they just started Spanish, French, and German 6 for next year. It's mostly for people who started taking a foreign language in 7th grade and have been doing them ever since at the high school level. I took an introduction to Spanish in 8th grade, but the teacher didn't know s**t and we didn't have a book or anything. So that would be considered Spanish 1. But in the public school disctrict, it would be a lot more vigorous and would probably count as Spanish 1, so your freshman year in high school, you could start at Spanish 2. I know freshmen who are in Spanish 3. They're the ones that are going to be taking Spanish 6 Senior year.

Yeah, that happens in Spanish too, it's all switched around. But we get what it means, we're not stupid. Maybe some really slow people wouldn't get it, but I think the average person could figure that out.

Haha nice. I quit the guild though. It's kind of weird, them thinking the vampires actually exist. Now, if one were to bite me, then I'd have a change of heart, but until that happens, I don't think I want to associate with them. Not that I really care, but it's just weird to talk to someone like that, you know what I mean?

Well, when you're not around them as much, you tend to think they sound alike. We don't have many Chinese or Japanese people here, at least not where I live. So when I hear someone Japanese speaking, then someone Chinese, I think they sound the same. But I haven't been around them as much, so I don't know of the distinct differences.

Yeah, well, I'd rather learn a language that I'd actually use. I'm probably never going to use Japanese in the near future, and it's not like I'm an anime freak. Spanish is the other huge language in the world, other than English, and I already have that down. I think Spanish would be the language to be required to learn, then you can learn other languages for fun later.

Lol random posts are amazing!

Sweetie, I don't know either razz . You're not the only one, haha.

Hey guys, random comment here! Pasta Fresca is really good! razz Oooo! And I got an HP6 poster book from Borders! Now I can say I have 30 more HP things!

Yupp, five kids. But thankfully it's been a very long time since the last time I had five kids. razz Now it's normally between 2 and 3, with the occasional 4.

One of the now-seven year olds (Imagine, she was five when I started babysitting!) and the now 10 year old (He was eight then! o.o) are the two who loves me the most. They're thrilled whenever I'm there, and sit practically on-top of me the entire time.

When I was there last time, I laid down on the couch, and the seven year old girl came and laid down on top of me. xD; They're way to touchy-feely and clingy though.

No, no. xD We have kr. When I said 100 dollars, I meant 100 dollars. If not, then I'd say 100 kr. razz So yes, I do get 100 dollars. What I meant that it is considered to be less money here than over there, is that we're generally paid more than you are in America. Here, I believe the least you can earn at a job when you're over 18 and have full seniority at your job, is 14 dollars an hour. We have generally a higher paycheck in Norway.

However, we have a much, much higher taxes than you do. But then, I guess we kinda have to have that to continue to have free schooling (with the free books and almost-free laptops included), free hospital stay, almost free medicine and doctor visits (however if you use above a certain amount of money, about 260 dollars a year, on medicine, hospital, doctor, psychiatrics of any kind of medical treatment except a dentist, it's completely free) and such privileges.

....If you mean that you use about 40$ for a new PS3 game.. Then I hate you. I have to use 100$! So not fair. >< I think I'll go on a game-shopping spree if I ever come to the US. razz

Because you may get all the answers correctly, but that doesn't mean you have all the details. For example if you're asked on a math test what 10*6 is, then it isn't enough just to write "60". You have to write how you come to that conclusion. UNLESS it is a task that you're ment to do on the calculator.

If in English you're asked what happened in a certain part of a text, you have to involve a lot of details on what they were doing, not just where they went and such. They want details if you want a 6. Here, there's certain things we have to know, understand and be able to present if we want to get a 5 or especially a 6 on a subject or a test.

I'll get my school books tomorrow, and it says there the requirements for a grade if I remember correctly... If not, then I think there might be a document about it on Fronter....

Ah, here we go! She'd put the requirements to each grade on an English oral test in the document file on Fronter... Sorry if it is a bit weirdly worded, but I'll have to translate it from Norwegian, so... Hopefully this will make you understand a bit more how we're graded.

"Above Average Goal Achievements" (Grade 5 - 6)

For this goal you have to be able to:
- Evaluate, - Discuss, - Reason, - Produce, - Improvise

Grade 5:
The presentation has a very good structure with an introduction, main part and an ending. The student has a clear and coloured presentation, and sees connections and draw conclutions. Rich and colourful language.

Grade 6:
The presantation has a very good structure with an introduction, main part and an ending. The student has a very good flow, independence and maturity in their presentation. The student shows independence in their explaination of connections and conclutions. Rich and colourful language.

So as you can see, here it's not just a matter of "right and wrong" answers. Not only that, but at an exam, a teacher can't make it easier for the student to get an easier grade, because it isn't our teacher that puts the grade.

At a written exam, we don't even have our names on the exam, just a "number" that we're given. So the sensor that corrects the exam can't know whose exam he or she is grading.

In an oral exam, there's one sensor we're presenting for as well as our teacher. After the oral exam, they question us and so on, and then we have to proove that this is something we know. Even if we have a good presentation, we might end up with a horrid grade, because we didn't manage to convince the sensor that this was something we knew, and not just a manuscript that we'd learned by heart.

So all in all, our teachers has nothing to do with our exam grade. smile

Here, the answer might be wrong and we can still get full credit for it. If you ended up just writing down a wrong number in your equation with an accident, that would ruin your answer. So, it'd actually be wrong to just give a fail if the answer is wrong, when you clearly know how to actually do the work, just because you just did the equation with a wrong number.

Here we always need detailed answers. In English as well as in Norwegian and Social studies and Science. Freaking annoying, let me tell you that. And worst of all is that if you just got ONE answer wrong... Then that might end up giving you a 5+ or a 5, instead of the 6 you would've gotten if you'd answer that one correctly as well..

So you really have easy tests like that.. No fair really. In science we sometimes have a few tasks where we have to cross these little boxes. You'd think that was easy, but nooo.. At times those are actually the hardest, since there are a multiply of answers that are correct, and you have to get them all.. If you cross one off that isn't correct, you loose a point...

I'm glad we don't have it like that... Moving from room to room every our would be frustrating. Here, we mostly eat at our classroom, and that's where we spend our recess, sitting there lazing our bums off and surfing the net.

Haha, I promise you, sitting on msn in the middle of the class is kinda fun. biggrin As long as the teacher doesn't catch us that is.

I see. Here an essay is everything between a page to three pages. Depending on what the teacher want for that specific piece of work.

Lucky. Math would be a breeze if I were allowed to use calculator so much! biggrin

...We like telling the teacher that it's someones birthday, just because it is so embarassing. We like embarassing.

Was pretty nifty in our last math class. One of the girls brought chocolate cake! So for one our, we just went through our mock exam and such.. And then we got cake. Yuuuum.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Outland is my favorite store ever, but I guess I'd be a bit less excited about it if they had any in the North part of Norway. Imagine that I'd have to drive south for two days just to find an Outland store? XD

I wish I'd taken Spanish or German. I hate the French teacher. It's like she thinks we're all below her because she can speak French or something..

It would be awesome if Vampires did exist. Just because then the possibility of the Harry Potter world existing would be much more likely.. Remember when I turned 11, and I was so disappointed that I didn't get any letters.. I knew it wasn't true, but I still hoped.
Here's a nice tribute to exactly that kind of hopes that I'm sure quite a number of Harry Potter fans shared. smile

I guess.. Still don't get it. To me it's like saying that Polish and German are a like. xD Or German and Norwegian. Haven't met many Japanese or Chinese people, but I've always heard a huge difference between the two.

I want to learn Japanese due to it's unique culture and just because I find the language to be simply beautiful.

I'll never have any use of Spanish, seeing as I have no interest in traveling to Spanish-speaking countries. razz I'd love to go to Italy though. I'd actually have more use of Japanese and Greek than Spanish, seeing as how I'd love to travel to Japan and re-visit Greek.

And also, it looks better on a resumé is you have two rare languages, than one very common one.

Yes, aren't they? biggrin

Pasta Fresca? :O

Remember Harry's patronus? A stag. James "Prongs" Potter was a stag. Why'd you think it was so fitting that Lily was a Doe? :O

Wow! I missed alot. Yeah Disneyland is like 1 hour and a half away from me when you go 85 mph on the 5 freeway.

I never babysat, I have no patience for kids really.., you're grading system sounds so much better. Kitsune we wouldn't get something for free because Americans don't want to pay higher taxes. Now that they're going to add federal taxes to state sales taxes it's going to go from 8.25% to almost 20%!
That majorly pisses me off!

I'm an anime freak, even though I like Manga better and japanese to me sounds completely different from chinese. Japanese use more like -ko at their end of the sentences or -desu and chinese sound like xiao ming.

Oh yeah, I'm glad I know spanish, it will help me get payed better,especially minoring in it.

Random question:

What's your favorite dish? Mine's enchiladas.