Me? Lazy? No?!

Welcome to my 20th post! We are constantly bombarded nowadays with talk of obesity and the need for exercise and you may have read in Interviews that I am not the sportiest person in the world, due to my shock when the Head of my school presumed that I was sporty. I enjoy some sports such as eating and sleeping and the more contemporary ones such as rounders and netball. But there are some sports which really get in on my pip, due to the fact they are not real sports.
Here are my top five most annoying sports:


5. Running - One reason I think it is annoying is probably because I cannot do it, but most of all I do not see the point. To quote Miranda Hart, "Running should only be done professionally, or as a child. Or when your close to a train station, but check your watch first" and I have to say I agree with her. Yes, running gets you from one place to another quicker, but running 100 metres down a school field has no benefit to you whatsoever other than having an excuse to lie down in the middle of P.E.

4. Dance - I realise this is probably a bit controversial as I am a massive fan of Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing with the Stars for the Americans). I agree it is a great form of exercise and takes a lot of skill, which I lack considerably. But realistically it is not a sport, it is great to watch but hardly promotes team spirit and in my opinion can get a bit boring after a while, especially when you're five years old (yes, I got kicked out of dance class when I was five).


3. Rhythmic Gymnastics - Generally I draw the line as gymnastics full stop. This is because my gymnastics lessons usually consisted of the other two in my group doing some sort of clever trick while I just stood there and nodded, but rhythmic gymnastics is just, well, ridiculous. Gymnasts are very talented people, with all their back flips and handstands and....stuff, but the rhythmic gymnastics, simply put, is a lot of fancy ribbon waving. Yes it's very pretty, and probably tiring, but it is not a sport.


2. Table Tennis - Now, something I actually quite like. It is fun on holiday, when it is cold in the sea or the pool, to go into the games room and play a game of table tennis. Not in school. It is not exercise. It is tennis for lazy people. I enjoy playing it, but not as exercise. I was discussing this in said table tennis 'lesson' with my friends, we were all unanimous in our decision. TABLE TENNIS IS NOT A SPORT.


1. Wii Fit - Need I say any more?


Other things that annoy me are putting 'Engineer' after every profession such as "Underwater Crockery Engineer" is believe it or, someone who does the washing up, but that's a whole other story... 

Fear

I realise I am probably a bit late with discovering the genius of a certain show, I have found a new obsession with, but better late than never.
The television show in question is the absolutely brilliant BBC show - Sherlock. It is a modern take on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and is set in 21st century London. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Mr Holmes himself and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson. The writing is absolutely brilliant, but if it is not acted well, then the story line goes to waste. Fortunately Benedict Cumberbatch is utterly genius.

I am currently making my way through the second series and have one more episode to watch, which I am told is a shocker. So I have just watched 'The Hounds of Baskerville'... This is where the title of the post comes into effect. That episode definitely has the fear factor. I was warned by my friends to clutch a pillow and prepare for a heart attack. So I did, still thinking that was a bit extreme and over the top, but they were right, that is one of the freakiest things I have seen on a screen for ages. I have not seen the 'Woman In Black' and if I cannot cope with a rogue dog, that is made bigger by a hallucinogenic drug, then I do not think the 'Woman In Black' is for me, at all.

I have a few fears, birds (specifically Magpies - DON'T LAUGH) being alone outside in the dark and meeting Justin Bieber, but other than that, nothing really. But, it shocked me that people can be afraid of literally anything. I used to watch a programme on BBC 3 called panic room, where people tried to overcome their phobias and I remember a specific woman who had a phobia of - no I am not kidding - buttons. Yes, buttons. It is known as Koumpounaphobia, which is a bit of a mouthful. So I went online and found some strange phobias:


Fear of opinions - Allodoxaphobia
Fear of gravity - Barophobia
Fear of chopsticks - Consecotaleophobia
Fear of chins - Geniophobia
and my favourite:
Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth - Arachibutyrophobia

These are just some of the thousands of others I found online. I have Ornithophobia and Biebophobia, or maybe I just made that second one up... The thing is, are these phobias and fears just psychological or do people actually have a fear of them, spawned from an experience or upbringing? Oh, look, my blog just got serious. Anyway, I really must get back to revision, I definitely got a bit sidetracked here...again...

Maturity

Ah, Year 7. What is was like not to have a care in the world, learning multiplication in maths and spelling in English. How I miss it. Being in Year 11, I look back on those care free days with nostalgia. I realise (because I was there once, y’know) that in Year 7, more than one piece of homework due in for Monday feels like the end of the world, but it is not. Once you get to Year 11, having seven pieces in for the next day seems closer to the real end of the world. I admit, the reason I have seven pieces of homework in for tomorrow is because I haven’t done any for about a week...That is what truly inspired me to write this, the difference between Year 7 and 11 is so great, but not for the reasons you might think. For example, many people think one reason is that the workload increases, which is does, because Year 11s have GCSEs and are more mature, so can cope with the increased workload. Not true.

I have comprised the maturity scale for Year 7 to 11:
Year 7: Coming out of primary school. The being insane instinct is still there. So Year 7s tend not to be the most mature people in the world, but to be honest, that is to be expected.
Year 8: Maturity level growing. Having a year below you seems very cool and grown up, makes you feel important but the instinct to be crazy is still lingering.
Year 9: Maturity peaks. Insane instinct has gone. In the middle year of senior school, least worries, no fitting in worries, no GCSEs, no coursework. Everything is perfect.
Year 10: Starting GCSEs, don’t panic. Insanity returning... Have to be big and confident in front of other years, but clearly the maturity is on the downhill slide.
Year 11: Oh dear... Last year of compulsory school, last year of GCSEs and the result is...? The maturity you have just built up over the past 4 years just went out the window.

Now, if the above scale has just offended you and you have complaints, please...keep them to yourself.

That is my point, Year 11 is the downfall of everyone, maturity wise, Year 11 is a serious year and I care about my work but it just seems like the best year to have fun. I mean at the end of the day...I mean, year, a lot of friends are leaving. You may not see them very often at all after that and that just seems, well, sad. The maturity level of some Year 11s is higher than others, and some people think they are more mature than they are, although they are probably not. But in my eyes, this, of course, is nothing to worry about, because, just think girls, no matter what age you are, at least there will always be a group of people less mature than you, teenage boys.

If you want a truly 'mature' blog visit: www.hfutersbox.blogspot.com , it's a tad more serious than mine but a good read nonetheless!

Interviews

I am finally coming to end of Year 11. This is it, the end of compulsory school and that sounds FABULOUS. Legally, if I wanted to, I could leave school for good now, go and find a job, or get an apprenticeship. I could do whatever I want. Except...I'm not...

Instead, I am going to sixth form at my current school. I have only been there five years, so as far as I am concerned two more years is nothing. I can hear you say "ONLY five years?! That is ages!". I realise it sounds a bit contradictory but compared to people who have been at the school since nursery, my measly five years seems like a week to them.

I promise this post relates to the title, it does, honest. It is entitled 'Interviews' because, last week I had my scholarship application for Sixth Form interview with the Head and Deputy Head at my school. I admit, I probably should have done more preparation for it, but I had just finished my mock exams and really was not in the mood to prepare questions. So, all the way to school on the bus that morning, I got my friends to think of as many interview questions as possible and ask me them. After half and hour of constant grilling from my friends, I felt I had the perfect answers to every possible question the head and deputy head could ask me. When I say "perfect answers", what I mean is, I would end up lying through my teeth if I wanted to make a good impression... Now, I know that sounds awful, but it is true, of course all the answers were based on truth, only I had modified the truth to make it sound more impressive by saying it in a certain way.

So, the time is 11.55am. I am sitting on the white leather chairs outside the heads office, waiting to be called in. I felt mentally prepared, I had the answers to every possible question me and my friends could think of and I was sitting down, meaning I couldn't faint. Only, there was one problem, I was unbelievably nervous. I tried to calm myslef down, but nothing was working. Finally, after five minutes of hyperventilating, the head came out and called me in. I sat down on the chair, and almost immediately, I forgot EVERY question I had prepared answers to. The head and deputy tried their best to say everything was fine, but of course, nothing was working. So, the first question came - "Maia. I know you are quite sporty..." WAIT, WHAT?! Sporty? Me? Then I thought, does she think I am somebody else? Maybe I got my time wrong and am not supposed to be here... The head carried on "...what do you think of the 2012 olympics being held in London?" For the life of me I cannot remember what I said. I am hoping it was not my real opinion, because to be honest, I couldn't give a monkeys about it...

As the interview progressed, I started to relax, it then became clear to me that not one of the questions I had prepared was being asked... But somehow, I was answering them. I don't know how, but I did. There was an odd moment about half way through the interview, where I think I got a little too relaxed and attacked the piece of fluff floating in the air in front of me...

Each interview is meant to last 15 minutes. Considering I was in there for 35, I think it went quite well. The best part is, I don't think I lied once, just trying to work out now, whether that is a good thing...

A Levels - Advanced levels in difficult decisions?

It all comes down to this. Eleven years of homework, exams and trying to escape detentions was difficult enough. Oddly, though, the most difficult decision of all is choosing A Levels. There are so many things to consider, it is not just a case of, "Ooh, that sounds fun, i'll do that". No. You have to consider everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything. Next month I am choosing my A Levels, and although I have not yet discovered the consequences in hindsight, I have a pretty good idea of what will happen if I don't choose wisely. I currently have my heart set on becoming an engineer, but what happens when halfway through Year 12, I decide I want to be a marine biologist? The answer is: I cannot be a marine biologist.

That is my dilemma, am I sure I want to be an engineer? Once I have chosen I cannot turn back. The other thing to consider is subjects, obviously if you want to be an engineer, you do not then do English, Religious Studies and Art. "Choosing subjects, not a problem then?" I hear you cry. Wrong. Not only do you have to think about the subjects themselves, you also have to think about combinations, back-up subjects and what universities look for - that is, if you want to go to university. There we go again, another big decision that once again boils down to what A Levels you take. Teachers and parents say, "Try to cover all the bases for universities", but surely, different universities look for different things? If you covered all the subject bases for all the universities looked for at A Level and which schools did what, where in the country. You would be considering 4,000 sixth forms, 5,000 colleges and be taking 5 million subjects at A Level. Realistically, covering all the bases at A Level is simply not feasible.

Maybe I am just overreacting. Maybe it is a lot simpler than I thought. Maybe I need to consider the benefits and disadvantages of each subject, look briefly at the combinations which are good and go with the flow. It sounds way to straight forward to be true though, but I will give it a go, it's only my whole life...

Germany

You will have to excuse some of my spelling in theis post because I am using a German keyboard (hence the title), so "Y's" might end up as "Z's" and vice versa.

 I am in Germany at the moment and I have been quite homesick, well I was for the last couple of days... I hear everyone going "Awwwhhh" and if not - rude. Anyway, we stayed in this crummy hotel that had probably seen better days. So, the first obstacle me and my roomate had to overcome were the lifts. To put it bluntly when the lift doors opened, if you blinked, you missed them, and the trend continues until you final make a sprinting start into the lift and press the button for your floor,  then sprint out of the lift on your floor...

The next obstacle was the room keys. Not much of an obstacle you may think but you would be surprised. They just did not want to work, at all, ever. It was so frustrating, I don't think I managed to open the door once by myself! First you try it the right way up, nothing happens. Keep trying. Still nothing happens. Then you get desperate. Back to front, upside down, upside down and back to front and finally sideways... None of these ever worked. Eventually we got fed up and had our room keys reactivated and then they worked on maybe the fifth of sixth go,  instead of the thirteen hundreth go.

Next were the rooms. Probably the most frustrating part of all of this fiasco...When you finally got into the room you could only open the door halfway because the door crashed into the bed as soon as you opened the door and therefore have to breathe in and slide through the gap, only to walk into a wall! Yes, the room was really that small. Going to bed was a pain, I had to climb down into bed from the end cos there wasn't enough room down the side of the bed for a skinny size 6 woman, never mind me! Now, I do not have a big head, but seriously, talk about cutbacks, the pillows were tiny, lumpy and extremely comfortable and to top it off the bed was as hard as a rock.

Somehow, I have a feeling these were some of the causes of my homesickness... I am now in my penfriends house and am sleeping like a baby. Though I do miss home... Right that is it now, hotel complaining over. As the German's would say, Danke Schön und Tschüss!