Finals And Studying

  I know I've blogged about this before, but since it is coming up around the corner again, I thought this would be an appropriate topic. Now, I realize that, if you don't live in Thailand, you won't be able to relate to this right now. I apologize. Anyway, let me just start off by stating the obvious: FINALS ARE HORRIBLE. First of all, you can't slack off or do anything fun anymore. Your parents will try and force you to study whenever possible, even during recess or free time at home. You probably won't be allowed to bring any sort of entertainment from home to school, be it an iPod, iPad ( why would anyone bring an iPad to school anyway?), a phone, or a book, you'll be vetoed every time. Our parents seem to think that studying actually helps us when our minds are on other things. That's to be expected, of course. They're parents. Their actions can always be traced back to some kind of 'good intention'. Teachers, on the other hand, are supposed to try and make sure that we have time for studying, so we can be ready for the finals. Instead, they heap boatloads of homework on us, determined to get everything they'd neglected for the whole term done so they wouldn't get in trouble with their bosses. They don't even care that we get loads of work from other teachers, too. I'm very sorry for ranting on like this. You all probably know these experiences first-hand anyway. Please comment! See you all next week.

Anime and Manga

  I have a friend named Jenny who reads this blog (please comment, Jenny.), and she really loves anime and manga. Did I type that right? Do they have to have capital letters? Anyway, she loves them so much that she can speak a little bit of Japanese ( from watching lots of anime) and can draw Manga really well ( from reading lots of Manga). So I thought I would write a blog about them. First of all, let it be established that I don't hate Anime. Not all of them. Just the bad ones with horrible  back-stories and bad animation. Granted, most anime are badly animated ( no offense ), but people watch it for the stories and illustrations. Animation is a minor detail, even though it is a part of their name. Manga, on the other hand, is my favorite type of comic. Now some devout Manga readers might argue that it's not a comic. It's art. Well, I prefer to leave my opinion about that unspoken. Not to say that I don't agree, of course. Anyway, the reason I love it so much is because it's usually very fun and awesomely illustrated ( awesomely? Is that a word? Well, no squiggly red line, so..). My all-time favorite is The Glass Mask. It's a classic. I think the Japanese are really great at many stuff, including art, technology, cuisine, and of course stuff that includes..um..ugh, brain-block...ORDER? Sorry, that was the best word I could come up with at the time. Anyway, the Japanese have a lot of 'fortes', but unfortunately animation isn't one of them. This is just my opinion.Bottom line, though: Anime and Manga are very popular, and people who like them are not 'nerdy', but COOL!! ( I had to put that in. I meant it, though) So shout-out to all you anime and Manga lovers, please leave a comment about what your favorite anime and Manga is! If you tell me about it and I like it, maybe I'll even try watching or reading it and give feedback later on! Thanks and see you again soon!
P.S. Sorry for not blogging for so long. So much homework.

Teacher Love

Recently, I noticed an interesting development between my Maths teacher and my Chinese teacher. I'll call the Maths teacher DJ In Disguise, and call my Chinese teacher Pretty Model ( because she's extremely pretty ).  The point is that I think DJ has a crush on Model. No, I'm POSITIVE! Why?

First clue: My sister spotted him flirting with her in a classroom ( AFTER school was over! ) . He was smiling and talking and trying to get close to her. She smiled back politely and was soon seen hurrying out of the room as fast as possible.

Second Clue: A reliable source reported that DJ asked some students how to say " You are very beautiful " in Chinese.

Third Clue: The same source said that when Model first came to the school, he ASKED FOR HER PHONE NUMBER and they were SEEN TOGETHER!

Great, now I sound like a gossip column trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. Still, it's extremely likely that they like each other. Check out jennybokcedar.blogspot.com for my friend's full profile of DJ. Bye!

                                                                                                                                                  - Ferny

Tests

Tests are a subject that nearly anyone can relate to. There are a dozen different kinds of tests, but today I'm going to be blogging about the most commonly known ( and dreaded ) type of test. SCHOOL TESTS. Midterm, finals, even pop quizzes. EVERYONE dreads studying for tests. Yes, you read me. STUDYING for tests. Not the tests themselves. Let's face it, studying for tests usually take more time than you'd expect. And you usually cover more info than you get tested on. Tests are still dreadful, as you have to wait if you're done before everyone else, or panic if time runs out before you're done. And when you face a question you're sure you read about, or forgot the answer to, you feel like beating yourself up. But the worst event that could happen is if you get HORRIBLE scores on a test even though you've always gotten good scores before. Or even worse than that: You FAILED. I failed one of my tests miserably and found out yesterday, and ( not boasting but ) I've always been a smart student. I was shocked, devastated and well, all the things you go through when you fail an important test. I'd NEVER failed a single test before. I'd never even come close! Everyone gasped when the teacher said I failed which made me mad. Obviously they thought I HAD to be as smart as my sister. I DESPISE being compared to her! Especially when she's so hard to live up to! So needless to say ( being the drama queen that I am ) , I had a good hearty cry and skipped lunch that day. I cried for two whole periods ( as in SCHOOL periods ) and also cried during lunch. Don't judge me unless you've had the same experience. Anyway, I sucked it up the next day ( well, today )and asked the teacher about a resit. She hasn't said when I could redo the test but it's probably some time next week. Speaking of which, I've gotta go study. Comment if anything like this has ever happened to you! I'll see you next week!
                                                   
                                                                                                                                                   - Ferny

Arts & Crafts

Recently, a friend of mine has started selling banana chocolate muffins to buy a ticket to some One Direction concert. It got me thinking, I suck at this stuff. Sewing? SO out. Baking? I don't have that touch. DIYing? More like Don't do It Yet. Yet all of my friends ( and every effing girl in the U.S.A. ) seem to be born with a knack for, well, everything. Not only do they love it, they excel at it. They make it seem as though baking, DIY crafts, sewing etc. are all minor activities that they can just throw together at the last second. It would seem as though an average five-year-old U.S. girl could whip up an entire mattress or DIY anything in five seconds while I slave over a pillowcase! From the way they talk about it, you'd think their entire HOUSE was something they " did for fun when they were bored "! Where does all this natural ability come from! Oh, and it's not just ABILITY, no, where do they get all the MONEY and EQUIPMENT and - most importantly - TIME to do all this?! Maybe they have an everything shop near their house? Or maybe they've just got one big room full of stuff I don't even know exists? Books and websites make it seem so simple and easy. Like " Wanna bake a life-size fully furnished mansion? It's easy! Just follow these instructions that are so specific and complicated you end up mixing flour with some random ingredient that you have no idea what it is! " Sorry for all that ranting. I'm sure I've been boring, but people have to understand that we don't have a bunch of DIY-ready spare T-shirts or silicone pads or whatever just lying around the house! And my ENTIRE COUNTRY  doesn't even PRODUCE half of the ingredients you require to make an " easy bakery-something-product "! Thailand is NOT one of those everywhere-you-turn-there's-a-shop-that-sells-every-effing-thing-the-universe-has-to-offer countries!!! Anyway, if you have this dilemma I would LOVE to relate to someone for a change. So email me at ferny.2545@gmail.com or just comment. Have a wonderful DIY-stress-free day!
                                 
                                                                                                                                 -Fern

Stress

Now let's think about it. What causes stress? Peer pressure? Family? Homework? Schoolwork? Take a closer look at it. About 90 percent of stress comes from school. That thing is the stress headquarters. Whether it's homework, studying, projects, different types of bullying or any other troubles, school can be the No.1 thing that factors or causes your stress. If your parents make you take special classes ( and I mean the academic ones that you don't enjoy at all), then you've got double the work. And due to those special classes your brain has to work hard all week with only a few hours of rest each day. Even when you come home from school and special classes and you just want to relax, the minute you start getting comfortable your parents will tell you to stop slouching and get started on your homework / tell you to go take a shower / send you on an errand / do something that prevents you from getting any rest. Sometimes we kids just need a break! Now, I understand exactly how that feels. The so-called "techniques" to help you reduce stress doesn't work for me either. Not evryone has bottles of lavender/rose scented oil just liying around to pour in a bathtub ( and on that note, not everyone has a bathtub ) or float rose petals in! And not everyone has the equipment/skill/TIME to make DIY schedules! Nor do the schedules work for everyone. Instead, I focus on a more simple way to deal with stress. Praying. Sometimes you'll feel like it doesn't help,or that God isn't listening... Ok, maybe a lot of times. But check out Daily Devotions. Anyway, if you really feel like praying doesn't make you feel better, just calm down. Tell everyone you know about it. At least, the ones you can trust. Then just relax, and try to deal with it any way you can. Hope that as helpful. Have a wonderful, stress-free week! - Ferny

My Very First Surgery

  Hi, everyone. Palm here. I wanted to apologize for not having anything new up for so long. Hopefully, it wasn't too long. I was in the hospital for about four days, because I had appendicitis. Let me tell you how it happened. On my birthday ( June 11th) , I went to school as usual. the first part of the day was fine. But at lunch, I started getting a bad stomachache. So I took a pill after my meal and just went on with my day. But the pill didn't help like it wasn't supposed to. In fact, it got worse and worse until, by the last lesson, it was almost unbearable. Mom picked us up a little bit later than usual, and then, when I got home, I told her about it. So Fern ate pizza while watching Frozen , and I had to lie down so Mom could give me a check-up ( she's a doctor). Then she said the symptoms were like appendicitis and she rushed me to the hospital. Without any dinner. Fern, of course, stayed behind and played on our new Xbox with Dad. When I got to the hospital, I had to go to three doctors, get an ultrasound, and a CT scan before they finally said, " Okay, it's appendicitis. She needs to get surgery. Pronto." So Mom called the surgeon, who she knew, and asked him to operate on me. At that point, 'an hour' was by eight o'clock. So then we called Dad and Fern and told them all about it and that they needed to come right away. And after that it was panic ( Fern ), sappiness ( Mom ), nonchalance ( Dad ) , and so-excited-and-nervous-she-can't-stop-smiling ( me) . Since Mom had done appendicitis suegery before, she requested to be in the room with me as part of the surgical team. The team wished me a happy birthday before giving me some..um..anaestetic or whatever they call it..to smell, and I woke up an hour later in the recovery room with an extremely sore throat and a wound near my hip that hurt awfully. But I was also nauseaous and super duper sleepy, so I went to sleep almost as soon as they wheeled me into my room and lifted me onto my bed. Did I mention my bed was remote-control and adjustable? Anyway, I had to stay at the hospital for four whole days and nights to recover. And after that, the doctor ordered a two-week rest from school. Two weeks! I don't know how I'll EVER catch up on all the work. Not to mention all that studying. But if I can make a quick recovery, I might be able to go back in just one week. I'm so sorry for ranting on like this, BTW. Anyway, I would really appreciate it if you guys would pray for me. Thanks!