CHRISTMAS CAROLING AGAIN!

Caroling at Convent of Mercy and at Bay View!

As a class, we decided that we should keep our initial charity group which is Chernobyl Children's Lifeline. Last year we made a quiz for them and raised over £400. This year with our caroling service we raised £109.40! We had eight practices in college as our CAS lesson which we really enjoyed. We did some of the carols we did last year but we did do different songs too. To make this year's carolling more festive and fun we decided to dress up. Initial ideas were to do a nativy themed carol service and I had the pleasure of being a shepherd. However that required being to buy expensive costumes and we thought that it wasn't worth buying those expensive costumes when we could be giving that money to our charity. At one point during a practice the whole dressing up thing was scrapped but we somehow got the idea back as some people had already bought their costumes. We had a star, two christmas trees, a christmas had, two presents and the rest came in a christmas jumper. My jumber had a reindeer on it and it even had bells so when we were having fun singing and swaying the bells on my jumper was ringing and added to the precussion. The money that we raised will help children who are affected by the Chernobyl accident. It could give a child a chance to have a holiday where they can finaly breath clean air and have a good time in a new country. The elderly people at the Covent of Mercy was happy to have us. There were some singing along and waving their arms and swaying to the songs and they even asked for an encore! The only thing was the room that we were in was quite small and having lots of being in one small room meant it was boiling hot. Present costumes were not worn at this time. I think this was a really good activity to do as it reminds us that there are others that require our help and to give up a few hours of our day won't hurt. A good deed can go a long way and it also makes you feel good that you are contributing into making someones life a little bit better.

WALKS

Walk down to Rudland and around Betws-y-Coed

There were plenty of sheep on walks staring whilst we passed by. The walk down to Rudland and back took almost 4 hours including breaks. The route we took was the same route we did for our sponsored walk back in year 8. The walk down was lovely and entertaining because of new sights and the thrill of doing something out of the blue, just because you could. However, the walk back up felt longer and by the time we got back our legs felt like jelly and we just crashed on the couch. What I found motivating about doing this walk was that I completed it. There were no cheats where we got a lift or took the bus. Also the sheep made the walk a whole lot more interesting!

I had been to Betws-Y-Coed a few times since I moved here in the U.K. but I had never come across this wooden bridge before because this was only seen if you followed the trails. We followed the river and circled the place.We went quite early so there weren't that many people around. It was very foggy and quite cold but that type of weather isn't really surprising. Again I felt good about this walk because we completed the trails that we found. Along the way we came across a church, this bridge shown in the picture, trains and gold courses. I think when you go to a place it can show many different sides to the place. The main touristy areas and then there's the place's other beautiful spots that are a bit less appreciated but still beautiful.

WORK EXPERIENCE/ O.J.T

Work experience is a way to get a feel for the type of job you want to do in the future and to find out if you really like it or not and if it suits you. Once you do work experience you don't think of the job you want to do the way you want to inside your head. It suddenly becomes real and it may or may not be the way you expect them to be. 

I know in the future I want to be in a job where I can help others and medicine will let me do just that. This may have stemmed from the fact that both my parents were nurses and it I'm thankful that they are because they were able to help when my family became ill or in any emergencies. 

Work experience for medicine is particularly hard to find because it deals with patients and there's no room for error. I wanted to get work experience for the summer so that it didn't clash with college time but we were also going to the Philippines for a short holiday and time was running out so I figured why not find some in the Philppines? Luckily I was able to find some but the process I had to go through was also time consuming. I went to the city mayor (Hon. Isidro L. Hemedes, Jr.) to explain and ask him for permission to get work experience which in the Philippines they call O.J.T. at the city hall.

I couldn't have done this though without the help of my grandad; because he was friends with the mayor, I got to meet the mayor. 

They mayor wrote this letter for me to bring to Dr. Diamante. If I didn't have this letter I don't think I would have had the chance to fo work experience at City Health Office I. 

I was only observing what the nurses and midwifes were doing and while I was there I got to see how they do blood tests on babies, how they organise admissions and consultations, fetal screening and immunisations. Everyday there were lots of people especially children because most of the mediciation was free and even more if you had Phil Health. To find out that medication was free was shocking to me because normally health check and medication wasn't free. I was glad to know that now the people that can't afford treatments now can but the downside is they only treat basic illnesses. If what the patient requires is beyond what they can offer then they will send them to another department who can help them or the hospital. All the midwifes I met were very friendly and they were happy to answer all my questions and I answered all of theirs. I got to know about their routines and schedules and how they felt about their job. One of the midwifes I talked to called Emily said that she preferred small organisations like this one and even more in the smaller branches where they help the poorer poeple rather than the hospital because of the tighter relationships held with the patients and because the stress levels were lower. She said jokingly that the hospitals were more toxic which I sort of understood because you have more of a responsibility to the many people you meet. She didn't put me off working in a hospital because everyone is different and have different likings and I haven't experienced it for myself. They on the other hand were very curious about the education here in the U.K. and also about the I.B because in the Philippines after you finish high school you then go on to college which is equivalent to university; after college they then find work. 

It was a great work experience although it was a short one and I'm glad to have had the chance to do it.

SWIMMING

Getting sun burnt for the first time!

PATUNGAN BEACH

One of my favourite sports has always been swimming although I'm not really a confident swimmer in very deep waters. Whilst I was in the Philippines I got to visit my uncles and aunties that I don't get to see very often, even when I am home in the Philippines. One of them is my Aunt Liezel and she lives in Batangas which is about a two or three hour drive from Laguna, which is where I am from. Whenever we left to visit her we would always go at around 4 or 5 am just to beat the traffic because the traffic in the Philippines is nothing like the traffic here.

Our first destination was Patungan Beach. I had never swam in the sea before and I was really surprised at how salty the water was. It felt like drinking a glass of water that was mixed with a whole bottle of salt. The waves were stronger on the edge rather than when you go in and the water was cloudy at the start but the deeper you went the bluer it became but I didn't go that far because I can't stay in deep waters. We got to the beach at around 7 and swam in it all morning. The reason we went so early was so that we wouldn't be swimming in the scorching heat but as you can see from the subheading I was silly and forgot to put sunblock on my shoulders. I've never been burnt before so I wasn't all that bothered about sunblock and so I payed the price. By the end of that day my shoulders became this red colour and for about a week onward my shoulder bag became my hand bag.  I had lots of fun and I think I became a little bit more confident in deeper water. It was nice to see all my family but the adventure didn't stop there. After the beach and after eating, my cousins wanted to go to Talon Falls, I don't go to the Philippines that often so I was definitely going. We took a tricycle (not the kids one if you're wondering) from the beach up to this bridge and from there we had to walk through the forest for about 20 minutes to get to Talon Falls. The excitement began once you heard the crashing of water and when we got there the first thing you'll notice is how clear the water is and also how cold it was even though the weather was around 35 degrees. It wasn't a heavy waterfall and people were sliding down it, I wanted to slide down it myself but the water was deep at the end of the water fall and the push of the water would push me down to much. We took lots of pictures, above and below the water and we were all shivering at the end. It was amazing to swim in the sea and at the waterfall and I hope to go back there whenever I go back to the Philippines. And for those out there wondering, no wellies were lost. ;)

ICESKATING

Before getting to the Deeside Icerink, I thought ice skating wasn't too hard but I was sadly mistaken... I was stuck on the side for a good half hour before I ventured a metre away. I also found out that going in pairs or group made balancing easier and so you could go faster. It was great fun going round the rink with my friends but falling wasn't! I'm glad to say that I only fell twice and on one of them I blame the really good people racing around at like 50 miles per hour. But I got them back, by chance; as I was trying to balance my arm was flailing around and they happened to come a bit too close and I accidentally hit them. It was funny but I knew I had to be more careful. There were a few things that helped me as I got more comfortable on the ice. Looking ahead rather than at my feet, taking longer strides and bending my legs definitely helped me get better at ice skating. I really enjoyed the day and has made me more excited to do other activities like this with friends and family because you learn new skills, have a break and enjoy good quality time with friends and family. However, for anyone who does want to try to ice skate for the first time, I warn you that sore muscles and bruises will surely follow.

QUIZ NIGHT

Raised over £400!

We have been helping the Chernobyl trust since the start of our course and it has been amazing to see how much can be done to help if everybody works together. At the quiz we raised over £400 which will help bring a child from the radioactive zones of Bulgaria to have a holiday here in the U.K. Once they are here they can finally get clean water to drink and clean food to eat with a shelter above their heads and people who cares for them. It is a truly a great charity to support and I am glad to help with my IB class. 

          The quiz was quite stressful to organise but we somehow managed. We all worked together, assigned jobs to everyone. We all had to deliver letter to shops to get raffle prizes and bring food. My contributions were coconut macaroons and caramel bites. We had cupcakes, a chocolate fountain, fruits, marshmallows, cheese & crackers, quiche and for drinks we had tea, coffee, water, juices and fizzy drinks. For the quiz itself we had 10 rounds all with 10 questions. My quiz round was films and to be honest I was quite shocked that some of the teachers didn't know the name of the cat that loves to eat lasagna - Garfield. It was really fun to watch the teachers getting competitive with each other and congratulations to Arwel's team that won! Better luck next time to the other teams next year at the new IB1's quiz.

Me with head caterer, Lil' Oliv

           I think doing this quiz has really helped our class to better work together and it really shows how much can be done if everyone participates. We will, as the new IB2's, be doing more to help our chosen charities in the second year to help those that need our help. We hope to get the same response from the quiz and we are happy to be a part of helping those we have helped to have a chance at a new life.

ART TRIP

Pinhole Photography with Vivien Rickman-Poole

Our picture with Vivien herself.

Us in the classroom making our pinhole camera:)

For our CAS day out we went to Bodelwyddan Castle to see and learn more about Francesca Woodman's art work. She took many photographs of herself in black and white for the viewer to interpret. Her photographs have a kind of mystery to it and it may even hold the key to the reason of her suicide when she was only 22. Vivien was the artist that we met when we got there. An interesting fact about her is that she goes swimming everyday in rivers, lakes, seas but never in a swimming pool; even in the winter! She taught us how to make a pinhole camera using a coca cola can interestingly enough. All we had to do was poke a pin on the side of the can, make a shutter and lid with duck tape and put in photo paper. With the picture taking, we went around the castle and took pictures of the scenery or ourselves; we could be as creative as we wanted. The pinhole camera had to placed still and the shutter taken off for a maximum of 4 seconds, any longer and the photo paper would have had too much exposure and turned completely black. Also to prevent it from getting too much exposure it was recommended that we didn't face our pinhole camera at the sun. I think it was great to experience things like this because it lets you see the world in a different perspective, you aren't just trapped to belive in one thing and I think that's what's great about art, is that it's open to interpretations and you can express things that couldn't be expressed through words. This trip has also let me be creative and a sort of outlet from work. A balance is definitely required for a healthy life or else we might stumble into a deep depression and isolate oursleves from the world. We can only make assumptions as to why Francesca Woodman took her own life at such a young age but she would have had been unduring a hell for her to make that decision.

Our break spent at the swings!

One of my pictures.