NEW BLOG

Super important message: I have created a new blog at www.imaginingmindblog.workpress.com and will no longer be blogging on here. Please go there for new posts. Thanks :)

Busy??

Hey, I'm back guys :)) This new style of writing (see previous post) is really engaging me to write just cause it's more informal and fun. So expect to see me more?? (I really have 1% trust in that statement so..)

*posts next in 2020*

Hey guys, I'm back after 4 years cause with all my life I completely forgot about this blog. Recently I remembered about this and I thought why not post. I can tell you guys all about how Trump and Brexit ruined our lives in 4 years. Also hopefully now tho, I can keep this up and post more often. 

*posts next in 2030*

Lol it's just like a cycle. 

Anywayy..this post is a sort of life update (basically to gloat about the fun stuff I'm doing). I don't want to keep you waiting (keep you reading? keep you not reading? urgh) so here it is.

Yesterday I went to Les Miserables and let me tell you, it was AMAZING! Like the actors were sooo good and the singing was on point like oh my. If you haven't watched it, go watch it. Thing is my friends (including Father Christmas) and I were late to our school's Winter Concert after the show because the train we were going to get got cancelled. Yay. Cue running, missing two of our songs and awkwardness as you give your form tutor a lift to school.

...*forgets everything else she is doing/done and questions if she is really busy*

Oh and we missed loads of school for rehearsal for the Winter Concert...and had to do a Physics test at break :((

*still doesn't remember what else I have done*

...
...
...urgh why can't I remember :(( It's 8pm but it can't be that hard.

Yeh. This post is going nowhere great. 

In summary, recently I have been doing a bunch of stuff most which are not interesting enough to write about...and not that important as I can't remember most of it :)) Great.

Hanshi xx

Glückliche Tage

WARNING: YOU MAY NEED TRANSLATE OPEN

When was the last time I posted? Hehe, a lot has happened since then...of course. Then as per usual I remember this existed and thought heck let me post again.

Lol okay so...on Friday I went to Auchen, Germany with the #germansquad (nah I learn Spanish and I'm going to Germany for a school trip right). Yes, yes that's right I totally do Spanish. Just kidding, I actually do German, French, Mandarin and English (because english counts as a language totally).

gOsh what is this sarcastic informal voice i have with this post help

Okay...as I was trying to say I (actually we) went to Germany to go to the SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MARKET *cue aesthetic pictures for social media* (go check out my insta @imagining.mind with the link on the side because self promotion is the best)

Tbh it should be called unsocial media. Because are you really being social sitting alone at home texting...like who named social media please??

Oh my I think I'm hyper.

Back to what I was TRYING to say, me and my friends went to Germany for the Christmas Market.(stay on track Hanshi) As our school wanted us to miss a little of school as possible, we left at 8pm on Thursday night on our double deck coach on which we were to sleep on yay. Of course, the first 2 hours was spent being super high about everything, singing songs, reading City of Bones to fan girl (I did not participate as I regretfully have not read the Mortal Instruments YET) and just generally talking about stuff.

We then crossed the channel by the Eurotunnel. It was claustrophobic. Next.

So we were then officially in France and as the teachers were adamant we got some sleep, we quickly said Bonne Nuit. (for the lazy people who won't check that says Good Night....wait you have a problem with the title??? well...I'm sorry to say you have to figure it out)

THE NEXT DAY 

The next morning, we realized that actually they didn't want us to sleep much as we were awake at 6am. During the night, we had traveled to Germany. We stopped at a service station to freshen up where we paid for the toilet (this happened more throughout the day).

After this, we parked at the Bendplatz and walked to an "Authentic German Cafe" for breakfast. It was actually good. Sorry I meant, es war gut as we were told from that point on to speak German (it's not a educational trip for nothing).

Das Cafe war wunderschön dekoriert für Weihnachten so natürlich nach dem Essen haben wir einige Selbsties mit dem Kader. Als die Schule zahlte, bekamen wir alle heiße Schokolade. Nach dem Vorbild, war wir wollten.

DO NOT TRY AND READ THAT, I JUST CHECKED IT AND IT MADE NO SENSE AT ALL. I'll just stick to English, yeah??

The cafe had been beautifully decorated for Christmas so naturally after eating, we took some pictures and then called up our Spanish friends to gloat about how much fun we were having. (we also called our bacon loving friend and mentioned the delicious bacon at breakfast) As the school was paying, we all also got hot chocolate.

After breakfast, the teachers gave us a quick tour before letting us free to do what we wanted for about 6 hours. The next several hours was awesome, full of fun and laughter :))

Throughout our free time, we shopped in loads of different shops, bought many Christmas presents,
saw the Auchen spring water, went to the closed Tourist office, lost one of our squad members, went to the Christmas Market, awed over the stunning decorations that every shop had, spent 10 mins getting matching squad rings, lost a purse with 50 euros, made the restaurant man put the prettily presented food in a takeaway box, posed and dabbed with the statues, tried to get WiFi everywhere we could, skipped a couple of lines, ignored the boys from another school, ate the traditional German sausage, Reibekuchen and Auchen Printen, saw the beautiful Auchen cathedral, wanted to go the 3 country corner but didn't, went into posh shops before deciding it was a bad idea, spoke in German without failing, took loads of cool photos before my camera broke and got lost.

Yeah.

WAIT, WAIT LET'S HAVE A STORYTIME ABOUT...

The 30 Mins in which We Got Lost 

*the morning before our free time*

Teacher: Please make sure you come to the Spatzenbrunnen fountain at 1pm so we can see that everyone is okay, etc...

Us: Sure thing.

*later at 12:55*

Friend 1: This Reibenkuchen with apple sauce is actually good.

Friend 2: I know right.

Friend 3: Does any of you have a lipbalm?

Me: No sorry, just go in Body Shop and use a tester :))

Friend 4: Lol yeah.

Friend 2: Wait what did she say? (Okay I've given up of which friend is who)

Friend 4: She said use the testers in Body Shop.

Me: Guys we should go to the fountain now.

Friend 1: No, I'm pretty sure we have to meet in front of the cafe.

right.

Friend 3: Yeah that's right.

nope.

Friend 5: No, no we have to meet at the cathedral. I'm 100% sure.

Me: What?!

does no one know what they are doing?

Friend 5: The one near the fountain.

Me: Oh right. Yeah see guys, I was right. Friend 5 is trustworthy.

Friend 3: Okay okay finish the apple sauce, let's go.

*1:05pm in a random German street*

Friend 4: We are lost.

Friend 1: Yeh, I think we have to go the opposite way.

Friend 2: Let's call Frau Thomas.

*calls Frau Thomas, doesn't pick up*

...*10 mins later*

...

...I finally find the way and save the day by getting everyone to the fountain....20 mins late :((

I'm sorry that was the worst Storytime ever. Please forgive me, it started good and just failed lol.

Finally finally finally, we trekked back to the Bendplatz before 4pm when we walked to the Lindt Factory Outlet, a place to buy cheap chocolate for the rest of our lives. The shelves were stock full of chocolate of all kinds.

And boy did we use the opportunity.

5pm and we were out of the Outlet, ready to just fall into a chair and sleep. After the huge amount of shopping and activities we did, we all were so tired. The 5 hour sleep late night did not help. And so we were graciously allowed to get back to the coach and just...

CHILL

The journey back was honestly a blur; all of us eating and talking while watching Nativity, Paddington and Elf (the Christmas movie are coming out) with service stops in between (where we paid for the toilet urgh). At each service station, we would sit at Starbucks or McDonald and connect to the WiFi. We crossed 4 countries in 7 hours and eventually reached boring old England at 00:15am! It was sad to be back so quick and so late at night.

Guess when I woke up the next day? 11am :))

Anyway, regardless of the lack of sleep, our Auchen Christmas Market trip was pretty lit (actually Mr McCarten isn't it LIFT). We had some great fun, bought loads of items and of course, got some awesome pictures. (Which I will post SOON)

Oh and we spoke some German. So..

Hanshi
xx

PS: Tell me if you enjoyed this style of writing, it was certainly different to how I usual write so. Also, the title means Happy Days.

A day in the life of my ear.

I'm a avid music lover, it's literally my life. Or as TØP would say it, "If it wasn't for this music I don't know how I would have fought this." Yep. So, isn't it fair I give you an insight about the tunes (well artists as well) that roam my head, perhaps for you to check out???? 

Okay, here we go...

1) Twenty One Pilots
2) Grimes (mainly Flesh Without Blood, Life in the Vivid Dream and California)
3) Thomston
4) Fall Out Boy (most because of friends but whatever)
5) Melanie Martinez 
6) Marina and the Diamonds
7) Shawn Mendes (^.^)
8) ......ummm

*checks Spotify list and realizes she has missed practically everyone. lol.*

9) Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya
10) Halsey
11) Rather Be by Clean Bandit
12) Amnesia by 5SOS
13) Imagine Dragons (Radioactive, On top of the world, Demons)
14) (OMG, of course)...Panic! At The Disco
15) Zella Day
16) Troye Sivan
17) Glass Animals
18) Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Ray (Rey???)
19) Ghost by From Indian Lakes (and Sleeping Limbs, Awful Things)
20) Still Into You by Paramore (and Ain't It Fun)

There finished, finally! (well I COULD definitely go on) Go check out it out, you might find something you like :)) 

Hanshi xx 

Should you really read Harry Potter and The Cursed Child?

After J.K Rowlings's marvelous literacy finale to the seven book saga of Harry Potter, readers were privileged with the future of wizarding world (and Harry, of course) that remained a limitless void to fill with our own imagination, just enough tantalizing info given and enough withheld.

Perfect for us to close the book with satisfaction.

So when the news of an eighth book set 19 years later spread, there was certainly some mixed views. At first, many readers were excited to get hands on another Harry Potter book as well as eagerly waiting for the first book to star on the London's West End stage. 

On the other hand, there was much confusion as to whether the eighth book, was really a book and even more if the script, written by the playwright Jack Thorne (and based on a original story by J.K Rowling, Mr. Thorne and the director John Tiffany), was really any part of Rowling's masterful writings. However, when the book turned up in all of our bookstores, some decided that the eighth book was simply not fit to be part of the Harry Potter series.

Personally, I think that a lot of the problem comes from the fact, the story is written as a script. Readers, especially ones who have traveled through all the books, are used to Rowling's free flowing, emotive writing that describes the scene so well, it becomes easy to visual and become part of the story. The pace of The Cursed Child, in contrast, is exhausting and some could say that the plot twists implausible. Perhaps, this should have been expected by a story that was written for the stage and not a reading experience in itself.

Jake Thorne has tried to reawaken the magic of the first seven but the 308 pages feel like they are driven by a theater setting and a need to sell tickets which leaves us awaiting readers with awkward pacing, far fetched scenarios and out of the blue plot twists. 

Despite this, it's certainly a decent read that will keep you entertained for a few hours and perhaps, remind you of the other books that made this series a hit.

Hanshi xx

26/10/16 Update: On the other hand, this book has certainly given me some amazing memories with people :))

Excerpt of my NEW STORY Chronophobia!

Day 1 - Copy down the last sentence of a random book and use this as the first line of our new story.

Emerald Green

The halls are dressed in black and white and the tiles are a checker board with humans as the pieces. The whole building sends a chill down my spine and reminds me of something out of my nightmares. I do not want to be here, I think and stupidly I've brought Finch into this too. 

I take his hand, holding on tightly, trying to prepare for the cameras and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go. I look at Finch, his face etched with worry, one that I had never seen before, despite all we've been through these past weeks.

Even when I failed.

He looks down at me, his chocolate brown eyes showing a kind of gentle concern but I know it is the mask behind a face of distress and panic. I want to wipe it away, all the pain, but I can't.

Because I am the cause of the pain. How stupid could I have been when I thought a young, ignorant girl like me, could save the town? Was I trying to be Superwoman? Ha, ha that really failed, didn't it? Finch lays his hand lightly on my shoulder and speaks with a soft voice that seems to calm me more than his actual words. How could I have not considered my actions, when they profoundly effected him too? I nod, only vaguely aware of what he said, before looking up at the wall.

Against the washed out tones of grey, the red clock ticks like the timer on a bomb, dragging me forward to the time of doom. I know I can't avoid it no more than the beating of my own heart as it pounds against its own cage of bone and cartilage. The agony is an invisible demon sitting heavy on my shoulder; my head becoming a little giddy with all of the thoughts bashing around in my head. All I can do is wait on this plastic chair until they are ready for me: the failure.

"Amber, the public are ready for you."

Check out this link to read the rest of my new story, Chronophobia: https://www.wattpad.com/story/81412164-chronophobia 
Comment your thoughts :))

Thanks, Hanshi xx

Downe By The Riverside :)

Downe Scout Activity Centre is only 10 minutes away from school and didn't seem very exciting. How wrong was I? Very. 

Our school camping trip lasted 4 days that bought us from singing The Periodic Table (x16 I think) to building a raft that was the strongest of all to zip wiring backwards while everyone else was acting out Let It Go. Yep, absolutely crazy...regardless, the mobile (and parent) free trip, let us face challenges and make friends (and also get closer to teachers) while having an awesome time.

As Grey 1B tent group, me and my four friends arrived with their Grey Group hoodies and huge DOE sized backpacks on the Sunday evening. As soon as we arrived, we were faced with our first challenge, one that was very important if we wanted to sleep safely for the whole trip...putting up our tent. After having too short ropes, a hook that didn't fit and then having the whole tent fall down, we pulled through and finally filled the tent with our stuff. Free to explore until dinner, we met up with our other friends and played in the fields next to our tent site. 

Let me just put this out there, all our food for the trip was way better than our school lunches and we were pleasantly surprised...although you can't really go wrong with chilli and baked potato or hot dogs. That night we joined with Tent 1A to make our group for all activities and had a scavenger hunt for the ingredient of a pancake that involved us decoding code and doing different challenge (thanks to the blazerbox for helping us). However we did get sidetracked wanting to get a water gun from the teachers who kept soaking us...we didn't get one yet some of us got the chance to soak the teachers back at the camp for being so persistent. The ingredients we collected created a decent pancake/omelette considering we split most of the milk and had wet salt. 

The next three days consisted of many water and camping activities, a nature hunt, singing and a campfire night. On Monday, we took a coach, after walking for 20 mins and seeing a llama (and singing the llama song), all the way to Surrey Aqua Sports for a day filled with water activities. That day we did Kayaking, Sailing (with the boom), StandUp Paddle Boarding, WindBoarding? (not sure) and Raft Building. Of course, we all fell in at least once and pretty much swam during Raft Building when the other team's raft broke (we were told to swap). After struggling out of our wetsuits and making our way back to camp, we had a nature hunt with some unusual items such as Size 6 Walking Boots (we took a pair from our tent), an edible item and the number of the security installed. Although we potentially could have been thought of as 'cheating', we came second! 

On Tuesday, we were staying at camp to do activities round the site. We did Zip Wire including a lot of singing of ASAPscience songs (all of which our leader, a physics teacher, enjoyed) and Crate Stacking in which although I shook a lot, was fun. After lunch, we were due to do Aerial Track and Rock Climbing, both of which was slightly scary and challenging to some of us (someone, on the other hand, was like a monkey and did the Aerial Track backwards and eyes closed, saying the alphabet!) However, we all did the Aerial Track (x9, once backwards) and all reached the top of the climbing rock. It was a great achievement! We went to the shop to get ice creams and plan a performance for the night's campfire before going back to camp. That evening, we enjoyed having a campfire for our last night, singing songs and roasting marshmallows, although our Grey group song performance was...not so good.

On our last day, we had two more activities before we would sadly leave Downe. We first did Archery before going on to do Jacob's Ladder which I was told was difficult by many who had done it. Despite our group of 4 not reaching the top, I was still happy to do as well as I did. After this, lunch was under a tree in the warm weather that we were lucky to have the whole trip. We climbed trees (with a conveyor to carry food to the trees) and had a mini water fight. Grey being the last to leave, had time to make OneWord stories, play Frisbee and Rounders, have a circle of Dares and Truths and relax in the sun eating leftover ice cream and Pringles.

In the end, we were glad not to put the tents down since putting them up had been such a challenge for us! It was a cool experience that I would so do again (better than how the Y9 said it had been) and definitely made me closer with many people. 

May the MASS x ACCELERATION be with you, 

Hanshi x