The Year In Review

This year has gone by so quickly! My favourite part of English 20-1 was by far the film presentations.  Although presenting in front of my peers was extremely nerve wracking, I got to watch one of my favourite movies and share it with everyone.  The types of movies someone likes can tell you a lot about them.  Movies are really a gateway to a person's soul.  Getting to learn about my friends and classmates favourite movies was really an eye opener.  There was a very wide range of genres, from comedy to drama to animated.  Movies are pretty essential to our culture and being able to share that with one another was lots of fun.  A bonus was also getting to see a large part of our grade all dressed up and fancy.  We clean up pretty good!  The one thing I did not like during this year was the entire study of The Road.  The book was boring, both of the characters annoyed me to no end and the movie was even worse than the book.  I really did not like that part of the year.  I really wish we didn't study that novel; the boy was probably the most annoying and frustrating part of the book.  He wouldn't stop whining and crying about everything, and he was pretty much born into that world and should be desensitized to everything.  I just simply did not like that novel or movie whatsoever.  Therefore, the only thing I would change about English class this school year is not having input into what books or movies we studied.  I would have much preferred it if we were given a choice and voted on what sources we studied.  I know that I probably wouldn't have loved everything we did, but at least there would be more than 1 or 2 sources that I actually liked throughout the year.  Even though there are a few things I didn't like this year, overall it was pretty great.

Spring Break

This spring break I traveled to China.  It was truly a brand new experience.  Even though the entire two weeks were phenomenal, the best part by far was seeing and walking on the Great Wall of China.  The entire trip leading up to the Great Wall was extremely surreal. Once we got there however, I couldn't help but say "Wow.  We're actually in China!"  After we had walked up the first set of extremely steep, rickety and worn down stairs I couldn't help but stop and stare.  Even though we hadn't climbed very far, all I could think was "this is a once in a lifetime experience".  Despite what many people believe, the wall isn't 10+ feet tall.  Honestly it is only about 3-5 feet tall.  The ingenious thing about the wall was that all of it was built on a hill.  If the Mongols, whom the Chinese were attempting to keep out, had won the battles in the valleys, they would have to walk up an immense hill to defeat the men on the wall.  It was incredible to think of all the amazing ideas, all the hard work and dedication that this wall took, that combined with the breathtaking view brought an overwhelming sense of awe.  Up there the air was clean and crisp, which was rare in such a polluted city.  There were blooming cherry blossom trees bordering one side of the wall.  It was phenomenal; I would without a doubt take another 14 hour trip specifically to see the Great Wall again.  Another interesting part of Beijing was the snack street we visited.  It was one of the grossest things I have ever seen.  There were large black scorpions on a stick, as well as smaller brown/grey ones, there were centipedes, starfish, squid, and many other unidentified "foods" on sticks.  Many vendors were also selling giant, black, and vile spiders on a stick.  I saw a couple of people eating one of the spiders and a starfish, apparently spider tastes like charcoal and starfish is just crunchy.  Beijing and all of China for that matter was an entirely new experience for me.  Through all the disgusting, weird and beautiful moments, I loved it, all of it.  

New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions are so stupid.  Many people believe that a new year is like being reborn.  It's just another year that has passed.  Often people don't think of a New Years resolution until New Years eve.  Their resolutions are a rash decision and haven't been planned.  New Year's resolutions are just used by people who have no determination to actually start improving their lives and have to wait until a special day to start.  New Years resolutions are pointless because first of all you start off procrastinating, you HAVE to wait until the New Year to start whatever your resolution is.  Second of all why do these resolutions HAVE to start on New Years day?  If you are really committed to improving a part of your life why can't you start right away? The gyms are packed but once February hits they will all be as empty as they were before the New Year.  There are very few people who maintain the drive to complete their goal, after January everyone "gets too busy" or it "gets too hard", and they just give up on their resolution. New Year's resolutions are pointless, people only make them to feel better about themselves in the New Year.  If someone is actually committed to improving their life they should just start, they shouldn't wait until the New Year.  Start going to the gym because you want to become more healthy now, imagine the difference you'll see if you started right away rather then waiting until January 1st.  "New Year, New Me" is a phrase commonly thrown around on January 1st but are you really going to change?  I think New Year's resolutions are doomed to fail, everyone talks about improving their lives but all give up after about a month.  Rather than waiting until the New Year to begin improving your life, make your New Year's resolution to stop making New Year's resolutions.  If you want to change your life do it now, you don't have to wait for another year to pass.