So life at Pearson has finally begun to settle down. We've done a week of classes, have been assigned our first homework, and are getting ready for the intensity of IB life. On the non-academic side of life, we have put in our selections for our CAS (creativity, action and service) activities, listing them 1-6 according to priority, and we find them out tonight. It's currently 2:35pm here on Sunday afternoon, and in all honesty I probably won't have finished writing this by the time I find out my CAS; there are so many distractions! Since last time I posted, the 5th of September, not all that much has happened (that's a lie, plenty has happened, it just isn't all noteworthy). So, last time I wrote was still during the orientation week rotations. That weekend we went to Metchosin on Saturday for the Metchosin Day celebrations. There was (what I called) a fairly big farmers market but I was assured by all other members of the group that it was TINY! (It was pretty big). Pearson College had a slot of about an hour and a half where we performed for the community. There was a choir, soca (dancing), Bollywood dancing and gumboot (also dancing) and all were super cool to watch. Afterwards we went to the My Chosen Cafe in Metchosin and had coffee and ice cream. The walk back was a bit of a mission. It's about an hour's walk, it was raining and we were bashing it along the rail trail, but overall it was a really good day. Sunday was chilled out, preparing for classes and catching up on sleep (FOMO and sleep are in constant battle for priority here, soon to be joined by studying).
FIRST WEEK OF CLASS My first class on Monday was Global Politics. The classroom is in the Max Bell which is at the top end of campus. I got there, keen to meet the teacher and 'meet' the subject, but when we opened our emails we realised he wasn't going to be there until Thursday. So it was a bit of a disappointing start but we all stayed in the classroom, talked through the questions Shefa (the teacher) had left us, and read an essay he'd asked us to read by Thursday. 3 months ago, I would have just left if the teacher wasnt there. Classic UWC. Also on Monday I had Spanish, Maths and Marine Science. I was super excited for Marine Science, so after Spanish, Maths and lunch I headed down to the floating building (the name says it all, coolest classroom I have ever been in) to find a note on the door saying Laura (the teacher) 's son was sick, and she couldn't make it in today. Monday was full of disappointments, which only made the actual first ones of both of those classes that much more exciting. Marine Science is awesome, I already love it and we've only had 2 classes. Maths is ok, it's hard and it doesn't interest me much so I struggle with it but that's ok, I'll manage. Chemistry is so cool, our teacher is Kiwi and it is also hard, but it interests me in the way maths doesn't. Global Politics I haven't really experienced yet, although Shefa seems cool and we had a good class discussion on Thursday. Spanish is hard. Language is hard, and I already had negative emotions about Spanish from VSL, but I'm sure this will be better. The first bit's the hardest, right? Theory of Knowledge, the IB class all students take hasn't begun yet, and I don't think anyone really knows what to expect, but I guess we'll take it as it comes. English is super interesting, our teacher knows his stuff which is always a good thing. That's about it for this week. Yesterday I went to Victoria with a bunch of girls. We bought stuff and chatted, got lost and got found and had Indian food for lunch. Then Asia (UK) and I, as experienced Walmarters (having both been there before (once, but that's only extra detail)) introduced Lola (Germany) to the Walmart experience. For any of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting such a store, it is literally just a supermarket and a pharmacy and a hardware store all in one. (Very easy to get lost in) There isn't much action on the homesickness front. There are times when I don't think about home for hours, and then something reminds me of home and I have a bit of an 'oh yeah, Australia exists!' moment, and there are times where it's all I think of and then I look around and have an 'oh yeah I live HERE now!' moment. It's not nearly as bad as it was when I went to Snowy. I'll try to keep the photos updated, but I can already feel that I might not be posting until Christmas! Sending my love back to Australia! Bella
1 Comment
Paula
18/9/2018 19:44:58
Always great to read/hear your news Bella-Bella. Love you, Mx
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Hey!I'm Bella. I love writing about all sorts of things, and here are a few of them for you to read. I hope you enjoy :) Archives
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