TY.. Reflection

Hi There..

Well... I have to say, this year was a pretty amazing experience. In third year, I wasn't even thinking of doing TY, and only decided to do it once I went to the meeting about TY during 3rd year. I have to say, i definetly made the right choice!

This year has given me so much. Work experience is something that i will never forget. Trips and activities such as Carlingford, Social Development Day, Retreat, etc. were really good experiences and also going to competitions such as scifest, getting to regionals in the F1 in schools competition and Getting to the Mini Company 'Get Up And Go' were amazing opportunities.

We got to try different subjects, such as technology, art and home ec. that i have never done before. And I have to say, I have started to develop a liking for technology which i didn't think would happen. We also did fun projects such as making things in technology, designing clothes in Home Ec. and doing a cookery project on India! And if it wasn't for TY, i probably wouldn't be blogging :P

Im so glad i did TY, as if i had gone straight to 5th year, i dont think i would have liked it as my subject options have changed. In third Year, i wanted to do Biology, Chemistry and Music. This Year I have Chosen Physics, Business and Music! What a difference!

I have also gotten on well with so many people in my year that i didnt know before!

I loved this year, getting the chance to do new things and meeting new people... I would definetly reccomend it!

Brooklyn - Key Scenes.

The key scenes of Brooklyn.

Opening Scene:
In the Opening Scene, we meet Eilís Lacey, a young girl from County Wexford. Eilís lives with her mother and her older sister, Rose. Recently, Ms. Kelly, a local shop owner, asks Eilís' mother to send Eilís down to the shop. Ms. Kelly, who is known in the village to run the shop quite expensively. Ms. Kelly hires Eilís for shop work every sunday, but doesnt pay her much. Also, when Ms. Kelly finds out Eilís is going to look for work in Brooklyn, Ms.Kelly dismisses her immediatly. This scene shows that Ms. Kelly doesnt care much about the people she employs as she is also constantly giving out about another worker in her shop, Mary.

Scene 2:
When Eilís leaves for Brooklyn, she realises that her sister, Rose, is sacrificing a lot for letting her go. Rose knows that she will now have to stay at home for the rest of her life to look after her mother as if Rose left, her mother will have no one at home. Eilís can't believe that Rose would sacrifice so much for her. This shows Rose's love for Eilís. It is also my favourite scene of the book.

Scene 3:
Eilís goes to the beach with Tony, a man whom Eilís falls in love with. They spend the whole day on the beach, going from between the sand and the sea. Tony keeps trying to hold Eilís close to him while they are in the sea, while Eilís messes with him and keeps swimming away from him. Eilís feels comfortable with him. This scene shows their affection for each other.

Scene 4:
While in Brooklyn, Eilís receives a message to say that her sister, Rose, has passed away in her sleep back at home. This comes to Eilís as a huge shock as, to Eilís' knowledge, Rose was healthy.But Rose wasn't well, and was told to take it easy. But Rose didn't listen and lived live as usual. Eilís' family are distraught. Eilís goes home then from Brooklyn to stay with her mother for a while, and leaves Tony in Brooklyn. Before she leaves, Tony asks her to marry him. This shows Eilís love for her family, and also Tony's love for Eilís.

Ending Scene:
After being back in Wexford for a few weeks, she finally decides to tell her mother, who doesnt yet know that Eilís is married, she is married. Her mother is silent at first, but then tells her to go back to Brooklyn to her husband. This shows that her mother loves her enought to let her go back... knowing that she will be left alone again.


I really liked this book as i found the whole book really interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Brooklyn - Plot, Cultural Context

In the Novel 'Brooklyn' by Colm Tóibín, the plot is quite straightforward, but also really interesting and gripping.

Eilís, a young girl from Wexford, leaves her home to go to Brooklyn, America, In search of work. She finds work in Bartocci's in Brooklyn. While in Brooklyn, She finds the opportunity to educate herself in night courses after work. She is staying with Ms. Kehoe, along with other girls from Ireland also in Brooklyn looking for work. While in Brooklyn, Eilís falls in love with an Italian-American, Tony. But then, tragedy strikes when Eilís gets news from home, her sister, Rose, had passed away. Just before Eilís leaves Brooklyn to go back to Ireland, Tony proposes to her. Eilís accepts. When back at home, she see's her mother and friends, and also begins to get on very well with a neighbour, Jim Farrell. She has not told her mother that she is married, but then soon, tells her. In the end, her mother tells her to go back to Brooklyn to Tony.

I learnt from this book from the cultural context that in the world in the book, 1950's, things seem much simpler, but they also seem to relate to this world now as Eilís is emigrating to find job opportunities. Many people in Ireland now face emigration in search of work as there is not much work in Ireland. The way of communication is also very simple as in the book, they write letters to each other, which in today's world, is actually quite rare as many people today communicate by phone, email or social networking. Eilís had to travel to Brooklyn by boat transfers, which indicates that planes weren't very common in the 1950's. I would like to live back in this world as life seems much simpler and easier, although facing emigration for work is a hard thing to do. They have no phones or email, which makes things seem much more simpler. I think that the 1950;s would be a good time to live in.

Brooklyn - Main Theme and My Favourite Loving Relationship

For my English Class, I have read the book 'Brooklyn' by Colm Tóibín. There were Many themes in the book, but my favourite theme, and also the main theme of the novel, is the theme of Love. The book is set in the 1950's. Eilís, the main character, moves from Dublin to Brooklyn, in search of better job opportunities. She shows love towards both her family and people whom she has grown close to in Brooklyn, Especially Tony, an Italian-American living in Brooklyn who Eilís has fallen in love with.

My favourite loving relationship in this novel is Eilís' Relationship with her mother. Eilís and her mother seem to have a loving relationship, although, at times, her and her mother don't seem to talk. A scene where this is evident is when, after being home from Brooklyn a couple of weeks, Eilís only tells her then that she is married. She hadn't told her mother, even by letter, about the man whom she was to marry.When Eilís' mother heard the news, she was silent, but then told Eilís that she should go back to Brooklyn to be with her husband. It shows that there is a lack of communication between them both, but it also shows a loving connection between them both as Eilís' mother tells him to go back to Brooklyn to be her husband, even though now her mother will be left with no family at home, but, as she loves Eilís, she wants her to be happy.

Geography Project: Linkin Park - Post 6

Post 6:

Linkin Park have designed T - shirts in March 2011 for the Tsunami Crisis in Japan. On one of the t-shirts, they have printed the Words 'Not Alone' with the colours of the Japanese flag behind it, And on the other, they have put an origami image of a butterfly, to symbolise rebirth.

Japan is located in East Asia, and is a island nation. It has a estimated population of 127.960 million people.

Japan has temperate climate, but the climate varies greatly from north to south Japan. It is divided into 6 principal climate zones:

Hokkaido: Temperate Climate with cool summers and long cold winters, light precipitation, and develops deep snow banks during the winter.

Sea of Japan: Heavy Snowfall in the winter, Sometimes get very hot summers.

Central Highland: Large temperature difference between summer and winter. Light Precipitation.

Seto Inland Sea: Mild climate all year long as it is sheltered by the mountains of the Chugoku and Shikoku regions.

Pacific Ocean: Has Cold Winters with little snow and hot summers because of the southeast seasonal wind.

RyuKyu Islands: Subtropical Climate with warm winters and summers. Very Heavy Precipitation.

On the 11th March 2011, the East of Japan had a Great Earthquake, which measured a shocking 9.0 on the rictor scale.The earthquake triggered an extremely destructive tsunami, with waves up to 128ft. and travelling up to 10km inland. 14,981 people were killed, 5,279 were injured, and 9,880 were reported missing. The Japan Great Earthquake is one of the top 5 most powerful earthquakes since 1900.

Similar to the Haiti disaster, many countries and sending donations and aid to Japan.

Reflection and Conclusion on Project:

I really enjoyed doing my geography project on Linkin Park. I learned more information about Linkin Park that i hadn't known before, aswell as geography that I hadn't known on Agoura Hills, Phoenix, Barcelona, Philadelphia, Haiti and Japan. I enjoyed finding out information on things that the band had done and places that they had visited. I have learnt that Linkin Park are a very genuine and charitable band, and I really admire them. I have really enjoyed this project :)

Geography Project: Linkin Park - Post 5

Post 5

Linkin Park released their Song, 'Not Alone' for the Haiti Earthquake Crisis on the 19th of January 2010. Money from the downloads of 'Not Alone' was donated to Haiti to help them recover from the earthquake.

Haiti is a Caribbean Country, on the Western Side of the island of Hispanola. Haiti is a Republic and has an estimated population of 9.720 million people.

Haiti is the third largest county in the Caribbean, with Cuba being the largest and the Dominican Repuclic being the second largest.

Haiti was once an extremely lush country, with 60% of the country covered in forest back in 1925. Since then, 98% of its original forest was cut down to be used for fuel. By cutting down the forest, the farmland fertile soil was destroyed, and this has now contributed to desertification in Haiti. Also, in addition to soil erosion in Haiti, deforestation had led to flooding, which in 2005, killed over 3,000 people.

Haiti has suffered from many natural disasters over the last few years, from Hurricanes, to tropical storms, to Earth Quakes.

On the 12th of January 2010, Haiti suffered from a very large earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the rictor scale. By January 24th of that year, a further 52 aftershocks, measuring 4.5 or greater on the rictor scale had been recorded. Haiti was destroyed, with many 250,000 residential and 30,000 commercial buildings destroyed, 316,000 people killed, and between 1.5 - 1.8 million people left homeless. The Epicenter was near the town of Léogane. Since the earthquake, many countries all over the world have offered their support and help.

By July 9th 2010, 1.3 billion had been raised to help Haiti, and even to this date, donations are still being given.

Since Linkin Park's Song for Haiti, They released an album in August 2010, 'A Thousand Suns'. Again, the music on the album is slightely different to their original sound. So far, they have released four singles from the album, which have all been very sucessful. Their fourth single, 'Iridescent' is being used on the Soundtrack for the Film 'Transformers:Dark Of The Moon' which is the third movie being released in the Transformers Franchise.

Many of their songs have reached the Billboard top 50 over the last few years, and their song, 'In the End' from their first album 'Hybrid Theory', remains in the top 10 rock songs of the 20th Century to this date.

Linkin Park have designed t-shirts recently, with all proceeds going to Japan, who had suffered from a tsunami in March 2011

Geography Project: Linkin Park - Post 4

Post 4:

The 'Live 8' Concert was held outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Pensilvania, USA, On 2nd July 2005.

Philadelphia City has a population of 1.526 million people, while the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan area has a population of 6.1 million people, making it the 5th Largest Metropolitan Area in the Country. Philadelphia is 130km southwest of New York City.

Philadelphia has a humid subtropical climate. In this climate, Summers are usually very hot, Autumn and Spring usually have quite mild weather, and Winters are very cold also. Philadelphia usually get snow during their winters, sometimes very light, and then at other times very heavy. Major Snowstorms have hit Philadelphia during the winters in the past. Philadelphia had the snowiest winter in the 2009 - 2010 winter season. Snow had fallen to a massive 78.7 inches from the ground. Philadelphia has had both very high and very low temperatures, with the highest at 41 degrees celcius and the lowest temperature recorded at minus 24 degrees celcius.

There are many rivers, creeks and streams that run through Philadelphia. These are the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, Cobbs Creek, Wissahickon Creek and Pennypack Creek.

The Delaware river is 484km long. It runs from the west branch of Schoharie County to Delaware Bay.

The Schuylkill River is 217km long. It runs from East Branch Schuylkill County into the Delaware River.

Cobbs Creek is 19km long. Its a tributary of Darby Creek in Delaware County.

Wissahickon Creek is a 37km long stream. It runs from Mountgomery County, Pensilvania and then empties into the Schuykill River in Philadelphia.

Pennypack Creek is a 36.4km creek which runs through Montgomery County, lower Bucks County and the northeast section of Philadelphia before finally emptying into the Delaware River.

Since the Live 8 Concert, Linkin Park Released a third album in 2007, 'Minutes to Midnight'. In this album, there is evidence that their music style began to change slightely. They had 5 singles from Minutes to Midnight.

In 2009, the band had released a song that was to be on the soundtrack of Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen. The Song, New Divide, was a huge hit.

On January 19th 2010, a new song, Not Alone, was released in Support of the Haiti Earthquake Crisis.

The Earthquake happened in Haiti on the 12th January 2010

Geography Project: Linkin Park - Post 3

Post 3:

The MTV Europe Music Awards of 2002 were held in Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain. Linkin Park won Best Group Award and Best Hard Rock.

Barcelona is located in the North East of Spain, and has a popualtion of 1.621 million people.

Barcelona is also located beside the river Llobregat. The River Llobregat is the 2nd longest river in Catalonia, Spain, at a length of 170km. It runs near Barcelona and then ends in the Mediteranean Sea.

Barcelona has a Mediteranean Climate. It has Mild, dry Summers due to this Climate. It is mainly Sunny in Barcelona City.

Barcelona Belongs to the Catalonia Community in Spain. It is one of the four provinces of Catalonia. The Four Provinces are Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona.

Since the 2002 MTV Europe Music Awards, Linkin Park made another Album called 'Meteora' In 2003. They had 5 Singles from this Album. Linkin Park also Collaborated with Jay-Z in 2004, and their song 'Numb/Encore was a hit.

On the 2nd July 2005, Linkin Park and many other bands and musicians performed in the 'Live 8' Concert in Philadelphia. The event was organized by ONE Campaign, a non-profit organisation which try to increase government funding for international aid programs.

The Concert was held outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pensilvania

Geography Project: Linkin Park - Post 2

Post 2:

Chester Bennington, Lead Singer of Linkin Park, was born in Phoenix, Arizona.

Phoenix is located in the Salt River Valley in the South of North America. It is also in the Northern Reaches of the Sonoran Desert.

The Salt River is Sourced in the White Mountains in Arizona, and runs as to the South Western edge of Phoenix, where it joins with the Gila River to form the Gila and Salt River Meridian. The River runs for 322km.

The Area is Surrounded by the McDowell Mountains which are north of Phoenix, the White Tank Mountains which are located to the west, The Superstition mountains which are to the east, and the Sierra Estrella which are to the South-West of Phoenix.

Phoenix are the Nation's 6th most popular City with a population of 1.44 million.

When Chester joined the band in 1999, they released their first album, Hybrid Theory in 2000. Their Album was a huge sucess, and they were nominated for many awards.

In 2002, they won Best Group and Best Hard Rock in the MTV Europe Music Awards in Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona

Geography Project: Linkin Park - Post 1

Hello

I have recently done my Geography Project on Linkin Park. This Is my first post. Hope you enjoy my project :)

Linkin Park is an American Rock Band. The Band was formed in 1996. The Members of the Band are:

• Chester Bennington - Lead Vocalist
• Mike Shinoda - vocals, keyboard, piano, guitar
  
• Brad Delson - Lead Guitar
• Dave 'Phoenix' Farrell - Bassist
• Joe Hahn - Turntables
• Rob Bourdon - Drums

Mark Wakefield was the original lead vocalist of the group when they were known as Xero, but he left the band in 1998 as Xero had failed to reach success and had not yet received a record deal. In 1999, they landed a record deal with Warner Brother Records

The Majority of Linkin Park's Band Members are from Agoura Hills.This is where the band was founded in 1996.

Agoura Hills is located in the Conejo Valley, between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains, in the West of North America.

The City is Unofficially divided into a few districts. These districts are Downtown, Old Agoura, East Agoura, South End, Forest Cove and Malibu Junction.

Agoura Hills is also called the 'Gateway to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area'. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area contains many preserves and individual parks.

Linkin Park was Originally known as Xero. The Lead Singer, Chester Bennington joined the band in 1999. The band changed their name then to Hybrid Theory and then finally to Linkin Park.

Chester Bennington was from Phoenix, Arizona.

Green Hero Sucess!

Hello there! Well, what a day the Green Hero team had yesterday! Yesterday, Green Hero left at 9am for the Osprey hotel, Naas, where the National Finals of 'Get Up and Go' Mini Company Competition were held. When we went in, we saw that we were up against 26 other amazing Mini Companies! We set up our stand and we were ready to go! Each Mini Company was split into A,B, and C. Myself and Siobhan were C. Each group alternated between Standing at the Stand, Asking questions to different stands, and having group disscusions in another room. It was really good as we got to make friends with other TY students from all over Ireland. Just before Lunch, we were all told the prizes, which included plates, a chance to go to the Sean Lemass awards, and evena trip to Europe! Everyone got really excited when they heard the prizes! After Lunch, a speech was given, and then the prizes were given out..... Green Hero Won 3rd Place Quality Award! YAY! We were absolutely delighted! One of the groups who came with us from our regional competition, The Chapter Project, won 1st place innovation, a place in the Sean Lemass awards, and the trip to europe! Congratulations to The Chapter Project! We had such a good time yesterday, we had no idea that we would win an award, and so we are very grateful for It. Thank you to Mrs. L for Coming with us, and to Ms. E, Mrs. L, and Mrs. W for their support along the way! :)

Retreat

Hello On Tuesday, Class Amina went to a retreat in Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. It was different to any other retreat we have been to as we did quite a bit of walking, which was fun :) We looked at the ruins, watched a video on Glendalough, looked around at the museum, which contained a lot on round towers and old villages so that was interesting. We had a good time altogether, including some embarrasing moments, such as me sliding down into a small ditch and ending up quite muddy :) Overall, It was really enjoyable, by far the best retreat we have been on since 1st year :) Write again soon :)

Percussion Workshop

Hello :) Well, Yesterday, Class Amina had a percussion workshop from 10.40-3.20. It was really interesting! Our instructor, Dave, was really good at the 'Jambé'. We learned lots of different rhythms on the Jambé and on the bass drum. We also got to play all together which was fun and try out other types of instruments. We played freestyle at the end of the day and we watched a video on the making of the Jambé... They have to use skin for the top of it! I really enjoyed the workshop :)

TY is nearing its last few weeks.... NOOO!

Why hello there :)

Its only 8 more weeks until summer! I am looking forward to Summer in some ways... but once summer comes... TY is over! NOOOO!

TY has been an amazing year so far. So many Trips... So Many Competitions.... So Many Good Times.... Dress Ups.... Work Experience... Making New Friends... My list could go on and on....

I have enjoyed it immensly!

Some of my most memorable moments (To name but a few.. i could go on and on )....

- Got to regionals in F1 in schools...

- Got To Nationals in Mini Company... which is on April 7th :)

- Got best new comer award in national drama in Briary Gap Theatre, Cork

- Carlingford

-Dublin English Trip

- St Patricks Day Dress Up

- Trying new subjects... (To my surprise... i really got to love technology :) )

- Making new friends

I know i still have a few more weeks to do more amazing things.... its just that the year has gone so fast so far and i dont want it to end...

I have had so many great experiences both with Class Amina and Emnet

I just really dont want this year to end at all.....

Fáinne In Irish Class

Dia Duit :)

Well, In Irish Class, we are doing a Fainne Challenge.

Well, with it... people get a gold fainne (Ring/Badge) if they are fluent in Irish, or a silver fainne if you have a basic ability to speak irish.

The teacher of the other Irish class is going to come into our class and talk to each of us to see how well we can speak it.

I really want to get the Fáinne Ór (gold ring/badge) to prove my irish... so i really better get practicing my Irish Speaking!

Bhuel, Slán go Fóill :)

Gaisce hike coming up!

Hello

Well... Gaisce hike is coming up soon :)

for gaisce... we had to do 13 weeks of a community skill... 13 weeks of a physical skill and 13 weeks of a personal skill. We had to pick one of these to do 26 weeks of aswell.

Well... Gaisce hike is on April 1st -2nd. At first.. so many people were doing it, now only 16 are going on the hike, 14 TYs and 2 5th years.

Should be good :) We have to walk 25km, thats not too far :)

Cannot wait for it!

Dublin English Trip :)

Hello

Well today... all of TY went to Dublin on an english tour to see many museums. We saw the WB Yeats exhibition.. It was really interesting! They had many of his notebooks, awards, pictures, information on his family and friends.... even a hat he wore and his old school reports! I learnt that he was born on 13th June 1865 and died in 1939. He wrote so many poems during his life time. It was very interesting learning about him!

Next,we went to another part of the museum. We saw many things that were found in the bog. At first, we saw many old weapons, jewellery, hammers... all made of gold... bronze or flint. It was really amazing to find out that these items survived in a bog for thousands of years! Then... we saw the bog bodies... We saw four. Some were more well preserved than others. Some of them were amazing... you could see the hands of one of them amazingly preserved... saw another still had his toe nails and there was even preserved hair! It was interesting to see... but quite gruesome at the same time...

After that.. we had lunch... which was quite fun :) not many times that during school you can have your lunch in grafton street :)

After lunch.. we saw the Jack Yeats Art Exhibition. It was interesting as we saw that his style had changed as he got older from a realistic artist to an impressionist artist. Some of his art was really different,.. and he showed a lot of emotion and feeling in his impressionist art. After that.. we saw other art exhibits. Some of them were so realistic that they looked like photographs! Some were really colorful.. and others were complete different styles altogether!

I really enjoyed today :) hope we do it again soon :)

Work Experience

Hello!

Sorry I havent blogged in a while...

Well, from the 7th - 11th of March 2011, t.y's had their second work experience. I went to 'Na Píobairí Uilleann' On Henrietta Street in Dublin. The first morning, i had to admit i was really nervous. It was scary going into a place I didnt know... with people i never met... but i settled in quite well. When i first went in, I met the administrative assistant. She was extremelly nice and helped me settle in quickly. We talked first, about the organistion, and then after coffee-break, we got down to work... i helped with orders until lunch. After Lunch, i then re-organised the files.. which was grand :) For Lunch that day, i met up with róisín, who was in the four courts for the week... and had lunch with her in a coffee shop. It worked well as we both had the same lunch times :)

Day 2:

On day 2, i definetly wasnt as nervous. There were more people in work aswell that day, as on the monday, they were at the their training centre down the road. The training centre was broken into early monday morning, and so they were there all day monday inspecting the damages. I finished sorting my files... which i was very pleased with :) and began to stock the shelves with new piping cds. Again that day, i met up with Róisín for lunch.. this time in a chocolate coffee shop in the Ilac centre.... the food was amazing there!

Day 3:

Day 3 was for me, my favourite day of my work experience. In the morning... some of the workers had a meeting to attend, and so it was then my job to look at the servaillance camera's from the trainig centre and to record the times at which i saw them :) i enjoyed that so much as i felt kind of like i was doing detective work which was fun :) I also saw the damage they caused on the camera's and saw exactly what happened on the monday morning. At lunch... myself and Róisín decided to spend it with our employers. I had lunch with the workers at my place.. i also talked to people who were on the floor above me doing FÁS courses on computer IT, which seemed interesting. After lunch... i was invited to sit in on a Sound Recording Course.... IT WAS AMAZING! I want to do sound engineering when i leave school, so this was great! I got to see all the equipment and exactly how it works :) after that.. i went back downstairs. For the rest of my day... i edited videos of previous piping sessions for their website on the MAC computer :) It was brilliant! I LOVED THAT DAY! :)

Day 4:

Day 4 was a good day... finished my video editing, i took more orders... did all the post (didnt mind doing it... the had this amazing machiene called a franking machiene which you post your letters through it... an it makes a stamp on the letter! Its amazing!) At lunch time that day.. i met up with róisín and we both went to the bagel factory for lunch...(Best soup there ever!) .

Day 5:

Last Day :( I was quite sad as i loved my work experience during the week... everyone was so nice to me and i settled in well. I got to do the posters for their next event... and printed them (Once i could work the printer :) ). I made brownies for the tea breaks and brought them in... everyone loved them! Again for lunch.. i spent my last day with Na Píobairí Uilleann....i really enjoyed it :) they sometimes played their pipes during lunch which was good :) After Lunch... I did a few last things for them and they sent me on my way home. I said goodbye to them... I really was quite sad :(

That Work Experience was one i will never forget! I really enjoyed it as it was in a musical environment... i didnt mind the admin. work :) I got on well with everyone and got my jobs done well :)

The building is amazing! They had the census from 1911 on the wall... with the names of everyone who lived in the house... their job, education etc. I saw the sets of pipes there that they collected... some dating back to 1850! And i got to play some pipes myself!

So what i got to say overall is thanks to Na Píobairí Uilleann for a fantastic Work Experience! I enjoyed it and it is one i will never forget!

F1 in Schools

Hello :)

Well, today i am writing to you from the f1 in schools competition in Griffith College, Dublin. We, team swift, and team éalú, have gone through to the regionals in th f1 in schools competition. Today we are competing to get into the finals. We had to go through four parts of our judging... the report, the scrutineering, the verbal test and the race. Hopefully we get through to nationals..... fingers crossed!

We had so much fun today :) we had reaction test.... roisin got 0.010! amazing! she was best today.... until she was beaten by 0.009 later on :P but she has got one of the best times! Also today... we got our tshirts... but we didnt get them until after lunch which was a bit of a pain... but it was good :) Our team is me, kellie, louise, roisin, patricia and sandra.... we work really well as a team :)

Wish us luck for getting to nationals! ill post up if we do! Fingers Crossed... :)

Bye :)

No cooking this week :(

Hello...

Remember i said that myself and my home ec partner, Patricia, were cooking a Saffron Mango Mouse this week? Well That was cancelled :( The Mocks started last wednesday and will continue until friday.. and because of the mocks, lunch times have changed. So now lunch is at 12.40 - 1.20 instead of 1.20 - 2.00.
My Home Ec Class is usually a double on a tuesday (12.00 - 1.20) but because of lunch.... it has split in the middle. So now it is Home Ec - Lunch - Home Ec. and because of this, we cant cook as we dont have a long enough time for it :( and i was really looking forward to it! Hopefully we cook after the mid term... i really want to make Mouse!
Anyway... we have also been through room changes as some mocks are in rooms 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32. So I have been getting lost all week! No idea where i am going :P ah well :)

Write Again Soon :)

Geography disease brochure

Hello Again

Well, today we had to hand up our disease brochures in Geography. We were told about these projects 2 weeks ago and had to do them in that period of time. I did mine on Yellow Fever. Did you know that you are not allowed enter Tanzania without having the vaccine? It is a very dangerous disease. Between the Years 1970 and 2002, 9 unvaccinated travellers from the U.S.A and Europe, who visited the infected zones in either Africa or South America, became infected with Yellow Fever. And out of those 9, 8 of them passed away. Scary isn't it? so if your visiting some of the infected countries, GET YOUR VACCINE! To learn more on yellow fever, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-2/yellow-fever.aspx .

English Talk with Oisin McGann

Hello

Well, yesterday, during the first two classes in the morning, an irish writer and illustrator, Oisin McGann, came into our class to give us a talk about his work. He talked about different ideas that can pop into someones head that can slip away, and that the littlest things could make an excellent story. The example that he gave was about a shoe. He gave a whole story on a shoe that went into your bedroom at night and sucked your blood out through your feet to make itself bigger. It was slightely scary but at the same time, it was very funny. Near the end of the talk, he drew one of his characters from his books. He is an amazing drawer!

Well, ill post again soon but bye for now

Cooking on tuesday

Hello Again!

On tuesday... we did our cooking. Our country from which we are cooking dishes from is India.... and They have the most amazing savoury and spicy dishes in India! Our latest dish has been the 'Onion Chicken and Spicy Rice with Chickpeas'. It had to marinate before we had to cook it so i marinated 800grams of chicken with 1cup of yogurt, 1 cup of corriander leaves and 8 onions. Can you believe it? 8 ONIONS!

The Next day i added the rest of the ingredients and left it to cook. It turned out amazing! But i have to say... it was extremely spicy due to the chillies! We also cooked rice... which smelt really nice. Patricia was in charge of the rice while i was in charge of the chicken :) Overall.. the food was amazing. Ill definetly be cooking this again!

Next week, we will be cooking a 'safron mango moose'. Cannot wait...Love Mangos! hah :)

Blog again soon :)

Cake Sale Today :)

Hello There Everybody!

Well, today, the mini company 'babycakes' held a cake sale to raise money for their mini company. We were in art when they came in to set up the bake sale. My God! The Smell of the cakes and biscuits in the room was absolutely amazing! And so mouth watering :) i contributed to the bake sale by bringing in some 'cow cupcakes'. These were half vanilla and half chocolate.... delicious :)

They did well in their bake sale as they raised around €180! Well done 'BabyCakes' and best of luck with your mini company!

Home Ec!

Hell0 :)

At the moment, we are doing a project in Home Ec. on different countries. Myself and Patricia are doing our project on India. There are so many recipes from india there is so many to choose from! We decided to choose something that is traditional in India but at the same time, we didnt want to stick with the usual indian dishes such as curries. We made prawns in hot sauce with naan bread on tuesday.... it was absolutely amazing! Next time, we are making onion chicken with a type of spicy rice... it will be amazing! :) cannot wait! i will keep u posted on it!

Movement Workshop

Hello again!

Well, yesterday, for the first two classes after break, Our class and Emnet had a movement workshop for drama. It was extremely good :) at the start, we began walking in circles and touching the floor, jumping and lots more. We did a lot of excercises too.. Then we all got into pairs. Myself and Leah in emnet were partners. We had to make shapes. One would have to make a shape, while their partner had to make a shape to fit around their shape... and it went on and on that way. Some of the shapes were quite funny and it was very funny seeing the other pairs and their shapes aswell :) we then had to pick two shapes that we liked and do our own part without our partner. We would have to switch from one shape to another in a matter of seconds! first we did 8secs, then 4, followed by 2 and 1. It was very funny to watch and so much fun to do as everyone had completely different shapes! That was an amazing workshop. I would love to do something like that again :)

Subject choices soon..... :/

Hey there!

We have to pick our subject choices very VERY soon.... and I have no idea what I am going to do! We will be given our subject choices forms this coming wednesday.. and we will have to have it back for the tuesday after. I have NO idea what I am going to do! I am definetly going to do music and physics as i love music so much but i also like physics and physics would be a great subject to have as it will help me with being a sound engineer. But i dont know what else i am going to do! Im stuck between 4 more subjects... Late History course, accounting, biology and chemistry! I like them all but dont know which i would prefer to do! ahh!
Ah well.. i gotta make a decision asap! ill let you know whats happening with it soon!

Drama Competition

Hello :)
Well... what can i say.... this week was quite the interesting one :)
On tuesday.... we went to the briery gap theatre in Mullingar, Co.Westmeath. When there.. we did our drama... 'Noughts and Crosses', a drama adapted from the novel 'Noughts and Crosses' by Malorie Blackman about a white boy and a black girl who fall in love although.. in the world they live in... Blacks are racist towards Whites. My lines were... '5 years earlier' and 'Present Day'.... exciting... i know :L I was also an extra in the other drama from our class 'But you didn't', which was based on a war poem. I was a soldier in the last scene coming home from the war in Iraq. All poems deal with important issues. We also saw the other drama's from the other schools.. some were very funny :)
I really enjoyed the drama competition... and we will find out who got through to the finals next week! wish us luck!