The ten worst things that could happen on your way to school

1. Just before entering the school door, you realise you've left your homework or an important piece of work at home. At the speed of light, you call your parents and think of an excuse.

2. On your way to school, you realise you left your lunch at home and you have no money to buy food.

3. On your way to school, you meet a teacher and he/she reminds you of the tests that are coming.

4. You were listening to your Ipod on your way to school, it suddenly turns itself off because it has no more battery left. You can't stop thinking about how you are going to endure today's classes.

5. You realise you forgot to bring your swimming gear, so you have to wear school's uncool speedos.

6. You get a phone-call from your friend saying that he/she cannot come to school today. You wish you were like your friend.

7. You realise today is your birthday. Things much better than going to school suddenly pop up in your head. You suddenly feel depressed.

8. On your way to school, you meet your friends and have a talk with them. They ask you if you have the done the assignment or not. You tell your friends not to mention anything about the assignment knowing that it won't work.

9. On your way to school, you realise you have double Science in the morning. You think, it will be impossible to keep yourself awake without coffee.

10. On your way to school, you realise today is MONDAY!!!

How to be a good listener

To be a good listener, you need to...
- concentrate on the person talking
- make eye contact with the person who's speaking to you, or nod your head every 10 seconds
- stop what you are doing (unless it's very important), and just listen

Listening is one of the skills that people need to live, and to socialize. Without good listening skills, some people might exclude you from their group or won't even talk to you at all. As a result, being a good listener is very important. Being a good listener isn't very hard, people just need to pay attention and concentrate on the person talking.

Sometimes when a person is trying to tell you something, you might not be interested in what the person is about to tell you. In this case, just nod your head every 10 seconds and make yourself seem like you already know about it. Unless they ask you questions about what they just told you like a teacher would (they probably won't), you'll be fine. If what you are listening to is rubbish but you don't want to offend the speaker, there's another skill that you need. It's called "changing the subject." I'll explain this later when I get a chance.

Some people say, that people's maximum concentration span is about a minute. Whether this is true or not, it doesn't matter. Whether you are in a class listening to a lecture or just talking to your friend, you just need to be able to pick up the main points. For example, if you are a soldier and you are about to go to your very first war, just listen to the key things that your captain tells you. Those things might be, always keep your helmets on, or always check if you have enough food and water. These are the things that you basically need to survive.

There isn't a real guide to how to be a good listener. Most people just know but for some people, they just can't sit still or cannot have their mouth shut for five minutes. Sometimes it's a good idea to just listen to what someone else has to say, because it might be an answer to a question on a test or it might even save your life one day. You never know...

Are we too dependent on computers?

 Computers have become a part of our lives. We use them every day, whether it's to have a chat with a friend or to research something. Almost anything is possible on computers: banking, shopping, research, entertainment and even living as a different person. This online life that computers are making available to us, is destroying our real lives. Some people will agree that without computers, their lives will be boring and seem pointless. Even though it's true that computers have made our lives much easier, using them and depending on them too much ultimately makes everything about us unreal, and the computer world real.

 In Japan, there is a word for people who are addicted to computers and will do anything to achieve their goals in the online world, "Otaku". Last year, Japan announced that 3% of the Japanese Teenagers are Otakus. This isn't just Japan's problem. It's the world's. Not only people are addicted to computers, but they are doing things online that they wouldn't normally do. For example, when people chat with friends online, they normally don't see each other's faces, it's just words or sentences that they type. As a result, people tend to be more rude and create cyber bullying situations. 

 Computers are also destroying our language. On computers, people use initialisms such as lol (laugh out loud) that do not exist in spoken English. It wouldn't be a problem if people only use initialisms on computers but they don't. For most of the time, it's students that use initialisms instead of proper English (that's why it's such a big problem). We have a right to protect and respect our language, if people cannot be bothered to type correctly, why do they even type in the first place?

 It is definitely a fact that computers have made things easier and quicker for us. However, there are things like the way of respecting other people, that computers are about to get rid of. Instead of chatting to friends and 'loling' every minute, people should focus more on protecting their language and things like cyber bullying. By the way, a typical Otaku would be a fat man, wearing thick glasses, carrying a barbie doll with them wherever he goes. 

My top 3 travel highlights in the last 12 months

1. Last year, I went to the Yellow Mountains in China. It took my family 12 hours by bus to get there from Shanghai. When I arrived there, I was already exhausted, and had a feeling of homesickness. Yellow Mountains are one of the four most famous mountain regions in China. This area is known for its beauty and wilderness. On the first day, my family did not do anything special. We just had a look around the village we were in. To be honest, there was not much to see.

   On the second day, we started hiking at 6.00a.m., because we decided to take the long hiking course which takes about 12 hours. The local people told us that not that many people take that course, not only because of its length, but because of its danger. However, we did not listen. When he reached the Yellow Mountain, we were shocked by its size, beauty, and the fact that at least 15 people die every year while hiking.
    The hiking part wasn't easy. It took us about 8 hours to reach the mid-point. Also, I felt dizzy as we got closer to the top because of my altitude sickness. Because of me, we had no other choice than to stay at a hotel in the Yellow Mountain. Even though, we weren't able to finish the course, we were glad to see such a picturesque mountain. It was like a mountain from fairy tales. It was so beautiful that no one could describe it unless they went to the mountain for themselves; it sure was a great experience.



2. This year when my family was living in Germany, we got a chance to travel to Venice in Italy. Unfortunately, instead of taking an airplane, we used my dad's car to get there. I can't remember how long it took us to get to Venice but for sure, it wasn't short. I've always wanted to go to Venice, my friends told me that it's a flowing city and it might disappear by 2050. It was a perfect chance for me to have a look at Venice before it disappears (if what my friends told me was true). When we arrived in Venice, we had to leave our car outside the city because cars were useless there. Boats and gondolas were the only transport system in use. Venice was much more beautiful than I expected. There were many people there because of the Gondola Festival but this didn't impact on our enjoyment.

Everything there was a new experience for me, for example, people riding gondolas instead of driving cars. The highlight of this trip was when we went to a local restaurant and had dinner. We ordered many dishes but the spaghetti my brother ordered stood out the most. It was not like any other spaghetti I had tasted before; it was genuine Italian spaghetti. As a result, my family ended up ordering three more of the same dish! Italy was fantastic, the food, the people and even the things we bought, were perfect. One day, if I get a chance, I would like to visit Italy again and taste the same spaghetti once more.

3. If you think about Munich, Germany, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? For most people, it's probably the Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is when German people wear their traditional clothes (Lederhosen and Dirndls) and just drink all day (that is my definition). I got a chance to go to Oktoberfest because my dad's friend from work invited us. We went to Oktoberfest on the first day (it lasts for about a month). It seemed like all the people in the world decided to go to Munich, and get drunk. All I could see were people drunk and having fights. However, my dad and I got rid of the fear and went inside the park where the Oktoberfest takes place. In there, we couldn't move because it was so crowded with people. We moved whenever the people around us moved. We almost got into a fight when I accidentally bumped into a tall German looking guy, who got quite angry at that. My dad and I had no other choice than to come back home. Later on, when I asked my friends if Oktoberfest is always like that, they told me that my dad and I shouldn't have gone there on the first day. It's when there's the most number of people. Oktoberfest wasn't a pleasant memory for me, but it made me want to go there next year, but not on the first day.