IB News paper and Musical meeting 20/11 2009
Yesterday I put together my first article for the IB Board. It's about travelling, and I decided to focus on the Strip in Las Vegas. I've never been involved in a school paper before and I don't know if journalism has any special rules or whatever, but hopefully I'll learn as I go. This time I figured out that finding sources takes way more time than actually writing the thing, for example. I met the deadline (or rather, I handed in the article before Gabby started nagging on me to get it done).
Friskis och Svettis 10/10 - 6/11 2008
- Oct 14, 1h, Friskis och Svettis, Basic workout - not in the log because of computer crash
- Oct 29, 1h, Friskis och Svettis, Medium workout
- Oct 31, 1h, Friskis och Svettis, Dance workout
- Nov 7, 1h, Friskis och Svettis, Dance workout
- Nov 14, 1h, Friskis och Svettis, Dance workout
- Nov 16, 1h, Friskis och Svettis, Medium workout
I've been slacking off slightly on my Action lately. I quit track and field in May (friidrott) and wanted a break after working out on average 2 - 3 hours a day, 7 days a week. I never really got into it again. Friskis och Svettis is pretty fun, though, it's new for me. I've really improved my coordination so far. I felt silly jumping around to the beat of the music in the beginning, but I figure since everybody's doing it I shouldn't care.
I thought the dance workout wouldn't be that tough, but it sounded like fun so I tried it anyway, and I got hooked. It all depends on how much you put into it. If you do it full out, you're going to be sore the next day!
The medium workout was a good start for me, I tried the basic one first but I wasn't even out of breath after it. The medium however gets my pulse pumping. I think later I might be able to start going to medium pulse or intensive or something. I've noticed that I'm already a little better at crunches and push ups.
Musical Scenography Group 28/8 and 11/9 2008
Sept 11: We did some improv. and singing exercises. I found out that I'm pretty good at keeping a beat, but I haven't improved my singing at all (not that I imagined I would've). The improv exercises were especially interesting because I realized that you can use pretty much any object, or no object at all, and still make a very believable skit. Besides that it was also interesting to see how differently people went about acting out the improv.
Austria Exchange 22/9 2008
When we drew cartoon in the writing hall with other IB students and the visiting Austrian students.
AFS Volunteer "Informer" 3/10 2008
Oct 3 - School presentation at Internationella Gymnasiet - 3 hours
I met up with Imogen, an exchange student from New Zeeland, and we held a presentation about AFS and its mission at Internationella Gymnasiet. Afterwards we set up a table with brochures and answered the students' questions about AFS and youth exchanges.
I've never spoken in front of so many people before and that was quite an experience, especially since we weren't given much time to prepare before. I think the actual speaking part went quite well - some people were even taking notes - but the table with brochures wasn't much of a success. Only one student came up to us - to tell us that she was sick of people trying to get her to go on an exchange. Apparently four other exchange organizations had been there doing presentations the same week. I tried to explain to her that that was something she would have to discuss with the school. So besides speaking in front of people I've also practised deflecting arguments in a gentle way...
I realized that many people don't see the point of going on an exchange. A lot of people (eg. the girl who told us she was sick of exchange organizations) only see it as a year off from school, where you go goof off in another country. Others (eg. the woman from Internationella Gymnasiet who booked our presentation) think of it as an educating experience, since you go to school in another country and get to see their point of view. I think the most important aspect is learing about politics, issues and cultural differences. Learning to see and understand the differences so we can get along without dropping nuclear bombs on each other. But I don't think many see that point of exchange, at least not the ones I talked to at Internationella Gymnasiet.
AFS Volunteer "Fadderkompis" and meetings 30/8 - 6/11 2008
Aug 30 - Returnee meeting - 6 hours
Discussions:
- The positive and negative parts of youth exchange
- Cultural differences
- Ways of dealing with hardships
- Fun activities for the new foreign exchange students
- Our roles as support friends
Aug 31 - Welcome meeting for the exchange students - 3 hours
- Greeting the exchange students and their host families
- Information about how AFS works as an organization
- Trust-building games between support friends and exchange students
Sept 3 - Support friend meeting - 1 hour
I met with Angela over a coffee and discussed cultural differences, the school system, Swedish customs, Swedish mannerisms, the Swiss and Swedish currencies
Sept 4 - City tour of Stockholm - 3 hours
- The support friends and other AFS volunteers guided the exchange students through Åhléns City, Sergels torg, Kungsan, the royal castle and Gamla stan.
- I discussed Sweden, Russia, Spain and Switzerland and their cultural differences with three exchange students. We talked about fashion, youth culture, laws, relationships, families and family hierarchies. I also helped them with the Swedish train and subway system and Angela's phone.
Sept 7 - Support friend meeting - 5 hours
I met with Angela and two other exchange students and showed them around Stockholm city, the parts we hadn't covered on September 4th. Besides talking about things we'd discussed before we talked about their host families, their habits, and how to get used to living with a new family.
Oct 2 - International dinner - 3 hours
All exchange students in the Stockholm area met and brought food from their countries. I helped set up the tables and the buffé. I helped eating the food too.
Nov 6 - Support friend meeting - 2 hours
<<< City tour of Stockholm