Back to School

Hello, and sorry for the long absence!

Welcome!

I've had a good summer! It's been mostly restful -- emphasis on mostly; I also had a mountain of schoolwork to do.

My family didn't go on holiday, exactly, though we did go to Keswick for a Christian convention, staying from Friday 27th July to the following Saturday. Most of us did, anyway; my sister went to Madagascar for three weeks on a Scouts trip. My parents and I were joined by most of our Home Group, which is basically adult Cell; Bible study, discussion and food. We were all on a camping ground together. Keswick was good fun; we climbed up a mountain, Catbells Peak, on the Tuesday. I bid my old trainers farewell, by walking up the mountain in them. I bought them the previous year, at Keswick, and wore them so often that they wore out.

Towards the bottom

Half-way there...

At the top!

Amusingly, it started to rain just as we reached the cars; helpfully as well, as I didn't bring my rain-coat. We also did a range of other things that week, like going on a ferry-ride. I feel like it does need to be mentioned that we did actually attend the Convention meetings -- the other activities were afternoon things.

On the ferry

In addition to Keswick, I went to a summer school to try out a university, UCL in London. It's not (as I first thought) a university for deaf people, but it is very welcoming of deaf people. I was there for several days, and got a taste of university life. There was also a random lecture on Deaf culture, and what it's like to be Deaf, and how no hearing person can ever truly understand us... Well, I suppose that's true in a sense, given none of my friends will know what it's like to be deaf, for a long time yet.

The summer school was pleasant; the people were nice and the subject lectures were good. There was a lecture on Ancient History, involving hieroglyphics, which piqued my interest in Ancient History.

I got a memory stick as a souvenir!

Also this summer was Soul Survivor! It was the final year of Soul Survivor, though three new camps are springing up next summer -- Limitless, Dare to Imagine and a third one, which has slipped my mind. I had a good time, going to seminars, playing games, hanging out with friends. When I went to seminars I had to sit in the T-Loop section; wherever possible, friends would sit in the T-Loop area, which was very nice of them. The final main meeting was very climactic; there were massive rain clouds, which burst and it started raining. There was also thunder and lightning. Mike, the man in charge, said God was angry at those who hadn't showered all week (eugh...); I prefer to think He was just giving Soul Survivor an epic send-off.

The start of term has been surprisingly easy, in spite of entering Year 13. I have slipped into the routine well enough, and it's good to be back. The new Senior Team is doing well thus far, not that I've been present in any of their meetings. The quiz that the Senior Team is in charge of doing for the first Learning 4 Life of the year went well. The gossip round had a question about 'the best couple that never was'; surprisingly enough, it was two people in my year who spent literally all of last year bickering. I had to be in the same class for Core Maths, listening to them bickering like an old married couple. I won't say who they are, though if you're in my year, you'll know.                              I received my own portable version of the Marilyn Award from the Headteacher, the day before that.

Here it is!

Last Wednesday (so the same day as the Marilyn Award), my cell had a cell meal. First time I've ever been to one, excluding socials; we had lasagne and a range of puddings. I made Millionaire Shortbread for the cell meal; however, I forgot to take a picture of the shortbread, so a picture of an earlier shortbread will have to suffice. Why? Because I love posting pictures on the blog.

This was the first one I made!

I also visited the Ashmolean on Saturday; it was very interesting. I saw lots of artefacts from the ancient Far and Middle East.

A very interesting place

One last thing: two of my friends, in Year 12, are setting up a Christian Union; it's at lunchtime in E6 on Tuesdays, if anybody who attends my school is interested.

Random stats:

Results of A-Level Mocks: C, D, D (I'm doing re-sits...)
Number of cats I've looked after this summer: 5 (Fern, elderly, Frodo and Sam, pretty much kittens, two belonging to neighbours, don't know name or age)
Book currently reading: D-Day: The Battle for Normandy.
Hours of sleep gotten at Soul Survivor: 34.5 hours (across multiple nights, not all at once)
Weeks spent with my sister away: three