My First Visit to St. Ben's - 2015

(First of all, this post will probably bore you since nothing much happens)

Today, the 1st of April 2015, was my first visit to St. Ben's, my old primary and intermediate school. St. Pat's had a Progress Conference, which is a meeting with your parents and Tutor Teacher, so school was cancelled for the day. After my meeting, my parents and I had lunch at some Chinese restaurant in the city. My mum and I then dropped of my dad at work and drove straight to St. Ben's in Khandallah.

As I got out of the car, I remembered my days at St. Ben's and how it felt to walk up the steep hill to school. I realized I just missed dodge ball (which was the main reason the Year 9's were coming to St. Ben's) as I saw two familiar red balls rolling down the drive way. I picked them up and threw them out onto the courts for the P.E. Monitors to collect.

I got to the main office and met Coralie and Emma, the school secretaries. I greeted them and they asked me how I was at college and when did I get glasses. After, I walked up the same old inside stairs. I heard the laughter of the intermediate kids in the classrooms, I walked in to see Anthony, James, JMK, and Bernard crowded around the computers with Thomas. The Year 8's said hello and carried on with their Mission Fair planning. It was 10 minutes 'till lunch, so the Year 9's and I decided to walk to Khandallah village for lunch, as there was no tuck shop (mini cafeteria) to buy from.

We were walking down Ganges St. and I remembered the times my brother, my friends, and I walking down this very street. We joked and talked about what we would do for the rest of the day. We went to New World first because Anthony wanted to get the cheap 'Pringles', and as we browsed the shelves, an elderly couple stared at us. They probably thought we were 'rebels' ditching school.

We started strolling down the shops, and JMK said he would buy chips. But then we had to stop to have a debate on which Fish and Chips store to buy from since there were two of them. We stood their arguing for 5 minutes when JMK finally said he would just buy at the 'Golden Takeaways' which were 20 cents more expensive and had less chips. But JMK claimed that they tasted better. So while JMK headed over to the store, the rest of us went to the dairy. Anthony bought two sodas and a mini pizza jelly thing which we shared. Once we were back together, we went to the 'Filipino Mafia Head Quarters, AKA 'the playground by the library'. When we were finished eating, we started our walk back to school. We met Sam A. and Jacob (A friend from college) and decided to walk together.

Finally we arrived back to school. It was lunch so we decided to play cricket and basketball. Paolo and I walked around the school first, checking if anything had changed. Before we knew it, the bell had rang, and our Year 9 group went back to class 'like good boys'. \

Now this brings us to the fact that I am writing this while Miss F. Bolger is doing Teacher Reading. Ok, I am going to stop now. Bye.

Note to Year 8's: Enjoy your finally days in intermediate, because once you are in college you will be doing 'holiday homework'!!! JMK and I have to write a 6 page essay on Archimedes, Aristotle, Euclid, and Pythagoras, and what they contributed to modern mathematics. Then we have to write two book reports for English.

College Life. Yay.

My first week of college was just playing games and tours. It was ok, I guess. I got lost a couple of times, but the college cleverly coded their room number with the house block it's in and the floor. A house block is just a part of the college building that's called one of the four houses.

We got divided into our houses, and it was actually all good. I was in Watters (green) with James, Ben P., and Sam A. Then Paolo, JMK, and Arthur are in Redwood (red, obviously). Anthony, Bernard, and Matt are in Kennedy (yellow) and Rory is Chanel (blue). And somehow I got into the same form (tutor) class as James, which was great.

The second week was starting to get into actual class, and there was little homework. I got into stream class with JMK and Rory, and our class code was 9P. There are seven classes for Year 9. It's all named after PATRICK. For example, there is 9P, 9A, 9T, and so on. These classes are only for core classes which is Math, English, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, Technology, and R.E.. Then there are Option classes, which is Economics (Business Studies), Graphics, Music Performance, History, and some language classes.

My favourite class is Science, because it's the only class we actually do something, not just writing and typing. Just today we got to play with professional and expensive microscopes. Math is a little harsh. Last week, my classmate got detention for not bringing a protractor. And there heaps of Year 9's in my class who do simultaneous algebraic equations. Our stream class does Year 10 work, but some of my classmates do Year 11 math and they go to a theatre with other Year 11's to do it, and they're starting NCEA this year! The rest of us 9P start next year, in Year 10.

We did three athletics days, one was for practice and for the college to see potential athletes, the second was between the houses, and the third was a competition between St. Pat's Silver Stream. And St Pat's Wellington (Town) won (as they did last year and so on, apparently). And there are some seriously annoying traditions. Everyone of the Year 10's to 13's eats and drinks their food in the stands, but  they don't bother to throw away their rubbish except Year 9's. We were confused on our first athletics day that people were having food fights and stuff, just to find out that all Year 9's have to clean up the mess afterwards. There were banana and orange peels everywhere, and plastic bottles, some half eaten sandwiches, and they were all cleaned up by us Year 9's. And we have to do it again at McEvedy which is real soon.

Oh, funny story, it was the second athletics day, and I took the Railway Station bus that was suppose to go straight to Newtown Park, instead it dropped us off at St. Pat's. Everyone was complaining at the bus driver that we were suppose to be at Newtown Park, but the driver said that this bus was to drop off students at school. So he made everyone get off at school. When we got off, we saw another bus group of St. Pat's were already there before us. We both had the same dilemma, pay to get on another bus or walk to Newtown Park. Neither was a fun option. So the group of about 80 students walked to Kilbernie shops to see if we could catch another bus. But there was none. Then some senior students ditched us to go to KFC and cafes. So we were just a group of Year 9's left in the city. We split up into three groups. Some went on a bus, some walked through the city, and my group went around.
So Anthony and I, and some other Year 9's were walking with us. We asked the public, they said to follow the road that we were on. Eventually we got to Newtown Park. But we arrived at St. Pat's at 8:30am and we got to Newtown Park at about 9:45am. We gladly didn't get told off, though some of missed our sports events. So yeah, we walked from St. Pat's all the way to Newtown Park. And all the teacher at the gate of Newtown Park said was "Well that was some great exercise! "

So week three was pretty much a normal week.
Classes were well underway. And there was tonnes of homework. But anyway, morning teas (or Intervals, as they call it there) and lunch is boring. Everyone just sits down, walk around, or play a game called Hand Ball. St. Ben's people (except Sam A., Rory, and Matt who've found other friends) hung out together in the first week. Then I talked to some of my other Filipino friends. And somehow by the end of last week, they merged together forming a massive group of Year 9's. We always sit at one bench and talk and eat. That's it. That is all we do. There are a few half - courts for basketball, but no one could be bothered to bring a basketball.
Sometimes we play on our Chromebooks (BYOD - Bring your own device, Year 9's got mini Google laptops). But that's it.

So this pretty much sums up the first few weeks at St. Pat's. Year 8's at St. Ben's have nothing to worry about. The only challenge is to get to school by 8:45am and not be late for your classes. Enjoy your last year at St. Ben's, and hopefully I'll see some of you at St. Pat's.

P.S. - For Year 8 boys going to St. Pat's. They do have dodgeball, but the balls are really bouncy unlike the ones at St. Ben's. On the first week when we were playing games, the most me and James could do was stay at the back and not get hit by Year 13's. LOL.

Christmas in NZ?

Usually I don't stay in NZ for Christmas, I usually just go to the Philippines to celebrate Christmas and New Year. And I actually enjoy going to the Philippines because of how much family and friends we have over there to see and how hard-core celebrations are.

For example, my dad's family live in the heart of the bustling city of Manila and almost all the streets hang lights and have decorations hanging on poles. But the biggest difference between NZ Christmas celebrations and Filipino Christmas celebrations are the parades. The parade is basically floats with statues of Jesus and Christian ornaments that are brightly lit with candles. And the décor around the city centre are full of parols, which are
Filipino Christmas lanterns shaped as stars that are lit with various hues of coloured lights.

And not to mention New Year with the fireworks and the exclamations of joy and happiness. Filipinos gather outside a minute before midnight which will signify New Year, and one it's midnight they will start shouting and then have a midnight feast. Well that's what my family does. But all of this is not going to happen since I'm staying here in NZ.

At least this Christmas my cousins from Auckland, Sydney, and London are coming to visit in Wellington. So it won't be too bad, and then we go to Masterton with some family friends. I also just get to relax before I get anxious with college.

This blog post will be my last official post, meaning my last homework post. But if and when I have the time next year I'll try and write something . . .

Highlights of 2014

The year has come to an end. And for us Year 8's, it will be our last year at St. Benedict's. But it would be nice to list our highlights of the year. I've been at St. Benedict's from Year 1 to Year 8, and I have enjoyed my time here greatly. I've seen everyone improve in their academics , sports, and their own character.

As always, OPC Camp will be the biggest highlight for Year 8's. It was week full of adventure and fun with classmates. It was great experience for all Year 8's.

The theme for the Production this year was different to the other years. It was like a futuristic space story named, 'Agents of Space'. Unlike other years where the theme has been 'Not Another Fairy Tale, 'Uno's Garden', and 'Remember the Days of the Old School Yard'.

I don't know why I'm putting this as a highlight as it is a very minor highlight, but basketball at school has always been really fun. And for me, it was big highlight for this year. I played for the basketball team last year and I was rubbish, I guess you could see the improvements. But everyone improved in their skills, partly from playing every morning tea and lunch. Even though there is basically no rules, where people can get away with 'travelling and 'double dribble', I guess you could describe it as street rules. But it still helped everyone to get better at whatever skill they lacked.

There are many more highlights but I just can't remember them, so yeah. Have a fun last two weeks of school.

College (High School) - St. Patrick's

It's funny for me to think that I've already had my 8 years at primary and intermediate. The years went by so quick, but I can't even remember half my time at St. Benedict's. All my cousins say to enjoy primary while I still could. They always talk about writing a lot of essays and being given a lot of homework in college. The college I will be attending is St. Patrick's College. Their school logo is similar to the St. Benedict's but with a motto written under it. The school motto is 'Sectare Fidem' which I forgot what it meant.

Usually people would be anxious and agitated to go to college, but I'm really calm about it. I've enjoyed my time at St. Benedict's School, but we all have to move on someday. St. Pat's have tried their best to not intimidate new Year 9's. They talked about how easy it would be to just fit in and find new friends. And getting lost is not a challenge because they explained that all students will help guide each other. So as you can see, St. Pat's is nothing to worry about.

I'm really glad that most of my friends and classmates are going to St. Patrick's. That will help with the making friends part. The other thing that is good about St. Pat's is that I know heaps of other Year 9 Filipinos going there. 

There are a lot exams that you have to take in college, first there is the entrance exam, the scholarship, and the NCEA stuff. My cousins always had a hard time with the NCEA exams because apparently they were to hard and complex. But I'm determined to actually try hard and aim high to get good grades and stuff. 

St. Pat's is well known for their basketball programme. I really want to get in to one of the three teams. The college held a one day basketball tournament for the Year 8's going to St. Pat's. I think I did fine, but my biggest concern is that all the people I've seen going to St. Pat's are really tall. I guess my height is about medium, I'm not too short. But when I stand next to my future classmates, I look like a midget. Not all of them super tall, and I've seen other older students who are shorter than me, so I think I won't be too bad. I'm still thinking if I should try for the swimming club and other water sports. I can swim pretty well, but the main problem would be practice, for both basketball and swimming. I've heard that the basketball and swimming practices were pretty early in the morning. I can wake up early enough, but it will still be a huge trouble.

The only challenges I will face is how to transfer from class to class, keeping my grades good, and being confident in an enormous school of over 800 students.

Well I still have 2 weeks at St. Benedict's and I'm feeling really positive. I can still be able to visit because of my younger brother anyway. But I will still miss being in a smaller school where I know mostly everyone's names. At St. Patrick's, I won't be able to even know half of the students there.

My Trip to America Part 2

The plane back to LAX was ok I guess. It was boring and dull. Anyway we got back to L.A. and got picked up by my Aunt. We stayed the night there and the next day we went to an NBA game. It was the L.A. Lakers vs. North Carolina Hornets. Lakers are kind of doing really bad so everyone was expecting the Hornets to win. But to everyone's surprise, the Lakers won! It was the first win for Lakers.

The ride to San Diego should be an hour and a half or something but with traffic it took two and a half hours. I fell asleep during the ride and woke up to see lagoons of clean blue water on both sides of the freeway. Then huge villas and mansions on an extravagant cliff side overlooking the harbour of the tourist part of the city of San Diego. We passed Lego Land and drove pass Sea World to Hyatt Hotel. sea World and Hyatt was like 3 minutes away from each other. After we were checked in to our hotel we just slept because it was already late.

The next morning we went to Sea World. To quickly summarise the theme park, we just saw heaps of marine animals and there were two fun roller coasters. Some of the marine animals were sea lion, otters, dolphins, and mantas (stingrays). The roller coaster were called Manta and Journey to Atlantis. Mata was just a quick roller coaster that went around and around and into loops. And the Journey to Atlantis was like a water ride thing where go down a steep part into water. There was more things to do but our time was short. But we came back the next, next day.

Our second day in San Diego we went to Lego Land. It wasn't as fun as it sounds though. The two huge water parks were closed and only the actual theme park was open. And that was not to big. As I walked around I saw heaps of children aged 5 - 11. But still it was a nice experience. There were mediocre rides that weren't that dumb but out of the two theme parks I went to in San Diego, I liked Sea World better.

The next day we came back to Sea World to watch the Shamu show. Shamu is the killer whale mascot of San Diego Sea World. It was fun and the tricks were complex. Then we went to the Shark, Turtle, and Fresh Water Aquarium. And the Arctic Enclosure. The Arctic Enclosure had Manatees, Polar Bears, and Penguins. So that was interesting.

That is pretty much a quick summary of my San Diego trip. After that we went back to L.A. and went shopping and stuff.

But we also went to Hollywood and Universal Studios. I went there 5 years ago and nothing much has changed, but it was still fun. There were two new rides. The Transformer one and the Minion Mayhem Ride. It was all in 3D, but the Transformers was kind of like a roller coaster and the Minion Mayhem one was 4D.

This is pretty much what I did in America. Hopefully I can come back again sometime later.

Getting a Speech and a Truck Load of Task Dumped on me . . .

I just presented my speech and to be honest, it wasn't that bad. I understand everyone is scared and anxious but I tried my best to create a calm atmosphere in my head. It was working until the part where I was walking up to the front of the classroom. I was nervous. I just came back from a trip to America and a truck load of tasks just got dumped on me. I'm surprised that everything is going according to plan.

I know I should have finished my speech and memorized it while I was gone. But since I was only gone for a couple of weeks, the sight seeing schedule was very tight. Once we came back from Dallas, it was a straight drive to San Diego. Every night I was exhausted and every time there is a chance to do something, I would fall asleep.

But anyway, I did my speech and I was happy with my performance. It wasn't flashy and super vibrant, but it was not so average. But the question that stuck in my head was, why didn't I have a heart attack?

I guess because of countless sleepless nights of typing, reading, and writing, I accomplished most tasks by Wednesday! I'm just glad that my mind is still in L.A. time which is 4 hours early!