Best of 2014 & My New Year's Resolutions! (30/12/14)

Dear MEDL,

2014 has been one of the best years I've had so far in my life. In this blog entry, I will write about the best occurrences I've experienced that have been recorded on this blog. Also, at the end of this post, I will list my New Year's Resolutions for 2015.

Marian's Everyday Life's Highlights of 2014

1. The science beach trip at the beginning of the year

     2. Taking the risk to audition for 'Beauty & the Beast.'
I consider this as a risk because:

• I do not have a background in performing arts
• I fear rejection
• I don't know how to dance.

If I wasn't to be called back, I'd never discover my obsession with musical theatre. I ended up receiving the role as a part of the ensemble, making me part of the three people in my grade to have a role in the school production.

   3. Final examinations

As outrageous as it sounds, I loved the exam period. The adrenaline running through your veins, studying with your friends, and in general a good way to actually understand what you've learned throughout the year.

    4. Camp!
Year eight camp is the BEST thing about being a year eight at my school. We experienced what it would be like to camp with your best friends for five straight days and getting to know the natural area and the people around us. I actually met a popular guy whom I've never gotten to talk to until we went to eat our dinner at camp.

   5. Celebrating Christmas with my family
Nothing beats spending time with family and friends on Christmas day. It was extremely exciting to meet Samantha E. again after two years and to see Gwen and give her, her Christmas gift (which was chocolate, obviously).
   

Marian's New Year's Resolutions for 2015

1. Stop using slang/cursive words   

As a teenager and attending a school for years 7-13, using cursive words is popular, and I guess you could catch along on what the people in your environment do. I've learned that there is an infinite amount of other words I could say rather than stick to slang and cursive words.

   2. Read 21 books

Why 21 books? Because it is my favourite number, and also because I want to explore the world of literature a little bit more.

   3. Get better grades

Because getting better grades is the gateway to a bright future.

  4. Improve on my singing

I know that I need to improve the tuning of my voice. A skill I want to gain and work on is using vibrato. (when you listen to musicals, you notice that the singers usually have a shivery tone when ending a verse. That is vibrato.)

    

  5. Be a good friend, daughter, sister and pupil

I need to be more considerate and step out to help people. I do admit that I was a lazy person when it came to supporting a sad friend and also by postponing my chores and homework to the last minute. So it's time to get off of my bed and work on the current project!

 6. Finish my novel

You must've read '20 Facts About Me' to know what I'm writing about. If you can't be bothered to read the blog entry, the novel I am writing is based on the letters I send to Electra on my second blog and also a little bit of this blog's content. That is all that I can tell you until I've finished five chapters, which, I estimate, is in six months' time.

This concludes today's (and last for 2014) blog entry. I wish you all a Happy New Year with fruitful blessings! 

-M.Y ❤ 

On Christmas Day... (26/12/14)

Dear MEDL,

How was your Christmas? Mine was simple but lovely. In the morning, we attended mass to celebrate Jesus' birthday. After the mass finished I met Samantha E. after two long years. The reason why I haven't mentioned her in my blog posts in 2013 nor this year is because she now lives and studies overseas so she could be with her family.

My friends, family and I had a Christmas party at Ariel's home. Helena, Ariel, and I played 'Town of Salem' and Ariel's instruments. I ate so many foods including cake, BBQ, and rice (an essential to Asian cuisine). I received gifts mainly consisting of journals and pens. My friends really know who I am and what my passions are!

We spent the rest of the day playing games, giving out gifts, pigging out on more food, and by the end of the day, watching movie marathons courtesy of TV2 and TV4. Once the day was over, we all headed home and rested. Except for me, who watched and sang along to the Les Miserable movie.

Compared to last year, this Christmas had had been more chill and relaxed ('chillaxed'), but at the same time festive and joyous. Hope you've had a lovely & Merry Christmas/Hanukkah. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post!

-M.Y ❤ 

20 Facts About Me (09/12/14)

HELLO, MARIAN'S EVERYDAY LIFE!

Welcome to December! Can you believe that Christmas is in two weeks time? I am sorry for not being as active as a blogger should be. Last week was my last day of school for 2014 and it was very busy. Prizegivings, seeing my friends for the last time, and getting leftover work done. If you'd like to read what happened last week, here is the link.

Anyway, I'd like to write 20 facts about myself since I've never done it on this blog. The facts will mostly consist of my favourite things, what I've been doing recently, and my goals and aspirations in life. Here we go:

1) My favourite solo artist is Marina & the Diamonds (2 years and still going strong!)
2) To keep the boredom away these holidays, I've been writing a novel based on the letters I send to Electra during 2014. I'm also conducting science experiments and practising my statistical skills.
3) I want to either become a mathematician or a research psychologist. Science does have a strong impact on me.
4) I've made a scrapbook for my 18-year-old self to read. It consists of my awards, souvenirs from camp, and a letter from my current self.
5) I tend to give Gwen chocolate bars so I can say sorry to her. (and to make her fat (just kidding.).)
6) I am strongly passionate about music, writing, reading, conducting science experiments, solving mathematical problems, learning new languages, and cooking/baking.
7) My favourite colour is green (any shade, I don't mind).
8) Right now I am listening to 'True Romance' by Charli XCX.
9) If I had to choose my children's names now, the boy would be Victor, who shares the same name of my deceased grandfather whom I've never met, and the girl would be Mercina, the friendship name of the main actresses who act in Violetta. I also think the name is unique since I've never met a girl with the name or something similar.
10) So far in my life I have had three alter egos: Natalie Kinly, Atriny Cordalin, and Mercina Friolett (the alter ego I have right now). What do these three all have in common? They've all been main characters in the stories I've written.
11) If I can be an animal apart from a human, I would be a Brown-Throated Conure.
12) My dad & I created this Filipino Soap Opera called 'Sino Siya?' (Who is that?) and it is about a family whose members all have names ending with 'sia,' 'siya' or 'tia'. The family members are Pangitsiya (he's ugly), the dad; Sadsiya (she's sad), the mother; Ambrosia, the eldest daughter; Portia, the second daughter and Girlsiya, (he's secretly a girl) the youngest son.
13) I want to attend Yale University once I'm older and have enough money.
14) A goal of mine is to gain an excellence award in a main school subject (like English) next year.
15) My favourite song is 'The Movie in my Mind' from Miss Saigon.
16) I miss year five, year six, and year eight camp. The best for me would have to be year six camp.
17) I am a Virgo, and I do suit this star sign (seriously, all of the qualities this star sign has can describe me perfectly).
18) My favourite book at the moment is 'Wonder' by R.J Palacio.
19) Qualities I look for in a friend: intelligence, crazy sense of humor, passion for music, easy to talk to, extroverted and cool, calm, and collected.
20) I'm writing a song about someone who is important to me.

Thanks for reading and I will write to you soon! Merry Christmas everyone!

-M.Y ❤ 

Day 5 (FINAL DAY!) (21/11/14)

THE FINAL DAY OF CAMP! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

In the morning we packed up our tents, filled the trailers up with our luggage, and had a final assembly. The final assembly was about the teachers and parent helpers sharing their highlights of the camp, including how well-behaved we were, getting to know nature, and how happy everyone was, which was half-true because there was heaps of drama when the boys weren't here (I'm getting off-topic, but me and Gwen pictured the girls to be strongly acidic at pH 1, while the boys were strongly alkaline at pH 14. Last night when the boys weren't here, most of the girls were crying and getting upset about other girls. When the boys came back for dinner, everything was back to pH 7).

After the final assembly, we all headed down to the hot pools. Nothing blog-worthy happened there except for a conversation Gwen & I had with one of Harry's friends:

*We are sitting on one of the picnic tables eating our lunch*
Me: "Hello! Why did you sit here while your friends are over there?"
Harry's friend: "Because we want to. Wait," *facing Gwen* "are you from India?"
Gwen: "Yes, that's correct."
HF: "You can hook up with Jack. He's totally from India. And you," *facing me* "where are you from?"
Me: "I'm originally from the Philippines."
HF: "You can go out with Harry! You guys are perfect together!"
Me: *thinking,* "I consider him as one of my close guy friends, not a potential boyfriend." *saying,* "Harry's already got a girlfriend, I can't knock her out."
HF: "Who cares? Go for it! You guys totally suit!"
Me: "That is racist & discriminatory!"

By the end of our conversation, we were running out of time so we left and went back to school.
On the car ride back, I gained a splinter and Gwen helped me pull it out while I sang songs to vent out the pain I was feeling.
"On my own, preTENDING he's BESIDE ME," I sang. It felt like being pinched by a little sibling.
This inspired all the girls in the van to sing pop songs, excluding the teacher who was driving.

I was near tears as we pulled up on the school front lawn, but the sight of seeing my friends come back from other camps brought me joy. I screamed at my close male friend with excitement and asked what happened on their Beach camp.

Once I received my luggage and had a quick chat with Gwen and other friends, I walked home and everything seemed unfamiliar, even if I stayed at camp for only five days! But I felt glad to be home again. Home, lovely home.

~~~~~
Thank you for reading my Camp series! As I wrote each post I felt a jolt of good feelings rush through my body.  This experience will (and is) be part of my life forever.

Note: All names used in this post are not the real people's names. This is used for protective and private reasons.

Another note: No pictures will be posted also for private reasons. 

-M.Y ❤ 

Year 8 Camp - Day 4 (20/11/14)

Even though I was wrapped up in my thick blue robe, my pink mink blanket and sleeping bag, I was the coldest person in the cooking shelter.
"Marian, you must be warm as* while we're freezing like crazy," my singing classmate said while she shivered in her sleeping bag.
"Nope, I'm as cold as you are," I replied.
Being born in a tropical country, I'm not used to the piercing temperatures New Zealand has to offer.
Once everyone awakened, we packed up and headed back to the campsite to have breakfast.

Today we had the same schedule as yesterday, but different activities. The girl group went down to the rifle range and there we learned how to shoot papers with rifles (obviously). The papers were hung on a clothesline, and I accidently hung mine up incorrectly, so I owed the instructor five push ups. Very exciting punishment, right?  Eventually, I got 3 bullseyes in the end.

The final activity to participate in was orienteering. Orienteering is using a compass to reach certain points in the wilderness or wherever you are. It was a lot like maths, which made me happy - compass bearings and true bearings. This activity took the shortest time to complete. To fill up the spare time, we walked through a forest and talked.

In the afternoon, the boys had to set down their tents for their waterfall visit. There were heaps of them (39 to be precise); they couldn't fit under the cooking shelter so they had to set up their tents there. Meanwhile, the girls were going for a swim, but the boys were quick to pack up so they eventually followed us but they never swam. Gwen & I were walking to the river singing 'Blank Space' by Taylor Swift (our new favourite song) and out the blue Harry and his friend rush down past us.

After dinner and when the boys left for the waterfall, us girls spent our last night walking trails in the forest and seeing the glowworms. We also spent supper sipping our milos and quietly chatting about how camp was. I really missed the boys, to be honest.

~~~~~
Day 5 (the final day!) will be posted tomorrow. Thank you for reading Day 4 of my Camp series!

Note: All names used in this post are not the real people's names. This is used for protective and private reasons.

Another note: No pictures will be posted also for private reasons. 

-M.Y ❤ 

* 'Warm as' is a part of Kiwi slang meaning that someone is extremely warm.

Year 8 Camp - Day 3 (19/11/14)

I woke up to an achy back and numb body. It was probably below 3°C this morning and I had the desperation to put 15 layers of clothing on. From the inside of my tent, I heard no noises outside excluding the morning chirps of birds. I wanted to sleep in, but I couldn't, so I stared into space and thought about what my family and school were up to. 

Once everybody was up, Gwen & I got changed and then ate breakfast with the other campers. 

"Today's agenda includes a rotation of different activities, ranging from orienteering, archery, rifle range, and bush study," the headteacher announced.
She also told us that two of the girls groups were going to form together and make one full group. Our first activity was archery. 

Archery amused me. I've seen so many movies involving the sport, so I thought it would be uncomplicated to play. Little did I know, Merida, Katniss, and Hawkeye only made it effortless. Each time I shot my arrow, it would get close to the target, but not on the board. Once I shot an arrow and I had no idea where it went. A couple of girls' arrows ended up on the board and they got a chance to shoot a more advanced bow. Something did happen to the girls who tried it out, but it will remain private on this blog.

Our second activity was bush study. We discovered new species of trees, from Rimu to Totora. These species of tree were important to the Maori for building wakas (canoes). We also learned about the H tree, which a younger and an older Rimu tree connect their trunks together.

After lunch, Gwen, Harry, and our friends decided to go swimming down the river near our campsite. It was a refreshing swim because the entire day was sunny and it was getting boring in our tents and campsite. Gwen and Sarah were scared of dipping their heads under the water in fear of hypothermia. I tried to convince them that it wasn't bad, and eventually they dipped their heads in.
"I never want to do that again!" Both of the girls screamed.

Instead of spending the night at the campsite, all the girls headed out to a waterfall and camped under the cooking shelter. A majority of the girls brought camping stretchers and slept comfortably while Gwen, a couple of girls, and I  slept on the seats of the cooking shelter. The sides didn't have much space so it was slightly uneasy to rest without waking up at midnight. I never thought about it, but I missed Willie's noise and the boys' company during the night. I also couldn't believe that camp was almost over. Two more days to go!

~~~~
As expected for the week, Day 4 will be posted later at night. Thank you for reading Day 3 of my Camp series!

Note: All names used in this post are not the real people's names. This is used for protective and private reasons.

Another note: No pictures will be posted also for private reasons. 

-M.Y ❤ 

Year 8 Camp: Day 2 (18/11/14)

Yay, I survived day one of Forestry Camp! Am I ready for day two?

I took off the blanket covering my face and woke up to a fresh but soaked tent. Gwen & I woke up at the same time and we immediately got out of our tent; observed the scenery full of light and people still in their pyjamas. It was still 6:50 am but a majority of the Forestry campers were awake & active.

The agenda for today is to hike up a forest, but little did we know that it ended up to be a 3 kilometer long hike. After climbing endless hills and sweating 6 liters per minute, we finally reached our destination: a desert (supposed to be a lagoon) full of tumbleweeds and gray tussocks. We ate our lunch there and explored the dry land. As Gwen & I sat down from the sides we saw two separate groups of boys standing opposite of each other; much like the American Indians versus the Settlers. They road and 'attacked' each other with sticks. Once we finished our lunches we then set off down the same track and arrived at our campsite.

There was nothing else to do, but rest our poor, languishing bodies inside our tents. Gwen & I played Pictureka, laid down on our sleeping bags and talked like besties do. The other campers either ran about outside, played instruments our guidance counsellor brought in or did the same thing as us.

Flash forward to supper, the best time of the day. The 'torch rebellion' gathered outside the cooking shelter and socialised with each other. I had interesting conversations with old & new friends. One flowed like this:

*I'm pretending to hold my torch like a lightsaber*
Harry: "Marian, what are you doing?"
Me: "Look, Harry! Can't you see the gas coming from the torch?"
Gwen: *Probably thinking* "Why am I friends with a failure?"
Harry: "I want more Milo and biscuits. I'm really hungry."
Me: "Then go up to them and say, 'I'd like more, please,' or come up with a bold approach; 'I want some more!' like what the guys who created the name for smores said." (I didn't actually say that 'smores' part.)
Harry: *Leaves, probably thinking* "Why did I communicate with a total failure?"

Yes, supper is the best time of the day.

~~~~
As expected for the week, Day 3 will be posted tomorrow, along with a new Letter to Electra on Electra & Marian. Thank you for reading Day 2 of my Camp series!

Note: All names used in this post are not the real people's names. This is used for protective and private reasons.

Another note: No pictures will be posted also for private reasons. 

-M.Y ❤ 

Year 8 Camp: Day 1 (17/11/14)

• Sleeping bag? ☑
• Torch? ☑
• Poncho? ☑
• Novel? ☑
• Warm clothes? ☑
• Hygiene gear? ☑

I guess I'm ready to go!

I walked to school with my two bags also accompanied by my mother. Once we arrived, everyone was in mufti putting their gear into vans and it was a sporadic sight.  Gwen then came and greeted me, along with her sister, Bernice.

After Gwen & I bid farewell to our family, we headed down to a classroom to have a final meeting before we set off. There the year eight forestry campers met the parent helpers, said our prayers and organised the activity groups. It wasn't a long process and soon we were off to the forest.

Once we arrived at the camping site, it was pouring down with rain but everyone had to set up their tents on the wet grass. In this part, Gwen and I didn't know how to set up the tent since we have never gone camping before, but luckily two of the parent helpers aided us. By the time we finished, the tent was soaked with rainwater and I had to dry the inside with tea towels. 

We had our first meeting discussing how things were going to be; there was going to be a music room, supper before bed, and no showers - hold up, no showers? A surge of drapetomania suddenly rushed through my veins as I heard this. I already knew that there wouldn't be any showers, but every time I heard the statement, I shuddered. 

After a long day of setting up, we ate dinner (now, I won't write down what we had because I think you would not be interested) and had supper, the best part of the day. Supper was the best part because it was when people gathered around with their hot beverage in one hand and a torch in the other, forming a "torch rebellion," according to Gwen. 

Going to bed took a while to settle down. My music classmate named Willie had his tent set up next to mine and Gwen's and he was full of hype. He yelled our names, made inappropriate noises, and didn't rest until midnight.  

~~~~

Day 2 will be posted tomorrow at night (around 9:00pm or earlier), describing a 3 kilometer hike and interesting conversations with exciting people. Thank you for reading Day 1 of this series!

Note: All names used in this post are not the real people's names. This is used for protective reasons.

-M.Y ❤ 

I AM BACK! (11/11/14)

HELLO, MARIAN'S EVERYDAY LIFE!

I have missed blogging so much! I am sorry for the month long hiatus. If you have forgotten why I left, I had final examinations. Yes, one month just for five rounds of exams. It was definitely worth the break though, I focused on dimensions other than my intellect; social, catching up on reading time, catching up on sleep, and getting my chores done.

I will personally write about each exam and what I thought about it in chronological order.

Science - First final! This was the most difficult since we (as in my classmates & I) had to fill in five booklets based on the topics we had studied during the year. The easiest booklet to complete was acids & alkalis since we had a test on it the same week.

Mathematics - Easier than I expected. I was studying the formula for the area & perimeter for the circle (π x diameter, or π x r^2), true bearings, and the difficult topics, but on the test it ended up to be simple questions like, "what is the sum of 768 + 3499?" It felt like I had wasted my time & effort on studying. The exam was easy as pi.

Religious Education - Definitely the easiest out of the five. It was open-book and I had all the notes for it, so I finished without hesitation in less than two hours. But the notes in my book didn't have the answers for the general knowledge questions.

English - In this exam there were two booklets. In one of them, we had to read different passages and complete the questions asked. The second booklet asked us to write a character description from the novels we studied about during the year. I wrote about (Oli)Via Pullman from 'Wonder' since she is my favourite book character ever. 

Social Studies (the final exam!) - This exam had four sections to it, and two of those sections were NZ current events and essay writing about change, cause, and consequence. I wrote about the American Indians and how the settlers took over the land. This exam was about 90% easier than I expected.


Exam preparation -

Preparing for the social studies essay section. Answering the
consequences question.

My 'learning wall' which features the topics
I have studied during the year.

My next post won't be published until the week after the next! That's when another hiatus starts, but don't worry, it's not as lengthy as the last. Just five days. I will be at year eight camp and electrical devices are banned except cameras. I promise to take photos during the week. See you soon!

-M.Y ❤ 

A new Letter to Electra will be published tomorrow on electraandmari.blogspot.com.

Child Marriage Needs to be Stopped (12/10/14)

Hello, Marian's Everyday Life!

Before I leave for one month I want to write as much as I can. The topic I will record will be pretty serious and suits my other blog better, but since I have recently posted something on there, I will write here instead.

Lately in the news I have read about this twelve-year-old named Thea planning to marry a man twenty-five years older in Oct. 11. As a girl who had been twelve-years-old not long ago I reacted to this shocking story with total disturbance. Girls as young as this age should not be forced to get wed until they're ready. When Oct. 11 (or 12 here in NZ) came I finally found out this was staged by Plan, an organization which fights for the universal rights of children. I've scanned through Thea's blog and by what Google translated, Thea thought she was going to have the best day of her life, but she still felt like nothing. Thea also mentioned that she had dreams of becoming a vet but there was no chance because the man she was planning to marry, Geir, is already rich. Which is better: having a well-planned career, or getting married at twelve to a wealthy man?

 Besides that situation and how I feel about it, I am ready for school!
Camp!
Getting to see friends again!
Exams — hold up, exams?

I'll see you once final examinations are done and dusted. Which is in one month. I'm going to miss you, Marian's Everyday Life!

-M.Y ❤ 

The 18th Birthday (4/10/14)

Welcome to MEDL!

I, along with two other friends, have hosted an 18th birthday debut this night. Even though I am tired and in desperate need of rest, I will write a blog post!

This whole 'hosting' sentiment was private and the only people who knew were the debutant's mother, the two girls and me. Throughout last week we have rehearsed our script and the three songs we were to perform: 'I Only Want to be With You' by Lodovica Comello, a solo sung by me; 'Treasure' by Bruno Mars; and 'Price Tag' by Jessie J, which was our opening song.

Flash forward to tonight. During the first song, 'Price Tag', hardly anybody was there so we all relaxed. As the second song came, which was 'Treasure', the audience laughed every time we pointed at the debutant as we sang the song title. And for the third song, my two friends danced behind me as I stood behind the microphone stand hardly able to move because of my dress and heels.

At the end of the eighteen roses, there was a father/daughter dance. Seeing my close friend dancing with her father/my not-related uncle nearly made me cry. Being a father to a new eighteen-year-old is exciting but scary. She's moving out of the house and she would never move back in (unless she is studying in a university in the same city and is still living at the house and not a dorm).

When the end of the debut came, people mentioned that they wanted us to perform again at a Christmas party. Maybe we could be future superstars and travel around the world if somebody discovers us...
That would be wondrous, but no thank you. I'd still like to pursue being an author and a psychologist or something related to the science field.

Thank you for reading this blog post! Bye.

-M.Y ❤

A Change in Me (21/09/14)

Bonsoir! (or whatever timezone you're in right now.)

I am back! Yesterday I auditioned for my school's musical of Beauty & the Beast. My audition was awkward because I had never done anything like this before, nor have I done a 'proper' one. The director, my vocals teacher, the drama teacher and pianist were there. I sang 'I See the Light' from Tangled and read a script from the musical for them. After I presented those two items they asked me to sing 'Happy Birthday' in different tones. By this point, I had no idea what was going on and why I had to sing two songs. Towards the end, my vocals teacher gave me a song which I had no clue about. It's titled, 'A Change in Me' and I have to sing it on the day when I get a callback*, which was today (Sunday). As I write I am listening to it. It is an appealing and beautiful song to listen to. Belle sings it when she talks to Maurice, her dad, about the beast (Scene 5, to be precise).

* 'Callback' means that you have been considered for a role in the play.

Today Sunday I had my dance audition. I had forgotten the choreography which we were taught on Friday, but luckily a few girls memorised and showed me how it goes. As I was talking to one of the girls Gwen had finished her dance audition. I didn't get to talk about how awkward I acted in my audition nonetheless still managed to receive a callback. I hope she had gotten a callback also. During the dance audition, I was out of sync & moved a little bit too gracefully. It wasn't as bad I had expected; I still had a smile on my face throughout the whole time. I bet the choreographer hates me now.

Oh my gosh. The director knows my name. I walked outside the gymnasium after my dance audition and she called, "Marian, let's go to the music suite for your callback."
She's aware that I exist! The director has directed a lot of musical and theatre productions. She's considered 'famous' now. A famous person knows my name! Eeek! (That was an 'eek!' of excitement, by the way.)

There was another girl in my year (grade) who also got a call back. We've hardly ever talked, but I know that she takes drama with my friend. In my callback audition I sang 'A Change in Me' in front of the choreographer, director, drama teacher and the pianist (who is also my vocals teacher) and I think I sang it too powerfully. I then read a piece of script as the narrator. The narrator is supposed to have a French accent. In my CV I put down, 'can fake an accent'. I lied without knowing.
They stopped me immediately. They knew that me being a narrator was not worth considering, and I felt the same way also.
Rule for directors seeking narrators: Never consider Marian Yao for the position, she cannot do a French accent.
After all of my auditions were done & dusted, I went back into the waiting room to grab my stuff. As I was about to leave, my R.E teacher from last year (her son was also called back) congratulated me and commented, "well done, Marian."
I left with a smile on my face and presented the news to my parents. Their reactions were lovely.
I hope whoever receives the title of Belle cherishes it and does well.

-M.Y❤

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My First Musical (4/9/14)

Hello people, it's me.

My school is having a musical and it's called 'Beauty & the Beast'. When I first saw the advertisement I thought, hey, why not put my music and drama skills to the test? I went to the drama teacher who is organizing the auditions and said, "May I please schedule an audition time?" and now I have something to freak out about. Gwen also scheduled an audition one hour after me. She mentioned she was nervous about singing since she hasn't experienced anything related to that, but she was absolutely fine with dancing and acting - they're her 'thangs'. For my audition songs I am planning to sing either 'On My Own' from Les Miserables or 'I See the Light' from Tangled. I am completely jittered and excited for this.

On a different note, I did a good deed yesterday; I had sent out cards that had compliments on them to my class. My classmates and teachers appreciated them and it made them happy, which meant that I was happy also. Handing out those cards made me feel well about the world. Am I turning into a hippie?

Thank you for reading this short blog post. I am feeling quite guilty and despondent for not posting enough on this blog. I have been busy with Electra and Marian and school. I hope you are contributing good things to the world! (Yep, I'm definitely feeling hippie-esque)

-M.Y ❤

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M.A.S.H (16/08/14)

Hello, Topplegigio!

It was the last day of Maori class and since Gwen and I finished all our work we played M.A.S.H.; the game that determines your future by your friend drawing a spiral, you deciding when she stops and her counting the lines. In our first game I chose to predict Gwen's future first. Her five chances of transportation were car, jet-pack, boat, surf board and carriage; homes R.V, haunted mansion, palace, box and public toilets; husbands Cedric, her current crush, my current crush (Ben Savage), Stuart and Darren; amount of kids 26, 12, 1, 3 and 101 (who the heck would give birth to 101 kids?). Her final results told us that her husband was Cedric, that she would have 3 children, that she lived in an R.V and she would go to places by car (what's the point of having a car when you have an R.V?).

Later on, Regina finally finished all her work and decided to join in all the fun. As the game continued future options got more outrageous with the chances of being married to teachers, having impossible amounts of kids (like 101 wasn't enough, right?) and living in a teepee.

Our next class option is music, and I'm really looking forward to answering the questions to what kind of music notes there are in the language. I have been told that as an assessment we have to perform a musical item in front of the whole class. Ever since term 1 I have been searching for the perfect song to sing. I'm currently considering  'On    My Own' from Les Misérables or 'Middle of Starting Over' by Sabrina Carpenter. I'm planning not 
to use any musical instruments because I find it difficult to strum the guitar while singing and 
having to sing my heart out. Let's see what the future brings us!

-M.Y ❤

via rileyandauggie.tumblr.com

via rileyandauggie.com
I feel as if the character Riley tells my life story. Is Michael Jacobs
stalking me?

Sick But Still Strong (29/07/14)

Today I woke up with a sore throat and spells of dizziness but I still forced myself to get to school because I had an English exam. How did I get on throughout the school day? Read furthermore to find out:

When I arrived at school today I started to regret my decision. Why would I go to school if I had a virus? But on the other hand, I considered my choice positively. At least I didn't miss out on an exam I had to pay a large amount of money for. Throughout the day I started to feel worse; my dizziness influenced me to faint, my throat forced me to hack saliva. Yes, mother, my day was as productive as yours.

Things suddenly calmed down before lunch, though. That was the time of the exam. I was so glad that I prevented myself from coughing. The setting around the classroom was very silent, so if I cracked that silence I'd be drop dead. The dizzy spells were strong in this time period. It caused me to gaze out of the window for a couple of minutes and distract me from my test. It also tried to make me think that this day wasn't real, and it's all just a dream...

Nevertheless, I am here at home trying my best to recover from my sick mood. Let's see if I need to become absent from school because the process of recovery is too long, or I'll be fine and have a better mood than today. Wish me luck! 

-M.Y ❤

via boymeetstumblr.tumblr.com

Growing Up (21/07/14)

Salutations my beautiful friend!

At school we have just started term three, which means that things are getting serious. Are we really halfway through the year? It feels like the first day of term one was yesterday. You will expect me to go on and off this blog, since I have EAM and academic errands to run. But for the meanwhile, growing up and getting close to my thirteenth birthday has been a whirlwind. Receiving hormones and going through this stage of growing up is confusing and wild, and I'm so glad that I'm not the only one experiencing these weird sentiments.

I tend to compare myself to the Girl Meets World characters. Why do I always worry over things I have no control over? Is that part of being a Virgo? The characters I mostly compare myself to are Riley and Topanga. If you have watched Boy Meets World you might recognise the name Topanga. She's the girl who every boy wants and every girls wants to be. Riley, on the other hand, is like Cory from the same show (can't blame her for acting like her dad): awkward, really interested in the opposite gender, and overthinks too much. I have to confess that I'm a try-hard at imitating their actions. If someone needs help, then I'd be like Topanga and give advice with difficult-to-understand vocabulary, and if I'm with my 'crush' I try to act awkward and overthink about "anything I have no control over".

Everytime I get a chance to publish a blog post on this blog I never have anything else to talk about. 

WHY?!?

Well, I hope you've liked this blog post. I'm sorry this is a short one but I really have nothing else to talk about. Bye!

-M.Y ❤

Via Tumblr
This is Riley in a nutshell...

Via Tumblr
...and this is Topanga also in a nutshell.

Dear 18-Year-Old Self... (7/7/14)

On my 'Things to do Before Turning 13' list there is an instruction to write a letter to my future self. Instead of just writing a letter, I'm creating a scrapbook. The scrapbook will include the letter, stories/characters I create, pictures and many more. Here is a sneak peek of what I have written so far:

Dear 18-year-old self, please don't forget to stop and look at the beautiful view. Remember how far you have gotten in life.

Inside the scrapbook I have included what is trending today since I wanted my future self to feel nostalgic. I put loom bands and I'm also planning to put the names and stories of characters I have created, like Natalie Kinly.

My future plans. I have noticed that my expectations are
impossibly high o_o

A little note I have put on the first page

I'm going to print this picture out so my 18-year-old self can
laugh at how crazy she was at 12 :P

I'm using a webcam to take pictures. I'm sorry
for the bad quality

Other than creating a scrapbook and completing my list of things to complete before turning 13, it's the term 2 holidays! It's been relaxing. I'm spending my holiday doing chores and having infinite amounts of Boy Meets World marathons. I wish I had more time to just relax and not worry about anything. That'd be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Enough of the blabbing. Thank you for reading today's post on Marian's Everyday Life! Remember to keep on learning from your mistakes.

-M.Y ❤

A Visual Thinker (24/06/14)

Hello. I am a visual thinker who cannot draw nor sculpt. It makes explaining difficult for me because I cannot put my perceptions into words.

An example follows:
Picture a classroom full of learning students.The teacher is showing this image to the students:

Via www.lilesnet.com

English Teacher: What's the theme here?
Me: Dreams.
English Teacher: Can you please explain why the theme is dreams?
Me: *stares at the picture and thinks in pictures* Hand. Mirror. Girl reaching towards it. Fading effects used.
English Teacher: Hello Marian? Have you got an answer yet?
Me: So, look at the girl. *thinks of next words to say* Her hand is touching the hand coming out of the mirror.
English Teacher: What? Please separate your words.
Me: Uh... um... *starts to panic* I'M SORRY!
English Teacher: Why did you say sorry?
Me: *puts head on desk*  Why did I do that?


Ladies and gentlemen, the disadvantages of being a visual learner who doesn't have a fine skill in art. Ta-daaa!

Today I got a book from the library while I have another book I need to read. Is that considered book cheating? Here are the two books I am reading. I can say that they are total opposites.

Via bookzone4boys.blogspot.com
First time reading Artemis Fowl. Pretty ironic of me to start
at the end. At LitQuiz there was a question about this series.

Via www.alsc.ala.org
Little Sara is so adorable. I have heard of this classic
more than thrice.

-M.Y ❤

Via boy-meets-world-quotes.tumblr.com
*Swoon*

MARIAN'S EVERYDAY LIFE IS 2 YEARS OLD! (13/06/14)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEDL!  

Yesterday we celebrated the day when this blog was started up; the 12th of June 2012. I was only ten years old when I posted the first entry on this blog. As a child of the 21st century everyday after school I hopped in front of the computer and played on it and after a couple of hours I found Blogger, a website by Google where you can create free blogs and do whatever you please on them, so I decided to join this new, unfamiliar network. After figuring out how to do this and that, I wrote and published my first blog post:

Am aware of the grammar mistakes. Pardon my French.

  -M.Y ❤

Run, Sprint, Walk, REPEAT! (22/05/14)

In P.E we are being assessed for our fitness levels and today we had to do the twelve minute run. To complete the twelve minute run you must run around the field and do as many laps as you can in twelve minutes. The boys went up first while the girls were stretching and counting the laps of the boys. Once the boys were done the girls went up. When the  I had done five and a half laps and earned red pigmented cheeks along with a dry throat. While I was walking back to the changing rooms I witnessed that one of my classmates were having an asthma attack. My other classmates got attached to the situation and one of them thankfully ran to the teacher. I ran away after that because I thought that she would be fine and it would be better for my hyperventilating classmate to have a smaller crowd surrounding her.

I cannot stop fangirling about GIRL MEETS WORLD! I am currently loving the predecessor, Boy Meets World. I wish I was like Topanga. Finding her special other at the age of 2, being a valedictorian, and having a successful career as a lawyer and mother. Plus, she has such perfect physical features! If you have watched the series, you might know that she was popular for her golden locks.

To celebrate the release of the pilot episode of Girl Meets World, there will now be a photo montage of Boy Meets World.

Look at her hair!

The best photo of the main cast

-M.Y ❤

A Trip to Hamilton, la la la... (19/4/14 - 20/04/14)

I have just arrived from my overnight trip, so I warn you for my dozy and unsimplified sentences.

My family along with our friends' families as a big group visited Hamilton, the city where I lived my early childhood when my family and I came here to New Zealand for the first time. We actually didn't go straight to the town but first entered the three Waitomo caves located one hour away from Hamilton.

I'm the kid with the red vest.

The first cave was beautiful filled with the lovely company of glow worms. We went on a small boat ride and had to keep quiet as possible and turn off our devices, otherwise the glow worms (they're actually maggots) turn their lights off and transform the cave into pure darkness, definitely not worth of our money.

On our way to the second cave I started to get carsick. I haven't gone on road trips for a very long time and I lost my ability to handle long trips. I had trouble climbing up the stairs to the entrance of the cave nearly falling in the middle of a huge flight of muddy outdoor stairs. My father took care of me, ready to catch me if I slipped or had a huge case of dizziness. As I regained my conciousness I got to experience the cave. The first was better since this cave didn't contain glow worms or interesting history.

Here I am in the second cave named Aranui, still having spells
of dizziness as I clench onto the hand railing.

The last cave enchanted me. It was called the Ruakuri cave, meaning 'two dogs' in Maori. This cave did have a mind-catching history. The tour guide mentioned that a particular family owned the cave and held tours, but the government didn't approve of the claim. So the family got their cave taken off them and the government stopped holding tours for visitors. Later on the family found out a law that whoever owned it first will keep it forever throughout generations. Reminds me of kindergarten, but with landmarks instead of toys.

After all the cave visiting we escaped to Hamilton to stay in a hotel and in the hotel room we stayed in there was an exciting surprise - a jacuzzi was sitting on one side of the master bedroom! My sister and I immediately got in and enjoyed the bubbles in the warm water.

Spending the night with
wet hair, comfy pyjamas, my mum's phone and a novel to read.

When the next day came it was Easter day so what better way to celebrate the holy day with attending mass. In Hamilton we already knew what church to attend mass since I went to a school with a cathedral right next to it during my time in Hamilton. The church remained the same layout as the last time I came to visit two years ago. 

Our group had a quick lunch in a Chinese restaurant and departed to go back to our homes. I still feel dizzy spells from the carsickness.

-M.Y ❤