School again

Today we went back to school, but it was a really short day because a bunch of classes were canceled. :) It was gorgeously sunny, and I wanted to see how little I could spend on lunch & still be full... I ended up getting a banana, a yogurt, and a fresh roll for the grand total of 2.30. Healthy food is very cheap here, and it's the chips that are expensive. This leads to people generally eating healthier, which is clearly a good thing. I find it interesting that there are wayyyy fewer obese people (or even just chubby people) here... Might have something to do with making better quality food cheaper? *cough cough* America *cough*

April Fools Day!

Happy day of foolery!

Today I went to the Technorama (sciency hands-on center place idk) after school with some other people from different math classes... I thought it was pretty boring. Which is really sad because I was really really looking forward to going! 

The part that was kind of interesting was the workshop that we did as a class, where we worked with liquid nitrogen and frozen CO2 (dry ice!) and fire and lots of snazzy stuff. But I picked a bad partner who had no sense of wonder apparently. She would perform the experiment, go "neat." And move on. Hello? You just did this sequence of events that led to this thing suddenly erupting into flames??? Does that not make you want to stop and think for two seconds why? It's not like they were tricky experiments. Whoah, look, a glowing piece of steel wool burns like crazy when you put it into a flask with a bunch of oxygen. I wonder why. Duh. So that was a mistake. Oh well. Lab coats and goggles are always fun, I guess.

And I feel like the actual permanent displays were not that interesting. I was impressed at how much stuff there was to look at and fiddle with, but it was also still quite simple. It would definitely help someone trying to learn or understand basic math or science. Multiple visual representations of Pythagoras's Theorem that you can twist and take apart etc etc are definitely useful. Oh well! I went and spent an afternoon somewhat stimulating my brain. Example: what kind of mathematical formulas do they program this magnet-controlled ball with so that it creates beautiful, perfect patterns in the sand and how does that translate to the machine actually moving the magnet around? Sadly this was not explained on the plaque. 

That turned into a rant pretty quickly. Oops. I guess I'm just sick of stupid people.

Tomorrow I'm going to a friend's house for a sleepover because we don't have school Friday or Monday because of Easter! Yippee! :)

Lovely Wednesday

Today was a half day like all Wednesday's are. It was super nice weather again/still, so I went for a run with Lara and did some doodling outside.:)

My grandma informed me that I have been invited (only if I want to come, of course, there are much more interesting things to do as a teenager on Saturday night) to a dinner with the couple who lives on the same floor as my grandparents do. She insisted multiple times that of course I didn't have to come, and the sweet lady hosting had offered to bring me dinner if I didn't feel like hanging out with a bunch of old people. I was shocked. Is that what people expect from teenagers these days? I think that it would have been ridiculously sad and rude of me to turn that down just because I didn't want to hang out with old people. Of course I can spend four hours of my life with some people that I wouldn't normally hang out with. Old people love young people, I've found out. It's almost like we're another species, we have such confusing lives apparently. Anyways, I'm actually excited to go, because this lady is super sweet and I like listening to older people. Yippee!

Ice skating & ranttttt

Today we had a double period lunch, which was cool because all the girls in my class all went out to eat together and we talked about space and technology and tried to solve random riddles and brain teaser type things. It was really fun to talk to people who find it actually interesting that NASA wants to colonize Mars instead of just being like "oh cool" and then talking about nail polish. Eh. Whatever.

Rant time again! *I don't hate the people I'm talking about here, I just think it's unbelievably rude what they're doing and I've lost respect for them*

So today we got to go watch what I'm pretty sure were random scenes from Italian operas performed by high-schoolers. Most people-including me-didn't get what was going on most of the play, because it was all in Italian and because it was that sort of abstract interpretation that certain directors like and no one understands. 

But the people participating did really really well, and I was super impressed by how well some of them really got into character and could sing. So I quietly sat and watched what was obviously a very well-rehearsed and thought out presentation. It was definitely better than double French. However, a lot of people thought that the whole thing was  *smacks gum* "ohmigod, like, SO boring, like, ya know?" Like, no, I didn't know, because I couldn't concentrate, because you were talking and literally listening to music while the performance was happening?? Shut up, listen, and get off your phone. Just because you're going nowhere in life doesn't mean you shouldn't support those who are. Also, next time you want to go get "so high, maaaaaan (I swear it's the best weed in all of Zurich-no, I SWEAR, bro)", do it after school and/or don't sit next to me PLEASE. You stink. 

Anyways, then for p.e. we went ice skating! I am pretty horrible at it-probably because I've been about two times ever. So now I have bruises and I scraped through a few layers of skin on my legs. Wooo. But tomorrow is the last day of school before two weeks of vacation! 

Craziness

Today I didn't have to get up until 9am because our english teacher got sick. Then we only had one period of school before a double lunch period (we went to Starbucks:))

then a "workshop" about Marijuana. *RANT WARNING (also disclaimer)*

 I have nothing against people who use marijuana. This is just my opinion. 

I was so pissed after we got done. I was actually looking forward to the presentations, because I think the things that drugs-not just illegal ones-can do to your body or brain are fascinating (and horrifying). I was expecting the usual "don't do drugs or drink alcohol because xyz will happen and you'll die" thing that schools always do.

But boy, was I wrong. The first thing we did was sit in a circle and have a discussion about a fictional story that we read. Whether or not we thought the girl in this story was addicted to smoking pot and what she could do to stop doing it. It was dead boring and my little brother would've been able to tell that this girl is supposed to be addicted. We didn't actually learn anything. Useless... 

The guy leading the presentation/discussion thing was very quiet and gave miffly piffly answers to the (very few) questions students asked. I was curious about what long-term effects marijuana could have on your body or brain, and another girl was interested in the more short-term view. He waffled about uselessly for a good five minutes and managed to avoid actually answering either question. Which I take to mean he doesn't know. Or else he would tell us, right? It's not like that's the point of the whole idea. So that was 45 minutes of wasted time, but I still had hope because the next period was a presentation from the actual police. Nope. Still useless garbage. 

They told us about the criminal part of marijuana (it is not legal in Switzerland), and what happens if you get caught in possession of, smoking, or dealing pot. However, they made sure to tell us that these weren't hard-and-fast rules, but that it "depends on the officer" and "sometimes it's just a warning-I mean, you're young and stuff". Someone asked if marijuana is a gateway drug (it's use could possibly lead to other drug abuse-cocaine, methamphetamines, etc.) and they said no. This is slightly more of an opinion thing, but honestly, who wakes up one day and decides: "I think I'm gonna do cocaine." No one. Logically it would be a slide from one drug to the next.

The whole thing made me mad. It also saddens me that six people (that I know of) of our class of 21 regularly smoke marijuana and now will care even less than they did before. (They're FRESHMEN. 15 years old.) Multiple responsible adults just told them that marijuana "isn't actually that bad". I am aware that I don't have any right to tell other people how to live their life and that's okay. I just really believe that it's a shame. Coolness isn't forever. Any health problems resulting from excessive drug abuse are. 

*end rant* *deep sigh*

What the heck

So today I was again at home with my lovely cough. I got bored, so I went on YouTube. I ended up watching that old TV show Shake It Off, with Bella Thorne and Zendaya. Never seen it, never had any inclination to see it, but I was bored. So I tried to watch it and oh my gosh. Why. Why do they feel the need to make the characters ridiculously stupid and slow??? Why do they tell horrible, boring, unimaginative, not even actually funny jokes and then layer canned laughter over it later??? Is it so the people that watch these dumb shows know when to laugh? I literally could not finish the episode. I've never been so disgusted in my life. Thank you to my parents, who never exposed me to that absolute garbage so many people call "entertainment".