Oh yes and I got a merit in my Grade 8 horn exam

I've just got back from tour, with West Sussex County Youth Orchestra. Overnight travel, 27 hours on the coach overall, for some reason passing through Austria, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. As far as I know that's not the most efficient way to to do it, but our coach drivers were not exactly the cream of the crop. We managed to get lost and do a half hour detour going back towards the town we stayed in, Villach, when trying to get to Slovenia for an evening concert.

This tour was great in one way, because I made more new friends than I might have done in a smaller group - we are about 85, I think, which means there's always someone new to talk to - but on the other hand it also cemented my views about a certain percussionist, (who spent 3 hours yelling from the back of the coach, at least 75% of all his sentences containing c*nt, a***hole and other miscellaneous obscenities that weren't even amusingly deployed, and then shouted at my friends and I for talking quietly because he wanted to sleep) and also showed me how glad I am that I won't really be seeing a couple of people who have now left because they are too old. Unfortunately one of the leavers is actually lovely and I've only ever talked to him on this tour. It's a pity I won't get to know him or a couple of others any better. I did also make friends with a couple of people who are the same age as me, for once, and so won't leave before me. I tend to make that mistake quite frequently.

We did go to some nice places, though our lake swimming was cancelled because the water was apparently dangerously cold. The best visit we made was to a big network of caves, and because I'm amazingly clever I can't remember where they were, but they were just beautiful. Huge stalagtites and stalagmites, and interesting passages that you're not allowed to go down, and vast open spaces that look a bit like Gothic cathedrals with ornate carving, except it's all natural, and an underground rivery lakey thing. After the 30 degrees outside the 8-2 degree temperatures were quite welcome.

My only complaint about the hotel - the charming and traditionally Austrian Holiday Inn, *cough* - was that the bathroom was made of glass. Fair enough, you might think. But not when it's only tinted glass, not frosted, and the lights in there are the brightest in the room so it's like a spotlight on whoever's showering. Needless to say I showered in the dark. I did have a slight panic when our friend Sam came in and I was changing in there with the lights on, but we cunningly distracted him by saying "Hey, look at our view."

Another highlight had to be our conductor - a generally reserved man - dancing on the bar in a club and flashing his chest at us. YouTube, methinks. Oh the blackmail opportunities. 

I always tell myself that Friday 13th is only unlucky if people believe it to be so. So I maintain that it's a lucky day, because if I say so it'll work that way, right?

Friday. Biiig fuckoff argument with boyfriend.

Hm. The only way I can see it is that it was lucky in that it did work out ok in the end and we're all right now. But then that's just sort of the badness ceasing, not an actively good thing.

Hmph. I am quite disillusioned with my attempt at serendipity.

I got tagged..though not electronically, you'll be pleased to know.

1. What I was doing 10 years ago:
10 years ago I was at primary school, probably not doing very much.

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
find a darned pianist for this music exam of mine.
try and cajole/pester my mum into actually sending off a cheque to pay the beginning of this new instrument I've got.
have the customary trivial argument with boyfriend.
write personal statement for UCAS application.
put clothes away that are currently languishing on my chair.

3. Snacks I enjoy:
salt'n'vinegar anything, hot chocolate and hovis digestives, pain au chocolat, err...most other things that have either high quantities of E numbers or are otherwise very bad for you.

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:
build myself a couple of houses, get a pilot's license (and plane!), get a couple of nice cars, maybe a horse, oh and lots of pretty clothes

5. Places I have lived:
London, Bury, Horsham, Itchenor, Amberley, Walberton

I tag:-
Bearcub
Becky-Speyer
kevinwilson
Znethru
jackfrost

My left hand is all painful and swollen up in the middle. The worst part is I didn't even hurt it doing something heroic, or in an accident. I wilfully beat up my left palm to gain all-important coins playing Mario Party on N64 earlier. Stupid painful minigames. Grinding your hand round and round on the analogue stick is the only way to turn it fast enough to win, but it also effing hurts. Three! Three turning games in a row! Where the hell are health and safety when they might actually be useful, eh?

And why the hell am I blogging at 25 past midnight?

Oh yeah. Because I don't have to get up tomorrow morning, because I've FINISHED MY EXAMS!!
Until next year, that is. But that'll do for the present. It's a pity that you only appreciate sleep when you've finished doing it.

Oh God I need to sort out my accompanist for grade 8. I was supposed to somehow contact her and ask her if she can do the day they've given me; being a teacher at school she might very well be teaching at 10am! Stupid Associated Board. Stupid hard exam that I actually have to practice for. Stupid Mozart writing stupidly hard horn concertos. Chris'll kill me for not ringing him back.

So the main bulk of my exams are out of the way. Ancient History could have been a lot worse, except the last paper was a bit dodgy. Music was relatively good. So that's a relief.

Now I'm on half term for a week, but I have to revise for Latin, on the 4th. Memorise exactly 275 lines of Virgil's Aeneid Book 12 and 16 hefty sections of Tacitus' Annals 1, in English but with close reference to the Latin, not to mention keep up all that vocabulary and make sure my grammar's in working order? Don't mind if I don't.
My teacher's faith in me is touching, but sadly misplaced. Don't know how I'm going to do it. I desperately need an A to make sure I can get an A next year to make sure I stand a half decent chance of university.

On a slightly more immediate note, I'm REALLY HUNGRY but I can't go downstairs because I might have to talk to my bonkers aunt who's invited herself over again. I wish my mother would inform me of these things so I could stock up on provisions before she gets here.

Goodness gracious me. Has it really been that long since I wrote? Long enough for me to get a "blog.co.uk misses you" email! Disgraceful!

School is the best time of your life? I bloody hope not. On Wednesday I have two English Lit papers, and the day after that I have 5 exams in one day, comprising 3 hours' worth of ancient history essay writing and 2 music papers. Then after half term is 3 Latin exams in one day.

My horn teacher said to me the other day that to get into music college I should be doing at least one hour and a half practice session a day, preferably 2. So I'm trying to build up my stamina but at the same time I HAVE EXAMS IN A FEW DAYS AND I'M GOING TO FAIL AHHHH
and then I won't get in anywhere anyway.

Today I also had a contest thing in Crawley with my brass band. Apparently (I didn't stay for the adjudication) we came 4th in the contest - as it's an entertainment thing and not just musical - but the adjudicators said that we were 2nd muscially. Not too bad, as we were the only youth band there. We managed to get the best soloist and best conductor/compere prizes too which isn't bad.

MUST REVISE
MUST REVISE
MUST REVISE
MUST REVISE
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

So that's why I've not had so much time for scribbling.

I just remembered! I haven't said a word about my lovely trip to Greece except in my previous post. I'm sure that anyone reading this is now hanging on my every word and absolutely dying to read all about it...

We started and finished in Athens, going round (not necessarily in this order!) Delphi, Sounion, Epidavros, Corinth, Mycenae, Olympia and Tolon. The most beautiful places had to be Tolon and Sounion, just for being on the sea, but Delphi was pretty darn amazing too in the mountains. I got so much exercise it was ridiculous, walking up and down hills and mountains all over the shop, following my teacher Mr. Collins (who we have all decided is a Bionic Man) who never got tired. In Mycenae, the oldest site we visited, we went down into the 3000 year old water cistern cut into the rock. Completely pitch black but incredible. Of course, we had to run in the original Olympic stadium and sing Jerusalem - and then Bohemian Rhapsody, not sure why - in the theatre with perfect acoustics in Epidavros. We found wild tortoises in Athens and got rained on on the Acropolis, though that was the only day we had bad weather and it cleared up pretty fast. The rest was baking hot to us, though the Greeks were all wearing coats and no doubt thinking we must be from Siberia or something!

It was incredible. Sod the Greek islands, give me archaeology any day. And of course it's great going with a group of people like that - all but one of my close friends were with me, so it was especially fun.

:D

...I am. I'm all happy and have been for the past 10 days now because I'm going out with a very nice lad called Alex.

*beam*

It was all a product of my Ancient History trip to Greece, where there was a big ruckus with a lot of the not-knowing-who-knows-what and you-can't-tell-soandso-this and basically the rather messy product of a lot of teenagers stuck on a very nice holiday and not having anything better to do than all get in a tizz with each other. Unfortunately I ended up becoming the communal box of tissues - to cry on, not to blow your nose on, I hastily add - while somehow managing to also be at the centre of the Ruckus.

And Alex and I went up to the top floor of the hotel to talk through his side of things and a whole group of people marched off down the beach to look for us, convinced we'd gone missing. That was quite amusing.

But yes. Trips are good for that sort of thing. You get to know people so much better so quickly. It's great
:D