English coursework

Subject: English coursework Tue Nov 06, 2007 3:47 pm

Okay, just started doing my english coursework (a story that advises teenafe girls on how to start new at schools and not look like a total n00b), and it's all a bit american so i was wondering if you guys could give me a few pointers on

A) what america's like, especially california and
B) what sort of things you'd be thinking if you had to start a school halfway through the year in England!

Thanks! (also any interesting things you could maybe point out that would be good to include!)
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Subject: Re: English coursework Tue Nov 06, 2007 5:29 pm

California is really populated, and depending on the area, a lot of rich people. There are a lot of mexican restaurants, bars, and boutiques in certain downtown places. Its clean, and if one's in the Bay Area, the fog rolls in at night. Never usually above 80 degrees. Um, there's more, but if you could specify where in California I can elaborate. My mom and I visit a lot haha.
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"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand." -Brave New World

Subject: Re: English coursework Tue Nov 06, 2007 5:34 pm

I have no idea! Give me some sort of small town on the coast!
I've never been but though it'd be a good opportunity to learn!

Thanks by the way, thast's all helped a TONNE already!
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Subject: Re: English coursework Tue Nov 06, 2007 5:41 pm

I'll get back to you a little later. I have an English assignment of my own to do.

No problem, by the way. I love to be useful.
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"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand." -Brave New World

Subject: Re: English coursework Tue Nov 06, 2007 5:43 pm

Thank you soooo much =)
and yeahh best get on with your own before helping me (mine's not in for aaages anyway =P)
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if you don't like me, or have a problem with anything i say...

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don't be a coward and write some dumb miss girly post.
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Age : 19 Joined : 30 Apr 2007 Posts : 603 Name : Hana

la jolla! its a small-ish town. anyway...its pretty and in california. i don't know what else you want.. lol

Subject: Re: English coursework Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:31 pm

I like it! I like it's name!!
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if you don't like me, or have a problem with anything i say...

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don't be a coward and write some dumb miss girly post.
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Subject: Re: English coursework Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:55 pm

Oh shoot, not familiar with La Jolla. Um, another town is San Mateo, and its not exactly on the coast, but the beach is only about 20 minutes away. And its about a 40 minute drive to San Fransisco (major city, in case you didn't know). The area around it is referred to as the Bay Area.

The city itself is famous for crazy street performers like the Bush Man, the naked runners, the guys that dress in all silver, homeless alcoholics and musicians. Foodwise, they do the whole chowder in a sourdough bread bowl (MMMM!) and a lot of seafood. Pier 39 is a great tourist attraction, with a huge aquarium and cutesy gift shops and stuff like that. The ferry building is used to have boats and stuff, but now they restored it to be like a huge indoor flea market.

Chinatown and Japantown have good cheap shopping (Japan leans more toward anime and comic book stores) and they have a lot of really cool authentic restaurants. Uptown has a lot of nice shopping and whatnot. The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful, there's not much else I can say about that. Oh, and lots of museums and zoos right outside- lots of fun stuff.

If you want to do a town like San Mateo, refer to what I wrote before. If you have anymore questions, I'll try to answer them as best as I can. I hope this helps!
_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand." -Brave New World

Subject: Re: English coursework Wed Nov 07, 2007 11:56 pm

America has TOOOOOOOONS of fast food places, and lots of obese people...LOL! And I don't mean chunky, I mean HUGE. It's weird. 'Cause even just going over to Tonawanda or something, it's so different from here.
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Subject: Re: English coursework Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:06 am

America has the worst healthcare ever and it's survial of the prettiest.

Cali is full of orange people and hollister zombies.

Like Shauna said, alot of the people are BIIIGGG!!
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Guest

Ummm yeah. What's been said. I live in Berkeley which is right by SF and the bay and stuff. It's very, very dense and cozy. It's usually chilly and a little grey. Windy and all that, because of the bay and it gets very foggy in the night/morning. It's very clean here though. Except the bay. Ew.

There are lots of little shops and fewer large chains and things. (In Berkeley, SF is a very big chic shopping city with everything/everyone you can imagine)

It's sort of like a bubble here. Lots of kids go to sf to shop and hang out, and most are really artsy. This is my experience with everyone I know.

If I were to start going to school in England half way through...gosh. I'd be intimidated! But very excited and probably want to blend in a little bit in the beginning. I'd want to look in place. But I'd also be very curious and want to see and understand everything.

One little thing. There is a HUGE difference between Southern and Northern California.

I'm in the north where it's cold and our beaches are rocky and grey and cold and deserted. The people here are sort of naturey and artsy.

The south is where you find the orange people! They have sunny beaches with surfer boys and smog. And movie stars. Blah blah blah. The people are often very preoccupied with looks, very superficial. Not always.

I don't know if that helped at all but I hope so.

Subject: Re: English coursework Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:13 am

Wow that all helped loads.
My teacher said i got into the american frame of mindvery well ha ha. I just need to develop it so anything else anyone want's to add I'd be so SOOO grateful of.

Thanks a tonne girlies!
_________________
if you don't like me, or have a problem with anything i say...

tell me.

don't be a coward and write some dumb miss girly post.
if you do that i can't change what i'm saying to be less offensive.

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oh, and my aim in life is to freak you out with my sig. lol.

Subject: Re: English coursework Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:29 pm

Okay what do you all thinK!

English Coursework - Story - semi final draft

I’d never been particularly nervous in situations like these before. I was so used to meeting new people from working in my parent’s office at weekends that I assumed it’d all be fine. And it was, I suppose, until 8:55am and I was following the head teacher of my new high school to my homeroom. All I could hear was the tapping of the head teachers high heeled shoes on the black and white tiled floor. She was talking about some trip to France or something similar, and I wasn’t really listening, but her English accent just droned inside my head.

You see, my old school was your typical American high school, and I had such a tight group of best friends, but then, of course, I had to move with my parent’s business plans. So there I was, in an English “Secondary” school, studying a whole bunch of new subjects. Think I was scared? You’d be right. I totally missed all my old friends. I kept hearing my best friend forever’s voice saying how great it would be and how much fun I’ll have in Cornwall… She didn’t have to come here. It was all fields wherever you went! Only plus I suppose was the fact that there was a tonne of beaches! You see, my parents business is an up-and-coming surf company, and back in California we were pretty well known for surfing. Personally I could never do it, which I’m sure was always a massive disappointment to my mom, but despite this I loved the beach. The sea’s just pretty amazing huh? Especially back in California, in the summer hea--

“Sophie! Sophie we’re here.” Mrs Goodman said as she shook me up from my daydream of home and opened the door into my new form group. I gulped and crossed my fingers behind my back.
“Don’t look so scared dear child,” the matronly woman said, I remember thinking it was like something out of a film! Any moment I could imagine Harry Potter popping his head around the chunky brick wall and asking where Ron is or Kate Moss coming in to do a talk in assembly… Okay, maybe not the latter but you get my point, it was England!

“Anyway, this is your new class, you will be with most of them for all of your lessons but I’m sure they’ll switch around a bit depending on the subject.” She said goodbye and I was left standing a bunch of scary, uniformed teenagers. I don’t really mean scary, but you’d think it from the way my heart was beating. It was a wall of noise and chat.

“Oh my days! He din’t? That’s well out of order!”

“Yeah I heard she was singing really badly - apparently her dress was minging too!”

“Shut up did I! You moron!”

“Oh I hate this song, it’s crap but I always sing along, damn it!”

“My hangover was awful, but the party was sooo worth it for the gossip, I mean, did you hear about Lauren…”

But sadly that wall of sound stopped as soon as they’d noticed me. The teacher looked at me expectantly and I looked from her to the class a few times. I suddenly felt hot and embarrassed. What should I say?!

“Hi.. I’m Sophie…” I said slowly, suddenly becoming aware of my Californian accent. The teacher smiled. Thank God, she seems nice.

“Hey Sophie, I’m Miss Wick, I’m your form tutor. This will be your tutor group for the next year. I trust they’ll look after you.” She smiled and instantly I knew she would be an okay teacher. Okay meaning you can NEVER trust people on first impressions. However, she a friendly blue eyes and a mess of dyed red hair in some sort of clipped-up mess. She had a massive mouth but was incredibly quiet despite this. She showed me to my seat and asked me to say a few words about myself.

I sat between a boy with black hair and a nice smile, whose name I later learnt was Jack, and a girl who looked as if she was wearing a cement-thick layer of make-up and hadn‘t washed her hair in a week, I later noticed this was actually just hair gel and some sort of weird trend around here. Okay, here goes. “Well. My name’s Sophie Gerald, I come from a small town in California. Uhm…” my mind went blank. What did these kids want to know? I sat and felt all the blood rush to my face, my cheeks were burning and unusually for me (I’d always been confidant, at least in a small town where I knew everyone I was.) I felt like the ground could just swallow me whole and spit me out back at home. Luckily, I was interrupted by a small girl with long dark hair. She had huge grey eyes that took my breath away at first.

“So you’re from America? Cool.” You’d think it would’ve been a friendly thing to say, but she had a nasty smirk on her face… I don’t know maybe it’s just her way. Sadly, it was, a nasty way. Her name was Jessica, but you‘ll learn all about her, trust me. I smiled and nodded and once she’d broken the class’s silence, the questions came pouring out. What’s America like? Well, like here I suppose…; What music do you listen to (the question came from your usual music obsessed rock fan with dyed black hair and too many facial piercings)? Well, a lot of popular stuff really… mainly pop, I totally love Justin Timberlake…; And so many more. It was quite easy to answer and I slowly started learning everyone’s names.

In hined sights, I should never have been nervous, because starting something new is a great opportunity for you, and you shouldn’t ruin it by being moody or upset. Starting new schools is great fun, and in another country, brilliant to try to understand the culture.

The bell rang (and that noise totally reminded me of home! It was awesome!) and I picked up my bag and walked out, though not after straightening out my disgusting brown kilt. Honestly, the uniform was vile! It was real grody, a nice mustard brown jumper which totally washed out my skin tone and then a knee length kilt. Not flattering or nice! A girl ran up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder, making me jump.

“Hi I’m Joanne!” She said, holding out her hand and brushing her messy blonde hair with her hands. She was a tall girl, and from what I could at the time tell, perfect looking with a cute round, tanned face with a bright white smile. Then Jessica walked past, looked me up and down and laughed, and then pushed past Joanne and I rudely. “Oh don’t worry about her, she hates me. Don’t understand why, always has, anyway!” I took her hand and shook it, smiling shyly. “What lesson do you have now?”

I worried. I had been given a timetable just 20 minutes earlier… but where’d I put it? I rummaged through my handbag worriedly. And looked up just as Joanne held up a white piece of crumpled paper, “You dropped it just now, and I thought it was a perfect conversation starter!” She grinned and gave it back to me. “Drama, right? Me too. I’ll show you the way.” And that became the start of a, well, certainly interesting friendship.

That first drama lesson was amazing. I have never met a group of more friendly, talented and hilarious individuals. There was no more than 20 of us, and everyone had a massive personality. Especially Joanne, who had the irritating but hilarious habit of picking up my accent and using it whenever we were together. After that lesson while walking to the lunch hall (after double drama - how I loved Wednesday mornings!) she invited me to a house party. My first ever party in England! I gladly accepted and she said her and her brother would pick me up and my house. I was so excited. Apparently it was a casual affair… But still I was nervous about what to wear! Most girls back in my old school lived in Abercrombie and Fitch and surf clothing - but what about here? The strict uniform meant judging people or hair and bags alone - not an easy feat, I can tell you…

On the night of the party I was rushing around my house trying to decide what to wear. I’d been out into the local town (which I had to get a bus to, it was that far!) and looked around the shops but I didn’t like much of it… It wasn’t me! In the end I settled on a plain vest, some jeans and flip flops - it was summer after all! Still, should I wear make-up? How much? I totally didn’t know. Suddenly I heard my brother calling that my ride was here. OH MY GOD. I grabbed my handbag and threw my cell, my keys and my wallet into it. When I got downstairs I saw Joanne, looking stunning despite having wet, salty hair and simple a pair of boardies on.

“I just got out of the sea - I’ve been at the beach all day!” she laughed smiling. I smiled and looked at my brother who was in awe of her. Poor boy, being 13 must be so hard sometimes.

“Oh Joanne, this is my brother, Jesse.”

“Hi nice to meet you,” she grinned, but then turned her attention to me. “So the party is no longer a house party, so you might wanna bring a jumper, and if you have a tent and a sleeping bag, it’d make sleeping a lot more comfortable. Or you could just walk to the beach when you told me the address I really didn’t realise how close you were!”

I laughed. “Yeah, my parents were all for living in a town but it didn’t suit us so we decided to live here instead. So, like, come in a second while I find out my stuff.” I said as I shut the door behind her.

“Are you sure that’s okay, I’m covered in sand?”

“Ha ha, my house is covered in sand anyway, both of my parents surf daily.” I grinned at her and led her through to the garage. “Ah, perfect, all of my camping stuff in one box!”

We went out to the car after wishing my family a good night and that was where I met Joanne’s brother for the first time. He was called Harry, and so gorgeous. Blonde, tall, tanned, English… I slid into his car and as soon as he spoke I could feel myself blush. We drive to the party listening to a national radio station, and we all sang along (we all being Me, Joanne, Harry and his friend Sam) to Justin Timberlake, which made Joanne laugh. And then 5 minutes later we were at the beach.

“Alright, let’s get all this junk out of the car and onto the beach.” Harry said as he opened the trunk of his car. We all peered in and realised how much there was: three tents, 3 sleeping bags, 8 disposable BBQs, and 6 boxes of drinks, not to mention a large amount of BBQ food. By the time we’d shifted it all we all had to sit down on the sand and catch our breath back - it was a lot of heavy tuff between 4 of us! We sat back and admired where we were. Or I did at least. The beach was beautiful, the sea calm, the atmosphere peaceful and tranquil.

That was until 50 rowdy English teenagers descended on it for a party.
_________________
if you don't like me, or have a problem with anything i say...

tell me.

don't be a coward and write some dumb miss girly post.
if you do that i can't change what i'm saying to be less offensive.

--------

oh, and my aim in life is to freak you out with my sig. lol.

Subject: Re: English coursework Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:28 pm

heyyyy what do you guys think then? =P
_________________
if you don't like me, or have a problem with anything i say...

tell me.

don't be a coward and write some dumb miss girly post.
if you do that i can't change what i'm saying to be less offensive.

--------

oh, and my aim in life is to freak you out with my sig. lol.

Subject: Re: English coursework Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:30 pm

sorry i got half way through and got distracted last night >.<

ill finish but what i read was pretty good i think...im not good at critque! :]
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