Monday 1st December, 2014

Now, before I tell you about my week I am going to have to give a bit of a background story. It goes all the way back to when I was a tiny child. It was 11 years today that I walked into school, shaking with excitement due to the fact that it was the first of December and I had opened my advent Calendar, I asked my friends what they had got in there calendar and again and again the answer was, chocolate … what else? Now it is here that I have to say that I had got a picture of a donkey for I only ever got calendars with pictures in  it, not chocolate ones like everyone else. This feeling of disappointment and of separateness has come back to haunt me every single Advent since then. However, this year, my 17^th Christmas, In a house quiz, the team I was in won and as a prize we each got a Cadbury’s chocolate advent calendar! I was so excited by this that I was practically skipping around the room! Then, I went home for leave out and  when my dad got home from work, what was he carrying, but three chocolate advent calendars, if you remember last week’s blog I had Martin and Daishi over. He gave us each one, as grateful as I was, I found it a bit strange that he chose till now to give me a chocolate calendar! Now with all this chocolate it seems as though I am almost forgetting festivity, but you would be mistaken as just two days ago I got a large envelope in the post and sure enough my Granny hadn’t changed and I got a great traditional picture calendar! Three calendars all to myself and two of them chocolate! Now, I know you are dying to know. The  picture I got in my calendar today was an angel!

Sunday 23rd November 2014

For the weekend I had my two school friends, Martin and Daishi, over to stay Daishi lives in Japan and Martin lives in Bulgaria and so it would be inconvenient to travel there and back just for the couple of days of leavout. We were all fairly tired after three weeks at school, this was shown as barely 15 minutes into the journey Daishi was asleep, about halfway through and Martin was as well! I am usually a little hesitant in having friends round for leavout as it is just a few days and I like to enjoy my ‘home time’  and have my family to myself. This time however I felt I owed it to them both as I usually put it off! We arrived and Weasel came out to see me, she was beside herself with excitement and I was just as happy to see her. The other reason I didn’t want friends round on leavout is that I like to trudge through the countryside for hours and hours through the rain and mud on dog walks and rough shooting, and I couldn’t imagine either of them wanting to join me! I needn’t have been so cynical as I didn’t even have to encourage the two to come out with me, they were eager to come and see what I got on with.  This weekend also happened to be one of the wettest it has ever been and so despite the mud and rain we managed to have a great time, they were so cool and relaxed in my home, even though my family is a bit crazy, It certainly dispelled my earlier worries and I am sure that they will come again!

Sunday 16th November, 2014

During Thursday afternoons everyone at school does an activity, some people do minor sports such as clay pigeon shooting or rackets and other people do a community service such as working in a charity shop or performing music in a retirement home. I do an activity called, “Take a Break” , it consists of looking after a child with mental disabilities for a couple of hours. Last week was the first time I met ‘my’ kid, Owen . A friend of mine, Ollie, and I went to his house to meet his parents and to find out a bit more about Owen. Previous to that we had been having training sessions which included a crash course on sign language as well as just instructing us what to do in certain situations. This Thursday Ollie and I took a taxi to Owens school and collected him there, we then went back to Rugby where we took him to a charity café that was open. We didn’t spend long there as Owen found it a bit noisy. We went back to Sheriff (my boarding house) and played some games. Owen is really quite able and so it was just like spending time with younger sibling who you are responsible for. We then went to play a bit of football, Owen was great at football, we were just passing the ball between us but he always kicked on target witch is a lot more than I can say for myself! One funny thing was that if anyone kicked the ball into the air he would run underneath it and catch it! finally we got back in the taxi, dropped him off and said goodbye until next Thursday.

Sunday 9th November, 2014

First week back from half term and the business of school was more than I thought it might have been! First day back and I managed to get by, even through double English finishing at 6 o’clock. I had a bit of a shock as when I got out of the class room heading back to house it was nearly pitch black. Now I don’t mind this at all, in fact I find it quite exciting, walking form the quod to Sheriff in the dark it makes the usually mundane walk into an adventure! The days are pretty chilly now and it is hard to believe that it can get much colder than this but as we remind the younger years, it gets so cold that you can’t have showers in the morning as if you don’t dry your hair properly it freezes on your head! The end of the week came and two friends of mine and I went to the cinema on Sunday, we took a taxi and had a great time. It is surprising how you can feel that you are not at school and are just relaxing with friends when in fact you are.

Sunday 26th October 2014

This week, Daddy and I headed up to the very north of Scotland, as you can Imagine I was very excited! However we were to stay with my Great Uncle and Aunt, Bruce and Anne. It was much interest and, I’m afraid to say a little apprehension that we set of to meet them, as I had heard that they were a wacky couple. We arrived in the evening after some 6 and a bit hours travelling. We were greeted very warmly and had a wonderful supper. They were both fascinating and interested people who had a lot of time to listen  about our family as well as to talk to us about their life and our shared family up North. Yet my information was correct and they were wacky but in an absolutely charming manner, during our second evening Bruce, without so much as an introduction recited the whole of Robert Burns’ “Tam o’ Shanter”, some  1,500 words! A little tedious you might think yet Bruce spoke it with such expression and heart that not for a moment was I bored! I might add that I only inderstood two or three of these words as the poem is written in original

Wednesday 23rd October 2014

The highlight of this week was, obviously, going home! As soon as i got through the back door, Weasel, my small lurcher leapt at me in frenzic circles ecstatic with the joy of having me back, similarly i was dancing around as well, just as happy to see her! Almost immediately I took her out for a walk, feeling as proud as any man can walking upright with my dog trotting at my side. I purposefully took the long route round the village with the hope of coming across some admirer! Alas it wasn't to be, but soon we got into the fields and from then, it was ears pricked. I took her to a field where I knew there were rabbits and sure enough, they were running all over the place however they were so close to the hedge that the sound of a footprint on the style sent them into there holes and made the once bustling field look like a desert. however, after checking the next field which was also uneventful we came back to the first field but from the other direction. There were some rabbits that had already come out, Weasel and I snuck up to the fence and, after spotting one quite far out I picked weasel up and threw her over the fence! She was running before she hit the ground and soon caught up with the fleeing rabbit but as she leant to strike it ducked back between her legs and was through the hedge.

Sunday 12th October 2014

This week was the penultimate week of half term, It always goes longer than any other week! On Monday we had activities day which started off with, what could have been the dullest talk yet had it not been that his name was Dipper and he came from Australia, the company clearly do this on purpose as our last talk was from a guy from Ireland! After that we had team building activities on the close, this involved walking activities such as a real life version of Tetris and an obstacle course on a scooter made for 4 people! This could have been fairly fun had it not been pouring down with rain and so time was spent trudging  from station to station in blizzard conditions, heads bent and eyes to the ground!

     The next day was our geography field trip,  a much anticipated day trip to Birmingham where you get to spend some of your time enjoying the city, however it was not to be and instead the geography department had had a last minute change of heart and instead we were off to the ever exotic and different Rugby Town! It wasn’t all bad, to get to where we were going, probably not a mile down the road, we had a ginormous coach and a packed lunch! We spent the afternoon pointing out the differences in wealth between central Rugby and the pretty village of Dunchurch.

Sunday 5th October 2014

After a relaxing leaveout I embarked on an expedition, commonly referred to as the train back to school. My train to London took nearly double the time I thought it would and so I missed the one I was going to get from Euston to Rugby. As I pulled into London and looked out the windows, I wondered what I was going to do for the 45 minutes or so till the next train. I wandered out into the dark to a small shop to get something to eat and then I made my way back to the station figuring I would be waiting alone outside the station for the next 20 minutes.
As I approached I noticed two of my friends sitting on a bench. I was so surprised and quite relieved to see them, but once inside the station there were at least 20 other Rugbeians, It felt like I was about to catch the Hogwarts express and so with that thought in my mind I made the last hour of my journey in a cheery mood!
 I`m afraid I am going to talk about chapel again but this time on a more palatable note! The Chaplain, although much loved is not as appreciated as he deserves, his wit and divine positivity towards life, at the risk of being sacrilegious, is truly impressive. Every chapel, no matter what side of the bed I get up from, he never fails to make me laugh or smile. This morning it wasn't him but an elderly bishop highly recommended by him who claimed that people who met him usually started with, "I thought you were dead"! I don't need tell you I was laughing like a drain yet everyone around me, although their expressions had changed, it wasn't amusement,  more confusion as to why I was laughing so much!

Sunday 21st September 2014

This week has been fairly uneventful, I’ve had the usual steady flow of lessons scattered with my free periods. On Tuesday there was “Blue Note” which is when members of the upper school get together and listen to anyone who wants to perform a musical act. There is also pizza and beer so, how could you say no? As always there was a wide variety of acts, ranging from a couple of jokers singing their hearts out to the rug rats theme tune to some actual spine tingling acts. 
                       It is clear now that summer has ended and winter is fast approaching.  This week the weather has begun to change, we had the first bit of rain for at least a week and this morning when I got out for chapel it was positively cold. This sudden change in weather seems to have hit everyone’s immune systems pretty hard as I tried to control my sneezes on the way to chapel to prevent everyone looking around! But I need not have worried as it was all I could do to hear the preacher through all the  coughing and snivelling resounding from all corners of the building.