Bah! (Christmas is coming!)

One thing that is really starting to annoy me is Christmas. Not the festive season, but the fact that everyone seems to be celebrating it early. A house on my paper round have already put up the Christmas lights, and although the house looks really pretty covered in fibre optics and fairy lights, with santas falling down the chimney e.t.c it is ONLY NOVEMBER.
To me, ‘Christmas’ is Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The roots of the festive season are from the Christian beliefs, as Christmas is a Christian festival. We count down the days till Christmas using Advent Calendars (hence the name), and Advent is a time when Christians prepare for the coming of Christ. (At Holy Trinity, one way people are invited to do this is to sign up the Christmas figures journey, which is where Mary and Joseph figures e.t.c come to the persons house for a set time. This person then takes the figures to the next person and so on, until the last person takes them to the church for the Christmas services). Christmas is the time that Jesus was born, which is why most primary schools get the reception class to re-enact the nativity play for the millionth time, and everyone starts wearing teacloths on their head to represent the 3 wise men. At Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, but our ‘new’ Christmases are not reflecting this anymore. People are getting so carried away with presents and lights that they are forgetting the true meaning of the festival, and the significance of it.
One major part of the new Christmas is presents. Parents, relatives and doting aunties and uncles spend loads getting their spoilt brats Christmas presents, such as expensive TVs, Hi-fis, mobiles, game boys e.t.c. and even PS2s and other expensive game consoles. To most children, Christmas is about getting presents, but the tradition of giving presents relates back to the Christian beliefs. The presents we give each other are supposed to represent God’s present to us – Jesus, his son. Most children do not know this, or fail to recognise the symbolism, which means that more and more generations are getting dragged down the lane of forgetting, and remodelling the old traditions.
The shops are already advertising Christmas sales, printing loads of Christmas catalogues, all aimed at teens and kids who want the new Robosapien or a digital dodah under the Christmas tree. The garden centres/DIY stores are busy flogging Christmas trees to every Tom Dick and Harry, by reducing them by up to 20% and the shops themselves are already full of lights/wreaths and Christmas decorations. May I remind people that it is ONLY NOVEMBER. As I was saying at the start of this nitpick, I said that one house had already put up the Christmas lights. I spotted another house with a fully decorated Christmas tree in the window. It is ONLY NOVEMBER.
In the church calendar, the Christmas season begins when we get the yellow service cards out, i.e. at the start of Advent. Advent starts at the beginning of December, so it is not Christmas yet. In the old days, the Christmas tree was put up on Christmas Eve, (that was what Christmas Eve was for) and everyone helped to decorate the tree, put up decorations and stick numerous bits of paper together to make paper chains. In our house, the tree usually goes up about 2 or 3 weeks before Christmas day. In the old days, the pressies were put under the tree on Christmas Eve, and you opened them on Christmas Day. Now, the pressies can be under the tree from when ever you put the tree up, which is fine because most trees have a lot more presents than what they used to have under them.
However, I see no reason for us to start celebrating Christmas in November, because the festive season hasn’t started yet. According to A, B-wise has been playing Christmas music at the customers since September, which is ridiculous, and already the shops and supermarkets have put up the tinsel and the ridiculous red hanging things in Sainsburys. My friend’s mum has already done all her Christmas shopping. This can’t be right. I don’t leave my Christmas shopping to the last minute, but I normally do it closer to the time. Surely the fun goes if you do it so early?

Exams, Results, Mocks e.t.c (News Update)

Ok, so I was sitting in a IT lesson, and I had nothing to do because Bobby, the teacher hadn't marked our exam papers yet. Apparently, he went out bowling with his sons for his birthday, and hasn't had time to mark our papers yet. I basically was playing games all lesson, as I had nothing else to do. I then decided to type a post out for my blog, and I had started it. I then went back to playing games, and I completely forgot about my blog entry, so when Bobby closed down everyone's pcs, I lost the entry. So, here I am typing up what I had put, although it is now in the past tense.
I have started to get my mock results back. Mocks are the reason why I haven't been posting for the last 1 and a half weeks as I have been revising **ahum yes revising** so now I am making up for it. Anyway, back to the results. I have so far got my English Paper 1, my Food, and my Maths Paper 1 results back. I have passed all of them so far, which is pleasing. Food has been the best so far, as I got an A/A* with 81%. In Maths I got 51%, giving me a B. I am pleased with this, becuase I passed my Maths Mock, (only paper 1 though) which is very amazing. English, although I passed I was a little disapointed with, as I lost lots of marks in the Reading section. I got 13 out of 27, which is crap for my standards, but thats life. The writing section was much better though, surprisingly, as this is what I am really good at. Overall, (for Paper 1) I scored a B, which is OK. I would have liked an A, but never mind. There is still Paper 2 to go though, so I may score an A for both papers, which is what I am aiming for. I will probably post more mock results when I get them, and when I get the time to post them as well. Now, I have to go Home.

Great News: Im Back

Mocks are over, and I have decided to post again.

Im Back

News Update!

Hello again. You can probably tell that I am back at school, seen as I am posting again. I do have an internet connection at home, but i don't use it very often.

Over the half term, I have been bogged down in coursework, homework, revision and general school stuff, which has been fun. Allthough I did a lot, I haven't got very much done if you know what I mean. However, I have found the CBD of Stroud, broken it down into the Core and the Frame, done my physices homework, not learnt one french oral and a whole heep of wuestions, revised a tiddly bit for bio, phys, psy, and chem, played lots of games of minesweeper (yet i still can't beat the last level) and gone bowling three times.
I have not had time to type up any blog entries, although I was planning to, I have only written two poems this half term, I ahve not completed roller coaster tycoon two yet, and to tell the truth, i am only a bit glad to be back at school. I have mocks in a week and a couple of days, I have got my exam timetable, and i really need to start revising. I have not had time to whatch a single dvd, I have listened to most of my albums, my website still ahsn't been updated, and I am running short on things to put into these really random sentance stuctures. I am currently sitting in the school libary, staring at these nice looking new pcs that are actually really horrible, as they give me eye ache, although tehy do look good. Flatscreens indeed. I really dpon't like the purple tint it gives the windows, but never mind. Thats about all for now, apart from me to remind you to keep commenting, keep checking back for more about my very interesting life, and to thank the new posters for sharing theior thoughts with those who have internet access. Thank you.