#I MISS FEBRUARY ND I MISS SCHOOL A LITTLE BIT MOSTLY I JUST MISS MY FRIENDS EVEN THO I LIKE DONT HAVE THAT MANY

[drella]

WAAAAA I MISS LISTENING TO MIKE KROL FOR THE FIRST TIME ND BEING OBSESSED W CHRIS BURDENS ART WTF

[thesuitelife547]

“I’m sorry to the fans of B1A4” CNU’s Last Interview Before Enlisting [ARTICLE TRANS]

This is a re-post from something I previously had on my tumblr. This is just the translation of the questions and answers. I don’t have the link to the original article yet with the pictures. I have obtained the original articles! Thanks to Shimybana04 on Twitter!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Thanks!

- Marisa

[t/n: I just combined the 3 parts of the questions. The introduction parts were all basically the same]

Last year, idol group B1A4 went through a big change. Members Jinyoung (28, Jung Jinyoung) and Baro (27, Cha Sunwoo) left WM Entertainment after their contracts expired leaving CNU (28, Shin Dongwoo), Sandeul (27, Lee Junghwan), and Gongchan (26, Gong Chanshik) to be arranged into a 3-membered group.

 Although it was a path chosen in order for them to develop themselves, but when seen from the viewpoint of the fans that have been cheering for them, there are many regrets. The members cannot ignore these types of feelings the fans have. And at their first fanmeeting as a 3-membered B1A4, held last month on the 5th, CNU stated, while crying, “I can’t repay what is owed to the heart even if I try to repay it for the rest of my life.” With a sorrowful heart, he was apologetic for being unable to keep B1A4 as 5 members as the oldest.

 After the fanmeeting, CNU is enlisted in the military last month on the 22nd. He is the first B1A4 member fulfilling his duty and was preparing for the second stage of his life. Before his enlistment, Star News met with CNU for a ‘Let’s Have A Meal’ interview. It would be his last for the fans before the enlistment. We met CNU at in Seoul at a Korean-style full course meal restaurant as he felt grateful and apologetic towards fans as he thought about having to leave for a little.

 How are you feeling right before you enlist in the army?

It feels surreal, a little complicated. There are times when I feel empty, uneasy, and even liberated. Of course I have to go, but as it gets closer, there are various types of overlapping emotions.

 Is it a bit burdensome since you’re going later? [t/n: as in age wise]

Haha. Going late isn’t something to be proud of. As an artist, I have activities and unavoidable situations therefore rather than being burdened, I’m worried about the members. My biggest worry is about leaving the younger ones behind.

 What kinds of things did you talk with the members about?

It’s more like we don’t really talk about the big thing. Haha. Still, they decided that they’d go with me the day that I do enlist.

 When you look at the other celebrities that went to the army, there’s always talk about how they really miss girl groups. CNU-ssi, what girl group do you think you’ll miss the most?

Um…I’ll go with being a fan of Oh My Girl. I should take care of our kids. Haha. They’re popular in military units. Nowadays they’re becoming more popular and they’re also my company juniors. It’d be nice if they could visit, if possible…haha. But since I think that could possibly put pressure on them, I want to tell them that I understand if they can’t come.

How do you spend your time?

I’ve been busy recently and I think I’ll continue to be up until the day before I enlist. It was eventful for us last year, too. I was in a drama and more recently we were preparing for our fanmeeting. There is a fanmeeting in Japan scheduled for February, but I can’t attend because I’ll be in the army. We were preparing for various things. Since there was a little bit of a change to B1A4, we were preparing a lot of things in order to show fans a good image of us. We were seriously planning a lot of things.

 Can you tell us about what you had planned?

There was the fanmeeting. I also thought that it’d be good if B1A4 were able to quickly put out an album. It’s been such a long time since we released an album. I’m really sorry to the fans for undergoing this change. I thought that quickly releasing an album would be a way to ask for a little forgiveness from the fans. I wanted to have an album, fanmeet, and even a concert.

A little while ago you held a fanmeeting as a 3-membered group. I figure that it would feel differently. You even shed a lot of tears…

Rather than it being anyone’s fault that B1A4 is in a situation where we have to continue as a 3-membered group, I think everyone shares responsibility. I think we should live while being apologetic to the fans. The 5 members are the ones directly in B1A4, but B1A4 isn’t just ours. There is the company that made us and also the fans. For someone out there, B1A4 being in their life could be everything to them and there could also be people who feel like we’re the ones who give them energy…I feel like we committed a great sin to those people. It’s not like I want to find out who did what, I’m just very sorry about this situation and I think I cried a lot.

 I think those feelings would be bigger since you’re the eldest.

That’s right. There’s a sense of regret to it, like ‘If I had done a better job, wouldn’t it have been a better situation?’ I feel sorry towards the fans and the members. The fans who had come to the fanmeeting told me a lot of things like, “It’s not your fault, don’t feel sorry,” but I think I’ll have this apologetic heart for the rest of my life. I think I should have it for the rest of my life. Because we made a crack in their memories of us, I think I should pay it back in the future.

Your first activity after your contract renewal with WM Entertainment was a drama. You challenged your first project, SBS drama Miss Ma: Goddess of Revenge. How was it? [t/n: they wrote more like how Miss Ma is his first like drama role. He was in a previous drama, but that was a daily drama and is considered to be in a different category]

Just acting on TV is such a great opportunity for me. It’s a project that I’m very thankful for. The fans have also seemed to have wanted me to be in a drama. I’m really happy that I was able to have an opportunity to try it out. I was able to work with mostly everyone besides the children actors, so I was able to really learn a lot. I think that this project was able to lay the foundation for future growth.

 In the past you’ve done a lot of musical activities before, is there a difference between that and acting?

There’s a difference either way. Some of the continuing habits that I have from musicals sometimes appeared when I was acting for TV. There were times when my seniors gave me advice on some of the technical stuff, like telling me to calm down my tone. And because Sung Jiru-sunbae and I were together a lot, he taught me a lot about the type of attitude that an actor should have and the type of skills while at the filming site. It’s a project where I really learned a lot.

How was your chemistry with your senior actors?

Kim Yoonjin-sunbae really looked upon me favorably. I’m really thankful. Because she hadn’t seen me as actor CNU before, I think she worried about how I would act. After the script reading, we went out for a company dinner and while we were there, she spoke to me first saying, “Your speaking and breathing are good, it’s clear that you’ve prepared a lot for this. I’m very grateful.”

 I was even more touched because such a big senior had said that to me. She also taught me a lot about acting while we were on site. She acknowledged and liked me as a singer and has also monitored and listened to the songs that I have written. It was such a big opportunity for me to be able to share those things with my senior. There could be a prejudice by other actors for being an idol turned actor, but I’ve been acknowledged as an actor and singer. I’m very thankful.

You had a love line with Go Sunghee.

There’s only a one-year age difference between Sunghee-noona and I, but I think dropping the age difference between us made the love line more comfortable. She treated me very well. I’m thankful. It is a love line but it’s a bit of a disappointment that we hadn’t held hands or hugged. Haha. We said that we should do another project together. It was fun acting together because she has such an easy-going personality.

 You and Bae Dohwan, who was also in drama, played a cop. Did you guys have any preparation beforehand?

One of my friends from high school is a real cop. As soon as I was casted I had called that friend and asked him detailed things like, “How do you salute?” or “Can you take off your hat when you’re in the station?” I think I was able to get information rather easily because of my real-life cop friend.

Together with Sandeul and Gongchan, after the contract renewal, I think that you guys would have become stronger together.

I think that it has. I have certainly become more concerned about things that I wasn’t concerned about before and as the eldest, I feel like there are more things I have to take responsibility for. We also see each other and contact each other more.

 I’m curious about your reasons for renewing your contract.

From the very beginning I had no desire to leave. Of course there’d be complaints and misunderstandings since we were in this company for so long; however, no matter how I saw it, they grew us and it was because of this company that I was able to debut, so my feelings about renewing my contract grew. Even though I can’t promise to stay with them for the rest of my life, at least for this time I had wanted to renew my contract and stay together.

 I don’t think the 5 of us thought the same thing. Although it’s something that the company knows now, at the time of our contract renewal, it wasn’t like I didn’t meet with other companies. There were good offers from many good companies, but in the end, I believe that it is with this company that I’m able to securely do the things that make my heart comfortable to my fullest extent. Sandeul and Gongchan also had that kind of mindset.

When you go to the army, who will you think about the most?

The fans is first place. I believe I’ll think about the fans the most. While I should also think about my family, friends, and members, of course, I think I’ll miss the fans the most. Even at our recent fanmeeting, seeing all of the fans gathered together and holding signs to cheer for us I thought, “There’s no greater blessing than this for me.” I don’t think I should ever forget about my gratitude for the fans.

 What are your plans after you get discharged?

I feel like my time spent in the military is the second part of my life, it feels like I’m starting the turning point. Thus far in order for B1A4’s activities to go further, I feel like we have gotten onto the footholds and once I’m discharged from the army, I think we’d be able to fly and run stronger. I’ll also run step by step towards the planned things that I wasn’t able to do before enlisting in the army. I have a lot of debt for the fans’ hearts, so I have to pay it back, even if it’s just a little.

 I want to release an album as soon as I’m discharged. So far there are about 8-9 songs that I have written. Sandeul also has written about 3-4. We have been worried about what direction our music should go in as we continue as a 3-membered B1A4. The songs that I have written while worrying about that is enough to fill a regular album. I think quickly finishing and releasing a B1A4 album after I’m discharged is my goal. I think with the first step being music, I’ll be able to let go of this apologetic feeling that I have towards the fans.

[too-many-baes]

Holy; Chapter I

You make it seem that you feel whole,

So they don’t know, you’re a poor unfortunate soul

-

You say that I’ve got it all wrong

‘Cause you just know I’m a poor unfortunate soul

- Holy by PVRIS

*****

Pairing: Erik Lensherr x fem!reader x Charles Xavier

Warning(s): N/A

Word Count: 1.5K

Summary: A flashback to a meeting. A reconnecting of old friends.

A/N: This is the first series that I am posting here and I’m a little nervous to see how my baby goes, but here goes nothin’!

                                                     ***********

5th August, 1951 Notting Hill, London England

You stood outside the little brick and mortar tavern marvelling at its design. There was nothing particularly spectacular about the building and all the other passer-by’s agreed, walking by without another look.

The old sign that read Anchored Twine that once appeared to have been green and silver had all but lost its colour, hanging on by only one of its chains. The solitary park bench that sat outside was missing a slat and covered in blue and yellow graffiti.

Yes, to everyone else the place was run down and due for remodelling. You couldn’t find a conceivable way to view it as such, struggling to imagine replacing a brick of its structure. It was so quaint, so authentic, so… British. You simply didn’t see little hole in the wall places like this back in America that’s for sure. You wanted nothing more than to go in and order a bitter ale (never usually your drink of choice but one you knew was popular here) but the loud sound of clinking glasses and boisterous hearty laughs reminded you that you couldn’t. It’s simply not safe to go into a place like that as an unaccompanied bachelorette.

You tried to not let your disappointment linger as you crossed the road into a small park, deciding to give your feet a rest after a long day of exploring, on a bench which was in much better shape than the one situated outside Anchored Twine. You closed your eyes, leaning your head on the wood so the sun shining through the branches could warm your face. You know that it’s the exact same sun that bears down its rays in Chicago, but you can’t help but think this one over London feels different. Cosier somehow, less aggressive.

You open your eyes with a sigh, taking in your surroundings. It was a small almost completely vacant park. It had smatterings of trees and shrubs, with an open area behind you where two young boys were situated kicking a soccer ball back and forth. When your eyes continued their scan of the area was when you noticed him.

Just a ways down the path on a separate bench on the opposite side of the path sat a man you guessed to be about your age. He appeared tall, with an above average build, short brown hair and a vacant, faraway stare. His eyes were pointing in the direction of the children playing yet somehow you knew he was staring through them rather than at them. Your gaze lingered on his face until he sensed your eyes on him and he turned to meet your glance. He seemed lonely. You supposed you did too as you were also alone, but his loneliness extended beyond his lack of company. It was something in his eyes, or maybe it was the way his lips were set in a firm line as if it had been an age since a smile had graced them, or perhaps it was the premature lines etched into his forehead that told of constant worry. You gave him a small smile, a gesture that was not reciprocated, instead causing him to return his vacant eyes forwards.

You sighed and picked yourself up from the seat and began down the block to the motel you were staying, trying and failing to rid the lonesome man from your thoughts.

22nd February, 1968 Westchester County, New York America

You hop out of the taxi, paying your fare with your worn leather suitcase held firmly in hand. As the taxi pulls away you look down the dirt road to the stately mansion ahead, its once white bricks and large green expanse spread out in front of you. You smile as you head towards the front door, recalling fond memories spent within the grand design. Many students meander around in groups or solo. Some lay in the sun, others gossip while others stand practising their mutations with peers.

“Y/N?” Casting your eyes to your right you are greeted by a smiling glasses clad face.

“Hank.” You greet each other by meeting in a side hug before parting. You look at his face, your smile fading as you realise a fact that should have been obvious to you. “You look different Hank, less…” “Blue?” He finishes the sentence you were struggling to word delicately for you. You chuckle along with him.

“I made a serum, it suppresses my mutation if I take it every day.” He smiles at his explanation and you offer him a weak one in return. You can’t help but find sadness in his words. You can’t imagine what it must be like to want to take something every day to block out your identity. That’s just you though, and you know you’ll never truly understand his position. You are no mutant after all.

Hank leads you inside the halls of the institution. You’d forgotten what the school looked like on the weekend and the buzz of students brought a grin to your face. “It’s just like I remember it.” You spoke mostly to yourself, although Hank heard you.

“Well hopefully a little bit bigger. We’ve almost doubled in students since you were last here.” He states proudly as he leads you up the grand stairway and down the hall to your favourite room in the mansion.

“I take it he’s in his office?” You ask teasingly, addressing the fact he had brought you there without you saying anything. He smiles at you. “I assumed that’s why you were here.” You nod in confirmation. “You sure part of your mutation isn’t mind reading?” you quip.

“I don’t think you need to read minds to know that.” Hank says as he knocks on the professor’s door. A soft call to come in sounds and Hank opens it and leads you in. “Someone’s here to see you.” Charles’ face is fixed on the papers on his desk and his attention doesn’t shift.

“Could you ask them to come back? I don’t have a lot of time at the moment.”

“Not even for an old friend?”

Your voice makes his eyes snap up and as soon as they meet yours his lips, previously set in a line, spreads across his face. “Y/N.” He speaks breathily. “Hi Charles.” His smile was infectious as you found your lips had mirrored his. Hank excuses himself saying he’d leave you two to catch up, shutting the door behind him.

“Well get over here.” Charles states as he moves from behind the desk. Your smile falters when his silver chair that you had almost forgotten he needed came into your line of sight. You recover quickly enough that you hoped he didn’t notice as you walk into his open arms, crouching so you could wrap your arms around his neck.

Charles motions you to sit in the suite in the centre of the room and offers you some tea. You decline the latter but sit down on the chair closest to him.

“So I take it you’re not here for a social visit.” He states, motioning with his head towards your suitcase. Your smile falls as you shook your head. “I need your help Charles. It’s Eric.” His once beaming face droops at the mention of his old friend’s name. “What about Eric?” He asks, worry dripping from his voice.

“He’s losing it Charles. I think he’s trying to gather more mutants for his cause.” Charles nods solemnly. “I’m worried about him Charles. If we don’t try and stop him I don’t know what he could do.” His eyes shift to the floor allowing your words to register.

“Our friend is troubled Y/N, I knew that before I even looked into his mind.” You nod solemnly in agreeance. If anyone knew just how troubled Eric was, it was you.

“So can you help me find him?” You ask already knowing that Charles wouldn’t turn his back on his friend. He was a good man and he cared about him, no matter what. That day on the beach had proved as much to you.

“Of course Y/N.” Although you had assumed this would be his answer, his reply still fills you with relief. “We can talk about this more tomorrow. I’m sure you’ve come a long way,” he says with a grin on his way, “you could do with some rest.”

“Is my old room still free?” You ask immediately, picking up your suitcase and slightly swinging it in your hand. “I would never fill that room.” The smile he gives you is sincere and return the gesture before turning to make your way down the corridor where the room you once called home lay.

“Y/N?” You turn around to face him just as you were about to exit the room. “It’s good to see you again.” You tuck a stray lock of hair behind your ear. “You too, Professor X.” You added cheekily, his chuckle echoing in your ears as you went to settle in and prepare yourself for tomorrow.

[cheswirls]

a quick sum-up of che’s future career plans, bc reasons

im halfway through the dive!! anime show that came out this summer season, and i’m having a lot of thoughts, and plus i finished going through all the footage i missed today of skate america while i was at a bball game, and it’s made me realize different things i guess? 

it might be mid-long length so its going under a cut, but to gain intereststart off, this is all about my desire to be an athletic trainer for the usa olympic center at colorado springs, co !

ive been an at(now when you see that abb. you know what it means hah!! not assistant teacher hmm) student since my freshman year of high school, and i’ve loved it a whole bunch. back then i was set on going to columbia U for their writing program, and i wanted to major in graphic design afterwards/during/it wasnt super planned out i was a fr. i didnt know what bfa or mfa stood for yet. it wasnt until end of sophomore year than i thought about being an at for realsies.

but i also still loved gd. so there was a confliction there.

junior year i took a break from working volleyball in the fall and did my one and only year of football and it was terrible primarily bc the team i worked with didnt know how to function as a group and half the group were selfless bitch whores but like thats another storyyy, secondly bc i jus really discovered i didnt care abt football at all. it was mostly for the experience and i gained it and i liked it bc i hung out w a lot of people from helping out w varsity (i was one of two our of the five juniors that had been there since my fr year and was only on jv bc it was my first year w football, but one of the seniors had to work a bunch so when they needed an extra person i was the one w the most experience so i was w them a lot,) point was it was fun!!! and you have fun w ppl you like that you dont work w all the time and i shouldnt say fun bc lots of times it was awful,

basically! it was fun being w the varsity trainers which were the seniors and the other junior that had been around since fr year. volleyball was fun but it had always been a one-at-student-per-team sport , so it was different jus being w other ats that shared the same team and not the same sport(which in the us is made up of at least three different teams, a fr,jv,and varsity). it was a more open environment and so it inspired a lot of talk with the at grad students we had that semester (we got 3-4 every semester in a partnership w the D1 uni in town, it was always cool to hear stories from them!) and anyway i remember talking w a couple of the grads one practice and we were discussing all the different occupations athletic trainers could have, and what they wanted to work with in the future, and the topic veered towards professional sports and the olympics.

i thought it was really cool when we were talking about it, and then we got busy and it flew out of my mind. i dont remember when it came back and became a focus, but sometime before my senior year, i had decided i wanted to work at the olympic level.

real quick i mentioned gd and the struggle, so to bring that into focus, my junior year i took a whole bunch of different tech classes (gd&i, compsci, webtech) and in one of those, i had the opportunity to go to a ... i cant remember what the term was for it, but it was kinda an event for gd students and it had a little competition and stuff, and it was really fun! nd you got a lot of info abt the community college hosting it and i learned their program was really good, so the gd versus at internal struggle continued, and i remember talking to my sponsor teacher (she actually taught all three of my tech classes that year aaa i loved her) about how i didnt know what to do and shit and i dunno what she told me but like, i think she was trying to be encouraging but she basically said it was up to me, like she didnt try and nod me into a direction, that i can recall.

so SOMEHOW bc i honestly cannot remember, by senior year i’ve decided that im gonna jus fuck it and pick BOTH and double major in gd and athletic training. AND i had it all planned out, where i was gonna get a degree in gd and open up an online business, and then go into a masters program for at and then enter into the olympic field. 

by this point creative writing is still cool and a great hobby but i couldnt possibly double major AND have a minor that’d be too much. id still love to take a cw course tho one day.

basically a buncha crazy stuff happened that first semester but by winter break i had an acceptance letter to a uni a couple hours north of home with a good accredited undergrad program (accredited basically means you graduate w a masters in four years so its fasttracked which woulda been great but uh..) and by the time i found out that next semester that they were doing away with the accredited program i was already too emotionally invested to consider panic-switching(panic bc it was february and id already been admitted hah...) but i decided it’d be okay. basically if you dont remember/werent around one of my school’s head ats died in a car crash died around early october ‘16. she went to undergrad where i go now, and i’d talked to her about it september that semester wondering if she knew anything abt their program and uh surprise, she’d done the same program small world. after the funeral in november and a ton of thought i applied there. (november was.. crazy in general last year. rly crazy)

may was when i started adding on sports to the future olympics job, bc i started thinking about it and after finally getting a friend to watch yuri on ice, he started making his was through all of sochi’s figure skating stuff, and then the 2010 vancouver olympics, and i decided i wanted to recap a bit on that too.

the 2010 olympics was really my first experience with figure skating. i’m a west texas gal and so theres not a lot out here to get exposed to, so seeing these best-of-the-best class sports was fun, and the earliest experience i can remember of such. i was in fifth grade so i dont remember a ton, but i do remember being captivated by korea’s yuna kim, who won gold that year in fs. shes an fs legend at this point, so if you’re into figure skating and don’t know who she is, go look her up. you wont be disappointed.

in 2012 was the london olympics. i remember a lot from it, like watching the opening ceremony with my parents and seeing the queen jump out of a helicoptor(which is like,, still cool to this day wow) and being fascinated my michael phelps and all the swimming he did so grandly. it was also my first real exposure to diving. the oldest i could recall anything abt the sport was at a pizza hut somewhere.. in town i think, and i was w my best friend at the time and my mom was there so i think maybe we were on the way back from the lake??? sounds right, i think. and we were talking abt how i always held my nose when i went underwater bc i didnt know how to not get water all up my nostrils and be underwter(and i still dont to this day aha) and she mentioned like, joining a diving team would be cool! would help me get over it and all! and i like recalling it dunno what she was talking abt bc we lived in dirt city nothing so i highly doubt there was or is any sort of diving sport happening. swimming, yeah maybe, there were lessons at pools and bodyworks areas around town, competitive teams im not sure tho, but not diving like at all so??? dunno.

so my next and technically first real experience with it was watching the london olympics. and i thought, wow, this is so neat!! i watched from that one day like the opening events, and i think i was old enough to search online like yea i had a laptop by then so i looked up the schedule for the things i wanted to see most of, and i ended up watching i think most of the diving events (i missed a couple for.. archery, i think? maybe?) and absolutely loving it. iunno what it was, maybe something i never thought i could do?(bc not hold my nose?? while i dove???????? scaryy) but i enjoyed it a bunch.

i was older when sochi was a thing, my 8th grade year. i was able to appreciate things a lot more. when i tuned into events, tony hawk and snowboarding were the main focus, but figure skating was on a lot as well. i had a tv in my room by that point, so if i didnt like what was playing on the main tv, i could go watch another event. i learned a lot of names and faces through that, and so while my bff was watching it our senior year if i was with him id point out skaters and their nationalities and stuff, like yuzuru hanyus always been a modern day household name w figure skating, but i leanred abt him BECAUSE of the sochi olympics, and he was one of the ones i’ve never forgotten. i really really liked it, so much that i watched worlds after, and around the same time my fr year, i tuned in to just the worlds championship again. i didn’t pick up trying to watch grand prix(which is their regular season, for those unaware) season until my junior year, and most of it was day-or-two-late videos from youtube, since the ice channel i think it a paid-for thing (i still dont know much abt it hah) and nothing was on tv otherwise, aside from the skate america event. but since that first time after sochi, ive always been around watching worlds fs near the beg of each year. i’d familiarized myself by senior year with the fs world, and actually,

early (i think march?) of my junior year, i searched up trying to find a figure skating anime at the time. and what did i find?? ginban, the only figure skating anime at the time. i watched like maybe all of one episode, it was abt a girl who shared her body w the ghost of a former figure skater while she was competing in events, and it was.. okay? lackluster, in the animation dept, but it was a 2005 show so.. yeah.

so after that i was like kk that wasnt good lets find another. and i didnt. not yet, anyway. instead, i found an announcement for violet evergarden’s animated adaptation, and yuri on ice, a realistic adaptation of the sport of figure skating. thats bolded bc its important. i found that shit abt yoi before it even had a promo poster, certainly before the pv came around that got everyone hyped up. i found it bc i was looking for figure skating in the first place. in fact, i think when the pv came out and got popular, i didnt even relate it to the upcoming fs anime i’d read about previously. it took me a bit to connect the dots. 

watching yuri on ice at the same time as the gp 2016 season was surreal, but really interesting. i got my bff into it before the second to last episode came out, and i only remember that bc he finally showed any interest when he found something on twitter abt it being gay (newsflash/// hes gay, and before yoi his fav show was no6 bc that was as close as it got. he still rly likes it, we both do, but his solid favc is now definitely yoi. representation matters and all) and was like well now i HAVE to watch it and i was all yes it ends soon so pls. and he watched it twice in a weekend, and thrice before the finale came out, and then a few more times after that, iunno how many times but certainly more thn i have(i went back after the .. maybe ep 10? w/e ending had the after party reveal that changed everything, so i went back to analyze everything before the next ep) and between the week of 11 and finale 12, he started watching the sochi fs competition, and then the 2010 after the show ended w ep 12. 

seeing this great fs show and getting a friend into the world of figure skating really renewed my love for it all. before the semester went out i went back and watched the reruns of the sochi fs stuff. and by may i’d decided i wanted to cosider that to be the sport i worked with.

with diving, it took a similar twist. in the form of the rio 16 olympics. i was all over that shit, i downloaded an nbc app on my phone so i could watch events live while i traveled with volleyball to a tournament in dallas and while i was at practice w them at home and generally jus away from the house and a tv. i planned that shit out had a schedule and everything for what i was watching live, and a lot of it was swimming, but a whoooole lot of live stuff was the diving. 

in the hotel room in dallas the tv would always be on to w/e olympics events were airing at the time, either track or diving tho, one or the other, or recaps. quite a few girls ended up in the room in the evening and we’d all do stuff and watch in passing at the same time, and it was suuuuuper fun. watching the chinese women perform flawlessly and walk away w all the gold was fun, but finding a good commentator to actually say such was a disheartening challenge( one of the most memorable moments w live commentary that year was hearing a woman say of one of the chinese ladies that she’d done better before, after they revealed her personal best score ever like rly cmon be unbiased and jus passionate abt the sport youre covering pls.

ive always been super fond of the diving scene. it may not be as much as fs, but honestly, i wish i grew up in an area w a diving team now, or wish i could try it out now, bc thats how much fun it seems. i still wanna go up to the big city like 30min away from uni and learn to ice skate in the civic center there, but hands down if i had to pick a sport to join tomorrow or die i’d pick diving. 

so also by may, and throughout the culmination of senior year, diving was the second sport on the olympic to-train-for list. you get a five-year contract w the olympics, now i think it’s usa as a whole and i think its by center so say, if i get a job in colorado springs i cant apply in another five years to chula vista or even like lake placid, but iunno for sure. the five-year thing is involved somehow bc i’ve heard it from a physical therapist and trainer-that-works-in-a-sports-med-clinic duo in one body named sarah, who’s been contracted out from the clinic by my high school since junior year also, bc she knows people who’ve worked w the olympics, and then another from church that worked w olympics that knows my family uh iunno how well but i know of him, i think he also works in the clinic as some sort of on-hand surgeon but a diff person than who sarah knew. so its five years somehow and then i’ll take my bfa in gd and open my online business and do that from a studio at home and look after my owl/cat pet combo.

since may, it had been ‘olympics, with either figure skating or diving’. and it stayed that for a long time. now, since a couple weeks ago, and this is again while gp season is happening for fs, its diving. i wanna work w the usa olympic diving team as their team athletic trainer, and i cant do it this summer bc i have to have completed two years of uni, instead of a certain standing, like be a junior, but so NEXT summer, before my senior year of uni, (i came in a sopho so 6 sem only ah) i’m applying for an internship at the center in colorado springs, and that’s the team i hope i work with. 

now i tell people, diving, but if i get offered figure skating, i’ll take it, but diving is the goal now. if i love it and wanna continue professionally, great, i can do that and have an online gd shop. and if i decide i want something different? i’ll work olympics and then join w a professional-level figure skating i actually dunno how it works. coach, and their skater in turn. coach, with multiple skaters under them. a culmination of diff usa skaters. w/e, something in the professional fs world.

and thats uh, thats it! dive has been so much fun to watch, and i realize i talk a lot on here about working w basketball and being an at student in general and the vast majority have no idea what i mean, so hopefully this clarifies. thank you!!

[thebestpirate]

The Longest Sail EVER (Uruguay to Cape Town)

On January 13th, 2017, the Gulden Leeuw left for a grand adventure of our 34-day sail. The thought of starting this voyage scared me half to death because I am the biggest family’s girl you’ll ever meet. My family is full of my best friends and I didn’t want to leave them for a month. However, with the help of my newly found family on the ship, I learned that even a 34-day sail can be full of fun and adventure. Moving back on the ship was surprisingly very easy. I thought it would be a stressful process, but it took maybe an hour. Also, the boys and girls got to switch sides in the dorms, which means we get the better air conditioned side! I can use my blankets every night… I bet the boys can too because the South Atlantic is SO COLD, but still… It’s such a nice feeling. Also, last semester, my bed was one of the closest to the ceiling. When I raised my elbow, it would hit the ceiling, so there was NO WAY I’d possibly ever be able to sit up and most nights I’d hit my head on the ceiling. But no longer do I suffer with a tiny sleeping area. My bunk this semester is still a top bunk, but the ceiling is higher and I can actually move as I please. It’s heaven.

We met our new maritime crew the day we came back to the ship on the 10th of January. They’re a group of amazing people and so many of them are from the States. I haven’t been around so many Americans in a very long time. I very much enjoy being around people from all over the world (it’s probably the coolest thing about CAF), but it was cool to meet people who live closer to me than others.

Our watch groups were changed this semester and man do I love Watch 6. Svea, Elizabeth, Haylee, Brody, and Klaus are some of the best people to hang out with on watch at 4 to 6 in the morning.

On the 18th of January, I was writing in my journal saying “…we’re on our way to Tristan! I really hope we get…” And I just stopped writing because I then wrote, “AAAAND I totally lost my train of thought because there were a bunch of pilot whales SO close to the ship.” That’s the cool thing about Class Afloat. You’re excused from class when there are whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, etc. It’s a crazy thing to think about and I can’t imagine what living on land is going to be like after experiencing this. Anyways, what I was going to say in my journal was I really hope we get to make it to Tristan Da Cuhna. (Spoiler alert… We made it to Tristan! But I’ll talk about that in a bit.)

On Jan. 21st, a bunch of us were watching High School Musical 2 and you better believe we sang our hearts out. I’ve never met a group of people who understand my love for HSM. Watching the second movie brought me back to when we were in UNEDCO in Spain and we watched the 1st movie in the building we had our classes in. It’s crazy to think that we had a month off the ship and now it’s been a month at sea (with a short stop in Tristan). Before watching HSM2, it’s Megan’s clumsy story of the day… I had just gotten out of galley and I was taking the massive container of rags to the laundry room to start cleaning them. I was walking and the second I stepped on the tile floor, which was super slippery that day, my right foot slipped right across my left leg and I tripped myself. I landed ONLY on my right knee with not only my own weight, but with this darn container of rags. It hurt SO bad, but I ignored it while watching HSM2 because that felt more important at the time. The next day I realized I couldn’t bend my leg… Whoops. I went (limped) to the Medical Officer, Chris, and he put me on the “less physical work board” because walking was a struggle for a solid 48 hours. It took longer than that for the swelling to go down, but I could walk like a semi-normal person after the 1st 2 days. For the time I was crippled, I was walking like a had a peg leg. It was kind of funny, but extremely painful.

The next day (the 22nd), there was an all hands call for a job on deck and, even though I was still injured, I just did an easy job. But… It happened to be Sunday Dinner that day and we were all dressed nice. My skirt was NOT happy in the strong wind outside. It takes skill to haul on a line and hold down your skirt at the same time, but the girls managed it really well so props to us.

On the 24th, we saw at least 4 sperm whales. They were beautiful (and insanely close to the ship). Seeing marine mammals never gets old. Later that day, there was an announcement over the loud speaker that simply said, “big whale on starboard side.” I had been having a rough couple of days in terms of mental health so it’s things like that that make me cheer up a bit. I hadn’t gotten out of bed that quickly in a whiiiile. Also, don’t worry family… I get a little down every now and then because I get impatient waiting to talk to you guys. I cheer up when crazy stuff happens, but sometimes you just want to call your family. The Southern Atlantic, however, does not have cell service. I also found out that morning that I got accepted as a Teacher’s Apprentice for the Anthropology 12 class. Everyone can apply to whatever they want to be on the ship as an apprentice and I knew being a teacher’s apprentice would be more my speed compared to something maritime related. I’m so proud of my work for Anthro!

JANUARY 27TH! My 19th birthday! I am now a 19-year-old and it happened on a ship in the middle of the Southern Atlantic Ocean. How cool is that?! Lindsey, I’m definitely not 8 anymore. In fact, I’m now DOUBLE that. I know, it’s crazy to think about. I got bucketed like what normally happens on peoples’ birthdays and oh my gosh it was cold. I have a video of it because I didn’t want to get bucketed with cold water and not be able to make fun of myself later on.

Time to talk about TRISTAN. Some sailor’s only dream of making it to Tristan because sometimes the wind/weather doesn’t let you anchor outside of their small, isolated home. But we made it! With a lot of hard work, we got to anchor outside of Tristan on the 29th of January, which was earlier than expected, but that’s the window of good weather we had and this crew made it happen. I went aloft (to just below the lower topsail) with John, Kyle, and Liz. I was a little scared, but the waters were calm and we were anchored so I felt confident enough to make it up there. The view of Tristan was breathtaking. We actually went onto Tristan on the 30th and I saw a ROCKHOPPER PENGUIN the second I stepped onto the island. I was in love. I sent some post cards to my family that I hope make it there soon. We visited the school that very few kids attend (considering there’s only about 280 people on the whole island). We got the chance to play ACTUAL BASKETBALL with a few of the kids and I didn’t realize how much I missed throwing things and running around, two things that are prohibited on the ship. We got the chance to climb the volcano that erupted in 1961 and I got some BEAUTIFUL pictures. We only had one afternoon on Tristan so it was over way too quickly, sadly. We made our way back to the ship on the dinghy and set sail the next day on the 31st.

In the beginning of February, I began to prepare my lesson for the Anthropology lesson I would be teaching regarding Sex and Gender. Being the teacher’s apprentice for Anthropology has been a blast and when the time came to teach my 55-minute lesson, I felt 100% prepared. It went extremely well because not only did I work hard on the presentation, but sex and gender is a topic I know a lot about (self-taught because little Megan and current Megan are constantly curious about how that stuff works). Everyone told me that I did a good job and they feel like they learned a lot about sexual orientations, romantic orientations, and gender versus sex.

On board, mostly throughout this long sail, a game known as Jungle Speed has been spreading like wildfire. It’s a hit amongst individuals on the ship who have to get some pent-up energy out. It’s a game that involves a lot of yelling. We’ve actually drawn blood playing this game because it’s so intense when you have to be the first to grab something. It’s harder to explain through text, but consider playing it one day. I’m for sure going to force it upon my family.

In mid-February, we had a handover day, which means the students take over the ship while the maritime crew gets the day off. They keep an eye on us just in case, but I think we were pretty successful that day and the other handovers that have happened throughout the year. Every handover day (at the time I’m writing this, we’ve only had two, but another one is coming up), we fly the huge pirate flag that we have onboard. It’s the small things that make things like this fun. Even though I wasn’t acting as a maritime crew member, because I was a teacher’s apprentice, it was still fun for me to watch my friends be captain, 1st and 2nd officer, engineer, ABs, and bosun. You get a really strong proud feeling when your student crew can take over the ship for a full 24 hours.

On February 13th, we anchored outside of Cape Town and all anyone could think of was “FINALLY!” This was a parent port so many of us had been anticipating seeing our families. I had not seen my sisters since I left in September. We had to anchor until the 16th and I was growing impatient having to wait for 3 days to see my best friends. My siblings are my best friends so seeing my sisters was a big deal. I cannot thank Chris enough for bringing them with him to Cape Town because, not only did I get to see them, they got to experience something outside of our normal life in the United States. Travelling is something I believe everyone should do and I am so glad my sisters got to go to Cape Town, one of my favorite ports.

I enjoyed our long sail, but we sometimes tend to go a little crazy waiting for land to appear on the horizon. One of the most interesting things I’ve learned is that you can smell land when you approach it after so many days at sea.

Thank you for reading this VERY LATE (sorry about that) and very long post. I’ve been putting off typing about this passage for quite some time because of the length I knew it would be, but here it is!

<3 - Megan