#i might try to study abroad in the uk because english language

[adore-gregor]

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[acquiredmen]

I was listening to the character songs again and I noticed the english in Lindo’s songs doesn’t feel out of place

And then I realized he’s canonically bilingual. He studied in the UK, his mother works as a translator.

"Can you hear the voice of love?" "My little shine" and "Trust in me, believe in me" don’t sound awkward because they follow english grammar and he doesn’t try to fit them in a japanese sentence

Rem’s "Prince of despair" "aishiteru sign" sound a little awkward because he meshes them in Japanese sentences

Lindo canonically has the language skills to compose a song in both languages. We know the show doesn’t take place in England because he specifically studies abroad

Rem would probably study a second, even third language as part of his rich human boy disguise. But he isn’t required to reach Lindo’s level because he already speaks the same language as Ritsuka

Shiki only has 'lullaby' 'cradle' and 'labyrinth', and as someone who also has english as their second language, I can vouch for the fact that they have a different vibe in english. So I understand why the character would use them. (It might also be the fact that he doesn’t try to follow English pronounciation, so they feel like words that are fully in his vocabulary. Or maybe they’re loan words idk)

I don’t speak Spanish to comment on Urie, but he feels more fond of the aesthetic than the language, given that he doesn’t have a full sentence in Kimi wa estella and only uses Amor in the anime

You think it’s just a trashy musical at first, but I’m always amazed at how much work Rejet puts into their characters

[cherry-gemz]

Healing Hands: Chapter One

Summary: You find yourself abroad in London as the Chief of Pediatrics. Everything has been running smoothly until you are faced with an undiagnosed case and the doctor assigned is anything but willing to face defeat. Will you be able treat the child's unknown disease in time, along while facing uncharted waters with love in the workplace?

Parings: Henry Cavill {Dr. Cavill} x Y/N {F!Reader}

Rating: Overall series 18+ only, Chapter is PG

Word count: 2200 +/-

Tags:  @evansamericanass @meowpurrbooks​ @lilithpaijiee @pterodactylterrace 

A/N: Trying something new at writing Henry fanfic. IDK if it’s any good, but either way wanted to start writing. LMK if you're interested, comments and tags welcomed! 💜

P.S. I am no means in any medical field or sorts, so if I get something incorrect on a term or process, bear with me xo.

----------------------------------------------------

You knew that it was a gamble moving to the UK for the Chief of Pediatrics position. But it was time for a change. You needed to leave Eugene, Oregon. Start fresh. There was too much pain there and you had to get away. So when your cousin, who was a nurse from Brighton informed you that there was a need at her hospital for the highly-visible role, you thought why the hell not? You'd score a free round-trip to England of anything and actually see some family you've never met if it didn't pan out. 

Little did you know that you'd fall in love with London: the weather, the people, the imagery of it all. Oregon weather wasn't all too different, so you acclimated well. It had been a few months of you settling in: understanding more of the language barriers despite it still being English. Knackered, cuppa, trollied. 

That is until you had a run in with the division chief of Pediatrics, Dr. Cavill. The staff adored the renowned and painstakingly handsome doctor. And while you could appreciate the view as well, you never were on the same page with his ideals. His defiant behavior of undermining your direction of the unit was becoming a thorn in your side. 

But this time, this time you'd had enough. He mentioned to a patient's parents, while with the speciality case, the hospital could take on their son's situation as priority and receive around the clock care. You threw down the patient's file on your desk and pinched the bridge of your nose. It was a lost cause, you had looked into the patient ever since you started the role.

The child seemed perfectly healthy and lab tests may show no signs of illness. But the chronic pain and fatigue were unexplainable. You empathized, but the poor child has undergone so many tests that at this point it was about providing facts to the parents. And right now, there was no cause of alarm. You weren’t a Dr. House, this wasn’t television. You didn't have the staff to dive into any research or clinical studies. You had a hospital to run, employees to pay, other lives needed saving. 

You picked up the phone to the case nurse on the pediatric floor. 

"Hello? Yes, this is Dr. Y/LN. Can you please remind Dr. Cavill of our 5pm? He's late. Thank you." 

Slowly hanging up on the phone, you turn back to the patient's file. The boy, Jon Foulger, was just shy of his ninth birthday. No positive results for Lupus or Guillain-Barré syndrome. But This case had been bothering you, poor Jon had been in the hospital for three months and still no progress on a diagnosis. While you were never known to give up on a patient, you knew giving false hope to the parents was detrimental not only to the family, but to the same of the hospital's integrity. You were in a high esteemed role now, you knew that you had to discuss further with Henry on his actions. 

Twenty more minutes passed by and you checked your watch. Fuming, you stood up from your desk and headed down to the pediatric floor by the lift. 

As you briskly walk down the hall corridors you can't wait to give Cavill a piece of your mind. You turn the corner and ram right into a brick wall, or so you thought.  Your hands instinctively pick up and see placed on the doctor's firm chest. You immediately flush and lose composure. 

You knew he was a good-looking man, but this up close and personal was a whole other level. His dark hair and curls were fluffy and good enough to touch. His piercing steel blue eyes looked at yours and made immediate contact. His bone structure made the Michaelangelo's David blush. 

"My apologies, Dr. Y/LN. Didn't see you there," his voice was like butter. 

You straightened out your white coat, "Ahem, yes. Well I seemed to have been lost in thought. My apologies as well."

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, almost an hour ago…" you shifted your weight to stand a bit taller. He towered over you with his muscular frame and height. 

"Patient...Jon Foulger. We must discuss the repercussions of your current actions."

"Jon-Jon," he replied stoic. 

"Excuse me?"

"He likes to be called Jon-Jon."

"Well yes, let's go to my office and discuss further, please Dr. Cavill."

"As you wish," he replied and pivoted his heel to the nearby lift.

The rise up to the 12th floor was a quiet one, awkward overall as you knew you had to give a coaching and hated the notion. You missed practicing medicine; while you enjoyed the administration of your position, the thrill of helping others and using your hands were erased with cases of employee performance reviews, reports, budgets. 

He coughed into his fist and then held his strong hands in place in a clasp. 

He finally broke the silence, "Enjoying London?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Have you had any time to take a holiday?"

"Um, no. Been too busy."

"It might do you some good," he replies as he looks to check his watch. 

You huff, "Somewhere you need to be, Doctor?"

"No, just checking the time."

His arrogance irritated you and now you weren't feeling as badly to give him his coaching. 

The lift opened as you arrived at the floor and he held out the door for you to exit first. You nod and walk to your office, your kitten heels clicked on the hospital's linoleum floor and the sound echoed through your ears. 

As you both enter your office you stride quickly to your desk to assume dominance of the room. 

Henry stood near the doorway, admiring your photos and certificates on the wall. 

"I knew you were American, but Stanford Medical? Interesting, thought you were from Oregon. When will you be returning?" You can't read him if that was a compliment or sarcasm. 

"Dr. Cavill, would you be so kind to shut the door," you state firmly and sit down, ignoring his comment about your return to the states.

His brow peaks and he nods, turning to close the door. 

"Please, have a seat," you say. 

"I'd rather stand, thank you," he replies and you know this is going to be a difficult conversation. 

"Well this will only take a moment then. Your recent behavior with the Foulger family, while I commend you for your dedication, has been slight askew with the hospital's protocols."

"Is that so?" His voice dropped and his brow arched. "In what way, Dr. Y/LN?"

You cough as the drawl of his mouth turns upward and you can swear there's a smug smirk across his face. 

"Well...for one...you've promised around the care of the child. Now simply put, we've exhausted all efforts for a diagnosis and until Jon...Jon-Jon…shows any new symptoms, we are at liberty to provide him comfort care for the remainder of the evening, but he will need to be discharged in the morning. We've exhausted him enough with MRIs, blood tests. I'm at a rock in a hard place, Dr. Cavill."

"The rock or the hard place where you give up on a child's well-being simply because you haven't thought to see him as a person? Rather as a number on your statistical analysis of how functioning this hospital is?"

His eyes pierce through you and make your knees grow weak. The nurse staff usually talks about him being a cuddly bear, always making the children laugh and smile. But this man before you, why he's no cuddly bear. He was a beast of a man. A grizzly in fact. 

"Now see here, I will let you know that this case is very important to me. All the children are. But what you fail to see is that for whatever reason you've gravitated to this particular case, you're chasing something that doesn't exist." 

His broad shoulders and strong neck tense at your words. He blinks methodically, as if he's scoping out his prey. No, don't let his charm and rugged good looks distract you. This is a man who is used to getting what he wants and you are a woman who knows perfectly what to do with that.

"And I believe you're blind, Doctor."

"Excuse me?" Your voice was shrill and short. "This is borderline insubordination. I'd be careful with your next words, Cavill."

"Pardon my frankness, Dr. Y/LN, but I've been here longer and know these patients in and out," his voice raised and you could see the hint of a vein showing on his thick neck. "Some of the children come from very poor and debilitating environments. We can't just cast them off once a diagnosis doesn't stick simply because we need the bed or we're done trying!"

"DR. CAVILL," you exclaim and let out an exasperated sigh. His demeanor changed and his upper lip curved slightly. 

“Dr. Y/LN. With all due respect, I think you’re making the wrong judgement call here. Things are not adding up with Jon-Jon, if we just give it a few more days...I feel like we’re making progress and I’ve labored enough research into it-”

"Again, while I appreciate your passion...”

“Passion which you need to show for the patient-”

You raise your hand to silence him, “This is not up to you, Dr. Cavill. As Chief of Pediatrics, this is my call. We will discharge Jon tomorrow if he does not show any new symptoms. If you disobey any further protocols, I will have no other choice but resort to disciplinary action. Do I make myself clear, Doctor?"

You press your hands on your desk and lean inward, portraying your stance. 

"Perfectly," he responded. 

"And another thing, I -" you start, but he turns and abruptly walks out of your office, leaving your door open. 

The nerve! Did he really just do that? Where does he think he's going? Didn't I just tell him I'd resort to disciplinary action?!

You rush out of your office and you see him striding through the hall. His strong posture, shoulders back eluded to years of boarding school perhaps or military. You noticed his fists were clenched and it gave you slight satisfaction that you chipped away ever so slightly at his ego.

It was going to take a lot more than that to send you packing, you thought. 

----------------

The next day came and went. You had confirmed that Jon-Jon was discharged with the floor nurse and while you were relieved to have handled that quite professionally, you knew it did not bear well with the rest of the staff.

You were still getting your feet wet and learning more about your team. It was solid overall, many years of expertise collectively, but they treated you like the outsider you were. No requests to meet for lunch or drinks after work. No camaraderie birthday cards seeking your signature or date night advice. Just the normal days in and out, pulling many late nights in your office, up to the point of exhaustion. You'd collapse in your double bed after work, stare at the ceiling of the small room you rented from your cousin, Laura, and try to drown out all the bustle of seven people in the same 3 bedroom flat. 

Just like any other day, You sat alone during lunch. But that never really was ever a bother being used to it now. You were excited about an audiobook you were meaning to dive into and right when you were about to use your airpods, that's when you noticed him enter the cafeteria. 

His presteen, crisp white lab coat was tight around his build. You could tell he took fitness seriously and wondered what he was hiding underneath it all. You unknowingly licked your lips as you watched him search for a fruit out of the bowl off the commons counter. Curious to know what he fancied: was he into a sweet apple or something more tart like cherries. 

He picked up a peach and squeezed it with his massive hand, making it look quite comical considering his size. His eyes met yours and you quickly looked away, trying to now draw any attention to yourself. You fumbled with your phone as you connected to the audiobook and heart his footsteps approached your empty table. 

"Good afternoon," he said. His voice was deep, smooth, and inviting. Not at all like the day before in your office. 

You play coy and don't bother to look up, fidgeting with your sandwich. 

"Hello," you reply distantly. He made you nervous. Would he bring up yesterday's conversation? Will he continue to look that delectable each day?

He smirked and took a bite of the fuzzy peach. There was a slight crunch as he dug his pearly whites into the rounded fruit. The velvet and thin layer of skin eased off and entered his mouth; he chewed slightly and let the piece swirl around with his thick tongue. 

You peered to look at him and his stare hadn't relented. He took another bite. This time the luscious juice slips out of the white-yellow fleshed fruit and down slightly on his chin. Oh, to be that piece of fruit and have him ravish you that way.  How he’d expertly use his hands over you and taste you with those lips.

He can tell you're still distant, however he notices you're unable to tear your eyes away from him. 

He walks over, closer to you now, and you can smell his cologne: a woody aromatic scent tied with a hint of suede. It's downright delicious and with the mix of the peach, your senses are in overdrive. 

What is it with this man and his ability to excite and anger you all at once? You not only want to put him into his place, you want to do so right here on the cafeteria table and have your way with him.

"Lovely day, isn't it?" He smiles devilishly and places the half eaten fruit on the table next to your phone and walks away. 

Your cringe and use all your might to not look back at him. He's going to make this very hard for you, very hard indeed. 

[prettylittlelyres]

My Year in Writing (2020)

Hello and Happy New Year! I thought it might be nice to share with you all an overview of what I've written in 2020.

First of all, let me say that I haven't written nearly as much as I wanted to, but that's OK, and it's OK if the amount you've written feels or looks pretty similar. The point is, it looks some way (I daresay pretty) because you've taken up the pen and put some words on a page.

I don't want to gloss over how bad aspects of my 2020 Writing Year have disappointed me, because that would be as silly as casting a damper on the whole thing by focusing only on the trickier bits. What I'm aiming for here is a balanced review - even if it's a rather informal one - of my achievements, and my feelings about my writing this year. In the interest of balance, let's start with something GOOD!

Right at the beginning of the year - around January - I started redrafting a rather fabulously dark fantasy romance, of which you've probably seen a little bit on this blog: Songs from the Crypt Forest, which I dropped after 9,800 words, because I wanted - and needed to work on my first dedicated book, and on my Year Abroad Research Project.

I managed to write about 17,000 words of the dedicated book in its original form before I realised that it wasn't quite working, and that I ought to try a different tack. The story I was telling there is a story I still want to tell, but I just wasn't ready to write it at the time. I'm hoping to pick it up properly in 2021.

I realised I needed to try getting back into the world I wrote in 'Violins and Violets', by writing something set around the same time and involving some of the same characters. In March, I started writing 'Book J', for which I didn’t have a proper title until I was nearly done with its first draft! I gave it the working title 'Book J', because I was writing it for my friend Jenny. By the time summer came round I had 52,000 words, and a first draft that was as complete as I think it ever will be.

Lockdown hit my life quite hard in Spring 2020, and I lost my language assistant job in France when all schools closed, and I had to come back to the UK to live out the academic year with my parents. Nevertheless I had to carry on working with my Year Abroad Research Project, Which I was able to hand in by 18th May, having squeezed all my findings into a dissertation of 6,000 words.

Now that my YARP was out of my way, and I had no more work to do for university, I started redrafting Jenny's book, now called 'Vogeltje', and cut it down to 44,000 words, which I polished until August... when I had copies printed for Jenny, so that she could read a book written especially for her. I would have given it to her in person in France, but lockdown happened, and I ended up posting her copies from one part of South England to another. A rather typical outcome for a meetup planned in 2019 for 2020, I suspect!

During lockdown, I also trained as a proof-reader and copyeditor, and did some volunteer work for a company that needed translators. Online training courses have been a godsend, and I've particularly enjoyed a novel writing course and a travel writing course that I've been following. The novel writing course has pushed me to flesh out plans for a number of books, including more detailed and cohesive outlines for 'Songs from the Crypt Forest' and 'The Night Has Teeth' (two books I want to write in a similar universe), along with my on-again-off-again WIP 'The Manylove Quarter' - and the plans for these three alone come to 7,850+ words!

I moved back to Southampton in July, and took August to start drafting 'The Manylove Quarter ', but that ended up petering out with about 19,200 words of prose on the page. Still, I spent a lot of time querying, and got plenty of reading done, so - especially considering the heatwaves in my area and a pretty enormous academic crisis in my record (fixed in November, after writing a LOT of letters and reports!!! So, this is where I send a million hugs to my lecturers and tutors for all the help they've given me, thank you, thank you, thank you all SO MUCH!!!) - I still felt fairly well-accomplished at the end of the month. I also did quite a bit of painting.

In August and September, I started typing up the journal I've been keeping since the beginning of April, once I'd settled back into life in the UK, to keep track of my feelings about the pandemic and my reactions to what I've seen or heard in the news. I write an average of 6,000 words per month, so I'm coming up to 50,000 words on the whole thing (but have yet to type up November or December). One day, I'll use it to write some extremely illustrious memoirs about how much fun, I had stamping up and down the stairs in my parents' house in order to get my steps in! (I really did get quite fit, though, and I want to get back to it in the New Year!)

At the start of September, I published a 2,500-word travel log my university's "study abroad" blog, all about how much I came to love the French city of La Rochelle, where I spent my 3rd year working. I think I will polish it at least a little before I post it here, but I would love to post a redrafted version on this blog!

My final year of university (BA Modern Languages, French and German) started in October, so all my reading and writing that month - or so it felt - was linked to my course. However. I've lost count of how many pieces I've translated between English, French and German, just to prepare for each class. I love my course, but it doesn't leave much energy for anything else!

Welcome to November, when all my graded assignments were due at once, and the associated stress started taking its toll. Luckily, my tutors were there to help me get extensions for work I couldn't hand in on time because my brain had turned into mashed potato. By the middle of December, I ended up with a 300-word translation and 300-word scripted scene for French, a 1,000-word commentary on a translation into English, a 2,500-word essay for French History, and a 2,000-word short story for German, which I've translated into English, and will post here any day.

This has really been a big year for letter-writing, especially since I came back from France. My cousin and I love writing longhand letters to each other, as I love writing them to my grandmothers, and, as such, I've written about one hundred letters this year! My cousin and I have kept every letter we've ever sent each other, and these collections have approximately doubled in size since the start of 2020.

I keep trying to redraft the first chapters of 'The Manylove Quarter', but never seem to get very far. With about 3 redrafts started since Autumn, I'd say l have about 1,000 words typed up. I can probably say the same of the story I'm trying to write as a kind of Standalone, kind of Sequel to 'This Still Happens' and 'Curls of Smoke', except that I'd put those around the 2,000-word mark.

If my Mathematic capabilities still stand up, I estimate I've written about 210,000 words in total this year (not including text messages, letters, emails and entries in my regular diary (which I keep separately to my pandemic journal)), which. honestly, makes me feel a little like I've failed myself.

That's why l'm making this post, actually, to address that feeling - because | know it's not rational, so I'm not going to call it "that fact" - and to tot all my work up in one place, so that I can see my achievements as one big hulk. Looking at my 2020 in terms of projects l've actually finished, it's disappointing! But to look at 2020 as a final wordcount makes me feel an awful lot better. My sister just pointed out that "210,000 words" is "nearly a quarter of a million words", and, put in that way, it's much easier to feel like I've accomplished something of which I can - and Should - feel proud. I've written a lot this year!

Now l'm asking all of you who feel like you've "not done enough work in 2020" to reassess the way you're looking at it all, and to see that:

Productivity shouldn't define how much you feel you're worth, no matter how productive you've been. Please don't fall into the capitalist trap of thinking you're only "doing the right thing" if you're working! You're worth a huge amount and you deserve to be proud of yourself!

You've achieved a lot more than you first thought, whether in the projects you've finished, the number of words you're written, the ideas you've had, the research and planning you've done, the time you've put in, the skills you've honed... OR THE FUN YOU'VE HAD! It all counts, and it's all important, and you can be proud of all of it, just like you can be proud of yourself.

If you don't feel like you've done enough, find a new angle from which to look at what you have done. I'm willing to bet someone out there can see how brilliantly you're doing already. Try to see yourself through that someone's eyes!

[fcnna]

❝ Even if you are a small forest surviving off of moon alone: your light is extraordinary. ❞ MILENA TSCHARNTKE? No, that’s actually FENNA VAN DEN BERG. A SIXTH YEAR student, this HUFFLEPUFF student is sided with THE NEUTRALS. SHE/THEY identifies as GENDERQUEER and is a MUGGLEBORN who is known to be FICKLE, ESCAPIST and DISTANT, but also ARTISTIC, STEADY and INDEPENDENT.

LINKS: stats, pinboard, character tag. CHARACTER PARALLELS: susanna kaysen (girl, interrupted), chidi anagonye (the good place), pam halpert (the office), riley blue (sense8) HELLO gang, so this is a rewrite/repost of my old intro. fenna is now sixteen, not twenty six, and she’s a puff rather than a beauxbatons graduate. some of this will be the same, some will not! yeet!

history

fenna is born to a dutch family in the city of utrecht as the youngest of three. her family is a rich one --- one of the richest, actually. they’re ambitious and cunning and success and reputation are words that fenna is all too familiar with growing up. there is no room for oddities or rebellion or putting a toe out of line and fenna doesn’t mind. they’re good at rules and doing what is expected and falling in line, anyways. it’s safe. it’s easy.

her father has to go abroad for work. a lot. germany, france, belgium, the uk ... he’s more away from home than he’s not. when the company he works for (or, well, partly owns, really) has a great opportunity to become even more global, he drags his family with him to england, where they settle in manchester. it’s an exciting thing, to move across europe when you’re seven, but a sad one, too. fenna says goodbye to all their friends and teachers and weeps in the car and refuses to learn english.

they do learn, eventually. fenna doesn’t have much of a choice, as they attend muggle private school. and once they know their way around the language, they do well in school. unaware of the fact that they’re a wix, there’s a lot of pressure on their shoulders and they work hard, their focus iron-like, their wish to please their parents great. but in moments of stress, their magic shows --- and fenna is scared of it. fenna does not tell their parents, out of fear of disapproval and raised eyebrows, not wanting to admit that this is something real in the first place. in stead, they get the best grades and play the piano and keep their worries locked in their heart. magic isn’t real.

and yet, the truth comes out one day. fenna is a witch, they’re all told, and it’s a shock. they are to go to a school in scotland and study magic there. it’s a shock. it’s like a bomb goes off in their home. but here’s the thing --- their parents didn’t stop loving them. and yet, something did change in the way she was loved, and fenna -- quiet and observant -- noticed it all too well.

because here’s the thing --- when you’re a witch, you can’t go to one of the top universities in the uk and become a doctor or lawyer or politician, you can’t fill the mold that comes with being a van den berg, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t. and that was what life was all about for fenna up until now, and what it is still all about for their family, and suddenly for them, that was over. so things changed. slowly but surely and eventually disastrously ( but we’re not there yet ).

so fenna was off to this boarding school, with their eyes wide open and their heart hammering. from day one, a wedge started growing between them and their family. whether it was disapproval, insecurities or the distance that forced it, no one really knows --- but it was there, from the beginning, and only grew bigger. meanwhile fenna did find themselves at hogwarts, falling in love with magic and the feeling of control they got when spells went right. the pressure was off from her family ---- what did they care if they succeeded in magic? it’d not mean anything in the muggle world. doing well at hogwarts was something fenna did for themselves and yes, that still made them stressed and anxious and the pressure was still there, but it had lessened, changed.

fenna started sending less owls to home. they and their family grew apart more and while that happened, they found something called independence and that it came quite easily to them. fenna learned what living for themselves was. they learned that, damn it, there were no dreams for great successes in law or politics living inside of them. there was a passion for art, though, for all kinds of it. painting especially, was what they fell in love with.

queerphobia tw / after her fifth year, fenna had grown into an independent, but solitary person. their art had become better, their passions grown bigger, their relationship with their parents as fragile as a bomb. fenna spent the summer at home, trying to see what was wrong, what was happening with them and their parents. in the end, they decided that something was just horribly wrong. their parents were no monsters, but they struggled with fenna’s magic, and their wishes to become an artist, with their gender and sexuality, with everything, really. there were fights. there were disagreements. fenna felt terrible, being home, and longed for the end of summer, for a return to hogwarts, for a place to feel at damn home end of tw

it was just hard, with their family. there was never any real confrontational harsh destruction, never a moment of outspoken disapproval or disappointment. everything was kept in the shadows. in their home, there was no room for honesty, and if there was, it was like a bomb exploding, with everything coming out. it was suffocating. fenna couldn’t do it any more.

i do think that this moment during summer break was significant. it was a push for fenna to grow more serious about their passions. they want to go to art school, want to do what they want to do, because they know that they will never be happy doing what their parents want from them. they’re ready for the world, to chase their dreams --- i mean, it’s utterly terrifying, but fenna is finally daring to think about a future in the arts, rather than a future with more stability, one that fit in the image they always had of their own future.

and then they return to hogwarts and the war breaks out. the war is ... well, it’s fucking terrifying, frankly. fenna is no fighter, they know that. they’re no good with dueling or offensive spells. they’re no good in any of this, frankly ---- fenna craves control in everything in their lives and they dont have that with this war, especially as it does target people like them. for now, they are neutral, cowardly hiding in the shadows. they know that there’s things to do, that there should be things she could do, that she should not hide in fear but --- how do you not do that, if that is your instinct? 

personality & ramblings

meet fenna --- your local tortured artist! sad pal, with a good heart but a lot of insecurities and doubts clouding it. i’m going to try and just summarise their general personality here!!

fenna is first and foremost independent. they don’t rely on anyone but themselves, and like it that way. they don’t feel independent, they feel absolutely bloody lost, but they are. this partly comes from the fact that they like to feel in control and at this point, they do hold a lot of the reigns when it comes to stuff in her life? they also rly like things that are logical because of this, like maths and arithmancy and potions

fenna is ... both incredibly emotional and completely rigid? in their private time, they cry and rage easily, but to the outside world they’re definitely quite composed and rigid. fenna is good at pretense and masks and not showing all that is going on.

as a friend, they’re nurturing and kind and always down for a spontaneous night of shenanigans. doesn’t like DANGER but does like shenanigans.

idk i can go on for forever theyre such a mess

nsfw / fenna’s genderqueer/femme. they use both she/her and they/them pronouns --- it depends on how they’re feeling, but also who they’re with, tbh. they’re pansexual/panromantic and very easy when it comes to sex. puts the ho in art ho! nah but for real they sleep around and they don’t think much of it at all tbh, sex is fun and it relaxes her and it’s a good time for everyone involved / end

oof such a romantic, deep down. just aesthetic wise for sure, but also ... fenna does love like, jane austen and the bronte sisters and old romance novels and shitty romcoms and ahhhh. does believe in true love but ? have they given it a shot? really? not rly. too afraid of it.

also, def has some stereotypical muggleborn stuff going on. never used quills, thinks the wizarding world is a mess always, etc. they also love muggle culture in general and is addicted to netflix tbh. VERY MAD ABOUT THE PHONE BAN! they miss pinterest and netflix big time.

depression & anxiety tw / fenna is depressed & has general anxiety disorder. both are undiagnosed at the moment, as they don’t really . understand that something might be going on, or rather are in denial about it. i mean, to a certain extent they know that something’s not right, but they don’t want to take any steps to find help, because they downplay it Big Time in their mind. the war is definitely contributing to all this. end of tw.

honestly they just want to move the fuck away from this war, either back to the netherlands. they dont! like! this! war.

i could see them joining the MA, somewhere along the line? but rn fenna just. likes sitting in their corner. escaping from this shitty reality. smoking some pot. painting some shit. ignoring the reality of the world. 

ALSO I RLY STRUGGLED W THEIR HOUSE BC LIKE FENNA WOULD DO SO WELL IN RAVENCLAW BUT! I THINK THEY WORK WELL AS A PUFF BC IF YOURE THEIR FRIEND THEY ARE SO LOYAL! AND THEY DONT MIND HARD WORK when its GOOD work and also theyre just. a nice person. 

[ocxees-blog]

Myth vs Facts While Studying Abroad

Have you recently heard of any study abroad myths? Does that make it more difficult for you to get a master's degree abroad? This post will dispel every misconception students may have about studying abroad. It's claimed that choosing to pursue further education overseas is a tough choice. However, careful preparation and thorough knowledge of the nations will give you the confidence you need to go on your trips.

The misconceptions surrounding the idea of studying abroad are as follows:

#Myth - Either I lack the potential or I am not suited for international education.

#Fact - Don't give up before you try since everyone can find something.

One of the main myths about studying abroad is this one. Studying abroad is the way to go if you want a decent career, but think you won’t be able to find one in the US, UK, or Australia. We advise you to apply to a foreign college if you want to pursue a high-quality education with qualified instructors and alternatives for additional study in your chosen field of study.

Studying abroad is regarded as an accessible route to success for persons who desire to advance their personal development in a foreign country. In addition, you can live your life to the fullest, which will aid in your personal growth and enable you to achieve the independence you seek.

#Myth -lacking native language fluency

#Fact - Because of the abundance of possibilities, it won’t be a major problem.

Studying abroad is all about exposing yourself to new environments and activities. However, you shouldn’t let the inability to communicate in your native tongue stop you from making this important choice. Once you arrive there, it might astonish you at how quickly you pick up common sayings and words, and before you know it, you’ll be at ease in your new location.

 Don’t worry if they taught classes in a foreign tongue. English has taken over as the de facto norm for schooling on a global scale. However, make sure there are no language restrictions before applying by checking the course requirements again.

#Myth - It is expensive.

#Fact - You can afford it.

The cost of pursuing studies overseas is one of the primary worries people have. When financial considerations are considered, people assume that higher education overseas is too expensive and out of their reach. However, that is untrue. Planning and doing some research will help you uncover a variety of reasonable options that will reassure you, it won't be too expensive.

 The price of the course is determined by the city, school, and course you select. Students can now receive financial aid and scholarships from numerous universities. Universities are making special efforts to offer financial aid and scholarships as interest in studying abroad rises. Countries like the UK and Australia also offer part-time job opportunities, which will enable students to work abroad and offset the cost of their Master's or bachelors.

#Myth - Everything is playful and enjoyable.

#Fact - But the goal is to learn more.

It’s unheard of to think that studying abroad will be enjoyable in every way. Much more than that is involved. It’s a way to learn useful information while also pursuing experience and adventure. You can learn about so many diverse cultures and customs of various individuals and places by studying abroad.

The perfect study abroad program will balance learning and enjoyment. It is a wonderful chance to become immersed in other cultures, habits, and languages. To return home with a satisfying understanding of an educational adventure, it all comes down to the experiences you have while studying abroad.

#Myth -I will have particular housing requirements abroad.

#Fact - Lots of housing options are available with security.

There are various housing alternatives available through many studies abroad programs, including university residence halls, apartments, and living with a host family. Although each has advantages and disadvantages, the decision is entirely up to you.

Students who are studying abroad or enrolled full-time at the institution will share the dorms and apartments with those who are not. Another choice—and one that is strongly advised if you want to learn the language—is to stay with a local host family. If you are concerned about being entirely alone, many families may accept over one student.

Ocxee offers a selection of student accommodation if you like to have more freedom when looking for housing on your own.

#Myth - International students have difficulty finding scholarships.

#Fact - Don’t worry if you have talent or merit.

Scholarship applications from international students can be based on merit or other standards. To expand and support international education, governments in nations including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and a few European nations are recognizing the remarkable success of international students by granting money, monetary incentives, and scholarships.

You can study in any nation thanks to a few scholarships offered by international, national, and regional organizations. A full or partial tuition cost waiver for exceptional international students is another popular scholarship offered by institutions. You have the option to take financial assistance from the Ocxee to get scholarships and education loans.

Source

[piracytheorist]

I’m having a moment of low self confidence and high self pity and I’m having a fit.

As a non-native English speaker who writes fics in English, I don’t think people like me get enough credit.

I mean, think about what we’re doing. All native English speakers (for short, NES) need to do is go to an English school and grow up in an environment surrounded by people who speak English. Something pretty easy to achieve in an English-speaking country.

What we need to do, is pay money for English lessons, take it up as an extra lesson and study it hard for years, get out of our bubble to communicate with NES’s, constantly battle the fear that we won’t understand or be understood, and at the end of the day we might even get a “Learn proper English you dumb fuck.”

I know there are NES’s who learn other languages, and that’s cool for them. But how many do that? How many do it not because they want to study/work somewhere abroad, but because they know they need to learn it in order to communicate with people worldwide?

Like I see this: “OMG @blogtitle writes awesome fic! Go read them!”

I check their blog, somewhere in their description/about page is a “US/UK/Australia/American/English/Australian”. (I’m holding back a little for Canadian and Irish people but I think for many of them that applies too).

And I’m like, of course they write awesome fic. That’s what many of them have been trained to do since the age of 6.

By all accounts, I’m not saying we should boycott stories written by NES’s.

But I don’t think people really understand what it means for a non-NES to write in English. I follow pretty much a similar path when I start writing a fic, but then I get stuck. I’m like “How’s that word? How does it translate in English?” I open a dictionary, try Gοοgle Translate. But how the heck do I find the difference between “renunciation” and “renouncement”? If I have to search deep in dictonary pages and wikis for every difficult word I want to put in, at the end I get tired and throw in the simplest word I can think of.

This is why many of us can’t write ~*~awesome~*~ fic. We can’t use many of all those pretty words with deep meaning - words that many non-NES’s actually need to open a dictionary to understand what they mean - and we have a hard time painting a world, because the words we would use to describe that world in our native language won’t have the same effect if translated in English.

This is another aspect where comments are important to us - we need to know that we communicated our purpose in a right way and didn’t mess up our words because our native language wants to butt in every time we type in English.   

What we’re doing, basically, is both write and translate our stories in English. At the same time. For free. Food for thought.

I see NES writers get so much love and even publish original works and even though I’m happy for them, my heart breaks because I know I’ll never reach their level in English, no matter how hard I try, even if, in some aspects, I’m actually trying harder than they are.

All I’m saying is, give a chance (and positive feedback! If possible!) to non-native English speakers who write in English, no matter how bad the English is. Look, if I can understand a fic with grammar errors in a fucking foreign language, trust me, you can understand it perfectly if said language is your native one.

[envisionoverseas]

This article is about the best ways to study abroad.

It was one of the most memorable experiences I had in college. As an exchange student, I was able to live in Paris and study at a university there. Those were some of my most memorable memories. 

This is my top advice and tips for college students planning to study abroad in the future. These were my biggest mistakes, but I also learned from them. Study In Australia.

As soon as you can, plan to study abroad

At the end of my freshman year, I made the decision to go abroad for my second year's spring semester. Right away I started planning. I researched the details of the program over the summer and found it. I booked my flight, and I even arranged for an Airbnb apartment. After school began in the fall, my application for the program was approved. In the months that followed my departure, I was able to obtain the student visa and secure other details, such as registering for classes. Study In Australia With Scholarship.

It is important to plan ahead because you have a lot of details that you need to consider before you travel abroad. It is a good idea to start planning at least six months before you intend to depart so that you have enough time to complete everything. Study Abroad In UK.

Save as soon as you can!

It can be costly to study abroad so it is a smart idea to start saving. While I was able to receive scholarships and grants to pay for my studies abroad, I knew that I would still need money to buy my apartment, food, and travel around Europe. Study In UK For Indian Students After 12th.

I worked during the summer to save some money, and then I was fortunate enough to be offered a part-time job in the fall. This allowed me to save even more money before I left for New York in January.

Babysitting, tutoring and working on campus are all great ways to save money for studying abroad. You should plan how much money you will need each month to study abroad and then try to save as much as possible in the months before your departure. Study In UK With Scholarship.

Find financial assistance

My study abroad experience would have been impossible without scholarships and grants. Apart from the scholarship and grant that I received each semester at college, two additional scholarships were available just for studying abroad.

To learn more about scholarships and grants that you might be eligible for, speak to your university's financial assistance office or to your study abroad advisor. You can apply for national scholarships such as the Gilman Scholarship which is open to all students in the United States. You will have a better chance of getting funding if your application is for smaller scholarships, such as those offered by universities or ones that are restricted to students who travel to certain countries.

Learn the language of the local area

It is my firm belief that it is a good idea to study abroad in a country where English does not become the primary language. Many Americans travel to Australia, Ireland, and England. To study abroad, but why not stay in the U.S. If you can, consider going to a more foreign country for your study abroad.

It doesn't matter if you don’t know a foreign language. Many study abroad programs offer classes in foreign languages starting at the beginner level. Once you are proficient, you can continue to learn. A homestay with a local family is a great way to learn the language as well as experience the local culture.

[morethanamillennial]

Peace Corps Vs. Teaching Abroad: Finding A Path After Graduation

     In June 2017, I had just gotten back from an amazing experience of living in Europe for 7 months. First studying abroad in Paris, and then going on a three-week tour through the Scottish Highlands, small UK towns, and the AMAZING Snowdonia National Park in Wales (seriously, go look up pictures- LIFE. CHANGING.). With more than 10 more countries checked off in my Been app, I couldn’t wait to get back out into the world to explore some more. But the logistics of, how to pay for it and when I would have the time to go, settled in. The experience solidified my need for adventure and to live abroad once again after graduation. Determined to do just that, I thought of all the ways to make that possible and the most popular ways are either teaching abroad or volunteering in Peace Corps. 

     As my college career at Chestnut Hill College (CHC) came quickly to an end, like most graduates, I had been struggling with what I want to do with my degrees in psychology and global affairs. CHC let me expand my leadership skills, both academically and socially, as well as gave me a place to make new friendships, but figuring out the next steps for my life was on my mind 24/7. But let’s back track for a second.

     I worked all last summer at a camp where I was able to meet girls from around the world in exchange programs working at other camps in the area. They served as my ticket to the world through their stories and adventures. As the end of the summer approached I was getting more questions by friends and family (though mostly family because they want to know what I am doing at all time) about what I was going to do after I graduate. THAT WAS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION! All throughout my last year at university, I continuously was asked the same “what are you planning to do after graduation?”. In August of 2017, I started to sit down to really think about this question because I had no ideaand if anyone reading this is going through something similar I just want to say that THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL! I’d say that if you knew what you wanted to do or know where you wanted to apply for jobs, you’re in the minority and I envy you.

     I sat in my room pondering this question with the help of YouTube videos (waaaay too many YouTube videos), books, and talking to my recent graduated friends. I had this dream of serving in Peace Corps, a US government program which sends US citizens to developing countries and work on projects in various fields (environmental, health care, economic development, etc.), ever since I had a teacher in high school who told me all about her experience within the program. I soon realized that after graduation would be the perfect time to do apply due to the long commitment of just over 2 years abroad. I decided to reach out to a recruiter and after many hours at Starbucks and revisions to my resume with his help, I applied to Peace Corps.

     I had applied openly, which basically means that they would take my degrees (in my case global affairs and psychology) and place me in any country with any job they saw me as a good fit in. Quick side note: if there is a specific country or region or job you wanted to do within Peace Corps, I wouldn’t recommend this, but I was up for anything and applying this way would allow me to be considered for more placements which meant more of reality that I would be offered an invitation to serve. So, by August 2017 I was applied to Peace Corps and I started the agonizing waiting game the US government loves to play (no, but seriously if you taking this route be prepared to not hear back for months at a time). This of course gave me more than enough time to constantly worry and debate of whether I will get an interview which would lead to an invitation, but at least the hard part was over- or so naïve Cynthia thought.

     Because I need to have a plan out every aspect of my life (seriously, it’s a problem), I researched other ways I could live abroad after graduation as a backup plan. I looked into nannying, woofing, working in hostels, but one job that stuck out to me was teaching English abroad. So, like everything I do, I turned to google and typed into the search bar “teaching English abroad jobs”. All these sites popped up with schools/ programs all around the world that wanted native English speakers, it was very overwhelming. Some wanted me to have a TEFL certificate (which I do not have), others wanted teaching experience (which I did not have), and others wanted an education degree (which I did not have), and some wanted you to pay to teach (which I was not doing because I am a broke bitch). 

     I had to narrow down my search to a continent and I chose Africa because it holds a special place in my heart after volunteering in Ghana for a period of time after high school. I once again stared at the search bar under the google logo and searched for African teaching positions and ended up finding a request to teach English in Ethiopia, which is in East Africa. I didn’t need a TEFL certificate and I didn’t need to have a teaching degree- PERFECT. I quickly sent my resume and heard a response back in October of 2017 asking for an interview.

     At this point you might be thinking, “wait what about Peace Corps?” Well by the end of the summer I found out I was being considered for a health extension volunteer position in Benin (in West Africa- I had never heard about it before either). I was interviewed by August and then the waiting game started again. I wouldn't hear back from them again until December, but I will come back to that.

     I was offered a position to teach English to third graders by School of Tomorrow in Ethiopia and for something that was supposed to be cause for celebration, it caused a panic for me as the questions came pouring in. Do I turn the position down to wait for Peace Corps? Do I accept the position and continue with Peace Corps if I get in? Do I email Peace Corps and rescind my application??? Needless to say, I was confused. So naturally, I turned to my trusty pros and cons list. In the end I decided to accept the teaching position and not say anything to Peace Corps just in case I didn’t end up getting into Peace Corps.

     I decided to relax now about what I was doing after graduation and when people asked me about what I was doing after graduation, I would just say that I had options and that I was definitely moving to Africa. I was content and happy with that answer because my next adventure was starting to come together, and I would soon be leaving the US for at least a year, YAY! However, in December my world would be turned upside down when I finally I saw an email subject like that read, “Invitation to Serve”. Man did I ugly cry! My years of dreaming to serve in Peace Corps was going to be in a reality! I was going to be leaving September 15, 2018 for Benin as a health extension volunteer BUT (AND THIS IS AN ENORMOUS BUT), I had to pass medical and legal clearances. Long story short, with $1,000 spent, countless appointments at government services and EVERY SINGLE doctor imaginable (I needed teeth x-rays! Like what?!) and almost 4 months later, I did not get cleared to leave for Benin due to my past struggle with mental health. So again, more ugly crying occurred. But I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and Ethiopia was now my next destination!

     It is now July 2018 and I have officially signed my contract with School of Tomorrow in Ethiopia and will be moving there by September 1. I am now preparing for the move of the lifetime by buying the Lonely Planet Ethiopia book and language book, along with the typical FB announcement, and of course dragging all my friends to Ethiopian restaurants to prepare for this next chapter of my life in Ethiopia.

     So, for anyone thinking about what to do after college but know they want to get out to experience the world, look into these options but also the other ones I mentioned. From my experience, you have to be prepared for rejection and countless hours sending out resumes and waiting around for responses if living abroad is something you want to pursue. But the rush when you find out that you’ll be living in another country for a year and traveling as you go, is all worth the stress and uncertainty. I try to remind myself that just because I was brought up to get a conventional 9-5 office job and I have the degrees to potentially do so, does not mean that is what I have to do that anytime soon. There are so many options out there to live abroad and if it’s something you’re personally thinking about, I say GO FOR IT! Travel is the best way to understand and fall in love with yourself on a deeper level. 

     I don’t know what will happen in Ethiopia or the experiences I will get to have, but I do know that it’ll be an adventure. Life is meant to be experienced and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.

Happy travels, Cynthia

[rikka-zine]

Interview : Yukimi Ogawa

Yukimi Ogawa lives and works in Tokyo. Her stories have appeared in F&SF, Clarkes World, Strange Horizons. Her story “Town’s End” was chosen for the Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2014 (Ed. Rich Horton, Prime Books) .

As far as I know, it was the first case that a non-translated story by a Japanese writer whose mother tongue is Japanese appeared in anglophone year’s best SF anthologies.

Blog: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/18161789-stories-available-online

*This interview was conducted in Japanese and this is translated by the interviewer, Terrie Hashimoto.

At Hachioji, Tokyo with cakes and coffee.

Rikka Zine (RZ): You said that you started reading Anglophone SFF magazines in 2009. Did you start submitting your stories in that year as well?

Yukimi Ogawa(YO) : Possibly I started submitting in 2010.

RZ: Your debut year was 2012, right?

YO: Yes, it was 2012.

RZ: Strange Horizons published your story for the first time in 2013. And I noticed you at that time.

YO: I also noticed you, too. I did ego-searching for the first time and found that "Oh, someone in Japan had read my story!"

RZ: I guess that you checked the taste of the magazines before you submitted. How did you look for magazines? Did you google "SF Fantasy Magazine"?

YO: It was mostly all like that. The first magazine which I found was Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine. Since (Anglophone) SFF magazines that we could buy in Japan was very few, F&SF was almost one and only option. I was too reckless to try to submit to it but it was a hopeless challenge at that time.

RZ: You must be happy when your work was finally published there!

YO: Indeed. After that, I found a magazine database, Duotrope where I could look for more SFF magazines. I preferred webzines because I have lived in Japan. I also focused on the magazines which accepted e-submission.

RZ: Almost a decade ago, were there many magazines which required printed drafts?

YO: Yes, there were a lot. And F&SF had accepted only printed papers until very recent.

RZ: That was tough! I think Strange Horizons was launched in 2008. So you got started when webzines were blooming.

YO: Yeah, it was nice timing.

RZ: Many good webzines appeared since then. Did you read SFF magazines in English originally? Or did you start when you decide to submit your stories?

YO: I started reading magazines to submit.

RZ: You read books in English before then, right?

YO: That's right. I had less chance to use English after I graduated from university. That was why I started reading English books on my commuter train.

RZ: The commute time is very precious. I could read much more when my commute time was longer. Well, it is as typical Japanese are.

YO: We cannot do almost anything except read something. (laughs)

RZ: You have submitted your fictions not only to a few specific magazines but to here and there. Strange Horizons seems to be your base camp. Is my impression true?

YO: Yes, I think Strange Horizons is a kind of my base camp. It is a very important place for me. When I complete a new Youkai tale, I always send it to them.

RZ: You talked that your stories also appeared in a Japanese magazine.

YO: Yes, but that was a long ago. When I was 14 years old or something

RZ: Was it "Poem and Fantasy" magazine?

YO: Yeah, but actually, it was titled "Poem and Märchen" at that time. "Poem and Märchen" once ceased and it was renewed as "Poem and Fantasy". How did you know it?

RZ: You mentioned on one of your interviews that you were accepted by a magazine which chief editor was Takashi Yanase. So I guessed that was it.

So your first publication was very early.

YO: I wrote very much at that time. But I stopped during I was in high school and university. I hadn't kept writing. After a long pause, I started again.

RZ: Your first submission to "Poem and Märchen" was your first acceptance, too? Or you tried a few times?

YO: No, it wasn't. I tried a few times. Well, Japanese magazines basically don’t respond anything but acceptance. I wonder they do like that still now. Do you know?

RZ: I think some publishers respond much better. For example, they sent back detailed comments by the editors to applicants who pass the first screening. Because they would like to have submissions from new and good writers.

YO: Oh really? I needed to keep waiting for a response that I wasn’t sure to receive. That was a sad experience in the old days.

RZ: You said that you looked for SFF magazines. Why didn't you look for horror magazines? Youkai is monster actually.

YO: Now if I think about it, that’s right. However, I didn’t regard my stories as horror. I thought what I wrote was fantasy. If I tried to submit to horror magazines, did I get published faster possibly?

RZ: Who knows. Do horror readers say like "This doesn’t scare me much. IT IS NOT HORROR."? (laughs)

YO: And I’m not sure of the definition of horror, or the boundary of it.

RZ: Hmmm. Splatter seems definitely not to be on your taste. Do you know whether there is any "decent" horror magazine?

YO: I saw a few magazines didn’t want splatter stories and make it clear on their submission rules. Probably magazines like them could fit my style, which is in between horror and fantasy.

RZ: Speaking of genres, you looked for SFF magazines but I think actually most of your stories are fantasy. A few are science fiction, like "Nini".

YO: That's true. To be honest, I didn't regard my stories as SF at first. I thought these were rather fantasy. I have submitted to SF magazines just because they also called for fantasy. I always believed what I wrote was fantasy and I would never write SF. But gradually somehow...well, what I assumed that one of my stories was totally fantasy. That was also published by The Book Smugglers (In Her Head, In Her Eyes from Book Smugglers Publishing) It was before "Nini", my first acceptance by them. But when it was published, it was noted as an SF/Fantasy/Horror story. So I thought "Oh really?" I think that I started writing something Science Fictional after that.

RZ: Your recent stories are more Science Fictional compared with your earlier ones. "Nini" is an SF and also Horror story. That was really SF/Fantasy/Horror fiction. (laughs)

YO: I tried to write a comedy at first.

RZ: I read it as a comedy at first. But it ended up...

YO: I rushed to write a comedy that a protagonist was swayed by annoying grannies and grumpy old men. And suddenly I realized it became a horror story at last.

RZ: The ending was like a roller coaster flew up to somewhere far away beyond my expectation.

YO: I didn’t expect that it went wild like that. I almost always plot the ending, at least roughly. But about "Nini", I didn’t control at all how it went. It was a mere chance.

RZ: By the way, many of your stories don't specify whether the scene is set in Japan or not. Also, your stories sometimes have some Japanese elements even though apparently the scene is not set in Japan. I can’t guess which era your stories are in. Can you tell me whether you have any policies about the settings?

YO: I just avoid the specific settings not to be bothered. Well, it might sound a bit offensive, but it is annoying that someone points out like "It is inappropriate in this era." things. (laughs)

RZ: History Police patrols.

YO: Yeah, I would say "This is fantasy! No fault-finding!" to such reactions. I know my naming and the things I write tend to be Japanese-ish. But actually my settings are on somewhere. Nowhere exists in real.

RZ: You don't write how the character's looking is in specific, neither.

YO: That's not intentioned. I think that the race of people had not been various in Japan. (Mostly Asian.) So the color of hair, eyes, and skin are much alike. Maybe that is one of the reasons I don't explain the appearance.

RZ: I feel your stories are like fable or folklore in a sense. It has characters and the settings but the details are always blurred.

YO: It may be true. It is much better for me and comfortable to write.

RZ: Hadn't you studied abroad?

YO: Yes, I had a kind of. I had studied abroad for 10 months when I was a high school student. But 10 months wasn’t enough. If I had a few more months, I could speak better. I was close to get the language, but I had to return then.

RZ: Can I ask where you went in fact?

YO: Sure, I had been to the UK. It was a rural area. It must be tough for non-English speakers to come to a rural area...

When I was in high school, I didn’t speak English fluently but I was good at English classes and got good grades. So I assumed that I could get along. However, I couldn’t catch what people were speaking. I was like, you know, "What the language they were speaking!?" I was so surprised that every person seemed to have a different accent on their own. Maybe it depended on areas, or it may depended on classes or roots...I‘m not sure. Anyways, their accents were various.

RZ: What the first SF event you attended? Japanese one or Worldcon?

YO: Let me try to remember...I am certain that Hal-con is my first convention. Ann Leckie was GoH of it. It was a rehearsal for me to attend Worldcon. A few months later, I went to Worldcon and I was so THRASHED.

RZ: Why were you!?

YO: I felt sick and didn’t do much anything. It was too cold on the airplane. And people's accents were often difficult for me to understand.

RZ: That's bad. Did you have any chance to talk with your fellow authors or editors?

YO: I wish I would talk to people more. But I felt sick and the sickness made my mood negative. I barely talked with Ellen Datlow a little.

RZ: What did you talk to her?

YO: Not so much really. She just told me she was glad to meet me. That made me happy and smiled. I thank her.

And I met Charles Coleman Finlay (the current chief editor of F&SF). The town has a kind of tram lines. When I took a tram in the morning, I noticed a guy with long hair was on it. During the tram ride, I was wondering he was Charlie. Since our destination was the same, I followed him unexpectedly. He might care for me because I looked apparently nervous and upset. So when we entered the convention hall, he returned to me and let me know where the registration was. I checked the name card and confirmed who he was. Then I could introduce myself to him finally.

I also met Rose Lenberg and their partner, Bogi Takács.

RZ: Do you remember any impressive panels?

YO: I couldn’t see many because I felt sick, but I listened to Ann Leckie's reading. She read from her new book which she was on the way to finish at that time. She was so good at reading. She read at Hal-con as well. She made the audience laughed all. I thought that was a great advantage.

RZ: Here in Japan, reading at bookstores or on conventions is not common. So we don't have much chance to use it as an advantage if we have the skill. Do you notice any other cultural difference?

YO: I’m not sure. I don't know the Japanese literary scene. Why doesn't everyone read at bookstores in Japan? Oh, perhaps because it is embarrassed? Don’t you think reading in public is something embarrassed for Japanese people? Besides, reading science fiction is difficult to decide which part to be read...

RZ: Do you read Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy and love it very much?

YO: Yes, I love it.

RZ: Do you have any favorite writers who write in English?

YO: I can say I love N. K. Jemisin. Hmm, who else I love? While reading a book, I am easy to love the author. But I easily forget their names.

RZ: How about Japanese writers?

YO: No one comes up neither. I just enjoy reading and go next. Everything falls out of me after reading.

RZ: Never mind. I didn't care about the names of the authors and titles until entering university. When I got to have some chances to talk about books with someone, I started to memorize.

YO: Oh, because you couldn’t talk about books with someone if you didn’t remember.

RZ: Indeed.

YO: It makes sense. I got it. I am poor to talk about books. I often say something beside the point even for the books I love. I had failed for several times. So I tend to avoid talking about books with someone. Basically, no one around me read a kind of books what I read. I didn't have any chances to get to accustom.

By the way, my recent favorite is Martha Wells.

RZ: Oh, Murderbot Diaries.

YO: Yes, it is so kawaii (cute).

RZ: Honestly speaking, do you like to attend events in real or not?

YO: I love to attend in real unless I have to talk something in front of the audience. If just being there is okay, I love to see the panels very much. But if I am called like "Come on, let’s talk together.", I would say "No, thank you". It is just my nature. I am not good at talking.

Besides, I don't like to go somewhere I have never known. It is very convenient and safe here in Japan. There are so many convenience stores.

RZ: Well, writing alone and talking with someone is different. It needs different skills what another requires.

YO: Yes, I just like to ponder rather speak. Haven't you talked in front of the audience as a panelist?

RZ: Yes, I had. But I don't do anything professional right now. I read books less than before. I have to transfer the transportations frequently on my commute. It is too busy to read fiction in long form. I can read only something shorter. I tend to read short stories because I can finish a story before I get off the train.

YO: Oh, you read quick. I am not so quick. I can stop reading a novel on the way but in the case of a short story, I would like to finish it at a stretch. Nowadays, I mostly read novels and don't read magazines very much. Well, commute time is one of the best chances to read something after all.

RZ: Do you look for more new magazines to submit?

YO: Not really. I am not quick both in reading and writing. It takes me a lot of time to finish a story. In recent years, I am ordered a story once a year. Since I can write only a few stories per year, I can write just one or two stories except for a commission. So I can submit basically only to a few regular magazines.

RZ: Which do you like being provided a theme to write or not?

YO: I don't think I can write without a theme.

RZ: If you write a not-ordered story, do you also plan a theme before you start?

YO: No, well, I am not sure how I write. (laughs) Being provided a theme is easier. But everyone orders me Youkai tales. So sometimes it is easier to write without thinking a theme. But it is also a great pleasure to decide which Youkai I should choose for my new story. Both have toughness and joy of their own.

RZ: Okay, let's talk about your upcoming story on The Outcast Hours. How did you join the anthology?

YO: The tentative title was Night. I was ordered to write what happens to someone at night who does something different at day, or something like that. It was the first case for me to need to contract just after I agreed on the request. By then, I was requested to write, sent the completed story and was accepted. This time, I had not to fail to finish a story. That was really worrisome and a little bit stomach-aching.

RZ: Is this the first time your story is published by Solaris Books? I had never seen before your story in Jared Shurin's anthologies.

YO: Yes, it is. Another editor of this book, Mahvesh Murad worked for Apex book of World SF 4. She called me for a story.

RZ: Have you worked with any UK publishers before?

YO: Yes, this is not the first time. Asian Monsters was out from a UK publisher a few years ago. Everyone ordered me a monster story like as I mentioned.

RZ: Everyone has a weakness for monsters. Anyways, The Outcast Hours has such big names from all over the world.

YO: It really has! I didn't know the details like who wrote for it or how many stories appear until the book was nearly finished. When I got to know the table of contents finally, it astonished me.

RZ: It has a great lineup. I am looking forward to read it.

RZ: Do you have any plans to do something new? Is it the length perhaps? I remember you tried to write a novella last year. Do you challenge to write longer?

YO: What I write is getting longer. I would like to complete a novel in the future. But I am not confident that my English skill will be able to hold on that length. I have not yet received the result for my novella. I will consider whether I try to write a novel after I receive the result.

RZ: You submitted a novella to the biggest publisher of the genre, Tor publishing. It must be a keen competition.

YO: The deadline was August 13th. I submitted in the morning of that day. And my submission number was about from 650 to 700. Maybe more people submitted by the deadline. So the number might go up to nearly a thousand. If only I will be able to receive an encouraging comment, I will consider writing much longer.

RZ: Tor is a giant in SFF market. They are very dominant in every year's best anthologies and awards.

YO: They really are.

RZ: Have you never written a novel, even in Japanese?

YO: No, I have never written.

RZ: So if you will write a novel, it will be the longest ever.

YO: Right. I’d like to finish up a novel, nevertheless I know how it will be difficult. But during I was writing a novella, I could write nothing other than it. Actually, I had not been in good condition. It was caused possibly by sitting for too long time. So I am really worried if I can manage to write longer than ever. Anyways, I’d like to write a novel in the future.

RZ: Speaking of SFF not in written form, do you see movies?

YO: No, I don't. I don't like Star Trek nor Star Wars so much.

RZ: I’ve seen just a few titles of the two series. But as for movies, I enjoyed The Martian.

YO: Oh, I enjoyed it too. We see a quite number of SF in drama series and movies. However, people look hesitate when I recommend them SF in written form. What on earth is it?

RZ: Maybe seeing something spectacle in movies are OK. They probably don't like reading the explain what it happens in details. Well, I don't know.

YO: In case of someone who prefers to see without any examination or speculation, it makes sense. But for instance, there are people who love Star Wars intensively. They know all the details and the settings. Why don't they read SF? Once I recommended an SW fan to Ann Leckie's trilogy. Unfortunately (the person) gave up soon. I don't understand.

RZ: Well, I know some SW fans read a lot of the novelization. But some people can keep their passion only for a program. Their love doesn't expand to the genre itself.

RZ: How about manga? You mentioned in an interview that your mother loved Manga and you also read a lot.

YO: Oh, you know me well. Yes, I read Manga a lot when I was child and love to read till now. I have read fantasy for a long time. When I was younger, my favorite was Kyoko Hikawa's From Far Away (1991-2002). It is a fantasy series which set in another world. Nowadays, another world setting is really popular. But I am not sure it was popular at the time. Was it?

RZ: Hmmm, Red River (1995-2002) is not set in another world but it was a time travel story. And Please Save My Earth (1986-1994) is a story about reincarnation. Both were best-selling titles. So at least in a broad definition, we can say that another world setting was popular.

YO: Uh-huh, that's right.

RZ: I think reincarnation and “trip to another world” got popular too much just before the millennium. Do you remember CLAMP (manga artist group)?

YO: They created another world (isekai) stories. That's true.

RZ: Possibly, once a boom ceased and now it comes again.

What is your recent favorite Manga?

YO: I love A Bride's Story. It is not fantasy though. I read it with thinking like "How nice the embroidery!" I also love Land of the Lustrous. It is just on my taste.

RZ: I love it too. It makes me remember Mayumi Nagano's works in mineral stones and the gender ambiguity.

YO: I think I have never read her fiction.

RZ: One of her stories appeared in a textbook. Her taste seems to follow up Kenji Miyazawa or Taruho Inagaki. She also wrote SF at one time. For example, The New World and Television City.

By the way, how long have you loved gemstones?

YO: After once you asked me about my love of gemstones, I tried to recall when I started to love stones...

RZ: You often tweeted about polishing gemstones when you started Twitter.

YO: Yes, I did. I started polishing stones and making accessories at that time, around 2013. Very recent. But I loved to see gemstones on the flyers of pawnshops that coming together with newspaper when I was a child. But I didn't try to collect stones at the time. I didn't know where my interest came from.

I was born and grew up in Gunma prefecture. I lived in the foot of the mountains. We could see Kantou loam stratum on some part of the mountains. Normal soil and Kantou loam made layers there. The layer of volcanic soil was so soft that I could grab some easily. It contained very small pieces of quartz. I took up quartz with grinning when I was five or six grade of elementary school.

But I can't remember why I decided to go to Tokyo Mineral Show. It is a very interesting event.

Wait, I am finally remembering. I entered in a jewelry shop by chance. I remember that I saw a necklace made by fluorite at a shop in Shinjuku. Fluorite has a lot of color variation. It made a gradation, very beautiful. But the price was seventy thousand yen in spite of fluorite. I could not afford it. I looked for where fluorite is available and found the Mineral Show.

RZ: So you named your Twitter account after fluorite.

YO: Yes, all the mysteries are finally solved!

RZ: Can I ask your next publication?

YO: I don't have any. Nothing. It is uneasy a bit. I wait for a few results of submission though.

RZ: But for someone who has a day job, a few publications per year is not a bad pace even writing in the mother tongue. You are prolific enough.

YO: But I cannot help seeing writers who write far more faster on Twitter.

I wrote a lot in 2013 - 2014. I can't believe my pace at the time. How could I manage?

Just three stories were published last year and this year, only one was fixed. So I feel nervous.

RZ: To write something longer, you probably require an interval and a rest. Don't mind about your pace. Please try your best in your own good time. Thank you for today!

Note: Her latest publication "Ripen" is available on Clarkes World. Check it out!

[asnacsociety]

Do you know of any similar undergrad courses in other unis? I don’t think Cambridge is for me but I love the sound of the ASNC course!

Hello!

So that’s a tricky one, because the ASNaC course is very unique. There isn’t anywhere else in the UK that does that exact mix of material, but that doesn’t mean there’s nowhere else you could go, because most people find there are some areas they’re more interested than others, and luckily, other places do cover some aspects of the course.

The most similar course to ASNaC is probably Aberdeen, who have a Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies course, and many of the faculty there are formerly of the ASNaC department. (It says MA, but that’s because it’s Scotland and all undergrad degrees say that, so don’t let that put you off.) You can do it joint honours with things like English, archaeology, history… It also involves Viking/Scandinavian elements, and is very similar to ASNaC in a lot of ways. As they say on their website:

Our modules cover literature, culture, history and languages – with an emphasis on the Dark Ages and Middle Ages – but you can add ancient and modern periods as well, with the flexibility to choose your own pathway according to your interests and inspired by world-leading experts in the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon fields. You can also study this subject with various language options and courses which include Celtic literature in the modern age.

Sounds great, to be honest (I’d have loved the chance to do some more modern Celtic stuff alongside the medieval), but if you’re from the south, though, Aberdeen can be a long way away, so looking at other options…

The history side of the course is going to be easier to find, though not that many places have specifically medieval history courses for undergrads (some do! but don’t rule things out just because Medieval isn’t in the degree title). The best thing I can suggest is looking at module breakdowns for various history courses around the country and seeing what the compulsory modules are, what options you could take, whether they cover the areas you’re interested in.

You could also think about doing joint honours. I applied for English and History at most of my other options, and I specifically picked universities where those courses had a lot of opportunities to look at earlier/medieval material. Some places even bring in other languages as part of their English course – I think York had the option to do both Old Norse and Old English, and they’ve got a fair bit of medieval history going on, too. I mean, it’s York, of course they do. (A lot of English departments will have Old and Middle English modules, especially the older universities.) Often, doing joint honours means you have a bit more flexibility about modules, because you’re required to do fewer of each, so you could probably almost avoid modern stuff entirely.

If it’s Vikings you want, you could look at Nottingham. They used to have a course called Viking Studies, but I’m not sure if it still exists; they’ll almost certainly have the faculty to run modules on it as part of History, though, and I know they’ve got a fair bit of linguistics stuff going on there which could be of interest to you. UCL also has a BA in Viking and Old Norse Studies which could be right up your street if you’re into that stuff, and involves study abroad in Scandinavia for part of the course.

If you’re into the Celtic side of things, there isn’t really anywhere else in England you can go, especially as Oxford hasn’t been running their Celtic courses recently (hopefully that’ll change, but I don’t know if they’ll be running undergrad ones). But fortunately, Scotland and Wales exist. Glasgow and Edinburgh both have pretty solid Celtic programmes, from what I know, and due to the Scottish system, you’d end up doing multiple subjects in your first couple of years, so you could pick, say, English and History as your others to round it out and make it a bit more ASNaCy. Glasgow has a big emphasis on Scottish history, and they also do comparative literature, so it sort of depends what angle you’re coming at ASNaC from as to what you might want to do there. Edinburgh’s very well-known for literature type stuff. As I mentioned above, there’s also that course at Aberdeen, which was one of the ones I looked at.

A few places in Wales are also options, although I remember being put off Aberystwyth because at the time I was applying, the second half of their Celtic course was taught entirely through Welsh, and that kind of freaked me out. Not sure if that’s still/always the case. Others may know more about Welsh courses than I do; I know more people who’ve gone to Scotland, so my knowledge is biased. 

This is obviously only looking at universities in the UK, and doesn’t include Northern Ireland (I think QUB has some Celtic Studies – I’d be surprised if it didn’t – but I know nothing about it). Looking further afield will potentially give you more options, but you might not be wanting to leave the country, which is totally understandable.

I hope this helps! I totally sympathise with not being sure about Cambridge – I was in your position too. (I’m @finnlongman, if you’re wondering.) I ended up going there anyway because I was firmly set on the Celtic side of the course and not ready to move to Scotland (not least because the indyref was happening during what would have been, like, my second week of uni, so that could’ve been… interesting), but I sometimes wondered if other unis would have been a better option.

It’s worth thinking about what you want from the ASNaC course, and what combination of papers/modules you’d take if you did end up there, and then trying to make your decisions based on that. Because if you realise that actually all the things you’re interested in are related to Vikings… well, that’s going to make life easier. And if you conclude that you’re mostly just interested in looking at the literature of lots of different places and seeing how it relates, you could think about comparative literature and look at the modules of various comp lit courses to see if any of them have that focus on early material that could be of interest to you.

If you need any more help, let us know :) And if anyone has anything to add, please do.

[eunicediaries]

From RN to UKRN with God's love 😭💉🙌🏼

In a world where people can almost get everything in an instant, we seldom hear stories of how successful individuals reached the top. The truth is, a portion of them got huge “connections” that’s why they landed on the position which made them feel superior and rude at times. It really melts my heart whenever I read success stories brought by perseverance and determination. I hope that this article would also encourage aspiring nurses to continue pursuing their dreams.

I have always believed that some of the great things have come from the tough times and some of the strongest people have overcome the hardest struggles. Those trials are just preparing us on what’s in store for us. Always remember that everything worth having is worth waiting.

If you’re going to ask my friends about my personality, they would probably say that I’m bubbly and friendly. A person filled with happiness and energy but my life isn’t perfect. I just enjoy my life beyond its imperfections and maybe I’m just good at making the most of everything I got. I did not come from a well-off family but I was raised that wonderful things take time and I should work very hard on something I really want so that once I achieved it, I’ll value it for I know its worth.

I was once a dreamer who looked up into someone close to me. Unfortunately, I did not expect that I’ll be discouraged by this person from doing what I want, but it did not stop me from doing what I love. I studied hard and 4 years after, I earned my degree in Nursing and that same year, I passed the board exams and became a full-fledged nurse in the Philippines that changed my life.

“Welcome to the club of unemployed!” as they say. There are so many nurse applicants during our time that it’s really hard to find a vacancy for nurses. My friends and I tried to apply in every open position near us but failed to have one until one day, we found ourselves hired in a Language Center where we taught Korean students and that’s the start of our working career. It took me almost 2 years to go back to my field. Teaching is a noble job, but I realized that no matter how happy I am teaching university students, something is missing. That’s the love for nursing.

I took several trainings offered by Philippine Red Cross and it has been my training ground in preparation for my nursing career. I became a volunteer instructor. We would teach different people from all walks of life regarding Basic Life Support and First Aid. Yes, we might be empty-handed, but the essence of volunteerism has always been there and the feeling of fulfillment cannot be replaced. I thought of trying to grab the chance of being a nurse in the hospital and thankfully, the humanitarian organization allowed me to spread my wings and reach for my dreams of becoming a nurse.

Being a nurse in a country where health care professionals are under appreciated is hard. You take care of 20 or more people all at the same time that you sometimes forgot to pee in an 8-hour shift or eat in a 16-hour shift due to the influx of patients. That’s how bad the ratio of nurse to patient has become in our country that led me to consider a career abroad.

God is really good for one of my cousins recommended an opening for nurses in the UK. I was one of the applicants who successfully passed the exam and interview which gave us a job offer to be a UKRN, but it doesn’t end there. We still have to pass International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Computer Based Test (CBT) in the Philippines and the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in the UK for us to be hailed as UKRN.

It hurts to think that IELTS has become one of the struggles to face because it’s becoming a business in the PH that only few people get a band score of 7 and up in the writing subtest, but I know that I have a goal to reach. I worked hard so that I have money to pay for the exams I need. I learned how to juggle the life of a nurse with different shifts and a student because I have to review for my exams. Truly, all the hard work slowly paid off as I pass IELTS and CBT. I still have to work whilst waiting for my decision letter which meant that I can already take the OSCE.

Who would have thought that the usual 40-70 days of waiting for DL, became 21 calendar days? Yes. That’s why I still have to render the remaining days in the Emergency Department before I could leave.

It’s hard to walk away from the best days that we literally ran to save lives in the ER, but a new journey awaits.

Living in a foreign country can be quite difficult at first. I have to understand certain differences like culture and religion because it’s not the thing I’m accustomed to. I have to embrace the changes so that I can totally adapt to my new environment.

What I’m really grateful for is the great support system (family, loved ones, friends and colleagues) I’ve got who really helped me overcome my fears in every step of the way.

Most importantly, having a strong faith in God will make you realize that nothing is impossible especially when you’re doing your best in everything.

To aspiring nurses who wanted to take the same path as I did, you may have those fears, but no matter how tough the circumstances are, always remember that you can face the giants when you believe in yourself and you have perseverance. Keep reaching for the stars whilst keeping your feet on the ground.

[thewrongfood]

A love affair with pastries in the Balkans

I first discovered my love for Balkan pastries at a low ebb. I had moved to Bulgaria after feeling like I'd failed in my studies, in search of something new, and started a career as an English teacher. I quickly became interested in some quite dingy bakeries.  

The first thing I tried was a kashkavalka, similar to a British cheesy roll, where the cheese is baked into the bread. It was comforting as the cold weather came, and with it freezing black sea winds that I hadn't experienced before. Dreary weather in the UK was commonplace, but it had felt more tolerable than this, and when you're lonely you take the cold more personally. So piping hot kashlavalki were a good start, of what, I didn't know yet.  

I was finding more new food than new experiences; that is, food was one of the best experiences that my city and new life had to offer. I had been putting on weight out of a vague restlessness for the year before leaving the UK, but it sped up as I found that most of the fast food in the city was greasy and bready. I can't pretend, though, that I didn't adore it. The more depressed, cold and disconnected from the people around me I was, the more of a warm blanket these foods became. And then banitsa came into my life.  

I don't remember my first banitsa. Greasy and incredibly flaky on the outside, needlessly salty. But none of this matters, it's inexplicable, you can't make sense of banitsa - you just need to devour it. I've always had a difficult relationship with food, overeating easy snack foods and feeling ashamed afterwards, but this was so egregiously unhealthy that I didn't need to feel bad, I just allowed myself to enjoy it.  

Equally common as a snack were milinki, a series of rounds of bread baked together with sirene, white salty cheese that has something in common with feta. Again it was the outrageous saltiness that I loved. There was no place for sweet food in my new slany diet. I still ate sweet food, but joylessly. I did a lot of things without much enjoyment, and in many ways food helped numb my sense that I was wasting my time and that I hated myself. Despite that, I couldn't deny the joy that I was getting from banitsa, milinki, kashkavalka, and even a purlenka with cheese and tomatoes on it - a kind of hard, superhot flatbread.  

There was a bakery that worked all night, nicknamed Narkoman. Given its location, it was best to get a taxi there after being in a club or at the beach in a bar, and they had the greasiest and best banitsa that I tasted the whole time I was in Bulgaria. Even though I did a lot of drinking, this was a place that I only went a few times, but I maintain those rare treasured memories of this narcotic banitsa.  

I started to make my own, and obsessively talked with students about the best way to make pastries. This often led to them giving me huge bags full of freshly baked banitsa, which I appreciated intensely, and still think about to this day - it's an example of the aggressive hospitality in the balkans.

...

After 18 months in Bulgaria, I wanted to, and then had to, come back to the UK in March 2020. Although I didn't mind a slower life in lockdown, walking around as the weather got better, cooking and baking excessively, my attempts to replicate banitsa were bittersweet. They tasted good, but they weren't greasy, piping hot and I wasn't walking around exploring a foreign city while I ate them. I even made it to a bulgarian shop in Norwich a couple of times to buy the good sirene, and made banitsa of an acceptable quality.  

...

It was in November 2020 that my story with Balkan pastries was reignited. A friend pointed me to a volunteering opportunity in Brčko. It's a multi-ethnic town in Northern Bosnia that has its own government. It has Serbs and Bosniaks, and a few Croats. They live together, kind of. I was interested because I wanted to go back to the Balkans and learn about culture more intensely - it wasn't a job; I explicitly had the goal of learning the language and getting acquainted with former Yugoslav ways.  

I arrived in Sarajevo in a corona panic, and the first thing I found to soothe myself was burek - or rather, pita sa sirom, pita with cheese...banitsa...but not banitsa. The one I chose was an exceptionally oily and cheesy example. The cheese was a bit less salty, but it was the same thing I'd been craving.  

As soon as I got to Brčko, I got down to the important task of trying every different kind of pita from every possible bakery. You might think: it's a small town, how much variation can there be? A lot. Pastries continued to soothe my emotions, but they also became an avenue for debate and discussion - it's not hard to have a debate in Bosnia, everyone wants to talk and to argue. They became a ritual of socialising - grab some pita on your way to meet someone, make it for another person.  

It feels now like an  important part of this new experience which has brought me a lot of joy. Now every time I go to a new city, I want to try their pita and see if it's different. I am a pita evangelist when I talk to friends from back home. They need to see the light. Strangely, I almost feel that it helps me. I wish that pita had been there for me when I was younger. Rationally, it probably doesn't have any transformative power, but I know that my life would have been better had I been munching on some zeljanica (cheese and spinach pita) rather than sandwiches from corner shops.  

Sometimes I believe that my life abroad over the last few years has been empty - that I lack something by not having a lot of intimate relationships with people. But my relationship with food and the wider connection that I have with Balkan people is very real. I've achieved something by connecting with their food, just as much as their languages. I also found something that I'm passionate about doing more of - explaining, understanding, rating, experiencing food. And even writing about it. I'm trying in podcast, video and written form to understand pita, so that I can learn more about this region.

[university-4u-blog]

Things to consider before you opt to study MBBS abroad

For Indian students doing an MBBS degree in Abroad has opened doors for global opportunities within the western world. With demand for good doctors across the world Indian students are opting to go abroad and finish their degrees. However, the planet is so big and there are numerous MBBS colleges scattered across the world that they're at a loss to make a decision where to travel and the way to travel about it. The main reason for this is often a scarcity of clarity on what's to be submitted to school, vague admission procedures etc.

What students seek from MBBS in foreign countries is a convenient admission procedure, a reliable college which follows an honest curriculum that's at par with international colleges, an inexpensive fee structure and transparent transactions. Language is additionally an important issue. Education must be provided in English if Indian students are getting to pursue it. Students in India got to do a medical course in an MCI approved college in order that it's approved once they return to India.

Below I have mentioned some things you should consider before you opt for MBBS abroad:-

Select a country that suits your objective.

You need to comprehend that each nation is distinctive regarding certain components. With regards to MBBS considers you need to be clear in picking a nation that matches the disease pattern of your local nation. On the off chance that you simply pass up a serious opportunity immediately, then there's no use of doing Medicine abroad and returning to your nation to practice Medicine. You ought to understand that every country is different in terms of certain factors. You better make sure that you're picking a nation MBBS abroad that suits you regarding your objectives. Don’t just choose a country because of its atmosphere or the sights. You’ll get to believe your goals too. On the off chance that your goal is to review abroad and returned to your local nation for a vocation, at that time, you need to presumably be careful at the pattern. Look for countries with the simplest nature of education and understudy support. If you're trying to find a career prospect abroad, you ought to also consider countries with good post-study work opportunities. This is often because countries just like the UK don't entertain the thought of immigrants taking over jobs of the local citizens.

Pick a good university.

Presently, this is, obviously, the foremost significant point since it might look no sense to settle on a university just to study MBBS abroad or satisfying your fantasy about encountering the way of lifetime of a selected nation that you simply had for the longest time been wished for. Now, this is, of course, the foremost important point. Some of them are presumed enough yet way off the mark to an outsized number of the schools abroad. While choosing a university, make a rundown of universities which give the simplest curriculum you would like to hunt after and where you're qualified to use. Furthermore, qualify them regarding the pedagogics, infrastructure, accreditations, and academic plan. Select the one which appears the simplest for you. Plenty of research must be done behind this.

Make a good budgetary course of action.

As we've referenced previously, studying abroad is an Investment, and more regularly, it can get extremely costly. You’ll have an actual game plan once you prefer to study overseas. These are a few of inquiries you’ll got to posture to yourself.

Numerous universities give scholarships which will facilitate the load. Presently given the way that not all of you'll have the choice to profit scholarships, you'll generally move toward banks and other money-related organizations for the financial guide.

Make sure you realize where to stay.

If you recognize which University you would like to urge into, picking the right accommodation would probably be your next huge concern.

A few universities even give accommodation in hostels, which is really beneficial. The accommodation charges differ consistent with universities, and not many provide complimentary accommodation to a year.

Whatever you choose, ensure it's on the brink of your University and is related to the shuttle. this may permit you to take a position longer in scholarly needs and be with other understudies.

Pick the right educational plan.

Perhaps the simplest thing that we feel about

MBBS admission abroad

is that the number of alternatives we'll have when it involves picking the simplest possible educational curriculum.

Studying abroad permits you to hunt a distinct segment and very specialized curriculum. Converse with individuals, those you recognize who may need pursued an equivalent. It’s significant once you return your local nation and practice medication.

Plan it in advance, don’t wait till last moment to book tickets.

Let us think realistic; making a visit to faraway nations are often costly. Just in case you don’t finish your tickets at the perfect time, things may deteriorate. So its better, you create your trip arrangements before your real date of movement. On the off chance that you simply don’t have a visa yet, complete it first. Visa affirmation are some things else which may take a while. Prepare this stuff set and prepared.

Know the regular language

Every one of the schools which acknowledges foreign understudies has one regular language as a correspondence medium, which is English, because it is like a global language. So for MBBS

abroad  one should simply know English; you won’t have any issue then. Within the event that English is ordinarily spoken within the whole nation that's barely a plus point.

Popular medical courses that Indian students can choose to study abroad

Neurologist

Orthopaedic

General medicine

Cardiology

Gynaecology

Dermatology

Few of the top Countries where you can pursue MBBS

United Kingdom

United States

Germany

Australia

Canada

Russia

If you are looking for mbbs abroad consultants, you should visit University4u.

[youinmyhoodnowson]

Secondary School in Dubai

Many secondary school in Dubai and students prefer the CBSE schools in India attributable to their flexibility and economical price of research. Gulf pupils recorded a 97.Sixty six per cent pass charge, while those who wrote their exams in India recorded a 88.84 per cent move price. Usually, the functions are closed 6 months earlier than the Exams and should you apply late an extra fee is charged. At DIA we be sure that students who expertise Ship are supplied with the support, lodging and curricular modifications required to enable equitable access to academic alternatives. The largest single market is the UAE, the place 1000's of students are enrolled in international faculties within the current years. Ensure school guidelines and expectations are clear and honest e.g. by discussing these with pupils and establishing classroom rules with the pupils themselves. We imagine that youngsters be taught finest after they could make connections so we plan our curriculum round themes or topics with clear studying outcomes and a clear context for studying.

The nursery is purposefully designed and combines a wealth of professionally educated teachers with the enthusiasm of individually designed areas to allow children explore and uncover their pursuits and extend their aptitude, abilities and information. Shut listening is what teachers do with their college students on a daily basis. The staffing of teachers at the college is immediately managed by the Japanese Ministry of Training, Tradition, Sports, Science and Expertise. What: Actions like sports, martial arts, dance and drama, team building games, excursions and lot extra. It is also keen to proceed building glorious relationships with families and buddies throughout the neighborhood. College students should really feel protected while learning. Kids should know what falls into the class of what they want to purchase and what comes out of mum and dad's finances. Be protected and effectively on the market. There are a number of people that take a threat and work illegally. There are two distinct versions of the Indian Curriculum, and it is important to make a distinction between the two. As we apply this skill (mental imaging), we are in a position to extend our studying pace (drivers,watch the pace restrict!).

Jcx, I am glad this post was of use to you in increasing your reading comprehension. Glad you stopped in and loved the read. To make an inspirational impression on charity by worldwide skilled Network. The multi-cultural atmosphere delivers a effectively-rounded British training within a actually international school neighborhood, in an atmosphere that acknowledges and nurtures individual abilities and celebrates variety. The prices of education are excessive in Dubai. At 14 years outdated (12 months 10), college students at our Guangzhou high school begin their two-year examination course, which revolves around making ready for the Worldwide Common Certificate of Secondary Schooling (IGCSEs). I'm hirwa clement,l accomplished my high school last year and now l have to continue university in Uk,might anybody ship to me an invite letter? These resources lists are updated once in a while on their web site. The United Arab Emirates was formed in 1971 by the then 'Trucial States' after their independence from Britain.

It is situated in shut proximity to Jumeirah Village Circle, Jumeirah Heights, and Jumeirah Islands. Earlier than transferring overseas, I was the Headteacher of St. Joseph’s Primary college in Maida Vale, West London for five years. It has 5 ski slopes; 5 snow coated hills and chair lifts. We now have detailed data on all points of the school and don’t overlook to come back back to check our calendar and gallery. I never would have thought to primary school in Dubai make use of a lapbook for reference material. Instructing abroad has grow to be much more regular as business school chains (resembling Nord Anglia and GEMS) have spread their attain, and as UK Unbiased Faculties have established franchise schools around the globe (e.g. Dulwich Worldwide, Harrow Worldwide). Anyone holding a license from a country not listed above must take a local driving check. It's these attributes that may help them become and stay profitable in their lives. Will your present teaching credential be legitimate? Experiencing Cornwall over a Primary School Trip With its acres of enchantingly beautiful countryside and it is treasure chest of historical monuments, there are few more exciting or magical destinations for primary school trips than Canterbury and its surroundings. The past might be delivered to life and important events discussed inside settings where they happened. Whether it's 1066 or Chaucer you're interested in, here is the spot to explore the stories of centuries past. One in the best methods to begin your understanding of the New York City art world would be to look at the major museums and obtain an idea of the breadth of the reputation art that's collected in this city. Three places that you should visit whilst in New York would be the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and also the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Far from just like a measure to enhance England's standing in Europe pertaining to our competence in foreign languages, the newest curriculum should bring many other benefits. Statistics have shown that younger children tend to grasp new languages more quickly than adolescents and adults, which increases their motivation to remain learning. Furthermore, learning classic languages like Latin and ancient Greek can increase students' understanding of other modern languages, including their mother tongue. Because of this, it is expected that conversation and literacy skills in English may also thrive under the modern primary regime. Latin and ancient Greek are already included with the core list to try to spark an increase of classics studies in schools. Aspects like lesson setup and materials are manufactured clear and through plans. Teachers must be sure that they can receive professional assistance that will ensure they recover written lesson plans. One of the most advantageous portions of primary school lesson plans is which they permit identified objectives to be evaluated. Before students are assessed, add a provision to enable them to practice what they've been taught. From 1030-1050 hrs there are various playgrounds to supervise as different classes use different playgrounds across the school. The janitor watches out particularly for installments of any bullying, fights, injuries or strangers walking around the school grounds. It is worth mentioning at this point that janitors must never be alone which has a child, should he/she visit him with a cut leg or feeling sick etc and constantly obtain a teacher or some other adult to help in the scenario immediately as rules are actually strict this way nowadays unfortunately. Also, janitors are not able to physically break-up any fighting but sometimes blow a whistle or threaten to report these to their teacher.

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Free universities: The Greek experience

People ask me why I came to England. My coming here always seems to puzzle them, especially after I declare I’m from Greece. There are multiple answers I can use, depending on who I’m talking to or my mood: I came here to study; I came here because Greece has pretty much sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean from shame and debt; I came here because I’ve wanted to live in this country since I first started learning English. But the truth of the matter is that I came here because my parents paid for it.

In the beginning of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies the audience learns that it is considered fashionable for noble families to send their progeny to China or Japan to learn the art of war. And so, in a similar fashion, Greek families of means send their children abroad for an MA, MSc, PhD and then boast about it, trying to explain to their friends what their child is doing, even though they have no clue what they’re spending a considerable amount of money on. But this is the elite we’re talking about. What about the majority? In this post, I would like to discuss how free, higher education in Greece has shaped society and how its members treat each other.

So, going to uni in Greece is free; and it’s probably because of that fact that it’s also a given. Once you finish high school and survive the Panhellenic examination, the grades you receive will secure you a place. Only then can you submit your list of prospective unis to your school. In Greece, you apply for subjects rather than universities. The subject is more important than where you study it. Most people don’t get their first choice but everyone goes somewhere. It might be the dumbest subject in a uni that’s based in buttfuck nowhere* and they will still go because they need a degree in something. Apparently, it’s better to have a degree in chicken breeding than no degree at all.

If you don’t go to university, you are considered the lowest of the low, uneducated, qualified only for manual labour. People assume you were too dumb and lazy for even the shittiest university. The irony of the matter is that finishing uni, no matter which school it is, law or interior decorating, odds are you will end up unemployed. As a country, we export oil, fruit, wine and scientists. My sister is a clinical nutritionist, currently focused on her MSc at Glasgow university, dreading the thought of going back to our parents without having secured a job. I helped a friend who studied medicine find a position here by translating the CV she submitted. She now works in London as a plastic surgeon. My best friend from school is in New York, working as an engineer, while another one is in Denmark studying and working to support herself through it.

Finding out that people in the UK have the option to not go to uni, without the stigma attached, was quite a shock for me. A few months ago, I took part in a research conducted by the HR department at work. They wanted to talk to young professionals, people under thirty, and discuss what works well for them, what’s challenging and how they, as an institution, could improve. I went, less because I had something to contribute and more because I was interested to see who was going to turn up and what they were going to say. No person in the room, except for me, had been to uni. Most of them had gotten their job through apprenticeships. They seemed very professional, goal focused people who knew what they wanted: a career in local government, a house and lots of work friends. One girl said she’s so glad she didn’t go to uni, which I thought was really sad. She was in her early twenties, talking about how much money skipping higher education has saved her and how in a couple of years she’d be able to buy a house. The others smiled and shook their heads as she went on counting the many benefits of working for local government. After I left, I still couldn’t decide whether I felt sad for her, because uni is great and people shouldn’t have to turn it down because they can’t afford it, or it was the Greek, prejudiced, mean snob inside me pitying the uneducated person. I want to believe that I’m better than this.

For the sake of avoiding any confusion I just need to clarify: I am not comparing Greek universities to British ones. Greece has neither the funds nor the infrastructure to compete with Britain, where higher education is a major source of revenue for the country. No one would pay to attend a Greek university. There are perks to entering uni in my home country though: you receive all your books for free (I got both volumes of the Norton anthology English literature, plus the Norton theory and Criticism on my first semester – all three are offered on Amazon for the price of £109.33) and you can apply for university accommodation which is also provided free of charge. The rooms are tiny but you can hardly be picky when your parents can’t properly support you. And as I’ve already stressed, you need to finish your degree in order not to be treated like the black sheep of the family.

I don’t like the fact that in my country, people can shame other people over their degree, or the lack of one. Most parents want their child to become a lawyer or a doctor or a computer engineer; a career that swallows your life to the point where you define yourself by your job. My best friend’s dad asked me once why i didn’t apply for law school, given that my grades were so high. He said medical school and law school are the only options distinguished students should consider. He was genuinely surprised when I told him that it never even crossed my mind to apply. No one ever pressured me to either and I am thankful for that. At the age of sixteen/ seventeen, when you are supposed to make this sort of choice, you can be uniquely vulnerable and susceptible to your parents’ suggestions. Lots of people I know went after the course their parents wished them to pursue. I wanted to go to Film school, become a writer and film director. I used to fantasize about who I would thank at the Oscars when I won the Best foreign film and Best original screenplay award. My parents said no. I fought back. We met in the middle: I went to study English literature and was shipped off to England for my MA Creative Writing. They paid and I’m grateful.

Education should be free and available to everyone; that is a fact and I fully support it and believe in it. The UK might have some of the greatest universities in the world but what is the point if people can’t access them because of the price tag? Choosing between being in debt for the better part of your life and starting a life without this massive burden on your shoulder is a tough choice to make when you’re seventeen years old; no one should have to do that. Going to uni is not for everyone but the choice whether to go or not shouldn’t be influenced by the cost. You don’t have to go to uni to be intelligent or well-read or politically conscious. Plenty of people come out of uni with prestigious degrees and an empty head.

Having said all that, I can’t help but wonder: should universities in the UK were free, would a similar situation to the one in Greece arise? Because right now, I think there’s plenty of snobbery to go around in Britain as it is.

*there is this amazing Greek expression, equivalent to buttfuck nowhere, that I felt I needed to share with you: kolopetinitsa. The literal translation is: village in the rooster’s ass. Isn’t the Greek language a gift to humanity?