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[welcometoib]

Christmas, New Year and all that

Alright, first thing first, my NY resolution list includes not forgetting to upload here. Man, it is extremely hard to keep in mind that you have a blog, which was created to be filled with our experiences. 

Well, I’m not gonna fill you in about private stuff about the holidays, because you aren’t here for that. In terms of school, homework is not too much. We have some Comp. Sci. homework originally with a pre-break deadline and some practicing for the Hungarian IOP. All other teachers were kind and said we should enjoy the break with no compulsory activities haunting us during relaxation. They didn’t let the opportunity of writing a test on the last week pass, though, as basically we had some kind of a marked presentation of knowledge in every subject. But hey, no homework in return, kind of worth. I also started a History Meme page before the break, gonna try to be creative and funny mid-learning if that’s possible.

Well, that is all for today’s little SitRep, hopefully you are going to hear from us soon and more often.

Him

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[welcometoib]

The lucky day

Oh man, this last Friday! Nobody had it. Everybody seemed like they wanted to commit mass murder even before the first lesson. It was doomed from minute one. First, we had a Spanish test in zeroth lesson. Nobody had the unit perfectly, the words were hard, it was meant to be a disaster. And our teacher, who is famous for quickly correcting the tests, immediately graded them. But one excercise saved the class. It was supposed to worth 3 marks, but she said we can get as many points as we write. I managed to gather 13, saving my grade and getting a 5 (IB 6-7). 

Then came Computer Science. Friday is programming day, yaay! What I have been waiting for all week! I swear to god it became one of my favourite things. At the last 15 mins of the lesson, the teacher said we cannot do this excercise in this little time so let’s just talk about it. Well, I - being as passionate as i can be - started doing it and did not even pay attention to it. Oopsie!

The Hungarian was a threat. We were supposed to write a test nobody prepared for. Everybody was panicking and rapid-learning and planning how to survive, when the teacher came and said that the printer did not work so we are going to write it on Monday. My day was immediately saved.  Reflecting at what Him wrote - well, Hungarian lesson remains Hungarian, regardless of Hungarian or IB system. The core is the same. If you disliked it before, it won’t change.  I have always liked Hungarian. But I miss my old teacher so much. I really enjoyed her style of teaching and I swear she was the best at teaching her subject - no one else can reach that high. To teach Hungarian, you need to be as flexible as you can be - yet most of the teachers are so stiff. It is a pain to sit through double Hungarians.

Then a short, single Maths class which was fun, and a looooong, almost never ending double History to top it off. Yay for Friday! 

Or rather nay. 

Her

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A little conclusion

So, as I wrote in the previous post I will try to keep track of time flying by, and seems like I’m in the right path. Today I will talk about subjects and the teaching methods briefly. After all, this blog was created to share our experiences and views on the programme as a whole.

So, starting off with Hungarian. It is extremely tedious. Dull, monotonic, and the fact that our teacher still seems so hyped about topics I would flush down in the toilet forever is just worst. I do think our teacher could do better to to keep our attention and motivate us, and this is a problem with basically the whole system in Hungary, IB non-excluded apparently.

English B is like a slightly better version of Hungarian. Students being unmotivated and getting bored quickly in the monotonic processes of discussing new topics in the same way, but less literature and the lighter mood makes it acceptable. 

History.... I’m trying to be unbiased here. Students are much more involved in these classes as historical events can be viewed from many perspectives, each of them containing many new and interesting opinions. Also, we are extremely encouraged to share our points, making this class a sort of conference. It really helps getting through the 90 minutes of each period, which is stupidly long to be sitting in one place.

Economics is as weird as it can be. Due to some difficulties, the school could only provide us a teacher already halfway into retiring and with little English knowledge. But here listening to the teacher talking for a double period is actually quite enjoyable. We don’t really progress with our financial studies but we get to know how certain governmental or other stuff operate. He is trying to teach us how the serious and cruel part of our lives work, and it is really interesting.

Computer Science was the joy of each week for me. Until now. It’s goddamn time for theoretical studies and my brain melts instantly. It is not cool to listen a 90 minute long monologue about the CPU. Trust me it’s not interesting after 30. And I honestly feel that our teacher fails to realize that we need refreshing parts in the lessons, like half an hour of coding or something like that. This just won’t work in the long run, as I could already saw basically everyone doing some unrelated things on their PCs rather than paying attention - including me, of course.

Math is quite okay. I mean, I can’t really criticize the teacher for anything. This works like this, that works like that, and here are a few exercises to practice your newly achieved knowledge. Good ol’ math.

So, there you go, a little rundown of the current situation of the first 3 months being an 11.IB student.

Until next time,                               Him

[welcometoib]

Just a Heads-Up

Yes, I’m actually still alive. Just to make sure you know even though I tend to forget posting here. Like always. But i promised I will write, so here we are!

I do have to confess a weakness of mine as well. Fortunately, I’m not the blocked type during stressful situations like tests, but my short-term memory is disgustingly bad. Mainly because I don’t pay attention to anything around me. But I’m quite good at nodding and humming afterwards.

About school, it’s really haven‘t kicked in yet. Still stagnating around 1 essay per week (subjects combined!) and not too much homework, which I forget anyways like I mentioned earlier. Computer Science theory is breaking my mind and seriously start to consider double Hungarian Literature classes as legitimized torture. Math is still kinda easy-peasy, though I came from the math class. Economics should be renamed for Politics, as all we do is listen to the teacher ranting about the current government. We sort of assume he’s into communism. English is straightforward, topics, essays, discussions and worksheets, same stuff, different labels. History is my biggest jam, and I’m really into the current topic of World War 1. I‘m not gonna mention ToK because I might have to question my own existence again.

Well, that’s all for now to be honest. I will try to keep track of time and upload more often. I really need to do that to use this blog as CAS experience. I will whine about that later anyways.

Until next time,                           Him

[welcometoib]

Maths Sl struggles

I was waiting two things in this week so much, neither happened. I was really curious how my Written Task 2 for English turned out but we did not get  those assignments back. Only analysed short stories. Which is fun too though. The problem was that half of the class were missing so we did not even read short stories that were part of the curriculum but random ones. I liked the ones we learnt for the class better, this just seemed to be a waste of time.

And I really wanted to get back the second literary commentary which we have written in class a week ago. Because I took Literature HL I already got feedback for the first one, and was really interested to see how this one turned out after that. Well, even though on Wednesday the teacher said she would have them, she did not manage to find time for it. Friday was ruined.

My struggle with Maths has been here for years now. I understand everything in class, mostly for the first time, so when others have questions and need more explanations, in the inside I’m always like “come ooon, he just tooold uuus”. But when it comes to tests... Here’s the thing. Whenever I write any kinda test, I tend to get blocked. Everything that I have learnt so far just decides to go away for the time being, making it a struggle to solve even the easiest tasks. Now, with Maths it is extra important not to block. And I have failed so far.  In Maths SL we still get Hungarian system marks (1 to 5, 5 is the best. IB 7 and 6 are 5, IB 5 is 4, etc). We have written 3 Maths tests up to this point, two of which scored hungarian 2s. It was devastating. Then, for the third test I stayed cool and concentrated, and did not start to stress. It seemed to be a relatively easy test. I scored a 4. I was kinda happy with that, since it’s better but I always was a I-expect-a-5-from-Maths kinda guy. And we were discussing the points about the test and he said it’s a 5 from 37 points and above. I had 37+1 points. Turns out I actually managed to get a 5 and it was only accidentally written as a 4. I got so happy and relieved for once.

On CS we did theory on Wednesday and programmed on Friday. We went to a theater on Tuesday for Literature class.

Quite a chill week if you ask me. 

Her

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Back to school

(Well, I just lost two third of this post. Gotta rewrite it eh.)

Of the desired four essays I wrote two in the break. Yeah, I don't like myself either. Basically we had to write a literature commentary for the first time - on Hungarian HL I have already seen mine graded and I scored 16 points, which is good considering this was my first. Then the teacher announced that she wouldn't be there on the lesson on Friday - we would have a substitute and our task would be to write a new commentary. Considering that most of us have not even heared a single word of their first essay, this idea seemed a bit wild. But we did it. I was pretty blocked in the first 45 minutes, had 50 words while others already wrote a page - but in the end I managed to write around 620 words. We will see how it will turn out.

The other one was a History essay. I didn't really get the hang out of it so I did not spend too much time on it. Still scored a 5, and considering that others who spent way more on it got around the same mark, I'm happy. The teacher said nobody really understands the principles of a History essay yet, so writing an essay test on Monday will be funny.

The last two was me wanting to write two written tasks instead of one - a one and a two, so I don't miss anything. Of course I didn't start either and the due date is in two days time.

The weekend and a 1000 words await,    Her

[welcometoib]

The Return

Well I definitely didn’t get that promised kicking part - to be honest, I didn’t get any reminder at all. But, still, I’m back, so finally you don’t have to listen to her whining about everything in school. (Gotta earn that kicking eh?)

It’s the break, but I can’t honestly say that I’m recovering, because there wasn’t really anything to recover from yet. Basic stuff, basic homework, and with basically not getting CS and Eco homework at all usually, it is actually pretty managable. Fewer lessons than in the Hungarian system, definitely less homework and more interactive classes actually make IB a more pleasant and somewhat casual experience, which is actually pretty nice. Yes, there are some longer essay-type homeworks, but these are rather warmup for the real thing. 

I do feel tiredness though. It’s actually really weird. I’m not doing too much learning/practice, I tend to focus on everything but the lesson, and still I am drained after some days. Spooky. Maybe it‘s just an IB psychological testing though.

To prepare for my CAS coordinator-meeting and to revive my long-lazy muscles and bones, it is time to get into some activities again. Probably gym and swimming. Also, due to my short Thursday (3 lessons), hopefully I’m gonna be working again, along with Her actually.

All in all, it is nice to have a break, but for me it’s more abot excess free time than recharging. That is for the weaks. Also I hope I will upload here more often, as this blog will probably become a CAS experience. Cool right?

Until next time,                           Him

[welcometoib]

Time to heal

Finally, the autumn break has arrived. A week of relaxing, going out with friends - and writing thousand-word essays. Rip.

This time the homeworks for the break are kinds a mess - I know I have to write a written task for English A (of which I actually would prefer to write two, we will see), a commentar for literature, and also hoping to get some comp science practice.

My body is not improving at taking the zeroth lessons. No matter how many hours of sleep I get - the pure fact of having to concentrate from 7 am just wrecks me. Constant headache, feeling not well.

I have been struggling with sensory overload for a few weeks now from too much stimuli. I was not able to concentrate, not able to pay attention or hang out with friends, could not touch paper without feeling this weird sensation in my teeth. I had too much. I needed this break.

I will be healing in the next week and be back when school starts again (also going to kick him until he decides to write again)

Her

[welcometoib]

SL or HL, that is the question

Before I chose IB, I had a particular course that I would like to get into, and that was called Game Design and Graphics. When they made me choose between Biology and Computer Science, what I had in mind was the uses of the two fields - I definitely did not want to be a doctor so the Biology field was very limited, while the field of Computer Science is broadening every day, so I chose CS.

Now, of course, by the time of the application comes, I will have a handful of more options in mind, but after finding this one around 8-9 months ago, I slowly started not to search for newer ones. It did not matter at that point. So I took CS HL, with no idea about exactly where I would like to further use it.

Now, I'm not yet the university fair person. I might go next year, but I am not yet desperate enough for that. Our city had one on Tuesday and a couple classmates went there. I got a message that evening from one, asking me where I planned to study by taking CS HL but Mathematics SL, because she did not find any.

I was shocked. Next day, more CS classmates who also took Mathematics SL said the same and today, when we had a Maths class, they told the teacher that they gonna go to the HL class instead for the next several lessons, and then decide which one they would want to take. Because they need Mathematics HL for taking Computer Science related course in university.

I took Maths SL for a reason. I am fairly certain that I would not be able to survive in HL. My brain works in strange ways and I know, even if I understood everything in class - which would not happen in HL - I would still fail the test. SL is reducing this risk.

I got scared. I did not choose Biology because my options seemed to be very limited. But what if it is the same, or even worse, with Comp Science?

Her

[welcometoib]

Wednesday

Not a terribly hard week so far. Wrote a Literature test, handed in a ToK paper and an English essay, but nothing else. The Maths teacher is absent, the Spanish teacher will be, but still, I get up every day before 6 and my head is just not having it. Every day it is a challenge to stay awake on the bus, sometimes even to stay awake in class. 

I have more freetime than I could wish for, my TI arrived last week, ordered from Portugal, the other ebay items are yet to be delivered. I haven’t done homework in day. I just sit back at home, relay, program or write a bit, or when I have a headache, I just turn my brain off and watch videos. Tomorrow two of my classes will be cancelled (2 doubles, so basically four), but still I will have to travel the same amount there and back just for that one 45 minute English class. 

I do not like this.

Feels a bit like silence before storm. Honestly, I would rather get busy and occupy myself with something, but this is too much freedom for me. Give me a damn project please!

I will try to write more frequently, but as long as this slow period remains, I don’t have a lot to talk about.

Her

[welcometoib]

Let’s get moving

I still need to be reminded of the existence of this blog, even though I actually suggested it. Not like I don’t wanna post here, I just feel tired and overwhelmed. I basically have no homework whatsoever, at least not the amount that could take more than half an hour combined, but maybe it is the atmosphere of IB that actually puts the weight on your brain, making it heave and sleepy. Today I almost fell asleep during my double gap, and talking about Russian tsars in the 19th century is not quite the perfect synonym for a fresh cold shower. I love the subject, but... I miss PE really much. Maybe it wasn’t quite ideal at all times, but daamn sometimes I wish for a few hours of sports with my classmates to relieve some pressure from our minds. That said, I seriously start to consider the immediate launch of some sporting activity, probably we gonna go swimming, and the gym seems less scary with each day. But first, I’ll take a nap or sleep until tomorrow.

Until next time,                          him

[welcometoib]

Legends never die

I died. Therefore I am not a legend. - What ToK has taught me so far

Friday is my worst day of the week, from zeroth to eighth, 9 classes, 4 doubles and one single. At the end of the day I felt like a truck ran over me at least 10 times.

It seems like Spanish is still not my thing. Despite learning it for the third year now, I still cannot say a normal sentence, like, at all, which is frustrating as hell. I have no idea what else I could do in order to start improving. Soon the assignments will start and I will be sitting there, writing one sentence an hour with the help of Google Translator. Computer science was nice, I really enjoyed the challenge and the work we had to do alone. Programming is slowly becoming a new passion of mine.

What killed me though was the double Hungarian Literature. Just to clarify, it's still one of my favourite classes. The weapon used for the murder was time and certain people's attitude on the lesson. It became unbearable. After that I could only suffer for the last three lessons. History was a but freshening, interesting topic, and I sat a row behind next to two girls, we had some good laughs.

Week three of IB is now completed. Mission accomplished? Not yet. But will be.

Her

[welcometoib]

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the streaaaam

I swear, even thought most of the time it was not pouring, so much rain fell today that a boat would have been a much more efficient transportation method than walking. My umbrella which was already second hand, literally became useless while there was any kind of wind, so I ended up trying to use the hoodie of my jumper to protect me from catching a cold.

What am I to talk about the weather though, British?

In Computer Science HL we started learning C# as the programming language at the beginning of the year. Our teacher is definitely a figure to say the least, rather negative than positive. His teaching style is... chaotic, and thinks everything he does is obvious, so like three-quater of the stuff he is not even bothering to explain. Moreover, something as complicated as a programming language would make you think that you would start from the base - well, on the first lesson of using a computer we wrote a divisibility program. The f... duck? I mean, I managed to grasp a basic understanding, because previously I have learnt HTML & CSS and also started learning another programming language, Ruby, by myself a couple weeks ago, so I dd not have a problem - yet -, but... poor others, who have never learnt anything like this before! 

Aaaaanyways, I started to become passionate about C#, I like the challenge it provides me and the excitement of running the program, the thrill of writing it... Hopefully I won’t be too lost later. But now, I spend hours at home just trying what I’m capable of (so far I programmed a basic calculator, exponents, a Dice and a Guess the number game, at home, with the help of the internet and my knowledge).

I had quite an okay week so far. The lessons were enjoyable, not too much study - just enough to keep me interested. Even though I got a mark 2 (out of 5 atm) on my first test which made me depressed, I still think I will be okay.

Until next time,                        Her

[welcometoib]

Let the Games begin

When I applied to IB, I knew what would be in my way. Chronic procrastinator, unorganised mess. I knew I have to change. So here I am, working hours on notes and homeworks, something I never did. I refuse to copy answers, which used to be my hobby, and just because a homework is not mandatory, I will sit beside it until my brain cannot take it anymore.

The one thing I promised myself. The one, tiny line between failing and succeeding. Determination is the key here, and a will to keep this up.

Her

[welcometoib]

Achievement Unlocked: Survived 2 Weeks of IB

Honestly, it really feels like an achievement, something you can be proud of. Then you look at it objectively and realize you basically boast yourself for getting through the introductory classes. Now I’m depressed.

But, just as the dust would settle, new timetable! Cuz why not right? Not huge changes, fortunately, but still. The endless waves of tests are finally upon us, starting off with 2 tests on Monday, followed by another one on Tuesday. The mates learning French will suffer even more with 4 of ‘˜em tests coming at them in these 2 days. Damn, where’s the good old gentle difficulty curve?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. IB is still looking to be a hard but valuable and enjoyable journey, and I’m not planning to ruin it by crying over some obstacles.

Well, the next step of the mountain awaits!

Until later,                       him

[welcometoib]

It’s Wednesday again

Yep, that’s right. Been 5 days since the last post, no wonder I felt like something is missing. It wasn’t a strong feeling though, as there isn’t really much time for emotions in IB. You love what you do, what you learn, but that doesn’t make it easier, just less of a lethal adventure.

Now that I scared off everyone, I do have my own opinion about the system and the teachers, just like her.

At this point most of us are adults, either officially or just behaving like one. And that’s why the teachers’ attitude and style towards us changed so drastically compared to the Hungarian system. This, complemented by the mindset IB want us to get used to, creates a relationship between student and teacher which feels really close and actually enjoyable.

Yes, the amount of material you have to suck in and homework puts us a little off, but it is manageable. Well, at least now. I have to mention, I left the previous system to find a challenge... Well, I found a big one. A biiiiig ooone.

Until next time,                            him