a bitch about grown ups

here goes a bitch about grown ups (but not all grown ups, cos some grown ups are awesome;)).
so. i can't believe how close minded some grown ups can be. i told my family (which consists of my mother, father and grandmother. only. ..becausei have no siblings) at dinner this evening about how cambell live is coming to film at our school to interview about chinese sub-cultures and the free-trade agreement blah blah blah and while we're talking about this the news was on and they have all this latest news about china vs tibet and my mum, being the patriotic chinese she is, says that if i HAPPEN to be put in front of the camera tomorrow i have to point out strongly to the whole freakin nation that the chinese government is right in their actions in every single way, thus ruining my reputation towards EVERYONE in new zealand for something i don't even believe in or, frankly, know anything about. i also have to tell them that ALL chinese people living in New Zealand LOVE living in New Zealand and would do ANYTHING to join in with the Kiwi culture. you and i KNOW this isn't true at the slightest. my GRANDMA is a GREAT example of this. one day she was boasting to me about how much money she has and was asking me where i think she got it from. i KNOW she gets it from the government but she starts cussing about the government says they don't do shit for her. and she even thinks she's still living in china for most of the time. anyway, i didn't want to protest to my mum at first but i couldn't help it and she starts going on about "how could a teenager like you know anything about complicated issues between people? you're just going to embarrass yourself." and then my grandma starts saying "people like you at your level know nothing. we know more than your 'kind of people' beyond comparison" in such a demoralising way and i'm just bubbling with anger. HOW could a grown up victorise over a kid about knowledge and maturity just because they're older?! it's not like they've worked harder than us to earn it, they were just born earlier. maybe they survived all those years of growing up but we're going to as well. sure, they know more about life and have more life experiences but that's just because they were BORN earlier. and there's another thing i'd like to add, i think people born in later generations will understand the world in a wider perception because they grow up in a world that is more developed than when people from earlier generations had. a more developed world means a longer history of understanding and knowledge contributed by people in THAT history. we might not have as much life experience as our elders but that does NOT mean we only know a small part of what they already know. there are heaps of things that we understand more than our elders and that's NOTHING for them to boast about.

Christmas Cheers

With it being party season and free flowly drink I feel like I have to speak about the New Zealand drinking culture...

It sucks basically. People drink too much and get wasted and then laugh about it the next day and those that can "handle their drink" are seen as heroes of the party. *cough*LOSERS*cough* What's even worse is that we are encouraged to drink early... Everyone who does it are seen as "cool" and teens that don't choose to drink are "losers". In MY opinion I feel that even though we know the effects and consquences of drinking alcohol to excessd we fail to register it because it is so embeded into our psyche. I think it's retarded... but that's not going to stop me trying it. For some reason I know it's wrong and completely idiotic but I want to try it because it's so fucking retarded... You kinda have to be in my head to understand that statement. If you were on the bus ride home last night you'd understand.

I liked you because of your looks but I love you because of who you are...

Love. The feeling is unlike anything that has ever been experienced. The only things that come close are drugs that last only an instant compared to love and leave you worse for wear.... I believe that social conditions are programmed to believe that a decent boyfriend must be cute/hot/good looking. We are such a shallow community.

This has been observed from two different groups of people who are independent of their actions (i.e. the two groups did not know of each others actions) but are characteristic of boys and girls I know.

Group 1: Rebecca and Paula… At the international soccer game they were checking out and commenting on boys of the other teams. Paula then went to one of these players and got their phone number. Contact after this has followed.

Group 2: Johan, John and Dion… From the back of the English class they observed a pretty yr 10 and discussed her looks before going outside to get her attention.

My conclusion from these two observations is that only those who are attractive are desirable as boyfriend/girlfriend.

As shallow as it sounds it is physical attraction that determines whether friends can turn into more than friends. I feel that everyone could be compatible as individuals get along with one another and it is physical attraction that is the true attraction between a couple. For example my friend Larry from intermediate only decided he like Helen after mufti day. Perfect example of what I mean as up until that point he only saw her as a friend. The actions that he thought were signs of affection were only innocent as far as I know.

The sad thing about this social situation is that no one is immune. If someone who you found very physically attractive fell for you, you know you would fall for them… initially, after all just physical attraction cannot make a relationship it is very rare for a relationship to being.

Educators merit a greater remuneration

Teachers: can't live with them, can't learn without them. They are the topic of many bitch sessions between students around the school but really do they deserve such treatment? Shouldn't we be handing them awards, patting them on the back and thanking them for what they have done for us? After all they have armed us with the greatest power of all: knowledge. Knowledge is power. And another saying goes: children are the future, so how does the government repay those who will ensure in a better New Zealand tomorrow? No trophies or shiny certificates but with substandard wages that and what seems to be a cold shoulder to those who ask for more.

College teachers recently had a union meeting to discuss such issues (which meant we had a half day-yay!) not surprisingly not many students took much interest in the actual content of the meeting, they were just hoping that the teachers would go on strike like they did in April 2002 so we wouldn't have to go to school. This however is improbable which I found out after a discussion with my school's principal and my French class.

It was a pleasant surprise to find that Mr. Leach was going to be the reliever for my first period French class. Being the nice man he is he chatted with us about numerous subjects and the natural flow of conversation brought us to the topic of teacher's wages. He recalled when he first started teacher some 30 odd years ago that a teacher fresh from teacher's college got a pretty decent pay and once the teacher got to the highest level of teaching about ten years later, they were paid the same as a backbencher in parliament. It safe to say that this is no longer the same today as a teacher's wages has gone down and one of parliament’s benchwarmers gets a lot more. He said that a new high school teacher is paid the same wages as a new police officer. Of course he, and so do the rest of us, respects and appreciates the job that our police force do for us but this is comparing doing three years of uni and one year of teacher's college to a six week course.

Are teachers worth as much as police officers? Some may say that a police officer is a better contribution to society as they provide protection and safety of the community but I beg to differ.

The proverb knowledge is power basically speaks for itself. By learning and knowing you are able to understand the world around you and know where you want to fit yourself into it. By getting the biggest picture of it you can see where you want to go and what you want to do. This is what teachers provide us with. Although lots of what we learn can't be directly applied to real life situations (like being able to draw a parabola, seriously who uses this?) it allows us to see that there is so much more out there. How does this contribute to society? Teachers are an important part of a students life, whether we like it or not, and aid in shaping us into the people we will become. Because teachers aren't evil (well most aren't) they do not intentionally negatively influence their students to become bad people. Those who fall through the gap and miss the opportunities that education gives them can find themselves facing the long arm of the law. Police officers are merely the band-aid to the graze of society's criminals where as teachers are the knee-pads that prevent the injury. Where education is high crime is low and vice versa. Should we be investing in knee-pads or a packet of plasters?

If the government were to spend more money on teachers there would be a smaller need for police officers. Better educations lead to better futures. I believe high quality teachers are vital part of our society and should be paid in proportion to the job they do for us. In 2002 the high school teachers of New Zealand went on strike to make the government listen to their request for a bigger paycheck but it's obvious that they aren't listening as it is an issue that is still being raised today in 2007.

Just 'cos I don't f**k everything that has a cock...

It was earlier this week that my younger sister, who is 15, found herself in health class in a doing group work with people she doesn't really like. They had a visit from the people at Family Planning! They were talking about safe sex and contraception, as you do, and she realised that all the other girls in her group were on The Pill.... Hm. She finished this ancedote with "Just 'cos I don't fuck everything with a cock." This made me laugh, then it got me thinking.

Can teenagers have a healthy sex life?

To be honest this isn't my question. I stole it off the news from a couple of months ago when the question was posed by someone who obviously studies teenager's sex lives. They answered with: Yes. As a teen I think No.

Personally the thought of two people rubbing their bits together repulses me slightly especially when these two people barely know the other. I can barely hold a conversation with someone I don't know let alone touch them, and when I mean touch them I mean like pat them on the shoulder so you can see why the thought of casual sex grosses me out. What I find hard to believe is that sex is a part of teen's lives now. No, wait. I can believe it, I just don't know how they don't think sex is a big deal. No, wait. I do know how sex can be seen as normal.

I once read this book (fictional), the name of which completely escapes me, about a guy doing a project about sex for a science competition in which he interviews all these people to find out what their experiences were like. The people he interviewed saw that the first time having sex was like immunisation shot * (well that's the vibe I was getting when he interviewed his mother.). He wanted his best friend (who was a girl) to have sex with him so he could find out what it was like and he said he would pay her for being a big part of the film but I think something happened and they didn't end up doing it. The only character I didn't really believe was the "hot popular girl" for the following reasons: "Hot popular girl" fell in love with the protagonist "geeky" guy, she had posters of scientist like Einstein and Newton (if I remember correctly) on her bedroom wall and lastly she TALKED to these posters about "geeky" guy... WHAT?! Let's digress from the topic of this post.
Who has posters of scientists on their walls??? Not even I or my friends, who are perceived as very sciency, have posters of scientist on their walls. One: Where do you get these posters from? It's not like they have Mary Curie in the posters rack at Sounds. Two: Why would you want these posters? It's not like they were very interesting to look at. Three: She's the "hot popular girl"... I think that's enough said.

I remember when I was in yr 8 there was a boy in my class who said that couldn't wait until he was 16 so that he could go to a party and have sex with a random hot chick. His mother had him when she was 16 he boasted. I can see where he got his eagerness from.

What was I saying again? Casual sex and teenagers. Well in my opinion, even though I haven't really expressed it well, I think that teenagers today are growing up twice as fast as they have in previous years. This has been brought on by our constant communication with each other and the global community as well as becoming aware of adult behaviours at a young age through TV. Though this may bring many good points such as being able to have vaild opinions on important issues I don't think that having casual sex is one of those good points. How can sex be healthy for teenagers when it can mess people up? Of course the obvious STD/Is you can get from sleeping around can screw you up but there are also the social implications. You are labeled a slut/whore/player for sleeping around and can lose friendships and relationships through doing so. I think it's stupid to cause trouble and having sex with random people is definitely something that causes trouble. There's a reason we have sex and that is to make babies. So I think it's a stupid idea to play with fire unless you want to get burnt.

I haven't even really begun on this topic. I will post something else later. Keep an eye out.

*Sorry that sentence doesn't really make sense.

Procrastinators: Leaders of Tomorrow

*Novia stands up* Hi everyone my name is Novia. Hi Novia. I admit that I'm a procrastinator.

I like to think that I like enjoying life and enjoying often doesn't envolve homework or really any work that doesn't provide a reward. I fail to see the reward in doing homework. To be honest there really isn't a reward in doing homework except the long term reward of understanding the work better which in turn will aid you in doing exams at the end of the year. In fact the only reason I do homework is the fear of being punished by my teachers... That was a lie. I want to achieve well in my school but I am really lazy... That was kind of a lie too, when I want to be I can be a really really hard worker. This is the truth: I will enjoy now and save the work for later.

You know this year, 2007 my Yr 12, I feel like I haven't worked nearly hard enough. I don't know how I'm going to do Yr 13 or even University. Throughout my life I've always been a bright child, doing really well in general exams etc... but now that we actually have to work for my marks I feel like my brain powers are fading. Is it because they are fading or is it because I was never as smart as I thought I was? Perhaps I'm just not putting in the hard yards. I pick the latter as to why I'm not achieving like I should be. I hate the fact that I don't "get things" anymore.

I partially blame the New Zealand schooling system. Other countries start at a later age and use the time more efficiently not procrastinating teaching their kids how to draw hyperbolas and understand circluar mechanics. I've pinpointed the exact point in which New Zealand fails to use any time to teach their children anything. INTERMEDIATE. I don't think I really learnt anything in Yr 7 and 8. That was a lie, I did learn things but it's not like we were constantly learning. We spent most of the time outside. I guess that they want to give us as much outdoor time before we are caged in the classroom for the next 5 years. It wasn't very helpful, I'd rather be smarter than fitter, 'cos let's face it, I never really benefited from outdoor activity. I didn't even know how to run properly until I was 15, as in run without stopping for something like cross-country.

The next people I blame are the people who run the TV stations. Yes, I'm smarter than the average teenager who watchers 4 hours of TV a day but I would be much smarter if I didn't watch so much. I can't really stop now, I'm pretty much hooked and to take it away would only induce anger and stress, classic signs of withdrawal symptoms. If I spent that much time going over work and learning like I really should then I would be like ultimate-genius-brainy. I don't so I'm not.

Then of course I blame myself as these are choices that I have made as a fully informed and aware teenager of today. My parents have told me that I shouldn't watch so much TV and in front of everyone reading this blog I'm going to take an oath. I, Novia Ng, will watch only 1 hour of TV per day starting Monday 23 July. I also promise to not procrastinate, I promise not to procrastinate, I promise not to procrastinate. Ok. Everyone who is a witness to my oath is allowed to punish me in any way they feel necessary when I do not follow my oath/faithful to my promise.

This means that I'm going to writing in here once every 2 weeks!!

License To Kill

So you’ve just turned 15, you’re enjoying your birthday, and you have been a teenager for a whole two years. You got some awesome presents for your birthday including that PS3 you wanted and had a wicked party with your friends, and tomorrow it all gets better, tomorrow you are booked in to sit your Learner Drivers License test.

$79 later you’re holding that yellow slip that says you can now drive a car legally if you have your ‘L’ plates displayed and someone with a Full License for two years is sitting in the passenger seat. You can even take passengers in the back of the car.

6 Months Later…

Yes like a movie we have now jumped six months into the future (something has even happened in ‘Lost’ so you know it has been a while) and now $88.20 later you can drive by yourself between 5am and 10pm. This is where I believe things start to go horribly wrong.

Let me start by saying a few people are going to disagree with this including some of my fellow bloggers but I personally believe the driving age is too young. At the age of 15, yes 15, under current New Zealand law you can drive a vehicle on your own anywhere you want. Hell you can even have 30mg of alcohol per/100ml of blood in your body (albeit that’s not much). Does anyone else think this is crazy? And I’m not talking price of fuel crazy, I’m talking G.W Bush crazy.

At the age of 15 you are not legal to; have sex, drink alcohol (without parent guidance), smoke, vote, get married or even leave home. However we are allowed to drive a vehicle up to 100km/h with (very minor) alcohol in our body.  That just does not sit right with me. The Government obviously believes we’re not intelligent enough at that age to contribute a worthwhile vote to the elections but we are however responsible and intelligent enough to drive and risk others and our own lives.

Things also get worse from this point, I’m not going to go into too in depth into the matter right now, but suffice to say if you do your ‘Defensive Driving Course’ at the right time you can hold a full license at the age of 16! So at 16 you can drive any time of day without guidance and with as many passengers as your car can hold and it’s perfectly legal. Scared yet?

Personally I strongly believe we need to up the driving age. We are simply too young and sadly quite often too irresponsible at that point in our lives to risk lives of everyone around us. Although I might be completely wrong. What are your thoughts on the driving age in New Zealand and around the world?

Then again I'm sure we're all 100% mature, responsible and reliable at the age of 15... Yeah right.

**Disclaimer - I already own a full license and have for almost two years, so I might be a bit biased.