Student Council

There were very few student council members present at the meeting today. I think that from one perspective this is bad, because we have less opinions and ideas. On the other hand, I quite enjoyed the quiet meeting where everybody had a chance to speak. We were also seated in a smaller circle than usual, which made the meeting cosier.
We discussed many different things today, but one of the most relevant topics was that our student council should set a long-term plan for themselves. Not long-term as in months, but long-term as in years… So that the students who are in 10th grade right now, when they are in 12th grade they can actually see what the student council has achieved. We also discussed how this will be motivating for us. 

*Sigh*

Wow, belly dance was really hard today. For most of the class I felt like I hadn't been to dance class in over a year and I had no idea what we or what I - for that matter, was doing. It probably helped that I was already really tired before class, but I was hoping that I would feel refreshed afterwards. I mean, I do feel a bit better, but I don't have the usual buzz. We went over choreography today, which was incredibly (and surprisingly) difficult. I really hope that I will get the hang of it again soon.
I really like the way that this instructor teaches. The class and everything is much smoother and it flows better and the way she teaches just makes a lot of sense. I think that I'm also learning the moves with better technique!

Student Council

We had a short student council meeting yesterday. I emphasise short, because usually we have so much to talk to that we have difficulty finishing by five. I was running a bit late, so I arrived a few minutes late at the meeting, but I think they had just started so I did not miss too much. We made a few plans regarding student council activities. Then we also arranged an event for ourselves that we've been planning for a while: bonding time for the student council. We decided on the 8th of February and we are going to go play pool (I also said I'd make cupcakes) Yay! I think that bonding time is important so that we get to know each other better and so that we can do better team work!

Belly dance with scarves!

Wow! Today's belly dance was super interesting and awesome. I felt really energetic at the beginning of class, so I had a lot of energy and motivation to work hard through out the class. First we went over some 'mechanics' and did a lot of marathons for specific moves. Our teacher said that this helps your muscles get used to the movements. Most of the technique we practiced was based around hip movements, which are one of my favourite. I think I did really well today, or at least I was proud of myself.
Then halfway through class, our teacher brought us veils and said that she wanted to let us see what it's like to dance with them. It was surprisingly difficult, because you have to control all your movements, as well as the scarf the whole time. Also, the scarf kept falling all the time. But it was really nice, and I think that if we were to practice and get the hang of it, it would look really cool!

Soup Kitchen

Today at the soup kitchen I had quite a lot of fun and it really helped me get my mind off of things.
I was in the kitchen again, as usual. Today was unusual though, because I was with Rebeka. I haven't been at the soup kitchen with her before, but today was really fun. She helped me serve the soup and she was really good at it. She got the hang of it really fast!
We were joking around pretty much the whole time. I think that's really nice, because it also puts a smile on everyone's faces who come to get the soup. Maybe it bothers our customers a bit, but no one has told me to tone it down yet, so I suppose it's ok.
There was this one guy today, who came up to ask for the soup - which customers aren't allowed to do - and he was speaking in Russian, so I didn't know how to answer him. I could understand pretty much what he was saying, but I don't speak Russian well enough to actually answer him. Anyways, one of the supervisors came to talk to him and then she told us that he wanted to take soup to go and he was in a hurry. So he gave us his jar - which was ice cold - and I put the hot soup in it, and then he walked away and the next thing I knew, the jar was broken. Then he poured it into a plastic jar, but the told us that he didn't want that one because there were pieces of glass in it. So we poured that away, washed the plastic jar and gave him more soup, but he was worried that we hadn't taken the glass out. He didn't trust us at all, even though - why would we want to hurt him?

Student Council

I realised that I can actually get CAS hours for the weekly meetings that we have with the student council, and then I realised that I haven't written about any of them, so I'm going to write one post about all the meetings I've been to so far and from now on I'll try to be more consistent with the student council posts.

I joined student council, because at the beginning of the year one of my classmates asked me whether I was interested and as I have been in the student council in some of my previous schools, I decided to join this one too. At first it was a bit difficult, because most people in the student council didn't consider the fact that I don't know how things are usually done at the school and I'm not familiar with many of the events the student council has to hold. However, once I became less shy and actually started asking questions and pointing out that I actually can't help much if I don't even know what people are talking about, things got better. 

The event that I mostly helped organise was the Halloween costume day. I've also helped with some other things, but that was the one I spent most time on. I helped with making the event on Facebook, organising the activities and one of the other student council members made posters. 

In our weekly meetings, we always have loads of things to discuss and we usually don't get through all of them. It can be quite stressful sometimes. 

Belly dance Wednesday

Wednesday was the last bad day of this week for me. I've had an incredibly terrible week so far, well..things actually brightened up a bit today. I was feeling very bad before dance class, but I decided to go anyways because I figured it would help me get my mind off my troubles. It definitely helped me with that and I felt better afterwards too. My dancing didn't come out too well and I was pretty confused for most of the class, but I hope that will get better once I'm back to being in a good mood again. We continued learning choreography and it just seems to keep getting more complicated. I hope this thing actually looks like a dance by the time we get to performing. 

Monday. Ugh.

Dance class at least made me feel better. I still have a lot on my mind but it gave me a bit of distraction and I feel refreshed. Today's class was pretty good. My foot hurts so I was hesitant to go, but luckily it didn't disturb me during the class. I could feel it but it wasn't terribly painful. 
We started with choreography today. The song is really good but the dance is pretty hard. I mean even the beginning is crazy. I'm hoping that with a lot of practice it will get better. 
At some point during the class I kind of slipped on the floor (I didn't fall) but then I lost my concentration. 
At the end of class we learned about different head movements in different dance styles. It was interesting and it's so cool to see how much the teacher knows about all the different dance types. 

Belly Dance #2 (2014)

Today's class wasn't as awesome as Monday's, but I'm assuming that's because there wasn't the same initial fascination this time. Our teacher is still really great.
She has quite a different teaching style from the first one. We don't really have a separate time for stretching at the beginning or at the end. She just starts the class slowly and incorporates the stretching into the dance - or maybe vise-versa. The class is also a lot more active and tiring than our classes with the other teacher. One thing I really like about her is that during the class she walks around and talks to people individually to help them improve and correct their mistakes.
She has also been telling us that we should practice at home as much as we can, or really practice whenever we can. I'll try my best.
Next class we are going to start learning choreography for the spring performance! 

New Teacher

Today was my first belly dance class of the year. Wow. It was so much fun. We have a new teacher, and she's great! At first, when I found out that our old teacher was leaving I was really sad and disappointed, but then I decided that I should give the new teacher a chance, because who knows what she's like. I'm so happy I went into class with a positive attitude today, because it was so much fun! Our teacher also has a positive attitude, for example, at the end of class when we were stretching she was telling us all these really nice things. She said that we should think about what a great class we had, and how we're gonna be happy to go home and practice more belly dance, and how even if you aren't ever going to come back to our class then you should still be happy that you had a chance to learn something new about your body today. She's a really great teacher!
I can't really say that she's better… She just has a different style of teaching. She was actually telling us today how it's good to have different kinds of teachers, because everyone teaches differently and afterward, when you put everything you've learned together then you will probably understand better.
Can't wait for Wednesday's class!!

First Soup Kitchen of the Year

I haven't been to the soup kitchen in like a month, so it felt weird to be back today. Luckily, it started feeling more normal as soon as everyone got to work. Today was a pretty slow day - considering the fact that it's the beginning of the month and all -  so I had to try my best to give away a lot of soup. I was giving everyone mega portions and refills. We still had half a bucket of soup left over at the end, but it was a good soup kitchen day. It was a nice, calm Sunday.