#Apollo45

    Mr. Aldrin has asked everyone who was alive then to share where they were for the moon landing, for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to watch it on a television in 1969 he has asked us to share how the Apollo missions have inspired us. He has asked us to share all of this under #Apollo45 because it's the 45th anniversary of the moon landing. So here goes my version of #Apollo45.
     The Apollo missions proved to the world that we can put men on the moon! What could be more inspiring than that? And to think they put those men on the moon with computers that my pocket calculator could run circles around! Wow! That's not even mentioning that they got some of those men home with some duct tape and quick thinking (Apollo 13).
     One of my favorite quotes is "Don't tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon." and to me that is probably the best thing about the Apollo missions. To me the Apollo missions show that we may be only human but we can shoot for the stars and we will try. We let our curiosity get the best of us and sometimes it isn't a bad thing.
     I believe that we should teach children to keep their curiosity and imagination because they are the problem solvers and hope for the future. I want to see a world where there are no questions dodged in a classroom just because "you'll learn that later" and if it just can't be answered I would like to see kids actually looking up the answers! We need to not shut down curiosity, we need to embrace it! That is something we can learn from Apollo. The Apollo missions and everything surrounding them were interesting and inspiring.
     

Pre Departure Orientation!

     I got to fly by myself for the first time EVER on Friday! That was a bit scary but it was a beautiful day and I took notes about what I saw and how amazing I thought it was. That was groovy. Then I found the YFU (Youth For Understanding) people and got all situated.
     When I got to the college EVERYONE was speaking different languages at me and I had to figure out what I had to do. I thought it was a brilliant exercise! Before that exercise ended I was handed a bucket with a scoop of rocks in it. I set the bucket down and all of a sudden EVERY volunteer swarmed me yelling "nenenenenenenenene" filling my bucket with rocks, they stopped when I picked it up. The bucket thing continued for the entire weekend and it was an exercise in learning unspoken cultural rules. It got tiring having to carry a bucket of rocks around but you could get rocks taken away for doing "good" things like telling someone "DO NOT PUT YOUR BUCKET DOWN, WHAT EVER YOU DO!"
     Green team was CLEARLY the BEST! I was on green team so everyone on my team was Scandinavia bound with someone going to the Netherlands and myself. I found out that I'm part of Benelux or Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg  so that was interesting. I miss my team but we started a Facebook group so we can keep up with what everyone is doing.
     My roommate was AWESOME! She and I talked about German food and Tintin and Santa traditions in Germany and Belgium and just all sorts of stuff! I liked her a lot.
     Everyone played a game where the rules at every table were different and we couldn't talk so we had to figure out what the rules were as we switched tables. I just volunteered to lose because I didn't know how to play even when I got back to my "home table" because someone had basically invaded us and imposed their rules on the table.
     The food was pretty good. I had to eat with the Benelux group on the day we had spicy food and the person who had gone to Belgium said "You're from the Midwest aren't you?" after I made a comment about how I didn't much care for spicy foods. One of the activities there was, was this set up where a bunch of people had tables in the middle of this room and were sharing about their exchange but some had food to try! I tried a Dutch food I've heard about and LOVED IT! I did not much care for black liquorish. Haribo Pico Bolla was pretty good and so was the Korean jello thing I tried but after I tried the VERY sweet jello treat I sampled some tea and threw my taste buds into shock! I probably would have liked the tea if it hadn't been for having something bitter right after having something sweet. Oh! German food day was the last lunch we had and I was so happy because it was among my favorite meals I had plus I had a lemon bar and those are my favorite so it was epic!
     I came home Sunday and had to navigate O'Hare airport in Chicago so that was interesting. I saw a friend off on their plane. I also walked around for HOURS and eventually bought a snack and went to go chill at my gate for an hour.
     This is the VERY condensed version of this story but it's getting extremely late and I am going camping tomorrow so I will update this story plus camping when I can. Have a great day!
 

Just imagine!

     Just imagine the things that would exist in another universe! Like if there were an infinite amount of universes and everything could happen. Some of those other universes have the coolest realities ever!
     If this is true then in one universe the Doctor (Doctor Who) is real! You could travel with him through space and time! Imagine the adventures you could have! Even if it meant being stuck in modern day London often it would be better than not going on an adventure! Plus there is an "even more different" universe where the Doctor is finally a ginger, good for him.
     In a different version of this universe the world is made of chocolate! Sure that would mean that chocolate wouldn't be as awesome as it is because it would be so common, but to a resident of a non chocolate world it sounds pretty, sweet. Hehe, get it?
       Think of all the possibilities! Think of all the cool stuff that could exist in a different version of this universe. I only gave two examples but the possibilities are endless!

Seven reasons why 7 is an awesome number

1. Seven books in the Harry Potter series
2. 7 ate 9 so that means that it can take care of its own problems
3. Seven books in the Narnia series
4. Seven players on a team in Quidditch/ Muggle Quidditch
5. The song a girl can sing for her seventh birthday "Seven, seven, sweet and seven. Past six goin' on seven. One plus two, plus four makes seven. Jiminy Cricket what a gal."  (I suppose "gal" can be changed to "guy" for boys)
6.  Kevin De Bruyne's number
   
7. Harry Potter's Quidditch number

 

Kevin

 

Belgian football

     I have started taking an interest in what the rest of the world would call football. This is an exciting time to begin an interest in soccer because of the world cup and it isn't the most boring sport to watch so yay!
     After the United States lost to Belgium I knew exactly who I was cheering for and then Belgium took on Argentina. I forgot about the game until I went to check what time it started and tuned in at half time and gathered that Argentina had already scored. I was relieved when I saw that it was half time and not the end of the game but that second half was the first time I've ever gotten very excitable about any sport.
    When Kevin De Bruyne went to make a goal and missed I was almost as angry as the people in the crowd! I was yelling in my head "MR. DE BRUYNE YOU WERE SO AWESOME WHEN YOU PLAYED THE USA HOW COULD YOU MISS THAT!" Of course I've only watched two soccer games but that one really caught my interest.
     There was some point where there was a bunch of Belgians gathered around this Argentinian and the man commentating on the game was all like blah, blah, blah "A thicket of Belgian legs" and then that quote became the new best joke ever! Now those words are being thrown into any conversation that they can be thrown into.
     Belgium lost and they were showing some of the activity in the stadium and the camera caught Kevin De Bruyne (can you tell he is like the only athlete whose name I actually know?) and Mr. De Bruyne was making the saddest face! Oh my Rowling, it just about made me cry because I don't like to see people sad.  I got all sad and stuff after the game but now I've decided to support Germany and the Netherlands in the next games. I think I am wanting to support them because they are geographically close to Belgium, I think that it is unfair that Brazil has won the most and I'm mad at Argentina for beating Belgium. My reasons probably sound ridiculous but I think they are good enough to want either of those teams to win.
     Good luck Germany and the Netherlands!
 

Modern times

     When are you from? It doesn't take a madman in a blue box to ask that question. Let a teenager in a small town ask it! When are you from?
     Well I'm from a time that is following a century of unbelievable change. If you want to be all technical I am from that century. I'm from a time and place where things are still not perfect.
    We are living in a time where we don't allow people to marry just because they don't have the same sexual orientation as "The Majority". Who is "The Majority"? Why do they get any say in other people's lives?
     We are the people in charge of a time where there is disease and hunger in parts of the world while there are people who have too much money. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That cannot be right.
    This day in age is a time where terror and war still plague some places. There are people still losing their lives over differences that will always be there. What good does the fighting do anyway? Yes, countries have gained freedom for fighting but what happens when those nations face their end? Empires end just ask any ancient Roman! Everything ends and we still feel the need to be in charge of something until that end.
     We are destroying the very Earth we depend on! We crowd out life and use the land for a zoo or parking complex. We will eventually die in our own filth, I picture this happening like in the movie WALL-E except we will still be on Earth because we were too busy being greedy to get ourselves into space.
     Someone is always better than someone else and the madness on this planet goes on and on! When will we learn to "live and let live"?  Will the sun ever shine on a world where things are as close to perfect as they can be? Perhaps this is as perfect as things will get, I hope not.
     Let us all just wait for the next IPhone to come out while we make a larger hole in the ozone layer as politicians argue over how they can make more money. If we do that why not just let things stay the way they are? It seems to be working pretty well for those people who have all the money. Why not be happy with that? Wake up and smell the pollution! Let's make a change.
  We consider ourselves so modern and that we are of the best time in history. When are you from? I'm from a time in history when we still follow rules set in place by people who are from thousands of years ago. That's when we are from, the time when we could have changed the world for better, the time mankind has been wasting on arguing over money and resources. I guess not much has ever changed. I guess we aren't so modern after all.

Brains AND beauty!

     I've asked a few people the question, "lab coat or bikini?" and got some very interesting answers. I asked this because although there are things like Science Olympiads and science fairs I still feel like beauty contests get more attention.
     I don't understand why the lady with a pretty smile and ability to walk in high heels gets more attention than the girl who is able to take notes and practice lab safety. Here is a link to a commercial done by the European Commission to try to promote science to girls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g032MPrSjFA   
I would LOVE IT if it didn't seem so much like a cosmetics commercial!
     Girls shouldn't need makeup to think that science is wonderful, with that in mind let me introduce you to some role models that I believe could get girls interested in science.

            Rosalind Franklin: used X-rays to figure out that DNA is in the shape of a double helix.

 

 

Henrietta Leavitt: Laid out the base to gage the distance of stars

              Annie Jump Cannon: Was a BIG part in developing a system

                                                     to classify stars by temperature.                                                

 

Jane Goodall: studied chimpanzee behavior

 

 

Sally Ride: First American woman in space

 

 

Valentina Tereshkova: First woman in space

 

 

Mae Jemison: First African American woman in space

 

Francine (Penny) Patterson: Taught Koko the gorilla sign language

     This list could be so much longer but I'll leave it at that. Don't go "Where is Marie Curie?" because I feel that whenever a conversation about female scientists comes up she is the only card anyone can play. Yes Marie Curie was amazing but we need to recognize other women too.
     I cannot wait for the day when girls are finally equal to boys. When women get paid the same amount as men. When everyone is equal. Who says we have to be happy with the way things are right now? 
    I understand that science isn't for everyone and that is fantastic! If everyone liked the same stuff how boring would this world be? I just wish more girls would realize that science is more than a class to sit through. You see male nurses why not female physicists?