A closer look at racism in Waterford Kamhlaba

Greetings...

How is everybody on that side of the world? ;)

First, if people are reading this and going something like "pink? Seriously Daniel?" then I have two things to say to you. 

1. Pink is an awesome colour. Without pink, we would not have pigs, we would not have the pink panther ( :O ), and a certain well known singer would be called Purple(which just doesn't have that same ring to it, I don't think)
2. Secondly, I have used every other colour, and unless you want to read in yellow, which looks something like this, or in white, which is kinda worse than yellow, stop complaining, because pink is awesome.

If you are one of those people who always seem to argue the difference between pink and purple, seriously, just let it go this time.

All right... now where do we start? Well, it's 12am now, but my first class tomorrow is at something like a quarter to eleven so I don't have to be too worried... 

Oh, welcome to whoever is reading this from Denmark and France! Hej and Bonjour! I don't know much about Danish but Lykke or Emil might teach me sometime... As for French... Well just bear with my French jokes its not that I hate the language its just learning it. Language is not my gift. 

The official stats page: world map. Notice how Fiji is very invisible.

It's a triple birthday today, so happy 17th birthday to Sofia(USA),  and 18th to Priscilla(Mozambique) and Ingrid(Norway). Also a happy birthday for Ximena, who turned 19 yesterday. We all had a good night at Finesse last Friday, everyone seemed drunk but I assure you noone was! I'm sure the workers at Finesse groan every time a crazy loud 20 member band from Waterford come down for a meal. Also happy birthday to David Low I believe?

Eli: Camping is in-tents. 

My suitcase- notice anything
weird inside?

Geddit?

On Saturday, we had a program called Common Ground. It was supposed to deal with issues such as racism and sexism and all. I swear everyone came out of it more racist and sexist then going in! :P It was not a great program, though we did enjoy it to an extent. Being United World College students, we are not very discriminating anyways. 

One of the activities, we were sitting in a room, and all the 'Caucasian' (read: white) students had to leave the room. Then the rest of us came up with honest words and stereotypes to describe them. Some examples for Caucasian were: Arrogant, colonizer (LOL), tree huggers, never bath. And these aren't even the worst ones! AWKWARD. There were some nice ones as well though. They did this for each group, and I found out that people of mixed blood (half castes- that's me!) are violent. Yeah, I know right? So next time I'm back in Fiji, just watch it around me ok? Don't mess! ;P I must say I was already disappointed that they separated us by race, but separating us by colour was quite un-UWC. 

'Mountain end' of the sports field with the
mount Kelly behind

Going back to the cafeteria tactics, Priscilla had something to add: when you do succeed in getting seconds, DON'T celebrate! 

The other night, I dreamt I was in Tappoocity. Don't ask me why. I don't know either. But it was so real! That's all. During TOK (Theory of Knowledge) class, I fell asleep, and when I woke up I really thought I was in my bedroom at home! Homesick? Not really. I do miss all the people back home for sure, but there is a lot to do/experience over here and keep me busy. 

You know it is cold when the Norwegians are complaining... Damn. I mean, I know I've said this many times, but it IS cold!

Just random- for Fay, Ji, Michael Liu, Hui Chi, Sekaia- my math homework- PROVE the law of Integration. If you don't remember what integration is, skip down to next paragraph. If you do know what integration is, skip down to next paragraph. (like any of you are even going to try). Don't try. I just want to show an idea of a normal day in maths higher level.

Dimitri and I did go running down the hill yesterday again. I sprinted the last climb, and 

spent about 10 minutes trying to catch my breath afterward. The hill behind the school is about 1400 metres above sea level, which is higher than Mount Victoria (tallest mountain in Fiji, if you don't know) and Mbabane city is about 1200 metres above sea level I estimate, which is, also higher than Mount Victoria. 

Just imagine if this blog was read to you by Vikash Prasad of One National News eh? LOL

Disturbed Murray...

Wimbledon has started... Just watch Andy Roddick take it this year... Roger Federer is kallas. Rafael Nadal is gonna get dengue fever (yes, in London) and be out for the quarter final, while Novak Djokovic will finally get caught for those drugs he has been taking all this year and be suspended. Meanwhile Andy Murray will join a cult group and have to shoot off to Venezuela for his initiation. But Roddick has this... Go A-ROD!


Oh, and I agree with Itu... Wimbledon is definitely corrupt. How can Isner-Mahut magically play each other twice in two years? 

Ok. Time to go now. (whole world: "AWWWWWWW") Sorry world! I'll be back next week. 

Enjoy your week. Stay young! :D

Moce jo! ;)

DKN

It Means no Worries

Yello! 
How are you? 

there is always someone having
a worse day than you

I've been having a really bad week and a half. 3 presentations (one in French! urgh!), 4 or 5 1000+ word essays and a lot of math!


Anyways, next time you're stressed try singing Hakuna Matata.I do, and it surprisingly helps! :) Don't stress. I try my best not to. Stress kills!


Hey by the way, mypreciousgollumn2 is the first person to work out the extremely complex method of leaving comments on this blog. (ie pressing 'leave comment') Well done! (whoever you are)


Something interesting- Fiji to Swaziland has gone international! (I know, we're thinking, how can 'Fiji to Swaziland' NOT be international?) Looking at the statistics, I was quite amazed to see pageviews from weird countries such as Fiji Belgium, Germany, USA and Malaysia. (ok ok, you're not weird, just unexpected). Australia and New Zealand too, but they're not weird! Particularly since I only gave the links to some friends in Fiji. Anyways, whoever you are reading, hope you are enjoying the blog, and feel free to keep reading! (as if I could prevent you anyways) :p But seriously, it is awesome that you're following my Swazi adventures. Hi I'm Daniel by the way. 

Interesting resemblence between the flags no?

OK, back to the post...

We lost our second rugby final in two weeks, which was a bit disappointing. I was the first fly half this time round, since Tefo of Botswana was unavailable. I did set up a try, I played both matches except the last 5 minutes of the second, where I went off with cramping calves. (calves as in my legs,- I didn't have any grazing animals nearby. Promise!)


>Maths higher level is like smoking: it kills you... slowly.<

Laughing Samoans Moment
(at cafeteria)
Stephen: Dan, just pass me a pear
Me: (?) a pair of what?

gangzta entrance!

Did you know, that if you say 'elbilug' backwards enough times it says Bin Laden?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------.------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hahahaha how many of you tried it? or should I ask how many of you are still trying it? 
ok... to take the gullibility test click here. Really. 

Speaking about Fiji on UWC day

I NEEDA PLAY TENNIS!!!! :( :( 


Had one really nako conversation with the other two bisous (since one is MIA). Gosh its not easy to laugh through the facebook chat but these guys always manage to make me crack up! 


Oh, Marcus? Or Sekaia? Or whoever is in Yat Sen this year just go to Fazil Dean and give him one punch for me followed by the words 'fix your computer!' Yeah that's all. Thanks. (or better, get Sho to do it but I don't think she reads this). He says his computer is 'busted' I just think his computer is a bastard. :P


Oh, speaking of Yat Sen, it was written on the board of our history class, (chinese history) and I wanted to shout out THAT'S MY SCHOOL! But noone else of you was there so it would have looked a little silly. 

Stephen (wales) and I in front of the waterhole at
Milwane Game reserve. Behind us is
apparently full of crocs

It's funny, Swaziland has a very literal meaning. Since the people of the tribe are called Swazis, this is literally Swazi land.


Oh, and the USP side, I still have the USP pencilcase from last year's open day hahahaha. (is this patriotic, or just mamaqi?) According to Veronica: 'its both, and that makes a true Fijian!' hahaha. Thank God for facebook. I miss you guys.


Argh. Rugby training today was brutal yet satisfying at the same time. The field is marked with this white chalk-like stuff, and trust me, it tastes TERRIBLE! By the end of session, I, and a lot of others, must have resembled Michael Jackson! (After 1997 that is). Rugby is, after all, a White-man's sport! (literally!)


I'm thinking of making a new social network, combining the best parts of MySpace and Facebook. Its gonna be called Spacebook.


Speaking of Space, did anyone catch the eclipse? Wow. That was pretty awesome. Just lying on the field at night with some others watching the red moon disappear. ;) We got some really sick pictures of it. Will post em next time. 


Oh yea! hahaha. Before I go, BLUES man! We're into the playoffs! Just watch see whose gonna take the S15 title eh! 

Sometimes, we just need to chill

It is the end of the week now, most of my work is done. Told you so! Hakuna Matata!


Don't worry! :)

 DKN 

The Secret Life of a Half-Caste Fijian Teenager

Hola mes amigos!


What a week. So much work. Grrr... got 76% and 59% on my maths tests, which is not bad though I do think I could do better. What else happened? Oh yea, Leo ALMOST set the hostel on fire playing with matches, (take my word for it, another 10 seconds and the roof would have caught fire), I fell asleep in about 6 or 7 different classes probably because I slept after 1 for four of the five school nights. (mum and dad if you read this please just IGNORE that last line)

one more bushfire pic. 

I wasn't sure what to write about.
Ok, here's what I did: I set my phone to ring every half hour in my pocket, (is it still called ringing if it is still silent?) whatever, and then I wrote down what I was doing at the time. This way, you get a good idea of how an average Friday works for me. ;)


Here
We
Go


6:00am- hahaha think I'm awake yet? no!


6:30am (silence)


7:00am (.....)


7:30am - (conscience): "wake up Daniel! wake up! :O "


8:00am-Alarm fails to wake me-again! Time to rush to French after a quick brush teeth and pack bags. add to shopping list: new alarm clock


8:30am- argh... french. to think I could be sleeping now... sitting here, waiting to give our draft presentation to our teacher in the other room. I'm still sleepy! But I have this unfamiliar feeling of preparedness for french class today... (I've written my presentation!)


9:00am- Still randomly sitting here in class, waiting for my turn... Everyone else seems busy. What do they do?


9:30am- YES! Free period! :D It is far far too cold to walk all the way back to hostel so I am just chilling in the library with Tefo (Botswana) and Emily and Live (Norwegia) instead of literally chilling outside. Got told off twice for making too much noise. I hate librarians.


This is how Fijian blogs work: I write it out, then everyone instead of commenting people ask/comment to me on facebook! Weilei.


anyways- 

part of the way to the dining hall
/classrooms

10:00am- Break time. We get 40 minutes like a kinda recess... Cupcakes and hot chocolate today. (more like hot water with a touch of chocolate). It is so cold it is starting to get on my nerves. Especially this wind. argh!


10:32am- Still break time. Back at the hostel now, since I have another free after this. The hostel is about 5 minutes walk from the cafeteria/classrooms. Quite a long walk when you have to do it several times a day. Playing pool with Leo now. Shhh! I have to focus...


11:00am- Writing out the blog because I am tired of writing these little extract thingys  into my phone and cannot wait to delete them... Have to head off to class in about 10 minutes. Time to put on three more layers of clothing!



Yawn.

My room at beginning of term

my room now.

11:32am- Sitting here in my favorite subject. Maths higher level. Honestly it is, though I'm not very good at it!


12:00:apm- History, as my phone is vibrating inside my pocket I am up in front of the class making a presentation with Dimitri about the Iran-Iraq war... Dimitri is doing most of the talking while I am looking around...


12:30 pm- Still in history class, but now listening to a too-deep analysis of the Indo-Pakistani war, and taking down notes.


1:00pm- STILL in history, now another presentation of the Algerian war, this is more interesting, but I still think that double periods should be prohibited by law.


Taps: I saw you eat that pizza
Ousman: what?
Taps: what, I said it right P-I-T-Z-A
lol!


1:30pm- sitting at lunch, its the school specialty- chicken and rice! yay! :/ ok, its not that bad today, its just that there isn't enough!

rest of my room lol

2:00pm- no more classes today, so I am back at the common room. Noone else has free and is here, so I am going back to my room now to touch up this blog, which is pretty easy to write I must say! 


Getting back to Sekaia's question: I remember he asked what are the stealthy and cunning ways to sneak seconds from the cafeteria: 


there are two main ways: 

1. the take a different plate and go on the other line method- there are many students, so there are two lines in the cafeteria. What you can do sometimes is go up and pretend to have just arrived for lunch again and join the other line. This is the best method. If you're asian, you can do this by going up the same line twice and usually they won't recognize you somehow.
2. the wait for the end of lunch and ask for more method-  if you are patient enough to wait till the end of the meal, you can usually ask them for seconds and they'll give it to you if they think everyone has passed through. Sometimes it is rather difficult to convince them though!

if you get caught, you get a nice telling off and look very silly. and anyways we only attempt to get seconds on those occasions where the food is worth it anyways!


2"30pm- and I am surfing the net on facebook and waiting for Andy Roddick to start his match, which I might go and watch in the common room. Go Roddick! :)


3pm- more of the same...


3:30pm ok, rugby training in half an hour. Its so cold I do not feel like going... :/


4pm Rugby. Oh, by the way, there's another 10s tourney this week, and we're away to a couple of Swazi schools. I'm first fly half this week because Tefo decided to pull out...


4:30pm ok i didn't have my phone with me on the field but I know we were probably playing touch at this time.


5:00pm Coach Tinney is working on the forwards and the backs are just making some awesome moves through our touch


5:30pm End of session. I scored two tries and had an ok day. My drop kick is back! :)


6:00pm Mr Oulton is hosting a party for his english class since we finished an oral presentation last week. Yay


6:30pm Not turning out to be a typical Friday after all... Its not everyday a teacher hosts a party


7:00pm Watching a movie while eating pizza.... mmmm!


7:30pm Still watching....


8:00pm- 9:00pm Watched movie then talked then helped clear up then we got chased out. Time for Tango! :)


9:30pm No tango today... its instead a coffee bar... or another party up at the hostel. wow!


10::00pm Day is almost over, and I am getting sick of this stupid phone buzzing me every half hour! Argh. We're on the dance floor now hehe


10:30pm Ok I am getting a little tired, and we have to get up to catch the bus to the other school at 7am tomorrow... stuff that I'll deal with it in the morning...

Its a SIGN that we're in Africa!

11:00pm Party over... Have to check in now and get into our dormitories... I'm in Kasper's room having a deep conversation... and beating him 12(twelve) times in a row in sapui. (rock paper scissors). Calculation wise, just in case, thats a 530,000 odds chance!


11:30pm Walking around hostel, not time for bed yet!


12:00am writing this blog now. About to sleep soon


Ok, this was not such an average Friday, with two parties and all, but Friday is usually a laid off day, because I have quite a few frees, and then rugby training. But there you go, another week gone! Gee, that was fast eh!


Ok moce for now. This is the most effort I've put into a blog, hope you ppls are grateful! (almost spelt it greatful lol)


Live laugh enjoy! :)

DKN

Fun in a Bushfire

Hiya, how’s Fiji? Still hasn't collapsed without me? Wow. Someone is doing a good job filling in...

It's been a while since I've had no work and been able to actually work on the blog, and a lot has happened since I last posted. 

I said last week I would be going to bushfire, and so I did. I had to skip rugby training one week before the tournament (gasp :o ) so we could get to Kyle's house on Friday. He lives near Ezulwini, near the House on Fire, the club hosting the event. His house is nice, on a valley, with an awesome view. There is just acres and acres of space to look at, and his family owns a lot of it. 

I wonder if anyone found the SECRET message in the last post? ;) Round of applause to you if you did.

the gang at the bushfire.
clockwise from me: Emily, Riika,
Sofia, Stephen, Basti, Anna, Kyle

We headed to House on Fire at about 8pm the next day, and there was loud music, many stalls, and lots of people, including most of our friends from Waterford. 

watching Barcelona win in the tent
hehe

The Barcelona-Manchester United game just happened to be that same day so I watched it in a tent with many new random (in some cases a lil drunk) friends who were also supporting the world’s best team. The BEST atmosphere I've ever watched a match in!

Did I or did I not say that we were going to win 3-1? BARCELONA CHAMPIONS!!!!

OK, I admit, I did get a little bit tipsy after a while, (though most definitely not drunk, unlike some ppl!) but the music was great inside and outside (two stages) and we had a lot of fun in the open air, on the dance floor, and at the stalls. We ended up going home at about 3am.

The next day somehow me and Kyle ended up swimming in this absolutely FREEZING river near his house. EISH. (that’s like Swazi equivalent for omg or AYE) Stephen was having trouble getting up to his ankles so Kyle and I decided to prove to him we could swim. That must have been the coldest place I’ve swum ever. Did I ever mention there are crocodiles in Swaziland? Don’t worry I’m not stupid we checked before we got in.

To those of you who still think I’m stupid for not realizing crocodiles are camouflaged I am kidding again it is a known fact that there are no crocs in that shallow <2m deep river.

Ok enough Bushfire business. The more I right write probably the bigger my grounding when I get home. This week was brutal. I had homework in every subject bar Environmental studies. To the thousands of people who read this blog, sorry but that’s why I couldn’t keep posted.

If you want to hear about my homework, email me. I probably won’t reply.

week after bushfire- maths...

Quote of the week:

Raymos: (points to writing on paper) “is that piano music or guitar music?”

Rori: “that’s Korean!”

Hahahahaha this still cracks me up!

I STILL haven’t seen Saturn’s rings, (argh) but hope to see them next week.

...and english...

Remember how I predicted Fiji will win the sevens? And I said I wasn’t being sarcastic? I was being sarcastic about not being sarcastic (ESO I bet your minds are swirling around right now to my genius) But seriously, we don’t need Jo Savou. We need Tanivula back!

I accidentally killed a kitten with a tennis serve on the field! I felt so so bad. L

The other big news is the rakavi tournament in the weekend. I was selected as one of the two flyhalves (I know right, I’ve never played there before) and we started having nightly trainings.

                                 

Well, the problem with rugby is that you can get hurt in training before you even play a match, and a I hurt my wrist during a fierce confrontation with a tackle bag. :$

Hey isn’t that why we have two wrists? One as a spare?

Anyways, by the time the match came round I could carry a bag in my left wrist again and unfortunately I didn’t play the first match, which we won 14-5. Down 14-0 at half time in the second match against Marua Pula, a Botswana team, I came on in the second half. Boy, these guys are good and fast. I would have the ball for a second before they crush me. (took me about 20 seconds on field to find out) I didn’t miss a tackle though, though I might have been lucky to avoid a yellow card on that last one, which was a little high on the neck! Even so, we lost the match 14-0 at fulltime.

The final was played the next day, and we lost to Marua Pula again, 29-0 this time. Probably because the coach didn’t put me on at all! :P (I’m kidding)

only in Africa....

Ok, enough with rugby for now, I’m tired of it. Last Friday, I SOMEHOW, SOMEHOW, woke up at 12:15pm. Somehow. I’ve never woken up that late before. It was because I had 4 periods off in the morning and thought I dint need to set my alarm (and intelligently decided to watch glee till 3am). I missed maths only, and had to apologise to Mr Pearson, who took it quite well I have to say. I was in shock for most of the day.

Happy Birthday Michael Bizu Liu and Shuling Zhang! :)

Resist... urge... to put... stupid.... ending... quote.

damn.

Ok, this post is getting a little long I think eh? I will update soon. 

Au revoir! 

DKN

Ps. I was just kidding about the kitten

GOT YOU!