Miami was a surprise to me. It’s a city I hadn’t thought much about before, but it amazed me. I didn’t expect to see such clean and pleasant streets and city atmosphere. For some reason, I always thought of Miami as some kind of village or something similar. However, the city turned out to be very pleasant to me. Being there reminded me of the years when I lived in Cyprus. I think all resort cities have such a serene flair. I really liked the beach near which we stayed. The sand was clean, and the water had warmed up to a state where I could swim in it. The only thing that disappointed me was the condition of my skin in Miami. Usually, when I’m at home, I have a diet routine and all the skin care products. While traveling, I just ate everything, as if the rules set by my dermatologist didn’t exist at all. I ate sweets and fatty foods, drank sodas and juices which make my skin break out lol. Now, I need to quickly restore my skin, eating rhythm, and workouts. I wish myself luck.
I have been to many Broadway musicals, but until today, I had never seen Moulin Rouge. To be honest, I can confidently say that this performance is one of the most vivid memories of my life.
The softly dimming lights turned into complete darkness. When the lights go out in the auditorium, the audience’s hearts usually flutter in anticipation of the show. People in the audience cough or open their snacks. This time, there was a crushing silence in the room. The moment the lights went out, the world froze, and the dense walls of the theater cut off the audience from the ceaselessly noisy NYC, immersing them into a new world—a world of love, secret meetings, power struggles, and unrestrained and non-stop performance.
People have always strived to feel alive. In ancient times, in pursuit of this feeling, thrill-seekers resorted to death fights. Some found it thrilling to watch others die, for watching someone else’s death makes the observer’s blood run faster, adrenaline intoxicates, and sharpens the sense of life in vivid colors. A prime example of humanity’s love for bloody entertainment is the mega-popular gladiator fights. Both commoners and the elite always sought out such spectacles.
Like many, I chase the feeling of pure consciousness and the sharpness and reality of life. In search of this feeling, many resort to drugs, clubs, etc. These are destructive methods of experiencing the sensation of life, yet they work just as well as gladiator fights did.
I found myself in a feeling of absolute reality during the performance. Intense emotions, from tears to laughter, made me feel alive. I had not felt this sensation for a long time, and I was glad to experience it again.
I haven’t been back to England in about a year and a half. I usually go every year, and for this years summer I plan to hopefully go back! England is such a beautiful place, and I have always loved it so much. From busy London with it’s beautiful architecture, to the quiet countryside, it is truly lovely every time I go. Aside from my dad, mum, and brother, the entire rest of my family lives in or around Europe, especially England. When I visit, I usually go in June, July, and the beginning of August. At the time when I arrive, for the first few weeks my cousins are still in school. I really enjoy this time, though, because each morning I go and spend the day with my grandma and granddad at their house in the more of a city part of England. I always catch up with my grandma while my grandad spends hours tending to his garden, whilst I eat all of the delicious pastries and food that she always makes. After spending a few weeks in north-central England, I take the train down to west sussex to visit my grandfather on my dads side, in the countryside. He originally moved to this house when my dad was a little boy, and it was constructed in 1709. It’s a beautiful home, with a little vegetable garden, pool, and lots of space to run around in the grass, which I did a lot when I was younger with my older brother. I’m really looking forward to going back again this summer.
I had my first driving lesson and it was kind of discouraging. I feel like I just can’t drive. All I did was drive around a neighborhood for like an hour and a half and park a couple of times. I always feel like the car is in a different place than it actually is, which makes it hard to drive it where I want it because I never know where it really is. And I can’t remember anything about the road rules or anything from driver’s ed except not to park on a crosswalk and to stop at stop signs. I just kind of freeze up behind the wheel and can’t think straight. But actually when I drove on my own with my dad in a parking lot before the lesson I felt fine, so maybe it was just the instructor’s constant stream of passive-aggressive comments throughout the lesson that’s getting me all nervous.
Once upon a time, there was a man named Bill. He sat at the bus stop, and it was raining. He held of bouquet. It was a bouquet of roses. They were very pretty at one point, but he had been sitting and waiting at the bus stop for a while, and they were wilting. It was wet and cold outside, but he knew that it would be better when he got on the bus. He wore a dress shirt and pants that were not warm enough to shield him from the cold, wet, weather. Bill shivered.
He stared out at the supermarket across the street. It would be dry and warm in the supermarket, but he was waiting for the bus.
Bill looked out at the damp scenery, doing and thinking nothing. He was simply waiting in a cold, trance-like stupor.
A woman walked along the sidewalk, holding an umbrella. She was walking her dog, and the dog was wearing a little raincoat. As she approached the bus stop, she could see a man sitting on the bench. She wondered if he was waiting for the bus, and she wondered if he knew that the bus had been decommissioned earlier that month. The woman hesitated. Should she tell him that the bus would not come? He looked quite still and content, waiting, and she did not want to intrude. And perhaps the bus was back in order. She was afraid to interrupt his day and afraid to be wrong, so she walked past the bus stop and said nothing.
Bill waited for the bus, but the bus never came. It continued to rain for years, and for years, the bus never came. Bill sat a the bus stop, waiting for the bus. Every year that passed watered the seedling of despair that Bill nurtured in him. His bouquet of roses died, and his clothes faded. With this despair, Bill clung to the hope that the bus was almost here and that when the bus came, it would restore the delicate life in his bouquet and the robust color of his clothes, and everything would be right again. Sometimes he thought he heard the hiss of an engine or the grumble of the wheels, but it was an illusion brought on by the rain.
Eventually, Bill grew old and died at the bus stop, waiting in the rain.
The year-ending and New Year’s holidays are always very busy. Three weeks fly by and I wish I had one more week off. I saw my family and many friends during my vacation. I feel a sense of relief when I go back to my home country. Eating delicious food, going shopping, and sleeping in my own bed all make me happy. At the beginning of this year, I participated in my old school’s New Year’s kickoff party, and it was a great time to see friends I haven’t seen in a year and teachers I haven’t seen in a long time. The most fun thing I did during this vacation was going skiing with my family. My brother and I went snowboarding and my sister, dad and mom went skiing. I hadn’t skied since the 6th grade, about 6 years. At first I was very worried if I could ski well, but when I finished the first run, the old feeling came back. I had a few sore muscles, but more than that, I was able to spend time with my whole family, and everything was fun and we had good times. Next time I see my family, I want to go on another trip to a different place. I have wonderful memories of this vacation to see not only my family but also a lot of friends. When I was in the second year of junior high school, I had a takoyaki (octopus dumpling) party with five of my best friends from the same class. I also met friends from my current school when I went to my grandmother’s house. It was such a busy vacation that no matter how much time I had, it was never enough. I am already looking forward to going back to my home country and seeing my family again.
If I leave home, these are a few things I will miss about it:
My sister. It is scary knowing that she will keep growing and changing as a person, and I won’t be able to see her everyday to see that happen.
The weather. 40s and 50s is cold enough for me. I can’t imagine going about your day when it’s any colder than that; the image of walking around outside, going places, while your face and hands hurt from the cold is kind of sad.
Friends. There are still so many things to do together, and it feels there will never be enough time.
The food.
The mountains. When I first came here, my parents oohed and ahhed at the scenery, but I never saw what the big deal was. Now, I feel there is something comforting and familiar to feel wrapped up in the hilly earth. The places where everything is flat feels so lonely; in even large cities built in flat middle-of-nowhere desserts, you can look out on the horizon and see nothing. It almost feels cut off from the world. However, I imagine those cities are more closely knit internally.
Advancements in technology are terrifying sometimes. Over the holiday break, my brother and I were shopping for Christmas presents when our mum told us that her friend was going to pick us up. What we didn’t know was that he ordered a self- driving car. I had never seen one of these in real life, but once the car started moving I actually felt scared. What if it had like a malfunction and didn’t stop for other cars or something??? My brother wasn’t scared by it whatsoever. As the car was driving us, people were staring, and were just as confused as I was. I’m very glad that we got to our destination quickly, but it was also cool to experience this.
So we all know what van life is and I’m pretty sure you can guess what bus life is. I’ve wanted to live in a van for a long time and wanted to convert one with my own hands and make it exactly how I want it, but recently I’ve been having doubts about whether I should live in a van because vans don’t have a lot of space so I couldn’t put a lot in there. However, a bus has quite a lot of space to put all the things I want there which is a lot. For example, there is almost no way I’m going to be able to fit a moped in a van like it’s not gonna happen. Also, I need a lot of power for everything and the best way I can get that is through solar and I could fit a lot more solar panels on a bus than a van. The bus is not perfect though it takes a lot of gas and I can’t get into certain places as easy compared to the van which is a big issue since I want to go to a lot of places that would need go like if I ever wanted to park in a normal parking lot i would need to take up about 5 spaces but in a van i could just do one. I might try and meet in the middle and do a box truck because that can get to most places but still has a good amount of space. I guess I don’t have to think about this to much right now but there’s a lot to think of so maybe I should start planning now.
The world is just actually so beautiful. The colors flood through the ocean, the mountains, to the empty plains. The blossoming flowers, bloom over the mountaintops. The sun rising turns the sky a flume of pinks purples and oranges. The admirable ocean blue hues. The twinkle of the waves as they break along the shoreline. At night the stars light up the sky creating a pattern and light shining down on the quiet night. The sun shining at the perfect angle to light up the perfectly imperfect flower. The wind blowing the grass of the field where the horses run. While the rain pours it pounds down on the wet cement the clouds create a gray glare along the wet world. The pollution us humans bring are destroying the beauty of the quiet earth we love.
OVS Journalism Blog 
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