DIY advent calendar

About a month ago my friend and I made a deal that instead of buying an advent calendar, which I haven't had in years by the way, we will made each other one.

Of course as a famous procrastinator I am, I waited until the very last minute to made one. 

I must admit I forgot how much I love being creative and I am glad we made the deal because it forced me to search my brain for ideas, made a plan and then stick to it. 

So here is what you'll need:

• cardboard
• paint 
• colourful paper (preferably red, because it's christmas time)
• some stickers

What you'll need

First thing I did, was cover the cardboard with white colour. Simply because the cardboard had a logo on it and I had to cover it up, but also because I felt like white would make everything look more christmasy.

As I waited for the paint to dry, I started making little envelopes. I used this method >>here<<. For making envelopes I used a square (10x10cm) which I cut out from the red paper. 

Then I filled each little envelope with quote or a memory I have with the person I was making it for or I wrote down things I like about that person. Once the little envelop was closed, I put a sticker with a number on it.

Little envelope n. 1

Meanwhile the paint on the cardboard had dried up, so I turned the cardboard around and repeated the process on the other side as well. Then I waited for it to dry again while I continued to make the little envelopes. 

When all the envelopes were done, I stick them to a cardboard with a Sellotape. I basically made a little roll out of Sellotape and paste it on the back of the envelope so the Sellotape isn't visible. 

The final product

This is how the final product looks like. I can't wait to give it to my friend. 

I hope to make some more DIY posts in the future because I really enjoyed making this.

Have you ever made an advent calendar yourself? How did it turn out? 

They call me what?!

I've been trying to come up with the idea what to write for today's post and my mind went blank. I've been posting a lot about my experiences and things I'm doing, but I realised that I haven't shared much about me.

Whenever I'm looking for inspiration for a blog post, I tend to look around my room and my eyes landed on one particular picture.

I'm not going to talk about quote or what it might mean to me. No, I'm here to discuss why the bloody hell is there wheat drawn on each side of the quote.

It's a funny story, sort of an inner joke between my friends and I, and I am letting you in on it!

Basically I tend to get a bit carried away during sports activities. There are two reasons for this:

• I am extremely competitive
• Somehow sports activities boost my energy levels and get me into a really good mood (honestly, a cup of coffee doesn't wake me up as much as a good exercise does)

It was one of those days when we have sports activities in school first thing in the morning. We were playing volleyball and the team I was on, was losing.

Trying to be funny I started acting like a coach, cheering our team up and giving these ridiculous motivational quotes. At some point I said something like: "Come on, girls! They are crushing us. They are crushing us like flour. And we are not flour! We are wheat!"

It seemed like such a good motto at the time and for each point we got I would scream: "Wheat!"

I don't recall who won that game, but that thing about wheat stuck around and became an inner joke among my group of friends.

Do you have any weird nicknames? How did you get them?

My autumn break

This week I had my autumn break and I went to Copenhagen and Berlin. I haven't had time to come up with the blog post idea so I decided to share my experience with you.

I absolutely loved the trip, I love travelling in general, so I put together a few photos for you to see what I've been up to.

Denmark, Copenhagen

Germany, Potsdam

Germany, Berlin

Denmark

I think Denmark might be my favourite country I've been to along with the Netherlands and England.

What's you favourite trip you've been to?

Back at it

Two years ago, I decided to take up boxing. I needed to take up sport activity and a friend wanted me to check out boxing with her so I decided to give it a shot, even though I was sure boxing was not my thing at all.

How wrong I was.

I've fallen in love with boxing. I don't know what it is that makes me so enthusiastic about it, but I never want to pick up another sport again. My parent had complained that it's not lady like, but they got used to it and began to enjoy the surprised faces when they tell their friends that their little girl is training boxing. 

During last year, however, it got a bit too much. Balancing boxing and school seemed impossible at a certain point so I decided to quit it.

Sorry for the quality of the picture, it's a bit old tbh  

Every now and then I would look at my pink boxing gloves which were lying around my room, feeling nostalgic and wanting to run back to the gym, but I knew school would suffer.

This year I decided to make it work! I started with trainings in September and I've never felt better. I love getting rid of negative energy when we work on a punching bag. It also helps that I switched boxing club. The training are not as intense as before, the atmosphere is more relaxed and I freaking love it, okay?

If you've never tried boxing before I suggest you definitely look up if there is a boxing club in your area and check it out. Most places offer first training for free so you can decided whether you like it or not before signing up.

What do you do to release tension that build up during the week? 

Choosing career path

I'm at that point in life when people expect me to know where I am headed and where my future is. The reality is quiet different.

I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life and the idea of making that decision terrifies me. My main goal is to do something I enjoy doing, but I feel like I haven't been introduced to all the opportunities and frankly I don't know what I enjoy doing enough so I wouldn't get bored of it in the future.

This weekend I gave one of my potential choices a go and I applied to a programming course Django Girls.

In second year of high school I absolutely loved working on HTML and programming robots, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do something like that or if I just liked the idea of it.

On a Saturday morning I woke up quite early, had some breakfast and headed over to college that was organising the course. It's understanding I was nervous. New environment and new people, it's not my cup of tea. However, everyone was extremely lovely and after the introduction we were put into small groups of three plus the mentor. It was girls only course, if you haven't figured that out by the name of it, and I was put into a group with two girls who were both older than me. They were both incredible lovely and our mentor was brilliant. My biggest fear was that I wouldn't understand what we were doing, but he explained it so simple even a child would understand it.

If only all my professors were like that...

By the end of the day I was exhausted. We were there since 9am to 6pm, and we had recieved so much information my head was about to explode.

However, I enjoyed the whole experience.

I'm not sure if this means I am one step closer to choosing my career path or if it means my life got more complicated because this is another thing I am interested in.

Anyway, no matter what I decide to do in the future, this was a wonderful experience and now I got knowledge no one can take away from me, which is always nice.

Hopefully I soon decide where I want my future to go.

Until then I still have this blog.

Review: Girl Online

On my birthday I got book Girl Online written by lovely Zoella a.k.a. Zoe Sugg. Among other gifts, which you can read all about here, this was the one I've been dying to get my hands onto. Ever since Zoe announced her book is coming out I wanted to get it, but there's so many books on my MUST BUY list I never got around to do it.

To be completely honest with you guys, I wasn't even sure I wanted to spend my money on it because recently every youtuber has been publishing their own book and I've had a feeling that a lot of them felt pressured to do it because it was a way to make some extra money and because their viewers (me included) will buy everything they put out.

Luckily I was pleasantly surprised. I've fallen in love with Girl Online as soon as I read a few pages. It's a good teen romance, easy to read and it seems so realistic. It shows the influence of social media and how easily things can go viral and mess up someone's life completely. The book has a good representation of how it feels to be a teenage girl who is intimidated by world, doesn't feel like she fits in and above all doesn't understand what is happening to her.

However, our main character Penny, isn't afraid to express herself on her blog, putting her feelings out for the world to see and share her honest opinion. In her words she is keeping it real on the blog and unreal in her life. Her blog is like a safe place to her and I believe a lot of us (people who like to write blog like she does) feels the same way.

When things get overwhelming in school, her parents offer her a little getaway to New York. There she meets a boy that goes by the name Noah. He's different that what she knows, slightly older, very handsome and surprisingly good at asking random questions. They get involved, but Noah is keeping something a secret from her and when she returns to UK, things fall apart.

But you have to read the book to find out what happens.

Girl Online is a perfect book for a lazy, rainy day when you want to escape from reality. With a cup of tea by your side and wrapped in warm, cozy blanket you have a perfect setting for a day of relaxation.

Late birthday surprise!

My family has been building up tension ever since I first found out my aunt was taking my somewhere for my birthday and she didn't want to tell me where. I was supposed to go with her to that mysterious place a week before my birthday, but she had to travel on business that week, so she told me she would take me on the third of October.

The whole week my parents were saying things like:
"Have you packed your suitcase?"
"We already told your teacher you wouldn't be in school next week."

I was absolutely thrilled and freaked out. I love traveling and I grab the opportunity to go somewhere as soon as someone mentions it. So it's understandable I was excited.

When I came to my aunt's place at nine o'clock in the morning, she opened the door and greeted me with: "Where is your suitcase?"

At that point I wasn't sure if they were joking around or not. Needless to say my anxiety started to kick in because I couldn't prepare myself mentally for what I was about to experience. It was nerve-wracking.

We were getting closer and closer to the airport when my aunt told me she was taking me to Germany to help in refuge (because of the immigration crisis and all). I was speechless. I don't mind helping people and I believe you should offer a helping hand because you never know when you are going to be on the other end. When we drove past the airport, my aunt started laughing and told me we are actually not leaving the county.

Disappointment was definitely staring to kick in, but I convinced myself that whatever I get it's going to be amazing.

And I was right.

My aunt took me to a sushi workshop. I believe I mentioned in the previous post which you can read here how much I adore sushi.

The workshop was absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. We were thought how to make sushi by Japanese woman who have lived in Slovenia for eleven years now. She walked us through every step and at the end I had more sushi than I was able to consume. Luckily my brother is as enthusiastic as me about sushi so during the weekend it gradually disappeared from the plate.

Looks delicious, doesn't it?

It's my birthday!

I was never that person, who loves having birthday so much they start a countdown a month or two before. I think it's because I don't like being the centre of attention and having a birthday forces me to socialize with people I don't know very well, so I feel anxious. Part of me believes I don't deserve having a special day, dedicate to me because I'm not important enough, I don't believe people will remember or care that it's my birthday and when they do I'm never sure what to do.

But since high school started I can't get away with pretending I don't have a birthday and frankly I don't want to anymore because my friends always make sure I feel all bubbly and happy. 

This year's birthday started as usual. I woke up way to early for my liking, got dressed and headed to school where people I know wished me happy birthday and were extra nice because that's a thing to do when it's someone's birthday.  A lot of people from other classes I never in a million years expected to know it was my birthday, came up to me and wished me all the best and wrapped me in a heart warming hug. I think on that day I lost the right to say I have no one who would care about me. 

But the best part was yet to come.

At the break my schoolmates showed up with a bunch of pastry they baked themselves and sushi that had birthday candles on top of it. (I don't know if I ever stated on my blog how much I love sushi, but the fact I got it instead of cake says a lot.)

Look at all the food

A friend who was sitting next to me at the time laughed when she saw everything they brought me then suddenly got up and disappeared.  I didn't think much of it because during a break she usually hangs out in a special room where they choose song to play on the speakers around the school, so it's like a radio of some sort. But she returned a few minutes later with a gift bag full of Japanese candy she got for me while she was visiting Japan during summer. She actually thought what to get me two months before my birthday. If that doesn't scream effort in capital letters, then I don't know what does.  

Delicious Japanese candy

Two days after my birthday I got a call from two of my best friends who told me to meet them outside my door. We don't go to the same school and our schedules are so different we rarely get together, so I was really happy to see them. They bought me Zoella's book Girl Online which I have already started reading although I should be studying for my maths exam. 

Expect a review soon!

Later that day I invited my schoolmates over to my house to celebrate and they brought me the most amazing, sentimental gift. They made me this wooden panel with pictures of them and me and they added some quotes. I'm planning on putting it on my wall as soon as I can so I can look at it every day and it will remind me how blessed I am to have the best friends in the world.

There's not one good looking picture of me on there

If I were to mention all the lovely texts and calls I got from my other friends as well this post would be endless so I'm finishing here.

Let me know in the comments what does your birthday usually go like! Are you looking forward to your birthday or is it just another ordinary day in your life?

The food market

If you live in a capital city there is always something happening, there are always different events taking place. I’ve been living in capital city since I was a little kid and I’ve been oblivious to those events most of the time. When I got slightly older, slightly more interested in the world around me, I came to realise that maybe going to these events wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all. 

One of those events is Open Kitchen which is basically a food market that takes place every Friday from mid-March to October. People who’ve been there speak very highly of it and the place is always flooded with people so on a Friday morning I decide it’s time to give it a go. In school I convinced a few of my friends to join me, so as soon as our classes ended we headed downtown where the Open Kitchen takes place.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and you could feel a little breeze now and then, so naturally the town was filled with teenagers who were happy that the weekend was finally starting, the tourists that were easy to spot with their cameras and people who simply came to enjoy the sun. 

We headed towards the Open Kitchen where we walked around, looking at the stands and deciding what we should eat. Let me tell you that it wasn’t easy to choose, but once we narrowed it down to a few options and considered the prices we went for a burrito from BurritoLoco. I’ve never had a burrito before, to be honest, but I love Mexican food so I decided to give it a try and I wasn’t disappointed. 

One of my friends leaded us to a quite place under a bridge nearby because at the Open Kitchen you can’t really sit down and enjoy the food. For a few moments we enjoyed the silence and the taste of food in our mouth before we started to discuss what it tasted like and what we thought of the whole experience.

Overall the food was good, I was in great company and the weather was nice, so I think I’m definitely going back next Friday if I can afford it. I saw couple of things that I really want to try and I don’t have much time until the season of Open Kitchen ends, so there’s a possibility that you will see a similar post in a following month.

Meeting Eva

It all started with a simple email about two weeks ago. I was absolutely thrilled when I opened it and read that Eva (click on the name to check out her amazing blog) wants to meet up and do a collaboration. 

I’ve been following her since I first started using blogger, so you can assume that I didn’t think twice about the preposition she made before agreeing to crab a cup of coffee and discusses our blogs. 

On a day we decided to met I didn’t know what to expect given this was my first ever collaboration. I was slightly nervous, but above all excited to meet someone who shares same interests as me.

It was rainy, dull day so Eva was easy to spot in her colourful outfit. I have to admit that I have so much respect for people who manage to dress in colour and look stunning because I am the worst when it comes to colour coordinating which is also the reason I dress in black and white most of the time. And let me tell you that Eva knew very well how to pull off that outfit. 

We found a cozy spot in a coffee shop that was fairly empty when we got there, but in the next three hours we spent there a decent amount of people came to enjoy their cup of coffee. 

At first out conversation was a bit awkward, but when we realised we share opinion on variety of topics, the fact we only knew each other for about ten minutes didn’t matter anymore. 

Eva made me feel like we’ve known each other for years. It was like talking to an old childhood friend that you can trust everything with. We discussed things like blogging community, school, living abroad, movies and series. I learned so much about her, her goal in life and she is a true inspiration. 

In three hours I was lucky enough to get to know her and enjoy her company, I realised she isn’t only a great blogger, but amazing person as well. 

At one point Eva mentioned that in her opinion blogging brings good and bad things into your life, but that a list of good ones in considerably longer. I know that from the day I met her I have one more thing to add to the list of good things and that’s meeting her.

Things that inspire me

In life setting a goal for yourself is not always enough. There are obstacles on the way and we often lose motivation when we have to face them. Because of that we are always looking for things and people that inspire us, who keep us going when we want to give up. 

I think we all know that feeling too well. Because school year is slowly starting and we will need more then just a dash of random inspiration, I wanted to show you things that inspire me and make me feel ready to take on the world. 

My biggest inspiration is my diary. It’s a flowery notebook, not much at the first glance, to be honest, but that’s why they always say not to judge a book by its cover (although, let’s admit it, we all do it). 

I used it as a diary at first, but eventually I turned it into a notebook where I keep quotes, stories and poems that touched me and make me want to be better. 

Also I find writing very relaxing so whenever I feel stressed out, I sit down, search for few quotes on Tumblr and write them down. 

There is only one problem that I seem to have. When you read a quote hundred times over and over again it usually loses its power to affect you. When that happens I reach out for a good movie. 

Movies about sports and milestones in history are the ones that do the magic for me. I recently watched Remember the Titans which really motivated me. I love the fact that it’s not only about football, but also about racial discrimination that these boys are put through. Coach Carter is another great movie I would recommend if you love sports movies as much as I do.

The next source of my inspiration is kind of cliché, but it’s also the most common. I get great amount of inspiration from people around me. From my family and friends to complete strangers on the street. 

Next time you are in a crowded place I dare you to look around, and I guarantee you, you will see someone you envy. If you have the power to look at that person and see inspiration instead of competition, you have already won because now you have unlimited source of inspiration. Now, you can walk around and see someone that makes you want to dress better, read more, be more sociable etc. 

Those are things that inspire me, but I want to know what inspires you. Let me know in the comments!

Buying presents on a budget

I find it challenging to buy presents for my friends and family members. Firstly because I always want to find something unique, something that will let that person know I care about them, so I put extra thought into picking up a present. The second reason is that I am always short on money so expensive gifts are really not my style. 

I like something simple and meaningful, so over the years I stumbled across wonderful ideas that I would love to share with you. 

A jar of notes is the most personal and I’ve felt really good after giving it to one of my friends, especially because a month after I gave it to them, I was still getting text messages about how it made their day. 

So what is a jar of notes?

Simple. It’s a jar filled with notes for a person you are giving it to. I chose three different colours of paper I was writing them on; pink, blue and white. Pink paper had quotes written on them, blue had things I like about that person and white were random thoughts (for example what movie I recommend or a simple joke). I wrote about fifty of those things and put them into a jar. On the lid I pasted an envelope with a letter that explained what the jar contained and that they should take out one note per day. 

With that I managed to do something personal, original and made sure they got something out of my present for the next fifty days. 

Baking something is the ultimate winner for me. It shows that you put some effort into the present and it’s always nice to get something delicious for a present. Sometimes baking can be underrated but I promise you it is a lovely gift. 

Buying with a group is a very common thing and most of the presents I give are bought with a group of friends. This allows you to buy something that is more expensive, but it’s also great if your schedule is busy because you can just chip in money for the present. Presents that are bought like that are usually more memorable since you can afford to buy concert tickets for their favourite band or a ticket for an adrenaline park or three day holiday in a spa. So overall it’s always a good purchase when you are buying a present together with other people. 

I hope this gives you a few ideas on what you can get for your friend. Remember that a present doesn’t have to be expensive to be meaningful and personal!

Sleeping tips

There is a bunch of things in life that I cherish and on the top of the list is sleeping, purely because I never get enough of it. In the last years I’ve had the worst sleeping habits. I am not able to fall asleep, I wake up in the middle of the night and the worst of all I have constant nightmares. 

Since I know how frustrating it can get I decided to share a few of my sleeping tips. Before starting I would like to remind you that I am no professional and that this may not help you with your sleeping problems. Everything in this article are just personal preferences, things that help me and it could be completely different for you, because your body may function differently from mine, so there is a possibility this won’t help you.

Use up your energy. For me this is one of the most important ones, because I figured if my body is absolutely exhausted I have more chances of falling asleep right away and not having any nightmares. So I would advise you to take up jogging, go to a gym or just meet with your friends to play soccer. Literally any sports activity helps!

Cut out sugar. Sugar tends to raise your energy level so try to cut out thing like chocolate and any sweets in general. If you are consuming energy drinks or caffeine make sure to stop drinking them because they could be the reason for your sleepless nights.  

Eating before bed time is probably the worst thing you can do, especially if you are having nightmares. If your stomach aches while you are sleeping the pain can transform into nightmares that will eventually wake you up.

Using electronic devices before going to bed is not advisable as well. I read that social networks such as Facebook and Tumblr use colour blue for their background because it’s the colour of sky and it tricks your brain into thinking it’s still daylight outside. So I would recommend you to grab a book instead of sitting behind the computer screen or watching a television.  

These are the things that help me and I hope that they will help you as well because not being able to sleep can really affect your body. If you are having serious sleeping problems then I would advise you to pay a visit to a doctor. Sleep tight!

Airbnb review

About a month ago I had no idea what Airbnb is, but then my aunt invited me to go to London with her and said that she rented a room on Airbnb. My immediate response was: “On what?”

Airbnb is an online website that allows people to rent out lodging in over 192 countries. 

People who have unused rooms in their homes can create an account on Airbnb and open their homes to people all around the world. Of course there are a lot of things that you worry about when you decide to do something like that, but I must say that my experience was wonderful.

We arrived in London at about one in the morning and had to get a taxi from the airport to the house that we were staying at. The house looked lovely when we stood outside and rang the bell. We were both very anxious when no one answered the door, thinking we had been fooled and we would have to find a hotel at one in the morning, but it turned out that our host had just fellen asleep. 

She was really nice, very communicative and gave us a very warm welcome. She even left some water in our room if we wanted to make a cup of tea before going to bed. Our room was overlooking the garden they had behind their house. In the morning we were greeted by the sun shining through our window and the smell of breakfast from downstairs. 

Our host showed us around the house that morning and even let us see two chickens they had in the backyard. She made us breakfast, and later took us to the underground with her car, just to show us where it is. 

Later that week she took us to the train station when we were running late for Harry Potter Studio tour, but that’s another story. 

To sum up, even if you are sceptical about going somewhere with Airbnb I’d say it’s worth a shot. Just make sure you look through reviews the person has on the website. Overall my experience was wonderful! I met some amazing people, got to practice my English and was lucky enough to see how people really live in London. Airbnb gives you a chance to really see people’s habits and the way of living all over the world.  

Meeting new people

We all follow certain social rules that we learn while growing up and living as a social beings. Those rules tell us what is acceptable and what is not, but I have always had a hard time deciding if something is acceptable or not. 

I feel like we are all pushed into society and told to start forming friendships and connections that we might use later on in life.

Yet there is one thing that constantly bothers me and that’s meeting new people. In my opinion it is acceptable to be introduced to someone by a mutual friend, it is okay to start a conversation if you are going to the same school or you both participate in an organised free time activity, but it seems weird to walk up to a complete stranger just to start a conversation.

Honestly, it could be just me. Maybe I am the only one that feels like that’s not acceptable way to make friends. And I  have also never heard my friends say something among the lines ‘we met when they passed by and I started a conversation,’ while introducing me to someone. It’s always someone they know from their childhood or school or trainings. 

I wish things would be different because I have seen so many strangers that looked like someone I would love to be friends with.

For example, last year I kept seeing a girl on my way home. We would always smile at each other, but never stopped to say hi and start a conversation. So for one year I would look forward to seeing her and every day I promised myself that I would start a conversation, but it never happened. Then summer came, and with new school year I assume both of our schedules changed so I don’t see her anymore. To this day I still wish I had enough courage to walk up to her and introduce myself because she seemed like a friendly person and let’s be honest, it’s always good to have a friend.

What are your thoughts on it? Have you ever started a conversation with someone who smiled at you on the street and maybe even become friends with them?

How to spice up your life

I feel that everyone gets to a certain point in their life when things slowly crumble then fall apart. You lose your motivation, you don’t have anything to look forward to anymore and your life becomes one long lazy day that you cannot get out of. 

It can be frustrating. 

So what to do when you get stuck at that point in your life? How to keep moving forward? How to get through a day without feeling you accomplished nothing?

You can either push yourself without a particular goal, hoping to find your motivation the same way you lost it - in a heartbeat, or you can make a bucket list.

The bucket list in general is defined as a list of things to do before you die. The sound of it is a bit strange at first. It sounds a bit like something teenagers or young adults would put together to justify their irresponsible decisions. 

Let me tell you that a bucket list doesn’t have to be like that. It can be whatever you set it out to be. You can make it calm and aim to live relaxed, but fulfilled life or adventurous, full once in a life time chances and adrenaline. It is all up to you and your imagination because life can take you anywhere you want. 

Seriously, do not beat yourself up with things that are almost impossible to achieve. The bucket list can simply be ‘sleep under the stars’ or ‘learn how to play the guitar’ or even just ‘make someone happy’. You see, bucket list is something that will keep you going when you wake up in the morning and think: “Oh no! Another day! What’s the point of getting out of bed?” 

The whole point of a bucket list is setting out a goal that makes you value each day and greet it with excitement because maybe today is the day that you are going to cross skydiving off of your bucket list. What’s great about it is that most of the time it doesn’t include pressure or deadline, it is all up to you. 

With the bucket list everyday is a new opportunity.  

Raised into cheaters

Modern society seems to look up to one goal when bringing up a child and that’s making them successful. 

Wanting your child to succeed, to provide for themselves and their family is okay, but not when success becomes all that matters. Not when it becomes okay to break the rules and walk over people so that a person can reach their goal. 

The pressure of being a successful individual is put on a person at a very young age. It seems to be a common belief that grades determine your value as a human being. However, grades cannot show your abilities to work with people, your character or even your knowledge. People are willing to take a risk and cheat in an exam to get a better grade, rather than challenging their mind, expanding their knowledge and simply learn about things that could help them later on. 

Go ahead, call me old fashioned, but I strongly believe that school shouldn’t be just about passing. It should be about learning and discovering new passions.

These thoughts were triggered when I saw a few boys in school taking shortcuts when we had to run. It seemed bizarre to me because we run for ourselves, to get in shape, to push our body to the limits, to see what we are capable of. 

So, because of my beliefs I made a promise to myself when starting high school a year and a half ago; no cheating in exams, no shortcuts and I’m proud to say I am sticking to it. I am proud to say that I have achieved everything with hard work and dedication. 

Some of my friends roll their eyes at me and tell me I am a prude for not using cheat sheets. They often suggest that I should use it when I cannot get certain information in my head, so I nod along, smile politely and think to myself that I am not the one who’s losing here.  

The worst of all is that people will always find a way to bypass the rules, find a shortcut or do something morally wrong because it is not forbidden. 

Now I am asking you. Is it worth cheating in life? Is it worth taking an easy way even though you are only cheating yourself in the end?

I know my answer. Do you?

The Maze Runner: book vs movie

The Maze Runner is a quickly growing franchise based on a novel by Josh Dashner. It’s one of those young-adult fiction that is located in dystopia. It became popular with the release of the movie, which features some of the best young adult actors such as Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Sangster and Will Poulter. 

But because the movie ends with a cliffhanger, I decided to read the book as well, hoping to get more information about what is going on. The writer took part in making of the movie, so I expected a bunch of similarities and very few changes, but I was surprised by the difference. 

The basic story is that Thomas, a teenager, finds himself in the centre of a giant maze without any memory whatsoever, only to be welcomed by other boys into a community that seems to be living in the maze. Soon he becomes a Runner (=a person who runs around the maze, mapping and memorising it), but that’s when trouble starts. He triggers strange events, leading to finding the solution of how to escape. When they get out, they are faced with the real world and the reason why they were put into a maze, making them question their own existence. 

So there is a question: Is it better to read a book or watch a movie?

I’m a big supporter of reading the book first, yet in this case I watched the movie before even opening a book. The movie has a lot of action in it, lots of guys trying to prove themselves, a lot of rushed decisions and it’s perfect for the big screen because of the constant tension. It has a gripping plot, just enough mystery to keep you thinking about it and a cliffhanger that makes you go insane. 

The book, on the other hand, is much more deliberate. Events that take place are there for a reason and nobody rushes into anything, because they realise their lives depend on it. Compared to a movie it is much more intelligent; from how they live in the glade to how they figure out the way out of the maze. In the book they truly are geniuses, like they are supposed to be, while in the movie they just seem like hormonal teenage boys who constantly argue. 

To sum it up, if you read the book first you will build up your expectations and be disappointed. However, if you watch the movie first, the book will fill you in on things they left out. So my advice is to do both, read the book and watch the movie, because each of them is unique and has touching moments in it that you don’t want to miss.

A day in the life: Airport madness

A while ago I visited the Netherlands. It is a beautiful country with very kind people. However, no matter how much fun I had, one thing will stay with me forever, just because it doesn’t happen that often - a blackout in Amsterdam.

It wouldn’t be such a big deal if it wasn’t for the fact we were at the airport when it happened. 

I was just in the middle of security check when all of a sudden the light went out, along with all the computers and X-ray scanners. To be honest, I am always nervous while going through security check even though I have nothing to be afraid of and the first thing that went through my mind at that exact moment was: “Was it my fault?”  

Some of the lights turned back on, I believe the airport has its own generator, but most of the airport was still in the dark. Security was all over the place, but luckily I was one of the few  people who was allowed to continue their way to the gate. Sadly all the shops were closed, meaning I had to kill time sitting around and sharing some food with a few of my friends. 

Our flight was delayed for approximately two hours. Considering we had to take a train to the airport, be there at least an hour before, and the fact our flight took about an hour and forty-five minutes, it meant I hadn’t eaten a proper meal for seven hours and only had a glass of water.  

So, here are few things I learnt during this experience:

• Take some food with you even if you think you may not need it
• Once you get past security check fill your water bottle on the toilet
• Make sure your phone is charged

Everything turned out okay in the end, and all the credit goes to the well organised staff at the airport. They did the best they could and it was a chance for us to see how much work is put into controlling an airport. On the other hand, it was scary to see how much we rely on machines nowadays. 

Internet: The dream job

As a teenager I spend most of my days online watching movies, reading, being active on social media. So it’s no wonder I stumbled across people who owe their success to community online. 

Youtubers, bloggers and writers who get published because of the audience they captured on the net, seem to have a great job. 

What’s the trick? What does it take to be one of those people?

Something that you’ll need is self-discipline. You are, after all, working by yourself so the amount of time and effort you put into it will make great difference in advance. Make sure you organise your time well, plan your posts in advance and don’t wait until last minute to come up with an idea.

People that make money online are great entertainers so don’t be afraid to be original. Creativity is important if you want people to keep coming back. No one wants to see the same thing twice. 

You need to realise internet offers a bunch of opportunities, but remember there are many people out there that are trying just as hard as you. You have to be great at self-promoting. Throw your story out there, come up with something people will remember you by, make your content so intense people will talk about it and most of all don’t be afraid to share your posts.

Even though internet looks like a place where you can make money within a small amount of time don’t be fooled. You will need to build up your platform, which can take from few months to few years, so don’t quit school / job just yet. Good luck!