作者简介：Danny Xiang,目前还在于爱丁堡的Merchiston Castle School就读A-Levels最后一年。以下节选的6篇日记记录了在过去几年里Danny的寄宿生活，其中最后两篇描述的是A-Levels时发生的事情。
1. 序言
It didn’t take long at all for me to decide to come and study in the UK, with the advent of globalization, more and more people realize that it is necessary to study in an English speaking country. UK does not only offer the chance to study the original English, it also has so many first class universities, whose qualifications are widely respected all over the world. Besides the academic, there are many fun elements too; its famous football environment is definitely one for me! Since UK has such a diverse society, I feel there is less chance there would be any racism at boarding school. This is one reason why I did not take any summer courses before I started my school at the aged of 14, it was just so easy to settle in and pick up the language as you go along, because everyone is so friendly and helpful. At the moment I am doing 5 A-levels and 1 AS, which are Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Government and Politics and Chinese. I am aiming to achieve As in all my exams, and I hope to be going to Oxford University to study Engineering Science in the autumn.
2. 寄宿生活的第一天
Today is my first day at Merchiston Castle School, and I was really nervous about it, because I have never visited the school before and didn’t take any summer course. Despite my anxiety, I soon relaxed once I arrived; the staffs were so nice that I felt that my speaking English was better than it actually was! As soon as I walked into the day room of my boarding house, I was absolutely amazed by the friendly atmosphere: everyone was so friendly that a boy as shy as I had no difficulties in setting in, and I made many new friends on my very first day, although I was struggling to remember all the names.
Also I realized there were other international students in the house, literally from all over the world, such as South Korea, Japan and Russia. Although their English was not so fluent, it didn’t take long for us to understand each other at all. In some ways, it was even better to practice English by speaking to the international students, because we were both learning.
3. 寄宿学习生活掠影
Having been in the school for 2 months, I am getting used to school life, and I am starting to make the most of my time in here. School starts at 9 o’clock every morning, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have long days, in which we have 9 lessons and school finishes at 4 o’clock. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we have short days, in which we have only six lessons and finish at 1 o’clock. After lessons, we have 2 hours of activity time, when you can choose from a wide range of activities, including all the major sports, such as rugby and football, and also the minor sports such as basketball and tennis.
As a boarder, the quality of food is something I consider very important, and Merchiston has not let me down. The school kitchens are run by a professional catering company, and the quality of food is excellent, also they take the issue of a healthy diet really seriously: I remember once I was asked to take more salad for my meal by a member of the kitchen staff for I did not have enough vegetables. This brings to another point of being a boarder: you need to learn how to look after yourself and be responsible for yourself. One of the huge advantages of being a boarder is that we can have breakfast in the school, which means we don’t have to pull ourselves out of the bed as early as the day pupils!
4. 寄宿生活的收获
Today I have been elected to be a member of the House Council in my boarding houses; I really think this is an excellent opportunity for me to develop leadership qualities through gathering housemate’s suggestions and reporting to the housemaster. This also gave me the opportunity to get more involved in the boarding house and get on well with people from different cultures and backgrounds.
So far my time in the boarding house has been very enjoyable and I have liked the boarding facilities I think sharing rooms with other people when we are young is a great idea as people can build up their friendship really quickly. For me it was also a fantastic opportunity to pick up the language, and one thing I have learnt from my own experience is never be shy to speak. No one is going to laugh at you if you are trying, they will only laugh at you if you don’t try. Being a boarder in such a close community really helps me to express myself (the chat after lights out is really amazing!) and to build up my confidence, which will definitely benefit me in the future.
Another thing I have learnt is to be tolerant of and respect different culture and religions. Dealing with different cultures on a daily basis has taught me to become more broad-minded. One example was when the Islam students were fasting for Ramadan, and all other students were trying their best to help by doing their duties and helping them to carry books. This touched me deeply.
5. 课余生活
Last week, I took part in the CCF Easter Camp just before the Easter break. The expedition was organized by the staff, and about 20 pupils from my year took part; we climb up many famous mountains in Scotland including the Choire Ghairbh and Ben Nevis. We walked with an overall ascent of 6500 metes. Despite the difficulties we had during the expedition, I had a wonderful awareness of the beauty of Scotland. In fact, this is just one of the many trips that the school organized for the pupils, such as the Physics trip to Geneva, and the History trip to France. I have also visited some First World War battlefields, where millions of young men tragically lost their lives. Another activity that was new to me has been the Scottish Dancing Club. This involves many girls from neighbouring schools coming to Merchiston every weekend and this gave many boys (including myself) the encouragement to learn the dances. I learned to dance and had (to my surprise) a good laugh when putting on the traditional Scottish kilt.
6. 初试牛刀
I have always wanted to run a business of some sort; finally I have had the chance of running a real business at the beginning of the summer term. The business project is called Young Enterprise, where we set up a small company called “Limitless” and sold the product to the school and public. I was appointed to be the deputy director and the financial director of the company. My role was to manage the financial activities of the business.
I have learnt so much from this experience, and I have particularly enjoyed the chance to put some of my mathematical and analytical skills into practice in a real life economic situation and have been able to enhance my management and communication skills. More importantly, I have learnt to work with people from different backgrounds, and truly benefited from it. It was really interesting to find out how good the Russians were at “persuading” people to buy our products! Recently the school has set up a trading group, which allows the pupils to be involved in the UK’s stock market. I have really enjoyed this activity as it has given me the skills to think critically and analytically, I have entered the Proshare online trader competition and gained 5th place out of more than 2000 competitors. At the moment, my team is still competition in the Share 4 Schools competition. So far we have managed to have zero losses, which is not a bad start, is it?
Another good thing about being a boarder is that we can organize our own activities if we want, and the school is usually highly supportive: so this term I have organized an Engineering Society in school, which arranges regular site visits to local industries. So far, the society has proved to be hugely “popular”, with only about 10 members. Well, it is always the quality that matters, not the quantity, isn’t it? I have had many opportunities to challenge myself since I have been in the school, and probably one of the most important lessons I have picked from being a boarder, is to have the initiative to look for any possible challenges.
7. 考试及结束语
Exam weeks have not always been easy. Every one is really stressed, but I am glad that the staffs are always helpful and patient, and are always there when you need them. Even though some people describe them as “ complete mugs for a sob story!”
Today I have just had a 2 hour extra maths lessons for tomorrow’s exam, which was extremely helpful. Apart form academics, the School have also provided much assistance on areas, such as extra EFL lessons for people who has just arrived in the UK, or career assistance. I was really struggling to decide whether to study Economics at LSE or Engineering at Oxford and the career staff really gave me lots of helps and suggestions, and helped me to finally make up my mind and concentrate on getting the grades.
During my stay in Merchiston, I realized I have developed in many ways, such as academic, personal and sports, and I now have many transferable skills, which are extremely valuable for my future career. All the experiences I have had at boarding school have shaped me into being an independent, broad-minded adult. I would definitely recommend I think, boarding life in the Uk to anyone: without doubt it will be the most memorable time in your life!
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