minnake

OK so I'm finally a high school graduate now. yay yay yay for me !! No more high school ever again, which is pretty awesome :)

Ah I haven't updated my journals for a while so I'll make this a long one... about high school... my school experience specifically... to whoever is interested and wants to have a long read :)

So let's take it from the beginning. I have gone to 5 different schools throughout my 12 years of being a student.

I first started school at the age of 7. When I was in kindergarten I was really looking forward to going to school cos I thought it would be all exciting and I felt I'd be all grown up^^ But yea after 2 weeks in school I was done.
I told my mom to take me out of school cos I knew all I thought I needed to know..i could read, I could write. I was done!

But yea she didn't and I went to school for all of the 12 years. I never was a big fan of school. I was always an OK student for the most part. I wasn't failing, I wasn't getting straight As.

So yea my first school... was strict... like an old school Soviet style school (tho the Soviet Union ended when I was like 2 years old..). Them teachers in that school scared the shit out of little Minna, I remember being too scared to go to school when I didn't have my notebook lined cos I didn't have a ruler...lol...yea we lined our own notebooks...

Nevertheless that time was a really nice time in my life, I loved the place where I lived. It was like the Estonian version of a lil ghetto...but well not so hardcore...tho there were some not so nice people in the neighborhood. I remember this one time a man in my BFFs house got killed w/an axe. That was probably the freakiest thing that happened on my street while I was living there. It was still a lovely place where to grow up. Oh here's a pic of my house then. Me and my mom had a studio apartment on the 2nd floor.

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Check out the 1st pic, that's my window there! The whole neighborhood looks so much smaller to me now. I took that pic as I was walking around the area last spring. I still love the place.


In the 2nd pic there's a view of the street. The house that they painted green a couple of years ago is where my ex-best friend used to live^^ Another thing I love about that time in my life is meeting her and hanging out w/her for years and years.


In the 3rd pic there's the place where homeless people used to live...I guess they don't anymore...Rapla 3..that place used to scare me as a kid.
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OK enough of that place. But yea then I moved to a house. Our own house and I changed schools.
Then changed homes for a couple of times but stayed at the same school. That new school was a lot more liberal as far as teachers go but kinda more clique-y :P which is all whatever and not worth mentioning. I liked that school at first, then didn't for a while and tried to change schools. I ended up in a school that was seriously messed up ...with like no decent education, drugs and alcohol and stuff. So yea within 2 weeks I was fed up with that place and really unhappy there. So I went back to my former 2nd school and stayed there until I graduated 9th grade.

That school only had 9 grades so I had to choose another school to start 10th grade in. I chose a school that taught Japanese and that a close friend already went to.
That was a bad decision tho. That close friend soon became a lot less close and I was failing 2 classes. I just couldn't get myself to go to school more than 3 or 4 times a week.
That school was ridiculously cold, like 12°C, as I once checked the thermometer in the cafeteria.
And I had classes 5 times a week from 8:00 until 16:00... I just couldn't wake up and go sit in that refrigerated place.lol luckily I wasn't left behind and ended up failing only one class.

Then after I graduated 10th grade I was so fed up with school. I knew that if I had to go back to that school then I'd not just finish high school. I just wouldn't have gone back. Even if I would have I'd have failed anyway.

So as a last resort I changed schools again and went to a school for grown ups. That was the best decision ever school-wise.

That school for grown ups has students who are at least 16 years old. They have grades from 8-12. It's especially made for people who can't attend a regular high school for reasons like work or cos they have babies or whatnot. And the best part is that even tho the curriculum is exactly the same as in any regular high school, you only have to attend school 3 times a week. The teachers there were way more understanding, more chill and gave the students a lot more independence.
Like attending school was only your own business. If you didn't get all your stuff done you failed but no teacher was running after you nagging about undone assignments.
Also I became a really good student. I had the best grades out of all the people in my class^^
And the people were way way cooler. People from all walks of life. People my age, people in there 20s, in their 30s, people w/kids and families, people with careers. There was no clique bullshit like in so many regular high schools.
That's what made it so awesome. Everyone did what they wanted like it was no ones business.

I'm hoping uni will be kinda like that. Or whatever it'll be like I'll still live my life like it's no ones business haha that's kinda what i've learned I guess.

So yea that was my school life summed up a lil bit in short...or not so short...yea short actually cos that was 12 years^^ I'm really tried now, I feel like I wrote a novel or something. Gonna go to bed

Peace and much love :]

Minna :*


PS: This was kinda a looooong intro to my graduation haha I'm gonna post my graduation pics and stuff tomorrow...prolly :P or if not then then the day after tomorrow!

I got tagged by novemberuncertain quite a long time ago actually!
Thinking of 5 songs to list was hard work! xP
I suck at picking favorites and I have lots of songs I like, from different genres, different times.
With some of these songs I'm not sure if I totally and completely fell in love with them the first time I heard them or not.
All of the songs I picked mean something to me, they kinda represent certain times in my life or my thoughts.
That's kinda what I based my list on, not so much if I first got hooked on the beat or not.

1. Lenny Kravitz - Fly away
I loved this song when it first came out like years and years ago, I could relate and I still do, I love that song! Lenny Kravitz was also the first concert I went to, it was awesome! I'll never forget it ^^

2. The Backstreet Boys - Millennium (yea the entire millennium album,lol)
I bet I know all the lyrics to all the songs by heart haha. I was a huge BSB fan back in the 90s when I was a little teenage Minnake with a crush on Nick Carter xP My best friend at the time was also a huge huge fan if BSB and Nick and we'd listen to that album like every day, over and over again and walk on the street singing them BSB songs xP It's cheesy as hell but songs from that album still remind me of that time and it's kinda sweet in a nostalgic kinda way. Although I'm not into their music that much anymore.

3. Ayumi Hamasaki - Fly High (Voodoo & Serano Remix)
Reminds me of summer '06 when one late night I first discovered that song. I loved it the first time I heard it and I also love love the video. Also kinda a nostalgic thing. Summer '06 was a relatively positive one. I've played that song many many many times on my iPod. And also listening to it on my iPod reminds me of the guy who bought me the mp3 cos I couldn't get it for free off of LimeWire. Tho yea now I also have a free copy on my laptop ... oops *blushes*

4. Jay-Z and Beyoncé - Bonnie and Clyde '03
Besides the BSB I was also a huge fan of Beyoncé and Destiny´s Child. Bonnie and Clyde is probably not my favorite song by Beyoncé but it's well hot haha. I like that song a lot ohh and I remember ´03 and what I was up to then. I thought Beyoncé looked super hot in that video, lol still do. And I like the concept of the vid and song + the beat is hot.

5. H.I.M. - Join Me
I remember when that song first came out. I was pretty young then, I was like a little kid watching that music video on TV and wondering what was up with that Ville Valo guy. I thought he looked different,in a no shirt and make up on a guy kinda way, and figured he was probably gay. I remember thinking like good for him for doing well and being from Finland. Since it's just 80km across the gulf from here. I didn't even get what he was singing about back then but I loved the melody.
I've liked that song throughout the years, now I get what it's all about. I'm not depressed enough to relate but I think it's a beautiful and awesome song. The kind of song I'll never get tired of, even as the years pass it still rocks. ^^

OK now I'm gonna tag: Spamrockspiritmcr mortuarybeautician dxxxtremepinoy siennaxsorrows fatcatrin
Hope you guys list your songs and tag others ;D hm I'm not sure how many people you should tag or what the rules are but I tagged 5 xP

I recently got a drivers license, yay, and I'm real happy about it, so I thought I'd let everyone here know...everyone who cares enough to read through this. hehe Anyway..!
Getting a drivers license here in Estonia is a real nightmare. I know how it works in the U.S. here it's like a million times harder. You have to take 5 tests, take a first aid and a driving on ice course.
First there is drivers school. Before you can take ARK (that's kinda like DMV in the U.S.) tests you have to pass drivers school. In drivers school you first have to take a theory exam which consists of 60 questions with multiple choice answers. Then you have to take an exam in parking, oh and there are multiple ways they can torture you with parking... not only parallel parking or something. Then after those exams there is a city driving exam which is 50 minutes long.
And before you can actually start taking those exams it's mandatory to take at least 40 driving lessons. One lesson is 25 minutes long , those mandatory lessons are a wonderful way for driving schools and instructors to make money. People usually take 2 or 3 lessons at a time. Then after you've taken the 40 mandatory lessons, driving instructors like to fail you on exams so you'd take more lessons and give more money to them. Failing an exam like 5 time is nothing out of the ordinary here.
Actually passing drivers school is the hardest part, when you actually get to the ARK exams the hardest and most expensive part is over. The drivers school part is made so idiotically hard only so that driving schools and instructors can make money. I swear someone who owns a driving school must be sleeping with someone in the government or at least must be closely related to a politician or something... oh well... it's just a topic that irritates me quite a bit.. =P Then a part of drivers school is also a course on first aid that takes like a few hours. It's just a course you have to take, you can't fail it ... that's at least one good thing about the whole drivers school massacre.
Anyway having finally gotten past the driving school part there is still the ARK part, that means national driving exams. First there is a theory exam, again consisting of 60 multiple choice questions. After that there is a city driving test for 50 minutes. There used to be an ARK parking exam also but now they made it a lot easier and kinda put together the city driving and parking exam. So like when you take the city driving exam the examiner will have you park the car at some point.
Then after passing all of those exams you can finally get a drivers license! But that's not all...!
Within 2 years after getting your license you have to take a course on driving on ice, which of course costs...=/ if you don't they'll just take away your license and it's back to drivers school!
Then also all drivers who have had their license for under 2 years have to have this sign or stickers of a green maple leaf on the front and back window of their car. That maple leaf sign means the driver is a beginner and can't drive faster than 90km/h. Some roads here in Estonia have a speed limit of 110km/h but beginners have to stick to 90km/h. I don't know any other EU country that has a dumbass law like that...
Anyway yea I've been working on getting my drivers license since I was 16, now I just turned 19 when I finally got it! =] Although I didn't continuously work on getting my license for the past 2 or so years, I took long breaks cos I was broke and I didn't always have time cos I had schoolwork to do. But yea getting a license is expensive here, it cost me about 1500USD. Getting a license to me is pretty much as important as graduating high school, so I'm real happy to have it over with!
Here are a couple of pics of me before starting to drive legally (yea i'd been driving without a license before, hehe) for one of the first times.
And also the picture I have on my drivers license! Since it took me so long to get a drivers license I took a pic for my license quite a while ago...in fall 2007, I believe. My hair looks really different now which kinda makes me look really different haha.
Oo and today I drove alone for the first time, before I'd always had my mom with me. But yea today I drove from my grandmother's place(which is like 15km from Tallinn) to a store in the city and back. woo hoo, it was pretty cool =P Anyway that's it for now, whoever read all of this will get a big cookie from me, a chocolate chip one i'll mail it to you haha. I don't know if I'm kidding, I'm just random and a bit weird anyway, here are the pics!
Oh and one thing I forgot to mention before is that I know in the U.S. you don't have to learn to drive a stick shift if you don't want to but here it's stick shifts for everyone! =P first I didn't like it, now I prefer it.
Pictures!!! ^^

Hellllo everyone who's reading this. So I got back from London 2 days ago. It was really really awesome, i like london a lot. It's totally liveable, haha. Anyway being gone for 5 days has kinda created a whole lot of stuff i have to catch up on- especially online!

In real life i have to catch up on a couple of tests i missed in school while being on holiday. i'll take those tests the following week! and i have some studying to do for my exams, which start from tomorrow. tomorrow is the first one out of 4. it's not a lot of fun but i don't really care that much. i only need to pass to get to uni anyway. and to pass i need a score of 20 out of 100, so i'm not too worried. but nevermind tests aren't really that interesting... oh and also in real life i have to catch up on working out. when i was in london i had a major food orgy and it was lots of fun haha. i didn't exercise at all. at home it's like a part of what i do... every day. but yea so i'm also gonna go back to eating proper and working out. there were lots of cool food things in london. one thing i really like is shortbread, that's really a scottish thing tho. but nevertheless it's awesome *drooling* haha

But I actually made videos about my trip and about shortbread so i'm not gonna ramble on about it here for too long. I'll be posting my little london trip vids soon! I ended up recording quite a lot of footage... like every day of my trip. so i made every day into one video and all of the vids kinda make a series.
Oo and I also wanna do a question&answer video soon. Many many many thanks to icemint and parlezvousmae (if you're reading this -thanks thanks thanks, haha) for giving me many cool topics to make vids about. i'll be doing the q&a vids after my london series!

But also yea there's a lot of catching up to do online also! Responding to all of my notes on buzznet after 5 days took quite a while, hehe. And I still wanna catch up on a couple of more things on here- i have quite a lot of pictures to add and videos but i'll manage.. just gonna take a while!
Apart from buzznet i also have to send emails and do some stuff on myspace and i also have an orkut account that i already caught up with. tho the orkut thing is more like an estonian thing for me, pretty much everyone i have there is estonian and i know in real life. but i guess that's more than a little bit off-topic. lol.

Hm so yea I'll be doing some catching up with things now and hopefully finish doing that by the beginning of next week! Be good everyone ;D

Hey everyone, as some of you know and as some of you don't- i'll be going on a little vacation! ..from april 17th to april 23rd to be exact ;D i'll be in london celebrating my 19th birthday and just kinda getting to know the city i'll be living in for the next few years! i've never been to london before so it's pretty exciting!
But i'll write more about my trip there and some other pretty cool things i've been up to recently when i get back. so yea i'll be gone for a little while. so i can't really reply to any messages or notes or anything... maybe i can a little =p but i won't be spending much time online...
oo and i wanna make a cool video of my trip there so i'll be posting that when i get back!
anyway i've been like super busy and i have so much stuff to do, even getting everything ready took so much time... it's like 4:50 at night right now... or i guess in the morning...hm...if i'm gonna say it's morning right now then my flight leaves today =P
oh well yea that's all i wanted to say, i'll be back soon!!

Minna =*

heya!
go check out www.ehetepood.ee cos i just finished translating it!

I'm proud =D

I woke up at like 7:10 today, actually cooked for myself and got online. I've been doing stuff online for hours. I discovered that it's a nice routine- get up really early and do all the things you need to do. lol. cos lately i've had lots of things to do and it gets really busy if i wake up at like 11. and i end up not doing half the things and feeling crappy about myself. lol so it's a change of routine for me.

Anyway!! yep go check it out! You can find really beautiful body jewelry there at reasonable prices. There are navel rings, nipple shields, labret/monroe rings, eyebrow rings, tongue rings etc...! Also gold plated jewelry. I myself love gold (A) very much ^^

ehete pood means jewelry store in Estonian btw.lol

all the best =*

Minna

yay so it's my first entry here. i just wanted to write something cos i'm trying to be more active on buzznet since i just got my account and all.
so this seems pretty cool, i wish it were more customizeable tho... hm.. i'll be adding more stuff soon in the future- more pics and links and info about myself.
I want to get some cool friends here and get to know people, that'd be fun^^
oh and a little remark lol i'm actually living in estonia, tallinn right now. that's where i'm from. i set it to london just for kicks. i'll be moving there in the summer to start university there in fall! I'm excited =D I'll be studying media and public relations. media is cool, i wanna work in the media business someday. ok i'm gonna go out now so i'll keep it short. Hope everyone who's reading this has a great day!!=D

Much love

Minna