Hello 2012!

Hi :)

I haven't blogged in ages. I am so busy with school, because I am in my final year. But I decided that I should try to post something once a week from now on. I would like to work in the media in the future so it might be useful to practice by writing some articles/posts! I will write about different topics, ranging from beauty to cooking to travelling, and eventually try to find my favourite thing to write about. But I will start off in this post by looking back at 2011 and welcoming 2012, a year that will bring many changes.

2011 went by really fast, it feels like it was January 2011 just a month ago. I did a lot of amazing things throughout this year. I will take you through my year in chronological order, stopping at the most amazing events that took place in my life. Some months have been skipped because nothing really interesting happened in those months.

Mosque in Marrakech

March - At the beginning of this month I went on a school trip to Morocco. We spent a few days in Marrakech, followed by a few days in the Atlas mountains. Both parts of the trip were amazing, and I certainly want to visit Morocco again. I also celebrated my 17th birthday in Marrakech!

July - In July I went to England for 10 days with my parents and brother. I wasn't there just for a holiday, I was visiting universities! I visited Royal Holloway University of London, University of Reading, Oxford, Cambridge, King's College London and Queen Mary University of London. It was a busy but fun trip because I visited some cities I had never been to before.

August - At the end of August I started my last year of high school. It's a busy year, and it feels like I have too little time to do too many things. That's the reason I didn't blog much since August.

October - In October I sent in my university application to UCAS and also got my first offer from Royal Holloway for Spanish with German. I also handed in my Extended Essay in this month.

 Oriel College, Oxford

December - I went to Oxford for 3 days for interviews at Oriel College! It was a great experience to go through this process and the interviews were quite enjoyable. Eventually I got rejected though, which means I will be going to London.

As you can see it's been a busy year. 2012 won't be any different for me, especially with my exams coming up in May. Here a few big things that will happen in 2012:

March - On the 6th of March I will be turning 18! Unfortunately this is right in the middle of my mock exams and therefore I will have to celebrate the weekend after.

May - In May I will have my IB exams! I start on the 2nd of May with English paper 1 and finish on the 18th of May with Biology paper 3. I'm already looking forward to the last day, when it will finally all be over!

September - At the end of summer I will be moving to London to go to university! I still need to pick which university I will go to (either King's College or Queen Mary) but I am already really excited. This also means I will be moving out and I won't live with my parents anymore.

A very exciting year as you can see, with a few big things to look forward to! I will keep you updated on all important things that happen this year :)

One question to you, my reader: what type of post would you like to see on my blog soon?

Loes

Blog: Loes in England

Like I said before, I will keep a blog about the preparations for my life in England. I made this blog yesterday and the link is: www.loesinengeland.blogspot.com

Now it is only in Dutch, because it is mainly there to update my family and close friends (who all speak Dutch). However, you are very welcome to read along! If you'd like me to also post on the blog in English (next to Dutch) then please let me know and I will include translations :)

By the way, I'm going to see Yellowcard on 3 December! I already wanted to go but when Kim asked me to come with her yesterday I finally decided I just have to go :)

xxx Loes

Hello!

I told you at the end of the summer holidays that I would put up a post once a week, but I didn't do it. I'm sorry! I've been really busy (school, homework, university application) and also didn't have much inspiration for my blog. From now on I am going to try to push myself to post something interesting at least once a week, but you will need to help me! You can help me by telling me what type of posts you like to see, and by commenting on my posts. You can really motivate me :)

Like I said, I've been busy with my university application lately. I am applying to university in England (so excited!) and since I am applying to Oxford I had to send my application to my careers counsellor by the 30th of September and then she will put in my predicited grades and references and send it off to UCAS before the 16th of October. These are the universities and courses I am applying to:
University of Oxford - Spanish and Linguistics
King's College London - Hispanic Studies with English
Queen Mary, University of London - Hispanic Studies and Linguistics
Royal Holloway, University of London - Spanish with German
University of Reading - English Language and Literature (but I am considering to change this to English and Hispanic Studies, so that it fits in better with my personal statement)

Of course I will let you know once I get offers in from the universities! Also, I will probably start a blog (in Dutch, but if you want also in English) about my preparations for university and once I live there my life in England. Once I made this blog I will post the link here, so that people who are interested can read that blog.

So what posts would you like to see on my blog? Do you like posts about beauty, fashion, baking/cooking, photography or something totally different?

England :]

Here are some pictures I took during my holiday (which was a busy one, because I was doing a university tour) in England!

Taken from the boat from Dunkirk to Dover.

A street in St. Albans, I thought the houses were adorable!

The ruins of a Roman theatre in St. Albans.

A house by the ruins of the Roman theatre. I thought it had a kind of magical touch.

Royal Holloway, University of London in Egham (a small town close to London). What a gorgeous building!

Royal Holloway again :]

Windsor Castle. We didn't go in, because it was really expensive. But it was nice from the outside as well :]

A really long road (or whatever you want to call it) by Windsor Castle.

Lady Margaret Hall, the college I visited at Oxford. I love the gardens surrounding the building!

Corpus Christi, the college I visited at Cambridge. Again, an amazing building.

People punting on the Cam. We got lots of offers to go punting as well, but we didn't go because it was raining and we were busy with other things.

King's College London, located right next to Waterloo bridge on the Thames <3

King's College London again.

The Thames and the Big Ben.

The Big Ben again, we just finished dinner and the light of the sun was gorgeous!

The London Eye. The red box/cart/whatever made taking pictures so much more interesting :]

The London Eye and the Thames.

Enjoying the sunshine on Trafalgar Square!

In M&M World on Leicester Square, what a crazy store!











Sorry for the huge amount of photographs, but I didn't want to leave any of them out. All photographs (except for the ones with me on it) were taken by me. Please do not use them without my permission.

Which photograph do you like best? And what did you enjoy most when you last visited England?