Eurovision 2011

 This year, Eurovision was held in Dusseldorf, in Germany, because Germany won the contest last year with their song 'Satellite'. Next year, it will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Wow, people have lots of singing talent! Eurovision was awesome, and the songs were all super awesome! There were a lot of participating countries, 43 in total. Iceland's song was pretty good, I liked it. Sweden's was really popular and the funny thing is that the song was called Popular and I really really liked it! My favourites were Denmark, Estonia, and Sweden, but I also liked Poland and Lithuania!  Eurovision seemed really cool, maybe I'll have a chance to see it sometime...

This is the list of my top ten:


1. Denmark (New Tomorrow by 'A Friend in London', they got in 5th place :D)
2. Sweden (Popular by 'Eric Vaade', they got in third)
3. Estonia (Rockefeller Street, they got 25th)
4. FYC Macedonia (THEY DIDN'T QUALIFY FOR THE FINALS D:)
5. Lithuania (C'est ma vie, They got in 19th)
6. Armenia  
7. Albania
8. Iceland (They got in 20th)
9. Norway (Haba haba, they didn't qualify either)
10. Poland (They didn't qualify either...)

Azerbaijan won this year, and they're song was pretty cool.

Denmark's was awesome... :)

 NEW TOMORROW

In this crazy, crazy world
You’re the diamonds, you’re the pearls
Let’s make a new tomorrow, today

Wake up, slow down
Do nothing right now
Breathe in, breathe out
Did we forget how to live, to dream
And what it all means
It’s like we don’t care

Who’s hot, who’s not
Who’s got the right upside down
Tonight, tomorrow
You’re out of time
Upstyle, you are back in the line
A race to nowhere

Come on boys, come on girls
In this crazy, crazy world
You’re the diamonds, you’re the pearls
Let’s make a new tomorrow

Come on girls, come on boys
It’s your future, it’s your choice
And your weapon is your voice
Let’s make a new tomorrow, today

Turn left, turn right
Don’t make up your mind
Your way to fame is all in vain
You get in the spot
Then you run out of luck
You’re going nowhere
We can change it all today

Come on boys, come on girls

In this crazy, crazy world
You’re the diamonds, you’re the pearls
Let’s make a new tomorrow

Come on girls, come on boys
It’s your future, it’s your choice
And your weapon is your voice
Let’s make a new tomorrow, today

Come on boys
Let’s make a new tomorrow

Come on boys, come on girls
In this crazy, crazy world
You’re the diamonds, you’re the pearls
Let’s make a new tomorrow

Come on girls, come on boys
It’s your future, it’s your choice
And your weapon is your voice
Let’s make a new tomorrow, today

Switzerland's Recycling Habits

I've heard that Switzerland has got really good recycling habits, and that they do a lot of things to help protect the environment.

For garbage bags, you have to stick a sticker on the garbage bag and leave it out in front of your house. One of the little stickers cost around one Canadian dollar, so basically the less you have to throw out, the less money you have to pay. If the garbage men come by and notice that there is not a sticker on the bag, they will just leave it out to rot in front of your house. I, personally, think this is a really AWESOME idea, congratulations for the Swiss!

Also, the Swiss are really organized, and at a lot of parks, in stores and in banks there will be a place where you have to divide your garbage into different slots. There are even different slots for different colours of  glass! You have to separate your garbage into white, brown or green glass. After a while, garbage men come to pick up the garbage to recycle it.

All the non-recyclable stuff is sent to a landfill or incinerated, but the technology is so advanced that when burning the garbage, it barely makes any pollution, thus resulting in Switzerland being one of the cleanest countries in the world!

Go Switzerland! I also love Swiss cheese and chocolate, it rivals that of Belgium. :)

Iceland?

How? How can you think Iceland is not worth visiting? Unless you think nature is boring, I guess its not the place for you. I LOVE IT, THOUGH, so I don't care if other people don't like it, I will always treasure it. I can't treasure it in my heart, though, because it stole my heart and the only way I'm getting it back is if I go to Iceland...

Norwegian Fjords

Norwegian fjords might be the most beautiful scenery I have seen in my entire life (along with Iceland, that is.). They are just so gorgeous, I would LOVE to see them in person. For now, all I can do is stare at my computer, dreaming away. If I'm able to convince my parents to go there, we are going to go. I know it's quite expensive in Oslo, but whatever! It looks like it would be well worth the money... (not my photos)

Beautiful fjords... Norway's fjords are simply gorgeous. If I could just grab my mom's camera, jump into the photo of that boat and just set sail for a few months, I totally would.

About Russia

I've been wondering. Russia is in Europe, isn't it? The capital, Moscow, is in Europe and they look more European than Asian, like the Chinese. Anyways, that's besides the point. Actually, I don't know what the point it... Well. During a day at school I saw a cardboard box on a shelf. Upon further inspection, I saw that it read... VODKA. I laughed so hard I almost peed in my pants. Don't ask why I though it was so funny, I just was.

I have a Russian ballet teacher and she is really awesome, plus she's teaching me a tiny bit of Russian. After a bit of research, I think I have fallen for the beautiful country of Russia, too... (These photos are not mine...)

All I have to say is that that building is the coolest looking building ever. It's colourful and the roofs are really uniquely made... It looks really cool!

That's a really pretty bridge, da? And that castle looks really cool. I would really like just strolling along that bridge in the evening, it would be so relaxing...

Look at the pretty fountain!!!

Russia has nice architecture, the buildings are really nice to look at. Maybe I will go there one day, and maybe I should consider asking my Russian ballet teacher about Russia and touring it...

Iceland for Summer of 2012

 I've fell in love with the country of Iceland and want to go there really badly... It feels like a little part of my heart is missing because I haven't had a chance to go there yet. Heck, I think Iceland stole my whole heart away. I'm going to try to convince my parents to let me go there next summer.

This is an answer from one of my Yahoo Answers that I wrote:

"I also want to go to Iceland really badly, here is a bit of advice from myself. (The prices are in Canadian dollars)

It is not overly expensive there, but the transport is quite a lot of money. When renting a car, expect to pay over 80$ and public transit, for one bus ticket, I think would be around 2-3$. Their currency is the Icelandic Krona, which is around 117 Canadian Dollars. You can exchange money to Icelandic Krona in most banks and the airport. In big cities, such as their capital, you can also use Euros.

For attractions, Iceland is a very scenic country with active volcanoes and icebergs at the same time. There are many gorgeous waterfalls and natural parks, along with a few historical sites. Some popular activities and places to visit are:

The Blue Lagoon, which is a huge geothermal hot spring that has special healing abilities, apparently very healthy for your skin. The cool thing is that if you go to the Blue Lagoon in the wintertime you can relax in a huge hot-tub like thing while staring at snow-covered mountains... It's really awesome.

The Golden Circle tour includes Iceland's most famous waterfall, Gullfoss. You can see the rainbow sometimes and it looks really nice. If you Google Search it, there are some really nice snapshots of the waterfall.

Animals like Icelandic horsies are REALLY CUTE and you can go horseback riding on them. There's this stable where you can rent a horse for a day and ride it around Iceland to tour! There are also these really cute puffins that you can see flying around sometimes.

In the capital of Reykjavik, there are nice shops for clothing and also concerts and restaurants. They have an interesting menu of foods, but I suggest you don't ask what the food is and eat it first, because they have food such as fermented shark and singed ram's head. They also have skyr, which is like a yoghurt cheese ice cream thing that looks really yummy.

They also have really pretty fjords that you should search up. The Eastern fjords look really pretty and you could probably just spend the whole day staring at them and snapping some photos.

As for weather, its around 15 degrees Celsius during the summertime and -5 in the winters. During the summer, they have 22 hours of daylight and during the winter 4 hours of daylight, which is pretty unique."

All of that is true, at least I think it is, and YES I really want to go to Iceland in the summer of 2012.  

I love Europe

I know by tourism rankings, that Sweden is the most toured Nordic country, then Denmark, Norway, Finland and last, but definitely not least, Iceland. I'm not sure if these statistics are true or not, but I was kind of expecting results like this. The Nordics aren't toured very much compared to other European countries... BUT WHY?! I know they're a bit more expensive... but still! They're totally worth it, in my opinion! The Nordics needs more love. So... I've decided to write a documentary (yes, a huge report) on the Nordics. I will convince my parents to take me there... then I'll get to tour the most beautiful places in Europe!!! (And possibly, the entire world)

Germany isn't on my top 10 tourism list, but it's actually ranked 11th, and depending on what kind of mood I'm in, either 8th or 7th. I love the German language and am attempting to learn German through my good friend the Internet. Plus, I've always wanted to try a schnitzel...

Not my photo, but doesn't that schnitzel look so yummy?! :)

One more thing...

I know that if you've actually read all the way down to here on this blog post, I love you, because I never get any views. Ever. And when I was bored and looking through my blog stats, I found 2 views from Germany, 1 view from Norway and 1 view from Finland. You have no idea how much I screamed in happiness. If you're from Europe and you're reading this, PLEASE leave a comment or something, I would totally love any comments! I love you guys!

Happy Birthday, Finland!

 Dear Suomi,

Happy birthday! Hyvaa Syntimapaivaa! I sang your anthem at school today while I was waving the Finnish flag all around the playground :)  Have a great birthday! I love your country, it's plain beautiful! Have you started decorating for Christmas yet?I was also considering visiting you in the summertime next year. Any places you think I should visit? Give Hanatamago a hug for me, and one again, happy birthday!

With love and greetings from Canada,
Alice

Touring countries... in Europe!!!

Truthfully, I've actually only been to Canada (I live there), The United States and China (I'm Chinese-Canadian) before. I know, I've never been to Oceania, South America or Europe. There are, of course, many countries that I want to visit. Usually, I take a liking towards things that most people don't like as much (including video game characters and countries). This is a list of some countries I want to visit and why.

Norway

Continent: Europe
Capital: Oslo
Official language(s):Norwegian

Population: 4, 885, 000

People/km2: 12.5
Rank in HDI (2011): 1


I've researched a bit and learned that Norway is the most developed country in the world, at least for 2011, and I've seen a few picture of its fjords. All I can say is WOW. They're just stunning. Here are some pictures of the fjords I took of the Internet, THEY DON'T BELONG TO ME:

 

You know what I mean? Those pictures were all taken in fjords located in Norway, and they are just breathtakingly beautiful. I would really enjoy seeing these in real life, breathing Norwegian air, it would be so amazing. Norway is famous for its fjords, am I right? 

Iceland

Continent: Europe
Capital: Reykjavik
Official language(s): Icelandic, but English is taught as a mandatory third or second language
Population: 317, 000

People/km2: 3

Rank in HDI (2011): 15

Yes, I know that Iceland is not a very popular vacation spot, although I don't understand why. It's simply gorgeous. It's hat springs, waterfalls, and scenery in total is just so breathtakingly beautiful that I would give up my iPod, my Wii and my 3DS just to visit there for a week! I'm serious! It's becoming more and more popular with tourists, though, which is good. Also, I know that the population of Iceland is tiny, (smaller than that of most normal cities), but who cares? It's so pretty there!

Anyways, here are some images of Iceland's waterfalls (again, all of these images are from the Internet):

Aren't they just so pretty? And awesome? That's kind of why I want to go there, plus there are icebergs and horses and puffins and hot springs to relax in. It's just so awesome, I need to go there this summer :) Oh, but I'm a bit worried to eat some of the food there... *cough cough fermented shark cough cough*

Finland


Continent: Europe
Capital: Helsinki

Official language(s): Finnish

Population: 5, 364, 000
People/km2:16
Rank in HDI (2011): 15

It looks and seems like a wonderful place to grow up in. It's so beautiful and I could spend a whole day just staring at the scenery, watching clouds go by and maybe take a few photos... I love Finland. It's a beautiful country... Here are some photos (not mine):

 

Seems like a charming country, no? It's cute and cozy, I really would like to live there or move there when I'm older ^^

That's not all, but I don't feel like writing about all 10 of the countries that I want to go to in Europe, and stuff. Here's the list of countries, though:

1. Iceland

2. Finland

3. Norway

4. Switzerland

5. France

6. Sweden

7. Italy

8. Spain

9. Denmark

10. UK

Thanks for reading, and I hope to go to some of the Scandinavian countries in 2011 Summer! That would be so awesome...

Other Nordic Chibis

Here are the other 4 Nordics that I made into paper chibis.

 Yeah, hope you like them, people! :) I will probably make some for the Baltics, Prussia and Poland next, then the Allies and then the Axis. These are really fun to make, too! I might post a tutorial on how to draw or make one, after a while.

Hetalia Paper Chibi: Finland

This is something  I decided to make, because I though it was really cute. :) It's for Finland's birthday, which is on December 6th, and I even made a card for him :D

I'll also be making one for the other Nordics, and some other characters as well.
Happy birthday Finny!!!

The American Revolution

(The image above IS NOT MY ARTWORK and it belongs to it's rightful owner. I'd like to congratulate the artist, the art is BEAUTIFUL. It inspired me to write this short story :) So, once again, the artwork above does not belong to me, it belongs to its rightful owner. And once again, they did an amazing job on it.)

The following story is a potrayal of the American Revolution, written Hetalia-style. THIS IS NOT YAOI, it's just father to son love, okay? Well, I suppose you could say it's yaoi if you wanted, but whatever... Thanks for reading :D

“What are you doing, America?! Stop this right now! Do you know how much you’re hurting everybody around you-“

     Feeling a searing pain course through his body, England cringed and collapsed to his knees, clutching the wound on his shoulder, crimson liquid spilling from the crevices of his fingers. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stare at his attacker. The rain drizzled over them lightly, and stung the gash on England’s shoulder with each raindrop. America stood towering over him, sword in one hand, pointing it directly at England’s heart.

“You know better than ANYBODY that I can’t do that, England! I want my independence! I’ve been spoiled for way too long now, and I need to see the world! It’s different now! I’ve grown, and… y-you… You aren’t my ‘father’ anymore, so just give it up!”

     Immediately after hearing that last sentence, something broke in England’s heart. You aren’t my father anymore, so just give it up! Barely holding back tears, he grabbed his discarded gun and swung it at America, causing the younger nation to jump back and give England an opportunity to stand up. Swallowing hard, he removed his hand from the wound and prepared to get in a fist fight. His shoulder was screaming in objection to this last movement, but England ignored it completely. He couldn’t hold back the tears any longer and let them trickle down his ashen face, leaving a shining wet path through the mud and dirt.

     “Daddy, what’s for dinner?”

     “Oh, today I’ve bought something special!”

     “What?! Tell me tell me tell me!”

     “You’ll see in a second…”

     Rummaging through a grocery bag, England pulled out a few small Styrofoam containers and handed them to America. America immediately began chewing on the Styrofoam and swallowed, causing him to go in a fit of choking. England’s face grew pale as he panicked and grabbed America before hitting him on the back a few times and squeezing his stomach, watching in relief as a slimy, white blob popped out of his open mouth. America then burst into tears and started punching England’s stomach.

     “Are you trying to kill me?! That stuff tastes horrible!”

     England poked him in the forehead and smacked himself in the face.

     “You bloody fool, you’re supposed to OPEN the box and eat what’s INSIDE the box!”

     America stopped hitting him and laughed at himself before ripping open the box and sighing as the delicious aroma of fried rice, sweet and sour beef glazed in Chinese sauce and scrambled eggs filled his nostrils. Grabbing the nearest utensils, which happened to be a pair of chopsticks, he attempted to grab the meat, but pouted in frustration when it kept slipping out of his grip.

     “Daddy! How do you use these pointy stick things?! The stuff keeps on falling off!”

     “I don’t know, America! I’m not Chinese!”

     America just huffed and resorted to stabbing the meat with one chopstick. Staring at the succulent beef in awe, he stood, as if in a trance. Watching America holding the food and not eating it, England was getting annoyed.

     “What are you waiting for, eat it already! Bloody hell…”

     And so, America shoved the meat in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully for a few moments. The room was silent for a few seconds before England piped up.

     “So… how does it taste?”

     America’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and he grabbed the container before  stuffing his face with the rice, letting the chopsticks fall to the floor as he decided to use his hands to grab it and shovel it into his mouth.

     “This stuff is AWESOME! It tastes, like one million times better than the stuff you usually make! Haha! MINE!!! THIS IS MINE!!!”

     “You little twerp-“

     Running around the house, America clutched the food like a lost puppy and devoured it quickly, occasionally turning his head and laughing at the furious England running after him, steam fuming from his ears.

     Dodging the blow that America attempted on his head, England struggled to hold in the nostalgia that was threatening to burst through his brain. Successfully slamming the rifle into the young nation’s stomach, America doubled over, clutching his stomach and coughed up blood. Watching circles of red form on the ground only to be dissolved into the ground by the rain, which had gone from drizzling to pouring, England felt that his parenthood were like those drops of blood. It was there, for an instant, and then faded into nothingness.

     “Why do you want this so badly, America?! Just stay with me, please!”

     America wiped the blood from his mouth and laughed bitterly.

     “Don’t be stupid, England. You know perfectly well why I want this.”

     “Daddy, what happened? Why are you crying?”

     England wiped the tears from his face and scoffed at himself.

     “Oh, it’s nothing, my boy. Go to bed now, it’s getting late.”

     He hung his head and held his face in his hands, trying to forget the lost battle and all the men that had died, under his control. Surprisingly, he felt small arms grab him and pull him into a hug. Smiling, England ruffled America’s hair and sighed.

     “Daddy, you work too hard. BUT, I suppose that’s a good thing, because you’re saving up for the new game that’s coming out, right?”

     England chuckled and lightly punched him in the arm. Once again, America had managed to cheer him up. Picking him up, England piggy-backed America to his room and sat him on the bed before tucking him into warm covers.

     “You little brat, you’re the reason that I’m so broke now…” England groaned jokingly. 

     America just laughed cheekily and closed his eyes.

     “Good night, daddy.”

     England placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

     “Good night, America.”

     America then struck England in the nose, a mix of sadness and angriness washing over his grimy face. A small trail of blood oozed from England’s nostril as he attempted to wipe all of it away. Swinging his rifle around wildly, the metal side cracked against America’s skull. Watching in disbelief at what he did to his own son, England’s grip on the gun loosened. America dropped to the ground, a puddle of blood forming at his head. A few seconds later, he painfully craned his neck towards England and muttered three words.

     “Kill me now.”

     Watching America lying in an expanding pool of blood, begging for England to kill him was too much to bear for England.

     “You bloody idiot… You k-know I can’t sh-shoot you…”

     “Father… please… kill me now.”

     England flung the gun somewhere to his right and kneeled down towards his son, feeling his heart burning. The tears wouldn’t cease flowing, and England made no attempt to stop them. He simple ripped off a part of his shirt and wrapped it around America’s wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Fortunately, America made no move to push him away.

     “I can’t, you bloody scum. I… I l-love you too much. I don’t care much if you tell me that I’m no longer your father, you can have that independence if you want. Just… don’t bloody die on me now…”

     England managed to prop his ex-son against a tree. America strained himself and motioned for the older nation to move closer. Hesitantly, England moved closer and was shocked to feel the no-longer small arms of America wrap around his abdomen. England could feel his ragged breathing against his neck.

     “Thanks, dad- I mean, well; I c-can’t call you d-daddy anymore can I? J-just England… or Arthur… or Mr. Kirkland…” America choked on his tears and coughed a few times, blood trickling down his chin.

     England simple stroked his back and whispered into America’s ear.

     “You call me whatever you want, America. You’re independent now… You don’t need to ask me before you do anything…”

     “Th-thank you… dad… If I ever try to hurt you again, p-please remember that… I still l-love you.”