Learning Outcomes

 

Violin

 As today was my last lesson before Christmas, my teacher and I decided to play classic Polish carols, including "Przybieżeli do Betlejem" and "Bóg się rodzi". 

I was surprised at how easy to play carols were for me, as all times that I have played them before I recall them as hard and tricky. This time, however, we managed to do three of them in one lesson, which is showing how non-problematic they were for me. 

With these pieces, I am planning on performing in front of my family on Christmas Eve and giving it a proper musical atmosphere. 

Unfortunately, this lesson like the ones before had to take place online, because of covid and public transport complications. I hope we will get back to having meetings face to face really soon.

Tennis

 This was the last tennis hour of the year 2021, as the Christmas break is coming and courts will be closed and my family and I are going skiing. 

It was a good last training, containing all: pure practice, single matches, and the double (triple) one. Unfortunately, I was distracted by the workload of school to be my best self, but I was not far behind. 

The matches went great, although I lost most of them, it was just by a few insignificant points. 

Overall, seeing my progress and the fact that going there every single week does make sense, and is improving my skills, I am happy with what I had done this year in that area. 

Amnesty International

 This Amnesty Meeting was purely organizational. We summed up the Letter Writing Marathon that took place last weekend at our school, where we argued for freedom and justice for people whose rights are being broken. 

We also summarized the entirety of what we have been talking about and why, as Christmas is coming and it is our last meeting this month, and even calendar year.

Tennis

Today we played matches again, my favourite part of training. We played both one on one matches and the weird triple one. 

Previous exercises my trainer made me do to better my serve really paid off, and this time, most of my serves, although not the strongest, at least landed in the right spot.

It is really encouraging when I see the progress I am making. It is slow, and usually unnoticeable by me, but in times like these, it is just the best to see that I am indeed improving.

I have two more training Mondays until the end of the year, and I hope they will be as satisfying as this one. 

Violin

This was the first lesson in December, and to get into the December, Winter, and Christmas spirit, I learned how to play Jingle Bells. 

To properly warm up, I began, of course, by playing a scale, A major, in which the song is set. 

I also did a few finger exercises to further improve my finger work.

I love playing violin and I am glad that I keep having lessons to improve that skill, even if it is just a hobby.

 

Amnesty International

 Today we revisited the issues in Poland, particularly the issues concerning the topic of abortion, which's criminalization is supposed to be discussed again today and tomorrow in the Polish Parliament.

We talked about the conflict between the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and the European Tribunal of Human Rights, which says that abortion is a human right, while the Polish Tribunal says that it is not conforming to the laws established in the Polish Constitution.