Stefanof - "Of course, Myaah and I ... are narcissistic creatures"

That quote inspired me! So here's a section for everyone to tell about how wonderful they really are! Feel free to brag about anything great you've done or a cool story about yourself!

I'll start it off... Let's see. Well, I don't know how it is in French schools, but in America, the top two students get to speak at high school graduation. I'm an intelligent person, so I ended up being the salutatorian (which means I got the second highest grades in high school), so I got to talk at graduation. I thought that was fun (yes, I enjoy public speaking. It's writing the speeches that I hate).

There are plenty more stories, but I thought I'd just do one for now ^_~. I can't wait to hear about the rest of you! And don't be shy!

I know someone who's gonna be pleased with this thread

Well, maybe I'm gonna post later because... I'm laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ooooh... we are so going to get along you and I !

I've always wondered about public speaking. You see, shyness and arrogance are kind of at war within me sometimes, so I've always wondered how that fight would end in those circumstances It must be impressive to have such a crowd in front of you, listening to you... but it can be so exhilarating too ! What did you tell them ?

As to me, well... I've neved been as good as that as a student (well, only when I was a little kid at school, but not in high school nor college : I got lazy along the way !), but I did manage to get what we call "mention Bien" in French, for my first degree (well, I dunno the english equivalent, it's called a Licence and you get that after 3 successful years of college) last year.

To explain a little : in France, we get grades on a scale of 20 points. As such, 10 is average, that's what you need to pass. But if you get a better grade, you start getting some "mentions". Translated, that would be "quite good" for a 12, "good" for a 14, "very good" for a 16 and more (rare, these ones). I was one of the four or five people to get the "good" one last year (nobody got more), and I must say I'm quite proud of that

Plus, I got a 18.5 out of 20 for my essay on british civilization, about the Tudor monarchy ! Best grade of the semester, it just rocketed my narcissism somewhere up to Mars or something

Now, whenever I feel worried about my studies, I just think back on those

I guess that our "mentions" is somehow equivalent to "with honors".

I guess so, thanks

That's cool to hear about the French school system. I'm really unfamiliar with most other countries' schools.

Now, this thread doesn't have to be just about school accomplishments. It can be about anything great that you've done! If you won a sports tournament, or travelled someplace exotic, or whatever! Just tell everyone how great you are! It's all about making the world think your just a little bit cooler .

Maybe we're all too serious to first think of our schoolwork
No wait... who am I kidding ?

Let's see... I was never good at sports (well, to say the truth, I did not even try, so that explains it ), but I may have something in the exotic category...

I outswam a shark, once
But it's more like it decided against going after me I think

Still, I had one in the water with me and made it out alive and whole so...!

Whoah whoah whoah! You can't just leave it at that! I want the full story! And I won't be satisfied until I get it!

Okay, but be prepared to hear the others scream and complain: they all know it by heart now, since I had to repeat it for each of them in turn

Anyway... I was holidaying in Madagascar, a friend of my mother has a place there. Right on the beach. It's on a very small island off the coast of the main malagasy land. There are no roads, no cars. No nothing. Just the island, the beach and the ocean.

Hell, we have to take the piroga to go shopping for food!

It was your usual morning: sunny, hot, quiet. We went for a swim in the sea, right below the house. Clear, lukewarm water. At the bottom, only the lightest sand you can imagine. A dream come true, indeed.

Depth of the water... ten feet maybe ? Or a dozen, something like that - I'm not too sure about english measures. We were not that far from the shore either - 20 or 30 yards maybe (I hope a yard = a meter, because that's what I'm thinking here ).

Anyway, my mother, her friend and I were lazily swimming. And when I say lazily, I do mean lazily. I'm not even sure we were moving on anymore Then, her friend raises her head and says, "What's that shadow?" in an alarmed voice.

Turns out the shadow was an average-sized shark circling around us. Yep, that's quite an embarassing shadow to have in the water, but a few feet away from you.

So well... I just swam the hell out of here Behind, I heard my mother shout "A shark!!" before she started out after me (yep, turns out you do first think of survival in this situation - or more exactly, you do not think at all and just go, without waiting for anyone). I believe the shark must have been taken by surprise since we suddenly started moving very fast, splashing water every which way, whereas we were almost at a standstill before. Thus, I think it went away first.

Anyway, I reached the shore first, and the others soon joined me.

But the most funny thing about the ordeal is that my mother's friend was wearing those little plastic shoes you can bathe with (the ones you wear not to hurt yourself walking on corals)... and one of them started to slid off her foot when she was swimming her ass off, and she just yelled "my shoe, my shoe!!" as if it was a big matter compared to the shark And my mother was shouting back "but who cares about the damn shoe! move!!"

So you see... people react in very different ways to danger, some of them make for quite the big laugh afterwards

We did not laugh when fishermen nearby told us there was a second shark and that they were both coming back towards us after their first surprise, though

Cool story! I'll remember to groan the next time you tell it, of course .

I think one of my best stories is when a guy broke into our house when my sister and I were home alone...

I was about 12 and she was 6. We were in the living room watching TV when a guy knocked on our front door. We weren't supposed to answer the door, so we shut the TV off and waited until he left. He stayed at the door knocking, and then he began jiggling the handle and kicking the door! That was scary. He went around and did the same thing to our side and back doors. We didn't hear anything for a minute, but then we heard really heavy boots on our kitchen floor.

I grabbed my sister and we ran into the office (which was right next to the kitchen) because I had accidentally left the phone in there. I took the phone and we hid next to a wardrobe that was next to the door to the kitchen. I was really nervous, so I called 911 (that's the American emergency response phone number. In Germany it's 112. I have no idea what the French equivalent is ).

The guy heard me and walked toward the door. I tried to be really quiet, but the lady I was talking to kept asking me questions and telling me to speak up . I never heard the guy leave, so I was still really quiet. Finally we could see that the police had arrived, so my sister and I ran out the front door. The police searched the house, but he had already left. They dusted for fingerprints and took pictures of the shoe marks he had left on the doors and stuff.

Afterwards, people kept asking me why I didn't just run outside screaming. Honestly, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind. People do act differently in scary situations!

They ended up catching the guy that broke in later in the summer, so it all ended well.

That's a scary one too. I do not know how I would react... plus, you were quite young which does not make things easier! It must be hard to feel vulnerable in your own house. I hope something like that never happens to me, I live on my own and it's hard to hide or run away when you're in a small studio °___° !

Oh, and I believe the French equivalent of 911 would be 17 or 18... it always gets messed up in my head which one is for the cops, which one is for medical help and which one is for firemen... XD

Yeah, I think I couldn't live alone. I want a dog, a BIG dog and a cat in my future house

Speaking of Dog....
I'm very prouf of my tricks to my dog, Speedy...
He's not really clever and I like teasing him....

Ma favourite trick is..... feeding him and... hidding a little piece of pepper....
The poor one but it's so funny.... and I cherish him in the end

You were ever the sadistic one, THAT is no secret

Also, it's not something I've done but anyway... a close friend of mine sent me an e-mail this morning and just randomly started to burst into praise about me - for no obvious reason I can see. True or not, I know he's sincere and that felt quite great for me !

17 is police and 18 firemen I guess.

I guess I have no story to brag about for now. I'll have to make something fabulous :p

What about medical help then? You know, the SAMU.