Something I learned

12/19/2011

 
    In history today, we had to take an ACS History test on Africa, China, and Japan. The questions on Japan were really easy. We had studied Japan most recently, so I knew all of those. The problems on Africa were more difficult than Japan, but much easier than China's questions. The problems on China were definitely the most challenging of all three, because they had all the different dynasties with names so similar that I could hardly remember which is which. 
    The main dynasties that were on the test were the Sui, Tang, Sing, and Song. I always get the achievements of one dynasty mixed up with the achievement of another. Since this test was a required government test, it wouldn't count toward my grade, so I didn't worry about it much and I just guessed on the ones I didn't know. 
 
     When I became a samurai warrior, I swore to protect both my daimyo and the emperor. Now, the two of them are going to war against each other. Both of them want me to fight for their side. Bushido, the samurai code of rules, states that I must protect them both. If I fight for the emperor, I will have to fight against the other samurai warriors of whom I used to work with. But if I fight for my daimyo, the emperor is sure to be over thrown, and I don't think I want that. He's just a figurehead, and he hasn't done anything wrong.
     But, I think I would choose to fight with my daimyo because he has more weapons, warriors, and he would be more powerful in a fight. 
 
    When I am away from my parents I will have to do many things differently than I do now. Instead of just cleaning my room I will have to clean my entire house. That will probably be one of the most difficult differences between now and the future because I really don't like to clean. Another big difference would be that I have to buy and cook my own food. I'm a terrible chef- everything I cook ends up burnt. 
    I think it would be really hard to manage a household of my own. I seriously don't understand how my mom does it! I would have to do all the dishes and the laundry. There are so many more, but I don't think I can list them all on my blog. 

Cyber bullying

12/12/2011

 
    Cyber bullying is a big and growing problem for many schools. There are so many different ways to cyber bully anonymously, where the bully doesn't think they'll get caught. Although many cyber bully's do get caught, there are way too many that don't. There are many children that are victims of cyber bullying that don't tell an adult, or anyone else who can help them. Many cyber bullied kids don't feel comfortable with speaking to an adult about the problem.
    We need to help these kids and find them someone who they can trust. As well as that, we need to find an effective way to put a stop to this problem. The schools that have this problem are trying their hardest to end cyber bullying but, no matter how many times they tell students not to, most kids won't stop. There has to be another way, and I'll put it in my blog as soon as I think of something.   
 
    I wrote a new chapter to my book and I really like this one, even though it's very short, so I wanted to share it with you. I think this is chapter seven or eight. (Remember to check out the rest of my book, The Last Arrow!) So... here it is.

Hallucinations 

      I wake up and discover that Lurali is not in her bed. I whip out the dagger that was 
used to kill Twillar and search the room. Eventually, I find her clutching her knees 
while rocking back and forth in a corner. “Human!” she screams pointing behind me. 
I turn around marvelously fast, dagger in hand. I slash at only the air, though. “There’s no
human. Very funny,” I say. I look at her- she’s dead serious. 

    “Ella, watch out! He has a gun!” she cries. I glance 
back, but again find nothing unusual. “No, there isn’t,” I say calmly, though I 
am kind of freaking out.“Ella! You’re dead!” she yells. “No, I’m not. I’m alive 
and well,” I say as I sit down and rub her back. “No. You’re bleeding worse than 
Twillar! There is a knife through your back!” she tells me adamantly. “I’m fine. 
Feel this,” I tell her as I lead her hand to my heart. “That’s my unfaltering 
heart beat,” I add. This calms her slightly and she nods.

     “Liz! Run, Liz!” she says. “Liz is safe at home,” I say, 
somewhat impatiently. She shakes her head and begins sobbing, “She’s dead, she’s 
dead.” I help her stand up and tell her we have to take her to the doctor. She 
nods, eyes wide.


       For the entire twenty minutes it took to walk to the hospital, Lurali was telling
  me I was dead or Patrik’s dieing or there’s a human behind me. I eventually
  ignore her. A doctor is available and tells me he’ll take a look at her for one
  dlog, I agree and send Lurali with him. “He’s a human! Don’t you dare leave me
  with him Nagella Orgreble!” she screams at the top of her lungs. I give her a
  push toward the doctor. “You’re a namuh,” she says with relief when she notices
  the deep chocolate brown of his skin. He smiles kindly and nods. “Follow the
  nice doctor, Li,” I say using the nickname her mother calls her. I hear her
  blood curling scream a few times and it makes the hair on my back stand up. I
  hate seeing her in pain. 

     The doctor comes out and asks to have a private word with me. I agree.“Your friend has gone insane with fear. She’ll probably never be quite right again. Though, if you slip half a teaspoon of this into her water,” he says handing me her medication, “it will get rid of most of the hallucinations.” My jaw drops, but I take the medicine without a word.

     Throughout the entire walk home, only one thought crossed my mind: I really hate humans.


 

Three Achievements

12/8/2011

 
    The Chinese invented many things and systems that we use even today. But if I had to choose just three Chinese inventions that I think were most important, I think they would be movable-type printing, silk, and porcelain. All of these things we still use today. Although silk and porcelain may not be as life changing as some of their other inventions, I still that they are just as important as gunpowder or a triangular sail for ships.
     Silk and porcelain allowed China to get great wealth from trade because no other country knew how to make either of them. Many people wanted silk and porcelain for beauty, so China was able to take control of trade in Asia since China was the only place anyone could get either of those things. I also think movable-type printing was an important Chinese achievement because before   movable-type printing was invented, almost nobody could write Chinese quickly. Even woodblock printing took up too much time. Therefore, those are the three most important achievements of China.

The Mongols

12/6/2011

 
    In core class, we learned about the Mongols, who were a fierce Barbarian tribe who took over China and many surrounding territories. They ruled an empire that was twice as large as the Roman empire. They were amazing warriors, with amazing rulers. But they fought mercilessly and cruelly. They would kill every living thing in every city they destroyed.
    Genghis Khan was a Mongol ruler who unified all of the Mongols. He was very powerful, and very mean. When he died, his empire fell apart. But Tamerlane, a ruler even meaner than Genghis Khan, took over and reunified the Mongols. When he died, a great grand son of Genghis Khan named Kublai Khan took control of the Mongol empire and took control of what the other two couldn't: China. That was the beginning of a new dynasty. 
                                                                                 

Three Weeks

12/5/2011

 
    Winter vacation is only three weeks away! I'm excited to have a break from school. But when I get back to school, I'm not going to be used to learning and thinking. I might even forget some of the things I've already learned. So I need to do something to keep my mind thinking over vacation in my free time.
    I'm going to read. And write, like I do everyday on my other website http://thelastarrow.weebly.com. I think I'm also going to work on math by doing review questions in my text book. I'll study and review for science, and the same for history. I'll do problems in my French workbook. And I'll definitely sleep... a lot. 

Free Write Friday

12/2/2011

 
    In core class, we had to write an Andalusian poem about something in the desert that happened in the book Shabanu. I wrote about the rain that comes and prevents Shabanu's family from having to leave. Here it is:

Rain

The raindrops lightly drift to
the ground for the first time in months, slipping from the clouds and
gracefully descending until they reach the ground.

As the raindrops clean the air
the desert animals come out of their homes to enjoy the shower.

 The light, unexpected drizzle of
the water steadily beats the ground like a drum. 

The speed of the rain begins to
increase and rain pounds on the rooftop quickly like rats scurrying. 

Rain pelts the desert sand; the
water seems to be quenching its thirst and calming its throat that has been
burning with thirst for so long.

The animals in which had come
out to relax in the light shower now scatter for shelter from the storm that is
now plummeting to the earth like a waterfall.

The storm slowly
begins to slow down, the amount of water falling decreases and the storm returns
to being just a slight sprinkle of water.  

The clouds begin to
part, revealing a vibrant sun that seems to be laughing as it clears the sky,
taking away that perfect, beautiful storm. 

The air smells clean from the
storm that washed away all unwanted components in the
atmosphere.

People
rejoice because the drought is over and water is no longer scarce.  
  
 
    I was just picking weeds in a wheat field when I heard a sound like thunder. But it wasn't thunder. I stood there frozen with fear. The mongols were attacking. "What could I do to save myself?" I wondered, terrified. I could run, but there are thousands of mongols on horses- I couldn't out run them. I could hide, but I'm in the middle of a wheat field. Idea after idea came to my head but none could possibly work. Then I realized it- I couldn't escape. I was going to be killed by the mongols. 
    If I'm going to die anyway, might as well warn my city. I began sprinting towards my house, and I yelled my family to hide in the basement and take cover. There was still at least 500 yards to go until I reached my house, I might just make it. But there was no way I could do that, I had to warn more people. I scream out and tell everyone who wasn't in their house. When I've told everyone I could, I began to run back to my house- but I couldn't and didn't make it. The mongols had taken over, destroyed everything.