What I love about Christmas (and not just the presents)

Since Christmas is coming up, I decided to write about all things I like about my favourite holiday, Christmas.

Of course everyone likes getting presents on Christmas but it's not my favourite thing about Christmas. Well, I don't have a favourite thing about Christmas but I like a lot of things about it. One of those things is watching Christmas movies like The Grinch that Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is coming to Town(by the way these movies aren't revised ones but the old, cartoon ones). I like these movies because they bring out my inner little child and they give me a bit more of Christmas spirit every time I watch them.

Another thing I like about Christmas is decorating the house, especially the Christmas tree. We go to the same place every year to get what we think is the best Christmas tree there. When we get home with our new tree, the whole house is filled with the smell of pine needles. I think this is one of my favourite smells. When my father gets home from work, we then get some christmas music on and then start decorating the tree. We decorate the Christmas with decorations me and Henry made when we were younger, christmas balls, character figures, candy canes, and of course we add either the angel or wooden star on top of the tree. I like doing this because it gets my family somewhat closer together.

A final thing I like about Christmas is when my grandparents come over for Christmas dinner. We stuff ourselves full of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and also the special Christmas desert. Yummy! I like it when my family comes over for Christmas because sometimes we don't get to see them often. It's very nice.

Now that you have read I like about Christmas, I'm sure you know that Christmas isn't just about getting presents or getting lots of chocolate in your stocking. It's about the love towards your family and friends getting stronger this holiday.

How do authors try to create a feeling of empathy in their readers?

Hmm...... not exactly the easiest question in the world. Lets see... one of Deborah Ellis's(the author of The Breadwinner) ways of creating empathy is by creating emotions towards the characters in the book. For example, the main character Parvana has a older sister named Nooria who's always really mean to her. This reminds me of my younger brother Henry who seems to get away with everything, that little sneak. So Parvana and I both feel resentment towards our siblings. Another way to create empathy would be using such descripition and detail in the story to create a imaginative picture in your mind. Here's a example from the book:

She was always glad to be outside, even though it meant sitting for hours on a blanket spread over the hard ground of the marketplace.

- Ch.1 p.g 8

Even this simple little sentence can create a descripitive picture in my mind. I can imagine the diligent marketplace with all the people trying to sell their belongings to earn more money for themselves or for their family. I can also imagine how dense the ground will be, how raw your bottom will be and how sweaty you'll be after sitting on the ground for so long.

Another way to create empathy would to be to use A LOT of adjectives. Instead of using the words like anger, relief or courage, you could say outrage, refreshment or heroism. By doing this, it creates situations that you can relate to and understand. For example, when Parvana was being beaten by a solider she gets really mad and snaps back at the solider. She yells: Stop hitting me! on p.g 55. Parvana then had to run away from the situation. This scene reminds of when at my old school, a boy was picking on a friend of mine. This made me really mad, just like Parvana. I got so mad that I also snapped back at the boy but I didn't have to run away from him. I can understand how angry Parvana was when that solider was beating her.

The Breadwinner is filled with the feeling of empathy since it's about a girl who's about our age so we're able to relate her life to situations in ours. Even if our lives are completely different. I hope my blog helped you understand how authors create empathy in their readers.

Imagining a life in Afghanistan

Imagine that every time you're outside you have to be covered from head to toe with a burqa. I think to myself: How would this change my life if I lived in Afghanistan?. Well, let's put it this way, if I had to wear a burqa all the time it would really bug me and get me angry. Wearing all that clothing would make you really hot especially with the climate in Afghanistan. I HATE BEING HOT ALL THE TIME!! It would also be hard to move around easily with layers of clothing on. How would I be able to run around or play soccer with a burqa on? I 'm clumsy enough so I hate to be bumping into people and things because I couldn't see or move freely with a burqa on.

I don't know how girls in Afghanistan can put up with having to wear a burqa all the time. I mean wouldn't it get annoying having to wear heavy clothing all time? And considering some people express themselves through their clothing, how would we know what a certain girl is like? Then again, I would try to make the best of the situation because there's nothing I can do right? I would rather wear a burqa than to be beaten or thrown into jail for not wearing one. Plus, all the girls wear them which is like wearing a uniform, right?

I'm glad I don't live in Afghanistan under such strict rules. I just hope that the girls there will have more freedoms in the future.

Holocaust Survivor Eva Olsson's Story

One day in the 1940s the Nazis came and told the Jewish people to get packing because they were going to be shipped away to a brick factory to do hard labour. What they didn't know however was that they were actually being sent on a train (crammed into boxcars) to a terrible place called Auschiwitz, one of the worst concertration camps in the world. This where a brave young girl, Eva Olsson and most of her family were sent.

After 4 days without any water or food, the train finally came to it's destination. There they were ordered in a line to determine if they would be sent to the left or the right. If you were sent to to left, it usually meant death. However, if you were sent to the right it meant you would have a better chance of living. This separated many families. Mothers, pregnant females, and children were usually sent to the left to end their lives in the gas chambers. Olsson's mother was one of the "left"people to be sent away. She had to leave without even getting to say goodbye or "I love you" to Eva or her other children one last time. Think of it, small children and females all innocent just sent away to their deaths. What did they ever do to the Nazis?!?!

Eva Olsson came to our school this week to tell of the horrors and tragedys she had to experience during her time at Auschiwitiz. Think of the amazing courage Eva must have had while going through the Holocaust. Hunger, thirst, pain, fear and sickness, all those things she suffered and she was only a young girl! The school was silenced as we heard what Eva had to say. The Nazis bullies have killed about 140 000 000 all because of HATRED and PREJUDICE.

What impacted me the most about Eva's story was how so many people died just because of their different religion. I mean everyone is different so that doesn't give any right to bully because of it. Besides, if everyone was the same, this world would be very boring trust me. For years to come I will remember to have courage minute after minute instead of year after year because if Eva can have that courage, so can I. There is one question however that I wished that Eva would've answered and that is: "What was it like to be away from Auschiwitz after having to be there for so long?" I would've wanted to know what it felt like to be finally free.

This story has made me think of a couple of ways to stop bullying. The first one is not to be a bystander and report bullying if I see it. Another way would be to never tease or bully anyone because they're different. Even if you were just kidding, it could still hurt them. Of all the lessons Eva shared with us, I think that the most important lesson is not to hate and to always tell your family that you love them because you might not have a chance to say that ever again. I think the hardest lesson I intend to follow is never to say hate. What I mean by that is hatred is what killed the all those innocent I don't want to hate someone or something ever in my life. After Eva had finished speaking her story touched my heart and realized that I must follow the lessons she told us from now on.

MS Team Building Day

On Monday(yesterday), all of Middle School went to a place called Norval for a Team Building Day. In my group for the morning I had Wilks, Eric, Marina, Jamie, Hayley, Thomas, Ethan and Brenna on my team. I had so much fun that I want to go again next year. I'll tell you some things that happened:

One of my highlights for that morning was my team doing very well with the 2nd challenge. The 2nd challenge was to get a tire off a wooden pole. What we did was everyone helped push Thomas up the pole so he can get the tire off the pole. We had to push very hard because Thomas wasn't exactly the lightest or smallest person ever(no offensense Thomas!) so it made it bit difficult to push him up. The 2nd part of the challenge was to put the tire back onto the pole and we actually did it faster than the 1st part of the challenge because we used a lighter person than Thomas: Jamie. So she risked her "small" life (sorry I felt like saying that) going up a pole, holding a very heavy tire while by being pushed by everyone up the treacherous pole. For both parts, I pushed the person up by holding up their one foot up and afterwards, my fingers were sore.

One thing I thought that my team had a bit of trouble with was the very 1st challenge. The challenge was to get everyone to 4 bits of wood then getting to the other side without touching the ground and using only a thing of rope and 3 planks of wood. When we used the rope to help our balance, it actually made it even harder to get across resulting in more people falling off the small planks of wood. Plus, when most of the people got across, I was probably the only one that was actually trying to hold the rope up for people on the bits of wood and the people on the other side were barely helping at first. Eventually, we all worked together, payed attention and got everyone across which was good. I was probably was the only one that didn't fall off once. I guess I have good balance.

Overall, the day was a amazing expeirence. Especially the drum circle we had after lunch. This people called the Drum Cafe came in and we played awesome rhythms together. They barely talked and yet everyone listened to them. At one part, they were handing out different insturments to most people so we can get differents rhythms together to make a awesome group song. Though I didn't get a different instrument then, I was OK just playing the drum. Afterwards, my hands were red and I could barely hear a thing considering it was very loud. This day will certainly be a day to remember.

I need a book!!

Alright, I don't have any books to read and I don't know what to do! If you guys have books that you think I'll like, please post in a comment.

Does "the clothes make the man"?

This is an interesting question. Obviously the answer should be NO. People are more than what they wear and what they look like. Just because someone wears "in" clothing like Lululemon and Abercormbie doesn't make them a cool or nice person. Also just because someone doesn't wear these brands doesn't make them uncool or a nerd. Someone should be judged by their so-called "inner beauty" and their actions v.s what they wear. Clothing also can show a bit of your own personality and emotion. For example, I'm more sporty and environmental so I wear T-shirts and jeans and I'm NOT into fashion v.s people who always follow trends and wear jewelry. We may have both good qualities but dressed differently so we shouldn't be judged on that.

However in today's society, The Media wants you to believe that you're a better person or more successful if you wear certain brands or items. There's a lot of pressure to look a certain way when you're applying for a job, especially when there's a lot of competition. For example, the guy who comes to an interview dressed nicely in a suit and tie v.s a guy who comes dressed in dirty jeans and T-shirt may be more likely to get the job even though both of them might be qualified for it. Therefore my answer to this question is YES and NO depending how you look on it.

Hi again

Sweet it worked! Anyhow I'm just so excited right now. I can't believe I have a blog. If you think I should add or change something, please comment.

hi

Im just seeing if this works. testing....testing.....