Sarah’s Space

Could December 21st 2012 bring the end of the world as we know it?

I recently watched a documentary that begs this question. It showed many experts who think that the above statement is true. It also told of many ancient cultures who actually predicted the end of the world on this exact date. The Mayans from Central America as well as the Egyptians thought that 2012 would bring famine, war and the destruction of our civilisations. They have encoded this message in many ways. In symbols, temples, calendars and writings. There was, surprisingly, a lot of persuasive evidence of this. There have been many prophets including the famous Nostradamus who have foreseen the end of the world in 2012. It all revolves, basically, around the galactic alignment which will occur in 2012. This is when the sun will line up perfectly with the centre of the galaxy. There is also the fact that the earth’s magnetic field is weakening which will cause many problems to our world. There is also the question of the domino effect. That is, one event will cause another. Eg. A huge crash in the economy will cause famine and famine will cause war and disease and so on. Then of course there is the controversial global warming which seems to be taking a hold on the world as well. Our summers are becoming hotter and hotter each year. And also, in a way, our world does seem to be going downhill. There are so many theories that seem to point to the destruction of our planet on the December 21st 2012… But is it true?

Is there really any truth behind this? Were all these ancient civilisations really trying to pass us a message of the end with all the symbols etc? Can we expect to wake up to a normal day on the 21st or one of darkness and lost hope? I suppose we’ll just have to wait.

Personally, I think people are just reading too much into all this. I don’t think the end is just over the horizon and I sincerely hope that I’m right. Then again I’m no expert on the subject. It was a very persuasive documentary but I still think it’s a bit far-fetched.

What do you think?

Here are ten things that I hope to accomplish before I die…

1. Swim in the Dead Sea
2. Win a major championship of some kind
3. Pilot a plane
4. Hypnotise someone
5. Go to Paris
6. Sky dive & Bungee jump
7. Compete in a reality show
8. Have a career working with animals
9. Go to America
10. Stay in contact with my friends & Have fun

What’re everyone else’s goals etc? What do you hope to do?
Leave a comment and tell me.

This is my latest book review. I think I’ve really improved.

Author: Adeline Yen Mah
Publisher: Puffin
No. Of Pages: 232
Date Started: I started when we started our project
Date Finished: I finished approx 5 days later
Genre: Autobiography, History

Chinese Cinderella is an autobiography that follows the early life of a Chinese girl, Adeline Yen Mah up until the age of fourteen. Since birth, Adeline Yen Mah was marked as bad luck or a curse, due to the fact that her mother died giving birth to her. As a result of this she becomes neglected by her own father and her 4 siblings. Deprived of their love, she finds comfort with her Aunt Baba and grandfather. At the young age of 4 her Father remarried to a Chinese/French woman who the children called Niang. Together they had two children who were soon singled out by the parents as the favoured ones and the other children quickly realised this. The two younger siblings got everything they ever sought after while Adeline and her other brothers and sister received only the vital necessities. This autobiography follows Adeline’s quest for her family’s love and affection. It follows her through her school years where she excels immensely. This book tells her heart-warming tale of hardship and the lengths she goes to overcome this.

Chinese Cinderella is an enthralling autobiography that gives you a fascinating insight into what happens in other countries and places that we may not be aware of. It allows you to bring to life the things you may never see, or even hear about in a peaceful country like ours. I didn’t realise the mental suffering adults and children alike must live through and this book has shown me exactly that. I now, after reading this feel great sympathy towards all those unwanted children as well as everyone else who has been mentally and/or physically abused in this sometimes cruel world of ours.

I also liked the fact that throughout her story Adeline never complained, whined or took pity in herself. She seemed to take each heart-wrenching moment in her stride and tried to find the silver lining in various situations that didn’t really have one. I think we can all learn a lot from this practise. Adeline always put on a brave face at school when on the inside she was hurting so much. Adeline is a truly brave and courageous person. For instance, in chapter 8 she shows this by standing up for her and her grandfather and does not give in to the evil ways of her step mother. She is an inspiration to me and almost certainly to everyone else who has read this touching recount of her life.

My favourite character was Aunt Baba because of the way she accepted Adeline into her heart when nobody else did. I liked her the most for the way she supported her niece in her times of need. I enjoyed reading about the bond her and Adeline had formed. It gave a warm feeling to a book that seemed to be filled with hatred, favouritism and selfishness.

In the book there were two characters that really got on my nerves. They were Niang and the Father. They were so horrible to Adeline. They did terrible things to her and I think the most hurtful ones were for example, when the father forgot Adeline’s name and date of birth. I found this really quite saddening and heart-breaking.

Overall this autobiography really allows you to see Adeline’s life through her own eyes. Whilst reading this book, I felt as though I was standing in her shoes. I felt as though I was part of her life and she was part of mine because of the way I became so absorbed in the autobiography. This book was truly inspiring and I strongly advise that all children/teenagers and even adults, read it.

Okay, so it was the first day today and I started off quite nervous. Firstly, we were welcomed onto the school with a powhiri. After a quick exploration of the school we headed back to the hall for our form classes to be read out. I’m in Mrs Sahay’s extension class, with a lot of my friends. I am in Selwyn house which unfortunately is losing at the moment!! Guess what? It’s the first day and I already have to complete two pages of maths homework-TONIGHT! As well as having to do a one minute speech on ourselves for music class! It is quite a large school but I guess I’ll learn to recognise where everything is. Its really cool to have some of my very close friends in my class with me and I know other people aren’t this fortunate. I have a feeling that this year is going to b ehard work but it will definately help me improve on all the subjects, because after all…

Practise makes perfect! =]

The annual Te Awamutu Intermediate Gala has just happened and what a good time we have had. Our class was doing our usual-Balloon Pop. We made quite a bit of money, I think, and we all helped out too. I even won a chocolate bar by hitting the balloon with one of the darts! As you can imagine it was quite hectic trying to get people out of the throwing area. But we managed.

This year we had quite a good turn out and I especially enjoyed seeing my old friends Taegan and Laura who came as well.

The theme was ‘gypsy’ although the actual gala didn’t really represent this theme. But It was still good all the same. There was one stall which was selling a range of knick-knacks. I bought a cap gun dart. It’s a metal dart shaped thing and at the end you put on the cap gun ammo. Don’t wory it was harmless. However, we did get a kick out of seeing some people jump when they saw it. When thrown at a hard surface it makes a small banging noise and has very small sparks. It was just a mere toy- completely safe.

Each class had a stall where they aimed to make as much money as possible to go towards our school. Some stalls had things like, guess which teacher was which baby photo. And things like throwing sponges at fellow students plus more. There were heaps of things to do. We even had bouncy castles, jeeps and a chair-o-plane.

Overall, a good night. Even though I think last year’s was probably slightly better. I think this was because I had lots of friends there and this time not so many came. But still I had fun.

Finally! We have finally started learning our social dances in preparation for the year 8 ball. We started off, boys on one side of the hall, girls on the other. The year 8s were excited but the year 7s didn’t really know what to think or what to expect. Josh from our class was asked by another teacher to kindly show all of the new-comers how to dance the waltz properly. He chose me, so I stood and we did a fantastic job of showing the students how to do the dance. Well, we weren’t bad at least.

We all then stood in our correct positions with our chosen boy/girl partner at hand. Some people were nervous at first, unlike my partner and I. Most people seemed to be enjoying themselves which was good to see.

Personally, I really enjoy doing social dance as it is a relaxing, fun, exciting and enjoyable way to spend some of our school time. I cannot wait til we do our next lesson. And this time it’s the girls turn to pick…

First of all, Life Education Trust is a corporation that focuses on New Zealand children learning about health and life in general. They have many mobile classrooms that visit the schools in their area. They even have a mascot, Harold the giraffe, who we have all grown to love, even though he is just a puppet. Just recently we were lucky enough to have one of the classrooms visit our school, Te Awamutu Intermediate.

Last week, on Wednesday night the mobile classroom that was currently located at our school endured severe fire and smoke damage. Local police believe that this was a case of arson and have already arrested and charged a 15 year old boy. Nicky, the classroom teacher was absolutely devastated by this awful event.

The next day, we had a special assembly to inform the students of what had happened. However, Nicky, did confirm that Harold the giraffe stopped, went down on his hands and knees and crept out the nearest exit and is just slightly singed. This did brighten up the mood but not for long…

We were all devastated and disappointed. We all felt great sympathy for Nicky. Personally, I think that the 15 year old that did this is stupid and has absolutely no respect for property or people’s feelings. And the fact that he is a teenager shouldn’t matter to police. He was fully aware of his actions and the consequences that were to come with them.

This was a very sad incident and we are already trying to raise funds for the Trust and also for Nicky. 

Those are my views.

What do you think?

Term 4 is already underway, so these are some of the goals that I am going to be striving towards this term.

I am going to pass my saxophone music exams. I will do so by practising and listening to my tutor.

I am hoping to do well in the upcoming inter house athletics events. I will do this by making the most of the athletics P.E time that we have in class.

I will work well in my inquiry group. I will do this by making sure we deal with ‘hitchhikers’ accordingly and also by listening to what other people in the group have to say.

I am going to learn how to perform our social dance’s properly. I will be able to achieve this goal if I have a positive attitude towards social dance and also by not mucking around in our dance time.

I am going to get better at English work. Not only written, but also oral and visual. I will do so by participating in discussions and focusing on my work

I will try to improve on my time management skills by starting tasks straight away and not procrastinating which I have a tendency to do at the moment.

And my last goal is to keep doing my weekly blog posts.

(I will also achieve these goals by reflecting on them every so often and also to give me a bit more of an incentive)

As the students entered the hall my palms began to sweat and sudden shivers were being sent up my spine. After the first few speakers though, I could see it wasn’t that bad and began to relax a bit more. So, when it was my turn I got up and said my speech. My topic was ‘Strange Names’. I got a few laughs from the audience and knew this was a good sign. After my speech a sudden relief washed over me. The final speeches went by very quickly and before long it was time for the judges to make their final decision.

 

In third place…

Jamie

 

Second place…

Sarah

 

And first place…

Iain.

 

I am very pleased about coming second in the speeches. Even though it’s not first it was still a good effort and I know that I have tried my best.

 

Overall, a really cluttered and chaotic week but great fun all the same. This was a very successful week for me and I am personally quite proud of all that I have achieved.