The Dons- Character Discussion- Zia Rita

While reading our new class novel ‘The Dons’, I have learnt a bit about different people’s characters, and have had a deeper look into people’s behaviour. One example I would like to talk about is a lady in the story called Zia Rita.

The first thing I will tell you before I start talking about Zia Rita’s character is the meaning of this word. ‘Zia’ is Italian for ‘Aunt’. I know that I went through the whole book without knowing the real meaning for this word, and I always thought it was just part of her name. ‘Nonno’ is also from the Italian, which means ‘Grandfather’. However, in this book we start to think of this word as Zia Rita’s father’s name.

Well with Zia Rita, the first thing I will say that will describe this lady is that she is like a book with a piggy bank on its cover. If you’re wondering why I have linked a human character to a book’s cover, then I’m just about to explain it all to you right now. This is where the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” comes in. Throughout the book, we get the impression that Rita is just a selfish lady who doesn’t care about her own father. It is her behaviour that makes us think that she’s just a selfish person, which is like the cover of a book. Have you ever looked at the front cover of a book and gone, “Gee, that book looks so boring!” because of the cover? However, if you read it, you may find that the book itself isn’t what it seemed like when you looked at the cover. This is exactly the same as Zia Rita! People make their mind up on what she’s like based on her actions (which is like judging a book by it’s front cover) instead of looking deeper into her inside feelings about the whole issue with Nonno. The piggy bank on the cover represents the selfishness that people see in Zia Rita, but it’s a completely different story when you look into the situation more closely.

So what is Zia Rita really like inside? Inside, Zia Rita was afraid of what might happen to her father (Nonno). She couldn’t cope with all the changes that were happening to her own father. It was this same person that used to laugh and talk to Rita when she was a child. It was this same person who would play the piano accordion and dance around the garage… the only thing that had changed was that Nonno was getting old. He was losing his mind, and Rita had no control over what was happening to him. She was confused, and afraid of what was going on. What was happening to her father that she always loved to socialise with?

So what was all the selfishness about? Why didn’t she show how she really felt about Nonno? Zia Rita loved Nonno so much that she didn’t want to face what was happening to him. She was so afraid of what was happening to him that she tried to escape the situation by avoiding the fact that he was losing his mind. She seemed like a selfish lady throughout most of the story because she continuously refused to look after Nonno, but it wasn’t Nonno who she was refusing to face; it was what was happening to him that she couldn’t understand.

But why didn’t Zia Rita talk to people about how she felt? Well I believe that this is an indication that gives a bit more information about her personality to the readers. Because she would not talk to anyone about her fear, she  striked me as quite a hollow person. The kind of person who cannot understand that it’s better to talk to others about how she feels instead of keeping it all inside her. This may be a problem of trust, or she may only be scared of what people would think of her.

However, there was one part of the book where Zia Rita did actually mention how she missed the old times she had with Nonno. The sound of Nonno playing his piano accordion brought back memories of her childhood. All Rita’s worries was swepted away by the music, allowing her to reveal how she missed the good times she had with Nonno.

Zia is dancing in the silence, her arms out over her head, her head to one side. It doesn’t take long for Nonno to start playing, and when he does Zia Rita grabs me by both hands and we whirl around her garage the way we did at family get-togethers before Dad died… I see Nonno hunched over his piano accordion. His head is rocking from side to side and his eyes are closed. There is a grin on his face and his right foot is tapping time. “Gee, I miss this stuff!” Zia cries as we lock arms and twirl and stomp our feet.

Zia Rita’s way of trying to cope with the huge change in Nonno was to try and block him out of her mind. She wanted to pretend that she had nothing to do with him anymore, instead of face that Nonno was not what he used to be. This approach is what makes her seem like a selfish person in the story, however, by reading this book, I have learnt to understand people’s actions and learn what causes them.

Her final decision to move away so she could escape the stress of Nonno was a selfish decision that proved how weak she was when it came to accepting reality. However, this was caused because of her inside fear of what is going to happen to Nonno. Therefore, I don’t consider Zia Rita as simply a selfish person, but only selfish on the outside because of her lack of understanding and dealing with the situation.

This rounds me off to the cover of the book again where it has some small writing. I think that the whole issue of Zia Rita running away from her family to live in Sydney is one reason for this little sentence on the cover, as well as some other issues in the story. Really, when you think about, it all winds up to this very sentence on the cover of the book. This is the sentence that I never really understood until I finished reading the book. When I started talking about the family issues that have been faced in this book, everything begun to link up with this little sentence.

You can never escape family

Compassion

When I say the word ‘compassion’, what do you think of? What kind of things do you imagine someone doing which involves compassion? Why is being compassionate so important? Today I have decided to write a post which is all about compassion, which will answer all of these questions.

Have you ever heard the saying “treat others how you want to be treated”? I believe that this saying is in the center of compassion. If you do not respect people for who they are, and do not show kindness, don’t expect people to treat you any better than you have treated them. People must realise that everything doesn’t revolve around themselves. The key words that need to be focused on in compassion are kindness, empathy and generosity. I have explained these three words below:

Kindness– Kindness involves treating people in a manner that would make them feel comfortable. Showing kindness could simply mean saying greeting someone friendly, including them, starting a conversation with them etc.

Empathy- I would say that empathy is one of the most important points in compassion. The word empathy basically means understanding how others feel and trying to put yourself in their shoes. Instead of only thinking about yourself, you are imagining what things would be like for someone else. When I say “putting yourself in someone’s shoes”, I don’t mean this by physically putting on their shoes, but I mean imagining that you are actually this person, and how things would feel like from their point of view.

Generosity- Generosity is giving up something of yours for someone else. This may simply mean sharing your money with a friend so they can buy a chocolate muffin from a cake stall, or it could mean giving up your bedroom so that your new brother has a place to sleep at night. No matter how big or small the sacrifice is, it will always make someone else happy.

Now, can you imagine a world where there is no compassion at all? Try to imagine what things would be like for not only you, but everyone else as well. Everyone only helps other people for money, the poor people get left to starve because no one cares about anyone but themselves, everyone uses everyone else to please themselves… it wouldn’t be a very nice world at all! Everyone is capable of showing compassion, but not everyone is willing to do so. That is why today I would like to thank everyone who have taken time to read this, and everyone who has shown compassion in this world, or will do after reading this.

So next time there’s a job that needs doing, do it out of good-will instead of only doing it to gain money for yourself. I know that this week I’m going to set myself a goal of to do things out of good-will instead of money, and I hope that I have aspired you to do the same.

Memories

In English, we have received another class novel. This book is called ‘The Dons’, and I have really enjoyed reading this fantastic book!

When I read books, I usually pick up a main topic in them. After reading The Dons, I felt a post forming in my head. This is the very post that I have been looking forward to writing. This post is all about memories.

If there was a house fire, and you got the chance to save a few items, what would they be? This is the question that formed in my head after reading The Dons. I decided to go around and ask a few people this question, feeling very curious about what their answers would be. I have listed their responses below, which I’m sure you’d like to read.

Mum- I would choose my oboe (a woodwind musical instrument) and photographs.

Grace– I would save my pet dog, and some objects that mean something to me like photos.

Mrs McLeay– I would save my computer and the baby photos of my kids.

You may have noticed that all three people have mentioned that photographs would be one of their choices to save. But why photos? Lets find out.

Why were photographs one of your choices?

Mum– You can never replace them.

Grace– They show what happened in the past and you can’t buy them.

Mrs McLeay- That time of my life can never be replaced. It’s a way of talking to my children about what life was like for us then- reminding them of things they’ve forgotten.

If you think about all the things you use a lot in your house, or items that cost a lot to buy, you would probably feel that it is a big loss that you no longer own them anymore. However, the biggest loss would be the things that you cannot buy/replace. These things include:

Your pets- Pets are amazing things. When you first meet your pet, you are unaware of all the mysteries within that very animal. You hardly know the pet, however you are willing to take it back to your home and care for it. You pet gives back what you have given to it, making every second you spend with it something to remember it by. Each time you play with it, look after it, and touch it, you grow closer and closer to that animal. The very same thing happens to it as well, and very quickly the bond becomes so strong that you both need each other. The fact that your best friend has perished in a fire would devastate you so much. Every pet is individual and no other pet that could replace it. Therefore, if you could, you would save your friend that you became attached to so that you can both continue your lives together and share the many pleasures of friendship together.

These three people also mentioned that they would save items that are quite valuable to them. These items include things such as computers. Your computer is like a personal information keeper. Data for work, programs that are quite expensive and other things you have spent ages working on for a reason would all be lost, causing you to become very frustrated. The computer itself would also be a loss as computers can do so many things. Access to the internet, music, blogs and videos can all be found on a computer. I can tell you now, I would be very angry if learnerblogs just cut out on me right now and I lost the whole of this post I have been writing.

Another thing that these people mentioned was special items. Most people have an item which is very important to them, like Grace mentioned above. My mum would choose to save her oboe as it is a special item to her. Besides the value and the use, this item means a lot to her. Her passion for music is expressed through her oboe, and by playing this special instrument, it also brings back memories. The whole side of her family’s all fond of their music, and losing this item would be quite a loss to her. In The Dons, one of the characters called Nonno (Paul’s grandfather), had a collection of aftershave bottles. These were his special items, and each bottle brought back memories of his past. When the bottles were smashed, the loss was so bad because those bottles had become a part of him.

This leads me to the final thing that all these people mentioned. Photos. Experiences, childhood, and other things that have happened in the past cannot be replaced. What you have experienced in the past is in your head. You can’t physically touch them, and you can never turn the clock back to do the whole thing again. What’s in the past, is in the past, but you can still remember many of these experiences in your head. However, not all of these experiences can be remembered this easily. This is where photos come in. Believe it or not, photos are a link to the past. They help bring back all those memories that are fading inside your head. Do you ever look back at your baby photos and you suddenly remember all those memories of when you were little? Without photos, your childhood may seems like a blur.

I remember looking back at all the photos of my early life. The photos of me up a tree, our old car, my pram with the big yellow balloon attached to it… And then I remember looking at the photos and going, “Is that me?” Those memories were fading, and without the photos, I may never have found out what life was like for me back then. The huge 1 year old birthday cake, the bucket of wooden blocks, the people I still know now, but younger… Those photos brought back so many memories of being a baby, and without them, my childhood would just be a blur. All the good times I had need to last, and with the help of photos, I can look back at them even when I’ve finished school and all of the memories will flood back into my head again. This is exactly what Mrs McLeay was talking about above, and this is the reason that photos would definitely be one of my choices to save as well.

Feel free to explain what you would save if there was a house fire through a comment, as I’m curious to see what other people would choose. Also, if you get the chance to, pick up a copy of The Dons book and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

8Alive- Rock climbing

I’ve just been going through my drafts, and found that I had written about an 8Alive activity that our class did last term. I think it’s a waste of writing not to post it, so here it is. Hope you enjoy reading! 

Last term my class went rock climbing as part of the 8Alive program. I really enjoyed it and I’d say it’s one of the best activities I’ve done this week!

The minute I stepped into the centre, I was already staring at many walls covered in coloured rocks for climbing. No, the walls were not small, nor medium. They were gigantic, and the height of them was unbelievable! We stared up at them in astonishment, many of us already scared from seeing the height of those unbelievable walls! Few people were looking confident and I heard cries of fright coming from around the room. However, I felt very different to most people. I stared up at the walls and my heart was already beating fast. Not from fright… but from excite! When I first caught sight of these walls, the first thing that came to mind was seeing me perched at the very top of one of them. I’d set myself I goal. A goal to get to the very top of that wall without falling off once! No one was going to stop me getting there, and nothing was going to get in my way. I was planning to get to the top no matter how hard it was. To reach the top just like a mountain climber.

The centre was just like a cave, and we all got led off to some walls out the back. They looked so miniature compared to these huge walls out the front that I just wanted start climing straight away, but first we needed to get trained how to put on a harness and manage the rope while climbing. It took a little while to get everything ready, and even longer for me because I had picked up a dud harness. After a while though we finally got the chance to start climbing the small walls. They seemed pretty tiny just looking at them, but when I reached the top they didn’t seem so small!

Down below our partners were handling the rope. Many terrifying thoughts loomed around my head such as, “What if the rope wasn’t done up properly, and when I let go, I end up falling?” and, “What if my partner lets go of the rope and lets me fall?”. All these thoughts were starting to scare me, and I stared down at my partner who told me to let go of the wall. I wasn’t sure whether I should trust her or not; just about anything could go wrong! Slowly, I took one leg off the wall and then the other, making sure I was still hanging onto the wall with my hands. I couldn’t feel my weight, so I knew that things were going all to plan so far. I removed my hands from the wall and dangled from the end of the rope while my partner pulled me down. However, I kept lightly grabbing the rocks on the wall just in case anything went wrong. All this came down to one thing… trust.

As I reached the ground, I got a second go at climbing the wall. It was so easy that I just raced up there, but the hardest part was still letting go of the wall when you reached the top. Slowly, I began to trust my partner more as I climbed more walls.

This time it was my turn to manage the rope while my partner climbed the wall. Many thoughts and worries raced through my mind such as, “What if I do something wrong and my partner falls off the wall?” and, “What if I can’t hold her weight?” I felt much safer when an instructor was nearby incase something happened. All my worries were answered in the end though, because I left it up to my partner to tie the rope up, the intructor taught me how to handle the rope while my partner was climbing, and I found out that you didn’t have to hold anyone’s weight because the rope was hooked in the ground (which held their weight for you).

Next up was those huge walls sitting out there in the other room. My partner wasn’t so keen on them, but I was fully charged! I wanted to get onto them as soon as possible and start climbing!

I think seeing other people have a go at something gives you more confidence. Well, I know it does for me. When I’m scared of doing something, or trying a new challenge, it often helps me to know that a friend or a sibling has been through the same thing. When my partner and I saw others who had started climbing the walls, I think it gave her the strength to have a go at it. However, this didn’t change the fact that I was going to challenge the walls, even if everyone had a go, or no one.

When I was ready, I grabbed hold of the first rock and pulled my self up. Seemed easy so far… well maybe I was wrong. When I got about half way up the wall, the nerves suddenly became obvious. I thought I would never get nervous. Well, I decided that this would not stop me from getting to the top. Nothing was going to stop me, because I had decided I was going to get up there, and nothing could change my mind!

Well when I reached the top, the sight was amazing, yet terrifying. All those bumps and difficulties along the way tried to stop me, but I got passed them. Now was the big issue of letting go.

The trust for your partner was extreme here. There were so many things that could go wrong when I let go of the wall. I sat up there for a while, and finally came to the conclusion that if I had to let go sooner or later, or I would be stuck there forever. I slowly let go of the wall, and found that I didn’t fall. As my partner let me down, I still kept hands near the wall, just in case!

Well, this sure was a game of trust! I think all those practice walls really helps build up the trust between you and your partner. I also learnt how important goals were to success. I also have a deeper meaning which I got out of today, which I would like to share with you. On the walls, the bends in the wall represent the things that get in the way of you completing your goal. The key to getting through these difficulties is determination. The rocks are what help you get to the top of the wall. These rocks represent the people that you love, who will help you and support you throughout your determination to complete your goal. If I wasn’t so persistent, I don’t think I would have kept going. It was my determination which led me up those walls, and it is that experience which I wanted to tell you about today.

Nowhere in Africa

A few days ago I watched another great film called Nowhere in Africa. The film tells the story of a Jewish family who flee Germany not long before World War 2. The mother and her daughter’s life in Germany is compared to their new life in Africa. A less wealthy country, new people, new surroundings… at first the mother cannot cope with this new lifestyle. However, as we get further into the story, things begin to change. New friendships flourish, exciting experiences face the family, and sad news arrives. This film shows the good times, and the bad times that face people in life.

The first thing I would like to talk about from this film is friendship. The friendship in this film is simply amazing, and proves that someone’s looks has nothing to do with a strong friendship. People may say that good friends have a lot of things in common, but I have learnt that this is not always the case. Sometimes the differences are what brings two people together. When the mother and her daughter first arrived in Africa, one of the first people they met was a kind, African man called Owuoa. When the daughter and Owuoa first met, you can tell they will form a very strong relationship. The bond between these two people was so strong, that anyone could think that they had known each other for a long time. If you compare these two, you would notice that they are quite different. They come from different countries, are different ages, have different coloured skin and much more. However, these two remain close friends throughout the story. Their looks did not matter at all. Their skin colour did not matter at all. It brought me great delight to see the trust, and love between these two people all the way through the story.

I noticed that the characters physically grew throughout the story as well. When this kind, African man first met the daughter, she was very young. Because she had met him at such a young age, she became very close to him. He actually became like a father to her!

Well, the delights of friendship were lovely to see, but there was also some issues in the story which weren’t so nice. These issues also hit us today. Racism. Back in Germany, it showed that this family was often left out, made fun of and hated. It hurts me to think that this happened to them, because everyone in this world is different. We have different looks, different beliefs, and different skills that make each and every one of us unique. Because this family had a Jewish background, they were considered Jewish themselves. People in Germany were against Jewish people, and treated them differently to most people. One part of the film showed the little daughter being teased by the other kids. Racism is a cruel thing, which no one deserves. We cannot change our colour or our race, and people just have to accept us for who we are. When the daughter first met Owuor, it was the very first time she had seen another person of this colour. Her responce was just lovely to see, as she did not turn her back on him. Owuor welcomed her, and they embraced. What she felt then was not a feeling of hatred because of the difference in skin colour, but a feeling of comfort and love. This man was a kind person just like her, and this is how we should imagine these people. Just because someone’s looks are quite different, doesn’t mean we should treat them any differently to how we treat others. We should get to know the person, and find out what they’re like inside. The daughter did just this, and this was the beginning of a strong, secure relationship.

However, when this family arrived in Africa, the mother treated the black African people exactly how she got treated back at home. “Do not go near them,” I remember the mother telling her daughter in Africa. “They’re dirty people who carry disease!” Betraying her mother’s words, the daughter took the chance to see what she thought of the dark-skinned people herself. This wise girl was pleased to find out that the other kids were friendly, encouraging people, and she did not avoid them because of their colour. She soon made friends with them all, and enjoys spending time with them.

There are many, many more topics that are mentioned in the film, and these are just a few of them. “Nowhere in Africa” is a great film for older viewers, and I would say that this film really gives you a feel of what has been going on in our world. It shows that we are all different, and that our difference in backgrounds should not stop us from forming a friendship with someone. Although this film is in German, with fast, English sub-titles, it does not affect the love that is shown within the story.

Grammar

Right now I feel quite embarrassed. No, nothing extremely embarrassing happened, it’s just that I’m in year 8, and I don’t even know the names of different words. Verbs, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns… you probably know the full definition of these words. Not me though! It is expected that you can identify these types of words by high school, but I don’t even know what a verb is! I feel a bit embarrassed telling you this, and felt even more embarrassed when Mrs McLeay said that adverbs describe a verb, and I replied, “What’s a verb?”

Well, luckily, Mrs McLeay has found an interactive website that helps people learn these grammar skills. This sounds like the perfect thing for me, seeing as though I’m a kinaesthetic learner, which means I learn better while doing something.

I started off on the ‘Adverbs’ section, where I was quizzed on adverbs. I started off really badly, and even mistaken adverbs for words that describe nouns. When I was corrected, I began the whole quiz again, and this time I did much better.

Now, onto the games. I started playing a game which was on personal pronouns. I enjoyed playing the game much more than doing the quiz, and felt that it was much easier.

I think this site is a great way to learn grammar skills! It will take some practice, but by spending a bit of time on this site everyday, I think I will learn these grammar skills in no time! I won’t give an age limit for this site, because I believe that there is none! I recommend the site for anyone who wishes to improve their grammar skills.

Click here to go to the site

Click here to go to the games

Teachers

Teachers! What do you imagine when I say that word? Most of you probably imagine school teachers, the people who run classes at school and teach different topics such as maths and english. However, I look at teaching slightly differently. I beleve that we are all teachers? You may refuse to believe me, but it’s true! We all do, or say things that help other people around us. We are continuously learning new things, most of it we learn off other people.

What is it that helps us learn? As we learn, we all change in some way. We grow to become more knowledgeable, and even better people in some way. But what helps us learn? Appart from the other people around us, we all have different ways that help us learn new and complicated things. You may find that you learn better if you’re doing something like bouncing a ball, or even eating! Or maybe you find it easier to learn if you’re reading the information. You could learn better by hearing the information being explained, and so on. There are so many things that can affect your learning. This means that there are also things that can make it harder to learn as well. Maybe if there’s a lot of noise going on around you, it can make it harder to learn. What has happened during the day can also affect your learning as well, such as having a fight with a friend.

What’s the difference between us and a school teacher? School teachers have the job of helping other people learn. Many school teachers have a specific topic they teach people about, like maths for example. They train and work towards their goal, and that is their job. Different school teachers have many different qualities and ways of helping people learn. Humour is a very great quality to have, as it keeps the students occupied and engaged while learning. Another great quality for teachers to have is being able to understand the students. If a student doesn’t understand the topic, an understanding teacher would be patient and listen to the student to find out what is difficult. If a teacher just yells at the student because they don’t understand, that would definitely affect the student’s learning, and also reduce trust with the teacher. The teacher should also try and include everyone, and listen to different people’s point of view. Teachers have a way of getting through the information of a topic, as well as listening and talking to the students. I’d say that teachers learn along the way as well.

A successful lesson also relies on the students as well as the teacher. The students job is to listen to the teacher like the teaches does to them. This includes not calling out and being involved in the topic. Many people in my class make it harder for the teacher, and other students to learn by calling out. I find that I get frustrated when I put my hand up to say something, and then someone else just calls. Many people in my class do not listen to the person who is talking, and calls out over the top of them. Listening is a huge part of learning in a classroom. If everyone just called out over the top of everyone else, can you imagine what it would be like? No one would be able to talk to the teacher, the teacher wouldn’t be able to explain the topic… it would just be a disaster!

I find that blogs help me learn. It allows me to express what I want to say without anyone stopping me. I just had a look at my very first post on the movie ‘Fly Away Home’, and when I read it, it didn’t really seem like really thought as much as I do now when I write my posts. By writing more and more, I’ve become a better writer, better at grammar and a deeper thinker. I’m really glad that our english teacher, Mrs Mcleay, introduced us all to blogging because it has really helped me so much, and I really enjoy the fact that other people can read what I have written.

 

Traumatised Women

Last night, I woke up with a sudden shock as I had just awaken from a horrible dream! My town had suddenly become the centre of war, with bombs falling onto it and people being snatched away by terrorist-like people, similar to the taliban in the Middle East. When the war began, I was with my mum, who ordered me to run free. She said that she wasn’t going to leave without my father, who was not present at the house. Even though I didn’t wan’t to leave her, she didn’t give me much choice, and before I knew it I was running away from my town, leaving my family behind.

After a while I came across a man that was about the same age as my father. He was heading for the town, and when I warned him about the bomb attacks there, he was very grateful. Together, we started a journey to get away from my town. After a while we would hear another bomb drop on the town. I was very frightened and worried, and I knew I should never had left my mum. I could still see that last image of her telling me to run free, and the thought of that being the last picture I ever see of her haunted me. But I was glad that someone was there to talk to and let it all out on. Every few moments, I would begin to cry. “I want to go back to my family,” I told the man, but he insisted that I stayed here with him. He told me that it was too dangerous to go back now and that I should keep going with him. The decision was difficult, but I listened to him and did what he thought was right for me.

We were both following a long dirt road when we heard a large bomb plane coming. “Quick!” he said, pushing me over to a bunch of hedges. “Hide down there! If the people in the plane see you, they will land and take you away because you are a young girl. Only men are allowd to be seen standing around. The women and children are often taken away for the war.” I quickly ducked under the trees as my heart beated fast. I was so scared, not only because my own safety was at risk but because I would probably never see my mum, or my family again! I shut my eyes and huddled under the branches until I got the all clear to come out.

We both continued along the road, not realising that it was circling and leading us back to the town. Up ahead was a large spread of green grass, which looked like the oval in my town. However, the man did not realise this, maybe because he had never seen the town before.

Suddenly, I spotted my mum. She was standing under a shelter with my father opposite her. He had an injured, and before I knew what I was doing, I raced across to her. I was so glad to see her, but she seemed concerned. About 5 seconds later, we all heard an engine sound. It sounded like another plane, and I saw people all the kids run to a nearby hedge. I ran towards a small hedge, but it had lost its leaves and didn’t cover me very well. I lay under the thin twigs that stuck out of it, hoping that I wouldn’t be seen. However, we all got a huge surprise when we found out that the engine sound didn’t belong to a plane, but it was actually a huge army truck coming up behind the kids in the hedge. The truck stopped infront of them, and the kids all screamed and ran. Two army men jumped out of the truck and grabbed some of the kids round the waste. They were throwen into the back of the truck and then the army men were back, heading towards me! I leaped out of the bush and ran towards the stretch of green grass, not looking back to see how close the men were to catching me. I was followed by a few more kids, and some voices yelling, “Run, run!”

This was such a horrible dream! It was so terrifying, and when I woke up I was so relieved that it was just a dream. I was so lucky that I had my family with me, a house to live in and a town that was in peace. However, not everyone is this lucky. My dream, that I experienced last night, is actually true for some people! Many people live in war torn areas, and my dream happens to them every day. I was put in the shoes of someone living like this, and experienced exactly what it’s like to live in a country like this.

Just the other day, during English class, we had a visitor. This visitor was the person that we are going to give the money to that we raised from the cake stall (mentioned on one of my other posts). She works with women who have been traumatised in this way, and helps them relieve the pain of the memories they have been through in their original country. Some of these women are refugees, while others have arrived from these countries, torn to bits by the war and the horrible life-style there. These women are quite different… they have different religions, different beliefs, different ages… but by working with this lady who visited out class, they can all be together and share their tragic stories. All have been though the same type of horrible experiences, and are able to understand each other from experience. It may be hard to get over the terrible things that have happened to them, but by working together, I think this is the key to solving their difficulties.

The lady told us her stories of helping these women. Some were quite amazing and very touching. By working with these women, they reveal clues to what their life was like before coming to Australia. There was once a blanket put together, with different sections on it related to what these women have been through. One woman just stood and stared at one part of the blanket which had a picture of these huge waves, and a little boat in them. She pointed, and cried, “Th…that’s me,” in broken english.

Another thing that this lady did with these women was bringing them to the beach. It was their first time ever that they had been to a beach to play, and some were actually scared of the water. The women were told they they could get in it and play, but because this was all very new to them, they were afraid to do so. The little girls played in the sand and buried themselves in it, which the lady said was really great to watch them get to know the beach. This lady’s job is truely amazing, and she even said that she has learnt more that she ever has during the past 10 years while working with these women.

I think this was the perfect place to donate the money to, and I’m sure it will be used wisely. It was really great hearing and learning about these women, and what great things people will do to help them!

Global Warming

READ IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT IS TRUELY, PHYSICALLY HAPPENING TO OUR PLANET!

Yes, today my goal is to make it clear to everyone reading this that it is really happening. It has been happening over the past 100 years, and it’s even happening right now, right this very moment. “What’s happening?” you ask. Global Warming of course! Even thought you may not realise it, Global Warming does exist. The Earth is warming up, and things are not looking good. You may not realise it, but we are the very centre of this problem. Yes, people are the cause of Global Warming, but why? How? Please keep reading, and all your questions will be answered.

Global Warming pretty much starts with the Greenhouse Effect. Have you ever been inside a greenhouse on a sunny day? If you have, then you would know exactly what I mean by “It’s hot, isn’t it.” This is because the glass inside the greenhouse traps the heat from the sun inside. The gas Carbon Dioxie does the exact same thing in the Earth’s atmosphere. The glass in a greenhouse keeps the plants inside warm, and Carbon Dioxide keeps the planet warm. Well, without it we will freeze… but too much of it will mean we’d boil! People are burning way too much fuels that contain Carbon, such as oil, gas and coal, which are used in cars, aeroplanes, power stations, factories and so on. All this Carbon gets dumped into our air, which is mixed with Oxygen that we all breathe, and so this adds to the Greenhouse gas problem. And so the planet warms up some more…

Global Warming, if I put it in simpler terms, is the average increase in the Earth’s temperature. This causes change the climate, which will lead to many other changes. Some of these changes include:

* A rise in sea level– the warmer temperatures are beginning to melt the ice in Antarctica. This is not good for both humans, and the adorable creatures that live in Antarctica like penguins. Less ice will cause less of a home for penguins as they live on ice, and the warmer temperatures will also cause them to get too hot. And, if you’re asking now, “How will it affect us?” I will tell you now. Believe it or not, this is actually worse for us than it is for penguins. All this melted ice will start to fill up the oceans, and cause them to overflow onto our land, not to mention the disease that will also occur if this happens. But it gets even worse. Scientists have found out that as the climate warms up, the weather is going to get more violent and unpredictable. I feel sorry for all those of you who are terrified when there are storms, because I’m afraid to tell you that the hurricanes will become much more powerful, which is a big worry for people living south of the USA, the lovely tropical pacific countries and the Indian Ocean areas such as the Philippines. Rain will also get heavier, so to add to the violent weather, there will also be more floods.

Well now that I’ve told you all of the devastating affects that can happen if we keep up Global Warming, I will defiantly have to tell you how we can fix this problem. Remember, we started it, so we must fix it!

Don’t worry, they’re not big tasks. Just little things you can do which will help. If each of us do our part, then the closer we get to fixing this. However, we must get everyone in this! Everyone has to help and do their bit for us to be able to fix this big problem. Even if you are doing your best, you must also encourage others to do their little bit as well for this to work. We have to have everyone in this, and this is why my goal for today is to get as many people to read this and choose to help. Helping includes doing the tasks below as if they are part of your daily lives. Not only will this help you, but it will help others (including wildlife), and all head towards reducing Global Warming.

1. Save electricity– Whenever we use electricity, we help to put un-seen greenhouse gases into the air. By turning off the lights, the television and the computer when you’ve finished using them can help a lot.
2. Public transport and human power– You can save energy by sometimes catching a bus or train riding a bike or walking to get around.
3. Planting trees– This is fun way to help reduce greenhouse gases. Trees absobe a greenhouse gas called Carbon Dioxide from the air.
4. Recycle– You can recycle some things (which it usually says on the cover whether it can be recycled) and use both sides of a piece of paper. An example of something that can be recycled is paper. When you recycle, you send less rubbish off to the landfills and you help save natural resources like trees, oil and elements such as aluminum.
5. Set up a worm farm or compost bin, where you can put in food scraps such as vegetables, and then use it on the garden.
6. Bring your own reusable bag with you when shopping. Say no to plastic bags!
7. Tell others about Global Warming, and mention the terrible affects it can cause. List some ways that can help them save energy, and feel free to even show them my blog where they can read this very post!

If you have any other great ways to save energy, I’d love it if you could post them under a comment on this post. Also, I’d like to hear from you what you think, so it would be great if you could leave a comment on your throughts about Global Warming and my post.

8Alive is back!

This week has been pretty good because my class have been doing the next part of the 8Alive program. Apart from some activities which I haven’t enjoyed, 8Alive has been much better this week! On Tuesday my class traveled to a park that cared a lot about caring for the environment. From this experience I have learnt a lot more about the environment and how important it is to look after it. During the visit, we each made a piece of recycled paper which I really enjoyed making. From reading the signs around the park, we learnt many fascinating facts mostly about rubbish. Many Australians use up so much water as if it is unlimited, and produce so much rubbish without thinking about what it is doing to the environment. Did you know that by the way everyone’s living today, we need many more Earths than we have. There’s only one Earth, so we have to learn to look after it. You can help by doing simple things such as not taking long showers, using both sides of a piece of paper, bringing a reusable bag with you when shopping instead of using plastic bags, and recycling items that can be reused. Many food items indicate on the box/packaging whether it can be recycled, and most of those that can are made of paper. By recycling, we can save trees, and also our home the Earth. When we use up rubbish, do you ever think about where it goes? It has to be dumped somewhere, so this is what rubbish dumps are made for. However, all this rubbish is bad for the environment. Here are some interesting facts about this topic:

* Believe it or not, Australians dump around 230,000 recyclable plastic bags in landfills every hour, which is 7 billion each year!
* Plastic bags take much longer to break down in the natural environment than we think- up to 1,000 years!
* Plastic bags kill hundreds of thousands of birds and sea creatures every year.

One section of the park was built like an Indian village. Here we got to view some beautiful birds called peacocks, paint in an Indian style and enter some small houses that many Indians live in. We also learnt a lot about the Indian culture and found out how different it is to our daily lives. I really think that this park is doing a great job in helping the environment. Keep up the great work guys!