Sofia

The Amazing HK
The highlight of the trip was kayaking because it was a new experience for me. Water was splashing all over me and my kayaking was a bit slow. I got sunburnt while kayaking but it was still most fun experience of the trip. Some parts of my skin are still red. The challenge of the trip was the Amazing Race. At first, we were really eager to do it. However, when we ended up starting the race the last and soon, we lost interest in winning the race. We kept on going to the finish line only doing some of the activities because we were running out of time. However, most of the activities we did, we couldn't figure out the answer. And as we expected, our group was the last group to arrive and we ended up at the last place. But I didn't feel down because we got to swim in the ocean at the end. The water felt more freezing in the boiling weather. I found myself not giving up easily and trying new activities. So I felt a little proud of myself. This China Alive was the best China trip in my life!

It's Everything (Poetry)
Change into bird and trees Like a piece of clay Moves the way I want it to It’s a puppet

Get on the line But not always One small thing can ruin everything It’s fire

Never more or less Just enough Can make my dream true It’s a drawing

Helps me think Helps me dream Helps me inspire It’s a book

It’s every color Like a rainbow You fold them It’s Origami

Flying Words (Poetry)
Mom and dad Yes and no One by one It flies above my head

I'm on mom's side But myself stuck in the middle My mouth full of cement Look at the flying words

Now my lid is open I go into my space See the moisture in my eye And let them all out

I fall into a pit Endless pit But it disappears With my loud alarm

No flying anymore Sweet smile from my mom I smile too She's the winner

My Name (The House On Mango Street Essay)
My name is like John and Mary. It’s everywhere and it’s really common. Jin Hee is a really common name in Korea now and long ago. It appears in textbooks, and even some storybooks. My family name is Kim, which is the most common family name in Korea. Kim Jin Hee, that’s my name. My mother told me that before they named me, they were planning to name me ‘Gil Nam’. People in Korea usually prefer boys as their children. Long time ago, when a woman marries a man and she can't give birth to a boy, they were sent out of the house. Gil Nam means after me, they want a son. However they didn't because they believed that names could change our fate. My name is my parent’s wish. My mom dreamed of herself in a garden opening a treasure box before she was pregnant. She said the box was whispering to her to open it. In the box, there were some treasures shining brightly letting out endless light. Shining treasure, that’s my name. Jin Hee means shining treasure in Korean. My name is as changeable as a robot. Maybe that’s why I still like my name.

The Giver Essay
__ The Giver (Book) __ by Lois Lowry is a children’s novel about a boy called Jonas who tries to change the community formed with sameness. And the poem the “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost is about walls in our life and the reasons why we need, or we don’t need one. In the book and the poem, there’s a relation. One person decides to change the community and change how people think in both of the stories. In the “Mending Wall”, the protagonist wonders if he can change people’s ideas.

In the poem, the protagonist thinks the community doesn’t need walls. And, he wonders if he can change the way the people think across the wall: “ He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors’/spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder/ If I could put a notion in his head:/ ‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it/ where there are cows?” (Frost28-32). In the second line, he starts to think out of the box and think different to other people do. Then, he wants to put a new idea in other people’s head, which will change everything. Similar things happen in __The Giver. __

Jonas is the main character in the book, which tries to make a plan to change the community and alert difference to other people. First, the Giver starts talking about change: “‘that's true. And having you here with me over the past year has made me realize that things must change’ … ‘I’ll do it. I think I can do it. I’ll try it anyway’”(Lowry 154, 155). When the Giver talks about change, Jonas decides to do it (change). It’s a hard decision to make because no one has ever thought about it but he moves it to action. Then Jonas leaves to change the sameness of the community. It’s a similar thing as what the protagonist in the poem did.

Changing the community, putting a new notion in other people’s head, and breaking the wall of the community is not an easy thing to do. In the poem, there’s a system of ‘Good fences make good neighbors. In the book, there’s a system of sameness. And both of the change that they made is going to break that rule which was followed for years. Also, both of the quotes show that people one day will start to think different from others. Changing system is a really important thing because that’s what changes the future. I think both texts are trying to show the badness of being same and having a wall in our community.

Similar thing happens in two texts and they show similar meaning about it. In both stories, a person tries to change the system, and you will understand more if you take a time to read both __The Giver __ and the ‘Mending Wall’. And don’t forget that you can always be the one who makes a huge change to the community.

**KWL of science experiment**
What do I know?/What do I need to know?/What did i learn? I know that the ozone layer prevents us from the strong sun and some parts in the world, there’s a ozone hole which makes a hard place to live. I’m trying to do this experiment because I want to know how much of the ozone layer disappear around us and How serious it is. If ozone layer disappear, no one will be able to live on Earth. I need to know over how much concentration is dangerous for us to live and how much of ozone is the perfect amount for us to live. Also, I need to know how it prevents us from the sun. I learned that the ozone is made up of O3 and it absorbs 99-97% of Sun’s frequency. More than concentration of 375 is dangerous, and the best concentration is between 0-59. I also learned that it can be turned back to the normal thickness by 2045.

The Church Retreat
I believe that people should share their emotions and difficulties with others. When I was a primary student in Po-hang(Korea), I used to go a to church as a result of my friend's recommendation. Day by day, I learned important lessons by studying the life of Jesus. And as I learned them, I started to become a Christian.

One day, the teachers gave out forms to us and told us to get them signed. They were forms for a Church Retreat and I was so glad that I got to sleep at the church. It was my first church retreat so I didn’t actually know what we were going to be doing during the retreat. My mom helped me to pack up for it and I headed for bus. About half of the primary school students in our church came and we were joining class with the secondary students.

The first activity was catching fish in the pool. However, one of my friends didn't seem interested. I didn’t care that much about her then. After eating lunch, it was time for prayer. The reverend of the church started to explain what we must do when we pray and told us that we must confess our sins to God. He said if we confess our sins, he would forgive us for all of the bad things that we'd done.

Soon, everyone started to pray. Then the girl who wasn’t interested in catching fish started to cry really loud. Everyone seemed to be crying but she was the loudest. Teachers came to calm her down but she was inconsolable. After 10 minutes of prayer, I asked her why she was crying so loudly.

She started to tell me what happened before the retreat. Before the retreat, her grandma called her and told her that she wanted to see her. However, the girl told her that she was too busy, and she went to play instead. Then, an hour later, she got a call to inform her that her grandma had died. She believed that she was responsible for her grandmother's death. I started to calm her down, and I explained that it wasn't her fault, and shared her emotions and how she felt.

Five days later, she visited my house and told me that I helped her a lot to feel better. We decided to be best friends and to help each other when we have difficulties. And we are still writing to each other. I believe that sharing difficulties and emotions is the best way to make friends. And, I believe that I can do it well.

=_= =**The Special Ability**=
 * 10/19/11**

Three years ago, I was able to see ghosts. They look translucent and overtime they appear, everything goes chilly. There were so many of them everywhere I go and my job was to send them to an afterlife. Some of the ghosts wanted to make people suffer. And most of the cases, it was because they were murdered.

One day, I heard that in the closed school, ghosts scare every student who goes in there. So, I tried to look into the school. The building smelled mouldy, every wall cracked, and dark without a single light. All the windows were broken, which can let ghosts get out of school. However, I couldn't see any ghosts in there. I thought they were afraid of me so I decided to go in with the old student who used to go to the school. And yes! The ghosts were emerging from everywhere letting out freezing cold air. In between hundreds of ghosts, one looked special. I approached to the spirit and tried to figure out what happened to him. The spirit was a boy, who seemed like the old student of the school. He died before he could say bye to his best friends. So, I promised him to say bye to his friends and he went to his afterlife. The strong spirit was the spirit of the friendship.

08/30/11