Inter-Intermediate Cross Country

Nervously myself and the year eight girls from various school through out the Waikato nervously lined up, waiting for the Marshall to blow the whistle signalling we were off. I was at the annual Waikato Inter-Intermediate cross country race. I had spent the morning cheering on my peers in the other races. I had already warmed up and was ready to go. So far the year seven girls and boys had raced. At last the while blew, we were off, it was very slippery to start off with and a few people slipped over luckily I wasn’t among them!

The race started off good for me. I was up with the front  person for the start of  first lap. But as we came up to one of the first big hills the girl gave up and started walking, obviously she hadn’t paced herself. I slipped over at one point but got straight back up. The second lap almost seemed longer than the first. Finally I only had the home straight to go, I could hear my dad yelling at me to sprint, I looked behind me but luckily no on was that close, but I still speed up and sprinted the last 100m down the track and across the line. 

I really enjoyed the Inter-Intermediate race I felt as though I ran really well and was really happy that I won.  It was really fun I enjoyed it more than my school one, mainly because it was really slushy so we all got covered in mud. But also because it was almost all on grass, unlike the school one which was basically a road race instead of a cross country race, as it was  mainly on the footpaths around my school.

Pronunciation

I thought of this topic while I was searching for a speech topic, even though I did not think it appropriate for a speech, it still interests me so I thought I would write a blog post on it. – The way people pronounce things, everyone says things differently and there are debates going on all the time about the ‘right’ way to say things.

For example a couple of days ago a few of my friends were going round asking people what they thought the right way to say ‘pasta’ was. There was a mixed response; about half the people thought that it was pronounced pasta and the rest thought it was paasta. Then there is also the pronouciation of place names in New Zealand one what springs to mine is Whakatane, for anyone new to the Mouri language it could easily be mistaken as Waka-tane. There is also Taupo, which could even be mistaken for tap-po. And then of course there is the traditional ‘potato patarto, tamarto tomato dispute.

To be quite honest I have no idea what the ‘right’ way to say things is. Like I said there are debates and deliberations going on around us all the time. Please comment and tell me what you think the ‘right’ way to say things is

Back at school.

After a great holiday I am back at school, last term was great, busy, but still great. But with production, music camp, school work, and after school stuff I was almost run off my feet so I was glad for the rest that the holidays bought.

But to be honest think this term is going to be, just as, if not busier than last term. A few of the main points for me this term are cross country, speeches, ski trip(which I went on last year and it was awesome,) and sports camp, and there is probably somethings that I have forgotten. On top of this there is still the usual school work and the extra curricular activities that I am involved in.

Motivation doesn’t last, but neither does bathing…

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last, well neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily.” Zig Ziglar

I like this quote I find it pretty funny but it’s also very true, because  being motivated once wont last long, you have to be motivated frequently more than once for it to last. Also something that might motivate you one day could make you miserable the next.  Whats happening in your life changes so what motivates you will too.

For example, a while ago I had this song I used to listen to while I was getting ready for school. To be quite honest I can’t remember what the song was, but I just remember it  making me smile. I listened to it every morning for about a month but then one day it didn’t motivate me any more, it was just another song. I think I just got sick of the song, I had used it as my daily motivation and I was just sick of it.

Do you agree?

The Run

Well lately I have been doing this running programme, and a few weeks ago the guy that organised the programme suggested I do an 8km run in an upcoming  race which was being held at our local rugby grounds. After deciding that I could manage that distance, I agreed.

The race was held this morning, so at 10:30 I was standing in the freezing cold waiting for the hooter which signaled the race was starting. I had been told many times not to rush but just to start off slowly but if I was feeling good at the halfway point, to speed up a bit.

To start with everyone was in a tight group and it was almost impossible to go faster than a walk, but slowly everybody thinned out. It was quite interesting running in such a big race I had never done anything like it. I wasn’t sure how far 8km was, because like I said I had never run that far before. I tried to pace myself, and run with people who were going quite slow. 

It seemed to take a long time to get to the 4km sign which meant that I was allowed to turn round but at last I did. The way back seemed easier, and it also seemed to go quicker. I realised that I had started way to slow as I still had a lot of energy left at the finish, enough so I could sprint the last 100m to the finishing line.

Every competitor was given a medal, a friut pie, and a drink of either juice or water. I ended up doing a  time of 45.52min, which I was pretty happy with, although I knew I could have gone faster. There were also spot prizes, these were given out at 1:00pm so we had a while to wait, unluckily my mum or I didn’t win anything.

I enjoyed running the longer distance and I would like to do something like that again as it was fun and I would like to try and improve my time.

The Most Dangerous Question

I have seen this post on so many people’s blogs and I really like the idea, so I thought I might as well write my own post.

To me, the most dangerous question would be “do you feel the same?” or “do you agree?” There are many different situations that this question can be asked and many could have disastrous consequences.

For example imagine you are standing in front of a person that you have secretly loved for ages and thought that they liked you back. You have a weird impulse and start explaining your love for them, the look on their face goes from panic to sympathy, they then start backing away. You ask, “do you feel the same?”

Or another example would be if you were a scientist and and a group of you have spent years trying to working out a way to do something important. Then one night you  finally think of a way. You are over confident in yourself as you cannot see how it could fail. But then when at last it is time to share your discovery, the rest of  the group stare at you blankly with looks of uncertainty on their faces. You stammer “do you agree?”

I don’t know what it is about these questions that makes them so dangerous, probably because in both these examples if the answer is ‘no’ the person’s heart is crushed and their confidence gone. Even though, this question could also have a positive answer. I think this is what makes it so dangerous, it could go either way, you could be really happy, or horribly heartbroken.

Little Stars

This year our school is doing a production called Little Stars. It is based on a programme like New Zealand Idol basically a singing competition. There are all the usual drama’s that good productions have, bad guys, good guys, humor and of course music.

I am playing in the band, but I am also doing one of those ‘bad’ additions. You know those ones that you see on T.V -where people really suck. Well I’m one of those people, and to make it even more embarrassing I am playing the recorder, Badly!

This weekend there was an over night stay for the whole cast, it was held at our school. We spent most of the first day organising our beds and practising. It was the bands first time playing with the singers but I think we did a pretty good job.

We slept in the A.L.C (our school gym) on mattresses. And before we had to go to sleep a movie was played, it was pretty good although, it was something to do with the centre of the earth, I can’t remember what it was called. Our lights were out at about 10:30 and we were supposed to go straight to sleep, although it took us a while to settle down so mostpeople weren’t asleep till round midnight!

We also spent most of the next day practising . The band was with the singers almost the whole day and this time we were even better!

I think that it was a great sleep over and I know for a fact that most people benefited from it, the band for example has improved heaps, before the sleep over most of us could only play a few songs correctly, now there is only a couple that we still are having trouble with. And even though we spent most of our time practising, it was still a lot of fun

Would you walk a mile in another man’s shoes?

 Walk a mile in another mans shoes. To me this means to see how someone else who lives differently to you live.

I think that it would be pretty cool to see how someone else lives and I would like to be given that chance. For example it might be someone who lives in another country, someone who inspires you or someone who has a completely different life style to you. In some aspects this could be really fun, but others it would not. Like living with no legs or not being able to talk would be horrible to me, although it would probably make me thankful for my life.

If I could chose someone else’s ‘shoes’ to wear for a while, it would be either some one who lives in another country, like Japan, India or Italy. As I think it would be cool to experience what daily life is like in other countries. Or maybe someone who is really high up in what they do, like the President of America or something similar. I think it would be cool feel so important and be in charge of so much, although I would be worried I would do something wrong. Or maybe just someone who lives in the same town as me but has a completely different life style and experiences that I am not exposed to.

So, would you walk a mile in another man’s shoes?

Ummm?

I was looking around my blog thinking of something to write for a post when I noticed two of my widgets. To be quite honest I don’t actually pay that much attention to my Counter or Clustr Map, but this time I did. And to my surprise I noticed that I had heaps of people visiting my blog from places all around the world, that I never realized! So to all you guys who come and visit my blog with out leaving a comment please do so, even if it is to just say where you are from. I would really like to have different people commenting on my blog, so I can comment on there’s. . So like I said before please when you visit my blog, please leave a comment, even if it just a short one!

40 Hour Famine

This weekend I am participating in the 40 Hour Famine, but I am not doing the traditional ‘Food Famine.’ I am modernizing it and trying to survive with out technology! This includes things like mobile phones, TV’s, computers, Ipods, stereos, land line phones, game boys etc. Basically any technology that is used for entertainment is banned. For me the hardest part will be no music and no computer, (although Dad will be happy, I won’t be hogging it all night)! Luckily I will not be too board as I saved some of the books I got for my birthday, one which I am already addicted to even though I have only read a few pages, (The Host, Stephanie Meyer).

But as the Famine organizers say, “its your weekend, their life” that is really true. A lot of kids (me included) don’t know how got we’ve got it, we have a pretty peaceful life; a warm house, a good education, good food, clean water, medical treatment,  no war going on in our back yard and basically what we need we usually able to get it.  When I look at it that way 40 hours seem like nothing!

I think the 40 hour Famine is a really good cause; it’s a fun way to raise money for people living in poverty around the world. There are heaps of different famines you can do; my friend is doing one where she has to sleep in a cardboard box for 20 hours living on only rice and water. You can also do a no talking one, a sport one and of course the typical food one.

If you want to know more about the Famine go to http://www.famine.org.nz/

Now all I need to do is get some more sponsors…..

Inter Intermediate Soccer

“Head’s up T.A” I shouted “its only one goal.”

I was at the annual inter-intermediate soccer tournament. we were p laying Berkeley, who had five Waikato Rep players on their team. The score was 0-1 to them, (one our team had accidentally tripped her up and they had been awarded a penalty kick, unfortunately they scored.) The Te Awamutu team was playing well considering we only had a few people who actually played soccer  on our team. We had already played two of our games one a against Fairfield Intermediate which we drew nil all and another against Melville Intermediate where we lost 1-0. Both games were very even, Melville just had a lucky goal.

When the whistle blew our team kicked off, Berkeley had a strong attack though so they got the ball off us pretty quick. It was weird for me, playing against the girls who are usually in my rep team, and when I accidentally tripped them up I felt really bad. I had asked to be moved form mid-field where i had been playing earlier that morning to defender as like I said before they had a really strong attack. I was marking Paige who had a really good shot and was the one that had scored the penalty kick earlier in the game.

I tried to keep by her and tackle her when she got the ball but one time I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and she got the ball dribbled round our defenders and scored, our goalie (Amy) tried very hard to save it, but it when over her head and in. Soon after that goal the hooter went signalling the end of the 20min game.

It was then lunch time, we watched the boys and waited to see who we would be playing. Sadly we knew we weren’t going to make it into the semi’s but that was o.k. we were there to win but also have fun and play our best. and the 2-0 loss we had to the Berkeley, I thought was pretty good I expected to lose about 10-0! It turned out we were playing Matamata there was one rep player in that team but she was a sub for the whole game. Personally I didn’t think I played very well but as a team we were o.k. Jazzy scored our only goal of the tournament in this game to make the end score 1-1 so we came 5th equal over all.

The girl’s final was between Berkeley and Peachgrove, there was one rep player in the Peachgrove team and the five that we played earlier in the Berkeley team. At half time the score was still 0-0 but Peachgrove ended up winning, I do not know the score as we had to leave before it was finished. In the boy’s final it was down to a penalty shoot off, Cambridge beat Peachgrove by one goal, which the Peachgrove goalie only just missed.

Over all it was a quite and enjoyable experience. I think fifth equal was quite a good placing as I was expecting much worse!! Although there were some players on my team that had bad sportsmanship and when we lost if someone on our team mucked up they blambed them for losing, even though it was the whole teams fault. That sort of downed the whole day for me. But other than that is was quite a fun day and I hope that next years team will do as well, if not better than us next year.

Dance Competition

On the 10th of May, I was woken up at 5:30am. Protesting, I tried to block out the light by snuggling under my covers, “its 5:30″ mum says ‘time to get up.” The reason I was being woken up so early on a Sunday morning is because I had my first Irish dancing competition up in Auckland which started at nine.

This is my 7th year dancing but recently my old dance teacher retired so I had to change. The new place i dance does competitions instead of the exam and concerts I was used to.

After stopping at Mercer for breakfast we made it to Mount Albert Memorial Hall by 8:30 leaving me a enough time to get ready and warm up before I was due on stage. I put on the black dress which I was borrowing from my teacher. I then put on the regulation ‘poodle socks’ which are just really puffy three quarter white socks. There was also this stuff that we were encouraged to use called ’sock glue’  which came in a ‘roll on’ bottle and you rolled it on your legs then pushed your socks up against it. This was to stop our socks falling down when we were dancing.

When I looked around me there were many other competitors; mainly girls although there were a few boys around. Many of the girls had really flash dresses and wigs. Yes wigs, they were really curly and to be honest didn’t really look that great on some people. Around the back of the hall there was also the type dresses for sale that many of the girls were wearing. Most of them were around $400 although there was one for $1700; to me this is a lot of money -just for a dress.

At last it was time for us to line up behind the stage. There were six of us who had changed dance schools when our old teacher left and we were all very nervous. The first dance we were doing was the soft shoe reel; I knew this dance well so I was not that nervous. We danced in pairs and I was with a girl from another dance school. I think I danced well. We each did three more dances; the soft shoe jig, hard shoe jig and St Peter’s day. I performed with out to many mistakes except in the St Peter’s day dance where my mind went blank and I forgot the start, the rest I did o.k. though.

After everyone in my section (over nine novices) had danced it was time for the results. In the first dance, I ended up with fourth place, in the second dance I got third which I was very happy with. The third dance which I thought was my worst dance I ended up with 2nd, I must have been better than I thought I was! And in the dance which I mucked up I didn’t get a placing, which was o.k. as I didn’t expect one. One of the girls who changed dancing schools with me won all four dances, we all thought she deserved it, as the amount of practice she does, really show.

Over all I really enjoyed the whole experience it was a completely different world, the world of dresses, poodle socks, sock glue, and of course Irish dancing. I am also very happy with the placings I received as I do no way as much practice as I should. With coming 3rd and 2nd I got little medals.

Right or Wrong?

I got this post idea from a book I have been reading for school called ‘Hitler’s Daughter’ written by Jackie French.

There is a question bought up in this book that really interested me. “Did Hitler and people like him who did things that were just unimaginably sick and wrong, really know that what they were doing was wrong?” I know that it seems obvious to us that killing millions of innocent people for no reason is wrong, but did Hitler realize this? From the small amount I know about the holocaust he wanted to make a ‘perfect race’ so maybe he thought that what he was doing was right. Or maybe he was bought up as a child with the lies that hurting people was o.k? 

Well personally don’t know the question just really got me thinking and it interested me. But for me it is weird thinking of Hitler as a person who has feelings as to me he seems a like fiction character, as I can’t seem to be able to think of someone real doing some thing so heartless, its almost unimaginable, thinking of all those millions of innocent  people being killed under the directions of one man.

But anyway what do you think? Did Hitler or inhumane murders like him really know what they were/are doing is wrong? Do they think what they are doing is o.k? Or are they just plain evil?

Comment and tell me what you think.

Ice Skating

For my birthday I went skating up in Auckland with three friends.

The night before they all slept over, (although we didn’t get much sleeping done.) We talked, listened to music, gave each other pedicures, and had a few catastrophes with nail polish. (I won’t go into details about that,) before getting to sleep around one.

Mum drove us up to Auckland the next day where we went to Botany Downs shopping centre. The ice skating place didn’t open till about 1:00pm, so we had lunch and a look around. At last it was time for us to go across the road to the Paradice ice skating place. Grabbing our skates which we had just hired we ran to the seats around the arena to put the skates on. After swapping a few times to get the sizes right we went on to the ice. We spent a while slipping around getting used to the ice before we were told to stand to the edges. This was because they were doing speed skating races. There were some really fast people; they were going backwards way faster than I can go forwards!! Then a big machine came and smoothed down the ice.

We were at last allowed back on the ice and even my mum had a go, she didn’t fall over (which she was very proud of,) although she did spend most of the time near an edge where there was a rail to hold on to!! It turns out that I was accually o.k. at ice-skating once I got used to being on the ice. I went through a rollerblading ’thing’ a few years back so I suppose it helped. There were some more games throughout the afternoon including the limbo and spin the bottle, (where the bottle was spun and whoever it pointed to was out, last one standing won.) I won that game!! How, I am not really sure, but I did. The rest of the time passed really quickly and at 4:00pm we were allowed one more lap of the skating rink before we had to give our skates back to the hire place. We were all very disappointed that we had to leave so soon as we had all had heaps of fun, even though we had fallen over a lot.

Inter-Provincials 2009

I was lucky enough to be selected to be in the Waikato Bay of Plenty Athletics Inter-Provincial team, to run the 1500m, 800m, 400m and to do long jump. The Inter-Provincials are an athletic event for 12-13 year olds where teams from all round the country compete to be the over all champion. There were teams there from Northland, Auckland, Counties Manikau, Hawke’s Bay, Wanganui, Wellington, Taranaki, Canterbury, Otago, Southland and of course the Waikato. And this year it was being held in Hamilton at Porttit Stadium.

So on the 10th of April I rushed quickly home from soccer practice had a shower and Dad drove me up to Southwell School where we were staying for the weekend. We spent the rest of the night, talking, learning chants, and getting to know others in the team better.

The next day was also a ‘bonding’ day, we received our programs, tracksuits, shirts and did more chanting practice in the morning, and relay practice in the afternoon. Every athlete competing in the event was in a relay team. I was doing one of the 100m for the medley. In the medley there is two 100m, one 200m, 400m, and 800m. I was starting. We explored the school, (it was really flash) before dinner and then we had an early night as we were competing the next morning.

We were woken up at 6:30 the next morning as breakfast was at seven. All the teams did a march past while chanting. Two athletes then read the oath before we were allowed to start swapping our regions ribbons with other teams. The points are given out according to the times so for example if you run an 800m in 2.37mins you get 600 points for your team, there are also no finals, so it doesn’t matter if you come 1st or last as long as you do a fast time. My first event was the 1500m but I was not running till 12:30. The other Waikato girls running 1500m so her and myself went to warm up, we spent half an hour warming up and we went to the tent for marshaling 20mins before our race. I was in the first division with one other Waikato girl (who usually beats me.) We did our last stride outs before we were called back to start. “on your marks, GO!” Was the call and we were off. The first lap was very fast but I tried to stay up with the first group of girls. I sort of succeeded I finished 4th (just behind the other Waikato girl) I was extremely tired, but happy because I felt as though I had run a good race. I warmed down and went back to the stands where the rest of the team was watching. My 400m was not till 3:45 so I had a while to rest. An hour before that all the Waikato girls warmed up together, I was in a division with Emma who was also from Waikato, we cheered on the other Waikato athletes while we waited for our race to begin. At last it was time to set up our blocks, I was in lane four, which was good as it meant you didn’t start out in front so you have people to chase, (if that makes sense.) I think I ran well, at the end I was so tired at the end that I almost fell over while I was waiting to get my number! At about 5:00 we went back to Southwell school, where we had a meeting to find out our times and the number of points we would receive. It turns out that I did a personal best (p.b.) by 5secs in my 1500 (5.12min) and about a second in my 400m (65.5sec,) I was very pleased with this. We had another early night again that night that night.

The next day we got up about the same time as the day before had breakfast and left for Porrit Stadium. The events started earlier this day as there was no opening ceremony, I was running my 800m at 10:40 and I was in the 2nd division with one other Waikato girl who was really fast! We warmed up, marshaled and cheered on the other Waikato girls in the heats before us. At last it was time to go on to the track. We had to choose an upside down card and whatever number the card was we were in that lane. The gun went off we had to wait for the 200 mark before we could cut into the first lane.  On the last 100m I almost passed the girl in front of me but I didn’t have the strength so I finished right behind her! My calf mussels were so sore at the end I could hardly walk, but I did a long warm down which helped. Luckily I only had long jump and the 100m (for the medley) left to do. Long jump went well, my mussels were still really sore but one of my jumps was only 5cm off my best which I was very happy with. The relays were next, 12 girls medley was first and I was running first. I set up my blocks and when the gun went I sprinted my hardest and gave the batten to the next 100m runner. We did really well as our 800m and 400m runners were both very strong, we were ahead most of the way but then on the last 100m Canterbury had a 100m sprinter running, they passed us, our 200m tried her hardest but couldn’t keep up. We finished second over all and one of our managers was so happy with us we got half a mars bar each, this was great as we hadn’t been allowed chocolate for the whole weekend. And it was Easter!!

The disco and prize giving were that night, we dressed up in our nice clothes and nervously made our way to the hall. It was time to find out what places each region had come. We ended up 5th we were happy with that as we were only about 200 points behind 4th place!! It also turned out that the over all 12yr boy was from Waikato, he got a massive trophy which he has to give back next year and a smaller one (although you can hardly call it small) to keep. The disco was after that it was ok, but a bit boring. All Waikato girls stayed up till about 1:00am talking.

I really enjoyed the whole Inter-Provincial experience, I met some really meat people and I got to compete against different people which gave me a good idea of how good I am. It was also really neat being involved with cheering and sort of the whole sportsman ship, most of our team had almost lost their voice at the end of the competition!

Wellington

On Sunday the 29th of March, 28 freezing students (including myself) waited impatiently for the bus to leave, which would take them to Wellington for their school trip. The bus at last left and we traveled for a while until we got to Tamraniui to stretch our legs and have a toilet stop. We then traveled for a little longer until we reached Waiouru where we stopped to look at the Army Museum. It was really interesting, but some of the manikins were really scary, one looked so real I almost talked to it!! After looking around we had lunch in front of the museum before hopping back on the bus and continuing our trip. As the bus ride was so long (eight hours) we had the option to bring, i-pods or game boys to play on the bus.

At last the bus started entering Wellington we all looked keenly out of the window as we saw Wellington harbor rushing by. We were staying at a top ten holiday park, and when we arrived we all grabbed our bags and ran to our cabins. The rest of the night was spent playing games and mucking around the camp ground.

The next day we were woken up about 6:45 and we had breakfast before heading off for the day. That day we went to the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, our guide (Brian) took us on a walk, we saw a couple of tuatara and heard many birds along the way, we also went up to the top of an old dam and looked down on the young forest. After our bush walk went to Weta Cave where all the props for movies like ‘lord of the rings’ and similar are made. After that we had lunch by the water front and went to Te Papa one of the main museums in New Zealand. My group saw the colossal squid and a really impressive Marae. From Te Papa we waked to Capital E where we were split in half, my group made our own T.V show, I was the floor manager this means I organized all the actors on the floor. It was great fun and our group made a really neat show. After that my group went back to the bus and waited for ages for the other group who was running about 45 minutes late! We had dinner and went to bed.

The next day we had to get up at about 5:30am! This was because we were taking the ferry to Picton and we had to be there at about 7:00am. It was really fun, on the ferry we were allowed to explore by ourselves. It was a three hour trip there and once we were there we had about an hour to look around and have some lunch, we then got back on the ferry and went back to Wellington. It was really fun on the way back, the wind was really strong and you could lean into the wind and it would hold you up. We got back quite early that night so we had time to play around.

The next morning we were up not quite as early. We went to Westpac Stadium first what was really cool, we looked around all the seats, the changing rooms, and the car park. We went to  St Paul’s Cathedral, it was really good and even people who are not religious (me) enjoyed it, we went right up to the bell tower and saw all the bells. Next we went to Parliament we had lunch outside before going into the education room where we were taught all about how Parliament works and   then Shane Arden (our MP) came and talked to us. After his talk we went into the room where all the M.P’s were arguing. Except when we went in John Key was giving a speech congratulating Helen Clack on receiving her job with the U.N. She got a standing ovation, we were all disappointed that they were not arguing, but the adults said we saw history and looking back I agree it was pretty cool to see a standing ovation. Next we went o the cable car up a hill and we then went to New Douse what is an art gallery. It was quite cool as there wee some really weird pieces of art! After that we went to the pools, there was a river and a wave pool is was fun but quite cold!!!

The next day (Thursday) was our last whole day in Wellington; we started off going to the war memorial what had the tome of the unknown solider, it was quite interesting. We then went to the national museum, where we did a education thing on the ‘Wahine disaster’ (a ship wreck) it was really interesting but I am glad we went did it after we had been on the ferry other wise we all would have been really freaked out!! After that we had lunch on the water front again but this time we were allowed to look around, we saw a huge navy ship, but it was really neat how it was all relaxed and sunny it made it feel almost beach like! We drove to Wellington zoo next we went to another education room where we learnt about animals and we got to see a real tiger  and cheetah skin as well as a stuffed lion, it was a bit gross but also kind of cool. We then saw one of the zoos kiwis; witch was weird as it was out in the day as kiwis are supposed to be nocturnal. We then were allowed to look around the zoo by our selves; my favorite animal would have had to have been the pelican. After the zoo we went back to Capital E but this time we swapped around so my group was now doing the sound house. In here we got to make our own music video. To see mine go to http://kiwispin.com/?page_id=182 and click on Megan be. After the sound house we all went back to camp and had a very late dinner (8:45) before packing and going to bed.

The next day we had to get up quite early so we could get back to school by 3:30pm the bus ride home was not unlike the ride there except everyone was much more tiered more people slept but most sung (haha) played cards talked or listened to music.

My favourite thing (thanks Amanda) would have had to be either the sound house, Westpac Satduim or the ferry ride to picton! But I enjoyed the whole trip, and those would have only been some of my highlights.

I know that everyone who attended all had a GREAT time and everyone enjoyed their selves thoroughly, I would like to thank everyone who made the trip possible as it wouldn’t have been as good with out your help!!

What Inspires Me…

I was tagged by Amanda to do this post.

What inspires me?

Family, Friends, role models, even people I don’t know, for me other people are a big part of what inspires me, when I see something amazing that someone has done I’m just like “I want to do that to.” Also I like the feeling of someone being proud of you, for example when you do something well even if it is just a small thing it is nice to know that hopefully your friends/family will be proud of you.

Music and quotes, I put these to things together as I think they are pretty similar, as a lot of music lyrics have quotes in them, (if that makes sense.) I love listening to music, for one the tune and also I like listen closely to the lyrics to see why the artist wrote the song or what the song is about, sometimes there is like a really inspirational line or maybe something that just makes me smile. And I like quotes, there are some really neat saying out there and they are so inspirational. Some really make me smile.

Being happy, yea cheesy right? But do you ever have a moment where you are just really happy and everything makes you smile, even things that would drive you crazy any other time. Well that’s exactly what I mean, for me this is really inspirational, when this happens I sort of get a feeling that I can do anything, for me this is a real confidence booster.

"To be or not to be, that is the question." Shakespeare

I tag:

Hayley

Japanese Exchange

The last 10 days I have had a Japanese student staying with us. There were about 300 of them who came to the Waikato and Wellington for an exchange. And I was lucky enough to host one.

When they first arrived on Saturday the 7th of March, I was excited but nervous, there were many thoughts going though my head, will she like me? How good will her English be? When the bus arrived at last (it was very late,) I realized my worrying was all for nothing, my student (Kana) was really nice, we got on really well and her English was very good. That day we went for a walk round the parks in T.A.

Though the next week or so we took her to some typical New Zealand places, a few including the Hamilton gardens, as I said before -the T.A. rose gardens, the beach, our farm-where she had a ride in our big blue tractor, and many more. I enjoyed revisiting these places because watching Kana’s response to all these places made me realize that I and many other Kiwi’s take New ZealandNew Zealand meals, sausages and mash, fish and chips -in the paper, a meat pie, Pavlova you get the idea. With the other Japanese student she also went to the main Waikato tourism places; these included the Kiwi house, Waitomo Caves, horse riding, the whole Rotorua experience and of course shopping! They also spent days in our school, Kana said our New Zealand schools were very different to what she was used to!

I really enjoyed having Kana living with me for a week, it was great fun and I learnt heaps about the Japanese culture, she taught me origami -we made everything from strawberries to rabbits to flowers, she also showed me Japanese writing and calligraphy I found it very fun but also confusing, she gave me the ink, brushes and paper so I will be able to practice! I showed her a flax flower which I learnt at school; she was very good and after some practice she was better then me!!

When I asked her what her favourite things were that she did she said horse riding and the Bike riding we did at the B.M.X track, this surprised me as she fell off at the B.M.X track! Luckily she was not hurt. And when I asked her what happened she said, “I heard ‘peddle fast’ so I peddle very fast up the hill and I flew!” 

I had a great 12 days with her and hopefully I will be able to keep in contact so that if I ever go to Japan (I hope I do) I will be able to visit her! 

My Favorite Food Concoction

I was tagged by Amanda to do a post about my favourite food concoction.

Well I have a few, but one would have to be granny-smith apples and potato chips (ready salted.) Really its nice!!! I discovered one day wile I was eating an apple at school, Hayley offered me a chip, of course I accepted, not thinking I put it in my mouth not realizing I already had a mouthful of apple. I was surprised how good it tasted, I quickly asked Hayley for another chip, but they were all gone!!! As soon as I got home I grabbed an apple and a packet of chips and re-discovered my new food concoction!

I tag

Hayley,

Hannah,

Georgia

and Alex

Welcome!

Hey everone!! Welcome to my new blog, have fun looking around and leaving comments (hint hint!!)

I hope you all will still leave comments on my blog, I am slowly learning how to get around wordpress and I will soon (hopefully) get around the site without any trouble at all! Also I am trying to find a new skin (wordpress doesn’t have my old cool one!!!) so I am trying out heaps, please leave a comment if I have one what you think suits my blog!!!

Well as I said before please everyone who used to comment on my old blog DON’T STOP, I love reading all your comments!!

Great Friends

My Great friends- you guys know who you are…. I know for a fact that I would be miserable if I did not have my friends by my side, they support me in everything and they are happy for me even if they may be jealous, they are great to have a good time with, I can act like an idiot around them with out feeling embarrassed, I can tell them stuff I cant tell anyone else, I can trust them to keep my secrets with out being worried that they will tell someone, I know that when we argue neither of us will hold a grudge and will be best of friends again in a few days, I know that they will be their for me and support me in any circumstance.

To me all these qualities are a complete must in a great/best friend and I thank all of my best friends for the fun and laughs we have had.

Thanks to Hayley who’s Bebo page I got this idea off!!

I Tag:

Hayley

Amanda

and

Alex

What keeps Me Going…

Thanks for Amanda and Hayley for tagging me!!

The main thing that keeps me going is that when I am having a bad day, I know that nothing can last forever, it has to end someday, and most of the time it is up to me to change or end it. I like the feeling that your world is on your shoulders, and you can do whatever you like with it.

Friends and Family are a big part of what keeps me going, it would be hard, if not impossible to live without their love and support. Being able to know that someone will always be there to comfort or congratulate you, what ever happens in your life is a great comfort to me.

Being busy, I like having something to do in a day, I hate waking up on the weekend and having nothing to do. I get bored so easily and when I haven’t done anything in my day the whole day seems pointless to me.

And hope, I don’t see the point of living if you don’t have hope or goals. Whats there to live for? If your goal is to play sport for your country or even if your goal is only to get to the store and back before dark, its something you aim to do, something to keep going for.

I tag,

Georgia,

Alex,

Lizzy,

Please comment and tell me what keeps you going!

“And Puniu’s House Captain Is….”

“Oh come on, get on with it” I thought as our Princible Mr McCabe was reading yet another notice at one of our Monday Assembly. But this was nonormal assembly, the reason I was so impatient was cause it was the date that the House Captains and Class Councilors were going to be announced. I had applied for both jobs and my stomach tumbling with nerves as I waited for the names to be annoced. We had been waiting for weeks so we were all extreamly nervous.

At last Mr McCabe  was calling one of the sports teachers on to the stage to announced the positions!  ”And Puniu House Captains are Megan and Taylor.” Yes! I got the job I was so happy that as I walked up onto the stage my face was stretched into a wide grin!  My friend Georgia  got House Captain of another house. Mr Mc Cabe then went on to say that we would all receive our badges next week with the councilors. “What?” I thought, “Our class doesn’t know our councilor!” It turns out that my class was the only class not yet to know our Councilor. At the very end of Assemblyour teacher announced that our Councilor was Hayley (my best friend.)

I am so happy that Myself and Georgia also got house captain and Hayley Class Councilor, it is cool that two of my best friends also received jobs, but I wish that there were more roles as there was lots of people who deserved the jobs but missed out!

My first propper job is on Friday at swimming sports, I am very nervous!!! 

If I could have a Super Power…

If I could have any super power it would have to be the power to shape shift into anything, anytime. This would be really cool as this superpower would give you unlimited possibilities. These include, flight-if you turn into a flying animal, invisibility-well not quite but you could turn into a bug or something and no one would know you were there, or speed if you turn into a cheetah or something really fast, strength if you turned into a gorilla or something big and strong, and lots more you would just have to use your imagination!

 

Last Person on Earth

If I were the last person on earth I would probably be very scared to start off with, well who wouldn’t be imagine if you were the very last person on earth, nobody to talk to or even contact, it would really freak me out!! But after I had got over  that I would probably go ‘crazy’ doing all the things I ever wanted to do (see below post) it would also be cool to go into shops and take whatever you wanted, it wouldn’t be classed as stealing because, well, there would be nobody to steal from!!! After my spree of ‘crazyness’ I would probably start feeling really sad, well as I mentioned before there would be nobody to talk to, you also wouldn’t be able to do a lot of things like getting a job there would be no reason you could ‘borrow’ all the money you needed, you also wouldn’t be able to learn new things as there would be nobody to teach you, and you wouldn’t be able to go to other places as there would be no pilots or sailors or anything. So over all I think being the only person on earth would be horrible….

Thanks to Amanda who tagged me for this post . Here are the people I am tagging,

Hayley, Hannah, Georgia and Nicky.

Ten things I want to do…

Have you ever thought about it… 50 things you want to do in your life, to be quite honest I never really have, but I was looking around and I came across Amanda’s blog and I saw this great idea for a post. But because I don’t have the time to write my top 50, here are 10 of the things I want to do some time in the future.

1. Well…. To start off with I want to do what a lot of young people want to do and that is travel around the world. To be quite honest for my age I have been to quite a lot of countries all ready, but I also want to visit some of those ’different’  types of places, like Italy (Venice), India, Switzerland, Spain and other places where they might not speak English or live any thing like what I am used to.

2. I would also like to ride an elephant. Ever since I was little I have wanted to ride an elephant, I am very annoyed that I was born 50yrs or so after  they had taken elephant riding out of zoos! So if I ever go to Italy or somewhere where there are elephants I want to ride one of these magnificent creatures.

3. I want to skydive or bungy jump or do some sort of extreme sport at least once.I think this would be awesome fun, and something I would be happy to have done -after I have done it. But I know I would be full of nerves beforehand!!

4. I want to own my own home near the beach, but close to a smallish town (like Te Awamutu), I would like it and flash but not over the top. I would like it to also be only one level.. I think owning a home right on the beach would be really neat.

5. I want to learn another language, one of my first choices would have to be Spanish as heaps of people all over the world speak Spanish and it would mean I could use my skill in more than  couple of countries. But Italian, French or something completely different would also be fine.

6. I want to have a great job. To me the definition of a great job is some thing that pays reasonably well, but also something you enjoy doing, its like that quote, ” If you have a job you love, you never have to work a day in your life” 

7. I would like to like to learn different types of sports. Sailing is one of these. Being able to sail or windsurf really well would be really cool.  I have sailed before with my Dad but the whole idea still is extremely confusing to me. I would like to be able to hop into a boat and sail with out panicking that I am going to fall out or bump into another boat. Fencing is also one of these different types of sports that I want to learn. I have watched people on T.V Fencing and it looks really fun. I like the idea of sword fighting without getting hurt.

8. I would like to own a wide range of pets when I am older. My cat has recently died and our house feels empty with out her, I have no idea how people can live with out animals.

9. I would like to be known for something. No I don’t want to be famous, I don’t mean I want the whole world to know my name maybe just a few extra people. I don’t know what for, maybe my sport abilities, what I accomplish academically, or even just for being a great friend.??

10. Over all I want to live life to the full. Yea, yea I know its cheesy but you never know what will happen in your life so take what is thrown at you. I want to look back on my life in 20 years or so and not regret any thing too serious. 

I really want to know what other people’s 10 things are so please comment and tell me yours. 

 

On Your Marks, Get Set, GO!

On the 8th of January 2009 we went down to Wanganui for the annual North Island Colgate Games, which is a big North Island athletic games. I was competing in 400m, long jump, 800m, 1500m. We looked at the track as soon as we arrived, the games did not actually start till 9:00am the next day. We got a programme and a Colgate games T-shirt. There was two other Te Awamutu athletes One 11yr old boy and a 9yr old girl and me.

The next day (Friday the 9th) I was competing in the 400m heat at nine so after the march past I warmed up on a hill above the stadium (where the opening was taking place.) There was an actual warm up area about a block away but I did not have time to get to it before my race. We were at last called to Marshall, I was in the first heat which also meant I was the first event of the 2009 Colgate North Island Games!!! At last the gun went off, ”BANG” there was two very fast girls in front who I tried to keep up with but failed, but I still got 3rd. Hopefully I wasin the final but I wouldn’t know until the results were up. My next event was the long jump, we had to wait for about an hour in the marshaling tent then another hour while the other group finished! It was SOOO boring. I jumped real badly, my best was 4.07m and worst 3.57m I got 18th but if I did my best (4.28m) Iwould have got 10th. (the winner jumped 4.65m!) It turned out that I was in the final!!! I warmed up, (at the proper place this time.) I was in the 7th lane which meant I only had one person to chase, (there were 8 people.) I tried my best but ended up with 6th!!! I got a finalist ribbon though! The winner was a girl from Tamranui who ran it in 1.03mins, I did it in 1.06mins.

On the Saturday I was only in the 1500m heat, this was supposed to be at about 10:30am, but after warming up we were told that as lots of people had pulled out there was no need to do the heats. We watched another T.A athlete run the 800m heat, (he came 3rd.) Then we went an looked around town for a while. We came back a bit too early but went to warm up any way. At last it was time to run, I started off a bit slow which didn’t help, it wasn’t my race and came 10th. I think that I didn’t do my best, I’m not sure if it was because I  warmed up too early, or because we walked around town too much or it was just cause it wasn’t my day… I didn’t get a ribbon for this race.    I ran it in 5.33mins the girl who won it was the same Tamranui girl who won the 400m. She did a time of 4.51mins!!!!!

On the last day of the games I was only running my 800m. The heat was at nine so we had to get up early, this was very annoying as I had a horrible nights sleep, I wasn’t alseep till past midnight and I had to get up a 6:45am! I warmed up and joined the rest of the girls who were doing the race. I was in the second heat. We started in lanes but were allowed to move across at the 200m mark, I think I ran a pritty good race, I ended up with 2nd -3rd or 4th over all. That meant I was in the final! This was at 3:00pm so we went back to the hotel and I had a sleep. I went back to the track well energised after my snooze! This time we were also in lanes but about six of us girls who were on the outside were about 10m in front of the others to make it more even. We were allowed to move in at the 200m again though. I thought I ran a real good race, I started off quite fast and tried to keep up with the first group. Three girls got way in front so I was in 6th place about the whole way round but then in about the last 100m or 200m I speed up and ended up with 4th!!! I had a time of 2.33mins and the Tamranui girl that won had a time of 2.25mins. I got another finalist ribbon!

I really enjoyed competing in the Colgate games, it is cool to compete aganst girls from all over the North Island not just ones from the Waikato like I am used to. I also enjoy meeting new people as most of the girls who I ran aganst were really nice. It is also good competing agaist the girls who train, as a lot of the girls I was running agast train about three times a week, while I only  do the club nights and the occasional run. I fully recomend competing in a big sports event like the Colgate Games, with what ever sport you do whever its swimming, or soccer, or netball, or even debating!

 

Long Jump

”Bother” I thought as the lady measuring long jump told me I had jumped a no jump. I was very annoyed at this as my big toe was only justover the board. Anndd it felt as though my jump was real big. I was at Te Awamutu athletic clubs annual ribbon day. Long jump was my second event as I had just run the 1500m and gained a second ribbon.I measured my jump so that I could almost guarantee I would land right on the board. And I did! My jump was only 3.92m, more than 20cm of my personal best. I was not sure what placing I was in as all the other girls had jumped while Maggie and I were running the 1500m. It was time for my last jump. I ran up to the board put my foot perfectly on it and I jumped. It felt like  had jumped real far, at least four meters. ”Yes” I thought as the lady told me that I had jumped 4.28m. 15cm more than my old P.B. (personal best). It turned out that I had won! My first ever win in a field event! (Long jump, high jump, shot put and dicus.) There was less competition than I usually have a ribbon days as there was other athleticmeets around the Waikatio where most of the other athleteswere competing. I competed in lots of other events through out the day and ended up with 10 ribbons! Five more than normal. It was a really great day and I didn’t even get sunburnt!!

How the Snail got its Shell.

Character Review-Midge Macpherson

 

This is a thing I did at School. If you find this is to small to read (sorry) click on this link to have a better look. http://meganbe3.glogster.com/meganbe3/

Weir Rosebowl*

It all started on the 21st of august with the trails. 40 under 12 rep girl soccer players braved the wet to attend the 2008 weir rosebowl trails. (one of them was me.) We were told there was only 24 places, an A and  B team. From the start I did not play my best, at the end there was only 12 of us left on the field, everyone else had been pulled off. I couldn’t wait for them to end. After the ‘there are other chances if you dont get in’ talk we were let go. I wasn’t sure if I would get in as I didn’t play very well in the trail. But the head couch of the rosebowl squad was also my rep coach so I had a bit of an advantage. The next Monday the list of the team was up on the website….

I got in!!

The first training was a Saturday, they chose the two teams. After the training I felt as if I had played my best. And success, I ended up in the A team!! We had trainings three times a week and a game before the two weeks before the tournament. The game was againstAuckland diamonds. There was three thirds. We were down 2-0 entering the 2nd third. the game ended 3-2 to them. The trainings were in Hamilton, Matamata and Rotarua.

(Day One)

At last it was time for the Tournament. We met at a park in Hamilton ( dressed in tracksuits) so we could go up altogether in vans. two hours later we arrived at the motel we would be staying at for the next few nights. It wasn’t overly flash but still very nice. after settling in we went to a piece of bush down the road to play ‘go home stay home’ and ‘hide andseek.’ It was really fun as it was very difficult to find people in the bush. After we had a shower we went to Tukapuna R.S.A for dinner. The food was not as good as many of us expected, but it was ok. We went to bed early to get a good nights sleep before our first games.

(Day Two)

We were woken up at about seven the next morning, we were given our kit the day before. So we dressed in our bright yellow socks, red tops and yellow and navy and yellow pants. We had breakfast in our rooms. Our first game was at eleven against Auckland’s sapphires – their ‘b’ team. We won 1-0 but didn’t play very well. After a big talking to we went back to our motel for lunch. Our next game was at four  so we watched the b team before hand. The game at four was against Watakeri, we won it 5-0 our coach was a lot happier this time and we were rewarded with a trip to the dairy afterwards. 

(Day Three)

Again after breakfast and in our hotel room and a team talk we were given our kits ready for the days events.  Our first game was at ten so we were out on the feild at nine thirty to be warmed up in time. we were playing Auckland sapphires again as they we the best runners up we won 3-0 this game was alot better than we we first played them so our coach was quite happy. We had lunch a the stadium before our next game witch was at one. The B team were playing at the same time as us though out the day so we couldn’t go and watch them or them us. The game at one was against Auckland diamonds who we played the week before the tournament and lost three one. As none of us played very well then, we knew that we had a chance to beat them. The game started off with both teams attacking hard, though out the game nither team let down their defence so it was avery even game. They had some pretty close goal shots witch had us waikato girls in stitches. With a minute to go the play was up by their goal, we shot but missed, the play then came down to our goal with 30 seconds to go. They also shot and missed, AT LAST the full time whistle blew. It was a draw. We went back to the parents very proud and tired. Our next game was not till four so we had some time to recover. We were in the final but a win would securerour place. Our nest game was against north harbour A they won the toornament last year so everyone was out to beat them. None of us played our best as we put everything into the game before hand.  The score at half time was 1-0 but we caught up and finished with a score of 1-1. We were all expecting a very angr coatch but she didn’t seem to mind as we were in the Final!!!!!

Day Four

As this was our last day at the motel we were spending the whole day at the studuim. We were the only waikato team in the finals so we were very proud of ourselves. The finals were not till three so we watched the rest of the waikato teams untill lunch. W had fulled rolls and fruit for lunch and were told to not run or kick the ball around, so we could save our energy for the final. At last it was time to warm up, we were all so nervous we kept making dum mistakes which only made us more tense. Our coach gave us a very inspiring team talk and wee all ran on the the field ready to win. The whistle blew and we kicked off . It was a pretty even game but unluckily for us they got away with the ball and we couln’t catch them, they scored a goal. We tried as hard as we could to catch up but we couldn’t. When the full time whisle blew we wearily shook their hands. Even through we came runner up (2nd) we still all got medals and a cute little trophy at prize giving.  The tourdiment was GREAT fun and I am so glad I was lucky enough to go.

*The weir rosebowl is a three day rep soccer tournament held annually in Auckland. This year it was on the 28th of september to the first october. It was held at north harbour stadium.

 

Term 4 Goals.

These are my term four goals…

~To do well in the school athletics and get into the inter-schools. I can do this by training hard and doing my best on the day.

~ To work well in my inquiry group and produce a good finished product. I can do this by giving my input into the group and helping to deal with ‘hitch-hikers’.

~To improve my writing to make it more interesting to read. I can do this by taking my time while writing as wel as editing critically and thoroughly before handing it in.

~ To balance my home work and school work and hand in a high standard of work on time. I can do this by putting 110% into my work and not leaving it till the last minute.

~To perform well in my up coming dance production. I can do this by concentrating and listening to my dance teacher in lessons. And practicing at home.

~To do weekly, interesting blog posts. I can do this by doing part of a blog post everyday so i am not rushed on Sunday.

I will work at completing these goals through out the term. I will also reasses them and tick them them off when I complete them.

The Missing Lodge

 On Sunday the 22 of september  I was woken up at four in the morning to et down to the mountain by six so I could have breakfast with everyone else. we had a very unevenful trip down there, and after we had put all our warm jackets and stuff on we went to look for the lodge that was when the problems started. we couldn’t find the lodge after ringing the teacher in charge we set of. unaware we were going in the completely wrong direction. We stepped onto the snow expecting it to be soft but it was like ice and half way up the slippery slope dad slipped and went sliding on his but all the way down again. Mum and I soon followed. At last we found someone to ask. They corrected our mistake in direction and we started again. This time dad went up first. And success dad found the missing lodge. I got there just in time for breakfast. But an hour after we actually arrived up the mountain. The reason that I did not not go up the mountain with the rest of the second ski trip was because I was playing rep soccer up in Auckland at the exact time everyone else was leaving. I’m glad we ending up finding the ‘missing lodge’ as it gave me a chance to settle in before we went up the mountain.

 

 

My Inquiry Photo Story

Soccer Prize Giving

“We’re going to be late, we’re going to be late” I thought as we drove through the streets of Te Awamutu to get to Te Awamutu soccer clubs prize giving. I was held on the 12 of september (at 18:00) at Te Awamutu Intermediate Schools Gym. We were all put in our team lines and one team at a time called up on to the ’stage’ (a few tables with steps) to receive our medals. And as I was playing in the 1st open grade team we were last. Meaning there were about 12-18 teams before us! At last my team -the open grade reds were called on to the stage. While we were each getting our medals the presidente of the club called out our teams achievements (1st in the championship grade two. And first in the gold division in a five aside tournament.) The Most improved player, best team player and best overall player were then called out. I got most improved player (!) and I got a little trophy that I get to keep!!

After taking ages to thank all the sponsors and other important stuff. There was a goalie course presentation next and they all got certificates. Next was the female player of the year, all us girls were really nervous to see who would get it. it turned out to be…… Tessa and … ME. I was really happy as I wasn’t expecting it, and Tessa and I were just thinking it would be cool to get it together as we have both had it before and we are in the same team. (Tessa got it last year and me in 2005) We each got a medal in a flash looking case as well as a big trophy witch we will share. Our rep coach Kat presented to us and we were told we still didn’t get out of running the next day at training! The male player of the year was also from our team. It is SO unfair the male trophy is so much better it is HUGE and each person gets an little plaque with their name on it the trophy. The goalie of the year was sadly not from our team.

We also got  a certificate for being in a Waikato ‘rep’ team. And got our names mentioned for being chosen for the ‘weir rosebul’ team. Every player got a drink, some chips and a mini chocolate bar.

It was a very surpirsing prize giving for me and I am really happy I got the awards I wasn’t expecting any of them.

Sports Exchange

On the 3rd of September Te Awamutu intermediate and Belmont intermediate did a sports exchange. Half the sports were based up in Auckland at Belmont intermediate, the other half in T.A. at Te Awamutu Intermediate. I traveled up to Belmont for soccer, we were all billeted out (stayed with a family) my host family was really nice.

On the night we arrived they took me up the sky tower! It was really cool as I had only been up there when I was very little. They lived in Devonport which is across the harbour from the main part of Auckland city, and because my hosts mum did not like getting stuck in traffic on the harbour bridge we took the fairy over! That was also very cool as I saw the New Zealand America’s cup boat out on the harbour. (At Devonport we had to run to catch the fairy. We got there just in time!!) We walked through one of the main streets in Auckland to get to the sky tower. It was so busy compared to tiny Te Awamutu, you had to dodge people just to avoid getting banged into! (I have been to Auckland quite a lot but I can still not get over its size and busyness.) We got to the bottom of the sky tower just in time to see a bungee jumper jump! it would be so scary! We only went to the first level of the sky tower but even that was really high. The really cool thing about it is that they have glass floor so you can look down and see some of Auckland under your feet! There is also the best lift to get up the sky tower. It has glass doors and a glass floor. Meaning you can see the ground getting further and further away, and Auckland zooming by! We had a drink before going back across the fairy to Devonport where we had spaghetti for tea. 

We had the school trip the next morning.  ICE SKATING!!  I had never been so it was really exciting! We got given skates at the Parad-ICE place, and put them on over many pairs of socks. Being on the ice to start with was really scary. We were all screaming a slipping around for ages. I got the hang of it after a while. Just like rollerblading on something really slippery -really! And by the time we had finished I could do a simple turn with out falling over. I was also going at a reasonable speed. That is till I fell over! OCH! There was also some figer skaters there. They were doing amazing turns and tricks it was scary!

The soccer game was not so good. we lost 5-0.But that would be OK but our team did not play its hardest, the Belmont team was pretty good. but if we gave it our all we could have won. Our school won over all so it was OK. My host was also playing soccer, she was amazed her team won. She thought they were going to lose by heaps!

The next day we just stayed in our hosts class rooms until it was time to go. I made some really great friends and it would be really cool if my host could stay with me next year.

Good Sportsmanship

I had my last game of soccer on the weekend, it was a draw three all to Tokaroa.  The cool thing was after the game the Tokoroa soccer club held a shared lunch for all the players. I thought this was really cool and a great way to finish a game. One of the girls in their team also plays in my rep team and she said that they do it every weekend. I was surprised as I thought it might have been a special end of season thing. This is a great example of good sportsman ship, interacting and sharing with the opposition!! They were also great sports on the field, there was no pushing or shoving or bad language. It is very different to a team that we played earlier, their referee was very biased fouling us but not them. I think this a tghing that more sports teams should think about doing, as it is great to be a visiting team and to be treated so nicely.

The Worlds Smallest Fish

I was looking around for something to write about, and I came across this picture, the worlds smallest fish, the Paedocypris. When scientists measured the fish with a special microscope it measured only 7.9 millimeters from nose to tail when full grown. As well as being the worlds smallest fish it is also the worlds smallest vertebrate (or back boned animal)  These fish are found in the peat wetlands in Indonesia and there extremely small size helps them survive in droughts, they can also survive  in acid water with a P.H of 2.9 which is 100 times more acidic than rain water. Their habitat is threatened by forest fires and logging.

 I personally think this is a pretty amazing fish, firstly because of how small it is, only 7.9mm and that it can live in such conditions, in that must acid! I am also amazed at how the range of sizes fish can be the smallest 7.9mm the longest at 9m the oar fish.

Info and pics from: http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1555027.htm 

Cross Country

Knees shaking. stomach trembling, goosebumps rising. This was the students on the start line for the 2008 cross country at Te Awamutu Intermediate on the 13 of August. The year seven girls (me) were at 2:00 and as it was raining we are in the A.L.C until our race so we had no idea who had won the previous two races! We were called out to do a slow warm up run (around the netball courts) and some stretches. The people aiming to come in the top ten (me) were put in the front line, and people aiming top 20 behind us and so on. The clapper/hooter/starting gun went and we all zoomed of into the distance, (well not quite!) Our course was 3km around. My aim was to keep up to the front and hopefully gain the lead. I kept to my plan, and was in front about 1/4 of the way through. Through out the course were teachers and non-participating students directing us. The directions were O.K although we were unsure of where to go as at the top of one of the hills there was no markers! We splashed through the big puddle about 200m from the end, and with a sprint at the end I finished first. I was very happy as I though the compition might have been hard. Dad was at the end to greet me then he rushed off back to the farm.

Not only was the cross country an individual thing it was an interhous and interclass compition too. There was a lot of pressure on out class to win as we have had the sheld for the last seven years, (or something!) We had 6-7 in the top ten from our class and 20 in the top 40 so we have a good chance. We will not know till next week!

I now have the inter-schools at Porrit stadium on Tuesday. (eek) Wish me luck!!!!!!

Debating

On  Monday and Tuesday afternoons I am in a practicing debating team. The people who are not in the practicing team are going to Belmontsports exchange. (when our school exchanges students with a school in Auckland.) As I’m going with soccer, I am not part of the other five year 7’s with the change of being the only year 7 in the team. We have prepared speeches and done impromptu speeches on the spot. We have also done a debate on the topic they will be debating about. It turned out to be ‘experimenting and testing on animals should be banned.’ Personally I am not sure which I agree in; because cutting open animals is obvisly wrong, but would you chose a stray cat to be tested on andmaybe killed or friends and family? We think that the Belmont team will chose for animal testing being banned as it is slightly easier. So we have started researching because even though the practicing team is not actually going the other team needs someone to practice against. Tomorrow we are debating on whether home work should be banned. Luckily we have the good side: Homework shouldbe banned. I enjoy debating and it might improve my speeches!

Dancing Exam

On the 4^th of August I have my Irish dancing exam. (eek!!!)  It will be for grade four, in previous years I have passed grades; -1, 2 and 3 with highly commended and. grade 1 with honours. The exams includes bar work, centre work, theory and the main dance. The dance is made out of the small steps we do at the bar and in the centre, the whole exam only takes about 15 minutes. A tiny amount for all those weeks of practice!  Every Wednesday we drive up to Hamilton at 4:45 to dance practice, which is a bit weird because my teacher actually lives in T.A!  

For this exam we are dressed in black stocking and leotards, very weird sparkly (a bit puffy) skirts, a very hard to put on (the same material as the skirt) sash, safety-pined with a sparkly brooch, as well as a sparkly tiara stuck on with almost a whole bottle of hair-spray. Over all we do not look as bad (although VERY sparkly!) as we sound although all of us cannot wait to get new dresses next year! Our main thing is our shoes: Irish hard shoes. They are quite similar to tap shoes but instead of metal, a piece of fibreglass stuff. To some people they seem to belong on a witch as they are black and pointy. And as the name stats very hard, accidentally hitting your shin with one can make you almost screech with pain!

My dancing teacher Mrs Welton also takes ballet and character dancing, she was also in the New Zealand Ballet As well as the exams we do a large show at the end of the year with all the Dury-lane dancers it is huge(going for about two hours) and great fun to be involved in.

I am looking forward although I am VERY nervous about the exam, I know almost everything perfectly and my theory is pretty good. Wish me LUCK!!!!!!!!!!

100 comments

O.k O.K I know Alex is probably almostup to 200 comments but still I have100 comments! (Thanks) Please keep leaving comments as I am now aiming for 150!

 (P.S I will still write another blog post for this week!)

The Very Wet Soccer Game

On the 26^thof July the Reds (my soccer team) was playing Western United in Glenview, Hamilton. When I woke up it was a very dreary day, with large grey clouds in the sky and a slight drizzle raining down. After a long lie in, the weather had got a bit worse. We drove up to Glenview with the hope that the weather would improved, well our hopes didn’t come true.  The field that we were playing on was practically deserted with only the game before us on the go. After warming up we ran onto the field that’s when the rain came down, so heavy at some point you could hardly see the ball. We battled the weather and VICTORY we scored our first goal. At that point the rain was at it’s heaviest and we were asked if we wanted to stop. No Way if we stopped the sore would be a draw, we wanted to win! The rain was clearing and at half time but the wind was bone chilling so we were bundled up with our sweat shirts UNDER our uniforms! Two more goals were scored and one very muddy field created. We came off in triumph, cheered for the other team and went home to a nice warm shower!

The Disappearing Curles

Yesterday night it was Mums Birthday party.  She was getting her hair blow dried at the hair-dresser, and as it didn’t take long the hair hairdresser asked if I wanted my hair curled. I agreed. She spent ages doing it. When it was at last finished it looked pretty neat. Mum needed to pick up the cake and balloons she also had to organise what food she wanted. So she told me to walk home. It wasn’t raining so I agreed, my hair was still curly when I checked in all the cars windows. After dad had let me in I re-checked in my bedroom mirror. They were all gone! All that was left was a slight wave and a whole lot of used damp hairspray. When I told dad we ran drove back down to the hairdressers just as mum was leaving. The hairdresser quickly straightened my hair which turned out to look a lot better than curls! She said that the moustire in the air might have flattened them or that it was raining (she didn’t believe me that it wasn’t!) It turned out for the best as I think that straight hair suits me better.

(P.s I will write a post on mums birthday tomorrow.) 

Rarotonga

After my soccer practice on Thursday the 27th of June, I helped pack the family car for our holiday in Rarotonga. We were leaving at eight the next morning but due to customs we had to be there at 6:00am. Meaning we would have to leave at 4:00am (or earlier ) to get there in time if  we were leaving from home. So we decided to stay the night in a hotel which offered free parking for the amount of time your trip will take.  It was a very cosy room with a HUGE bathroom and really soft beds. The breakfast that was provided started at 3:00amfor the few early flights! We woke at five and devoured a yummy breakfast. After checking in we looked round the duty free shops HUNDREDS of times until our plane was ready to board.

The plane ride was only four hours and it was over before I knew it with the help from a few movies and lunch. The Rarotongan airport wastiny, most of it was outside.We were shown to our bus and welcomed on board with a flower necklaceand a bottle of water. after the very slow (the speed limit is 50 kph and 30km in town) and bumpy (the buses look ancient and they all rattle!)  ride we arrived at our hotel; The Rarotogan Resort and Spa.

 It was paradisebut very hot in jeans and T-shirts. Our luggage at last arrived I quickly ran down to were you hire the snorkel stuff, grabbed some and splashed into the water. There was GREAT fish, really pretty and colourful. After a long refreshing swim we had a lunch/afternoon tea meal of chips. (A lot of our meals were like that-at the wrong times!) There was a also tropical breakfast provided it was SOOOOOOOOOOO YUMMY; with all the fresh tropical fruits like paw-paw (papaia,) bananas, oranges, coconut and others. There was also yummy yogurt and croissants as well as my favourite COCONUT BREAD! The staff were all really nice and our room was nice and cool (with all the free shampoos and stuff) right on the beach! The water was bright blue and provided a beatiful view. We hired two little scooters to travel around on. We went around the back roads one afternoon on the motor scooters it was quite nice a showed a compleatly different side of Rarotonga.

There was a whole lot of activities that the hotel organised a few of the ones that I did were; Crab hunting (for the crab races the next night-it was really freaky picking them up) Crab racing (where you bet on a crab. There were some massive crabs almost as big as a ‘bread n butter’ plate,) hat making (out of coconut leaves-mine looked like a fruit bowl,) Sarong tying and making (where you made a sarong -$20 and then you were taught a couple of the 314 ways of tying it,) island drumming lesson (we were taught a few beats on the four different island drums,) A  coconut show(where you were taught about the ‘tree of life’ and it’s many uses,) a free scuba lesson (it was really cool, just like snorkelingbut you could go way under with out choking.) There was HEAPS of others including a night snorkeling tour I wanted to go on it but it was too ruff the night it was planed and it couldn’t be rescheduled.   

Between all the snorkeling and swimming we did a few tours. Our first one was “Tama’s lagoon tour” We were picked up outside the front of out hotel (by another of those bumpy buses) and driven half way round the island (32km all round) to where the tour started. The clear bottom boat was cool; you could see ALL the fish swimming under neat you but the snorkeling was almostbetter than at the hotel. There was heaps of giant clams! (which are Rarotonga’s paua as it is too salty for Paua to grow there.) They were really impressive. There was also a demo of how they grow the black peals (there is SOOOO many shops selling black pearls it is almost not funny anymore!) We were given a piece of bread and the fish came right up and ate it our of your hand it was great. I also saw a HUGE moray eel and one guy patted it! (NO WAY was I going thatclose!) There was also a yummy BBQ lunch and another coconut show as well as a sarong show. We also went on a mountain walk; our tour guide was called Pa, he was about 70 (with blond dreadlocks,) very fit and the islands medical man. It was an interesting and fun trip and along the way he showed us a whole lot of natural remedies. We also had a yummy role for lunch. There was thousands of mosquitoes though! The last tour that we did was the Raro Safari Tours. We went down all the back roads of Rarotonga and we were told all about the fruit trees and the history. The best parts would have been going up (and down) some really bumpy and steep tracks (“EEK”) And also another BBQ lunch (this one was nicer though!) Also one morning we into town to go to the local market. I was expecting something tiny. It was huge. There would hve been at least a fifty stalls. We couldn’t stay long but it was really neat!!!! ( we bought heaps-to dads disgust)There was heaps of people and fun! Also one time when Dad and I were snorkeling I saw a rock move; it turned out to be an Octopus! It was really graceful and it didn’t squirt ink at us!!!!! 

The trip was really neat, I did lots of thing that I have always wanted to do; see a shooting star, drink straight out of a coconut, see an octopus, try a prawn and  have a great holiday!! And guess what? I got to go back on the very day the school holidays were starting!

 

‘Pen-Pals’

Have you ever thought of getting a pen-pal*? If you have it is a great idea, you get to find out what life is like in another country or town (if your pen-pal is from overseas or in a different part of the country to you,) or you could just send and receive letters from a friend just down the road. It is also always exciting to receive something in the mail, (there is hardly any mail for me; always bills and stuff for mum and dad.) 

I do have a pen-pal in Japan who came to stay with us for a week as a school exchange, I have also have a pen-pal in Scotland. Both were really nice girls and we were pen-pals for ages! My best friend and I also occasionally send each other mail-and we live down the street from each other! 

One thing that I have learnt is; that it’s more likely that you will receive mail if you send it. Because the person that you send it to is most likely to send one back to you, as they get a consent reminder every time they see the letter on the kitchen counter etc.

To find a pen pal: I wouldn’t recommend getting one off the Internet as there is some pretty creepy people out there. You could maybe ask your parents or relatives if there is a second cousin or someone  in another county or town who could be your pen-pal, or maybe an exchange student from school, even a friend you met overseas (if you have been overseas and if you met a friend.) Or you and a few friends could start a letter group thing; where you send mail in a circle. A ‘E-Pal’ is another way; where you receive and send emails; as sending letters to another county can be quite expensive.

So if you were already, or I have convinced you do get a pen-pal I really recommend it!

 *A pen pal is a person (normally in another town or country) who you send and receive mail with. (Usually  who you rarely or never see in person.)

(I will write a really long post on my holiday next week!)

“There’s no such word as cant”

I never failed once it was just a 2000 step process                 

Thomas Edison (when asked what it felt like to fail 2000 times trying to create a light bulb.)

I think this is a very inspirational quote, to even think what it would be like to have to try that many times is hard work; it is impossible to imagine what it was really like! Thomas Edison is one of the many people who if they gave up, our lives would be very different. Imagine life with out a light bulbs, cars, T.Vs or even things as simple as toasters. To me I would have to make dramatic changes, not read at night, have to bike everywhere, or get a horse (now that would be a good idea) I would also have to find another type of entertainment (with out T.V) And not have toast!!!!!!! So next time you are using something electronic, stop and think; can I live with out this? If the answer is no, remember thereis no such word as can’t. This may sound cheesy but its true, there was no ‘can’t when Thomas Edison was building his light bulb! 

Science Fair

In the last week of school we have science fair. this will be my first science fair, so when I heard that we would be doing one I didn’t really know what to expect. I first thought it might be like the ones you see on American high school movies; with the exploding volcanoes and confusing contraptions where there is parents, judges and students milling around. (and normally someones project blows up!) But listening to the year eights we are not even allowed to be with our projects when they are judged, only the judges will actually be in the same room as the projects.

 We spent a lot of time going over the scientific method in class , (they order and way that scientists carry out an experiment.) we also did two group experiments which were: ‘How does salt and sugar make a difference on the speed of ice melting?’ The other one was. ‘How does the shape of the wings affect the distance that a paper aeroplane would fly. I liked the paper plane one better as watching ice melt might even be more boring than watching paint dry!!  In the end (after and hour and a half) none of my group’s ice had actually melted!  After we had been taught all the necessary requirements it was time for us to start thinking of our question. The school science teacher came into our class one lunch time to give us ideas. I was going to do “how does different liquids added to bubble mixture affect how big the bubbles are?” But I was told that lots of others were also doing that question. She asked what equipment I could get my hands on I told her nails as dad always has spare nails in his work shop. I ended up deciding on “how does salinity (salt) affect the oxidation (rusting) speed?” I was going to use nails to test it on.

I got a science fair note book  (a vital part of the scientific method)and started to research I found out a whole lot of stuff about rusting and salt. My hypothesis (guess) is that the jar with most salt will rust the fastest. Tonight I started my experiment Mum got me some rock salt but it didn’t really dissolve so we heated up all of the five pots when They were cool I added the nails. They are now sitting in the kitchen rusting!!

I hope I have good results from my experiment and that it all goes well.

Elephant Report

This is a report we did at school, we had a choice of elephants or wetas most people chose elephants.

The elephant being the largest and second tallest land animal is well known for its size. This amazing animal is full grown at 25 years although it can live up to a massive 65 years.

There are two species of elephants; the African elephant, which is the largest out of the two, at  two-four meters tall and weighing 7500kgs and the Asian elephant is smaller with littler and more curved ears. Another difference about the two elephants is that only the male Asian elephants have tusks unlike the African Elephant where both males and females have tusks.

In most other areas the two species are mostly the same. All elephants have two small eyes which are protected by very long lashes. They are colour blind and they have limited vision in strong light. Their large ears are all individual, similar to the human fingerprint. Most elephants have tusks which are actually teeth that continue growing until they reach 1.5 meters, weighing 45kg each. The tusks are used for digging, fighting, feeding and lifting. The skin is grey and big wrinkles help the elephant stay cool. And its nose; more well known as a trunk. As well as breathing and smelling it can be used to pick up food and suck up liquid and sensing.

 Elephants live in family groups called herds where all the elephants help protect the young. To communicate with each other they, trumpet, bellow, cry or snort. To indicate danger they flap their huge ears against their heads, and then the herd gathers closer together. Elephants only sleep for two-four hours at a time either standing or lying. 

Elephants live in deserts, mountains or tropical forests in Africa, India and Southern Asia. They eat grasses, leaves, roots and shoots if they are in the wild. If they are in captivity they will be fed hay, oats, potatoes and even some meat.

Even though they are such amazing and beautiful animals, poachers are still after them. They want the ivory that their tusks are made of. This is very valuable and it is used to make ornaments or jewellery.  People are also cutting down their habitat to make homes or factories. This is also reducing the number of elephants in the wild.

So we should do what we can to protect these beautiful creatures as they are endangered but their species deserve to survive.   

What car?

My dad is a farmer and he has one of those really cruddy Utes that N.Z farmers have. It is really, really, really, dirty, it also has a cracked door, smudges on  the windscreen and windows where our dog has licked them. It has four seats but Dad has trouble even fitting one passenger! It is like his traveling workshop with all his tools over the seats and our dog on the front seat so there is hardly any room!

He was discussing with my mum that he thinks he needs a new vehicle. He wasn’t that sure about what sort of thing that he wants . And when I was buying a friends birthday present up in Hamilton. After one of my soccer games (and as walking round a whole lot of girly shops is NOT my dads sort of thing) he was looking at a car competition (one of those flash looking 4-wheel drive things) and he called mum over. He said that he might need something like that instead of another Ute or a van like he’d been thinking.

So on the way home mum spotted the shop of the brand, that the competition car was. We stopped. I stayed it the car as it was a really cold day and I wasn’t in the mood for being freezing. They came back about 1/4 of an hour later and asked if I wanted to see the one that they thought might be appropriate. It was really flash with black leather upholstery and heaps of room and even a big enough boot for all dads tools and Norm our dog.

I had the birthday party at two so we had to get back. When I got home a couple of hours later I discovered our outside dog INSIDE! He was really good even when dad when out to the kitchen and he stayed right in front of  dads  chair! Well back to the car. I was told that after I had finished unpacking my small bag, to go and look in the garage, I thought that it might have been so that I could bring the clothes on the line in… But when I looked it was one of those big 4-wheel drive things which I found out was on trail for the weekend to see if it was the car for dad.

Dad took me to soccer in the morning; melted socks and all (see below!) in the trail car. We then went to our farm and drove up and down the big step hills at the back of our property just to check the 4-wheel drive. Dad thought it was pretty good, and I really liked the sigh light thingy. The next morning (this morning) dad took it back it was VERY dirty! ( the car washer can’t have been very happy!!)

So I was quite surprised when I got home from school to see a Honda Jazz sport (a trial car) sitting in our drive way! It has back seats that go right up so that Norm (dog) would fit in perfectly ( if we get it). We took it for a test run out to Pirongia and back, we then cheeked if Norm (our dog) would stay in it; he did! We then went up to Hamilton to see my Grandad he liked how the seats when up and down. I hope we get the Honda Jazz though Dad still hasn’t decided!

The Smudge…

On  Sunday the 8th of June I was playing a soccer game in Hamilton. The morning started out a usual Sunday; me not wanting to get out of bed, rolling over, going back to sleep, etc. After feeding the cats and the dog I watched the ‘exciting’morning T.V and relaxed for a while. I was then told to get ready; my boots and shin-pads were already heating up by the fire, so I decided to warm my socks up too. I brought them out from my room and placed them by the heater and went to clean my teeth. When I came back they were still not warm so I held them just out from the heater… About 30 seconds later; after talking to dad I discovered that I had put them right on the heater. When I tried to pull them away, they were STUCK!! It turned out that they were made of nylon not wool; like I thought and they had melted onto the heater! My dad started laughing; and it was so not funny! After he had finished laughing he got a  knife  and a roll of paper towels and started to clean up my mess. After a lot of hard work, all that is left on our heater is a rather large smudge (right in the middle) and a horrible smell of burnt nylon when you turn the heater on!

So what I learnt from that  experience is that nylon melts and it is really smelly when it is melted! Also never put your socks too close to a heater!!!!!

(luckily I didn’t get into much trouble as both mum and dad found it funny!?)  Also this story has been changed a bit to make it just that bit more exciting/funny; but my socks really did melt!

‘Rep’ Soccer

On Sunday the 25 of May I was woken up at 5:00am by my dad, as I was competing in a soccer tournament in Auckland with the ‘rep’ team I had recently got into. It started at 9:00 though we had to be there at 8:20; with two and a bit hours to get up to Auckland.

We arrived (after some pretty horrible map reading on my part) to find my team waiting next to an ash-vet field. We were pretty excited as only a few of us have ever played on fake grass. But then we were told we were really playing on a normal field. We followed Matt sulkily to get our uniform; as it was our first tournament. It turned out to be the same black with red stripes; socks and pants (one stripe not 10) and a black top with one yellow stripe down the side!? It was meant to look like the Waikato colours.- Red, Yellow and Black. 

We did a quick warm up; passing. It was very hard as I had missed one of our two practices and I didnt know anybodies name! Soon after, the team that was first on the field was annoced. I was playing right defence. There was three attackers, two mid fields and three defence and the goalie . All the teams that we were versing were all from the wider Auckland region. After winning our first game (1-0); we all got our postions changed I ended up with center defence. And there was one attacker three mids and four defance as well as the goalie. We also won that game (2-0) but as we were getting tired and the next team was a bit better we had a draw.(0-0) Even though we had to get up so early it was still a really fun day!!!!

Kids ‘Lit’ Quiz – The sport of reading!

The Drive up to Hamilton 

The drive up to Hamilton was even MORE eventful than the actual competition!

We had McDonald’s for dinner and we were waiting in the car for the last person to buy there dinner. a van had its backing lights on and I made the comment;”Hey that car will have to wait for us to back” Well the driver certanly didn’t wait it started backing and didn’t stop until he/she felt the bump! We all let out a horrific scream as we felt the van rock!!!! As soon as the van stopped at St Paul’s we all crammed out to see the dent! It was quite big!!

The Quiz

On the 15th of May in the St Paul’s cathedral the 15th annual kids ‘lit’ quiz kicked off.
There was 47 teams of four (188 kids) competing to win thee grand prize of, $160 Book voucher value and a place in the National final. Second place got $100 in book vouchers and third place $40 in book vouchers.
There were 100 questions which were split into 10 categories. Each team had to chose a category to get double points for. The Categories were from elephants to the galaxy both of the Te Awamutu teams chose ‘magic’ as their ‘double’ category. After each Category been asked the ansers  were given follolowed by an adult question in which the adults could win a ten dollar book voucher and a book of there choice. There was also a ‘five dollar question where all the competitors had a chance to win five dollars of the quiz masters money! He was completely broke by the end of the night! The winners of each category won a book form a huge pile of giveaways! If there was a tie the tying teams had a sudden death question the other Te Awamutu team was in a sudden death question but the didn’t get it:(

It finished at about 10 and we didn’t get home till 11 after we had dropped everyone off! So a lot of us had the next day off!

My First Soccer Games

On Saturday it was my first soccer game, well it was actually my first two games. I was asked to play for another team in my grade as they were short on defence players.

My first game was at 9:30 but we had to be there at 9:00 as we needed to warm up! I was a sub to start off with, as I was from another team. I got put on about ten minutes later as ‘right defence’ -we were winning 4-0 at half time. We swapped to an unwilling goalie, as the present goalie was promised if we were winning at half time he was allowed to play. I stayed as right defence and we scored one more goal before I was taken off to warm up with my ‘real’ team -the wolves. I thought this completely pointless as I was already warm; I was playing soccer two minutes ago! We went for a short run around to the empty field where we did goal kicks and goalie practice for the goalie.

We started our game at 11:00am where I was right defence again. The other team scored their first but final goal about 10-15minutes into the game but we matched their performance and scored a goal as well. Through out the first half we scored another three goals. At half time we were rewarded with oranges and jelly beans. Second half we got one more goal even though we were all very tired!!

As the teams I was playing for won both games I think it was a very successful but tiring soccer morning!

And Yet Another Riddle

Where will you find roads without cars, forests without trees and cities without houses?

This is also from www.riddles.com it has heaps of neat riddles!!!! You should really check it out…

My Birthday

Yesterday on the 17th of April it was my birthday!!

At 6:30am my Dad tried to wake me up before he went to the farm to milk the cows, but I must have taken AGES to wake up, because when I finally forced myself from my bed dad had already gone. I opened my presents on my parents bed, I got lots of cool stuff including a REALLY warm blanket for my bed, a Jumper and a pack of earrings.

I still had to go to school but that was O.K because we didn’t really do much work. We had a literature quiz what was actually quite fun because I knew some of the answers as I read quite a wide range of books. We then had to write a small piece of writing about five things that we are grateful for. After lunch we had french, we learnt how to say”how do you spell your name” and “what is your name” it was quite hard though. A small group of us got to miss out on half of singing, because in the afternoon we would be interviewing some people from the first school committee and we had to organise the video and questions. After lunch we had to interview them it was way harder than we all expected, but at the end I think we had all improved and we were making up questions on the spot!

After school I had soccer practice, all three of the open grade teams are training together so we get to train with people who have different skills than us. This makes it a lot easier to improve y skills etc.

Mum picked me up after. and we went out for dinner to the Thai restaurant in town. It was really yum, but very fulling; even dad was full! We had birthday cake for supper at home; it was a miracle we could fit it all in, but I suppose there is always room for CAKE!

After that I went to bed, I think it was a cool birthday. I cant wait till Friday night though as I am going to the mount with a friend!!

Another Riddle

How many times can you subtract 5 from 25?

This is another riddle from www.riddles.com

School Camp

On Tuesday the 8th of April we went on school camp. The pile of bags was slowly growing as I placed by bag out side our class, we did not need to be at  school earlier than normal but most people were there by 8:30. After the “If you do not behave you will be sent home” talk, we all piled into the cars we would be traveling to Ohope in. We stopped at a lake for lunch and a short bush walk to another little stony beach, so similar to the one we walked from, a lot of people thought it was the same place! We arrived at Ohope Christian camp at about 3:00. Way earlier that expected! WE went over to the beach and had afternoon tea before going to Whakatane swimming pools. We spent about one to two hours there. Playing a volley-ball/water polo type of game as well as going on the hydro slide and swimming. We had salad,  spaghetti and meatballs,for dinner.

The next morning everyone went groggily down to a  breakfast of toast cereal and spaghetti for breakfast before going in our class groups to the days activities. Room three was doing the high ropes and the amazing maze and room seven Shelly-bay, fishing and kayaking we would be swapping the next day. We started at the high-ropes. The guys that were taking us played some warm up games and trust exercises. One of them  was one person would stand on a pile of wood about a meter and 1/2 off the ground then the rest of the group would put there arms alternately in the air, their person o the wood was then expected to fall back and the rest of the group would catch them! It was so scary! You may think that people were heavy but when everyone worked together they were really light! We also had to get into partners, one of us were then blindfolded and the other one had to lead them though a really confusing course, then you would swap and the person with the blind fold would become the leader. Some of the obstacles were Walls, hills, cargo nets and heaps more! We then did the low ropes, they included a wall really high off the ground and you had to get everyone over it with only three people up the top helping and when toy had gone over you wee also not allowed to help! There was also a platform thing on the ground where you had to get everyone an  a platform and if one person touched the ground toy had to start again. There was also a rope thing too. After lunch we had the safety check for the highropes! We were at-last allowed them we had a demo and then we were set free. I went on a tire one first where there were about five tires hanging on ropes on the air and you had to swing across them to reach the next one, did i mention they were TEN meters off the ground? I also went on a platform one where you had to jump the platforms with NO handles to hang onto!I also went on a a wiggly pole one where you just had to climb up a wiggly pole! The bets one would have been the trapeze where you climbed up a REALLY high pole then you had to jump off a tiny platform into thin air to reach for a trapeze I dint get it though but jumping into thin air was really fun! We did the maze next it was made of corn maize and we had to find these card with the answers of the questions on but you had ti write what no’ the answer card was instead of the actual answer! We also had to find pictures on the answer cards as well. It was really cool. there was a night maze too that would have been cool to go in but as it was daytime so we couldn’t't! WE went ot the pools again in the evening and had roast chicken for dinner.

The next day it was our turn to go fishing, kayaking and to Shelly bay. We went to Shelly bay  except it was high tide we didn’t get to see the rock pol but it was still cool cause there was a really pretty walk with neat views of Ohope to get there, then there was heap ans heaps of really cool shells  and trees to climb. As well as the sea to wade in. (we are not allowed to swim in the sea at school camps) WE went back to the camp tired and hungry  to get changed into our togs to go kayaking. We had morning tea and went go to w=the wharf were we we wold be fishung  and kayaking. After and hour and a half=f of fishing I only caught a tiny fish! Kayaking was really fun we played ball tiggy and went round a sand bank as well as getting badly sun burnt! We went to Awakeri hot pools for a BBQ tea and swim. There was only like only like two pool but they were really nice and warm in the cool air. I was freezing after the BBQ and ran back into the pools! We were also allowed to buy lollies.(I didn’t) But the teachers ddin’t tell us that we wern’t allowed to take them back to camp and heaps of people ate theirs REALLY quickly and they were on a high all night!

The next day we packed up and played a couple of games of ruby before spending a hour looking round Ohope before heading of to Te Puke for lunch. We were allowed to buy our lunch. We then ate it a a park and played around before going home to our waiting parents.

That was our REALLY fun camp. What was your last camp? Or when is your next camp?!

Riddle

What goes up when the rain comes down??

Clue: Don’t think to hard it is quite obvious when you know the answer!! I got this riddle of the website www.riddles.com you should have a look t is a really neat website! (and it may have the answer for this one) 

Student Assembly

Every Thursday we have a student assembly at our school; this is where the Class Councilors and House Leaders captains run an assembly. We start with the opening Karakea as we do with all assemblies. Then there is normally a report or photo story about the latest camp or Inter-school sport event. This week it was about room ones camp to Waitomo and the inter-school cricket and touch rugby. There is also sometimes somebody who comes in and tells us about their job. Last week there was a man guy from the prison who is a drug dog handler he told us what his job involves then his dog gave us some demonstrations with a drug smelling cloth. It was really interesting. At the Assembly’s there is also a fairytale skit competition performed by two classes picked out of a hat the week before, it is really funny as the skits are original and there is a wide range of things that classes do. Luckily our class has not been picked yet!!!!  This week there was no job demonstration but the swimming sports prize giving. I got some certificates and a medal for the best year seven girl on the day!! It was finished with the closing Karakea what I still need to learn!!

Sorry…

Sorry to who ever has tried to link to  room 3’s blog though mine before today; I have had a small typo mucking up the link. It is fine now though.

Easter Holiday

On the Easter weekend I went to stay with my two boy cousins who live  in Cleavedon (near Auckland), because my mum and dad were wall papering the hose and they thought it would be boring for me; so I got sent up to Auckland! (yay!)

They live on a farm and one of them loves anything with a motor, so when my uncle had to hire a digger, if you happened to look in the drivers seat he is who you would find. I also got a drive; it is surprisingly easy as long as you remember to push the right knobs for the right things. Together my cousin and I did a lot of the work that was needed. Even though there was a digger we had to unload all the dirt by hand it was very, very hard work!!!

They also have horses-Annie and Chrissie whom I was allowed to groom and ride what I enjoyed, because even though we own a farm we do not have horses. My uncle took a video of me on the horse (Annie) and will hopefully send it to me.

As it was so hot we were swimming in their friend’s pool. It was a really neat pool; two meters deep and a funny triangle shape, but warm as it was solar heated.

As it was Easter we got Easter eggs! I ended up eating too much chocolate. But we ran it off by playing lots of games of soccer against the trampoline

My Goals

The Little Gold Shoe-Retell

  The Little Gold Shoe…Once upon a time there lived a king and queen, they had only one daughter she was very, very beautiful and well mannered and they loved her more than anyone had ever thought possible. Soon after the young girl was born her mother died, the King remarried soon after thinking his new wife and her daughter would be good company for his lovely young daughter, he couldn’t have been more wrong, her new step mother was both mean and ugly like her daughter and she made it her job to make the kings daughter miserable.

The King died soon after his new marriage now the young girl had no one to stand for her and was treated as a maid not as a kings daughter, she cleaned scrubbed and dusted she was not rewarded for this and was not allowed to eat sit or talk to company but her place was among the ashes in the hearth of the fireplace, where she sat in the hearth thinking of the times her mother and father where alive the, happy   joyful times this was her favourite pastime. This is how she gained the name; Cinder-girl.

One day a rumour arrive that there was a prince coming and that he would attend the villages local church the following Sunday. The step mother and her daughters rushed around gaining the finest dresses and jewels she could find, and poor Cinder-girl watched, sure she would never have a chance of going. When Sunday came the step mother had scrubbed her daughter so hard her skin was almost washed off. When all was ready the step sister when up the Cinder-girl and exclaimed, “Are not I the best in the land isn’t it somehow different to all your rags” The Cinder-girl timidly asked if she may to go to church, the step sister answered with a scornful laugh “how dare you even think of it, you beggar girl, how could you even think that the prince will look at you!”The Cinder girl wepped at her cruel words, but the stepmother did not even let her weep in peace for she threw a pot of peas on the floor “Pick up all these peas and boil them for dinner before I get home or I will kill you”

As the Cinder-girl went to get water from the spring to boil the peas one of her tears fell into the water, and up came a huge pike, “why you weep so little girl.” And so she told the pike all her problems, the pike told her to “you will go to church with all the others as long as you do as I say” The cinder-girl nodded. “Go along the path until you get to a hollow oak tree in this shall be a dress; the finest you have ever seen, put these on and ride to the church on the horse that will be standing next to the tree.  Sit in between your stepmother and her daughter, but do not speak to them as they will surely recognise you. Leave before the end of mass and take your dress off and replace it with you rags. I will have dinner all made by the time you get back.”As she hadn’t

The cinder-girl was happy as she hadn’t heard kind words in days and so she went to the oak tree and in it was the finest dress she had ever seen she put it on and went off to church, she went inside and sat in between her stepmother and sister. The whole church seamed to glow at her beauty and the young prince couldn’t keep his eyes off her through. Remembering the pikes words she left far before it was to finish and jumped on he horse, seeing the prince following her she yelled “lightness before me, darkness after me” She swapped her dress for her rags and ran home to see the dinner cooed and set on the table. He sat in the ashes where we have become accustomed to find her.

The queen was very disappointed to see that the Cinder-girl a done all that she had asked, as she loved to find faults in the young girls work. As the Sundays came and went the Cinder-girl went to church with the help of the pike many times , the prince grew more and more in love with her and one day he was waiting for her to leave, and  as she was running down the steps she stumbled and  lost one of her gold shoes, the prince grabbed it. The Stepmother was also ready to follow her, and the young girl had no time to get out of her finery so she threw her rags over the top, and ran into the house and sat down on the hearth of the fire, where we have become accustomed to find her.

When the Queen and her daughter arrived home they were angry at the fact that the fine girl at the church had got away, this made the queen even more grumpy than usual, so poor cinder-girl had no peace and was sweeping and scrubbing till dawn.

One morning the queen came into the house with the news that the prince was looking all round the country for the maiden that fitted the shoe, as she new that the Cinder-girl was far more beautiful than her own daughter she shut her in the oven, when the prince arrived the queen did all she could to fit her daughters fat foot into the tiny slipper, but it would not fit so she cut off a piece of her long toes and a piece of her heal. Then a little bird sang out;

“Chop heal cut toe in the oven is whom fits the shoe” “What’s that?” the prince inquired as the bird sang yet again. “Oh nothing” said the Queen but the prince ignored her and open the oven, to discover poor cinder-girl who fitted the gold shoe first try. As the prince was asking her hand in marriage he saw a small piece of gold cloth so he removed her rags to discover her gold outfit, what proved she was the true madden he had fallen in love with at the church.

At the wedding they danced and danced all except the Step mother’s daughter who couldn’t dance as her mother had cut of her toes.

The End

Waikato Athletic Champs

On Saturday the 8th of march I was competing in the Waikato athletics champs, at Porritt stadium in Hamilton.

My first Event was the 800m it was very, very tiring as the people at the front started off really fast! As though they were running a sprint! But I got a nice purple ribbon for coming 5th!

I had a bit of a wait before my next event; the 100m heat, the fastest 8 people out of the 3 heats got into the final, I came 3rd out of my race so I had a chance…

I had long jump next I beat my personal best by a centimeter; 3.82m! but I was very far off winning; the winner jumped 4.74m!! 

I had a four hour wait until  my next event. ‘boring!’ I spent a lot of my time going backward and forward to the results sheet to find out if I got in the 100m final; it turned out that I came ninth, and was 1 tenth of a second from getting in!! But was pleased I got so close as the sprints arnt my good point.

My last event was the 1500m, I was normally Quite good at it but in the heat and being tired from swimming I only came 4th, but I got another pritty purple ribbon. 

But the Medals look alot more impressive! *sigh*   

My Book Review

Title: Alone on a Wide, Wide sea                                                                                                         Author: Michael Morpurgo                                                                                                              Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books                                                                                            Number of pages:308                                                                                                                     Genre:Adventure                                                                                                                                      ISBN: 0-00-723463-5, 9780007234639Turn the first few pages of ‘Alone on a Wide, WideSea’ and you will be pulled into the in’s and out’s of Arthur Hobhouse’s life.  Alone on a boat toAustralia, with no clear recollection of his earlier years, he befriends fellow orphan; Marty. He recounts the vague memory of his sister Kitty singing ‘ LondonBridge is falling down’, while placing a small key round his neck with the words “wear this always.” He then promises himself, that one day he would go back toEngland to find her.   Through the first part of the story it explained, the horrors of Mr Bacon’s private hostel, the joy of finding a home, the sadness of losing loved ones, the struggle of getting out of depression, and also the happiness that follows this. I loved how the author described this, it made you feel as if you were a character.  As Arthur settles down with a wife and family, he keeps quiet about the quest to find Kitty until one day his daughter, Ally asks “Daddy why do you wear the key?” then the adventure begins.With a boat built they are ready to go, until one day Arthur is diagnosed with a brain tumor, he tragically dies, but Ally decides to carry out her father’s goal and sets sail with the handmade boat; Kitty IV. As she sails to
England, she meets up with the strangest of people and makes the most unexpected of friends. I liked how in this part of the book it repeated the loneliness of Ally as it did with Arthur, with out making it any less interesting.  

 I loved the book; where it was set, how it was written and mostly the characters, my favourite would have been, Ally or Alexis; she was one of the most stubborn, but kind and caring characters I have ever read about. Ever since she heard about Kitty she knew she would one day sail over to find her. One of my other favourite characters would be Aunty Megs who was the boys foster mum, she took them in with all her other abandoned creatures and kept them as if they were her own. One character I couldn’t stand was the evil Mr Bacon who treated the boys as if they were pieces of dirt, making them do all the work, even things they were not capable of. There is also lot of emotion in the book what more easily shows the joy and sorrow Arthur went though. 

The only thing that I would change in the book is to more clearly state how old Arthur is or how many years have gone by, as it was a bit confusing to tell how old Arthur was. But other than that Michael Morpugo has written a really great book.  

Please leave lots of comments as it is a really great book.

School Band

                                                         

On Tursday I had my fist band practic. When I first arrived in the A.L.C I was very unsure of what to do as I was new to the School band. As unlike most year sevens I had been playing my instrument, the Cornet (in photo above) before intermediate so I was good enough to play with the year eightss. I had my spit cloth and pencil at the ready as Mr Stanbridge started with the ‘c’ scale.The music wasn’t too hard, as my other band teacher pushes me pretty far, but there were some pieces that I got completely lost on as I haven’t had much practice. One that springs to mind is Spongebob Sqarepants (!), there is some really fast bits in there!!!!!! 

Also half way though our French lesson ,a girl came in telling me to go to Jazz band I was very surprised as I didn’t think I would be in it, but I went anyway and was glad that I did, as we played a really fun and ‘Jazzy’ piece.

I am really glad that I am in the two bands as it is really FUN!!!                                 

Irish Dancing

Every Wednesday at 5:15 I have Irish Dancing; I have been Dancing for 6 years and I am I am up to grade 4. (We start a grade -1).
I have just started for the year and we are learning a very confusing dance, but I have almost mastered it!! (Yay), we also have to remember an old dance what I have completely forgotten! I hope I can remember it by next week!
The Dance that we have to remember is from our yearly production (not really that long ago, but I have a really bad memory), run by the dance company that I dance with. It is really fun and a great experience as it is at one of Hamilton’s main theaters. There are all sorts of dancing types in the presentation; from Hip Hop to Ballet and everything in between!
Our dance presentation is for St Patrick’s Day, but we are dancing on the 12th of March, so that we don’t get mixed in all the Easter presentations that will be on around the same time.

The Waikato Rodeo

On Saturday the 16th of February the Waikato Rodeo was on; We were a few of the thousands that observed the days events.
We drove up to the entrance and were greeted by an older man wearing a cowboy hat, asking us if we would like a program, we accepted and drove to, where everyone was parking and found a space.
We were meant to be meeting our friends from Ireland but they had given us the wrong mobile number, so we decided to sit on the bank and watch the riders, while keeping an eye out for them. Five or so minute’s later mum spotted Jill and we moved over to where they were sitting.
The event that was on was the bareback Bronc where the riders try to hang on to a bucking horse with no saddle, one handed. (Not my idea of fun!) One of the riders fell off and his horse rolled on top of him. (OUCH)
One of the horses in the Saddle Bronc (two events later) tried to climb over the fence, before the rider was on, or the gate was opened! it got stuck half way over and panicked. It was helped by a brave organizer.
Barrel racing was the fastest event that we saw where the riders go as fast as they can round three barrels placed in a circle, the fastest time was 18.53 seconds!
The Rope and tie, team roping and the steer wrestling were to events that evolved lassoing a calf or steer, jumping off your horse and tying the animals legs up, as fast as you can. (if you are an animal lover this is not the event for you!)
The events that involved hanging on to a bucking animal, was the most popular events. The aim off this was to hang on to your crazed animal until the hooter went indicating you can get/fall off! The animals buck because the have an annoying piece of rope tied round their middle, just above there back legs; this plus a rider on their backs is too much to bear and the go crazy!
We were all hungry so we decided to get ice creams as there was 10 of us we had to get 10 ice cream, you could almost see gold cones in the sales mans eyes!!!!!
The Rodeo was really cool and really different as I have never been to one before!

Weet-Bix Triathlon

On Sunday the 10th of February, I was woken up at 6:15am by my mum telling me I’d better get up, if I didn’t want to miss the triathlon! I slowly got up and we were at the place were the triathlon was by 7:30am just in time to beat the traffic. We had an hour long wait until everyone was ready to start; the race organizer finally told all the competitors to start moving up to the pool. After a really long wait I was finally in the pool our group was finally in the pool. When the starter went, we were all rushing to the end; I was first out of the pool! When the race was over we were given a medal, drink and fruit. The race was really, really fun and I’ll do it again any time!!!!!!!!!!

I’m a year 7 at last!

On Febuary the 4th I had my first day at Te Awamutu Intermediat!!!!! It is really cool with heaps and heaps of experiences, I have tried out for the referee group, I am going to be in the band, I got this cool blog, will go on some really neat camps, we are also hoasting a Japanese student!!