The U.S. government is honest. Or is it?

Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, in fourteen hundred ninety two. He found America, and became a hero; or at least that's what the books say. Unfortunately, our country hides parts of its history, just like every other country. The United States is honest about most of our history, but it also tries to cover up or rewrite other parts of it.

The United States is honest about most of its history. For example, when Andrew Jackson was n office, there was the Indian Removal Act. During this time, western settlers were continuously moving the Native Americans west, and taking their land. Even though this is something horrible that the U.S. did, we do not try to hide it or cover it up.

Even though, we are honest about most things, there are some things we try to hide. Such as, Christopher Columbus. Children are taught that he is the person who found the new land, which is true. However though, they are not taught about the horrible things he did on his way. In a way, this is our country trying to erase it, or act like it didn't happen.

Some may argue that the U.S. covers up most of its history, but this is not true. There are some horrible parts in our past, such as the civil war. The U.S. is not proud of the fact that its own people turned against each other. But even though we are not proud of it, we do not try to cover it up, or act like it never happened.

Cuba disagrees with Arizona Law

I agree with Cuba when they say that the Arizona law on illegal immigration is unjust.

Arizona has developed a new law where any police officer can stop you whenever they want to and ask you to prove your citizenship. If you can’t, you may get arrested. I completely agree with the Cuban News Agency when they say that “people are facing a brutal violation of their human rights” due to “a law of deep racist and xenophobic nature.” It is wrong for someone to stop you on the street just because you are of a Hispanic decent. I think that there are different ways to control immigration without this law. The United States Supreme Court should act against this law right away, and abolish it immediately.

My Birthday

In a couple of weeks, I will turn fifteen. This year, my cousin Andrea and her husband Greg have invited some of my friends and I to come and stay the weekend with them. They live in Pinckney, Michigan and they live on a lake. Over the summer my sister and I spent the weekend with them and it was a lot of fun. They took us out on the boat and we spent the day out on the lake. I had a lot of fun and I can not wait to do it again, but this time with my friends.

Last time, my mom and dad drove us out there at like ten in the morning on Saturday. We met Andrea at a gas station. Then, she took us to the grocery store and we got to pick out any snacks that we wanted. We got pop, chips, and candy. They tasted so good. When we got to her house, we all got ready to go out on the boat. We put on our bathing suits and grabbed our snacks. Before I knew it I was tubing in the middle of a huge lake. It was a blast. I was a little scared though since I had not gone tubing since I was like eight. I stayed on for awhile, but then Greg made a sharp turn which made me tip off of the tube. It was so much fun and a could not wait to go again.

I also tried knee boarding, and it was the hardest thing that I’ve ever tried doing. I would lay down on the board and then when we got going fast enough, I was suppose to get up on my knees. I could get one knee up, but not the other. The force from the wind made it extremely difficult.

For lunch that day, we ordered pizza from a pizza place that was right there on the lake. We docked the boat, got our pizza, and went back out in the middle of the lake to eat. Pizza is my favorite, so I really enjoyed it.

I had an amazing time that weekend, and my birthday this year is going to be one of the best yet. I think it’ll be really fun with my friends there and I think that they will have as much fun as I did. (:

I thought SIMUN was a good experience. I got the chance to interact with Global Ed students that are older than I am. The country I had was Egypt. Egypt was only directly included in one scenario, but I still had a good time. I liked dressing up and seeing all of my friends dressed up too. Also, during a couple of our scenarios, two countries kept arguing back and forth about who was right and who was wrong. I thought it was interesting to see how into it the older kids got. Also, I can’t wait to be a senior so I can be in the legal counsel. Also, now I have an idea of what MAMUN might be like, so I might do it next year.

I think that I did pretty good for my first year participating in SIMUN. At first I was nervous to stand up and talk in front of people that I had just met five minutes ago, but I knew that I had to do it or else my grade could suffer. The first day I did two speeches: one on my own, and the second was to tell everyone else about an update that I had secretly gotten. The second and third days, I knew what to expect and what I should do, so I asked more questions and did a speech both of those days too. I think overall I did pretty good and I’ll do even better next year.

In order to prepare for SIMUN, I had to do a lot of research. First, I had to research my country’s history and write about it. Then, I had to do research for the four questions that we had to answer. I found this part challenging because it was hard to find the information that you needed, and to pick out the important facts compared to the stuff that was not necessary. The last thing I did was I found my allies. When we were practicing I realized that I had no idea who they were so that night I went home to find out that my only main ally was Russia. Knowing that Russia was my ally really helped me out a lot when it came to caucusing and picking a side.

Next year I plan to research my country and its history more. Also, I am not going to be so nervous to do speeches. I want to do more speeches, and ask more questions. Another thing I want to do, is to do better on the research questions we have to do because I now know what is expected of me, and since I won’t be a freshman anymore, I will have to be more involved so that the incoming freshman will look up at me.

The Chinese Cinderella - free write

In The Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, Adeline Yen Mah is an unwanted child. In the Chinese culture, you are considered bad luck if your mother dies while giving birth to you. Yen Mah’s mother died giving birth to her. She is considered bad luck, which ends up making her feel unwanted. Yen Mah is the youngest child, until her father remarries and has two more children. Her older brothers continuously pick on her, and the only people she feels she can trust are her grandparents and her Aunt Baba, who takes care of her.

The only time her father is proud of her, or even acknowledges her, is when she does good in school. Her father praises her when she brings home the class leader medal every week, and also when she gets good grades on her report card. This is the reason that Yen Mah works and studies so hard in school. She goes on to become the best writer in her class, and when an award in the local newspaper.

When Yen Mah was seven years old, they moved to Shanghai. She had to walk to and from school on her own, no matter what. Her father and stepmother would not give their children money for the bus fair because they were trying to teach them the value of a dollar. However, Yen Mah’s stepmother would give her children money. Her fathers children and her stepmothers children were treated completely different. On the Chinese New Year her father’s children had to wear the traditional clothing, while her stepmother’s children got to wear new fancy dresses, and suits.

Adeline Yen Mah really feels like she is an unwanted child, due to her mother’s death. Sometimes I can see why she feels this way, but other times I think that her father and her siblings really do love her.

The Shadow

I was lying in my bed, staring. At the wall to be exact. Listening to the rain as it pounded on the roof above me. Why, why couldn’t I fall asleep? I have school tomorrow, I thought; I knew I shouldn’t have watched that scary movie today. 12:00a.m. Great, I’m never going to get to sleep and I have to get up at 5:30. As I was listening to the wind outside of my window, the power blinked off and then back on again. That was weird, I said in my head.

Just as I was about to drift off, I heard was something scratching at my door. I finally pulled myself out from underneath the warm blankets to let my cat in. But, when I opened the door; there was not anything there. So, I left my door cracked and crawled back into bed. As soon as I was comfortable again, I heard something walking down the hallway, towards my room. As I looked, I could see a shadow. Who is that? Everyone else is sleeping, I can hear them snoring. Who is coming towards my room? My eyes were locked on the dark shadow when suddenly; the power went out – for good this time. I could no longer see the figure.

Even though I was more scared that I had ever been before in my life, I forced myself to get out of my bed and find out for myself what was in my house. As my whole body was trembling, I slowly tip-toed to my doorway. There was not anything or anyone there. “Mom…” I called out, “Dad, where are you guys?” The only response I got back was a bunch of loud snoring. Great, just my luck. I’m stuck in my house at night, with a stranger and my parents won’t wake up.

Then, I saw it again – the shadow. It was walking toward me, slowly. I felt a drop of sweat forming on my forehead. It was calling something out; a name, I think. As it got closer I realized that it was calling out my name. “Emily. Emily.” Now, my knees were shaking. “What do you want?” I said, reluctantly. “Get up!” I jumped higher than I ever had before. My mom was sitting on the edge of my bed; the sun was shining. It was all just a dream. No more scary movies before bed.

“Come on, wake up”, my Dad whispered quietly as he tried waking me up out of the deep sleep I was in.

“No”, I moaned.

“Get up, and check school closings.” As soon as those words were out of his mouth, I was out of my bed, and on the computer. I stared down at the keyboard as my eyes tried to make out the letters. I finally typed in http://www.wxyz.com/default.aspx and clicked on the button that said “school closings”, and then again on the button that said “Wayne county.” Sure enough, about halfway down I read “Livonia Public closed.” Yes, I thought to myself, sleep.

“Dad”, I called, “There’s no school.”

“Okay, wake your Mom up and tell her.” I walked out of the computer room, down the hallway and into my parents’ room.

“Mom,” I whispered as I gently shook her. “There’s no school today.”

“What? Okay, go back to bed. Thank you.” She said half asleep. I went back up the stairs, into my room, and climbed in my bed under all of my warm blankets. Suddenly I was wide awake, unlike any other school day, and it was only 5:30 in the morning. I think it was like six in the morning when I finally ended up falling asleep. The next thing I knew it was ten. I was well rested, for the first time in a long time, and I was ready to go hang out with my friends.

I rolled out of my bed, and jumped in the shower. When I got out, I did my hair and make up and put in a load of laundry. Then I called Corey who invited me to come over and go sledding with him and our friend Eric. I called my Mom and when she said yes, I called Corey back telling him to meet me halfway. I was walking since we only live like a half of a mile apart.

On my way, I realized that everyone was at work and did not get the chance to shovel their sidewalk yet. Therefore I had to walk in seriously like two feet of snow. I finally made it to Corey’s with Eric and the three of us hung out all day. We went sledding, and when we were done we hung out in the basement, talking, laughing, and listening to music. It was the best snow day that I had had in a long time.

A Day to Remember

As I walked into the park, what I saw amazed me. It was just like the movies. The huge castle was gleaming as the sun shone down upon it. Characters danced around each other under the bright blue sky. I was in the Magic Kingdom in Disney World.

All of the sudden, Mickey and Minnie mouse danced off the stage, all the way to where I was standing. They grabbed both of my hands and pulled me up to the castle. The next thing I knew, I was wearing a beautiful blue dress as I danced with Prince Charming. I was Cinderella, the princess. We danced and danced for hours while crowds of people were watching.

When it finally got dark, a worker showed me the room that I would be staying in. It was the room in the tower of the giant castle. I was amazed, and I could not believe that this was really happening. I set my stuff down, and started jumping on the bed. When I got tired, people brought me my favorite food...pizza. After feasting on all the pizza I could eat, I finally went to sleep. That night, I slept better than I ever had before. I awoke to a beautiful sunrise, filled with all different shades of pinks, purples, and blues.

Before I had time to blink, I was already back in my blue dress dancing with Prince Charming again. Then, the parade started. We rode around the park in a horse drawn carriage. The two horses were white, and had shimmering tails and manes. I looked out into the crowds, with a huge smile on my face, waving like a true princess. As my second day of living in Disney World started to come to an end, Prince Charming and I rode off in the sunset together, and we lived happily ever after. The End.

China Renews Opposition to Iran Sanctions

China is not doing the right thing by not wanting to take a stronger position against Iran and its nuclear program.

Iran was keeping a secret from the world, and that secret was that they had a hidden nuclear program. Alan Cowell, from the New York Times wrote that the West accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of running a secret nuclear arms program, but Iran was claiming that it was to be used for only peaceful civilian purposes. Also, Iran’s leader, Ahmadinejad was quoted saying, “There is really no problem. Some made a fuss for nothing. There is no problem.” This proves that he does not think having nuclear arms is harmful or a global issue, showing that China should help us take a stand against Iran.

China should take a stronger position against Iran and its nuclear program. One of the many issues between China and The United States right now is that China will not be tougher with Iran. Hilary Rodman, Secretary of State, sternly disapproved China’s decision. Ma Zhaoxu said, “Wrongful accusations and pressure will not help solve this issue.” I completely agree with him, but I also think that if we do not unite with China and take a stand against Iran, the whole world could end up in serious trouble.

The Power of One

I thought that the movie The Power of One was an amazing movie. Out of all of the movies that we have watched in Global Ed, this movie by far, is my favorite. I honestly really liked it, and I would definitely watch it again if I ever had the chance. In the beginning of the film, when P.K. was seven, I did not really understand why P.K. was sent away to school. While he was at this school, he was harshly picked on by the older boys there, just because he was of the English decent. It upset me how the adults at this school, knew that he was being bullied, but they didn’t really do anything to prevent it from happening again. Just because he had an accent, did not mean that he had anything to do with what was going on in the country at that time. It was difficult to watch the older boys pee on P.K. and to watch them hang his chicken. Another part of the film that I did not like watching was towards the end, when Geel Piet was beaten to death. P.K. and Geel Piet were very close. Geel Piet was the reason that P.K. became such an amazing boxer. He taught P.K. everything he knows about the techniques of boxing. I admire P.K. because is extremely brave. At the concert that was held for the prisoners, he had them sing things like “They are cowards”, talking about the prison guards. I wish I could be more like him.

Goodbye 2009

For New Year I went to my mom’s best friend’s house. I was with my family, my aunt, uncle, my cousins, my boyfriend Corey, and a bunch of other people that I didn’t know. While we were there we ate a lot of finger food, played rock band, listened to music, and played this game called Mad Gab as we waited for midnight to arrive. All of the sudden, someone yelled “ten minutes!” and we all grabbed our cameras, and went to the living room. Ten minutes later we watched the ball drop. As soon as the ball hit the bottom everyone was blowing through their noise makers. I turned to look at Corey, and he kissed me. I blushed as we ran outside to the front porch. “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” we all screamed at the top of our lungs.

2009 was an amazing year. The most significant thing that happened to me though was started high school. It was a huge step in my life, and I know for a fact that I will never forget it. Even though it’s only January, since Christmas is over I am looking forward to summer already. Some of my friends will have their license, and I will be able to do whatever I want.

My New Year resolution is to live life without regrets. I want to live my life to its fullest. If the world really does end in 2012, I don’t want to say that I’ve wasted my whole life in school, I want to say that I’ve made a lot of memories during my life in school. “One day your life will flash before you, make it worth watching.” ~unknown

Holiday Traditions

For Christmas, we have many traditions. My mom always makes her famous peanut butter balls. They’re her specialty. She mixes peanut butter, sugar, and other ingredients to create this dough type stuff. Then, my two sisters and I always help her roll it into dozens of little balls. When we are done, my mom dips them in chocolate and puts them into the refrigerator. After they get cold, we are allowed to eat them. They taste absolutely amazing! Sort of like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but better.

On Christmas Eve, my Grandpa comes over, and my mom makes a prime rib, which is my absolute favorite. We usually eat salad, rolls, prime rib, bake potatoes, and extremely buttery corn. For desert we eat French Silk pie. It’s my dad’s favorite. After desert we give my Grandpa his presents. Then, two sisters and I get to open two presents from my mom and dad. One of them is usually something that’s the same like, pajamas or something.

We spend Christmas day with my dad’s side of the family. My dad has seven brothers and sisters, so there are so many of us, that no one wants to have everyone at their house, so instead… we go bowling. Everyone brings some sort of food to pass around. We get a banquet room, eat, and then bowl a couple games. After bowling, we go to my aunt’s house. The adults play cards, while the kids usually play wii. It gives everyone the chance to hang out together, and bond.