Snapshot: Snorkeling

My trip to Lankawi this Christmas holiday was great. One of my favorite things that we did was snorkeling. This is a picture of me at the beach there. One of the great things about this snorkeling experience was that I had two friends to enjoy it with. Trevor (12) and Mia (10) stayed at my hotel and we planned to take the trip to Pulau Payar Coral Reserve together. When my family and I signed up, they put a yellow band around each of our wrists (see pic). I was also armed with a red hair tie on my wrist along with the wristband. There were three beaches. The main one that we ate, changed, showered and rested at was in the middle. There was one to the right that I never did venture to, but I was told the coral wasn't as good over there anyway. The beach to the left (where picture was taken) was my favorite. The beach was great, the water was the right level that the sea urchins weren't too close, the fish were beautiful. I loved the water. but my snorkel popped right out of my goggles and into the sea a little after I got in! As I swam into deeper water, I noticed a yellow snorkel lying on the white sand of the ocean floor. Then I realized, the snorkel was mine! Trevor dared me to swim down the 4-5 meters and grab it. I looked down. It was either my goggles were fogging up, or 4-5 meters is a long way down! I sucked in all my breath, let it out (holding a lot of air in your lungs with only make you float more, making it hard to swim downwards), and dove under. No, my goggles were just fine, it was a long way down. I snatched the snorkel, turned my face towards the sky, and pushed off from the ocean floor. For a terrible moment before I reached the surface, I thought my lungs were going to pop! I did make it back to shore alive, though (dramatic much?).

My family and I had been to this particular snorkel site before, so we knew what was good to see. Some of the sights on the list are the barracuda, the giant (I DO mean giant!! Seriously, this thing was like, fifteen gazillion kajilonmeters long!!) grouper, a lion fish (extremely painful. Almost fatal to the touch.), little sharks (cute, they looked like a big scary shark that was put in a shrink machine by accident), and parrot fishes (beautiful). I loved to see all the marine fish!

The way we got to Pulau Payar is by boat. There was a really awesome boat that we took that was like a speed boat but about 3 times bigger. There was a deck with benches that the staff called the sun deck (properly named after the sunburns white people get when sitting there for the whole hour (see my cheeks in pic)!) I spent the whole hour standing on the side of the sun deck, leaning over the railing with the smell of saltwater tickling my nose. As the boat plowed through the blue, blue water, the waves churned, foamed and rippled. Islands in the distance passed over time and small fishing boats with fishers lying on their backs with their caps pulled over their faces came by and the fishermen would startle and then resume their afternoon naps. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I hope to take that boat back to Pulau Payar sometime and relive the experience!

My New Year's Resolution

School’s Challenges

A skill I’ve learned over the last five months in middle school is to manage my time wisely. The first few days of school, I was absolutely overwhelmed with all the things I was expected to do in What?? Due tomorrow? so little time. After working on homework until 9:45 one night, I realized what I had to do to get homework done easily and without rush. A few days into the year, I started to do my homework the day it was assigned so that I wouldn’t have to whip something together at the last moment. I stopped procrastinating, and my B, B- grades turned to A’s and A+’s! I hope to keep that skill forever.

A skill I would like to learn is to be kind to everybody. Sure, I’m great to my friends (most of the time, I hope) but I seem to ignore the kids I don’t particularly like or just didn’t get to know very well. My problem is common, but if I fix it, I could shine. I want to learn and grow in that skill and keep it and hold on to it forever.

We all know the MS core values, right? Honesty, Respect, Kindness, and Responsibility. I will give examples of when I showed each of those values. Honesty: When my friends maybe come to school with bed hair, and go about not realizing why everyone looks them in the hair instead of the eyes, I kindly tell them the problem and do my best to help them fix it. Respect: I realize that some kids in my class do not know how to behave in a classroom, or for that matter, anywhere! I realize how downright rude that is to the teacher! I try my best to respect my teachers and their authority. Kindness: Like I said before, I am currently working on my kindness towards kids I don’t know so well, but I think otherwise, I am pretty good at being kind to everyone else. Responsibility: When Zarina, Victoria, Gloria, and I set our hearts on making a difference to breast cancer victims, I think we all showed responsibility. We responsibly handled a lot of money, set up all our sales (with help from Mr. Callan and others), and organized the whole thing (again with a little help from Mr. Callan and others) almost by ourselves! My core values will be those four forever!

My two goals for the New Year are:
1. To help my family. I hope to do extra tasks to please and honor my family.
2. To befriend new students at ISKL. I would like to learn more about them and start a nice relationship with each of the new kids in my grade so that we can be friends forever!

In today's reading response discussion today, I tried to think from the hunters' point of view. If I were one of the American/Canadian hunters that day on the icy tundra, my day would have gone like this:

"George, wake up!" I hear from the lower level of the small Alaskan cabin. I had traveled a long way from Prince Edward Island to go hunting with Len this morning, so I hop out of bed, change, and trudge down the stairs. Len had prepared a breakfast of burnt toast with a little jelly smeared across the top, but what do you expect from a young man that dropped out of college to live with his mom? I it choke down quickly and we leave the house. Once seated safely in the bush plane, we set off for the short trip from Point Hope to the barren game territory. Me and Len don't expect to shoot much, it bieng winter and all, but an occational wolf or bear turn up one in a while. 30 minutes out of Point Hope, I see a few movements down below that cause me to tell Len to drop down close to the frozen ground. Then I know I definetly see something. Out comes a monsterous creature. Many things flash through my mind. I remember how I had always been told that wolves are vicious and terrible creatures that ought to be wiped out. I feel hate to wolves because when my cousin was 14, he found a wolf pup and felt sorry for it, so he tried to help, but the pup's mother came back and my cousin didn't return home at dinner. I motion to Len, grab my gun and shower down the bullets in pure hatred twards the beast and it's kind. The huge wolf doged, but then I find a clear target and shoot. The wolf collapses and a strong prick of dispair touches me. I had killed this magnificant creature. There was the beautiful, limp body on the ground, staining the crystal white snow to a dark red. A lump as big as a basketball forms in my throat. I feel a pain like I haven't felt so horribly ever before. Guilt of taking a life seeps into my body. I tell Len that we should go back and he protestest, "But don't you see, you shot the thing! It's huge, and it's ours! We can make big money off of this!!!"

"NO!! TAKE US BACK, I DON'T WANT IT!" I yell at him. He shrinks back in his seat and we fly back in silence.

I think when we think from both points of view, our understanding of any book increases.

With my book chat group today, I wondered about Miyax's father. There seems to be more to the story with him. Where is the proof? Why is it that all of a sudden this amazingly skilled seal hunter goes out to do what he does almost everyday, and dies? The mystery is the broken kayak. Why did Kapugen if he is alive show otherwise by breaking his kayak in to pieces? I think Martha might have something to do with Kapugen's disappearance too. Martha never liked the Eskimo ways or people and didn't seem to have any affection to Miyax either. Maybe she did the whole thing. We'll have to keep on reading to learn the real story, so stay tuned and read on!


I found this beautiful photo of an Alaskan beach on google images, but the photo was taken by Scott Dickerson from surfalaska.net so check out some of that photography by the link.

Amaroq is a creature worth writing about. Amaroq one of the most amazing animals I have ever read about. He is a leader, a friend, a father, a mate, a risk-taker, and a responsible authority over his pack. Amaroq seems to always have everything under control and organized. His majestic nobleness is shown when he brings an outsider into his home, accepts her for who she is, and shares everything his family has to offer with her. Amaroq is a skilled hunter, and has a gorgeous figure. He is one great wolf.


Thank yet again to http://www.wildnatureimages.com/! Really, you should check out some of their photography!

In my book chat during humanities class a few days ago, I realized that none of us really took into consideration what the author's message is to us. I studied the text further and realized that the message is about respect to all living beings. The wolf is an animal that is feared and is usually known as a beast, a cruel, vicious carnivore. When we look deeper into "Julie and the Wolves", we find that she and her father have great respect for animals and nature. The pups that Miyax (Julie) adored had the same eagerness to play and jump about as one of our own tame puppies at home. The wolves are really like our domesticated dogs and puppies. Miyax encounters fierceness in Jello, who is an outlaw in the pack. Jello acts like many people would think all wolves do. Snarling, mean, and bloodthirsty, letting no life form get in the way of him except his own kind. Deep down, I think many people could learn a thing or two about these proud, and brave-hearted creatures from Miyax's journey with the wolves.



thanks to http://www.wildnatureimages.comfor the cool photo!

Wisdom, Knowledge, and Just Plain Funny

Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness,heart, talent, guts. That's what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.
-Bethany Hamilton

To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are
-Tim Menchen

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift that's why they call it the present.
-Unknown

The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.
-General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

There is a thought in your mind right now. The longer you hold on to it, the more you dwell upon it, the more life you give to that thought. Give it enough life, and it will become real. So make sure the thought is indeed a great one.
-Ralph Martson

A man isn't poor if he can still laugh.
-Raymond Hichcock

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
-Charles M. Schultz

Learning sleeps and snores in libraries, but wisdom is everywhere, wide awake, on tiptoe.
-Josh Billings