Just Got Back from CJL 2012

 Sri and I just got back from CJL 2012!
 We stayed in tent 6 in Glen. Our counselors were Beth, Jess, Elizabeth, and Kelly. Our two other tent mates (Maggie C. and Sara B.) we knew from last year because they were in Glen with us last year.

 We were there from July 16th to July 28th. (2 weeks.. 5th session). When we got there, we registered, unpacked, greeted our tent mates, met our counselors and the other campers, etc...  Then we got right in to our schedule with meals and everything. Sri and I chose (in order) Lake-A-Pool-Oo-Za (spelling?), extreme OLS, and canoeing.
 The first class was pretty much just water fun at the lake. We did all sorts of cool things like one day we put and rope across the lake and then laid on an inner tube-ish thing and tried to pull ourselves along to the other side (one by one) while the rest of the girls were trying to splash us so we would fall.

Our Extreme OLS Class Just Before The Overnight,
 doing the "X"-trememe sign

 In Extreme OLS (Outdoor Living Skills) we did so many different things. Once we made a knife by finding two sticks each and lashing them together, then we whittled it till it was smooth and pointy. Another night we had our 'extreme overnight' where we each carried a backpack with a sleeping bag, two water bottles, and then between the 9 of us (included our two counselors, Anna, a different Kelly, and our CIT/Counselor In Training Maggie D.) we divvied up the 3 tents and food for dinner and breakfast. We left just after lunch one day and then hiked for about two hours. After a while we set up camp and cooked our panini sandwiches that we chose for dinner. We played a bunch of fun games like extreme spoons. Which is like spoons the card game (where everyone has 4 cards and is trying to get four of a kind, and as soon as you have 4 of a kind you can grab a spoon from the middle. and once you see someone take one you can take one too, but theres always one less spoon then number of people, so one person won't get one, there for they are out) except instead of putting the spoons in the middle of the circle you put them a little ways away so you have to run to get them. Also you play after dark with glowsticks. We had a lot of fun.
But then the next morning when we woke up we took about 10 steps forward (in the opposite direction we came in) and we were right at the camps lake! So pretty much our counselors kind of pulled a prank on us. Like at night when the dinner bell went off, they just said hahah i guess theres a fire station near by! and when we heard horses they just said oh i guess theres a stable somewhere! and in the morning for the wake up bell, they burst in to song to cover it up. It was really funny.
Then in canoeing we just canoed a bunch. It was a lot of fun. One of the days we did 'eskimo rolls' where we sit one at a time in the canoe and hold on while the counselors flip us all the way around. One day we went on a canoeing trip with just the older girls in the canoeing trip for a few hours. I canoed with Sri and we had a ton of fun.

Glen singin Crown Me Maybe

In the talent show we decided to all do a song together, so we took the song Call Me Maybe and changed the words to make a princess version called Crown Me Maybe.

In the last week we went on a unit overnight, and we went to Cloudland Canyon with all of Glen and slept over on the ground in sleeping bags (at a campsite). We made dinner and breakfast over the fire. For dinner we chose to make pizza bagels, mac & cheese, fruit salad, raw veggies & dip, and for dessert we had bull's eyes which are donuts with a marshmallow stuck in the middle and then you put chocolate on and wrap it all in tin foil. Then you melt it in the coals from the fire.
For breakfast we had doughboys which is when you take dough and wrap it around a stick and then roll it in cinnamon and sugar. Then you stick it over the fire to cook.

Our unit at Cloudland Canyon

me woodchopping

At the end we had All Camp Day! I represented the unit for woodchopping and canoeing. And glen won all camp day which was cool!

all the plaques we won from all camp day

Class Bowling Trip

On the last Wednesday of the year, each class has an end of year outing. This year we went to a bowling alley. It was a lot of fun.

But before we went, we had a slightly too long slide show from our home room teacher about his family trip around to all of the continents. He showed us pictures and videos from when we got to school (around 8:15 am) till lunch (12:00).

Then at lunch, we left (by bus) to the bowling alley. When we got there, we had lunch at the restaurant. It was really good. We had chicken wings and french fries.

Then when we were all done, we went bowling! It was a lot of fun. Here are some pics:

Bus ride

Singing on the bus

Izzy on the bus.

Izzy and I at school before we left.

Me and the girls in my class at school before leaving.

Sports Day 2011

Sports Day is a day we have at our school for all the grades, towards the end of the year. Primary (=elementary school) has their Sports Day on a different school than Secondary (=both middle and high school).

I, being in year 8 (7th grade), had mine just a few days ago, on the 2nd last Thursday of the school year. Each year there are the same sports. You choose between basketball and soccer, and you have to do at least 1 track and field event such as shot put, long jump, high jump, sprint, relay, the 1500 (meters), 800 (meters), javelin, etc...

I did soccer and shot put. The day is a LOT of fun, probably one of the best days of the school year and everybody looks forward to it. It's held at a nearby sports center (about 10-15 min bus ride). It has a swimming pool, a cafe and restaurant, a huge track, 2 soccer fields, basketball courts, a shot put area, and a bunch of other facilities that we use.

We have about an hour lunch and eat at the cafe and go swimming. We all buy a lot of junk food on that day (pizza, fries, candy, chips...) but we work it all of.

Each grade competes against only the other kids in their grade. In our school classes have numbers. My grade is all year 8, so we all have an 8 in front of our class name (and next year a 9, then 10, etc...) and so my class is 8/4. People write their class names different ways, normally either 84 or 8/4 or 8.4 or 8-4. I normally write 84.

And we also go all 'team spirity' and write and draw on our faces with face paint.

Its a really fun day, no matter if we win or not. (but this year our class won :D)

My friend, Izzy, doing the high jump

The girls basketball.

My soccer cleats + shinpads + socks :)

My friends playing soccer (they're on my team just its hard to find the pictures that I'm on)

Friends

More friends <3

Running

Me and my friends <3

My legs. Left leg: 84 <3 Right leg: IZZY

Me and Mimi <3

WAR STRIPES <3

WE WON!! :D

The trophy :)

Trophy FRONT

Trophy SIDE

Trophy other side

(and now our class will be carved in :D)

My AWESOME Trip to BOSTON!!

I went to Boston with my mom and brother. We left on the 23rd of May and came back on the 30th. It was SO much fun!! When we arrived we took our luggage to our hotel using the M.T.A. When we got there, our grandma (my mom's mom) was waiting in the lobby for us. We checked in and then went to our rooms. My mom and my brother stayed in one room and my grandma and I stayed in another. We had lots of fun. Then my grandma left on Wednesday and we moved into the Harvard dorms. We stayed in a dorm building called Matthews.

Harvard was really cool. They divided all the children into age groups and gave each group a name. Ours was the Blue Group. The age ranges were pretty small which was nice (ours was 11-12). We did different things.

On Wednesday, we just had orientation and stuff to meet the kids in our group and counselors (who go to Harvard). Then on Thursday, we had breakfast with our family. We had a nice buffet (which was the same every day but there was a large variety so it never really got old) of different breads, pastries, jams, spreads, fruits, juices, sodas, pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, etc... Then I split off with the blue group and we went to The Museum of Science which was quite cool. Since our counselor was really nice, she paid for our group (since the blue group is about 30 kids, they divide them into small groups of 4-8 kids and assign each mini group to a certain counselor) to go on the simulator. That was really cool! Next, we had lunch.

After lunch, we went on a super cool duck tour. The driver was really nice and we learned lots. Occasionally, when he wanted to make sure we were still listening, he would say "Stop the preses!" (I have no idea what it means) and then we would all go quack quack together.

After the duck tour, we had dinner (I can't remember what we had for any of the meals cause it was like 3 weeks ago!). After, we all went back to the science museum to watch an imax. After the imax, we went back to Harvard and our counselors walked us back to our dorms.

The next morning (Friday), we had breakfast with our family, as usual, and the took a cruise ride out to an island where we had a BBQ lunch. Then, we took a tour of some ruins.

When we got back on "land" (aka left the island), we had dinner, then went to see The Boston Pops. The Boston Pops was a symphony orchestra that played some slightly boring music. Then at the end a blind man (I'm not sure if he actually was blind...) came out and played and sang jazz music on the piano. That was a lot more interesting because he actually involved the audience like making us clap to the beat and stuff.

On Saturday after the usual breakfast with our family, the blue group went to the Sackler Museum. I didn't go with them because I went before with my mom and brother. Instead my mom and I went shopping! Then I got a hair cut while she went back to listen to some speech or something for her reunion. After the hair cut I rejoined my group and we had lunch and then field day. That was REALLY fun!!! It was in the indoor gym. We actually didn't do any sports, but we did something better: PLAYED FOR FREE!!! They had Dance Dance Revolution, Wii, Guitar Hero, Bungee Jumping, popcorn, cotton candy, drinks, snow cones, ice cream, bouncy castle, air brush tattoos, and so many more!

After that, we had dinner and.... a DISCO! The disco was really, really fun. My friends (from the Blue Group: Stephanie, Lucy, and Elizabeth) and I would step onto the porch and make up a dance routine then come back inside and start doing it. Eventually people would crowd around us in a circle as we preformed. After the 2nd or 3rd dance, as soon as we walked in, they would stare at us! It was a lot of fun. As they say, "we danced the night away", but all fun things must come to an end so eventually we had to leave... to a totally awesome ICE CREAM SUNDAE PARTY!! We had delicious sundaes!

Then, on Sunday, we had a farewell brunch till noon. Last they held a tour of the campus. Then, the worst part of the entire trip: I had to say bye to my friends. It was really sad because I might not ever see them again because I live all the way in Europe! I cried and cried when we left, but that was one of the best trips I've ever been on.

(P.S. My life goal now is to get into Harvard!)

My adorable cousins!!!

Flash-back of the past! (aka random photos from various times)

<----------- my cousin and my sister in Vermont petting a lama at our AWESOME hotel!

<--------- me and my friends on Halloween! (b 4 we went trick or treating)

florida!!

Our Summer Vacation

This summer ('09) my family and I drove 5 hours from Switzerland to Paris. We took an elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower, climbed the 788 stairs to the top of Notre Dame and saw the gargoyles at the top, and saw some famous paintings in the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay. After spending 4 days in a hotel in Paris we drove for 2 hours to Normady where the American Soldiers landed during World War 2. We saw several cemetaries and musems about World War 2. The picture is a picture of us visiting one of the cemetaries. We spent a total of 3 nights and 2 full days in Normandy, France. I really enjoyed this vacation it challenged our french, expanded our learning, and I tried new foods such as Escargot (snails), Hard Boiled Eggs and Mayonaise, and Musles. Musles were gross(2 me) and snails were o.k. I liked dipping my bread in the garlic sause. But I LOVED the Eggs with Mayonaise!!