flat world project reflection.

1. What did you like best about the project and why?
I liked the fact that we got to compare and revise stories written by people in Korea and Colorado. By this i realized that we all think the same way, I thought their stories would be completely different and they would have a totally different way of thinking, but all the stories I read seemed to be something I could`ve written. This just goes to show that in the end, we all think the same way no matter where we live. I also enjoyed reading the stories about the kids from Korea who talked about the hard times that they suffered through during the Korean War. I was astonished by the things they wrote that they had to do to escape communism. It helped me learn about their culture and even though I learned all the facts about it in World Civ, it was completely different hearing it from a person`s point of view. It was as if someone real was telling me their story and that makes so much more of an impact on me then a textbook ever would.

2. What did you like least and why?
I didn`t like the stories that seemed to have no effort put into them. I saw many versions of a stories I already knew and they just seemed fake to me. I read a couple that were completely random and not interesting at all. They had no story line to them or anything. Those were the ones that dissapointed me because I felt like they weren`t putting enough effort into them which just caused me to do more work to give them A LOT of feedback which they needed.

3. What was something surprising that you learned about the other students (from other schools)?
Like I said in the first question, I loved reading about the experiences from the Korean War. It was depressing what they had to go through and tragedies they had to witness. The fact that it was told by someone actually living it made all the difference. I learned that all these experiences were real, they never have an impact on you unless you know someone who had gone through them and hear how hard they actually had it. One person talked about how they had to hold onto the top of the train and people wouldn`t hang on tight and fall off to their death when the train started moving. One person talked about how they had to sneak away from their home in the middle of the night to take a boat with other people also escaping their communist taken-over home.

4. How do you think the project affected your writing?
I got a lot of great feedback because the people giving it to me were extremely reliable and took the time to give me thoughtful feedback. I definitly learned what a reader was looking for and how to make it the most appealing to them.

5. Describe the most challenging aspect of the project.
Writing my paper was the hardest part. Deciding on a topic took me a while and once I had it written, I changed it completely to a different idea that worked better for me. Writing the first draft and thinking of a topic for my story was the hardest. Once we got into communicating with the various students in Colorado and Korea, it seemed to flow a lot better for me.

6. Offer some advice to future participants.
Choose a good topic and put some thought into it. Really put 100% of your effort into it to make it interesting for your editor/reader. If you don`t give it your all, then you`ll get a boring or bad story that no one wants to read and all the people giving you feedback will have to spend a lot of time telling you how to make it better. If you don`t choose a good topic from the first draft, then from then on it will just make you frustrated so choose a good topic, stick with it and make sure your happy with it.

7. Other comments.
this project was great. I wish i could`ve talked to some of the kids over skype and actually get a sense of who they really were. Most of the kids had great stories and by reading the stories you get a small sense of who they really are and that just makes the whole project all the better.

robin.

My favorite character would have to be Robin. He`s so clever and can use his mischievious ways to cause mayhem, entertain himself, or to patch things up. The scene I most liked was the one in Act 3 Scene 2, where he made his voice sound like various characters so other characters would follow and tire out from trying to chase his voice. He is constantly causing mischief even when he doesn`t mean to. He put the nectar of the flower on the wrong peoples` eyes and caused a lot of confusion but he was still able to make everything work out in the end by once again, using his cleverness. Like I said, I think that Act 3 Scene 2 demonstrates just how smart Robin really is and shows that he isn`t just a person looking to cause trouble.
I think it would be fun to play Robin in this scene because I feel as if it would be fun to get into characters and imitate different people`s voices. He seems like a childish person just looking to have fun in life and it would be fun to play someone like him in this scene, or any others. He`s basically the one that causes the whole plot throughout this whole play by accidently causing these minor incidents that just cause confusion instead of making everything work out. In the end, he`s the reason why everything ends up the way it should. Basically, Robin is the person causing the whole story. The problem as well as the conclusion. If I had to pick a character to play it would have to be him because it would be a whole different experience to pretend to be this guy that seems to have the most character and personality out of all of them, except for maybe Bottom. It would be a challenge because he`s got so much personality inside him but it would also be a fun experience.

helena:act 2.

In Act 2, Helena demonstrates herself to be even more lovesick and desperate and needy then before. She tells Demetrius about how much she loves him all the while he`s telling her how much he dislikes her and is in love with Hermia. By telling Demetrius Hermia and Lysander`s plan to run away, she compromised her friendship with Hermia just for a chance at a desperate attempt to prove to Demetrius that he was loyal to him, but he continued to loathe her. He said awful and rude things to her when they were looking for Hermia and Lysander. She kept telling him that she loved him and that she was sick without him but he told her things like he was sick every time he saw her and he would run away from her and leave her to be eaten by wild beasts. Demetrius also told Helen that she should love someone who would love her back and not waste time in Demetrius who only has eyes for Hermia. Helena hasn`t changed since she was first mentioned in Act 1. She`s still the girl that doesn`t get paid any attention and is always living in the shadow of Hermia. She`s jealous because the man she loves, Demetrius, is in love with Hermia.

helena:act 1.

Helena seems like a needy girl who is desperate for Demetrius to love her. She seems so desperate that she`s willing to try anything to win his love including telling Hermia and Lysander`s plan about running away to Demetrius. She seems to be like a doormat for Demetrius in the way that they slept together and he made an oath to always love her but then fell for Hermia, yet she still loves him. Helena sees herself as lesser then Hermia because she doesn`t have two guys wanting her hand in marriage. She is less confident in herself but at the same time, questions why Hermia and her are of the same class, yet Hermia is loved so much more then she is.

sustainability fair notes.

-the old hawaiian people lived on ahupua'as
-an ahupua'a is a land system that provided the hawaiian people with all the resources they needed to survive
-they also used the kapu system which was a law system
-the kapu system included laws such as no overhunting, fishing and harvesting to keep balance to the ahupua'a
-the people had special relationships to the land
-they believed that the taro plant was their older sister
-they believed that they were only workers on the land, not owners
-by taking a shower you can save 40 liters of water
-a ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees
-the energy from recycling one aluminium can is enough energy to watch 3 hours of tv
-everyday each person throws out 4 pounds
-80% of all household waste can be recycled
-styrafoam stays in the ground for 500 years
-85% of golf carts run on electricity
-american swimming pools that are 7ft deep carry enough water to cover san francisco
-1/3 of all energy is used at home
-the amount of wood and paper thrown away is enough energy to heat 50,000,000 homes in 20 years
-it takes 4 months for paper to decompose
-it takes 25 years for a magazine to decompose
-it takes 40 years for a cigarette to decompose
-it takes 80 years for plastic bags to decompose
-it takes 120 years for a water bottle to decompose
-50 5th graders raised $90 for sumatran tigers by collecting 1,800 bottles and turning them into the recycling center
-the girl in charge was alayna kobayashi who gave the money to the honolu zoo at the zoological society
-with the money they collected, they are helping the zoo raise 3 sumatran tigers named djelita, berani, and chrissie

moderator: at the western palace.

Why did Moon Orchid let Brave Orchid boss her around so much?

Why did Moon Orchid get married if her and her husband were so different and didn`t truly love eachother?

How old are Brave Orchid`s children? They sound like grownups but she always talks to them and refers to them as if they were still children.

Why is Brave Orchid so harsh? Has anything bad ever happened to her in her past to make her want Moon Orchid to do such cruel things to her husband and his wife?

How does Brave Orchid`s husband tolerate her?

Are the "children" really as bad as she makes them seem? Are they just more modern-american then Brave Orchid is?

What made Moon Orchid so curious in everything the children did?

Why would she talk out loud to herself instead of thinking in her head?

Has she always been bossed around by her sister and lived Brave Orchid`s shadow?

Why was Moon Orchid`s daughter in America when she wasn`t?

Has Moon Orchid`s daughter not adapted to the american society?

Why is Moon Orchid so incapable of doing simple laundry work?

Why doesn`t Brave Orchid feel bad that she forced her sister to see her husband when he didn`t want her back and she then ended up in a mental hospital, or does she?

Does Brave Orchid always imagine scenes and how certain situations will go?

lost sister (old).

When we read the poem lost sister, to me one quote stood above all the rest. "you find you need china: your one fragile identification, a jade link handcuffed to your wrists. You remember your mother who walked for centuries-and like her you have left no foot print". this shows that the girl misses her home and since she left, she no longer has any ties to her old life in china no matter how much she may want it back. the last part that states "and like her, you have left no foot print" can also mean that since she left, everyone in china who used to know her, no longer remembers her and they all act like she never existed. This quote shows a lot of feeling, in the first part, "you find you need china; your one fragile identification" it shows that the girl doesn`t really know who she really is anymore since she left and she wants and needs to return to her home to find out. Since she left china, she no longer has her "one fragile identification" and she wants it. "a jade link handcuffed to your wrists" also gives off the impression that you can never truly escape china until you completely destroy the "jade link handcuffed to your wrists" and leave. This quote means that, like i said, the girl no longer has any ties to china and feels like a part of her is missing since she left.

ghost story.

Once, way back when, when Castle Hall still served as a girls` dormitory, the night marchers would march their way through it each night. Story tellers say that the reason for this was because wherever a building had two doors on the opposite sides of it leading in and out and a long hallway connected the doors, the night marchers would march through there at night. That`s how the first floor of castle hall is built, with the doors to the classrooms on the sides of the hallway, which were dorms instead of classrooms back then. For one girl, it was her first day there and she had joined at an awkward time during the school year and she hadn`t known about the night marchers because she had just moved there from california. She moved in with her roommates and everything seemed fine, they were getting along so well, they made her first night there like sleepover to welcome her there. There was a total of 4 girls now living in the room and they were all eating candy and gossiping in their room when they started to hear footsteps. They froze for a while and just listened to them as they got louder and louder and louder, staring at the door. The girls were having so much fun that they forgot to tell the new girl all about the night marchers including the most important rule of all, when you hear the footsteps, no matter what you stay in the room. The girl whispered to the one sitting on her bed next to her and whispered, "What`s that?" "SSSHHHH!!!" the girl whispered back. Frustrated because she didn`t know what was going on, she said again without whispering, "What`s going on?" All the girls turned to her and put their fingers to their lips and said "SSSSSHHHH!!!" again. The girl was getting annoyed because none of the girls were telling her what was happening so she just decided she would find out for herself. She walked up to the door and just as she put her hand on the knob, the girls said in unicent, "NOO-" and just as the touched the knob she stumbled back and fell on one of the other girls` beds on the other side of the room. The girls just stared as she wiggled on the bed. She looked like she was tied down and was trying to escape ropes that tied her there, her hands swinging freely like there was an imaginary person she was trying to fight. She finally jumped off the bed as if she ropes that had once held her down became untied. Still sitting on the beds, all the girls turned there attention back to the door. When the sounds of the footsteps faded into the distance, all the girls turned to the new girl. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" They all asked, but it sounded more like an exclamation. "I-I-I.." the girl started, "I put my hand on the door and it felt as if a hand pushed my chest with such force that all the wind was knocked out of me. Then I felt cold hands around my kneck strangling me and pinning me to the bed. Their hands were so cold I got goosebumps, but no matter how hard I tried to free myself from their grasp, their hands seemed to get colder and squeeze tighter. The scariest part was the fact that there was nothing to fight. I tried to hit whatever held me down but all I could feel was my hand going through cold air, it felt like I was in front of an air conditioner. I felt so helpless because there was nothing I could do but endure the pain. Finally, whatever was holding me down, dissapeared and I felt the grip on my neck loosen and I jumped off the bed afraid it might try to pin me down again if I stayed." The girls were frightened because they had never had an actual encounter with the night marchers before. Figuring they should get some sleep because they still had classes the next day, they finally went to sleep. In the morning, the girl went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and while she looked in the mirror, she noticed that there were bruises on her neck. They were shaped like handprints. All her friends were terrified, but from then on, they knew to never disrupt the night marchers when they were heard marching down Castle Hall.

moderator: Shaman.

1. If Maxine`s mother was educated so well, then why does she still expect Maxine to become a housewife and slave? Doesn`t she want Maxine to get the same good education she had and recieve a medical diploma?

2. How long has it been since she last saw her father? It seems as if it wasn`t that long ago because she can still describe him and past events with him very well. However, it doesn`t seem like she misses him that much throughout the chapter.

3. How does Maxine know so much about her mother`s education experience? Had her mother described them to her at some other time not mentioned in the book?

4. Are any of the situations in this chapter imagined, like the white tiger chapter? Was Maxine making up or day dreaming any of these events or had they call occurred?

5. Why is her mother so willing to let others cheat off her paper? Why is authority and being liked so important to her?

6. Why did she exaggerate her story about her night in the ghost room so much? Does she want them to believe she`s more brave then she really is?

7. Does Maxine believe in ghosts?

8. Why would she give up all her training as a doctor and her whole life just to move to her husband? Does she really love him that much?

9. What makes the eaters so admired? Do the wierd things they eat represent their bravery?

10. Why are the villagers so cruel to stone the crazy woman?

11. Was the crazy lady really a spy?

moderator: white tigers.

1. On page 38, Maxine talks about seeing the family of the man she had just killed, crying and mourning the death of the man. She sees them but as the narrator, she doesn`t talk about any emotion feelings she had toward them. Does that mean she doesn`t feel even a little sorry for the family? Does that mean she doesn`t show mercy? Is she actually a cruel soul that doesn`t care about anyone besides herself? Is she just hiding her actually sympathies toward that family to make it seem like she`s a strong leader and man?

2. On page 41, Maxine says "Go now, before he is old enough to recognize me." She says this to her husband telling him to take her newborn son back to their home. Why didn`t she want the son to recognize her when she returned home? How could she manage to hid the baby from the army during the time she kept him with her?

moderator: white tigers.

1. On page 19, Maxine says, "...we failed if we grew up to be but wives or slaves." but on page 20, she also says, "She said I would grow up a wife and a slave, but she taught me the song of the warrior woman." The second quote is talking about how her mother says Maxine will grow up to be a wife and a slave. I read this quote and couldn`t help thinking how sad it was her mother didn`t believe in her. Why does her mother believe that Maxine can only grow up to be a wife and slave? Why doesn`t she believe Maxine could be a swordswoman or a heroine or live up to her full potential?

2. When Maxine was pretending to be Fa Mu Lan, the bird led her both up and down the mountain before and after her training. Is the bird some sort of symbol for events that happen later on in the book? Is it like a guardian for her? Was it only the messenger for the old man and woman?

3. On page 36, during the Fa Mu Lan story, some people talk about how she looks beautiful in her men`s armor before she leaves to form an army, but later on in the book she says that the soldiers never knew she was a woman. Who knew she was a woman and who didn`t? Weren`t some of the soldiers in her army from her village and if so wouldn`t they know she was a woman after all the commotion about her being trained on the mountain?

methods of characterization.

Appearance:
-jackets and long pants (cold outside)
-Joey, Bo, and I were very young (didn`t know what had happened)

Innerthoughts/feelings:
-adults were concerned
-mom missed her family and wanted to see them
-didn`t want us to worry, so mom didn`t tell us anything

Environment:
-not a familiar place
-dad hadn`t driven on the roads before
-first day driving such a big vehicle
-weren`t aware of the wildlife

What they say:
-sherriff was concerned, but calm
-mom and dad were surprised
-caring, wanted to make sure everyone was ok
-didn`t want us to worry so didn`t tell us what happened

What others say about them:
-mom and dad were lucky
-could`ve been hurt

Actions:
-Auntie and Uncle were worried so they ran up to my dad and mom to make sure they were ok
-Sherriff took care of everything
-obeyed my mom even though something was wrong
-mom made sure all the kids were ok

family story.

When I was in first grade, 7 years old, my family, which consists of my mom, dad, and sister, Joey(5 years old), were going on a road trip in an R.V. with my Auntie Nancy, Uncle Matt and my cousin, Bo(3 years old). They live in Alaska so we don`t get to see them that much. My mom`s whole side of the family lives in Arizona. My grandpa, grandma, Aunie Marissa all live there. My Auntie Marissa and Uncle Matt are my mom`s siblings and Auntie Marissa was getting married. Since we all had to be in Arizona for her wedding, my mom and Uncle Matt decided it would be great if we went on a long trip together beforehand so Joey, Bo, and I could spend more time together and so she and my dad could spend more time with Uncle Matt and Auntie Nancy. We hadn`t seen them in the longest time. We flew to Arizona and since we got there a day earlier then Auntie Nancy, Uncle Matt, and Bo, we spent the night at my grandma and grandpa`s house. They flew in the next day and we didn`t want to waste anytime. We were going to drive and spend time at the four corners of the U.S.A., Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico and we wanted to make sure we had enough time to do everything. We rented the R.V. and went grocery shopping right away to prepare for our 3 weeks on the road before returning to Arizona for the wedding where Joey, Bo, and I would be flower girls. On the first day we wanted to get as far as we could into Arizona so we drove from 3 p.m. to around 5 p.m. We stopped in a nearby parkinglot to eat in the R.V. then started driving again. It was getting dark and we were still driving at 7 p.m. It was cold even though it was the summer so we all had our jackets and long pants on. We were all tired and just wanted to find a campground fast so we could all settle down and rest. My dad was driving and my mom was sitting in the passenger side. I was sitting in the arm chair behind my mom and Auntie Nancy and Uncle Matt were sitting on the couch while Joey and Bo played cards on the dinette, all of which had seatbelts. Right in the middle of their game of go-fish, my mom yelled "WATCH OUT!" and my dad yelled "HO GEEZ!" and a big thud came from my dad`s car door. My Auntie Nancy and Uncle Matt ran up to where my dad and mom were sitting and said "What just happened?" in a worried tone. "3 deer just ran across the street and one of them hit my cardoor," my dad replied. "Is everyone OK?" my mom said, "Girls, are you all right?" she called to Joey, Bo, and I. "We`re ok," we all said in unicent. "What happened?" I asked my mom curiously. "Nothing dear, just go play cards with Joey and Bo, ok honey?" she said. From the armchair I could see that the sideview mirror had been knocked off, but I just did what my mom said and unbuckled my seatbelt and sat next to my sister and cousin and played cards with them. My dad pulled to the side of the road and a sherriff pulled up right behind us. He talked to my dad through the car window and said, "Don`t worry sir, I saw the whole thing from my car right behind you, I`ll take care of it." The deer had died, but my parents made sure Joey, Bo, and I didn`t see it and were kept occupied so we wouldn`t worry or have any clue what was going on. The sheriff told my dad that we were lucky because if the R.V. had been any smaller, the deer woul`ve been hurtled right throw the windsheild and injured my mom and dad. He was really nice and made sure we were all ok before he let us keep driving. He said to call the R.V. company in the morning and tell them what happened and that they would take care of it. He took care of the deer, but Joey, Bo, and I hadn`t the slightest clue what was going on so we just played cards the whole time the sheriff and the adults were talking. My mom always says, "It was an exciting, yet traumitizing way to start off that trip."

my hero.

I know this is going to sound really cliche, but my hero would have to be my mom, Melinda Ching. She`s the most energetic person I know and love. When she was younger, she was an awesome dancer which is my own benefit. Sometimes she watches my classes and tells me what I need to work on. She`s older now but she still likes dancing and claims that as long as she watches me, it feels like she`s dancing too. My mom is also the only 44 year-old woman I know who can still do the splits. When I grow up, I want to be just like her. She`s strict, but just strict enough to get my sister and I to follow the rules of the household. She knows how to have fun also. She`s the one who picks me up from school or dance and drives me to wherever I need to be. Her job is also amazing. She`s a lawyer for The Nature Conservancy mostly dealing with all the contracts and land they work with. She gets to travel to so many exotic places like Indonesia, Australia and Japan. Mostly because the company protects the biodiversity of the world. The job also allows her to go on various hikes around Oahu to observe the lands the company protects and estimate if any problems could occur there later. My mom also is the most confident person you will ever meet. She always brags about how she got through chemotherapy without losing all her hair. That`s probably another reason why my mom is my hero. She had a case of cancer and was still able to stay strong through chemotherapy. She couldn`t work for 3 months and she got irratable from always having to stay in the house, but she got through it ok. I admire her for being able to endure it. So basically, my mom is pretty much, my everyday all-around hero.

two quotes of woman warrior: no name woman.

In english, we`ve just started reading a book called "Woman Warrior". We`ve only read the first couple pages but for our homework assignment we were told to pick two quotes and provide an explaination for them.
1. We say that your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born.
I thought this quote was cold and harsh, but there was a lot of meaning and feeling behind it also. The "she" in this quote is an Aunt the narrator had that killed herself and her baby when she got pregnant with a man other then her husband. The villagers thought she was a disgrace so they raided their house and caused destruction all over their property. This quote tells how ashamed the family was that the Aunt was pregant by not even speaking of her and pretending like she never existed.
2. Don`t humiliate us. You wouldn`t like to be forgotten as if you had never been born. The villagers are watchful.
This quote was a warning to the narrator by her mother. Her mother is warning her not to be like the Aunt and telling her the consequences if it ever should happen. The story of her Aunt was told by her mother to scare her for shaming the family like her Aunt did. "The villagers are watchful" part of the quote shows that the village is a small one where everyone is in eachother's business and that they will always know if something is wrong and nothing can be hidden.

moodle.

In english we`ve just starting to use this new website called moodle which allows your work to be posted and can be used as an easy way to turn in assignments. I like that moodle allows us to message people in our class because it is an easy way to check to find out what the homework is that night if we weren`t sure. I don`t like moodle because it confuses me in some ways. I never know when to post anything on moodle or on my blogger account. It`s not like I have any problems with it, it`s just the fact that we have so many sites we have to check every night, we need to look at our blogger as well as moodle and epunahou. I get confused as to whether I`m supposed to post something on blogger or on moodle.

about me.

Hey everyone! My name is Casey and I`m a freshman at Punahou School. I`m 14 years old and loving it! I am a dancer and choreographer for Punahou Danceteam as well as Punahou Dance School. In my spare time I hang out with my friends at the beach, movies, or mall. I love the beach even though I hardly get to go because I`m always so busy. =[ I also like to go iceskating, bowling, and mini golfing. Shopping is my addiction, my favorite store is 88 tees in Waikiki. My favorite subject would have to be english because I like writing a lot more then dealing with equations in math or studying past events in history.