Me

Saw this on the class worksheet that Jiujiu brought home today–

Write a sentence that describes you.

: I am kind & humble, adorable, pretty & funny.

the teacher couldn’t help a grin and wrote ‘Yes, you are.’ on the side with a smiley face. 🙂

 

 

Our Safari Field Trip

by Iliana

On Monday our class went to the Safari Park. My group, which was Noah, Hayden, Jackson & me, teamed up with Dylan, Avery & Kenneth. First, we went to the aviary. We saw birds from all over the world! We also went to a bird show. We saw birds flying over the audience. A hawk almost landed on my head! Birds performed onstage without a trainer. One fell into the water. It was incredible! My favorite part of the trip was Lorekeet Landing. All the birds had glamorous multi-colored feathers. When one took off, it was a breathtaking sight. One landed on me :), but it also bit me :(. Safari Park is a beautiful, interesting, & enjoyable park. I can’t wait to go back!

Being the ONLY Child

Jiujiu was working on her Chinese writing assignment. The topic was ‘My Favorite Person’. 

— Mom, were you the only child?

— Yes.?

— So did you like it?

— Um… yes and no…

— Well, same here, except I don’t know exactly what you mean with ‘yes and no’.

— Oh? So what did YOUR yes and no mean?

— En, yes, because I don’t have to worry about my stuff being stolen; and I can have my own room. You always need to share a room if there are more than one kid, right?

— Maybe. So what about the ‘no’?

— No, because, uh… I don’t have much human entertainment at home. You know, nobody to    play with me.

Sure enough, the person she picked for her writing was her cousin, Yiyi. 🙂

How to Brush Your Teeth

by Iliana

Have you ever thought about steps you take to brush your teeth? All you need is a toothbrush, toothpaste, water, and a cup. First, put some toothpaste on your toothbrush. Next, fill your cup with water and wet your toothbrush. Then, put it in your mouth and scrub your teeth. Don’t forget to brush all your teeth! Finally, rinse your mouth and brush and clean your face. Brushing your teeth is an important activity to do every day. Doing this is important because if you didn’t, your teeth would get cavities — painful & uncomfortable cavities. OW!

Winter Senses

Winter Senses
Winter looks like: soft white snow settling on the ground.
Winter sounds like: rain pattering against your window.
Winter smells like: fresh baked Christmas cookies.
Winter tastes like: crystal snowflakes falling on your tongue.
Winter feels like: damp, rain-filled hair sticking to the back of your neck.

(This was a class assignment. Since we haven’t posted anything here for a long while, mom decided something is better than nothing. :p)

A True December Spirit

by Iliana

December has holidays,
Some eight days, some one.
But all your presents,
Don’t mean a real ton.

The true December spirit,
Is when you are kind.
When caring, when sharing,
It’s smiles you’ll find.

So don’t ask: ‘Gifts for me?’
While going around.
Instead, turn a lost,
into a found.

The message you’ll get,
From this poem and from me,
Is: What matters,
Isn’t the gifts beneath your tree.

…

The Waterfall on Mount Lu

The sun is shining on the Lu Peak,

Far away you could see a waterfall hanging down the mountain.

It looks like it’s flying down 3000 feet,

As if the milky way was falling, sending down a fountain.

日照香炉生紫烟，

要看瀑布挂前川。

飞流直下三千尺，

疑是银河落九天。

Witch’s Spell

by Jiujiu

Double double toil and trouble,

Let my cauldron boil and bubble.

Put in blood and eye balls, too.

Until it has a tasty stew.

[The first line was ‘lifted’ from Shakespear’s  Macbeth.  Jiujiu said she overheard it when Lucy and Maggie, two fifth graders at her after school, were rehearsing some play (Gee…). She found it fit the Halloween theme perfectly. So she went ahead and borrowed it without knowing it was from Shakespear at all…Mom and Dad applauded her good taste, and gave her a small lecture on ‘how to properly cite other people’s work’. :p]

From Animal to Human Brain

Mommy was reading some comments on a human brain research. Jiujiu glimpsed on the title and laughed. 

‘What a weirdo research that is!’

‘Uhr? What’s weird about it?’

‘Mom, you know, you do brain research on animals, which is pretty cool. But these guys are talking about brain research on HUMAN, how crazy is that?!’

‘Duh~ Daddy wouldn’t think so. Actually he studies human brain, too. You know, in fact, the ultimate goal in brain research is to understand how our own brain works.The reason we need to study animal brain is because there aren’t so many we can do to human brain. And animal brain, as different as it may be from human brain, shares some very basic structures and properties with human brain. So we can use animal brain as a model to study the how brain works. But eventually we want to apply what we learn in animal brain to our own brain. Also, there are very unique functions that only human brain has, such as language. In this case, you would have to study human brain directly.’

Jiujiu seemed a bit lost but remained in her seat and listened carefully. Then she asked, rather thoughtfully, ‘Does that mean you’ll have to find links between animal brain and human brain so that you can apply the knowledge learned from animals to human?’