Ski week

Well, so far ski week has been a total UN-success because the good part of the whole week has been spent with me having an earache, fever and really bad cold so I can't even enjoy it! The one good thing that has happened so far (and vacation's going to be over on Monday,) is that all the weather forecasts say that it's going to snow so much that there will be 1" in the financial district tomorrow morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY! (I realize that sounds really pitiful to people everywhere else in the country, but dude, I live in California. Not once have I seen snow within a 2-hour drive of where I live.) So anyways, apparently this big nation-wide storm is going to hit where I live! Wowzers! There hasn't been as much snow as the forecasts tell of in 40 years. Extremely exciting though it is; it's got to make you feel bad about global warming. (If you don't already know that global warming makes extreme weather on both sides of the thermometer, you need to do your homework.) However, this storm was supposed to have started yesterday, which it very much DID NOT, so I am not setting my expectations too high. But it's going to snow, and I haven't seen snow in over 5 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Iris

So you want to learn Chinese

我 叫 漠 如 思。我 十 一 岁 了。我 一 家 有 四 口 人。我 妈 吗，我 爸爸，我 妹妹，和 我。

Yes, my secret talent has been revealed. I speak (not fluent) Chinese!!! Yay me!

The best part is that you too can master this foreign language. My chinese teacher has created an entire database of flash cards for every single lesson for every single grade that she teaches. They can all be accessed by clicking this link.

Unless you already know the basics, you should start by clicking "Textbook 1" in the menu, then selecting "00 Pinyin." Pinyin is like the Chinese alphabet. (Totally separate from characters; those are all memorization!) It's simply a pronunciation key for characters. They have the same letters, but entirely different sounds. B is like "booah", Q is like "chee," and so on. Listen to the alphabet song, it's very helpful.

Anyways, all the lessons other than 00 Pinyin have a link that says "Flash Cards." Click it, and take the multiple choice quiz on the front page, then click "Study." Trust me, this will all make a lot more sense once you try it!

The flash cards show a character at the top. Write this character on a piece of paper, then write what you think is the pinyin, then the meaning. Click "Show answer" and see if you were right! Once you get through all the cards, try again! This time click "Reverse cards" and read the pinyin and meaning and write the character!

Of course I also use textbooks and worksheets and what-not, but this is a good start! So try it!

-Iris

Snow Day!

Some background: Basically where I am living is under a giant snow storm. There is wind and snow and it is really cool. The maximum of snow that might fall in the night is 31 inches, the minimum being 18!!! For some more info go to : CLICK! or CLICK!

I am so excited because there is going to be a snow day tomorrow at school! My school hasn't had a snow day in fifteen years! We broke the record! It was fantastic! My teacher didn't know , and when I walked out into the hallway it was so chaotic! Everybody was screaming and I was wondering what was going on. I first noticed that all the big brothers and sisters were in the hallway waiting for us, then I noticed the storm outside... it was amazing! There was so much wind it looked like a tornado had hit and the snow was everywhere. I could barely see across the field! Then I heard someone yell "Snow day!" and everyone went crazy! Everyone was screaming and yelling and hugging: it looked a bit like a soap opera where 59 people (my grade's size) just heard that a dying patient was alive. I joined the party and yelled my fair share. Then, my friend appeared and she said "I just went outside: OMG! It is so windy and snowing, it is crazy!" I asked her if I could go out with her again and I ran down the stairs to the field, it was so cool! At first it actually seemed quite pleasant, we were under a small roof outside and I could just watch the whirlwind from afar... Then a giant gust of wind got flung in my face and I almost fell down. My friend and I decided that well, maybe it was time to go in... We got back and suddenly a million sledding or hanging out plans were whirling around the hallway and I got invited to so many things. After that I hugged all my friends, and said that I had to go, because I needed to get home fast before the traffic gets too bad to drive in. Then I ran down the hallway and I quickly got in the car for a 30 minute drive home, instead of a five minute drive! It was really cool!

Isobel