This is probably the last blog I’m going to write, since school is ending in two weeks. This year, 8th grade, has passed by so fast. I guess it’s because it has been such a fun and exciting year, from Christmas to Club Med. We’re going to be in high school soon! I still feel very young..We were choosing our classes for 9th grade last Friday and I realized that pretty soon, I would be under the pressure of SAT s.  Oh no?

It has been raining for two days already. It’s frustrating. I hate the rain because it means no tennis. No tennis means no eggie.  Anyway, I still get to talk to eggie! Too bad he’s going to Japan for a major tennis competition next Thursday, on the 12th. FOR THREE WHOLE WEEKS!!! TAKE ME TAKE ME x]] I will be very bored during that time.

Now about what I learned…I learned to use @@ and ~~~ recently. @@ is a bit like being shocked or confused. ~~~ doesn’t really mean anything.  These two “signs” are often used by Taiwanese people.  I guess you can say it’s SPECIAL haha. Guess who taught me to use @@ and ~~~~?  haha LEO3468888~!!!@@@

    During these past few weeks, I learned a lot of things, like history or everyday life things. I learned about the Black Death, which was a deadly plague that hit Europe that killed about one-third of the population. The rats and fleas on the trading ships brought the disease. So many people died and so quickly that there weren’t enough space to bury the dead. It was a horrible plague and it greatly influenced Europe.

I also learned to cherish and love my family. On Mother’s Day, I invited my mother to our youth group’s special Mother’s Day event. I learned that the process of giving birth is painful and tiring. I also realized that when the children leave the parents, it is hard on the parents. I am going to cherish the time I have left with my parents and brother, because after a few years we will be on our own and we won’t be living together.

I also learned that practice makes perfect! Haha. If you keep practicing something, you will become better and better at it. I sucked really bad at tennis before, and I didn’t want to play anymore. However, when I started to put effort into it, I became a better tennis player. Also, in the past, I was not fast at typing. However, after typing a lot, I became a fast typer!

This is my coat of arms for the region Barvaria in Germany.  On the top left is a village chapel and on the top right is a cross to represent Catholicism.  On the bottom left are mountains, which represents the Bavarian Alps. On the bottom left is a beer, because there are lots of beer in Bavaria.

    I have written many posts on my blog. I wrote about my weekends, my feelings, school events, things I learned, and other random things. I included pictures and url’s in every post. From writing in my blogs, I can look back and remember what I learned or what happened. From time to time, I can look back and remember.

I think I did a pretty good job on the pictures! I try to find unique pictures relating to my post. I enjoy looking at pictures that are funny or cute. I think I didn’t do a good job on putting links in my posts. I don’t really know what websites I can relate to about my post. Sometimes, when I’m in a hurry, I just use Wikipedia.

    I learned to say hello in Thai while we were in Club Med last week. It’s “Sa Wa Di Ka” for girls and “Sa Wa Di Ka P” for boys. I don’t know why there is a difference for girls and boys. I also learned that “Tsai Ka/Ka P” means yes in Thai.  The Thai language is very interesting, and I would like to learn about it since I blend in with Thais.

I learned that Club Med is a good place to meet new people and learn other people’s cultures. I met people from all over the world and they all have different ways of talking or doing things, but there is one thing they all share in common-they are all very nice people. There are G.O.’s from all over the world in Club Med. Some of the countries they are from are Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Australia, South Africa, the United States, and Madagascar! It is really cool!

I learned that nobody is perfect. Everyone has good and bad. God made us equal, so everyone has good and bad things about them self. For example, I get frustrated easily when people don’t understand what I’m saying or they’re too slow. That is a bad thing about me that I’m trying to change. I am trying to be patient. Everyone can try to overcome their bad personality or habits, if they have determination.  Some people have good temper, some people are not selfish, some people are loving…Everyone has their own good. Sometimes we have to overlook one’s bad and see their good, and that’s what brings us together. We should also learn from other people, not their bad but their good.

    This week I learned that we shall not worry about our clothing, our food, or our appearances. We shouldn’t worry about those things because the Lord will give it to us. The things we should worry about is whether we have opened our hearts to the Lord or if we are behaving and thinking like a Christian should. Those things are actually not important. However, we tend to care more about those things. We always wonder if our hair is looking good. We always wonder if our clothes are “in”. We always wonder if we are “fit”. All of that is not important. Also, we should not worry about our future. We should not let the worries of tomorrow trouble us. We should just leave all the worries of today for today.

Here is my feudal village (place), whatever you want to call it. There is a big castle, where the lord lives.  Inside the castle, there is land. The lord needs knights to protect his land, so he gives the knight some land. The knight does not have time to farm. so he hires peasants. The knights give the peasants a little bit of land and in return, the peasant has to help farm the land for the knight. The peasants also help the lord farm in exchange for a place to live, food, and land. This is feudalism. In the castle I drew, there is a river to be crossed in order to get into the castle. It is to protect the lord and everything else in the castle.

This week, I learned that sometimes one has to make sacrifices. We would have to choose one over another. We would have to give up something for something else. It’s a hard decision, of course, but it is something we have to face in every day life. I faced this problem last week.  I had to choose between going to Club Med for our graduation trip or competing in our tennis competition. I love Club Med! It’s so fun there! It’s paradise! I want to compete in the tennis competition so badly. Both events are on the same day, and it’s a difficult decision. At last, I chose to go to Club Med. After all, it is my graduation trip! I can’t compete in the tennis competition then! Anyway, I learned that one has to make many sacrifices throughout life.