June 4 2012 My Personal Experience 4

It was the middle of fifth grade when our music teacher told us about the musical Alice in Wonderland. Everyone was excited and started talking about what part they wanted. I had my heart set on Alice, but faced one problem. More than half of the girls wanted to try out for the role. My parents told me that I should attend the audition, but I wasn’t sure what would happen.

It was the day of our auditions and I was the first one called. I tried my best to act and sing. When my time was over, I quickly went outside, afraid of what the judges would think. I saw my friends audition and they were pretty good. After the audition, my music teacher told us the results would come out in two weeks. All were dismissed when my friend asked if everyone would have at least have one part. The teacher said that everyone who had auditioned would have one part. Everyone was happy with that except for me. I was scared that I would play a role other than Alice.

Two weeks later, my friend came running into the classroom, telling everyone that the results were out. With the speed of lightning, the whole class gathered around her to see which part they got. Scanning the paper, I saw that I was Alice. I whispered to my friend next to me, who screamed out that I had gotten the main role. Suddenly, everyone started cheering, telling me I was going to be amazing in the play. The problem was that I had loads of lines to memorize and seven songs to sing. I was very frightened and happy, even four months remained till the performance.

The rehearsals I attended were not great. In fact, the teacher told us that there were two casts – the blue and the red cast. I was Alice in the blue cast, my friend Joan being in the red cast. We all tried to practice, but everyone was distracted, fighting over which cast was better. Joan and I tried to calm them down but nothing was working. When the rehearsal was over, both casts went home without running through a scene.

The next few rehearsals went better. We would actually go through scenes and memorize lines. A few weeks before the performance, we had memorized all our lines and songs.  For the remaining few weeks, we helped making props and painting scenes.

The day of our performance was had finally come and everyone was nervous. We were all ready backstage when the curtains opened. We then started to act, sing, and make a few mistakes until the play was over. We were bowing in front of the audience, thinking of how hard we had worked over the past few months.

Whenever my friends and I talk about this performance, we talk about the things we did in rehearsals and recall how good the performance was.

May 14 2012 My Personal Experience 3

When people asked me what I thought about the word kidnapped, I used to say, “Nothing.”  However, in second grade, my opinion changed when I learned how dangerous the world was.

I recall my Friday basketball lessons with my friends. After an hour I asked my teacher for a break. Being kind, he gave me five minutes to get a drink of water. I was about to go by myself when my friend Sunny said she needed to get a drink, too. We both put our basketballs down and started walking towards the fountain.

Whenever we had to get water, students in our basketball class would go downstairs. If we were quick, this would take about two minutes. On the other hand, Sunny and I were tired and dehydrated so we went down the stairs very slowly without saying anything. After drinking about four cups of water, we headed back up towards the gym, being a little more energetic.

Sunny and I were talking about our next math test when we heard quiet footsteps. We turned around and faced a tall and skinny man, double my size, in a black suit, with long hair reaching his elbows and large earrings. We were staring back at him until he started to run towards us. Sunny then pushed me down, running towards the gym as fast as she could. I on the other hand, was still on the ground, trying to get up with all my might. The man got closer, trying to grab my left hand, when I felt someone grab my other hand. It was Sunny, who had come back downstairs to save me. She quickly started dragging me and shouting things I didn’t understand. The man probably gave up because I couldn’t see him when we arrived at the gym.

Our basketball teacher started yelling at us, asking why we hadn’t come back in five minutes. We tried to explain about the man who had been chasing us, but he wouldn’t believe us and put us under detention. Our friends starting asking us who the man was but we refused to tell them much and said that the world was a dangerous place.

When I think about this incident today, I wonder if the man was actually a kidnapper. People around me say that he was probably simply walking up the stairs. This story will remain stuck in my head.

Now, when others ask me what I think of the word kidnapped, I always reply “ Something people should be aware of and a situation we can escape with the help of friends.”

April 30 2012 My Personal Experience 2

I can barely remember my earlier childhood now. However, some memories remain as if they  had happened yesterday. I often recall an incident from kindergarten, a mystery I’ve never been able to solve.

It was summer vacation and I remember being very bored. My helper was cleaning the kitchen so she couldn’t play with me. Hours later, she decided to play with me, telling me that we only had fifty minutes. I told her that I wanted to spend those fifty minutes outside since I had been stuck in my house for four hours, desperate for fresh air.

We went to the playground to play on the swings. It was quite fun for a while until I got bored. My helper said that we should head back inside if that was the case. About to agree, I suddenly had a great idea, telling my helper I wanted to stay outside, digging the sand to see if anything ancient might turn up. My helper started to laugh, but said that I only had twenty minutes left.

The sand that covered the sand that covered our playground was dirty,  about seven years old. However,at age five, all I knew was the excitement of digging. I pulled my sleeves up and started to dig as fast as I could. Everything was going smoothly until I felt a hard rock in the sand. Curious what it could be, I started digging faster.

After a lot of digging, I finally found a stone like those on Jeju Island, located south of mainland Korea. I thought this to be a fake until I noticed that the stone had holes everywhere. I remembered my father telling me that Jeju had a huge volcano that had erupted about ten years before and that all the stones there were covered with lava. They eventually cooled down but the lava left a permanent mark. This stone definitely had huge marks everywhere. I started running towards my helper to show her the stone. Apparently, she wasn’t as surprised as I was,  just nodding her head and telling me that I had to go back in. The last thing I remember is putting the rock back exactly where I had found it.

When I think about this, I wonder where the rock might have gone. I also ask myself if that rock actually did come from Jeju Island. This mystery can never be solved but I definitely will remember this rock.

April 16 2012 My Personal Experience

One of my memorable personal experiences was getting my first phone in the last semester of second grade. I remember my friend showing me the phone her parents bought for her eighth birthday. I was very happy for her, but at the same time, felt very jealous.

That night, I remember complaining to my parents about not having a phone, giving reasons why I should have one. My parents would constantly disagree since I was only eight and didn’t need to call them because I didn’t have any after school activities. I would say the same thing for about three weeks when my father told me that I had the privilege to have a phone if I fulfilled all his requirements which were:

1.      I had to get straight A’s from that semester

2.     I wasn’t to waste time texting friends while I was supposed to do homework.

These requirements seemed quite worth a try, for I had received a high honor in first grade and thought that I wouldn’t waste much time texting friends. That night, I was determined to receive a phone by the end of that semester.

Unfortunately, I didn’t always think about these requirements and sometimes received a few low test and worksheet scores. A few weeks later my parents received my report card. I had mixed feelings of being scared and happy. When I arrived home, my mother was waiting for me with a sheet of paper in her right hand. Then she slowly started showing me what the paper was about. It was my final report card. I was scared but the minute I looked at it, everything went white. All my scores, including math, science, english, history, science, physical education, music, and art, were above 95 percent! Next, I remember calling my father, telling him that I would like him to buy my phone that coming Saturday. Laughing, he agreed with me.

Finally, Saturday had arrived. It was about twelve o’clock; I was all dressed up and ready to get my phone. My parents were very slow, leaving two hours later. When we arrived at the small store, there were many types of glamorous looking phones. I was wondering which phone I should choose when a particular one caught my eye. It was white and had a small camera at the top. I asked my parents if I could have that phone, and luckily they said yes!

I still remember my excitement at showing the phone off to my friends on Monday. They were all happy and envious of me (as I had been of my friend when seeing her first phone). I am currently using my second phone, not knowing where my first phone had gone. I am also planning to buy my third phone in July.

Though I will have many more phones in my life, I guarantee that I will definitely remember my first, white, phone.

The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

A Scandal in Bohemia

A Prince was going to get married in Bohemia with a princess. He used to love a woman called Irene Adler. However, they were not able to marry because she was an ordinary woman. Irene threatened the kingdom that if the prince was going to get married with someone else, then she would send picture to the public of the Prince and her together. Sherlock Holmes was to get the picture (which they do not know where it is). Sherlock solved this mystery by asking his sidekick Dr. Watson to fake that there was fire near Irene's house. He said to do this because just as a mom looks for her baby, Irene would look for her most important thing in her house,which is the picture in this case. They figured out that the picture was in this shelf. The next day, Irene left a note to Holmes that she just did not keep a promise to herself and so that she just gave up. She told Holmes hat she will keep the photo safe and that is how the case ended.

A Case of Identity

One day a woman called Miss Mary Sutherland told Sherlock Holmes her case. Her mother had divorced and had married again. The father is only five years older than Mary. He was very strict about money. One day, Mary told her parents that she would be going to a ball.At the ball, she met a man called Mr. Hosmer Angel. They had fell in love with each other. Mary did not want to tell her father about about this so she invited him when her father was away. Mary never went to Mr. Hosmer Angel's house. Later, Mr. Angel asked Mart to marry her when her father was away. When they arrived at the wedding hall, her fiance had just disappeared. Holmes figured out that the man was Mary's father because if her daughter is getting married, then he had to give her money. He did not want that so he faked like he was another person. The was why Mary's father was not there whenever 'Mr. Angel' came over and it also explains why 'Mr. Angel' asked Mary to marry him when Mary;s father was away.


The Red-Headed League
A man called Jabez Wilson  with red hair had come to talk to Sherlock Holmes this time. He said that his friend called Vincent Spaulding, who worked together told him about the Red-Headed-League.  person called  was a job and Jabez told it. However, one day he saw a sign that said it was dissolved. He wanted Holmes to figure out what was wrong. At the end it was told that Spaulding was working with the person that made the Red-Headed League. They just needed Jabez out of Spaulding's office for a few days. It was because they were digging and underground railroad that was connected to the bank, when they were finished digging, the dissolved the Red-Headed League. Later Holmes and a few of his friend;s who were the police had caught them in the bank. All in all the Red-Headed League rigmarole was to keep Wilson out of his shop while they dug in the basement, in order to break into the bank.


The Boscombe Valley Mystery
This time there was a mystery at a valley called Boscombe. A person called Charles McCarthy was killed by a murderer. They hd to figure out who the murderer was. One of the witness said that they saw a man called James was carrying a gun. However a lady called Alice Turner says that James is innocent because he would not even dare to kill a dragonfly. James and Alice loves each other. At the result, it was Alice's father, John who did the whole thing. He used to be with a group of robbers in Australia. They stole a gold convoy in which Charles was the wagon driver.The group suceded and John McCathy a.k.a Charles so married and had Alice. Later, somehow, he met Charles again and Charles threatened that he would blackmail him. John gave Charles some money but Charles was not satisfied. He demanded that James and Alice should get married. John did not want THAT to happen, so he secretly asked Charles to met at Bonscombe Valley. Then he killed Charles. It was a sad case because seven months later, John died because of his illness.  However, it was said that Alice and James might get married, forgetting about their past.


The Five Orange Pips
One day, a man named John Opensaw came and talked about his case. He talks about his uncle's and father's death. His uncle's name is Elias, was very cold to other people but was very warn to John.  He took care of John because he wanted to. One day a letter came and it contained five orange pips and it was from a person called K.K.K. It seemed like the uncle knew something. He did not do anything about it. From that day, he started asking weird and was found dead in the backyard. The police thought that he suicided but John did not think so. When his father, Joseph,came to live with him, another mail came from the same person with the same thing but there was a letter in it. It said to put the papers in the sundial. Joseph did not do anything about it. One day, he was found in a deep chalk pit and was found dead. John just have received the same mail and that is how he went to Sherlock Homes. Homes told him to put the letters in the backyard. John told him that they burned the letters except for one. Then Holmes told him to put that one on the backyard and to write that the others were burned. Later, Holmes found out that the people were a group of people on a boat and K.K.K. ment the Ku Klux Klan. John was found dead in a lake and Holmes send the letters back to the crew ( the letters they had send to the Opensaw family) but there weren't any letters back.


The Speckled Band
One day a lady called Helen Stoner came to tell Sherlock Holmes hercase.Her mother did when she was young and now lives with her stepfather Grimesby Roylott.He lives in stoke moran with a bunch of gypsies taking care of a baboon and a cheetah. She also talked about her sister's death. One day, her sister, Julia asked her if she ever herd a low whistle in the middle of the dead.Well, Helen never did unless if she was the one who was the one doing it.That same day, Helen was awakened by a terrible scream from her sister. Sadly, it was Julia's last day with her last words- oh my god! Helen it was the band!!! The speckled band!! The coroner never found out of what had caused her death. However, before Julia died she was trying to get married. And later, Helen was asked her hand in marrige and when she told Roylott. Roylott replied that Helen's room needed repairment when everything was fine. Also Helen had to sleep in Julia's room in the exact bed she slpet in. It was when Helen herd a low whistle and decided to go to Holmes.


Later, the result was very shocking. The thing that killed Julia was fright. Roylott did not want to give part of his money to Julia so he got a swamp adder and trained it to came down a bellrope (in Julia's room) and to attack her.So Holmes made the swamp adder to attack Roylott and that was the end of him...


The Engineer's Thumb
One day, a man called  Mr. Victor Hartherley came to tell his case. He talked to a man called  Colonel Lysander Stark. He siad that there was something wrong with their company's machine and asked Victor to fix. He said that this had to be a secret. When Victor went to Stark's house. He realized that the machine was very dangerous and that it depended on his life. He escaped safely but apparently lost his thumb. 
However, when they went with the police to arrest them it was to late. The house was burning and they had escaped. There was basically no result.
I did not really get the story and it was kind of boring for me. I hope that the next story will be way better.

Danny,the Champion of the World

Danny is a nine-year old boy who lives in a gypsy caravan. His mother died when he was four months old. Since then, his father has been taking care of him. His father is a mechanic who never run out of wonderful stories to tell. Life was very peaceful until Danny was told of one of her dad's deep dark secrets. His dad used to do poaching which is stealing other people;s stuff. People who do poaching consider it as a sport. His dad had learned it because his dad used to do it. It was because back then people were very poor in England that they barely had anything to eat. Danny's father was so addicted to it that he continued to do it even though he had enough to eat and drink. However, he had stopped when his wifed had died and promised himself not to do it again until Danny was old enough to be alone. Now he had broken his promise and told everything about it. They mainly steal roost pheasant which is a similar animal to a rooster. Danny grandfather knew the easy way to catch them- raisins. There were two methods to catch them. The first method was to was to stick horsehair and to wait for the animals to come eat it. When they it it, their throat would be very itchy that they will stay very still. The second  method is that you lay the raisins the direction you want your animal to come. They will follow the raisin path. Eventually, they will dig their heads in the paper cone and they will stay very still even though you poke or shout at them. Danny;s dad promises him that he will that him someday when he gets his skills back.
Mr. Hazell's house was the was the target for every poacher. He was very rich but had a bad attitude which was way people hated him much more and would always revenge in a unusual way. Danny's father said that he would go poaching today too and that he had always been poaching at Mr. Hazell's house. Almost everyone in the town did the poaching at Mr. Hazzel's house. 
It was one day when Danny's father went poaching and promised that he would come back bye ten-thirty. Danny woke up at two in the the morning and he was four hours due to his father's time! Quickly without thinking, Danny got into his father's car and started driving to the rich man's house. When he reached that place, he noticed that his father fell in a big hole and the people who was guarding Mr.Hazell's place had planned all of this. With luck, they could not see his father's face because it was too dark. They quickly escaped and called a doctor who was a friend of Danny's father. When Danny's father was all recovered and after the Doctor gave him sleeping pills(which he never ate), he told Danny a gravy secret. He said that once a year, at Mr. Hazell's house, lots of royal people would come and bring guns and would have a shooting party. They would bring pheasants home with them for a gift. Danny's dad said that he would like to steal ALL the 200 pheasants . Danny told his dad that this was imposible but later he had an idea. He told his dad that he should the second method but put a little sleeping pills. Danny's father called this the Sleeping Beauty method and that they had to do this in two days- thursday and friday. On friday.Danny's dad said that he would not need to go to school and also that that he could come poaching that day too. Danny is very scared but excited at the same time.


At the end, they had acomplished their plan but the sleeping pills did not last. Mr. Hazell came to their house and the pheasants flew to his car so Mr. Hazell drove the car to make them go away but they did not. It left Danny and his father 2 pheasants to eat. They had a wonderful feast and it ended in a dramatic way.

The Moffat Museum

There was no place called a museum.... not until the Moffat family made one....


It just all started when Jane suddenly thought that the Moffat's should have en museum. She told her two brothers, Joey and Rufus and her big sister who is about to get married- Sylvie. They get some star dust (which I don't get), an old bicycle they were all taught of how to write on.  They also display some aircrafts  and the most shocking thing is that Rufus turns into a waxworks boy. A journalists who writes free newspapers everyday, writes about the Moffat museum and a tourist who takes kids and always gives them a tour, brings students to show the wonderful and amazing museum. Sylvie gives them a brilliant painting for them to display at the museum.


Even though that Jane is very happy. She is worried too. Sylvie is getting married and she is going to be the flower girl. Also she is really sad because instead of being the 4 little Moffat's it would be the 3. However, she tries her best to get prepared.