IRJE #2 Star Father

In Star Father by Charlie N. Holberg, the main character, Aija, goes on a journey to gain immortality so that she can be with her immortal lover (Saiyon) for the rest of time. Eventually, she achieves her goal of immortality and goes to see her lover, but he is in the middle of fighting a divine war. She decides to find a peaceful solution between Saiyon and The Moon. She asks the Moon if she is lonely, and the Moon says yes.

” ‘Thank you,’ I said, and caught her by surprise. ‘If not for you,I would never have known him.’ I tipped my head behind me but still didnot dare look at Saiyon. Not yet. ‘But you rail against that which cannot be, and all the world suffers for it.’ Now, she did yank away. ‘You know nothing.’ ‘I know loneliness. Both he and you have given it to me.’ ” (p. 302-303)

This quotation is very important to the ending of the story because, by relating to the Moon, she helps the Moon reconcile with her want for power. Aija decides she will go see the moon one season a year, and originally suggests winter. The Moon decides to take summer instead, when Aija’s lover is strongest. Many years later, humans give Aija a god’s name, The Northern Lights.

IRJE #2

Geoffrey Ashe’s The Discovery of King Arthur is a book that dives into the origins of King Arthur, arguing that he had an existence in history. Ashe traces how the legend grew by using Geoffrey of Monmouth’s 12th-century journals, which Ashe argues were a combination of facts and made-up fiction, and a main source for later depictions. Ashe also questions previously assumed locations about Arthur’s court, giving evidence to build on the theory that Camelot might have been at Cadbury Castle in Somerset.

“The right questions to ask are not the direct ones.”

“Who was Arthur?”

“Did he exist?”

“Where did the legend come from?”

“What facts is it rooted in?”

This quote wonders where this legend, Arthur, came from, is asked by Ashe, who even inquires about his own theories. To learn and state facts about a theory, you must ask yourself questions, giving yourself a second thought, which this question allows us to do, giving us a deeper cut into the roots of Arthur’s origins. Perhaps the legend was not created out of thin air, and grew from something that once existed. This ‘thing’ could be a real historical figure in post-Roman Britain. Ashe also suggests that there may have been a warrior, a person who fought and defended local communities after the Romans left Britain. Even Ashe knows that if you really want to get juicy details about something you want to figure out, you need to not rush and ask quick, brief questions. Instead, spread out your questions, chipping away towards the answer you’re looking for, which Ashe says, “The right questions to ask are not the direct ones”, p. vii, introduction.

IRJE #2 the hobbit

in the first chapter of the the hobbit. Bilbo Baggins is living in his house on the hill when he get an unexpected knock on his door and there is an old wizard with a grey beard in a large grey coat. This old wizards name is Gandalf the grey, Gandalf invites Bilbo Baggins to go on a adventure but Bilbo Baggins refuses and invites Gandalf to tea the next day instead and promptly heads inside of his house but just before leaving Gandalf put an insignia on his door. The next day Bilbo Baggins gets another knock on his door Bilbo Baggins thinking it was Gandalf comes running but instead it was a dwarf who barges into his house without saying a word and starts asking for food. after a few minutes another knock on the door and Bilbo Baggins goes to answer the door thinking that this time it will be Gandalf but alas it was another dwarf this time it it was an old dwarf with long white hair and a long white beard in a red coat who also barges in and goes straight to the kitchen and catches up with the other dwarf. After a while there is another knock on the door this time it is 2 twin dwarves with blond and brown hair and small beards, then there are another few drarves which show up then finally Gandalf arrives and they feast while also talking about their plans to take back the dwarves mountain which was taken over by the red dragon Smaug.

IRJE #2- The Brutal Telling

I am on page 362 in the book The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. In the chosen quotation, Armand Gamache walks towards the old Hadley house, a building full of dark memories from previous books.

Armand Gamache climbed the hill leading out of Three Pines. He carried his tweed jacket over his arm and kicked a chestnut ahead of him. The air smelled of apples, sweet and warm on the trees. Everything was ripe, lush, but in a few weeks there’d be a killing frost. And it would all be gone.

As he walked the old Hadley house grew larger and larger. He steeled himself against it. Prepared for the waves of sorrow that rolled in, flowing over and into anyone foolish enough to get close.

But either his defences were better than he’d expected, or something had changed. (p.95)

In this quotation, I like how Louise Penny uses descriptive and vivid words to set this scene in the book. I also like when she writes “the air smelled of apples,” and “in a few weeks there’d be a killing frost,” (going from a positive tone to a cold one) it links back into the book to when Gamache was thinking about how Three Pines everything felt safe, but so many tragedies had happened before (before being from earlier books) and is happening again. This shows us how the story unfolding, and how the environment and character perspective can work together to create tension and anticipation.

IRJE#2 The Martyr

In the book The Martyr by Anthony Ryan. Alwyn the scribe is separated from his battalion of soldiers in charge of capturing Roulgarth, a highly skilled highly dangerous soldier, and commander of armies. Alwyn was struck by an avalanche while fighting Roulgarht, and was thrown down a mountain and into the foreign territory of the Caerith. The Caerith are widely regarded as sorcerers that use dark magics, and extremely dangerous due to the curses they can set upon others.  As Alwyn lives with the caerith they tell him that the Eithlisch will come to the village, and will test him. When the Eithlisch arrives he takes Alwyn to an ancient city and Alwyn is transported into a dream world where he tells his life story to an ancient historian of a destroyed city. The historian says,

“it is the inevitable fate of those who think themselves wise to suffer the starkest evidence of their folly.” (p. 360).

after telling the historian his story, he is brought back to reality and decides he must go back to his kingdom and army. He brings Lilat, a Caerith woman who wishes to learn from his kingdoms people, she asks him a question about the wars that he has fought in,

so bad people came here and you fought them? did you win? I paused glancing back at her with sullen reticence. I should have been flattered that she had cast me into a heroic role, but instead it stirred an irrational resentment. Even when I lived a true villain I had never liked the mantle. (pp. 368-369).

When the Historian says this phrase Alwyn comes to the realization that he should not believe himself wise to all ways of the world, and as he is transported to an ancient time, he realizes his knowledge only scratches the surface of the knowledge of the world.  He also now understands that no matter what knowledge he acquires he should always be prepared to be confronted with the improbable. The second quote shows the thought that Alwyn knows he lived the life of “a true villain” and is not controlled by the notion that he has lived a life of heroism. These quotes are important moments in the book, because in both moments we learn more about Alwyn, and see his thoughts about himself and how they are not about how many victories he has accomplished, but how many mistakes or evils he has committed.

IRJE #2 – The 100

The 100 by Kass Morgan is a novel set during the future where Earth has been destroyed by nuclear war, and the world now lives on spaceships. To test if the planet is safe again, one hundred teenage prisoners are sent to Earth. The story follows Clarke, Bellamy, Wells, and Glass as they rebuild their society and discover what it means to be truly free.

What stood out to me was how the story showed leadership but most of all the importance of trust. Each character made a lot of mistakes since they are teenage prisoners, but learned from them. The multiple perspectives helped me understand how people’s choices are very much shaped by their past.

Wells, one of the main characters, basically summarized what the whole book was actually about in one sentence, “No one deserves to be punished forever,”. This book definitely shows that people are able to change and redeem themselves after doing terrible things if they’re just given another chance.

IRJE #2 – The Little Shop of Hidden Treasures by Holly Hepburn

In The Little Shop of Hidden Treasures by Holly Hepburn, main character Hope moves back to her childhood home in York, England after the death of her husband. In this part of The Little Shop of Hidden Treasures, Hope looks back on the process of grief and healing.

“Grief affects us all differently — sometimes we think we are coming through it — only to find another layer underneath. Maybe one day, we finish opening all the layers and find a new version of ourselves waiting — smaller than we were, sadder, but ready to face life again.” (pp. 251-252)

The quote suggests that loss isn’t something we can simply “get over,” but rather a long and ongoing process that reveals many different emotions as time passes. Grief doesn’t move in a straight line, it comes in waves, sometimes fading and then suddenly returning when we least expect it. Each layer we uncover in that process brings us a little closer to understanding ourselves again, even if we feel smaller, sadder, or more fragile than before. This quote also highlights the quiet strength that can come from healing. It reminds us that moving forward doesn’t mean going back to who we used to be; instead, it means finding the courage to face life again, even when we’ve been changed by what we’ve gone through. The phrase “a new version of ourselves” suggests transformation that comes from loss, we can develop deeper empathy, strength, and understanding. Holly Hepburn uses this moment to show that healing is not about returning to normal but about creating a new normal, one shaped by everything we’ve learned from love and loss. Her words tells readers that hope doesn’t always appear as a clear path; sometimes, it begins quietly, in small moments of courage and courage, and carves a new path.

IRJE#2 Twilight

In Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Bella is still trying to figure out what Edward really is. She knows he’s not normal, and she can’t stop thinking about how he saved her like he had superpowers.  Around page 73, you can really feel how much she’s getting pulled into his mystery.   It’s like an obsession for her.  He keeps warning her that he’s dangerous, but she doesn’t care. I can just imagine how Bella feels kind of scared but also curious and excited at the same time. One part that stood out to me is when Edward tells her,

 

“What if I’m not the hero? What if I’m the bad guy?”

 

It shows that Edward is trying to be as honest as he can, but Bella still wants to know him better anyway. It’s like she already knows her life is going to change forever, and she can’t stay away from him.  She’s on a path that she can’t get off.

I think this part is important because it shows how their connection keeps growing even though it’s dangerous. Bella doesn’t know everything yet, but she’s already falling for him. I like how the story makes you feel the mix of danger and love, like you it may not be what’s best for her, but you still want them to be together.

 

Pw #3

So.. Recently we went on a camping trip to camp Qwanoes. This one wasn’t as bad as the one before but still pretty bad. It started off with an hour-ish drive to the camp. When we got there we got introduced by the camp people and were told the rules and were to meet and when lunch and dinner and breakfast was. Then we were taken to our cabins. My cabin had Lachlan, Emilio, Aiden, T, Ayaz, Finn and Kennedy. Our cabins were a lot nicer then the ones before. Later on as we were unpacking we came out to find that Kennedy had brought axe body spray with him. Emilio had also brought this cologne that smelt really bad and Lachlan brought bug spray. At that moment in time i knew our cabin was about to REEK. Lucky we were called down before anything happened. The first day was pretty chill. We went down to go swim in freezing waters. During the night is when it got wild as aways. Everyone was Knocking on the walls and floor and Lachlan was attacking everyone as usual. The next morning we woke up for breakfast which was pretty nice. Then that’s when it struck. I was the last one from our cabin to go there as i went to talk with some other friends. I come back and they had a whole war of sprays. Then i get cornered by Emilio and Lachlan. Emilio had his cologne and Lachlan had the body spray. At this point everyone was gone and had ran out as soon as they could. I quickly grabbed the Bug spray and made them let me go. As i walked out the door Lachlan tried to spray me so i made sure i sprayed a lot as i closed the door on them. The rest of the days were pretty cool but i didn’t go on any of the fun stuff because I’m very scared of heights and almost everything had to do with heights so that wasn’t to fun. And that was a VERY short summary of our trip to camp Qwanoes.

IRJE#2 Black boy by Richard Wrights

In this section of Black Boy, Richard begins to notice the racial divisions that exist in the world around him. Although he is still a child, he can sense that there are things adults talk about in hushed tones or avoid mentioning altogether. Richard hears certain words that make people uncomfortable, and even though he does not understand their meaning, he feels the tension they create. This moment marks the beginning of his awareness of racism and the realization that the society he lives in is shaped by invisible but powerful rules.

“The words had a strange sound; I did not know what they meant, but I felt that they carried a meaning that was taboo, dangerous, something forbidden that people feared to speak aloud, yet something that ruled their lives.”(p.88)

This quote reveals the moment Richard starts to sense the hidden dangers of racism. Even though he cannot explain it yet, he feels that some words carry fear and forbidden meaning. Richard Wright uses this to show how racism is something children grow up surrounded by, even before they can understand it. The words “taboo” and “dangerous” show how deeply racism is rooted in the people’s silence and fear. This moment is important because it marks the beginning of Richard’s awareness of injustice.

health over money PW#3

 

What’s more important: being healthy or having lots of money? Explain why you think so.

 

In my opinion it is way more important to be healthy than to have a lot of money because even money can’t always buy you health if you get sick.  Also, you can be successful in life when you are healthy and having money doesn’t always mean you are successful. When you are healthy you can enjoy your life with your friends and family and doing stuff you love to do.  Even if you have a lot of money when you can be too sick to use it and enjoy it and live your life.  But there is a balance too.  Having lots of money makes life easier when you do get sick.  People who have lots of money are able to get treatment and medicine and take time off if they have health problems.  With little money it can be hard to stay healthy, like buying nutritious food, and taking time to look after yourself, so it can be harder to stay healthy.  So, I think, that in general it is better to be healthy instead of having lots of money but having some money makes it easier to stay healthy.

why is this in my back yard? PW#2

If you found a treasure chest buried in your garden, what would you most like to   discover inside?

 

If I found a treasure chest in my garden I would most like to find priceless jewelry from medieval times. I can imagine my face when discovering it and then opening it and seeing all the jewels, knowing that they are worth millions of dollars.  The jewellery would be like the kind that you see in paintings or when watching movies about kings and queens.  It would be such fun to imagine each story, of each piece of jewelry, like trying to uncover their secret.  But after thinking about how it shines in the sun and how it was made, I would start to wonder why and how the treasure chest ended up in my backyard.   Image if it was a princess who hid the chest of jewelry from brigands who were raiding the countryside and although she was able to protect the treasure, she was not so lucky and died where my house now sits. Even though I don’t know what actually happened, finding a treasure chest full of jewels, in this in my backyard is still so cool to imagine, because of the buried treasure and the game of imagining how it got there.

My dream trip PW#1

Where would you go, if you could go anywhere in the world? Who would you want to go to there with? 

 

If I were to go on my dream trip, I would go to Greece with my best friend, Isabella. I have always wanted to go to Greece because of the stunning waters and the beautiful sunsets. Isabella and I would love to walk the streets at night and see all the shops they have there. I would love to tan on the beaches and surf in water that looks like blue Jello.  I would love to see the iconic little white houses with blue roofs. We would have a little photo shoot on a beach at sunset together, so we have those memories forever.  On the list of things to do, we would go to a go to some sort of party and dance till we could not walk anymore.  Isabella and I have gone on trips together before and we had the best time together, even when there was nothing going on and we were just hanging out, relaxing.   I’d love to go on this trip just the two of us and I know that if for some reason my dream trip somehow sucked, she would make it so much better.

PW#3 Why I like Victoria

Why i like Victoria. I like Victoria because it is a lot warmer tan the Yukon. I also prefer Victoria to the Yukon due to the fact that it has a lot more things to do during the summer compared to the Yukon, i do prefer the Yukon in someways over Victoria I do miss all the winter activities that you could do during the winter instead of driving for 2 hours to get to mount Washington to do said winter activities. I miss being able to go outside and go snow machining for hours in all the trails around my old house where there was a trails just down the street that went on for miles and had so much to explore. Victoria is a lot warmer than the Yukon was which is very cold and had a lot of snow whereas in Victoria their is almost no snow during the entire year. I miss skying every weekend and going to my old cabin and swimming in the river during the summer and going snow machining during the winter. Victoria has its merits in more things to do during the summer such as hiking swimming in warm rivers instead of cold ones in the Yukon, in Victoria their are more things to do during the summer yes but their is practically no winter it snows maybe a week a year and the snow goes away almost instantly, while in the Yukon it snows for most of the year and stays there until May altho I do like the Yukon i like the change in scenery and there are a lot more summer activities so this is why  i like Victoria but i do still like the Yukon and enjoy all the different activities that Victoria has to offer during the summer not the winter.

PW#3: The Greatest Losses In Technology

Nowadays, all phones feel the same: mature and boring. Every generation is a minor refresh which is mostly just software features, and there are even changes they make that are downgrades (an example would be Samsung removing Bluetooth from the S-Pen in the S25 Ultra). Back then however, phones were the opposite: unique, soulful, and fun. So what happened? Why are phones so boring now? Well, there are many reasons, but in my opinion, the main reasons are the market maturing, lack of innovation, and less competition mostly because of the absence of 2 major brands. Firstly, the smartphone market was new, and companies were still trying to figure out what people wanted. Some companies thought people wanted a simple and easy to use device; others thought they wanted endless features and customization. Some thought people wanted projectors built into their phones with devices like the Samsung Galaxy Beam! The ideas were endless. However, the market slowly started to mature, and companies began to figure out what people wanted. Secondly, there is innovation. Back then, mostly because of smartphones being a new market, there were cool new features and gimmicks companies used to persuade you into buying their phones. Now, people usually know which phone brand they want, so companies just copy each other to the point where everything seems the same and they make more money since they don’t have to build new technology. Thirdly, there’s the lack of competition. There used to be many brands that were huge like HTC, but they slowly lost their grip and died out. Even though losing HTC was sad, there were still some innovative brands like Huawei and LG that pushed the boundaries. Unfortunately, LG would leave the smartphone market in 2021 due to low sales and Huawei would be put on the entity list in 2020, getting them banned from working with US companies and banned from many countries for allegedly spying though there was no proof they did this. Huawei still makes great phones, but they are mostly Chinese exclusive and can’t use things like Google services, making their phones hard to use if you aren’t in China. I think the downfall of these companies was a huge factor in phones being boring now since their exit lowered competition and innovation as companies have no reason to innovate anymore. 

PW #3

Hollow Knight: Silksong is a indie (independent developer team) game which takes place in a kingdom of bugs. It is the sequel to Hollow Knight, a game by team cherry. Silksong is a challenging 2d metroidvania where you explore the kingdom of pharloom. The game broke gaming platforms such as steam, Xbox and PlayStation stores (high lag). Silksong is a very difficult game, with many players disliking it due to its difficulty. The game is fair with its difficulty though, with you able to go across the kingdom of pharloom to find upgrades which make some parts much easier. It has a 91 rating on Metacritic, higher then most new triple A games. This shows that you do not need a large team, or massive amounts of money to have a great game, even though they did have quite a lot after hollow knight. Silksong took 7 years to make; the game took so long because they had no rush and kept having new ideas to add. They were allowed to go at their own pace which allowed them to keep making the game better and better. Without stockholders telling them to release by a date, or triple A games forcing anything upon them, they were able to use their creativity to craft a great game.

PW #3 ruta

I usually feel alone, no one to speak to when life is just slipping out of my hands, just wandering what it would be like to have someone to speak to about all the thoughts, feelings, ideas even dreams that are too much just to stay inside me, trapped between my soul and veins choking myself within my words; A savior who can read me just as I do with myself, a connection so pure that not even distance could break , As if we ve been created together with an invisible string connecting both our hearts making it one.

My one and only friend Emilia, or how I call her “ruta”, Shes the only friend I truly trust, she’s not even missing one part of my heart she’s not in. She reads me as if she was the writer of my life; everyone that knows me has heard her name; she has read every page of my story and so as I have done with hers. Our understanding of each other is unbelievably strong, she has helped me with so many broken pages that my book wouldn’t even be complete without her. Being so far away has make me even more grateful of having her in my life, and as I have said many times, what a privilege it is to miss her so much, because is equivalent of how much I love her.

#PW-3

This past weeks have been so fun since I’ve spent most of my time with friends. Due to the fact that I am an exchange year student I have been experiencing things I hadn’t done before. One of the most memorable things I’ve done since I’ve came here was going to the camp. It was an unforgettable moment. I really enjoyed dipping in the ocean with my friends and singing late night karaoke.

I’ve also been going out a lot more then I use to, for the fact that I’m still getting to know Victoria. Last week specially was one of the best weeks I’ve had since I got here. I really enjoyed it because I was with my friends most of the time. We went out and explored the city, we grabbed coffee, and went out for dinner on weekdays and lunch on weekends.

My favorite day was when I had a picnic with friends. It was on Sunday, even if it is considered a resting day me and my friends went out to the Hervey Castle and had a little picnic. We brought our favorites snacks including fruits and sweets and blasted music while laughing with each-other. I really enjoy how I’m finding my family here even if they’re not literally family, and how we go out almost everyday to do new things. I really hope it stays like this for the rest of the year, and have the best exchange year anyone could talk about.

PW #3 Why I love traveling

During the summer my family loves to travel. We always go to new places during the summer. My most recent place I went to was england. I just love traveling because it makes me feel so alive. I feel a lot better in different countries. I can meet new people and more. The weather always makes me feel more alive as well. My family also goes to Arizona a lot where it is very hot. The hot weather is always nice because it just makes me feel so alive where the weather here in Victoria is so miserable and cold and wet. I do like the rain but the sunshine is so much better during the summer because you don’t have to wear a rain jacket where as you can just wear a t-shirt and shorts in the summer when the hot sun is beaming down on you. I just love traveling because It gives me a break from Victoria because Victoria can be very boring sometimes as there is not much to do here. But in other places like Arizona or Orlando there is so much to do! I could find something new to do there everyday.

PW #3

recently I haven’t been feeling as much motivation to train my basketball skills. its been cold outside and It feels super exhausting to go out there and put in work. on the flip side ive been super motivated with doing my workouts of my abs every day and in the gym theese alothgouh requiring more effort are feeling not as hard to do as the basketball. im trying to figure out how I can get back to be motivating but my basketball hoop outside is also messed up so if I had a nice hoop I would feel better to play out there but as this goes on I fear I am losing interest in putting so much work although I know it wont be long before I get a sudden burst of motivation to continue basketball. but for now I will just to more focus on my dribbling skills and athleticism and physique as that is what I am feeling motivated to do. another thing is I decided to go on no sugar for my physique and basketball it has been going good but sometimes I find it is very hard to resist when the people around me also are eating sugary food, so I decided to let myself have sugar one time a week until winter break then I will go back to 0 sugar diet with less carbs less corns and no processed foods.

PW#3

This is my third personal writing assignment I am kind of out of ideas for what to write about so today i will be talking about GTA 6. if you don’t already know what GTA 6 is, it is the sixth game in the GTA series and was probably the most hyped up game since 2023. The thing about GTA 6 is that since it is such an advanced game the developers at Rockstar( the company that made GTA 5) keep having to delay the games release date the game was actually supposed to be released a couple months ago but Rockstar decided to move it all the way to may 26 2026 this is a problem because this is not the first time they have delayed the game. now i do not know if this is true but in 2024 there was speculation that it was going to be released around Christmas 2024 of course this did not happen but many people believed that it was actually happening so when they did not release it on Christmas people were a tiny bit mad. now they have delayed it again all the to 2026 when it was supposed to be released May of this year. Now people are saying that the game will not even release on May of 2026 and that they might push it to October 2026 almost a year from now. I feel that if Rockstar keeps up with these delays the hype will either get even crazier or it will fizzle down until nobody cares about the release anymore. I personally think that the hype will get even crazier as the months go on. I think that the delays are good and bad while the fact that they are delaying to make the game better the more they delay the more we have to wait.

PW#3 I think Narrative driven games are the better then the majority of movies I have watched at least.

I love playing story driven videogames. I have 100% spiderman 1+2 and I close to with Ghost of Tsushima. Since they are interactive and if someone is not an avid gamer there are modes where the enemies are super easy. Story games are usually what impact me the most compared to most movies I watched. When Iron man died in endgame, Barely reacted. But when the robot companion died to stray, I Cried.

Let’s say for example God of War 2018. It’s about an Older Kratos who killed of the Greek gods except for Athena then moved to Norse mythology. And it is about him and his son trying to spread the ashes of his dead wife on the highest peak in Midgard. Or Ghost of Tsushima. A fictional story based of the Mongolian invasion of Japan. A forgotten Samurai during the Mongolian invasion of Japan. He loses his clan and Grandfather due to traditionalism and becomes an Urban legend or a ghost as some would say who single handedly stopped the Mongols in the island of Tsushima. And those are a only a couple I have played. There are even more like Baldur’s gate 3 which is set in the Dungeons and Dragons universe and probably my favorite game of all time and has 17,000 unique endings because of NPCS you talked to and quest lines you did or Companions you saved. I say it is worth the 90$.

But, I am not saying the movies are bad. Of course movies are also more easily accessible But in my opinion I would rather spend a week to 1 month playing a story game rather then watching 1 movie a day.

PW 3: Thanksgiving Weekend

On the weekend I went to Vancouver for Thanksgiving. There were many ups and downs throughout the whole weekend, of which I’ll explain.

The morning of, Saturday morning, I woke up at 6am to leave at 7am. As I brought my bag and pillow downstairs, I came down to my mom and dad frustrated. Our car had been at the mechanics twice within the past two weeks, and yet somehow was leaking oil. We got around this by using our other, smaller car, which was uncomfortable to fit into, but it worked. My dad was frustrated though.

We made it across the ferry and to our family friend’s house. On the day of dinner, we were supposed to start the turkey at around 9:30am. But of course, the oven had to break. We ended up going three blocks down holding this gigantic, oversized turkey just to cook it at our friends’ house. It actually got cooked properly and made it back on time for dinner, which was surprising.

Sidenote, we had started a Mario party game at 9:30 when they tried to prepare the turkey. By the time we had finished most of the other food, about 1:15pm, we were on the LAST ROUND of the game. I’m never playing that again. No game should take 4 hours to finish.

On the way back to our house, we had too much traffic, but there weren’t many other problems. We did have a good time running away and leaving our friend behind on the street in the middle of the night while he was cat sitting, tired, and in crocs.

In all, my weekend was pretty fun, but some questionable things happened along the way that made my weekend interesting and kept my on my feet.

PW #3- Chloe’s Unluckiest Day Ever

Chloe’s eye’s shot open, the light blaring into her room brighter than other school mornings. She jumped out of bed realizing that her alarm never woke her up, she turned to her clock to see it was 8:13am! School started at 8:30! She quickly threw on two mismatched socks, grabbed her backpack and ran out the door just to see that the bus she needed to catch for school was leaving without her! With Chloe’s parents already being at work and the bus was her only ride to school, she was forced to walk. To make it even worse, it started to pour rain, soaking her clothes and every bit of hope she had for the day.

When she finally got to school she was greeted by a math pop quiz first block. To make it even worse, she had missed the class when they had learned about what was on the quiz! After math she had history, her least favourite class. It felt as if the clock was moving slower than ever, like Chloe had been in that class for at least a couple days! Finally when the bell rang and it was lunch time, she sat down starving as she had forgotten to eat breakfast, she opened her bag to see… nothing. She had forgotten her lunch at home on her kitchen counter.

Chloe pulled herself through the last two blocks of the day and finally she was able to go home. As She got out of the front doors of the school she once again saw the school bus driving away. She couldn’t believe it, she had missed the bus again! When Chloe finally made it home, exhausted from her terrible day, all she did was eat dinner and fall into bed. As she looked up at her celling in her room, tired and broken from the day, all she could hope for was that tomorrow was just little luckier for her.

pw#3 dreams

People dream about many things. It may be about what they want to own, what they want to do, or what they dream of accomplishing. Dreams, and aspirations are shaped by what you desire. I find the interesting thing about dreams is that they belong to yourself, but they can also be shared by someone else. I think dreams can be influenced by those around you. What I mean by this is that my dream may be to give something to another person, if my someone I am close with tells me that they’re dream, a dream of mine could be to help them in any way possiblE. I maintain the belief that a dream is influenced by those you care for, and what they want. In my opinion someone who gives up on their dream is weak-minded, any feasible dreams in the realm of man are possible if you have the mindset that, this will be hard but I will never falter, never quit, and never waste an opportunity bestowed upon me. A quote I came up with is, “failure is a chance to improve wrapped in an exterior of disappointment if you break through that exterior enough times, you will find not only improvement but success as well.” (Will Y Oct 13 2025). This phrase to me is the perfect reminder that, failure is not true failure its a way to grow, and paves the way to succeed in making your dreams a reality.

PW #3 | About my Server With my Sister (pt. 1)

Before starting, I will mention that I’m splitting this into two parts so as to stay close to the 200-300 word range.

My sister and I started a Minecraft server so that we could stay close after she moved to Ontario for university. This server started in a very interesting valley between a large, snowy mountain and a badlands on the other side. We decided to travel through and above the mountain, which eventually led to another mountain that had two villages somehow combined. One village was on the snowy side of the mountain, and the other was on the less snowy side of the mountain, under the first village. We thought it’d be nice to live in one of the houses there, and I was going to expand a house into the mountain and have tons of farms there. That plan didn’t work because living on a slant is quite inconvenient and annoying to traverse; so my sister decided she didn’t like it and moved to live at the base of the mountain, where she could have a small farm for crops, and a somewhat larger farm for animals of all kinds. I sort of copied her, but instead of living at the base, I went to a huge oak forest and levelled some hills to put my house on. Once we found where to live, we had to decide what materials to use for our houses. My sister was very decisive and chose almost immediately (forms of terracotta, bricks, and oak wood) while I was more indecisive, eventually choosing mangrove wood and dark oak. But, if you’ve ever dabbled in trying to find specific biomes, you’d know mangrove swamps are very rare and also very small. In the next part, I will talk about what happened on the way back, building some farms, mining a little, and starting my house.

PW#3 Life in Korea

As some of you may know, I am half Korean. I’ve lived about half my life in Korea, and the other half here in Victoria. Whenever someone asks me where I preferred living I would always way that I preferred living in Korea. However, it was only until the end of September this year when I actually started thinking about how different my lifestyles were based on the time of the year.

When I live in Korea for the summer, I have almost no limits. I can walk around the city by myself, I can hang out with my friends and walk to places with them at 3 am. I would never be able to do that here and feel like I was safe. I am also Closer to my mom’s side of the family and I only see them when I’m in Korea.

Another reason I prefer living in Korea is because of how convenient everything is. There are small shops, cafés, and restaurants everywhere, and the subway is super easy to use. When I live in Korea, I often go to the convenience store in my apartment complex. There, I can easily buy many things that I need.

Here in Victoria, things feel a lot quieter and more spread out. I have to plan everything ahead, and I can’t just suddenly go somewhere with my friends. I do like how peaceful it is here, but sometimes it feels a bit too calm. In Korea, even simple things like hanging out with friends or walking around at night feel exciting and full of energy.

Still, living in both places has made me appreciate different parts of each culture. Korea feels fast-paced and connected, while Victoria feels relaxed and open. I think having both experiences has helped me see the world in a unique way.

PW#3 Campbell river

This weekend, I had no soccer games. My team had no soccer games because it was thanksgiving. So, me and my family went to Campbell river. In Campbell river, we went to this new hotel. We went to this hotel because it was right next to a driving range and a golf course. But that not all we did in Campbell river, we also went to see the nature and wildlife. We saw bears and salmons. We saw bears fishing salmons in a river. In that river there was also a lot of people fishing. What surprised me the most was that there were bears that came to fish right in front of the people and the people didn’t even get scared. They said that it was normal for them to see bears come right in front of them. That experience was pretty fun but my favorite part was definitely the golf. The range was very nice because it had trackers to measure how far and fast your ball went. I also enjoyed playing on the course with my dad. The course  was very fun because it wasn’t to hard but not to easy. It had the perfect balance.

PW#3 – Why I Love Flamingos

I love flamingos because they are incredibly pink and unique! Their big, bright pink feathers, long legs and big curved necks make them stand out and look so elegant. I find it fascinating that their colour doesn’t come naturally, but it originates from the food they consume, such as shrimp and algae. Flamingos are graceful and have many different abilities, such as balancing on one leg for long periods of time. The way that they move is so peaceful and calm. Their presence is relaxed and serene, even when other loud birds and wildlife surround them. Flamingos can range from pink to deep coral depending on the area of the world they reside in and the type of food available to them.

I also love how social flamingos are. They always stay together in big colonies that can range from hundreds to thousands of birds. It shows that they use and rely on teamwork.  Many flamingos develop long-term friendships, which I find very much like us.  Their behaviour reminds me that being part of a group and supporting each other is essential. They look out for one another and work together.  Flamingos are all different and stand out. They aren’t afraid to be big, bright, and bold.

PW #3

(Own prompt), “If you could trade lives with any animal for a day, which would you choose and what would you do first?”. I think the animal, or rather arachnid, would be a black widow spider. I chose this animal because they are scary and sleek, with their all black skin and pointy legs. Also, choosing a spider would do everybody a huge flavour, because spiders trap and kill mosquitoes, houseflies, ants, silverfish, wasps, and more. Mosquitoes are definitely the most annoying, especially when you hear one buzzing around your room at night, and you can’t find it. So you go to bed and wake up with a new, itchy mosquito bite. The worst part is you can’t even feel them biting you, the only way you find out they are is if you see them. Wasps and houseflies are the runners-up, with the wasps just being a more annoying version of a bee, only with a worse sting and the ability to sting multiple times. Houseflies find their way into your house with ease, but have the hardest time leaving, banging their head on windows, spreading their germs on unprotected food, and just being a nuisance. Spiders also create webs, which is how they capture these unpleasant insects, but it also means a spider bite to any human who falls victim to walking into a spider web. Spiders are sneaky too; they usually reside in the most unsuspecting nooks and crannies of the house, like ceiling corners, under the stairs, under beds, inside vases, etc. Which means they are always watching. The only downsides are being the size of a bottle cap, and being the smallest predator, meaning a spider doesn’t really stand a chance against any other living animal, except for small rodents, frogs,  lizards, and small snakes.