Self Reflection

1.       In my opinion you had us write blogs instead of traditional writing so that we could become familiar with communicating through the internet and becoming better writers using blogs. This way our writing was open to a far broader audience and we could read each-others work and comment on it. It gives us an opportunity to better our writing because if I look at someone else’s writing, they may have a good point and that could change my idea of the topic, so I would also be learning more. Another reason could be that you wanted our writing to be read my other people from all over the world. The free-write blogging gave us the opportunity to write about anything we wanted to, and sometimes that was hard because I didn’t know what to write about.

2.       I have accomplished quite a lot during the blogging. I have reflected on all the things that have happened to me, that I thought would be interesting for other people to read. I have become a quicker at typing since we started blogging, which has helped me in other subjects too. It has helped me to do my work before it’s due and not leave it until the last minute.

3.       I have accomplished quite a lot during the blogging. I have learnt how to write in a way that is suitable for all audiences. Because the blogs were free-write, sometimes I didn’t know what to write about, so it forced me to really think about what had happened in my life that I could write about. It gave me time to think about my past experiences and reflect on them. A major thing that I have learnt is how to use blogs, before you taught us about blogs, I had heard about them, but I didn’t actually know how to use them and how many people used them. I have also learnt about the other people in my class, and what they like, for example, I knew that Vanesa liked sports, but I didn’t realise that it played such a big part in her life.

4.       Blogging will help in the future because now I am more educated on using ways of internet to communicate and spread information. I now know that I should take the time to get to know people better because even though you think you know someone, there is always something else that you can learn about them. As I said before, I can now type faster than I could before, so I can get my work completed a lot quicker. It is now easier for me to write out of my head because of all the free writes we did, I find that I am a little more creative than what I was before.

Big Move to Doha

In December of 2007 my whole life changed.

It all started when one afternoon when my dad arrived home from work. “I have an interview in Qatar. I’m leaving next week Tuesday”. First of all, we had no clue where Qatar was, and we didn’t have any plans on move. “Let me just see what they have to say”, my dad told us. Little did I know that I would be moving to a place that was the complete opposite of what I was used to.

Every morning I would wake up at 6:30 and look out my window onto the beautiful sunrise. I would get have breakfast and get dresses into my red and white plaid uniform and head off to school, which started at 8 o clock. School would then finish at 2 in the afternoon, on a Wednesday and Friday, we would finish at 1:30. We didn’t have a big, fancy cafeteria, we had a small tuckshop that sold everything from hamburgers to 5 cent sweets. During break my friends and I would then go and sit on the field, which was so pleasant, but at the time I didn’t realize it. For now, I wish I could sit on lush, green grass every day, because lush, green grass is difficult to come by when you live in the desert. After school my mom would pick me up, and we would head home. I now know that I took the 5 minute drive for granted, because now it took me about 30 minutes to get home everyday.

When I got home I would do homework, which never took me more than an hour. Every afternoon I had some kind of activity going on, whether it was dancing, netball, tennis or golf. In the evening the sun would go down and 7, so most nights we would sit outside on the porch and have a braai with salad and potatoes. A braai is what South Africans call a barbeque.

On the weekends my friends and I would go to Greenstone shopping mall and watch a movie or go bowling. Sometimes we would go visit my aunt and grandpa. On the days that I wasn’t busy, my brother and I would ride around our area on our bikes for hours on end and go swimming. Sometimes, I would help my mom in the garden, we had a beautiful garden, all kinds of flowers and trees, and grass, another thing I took for granted.

I might not have known it, but I had the perfect life. I know that a whole bunch of South Africans say they would do anything to leave South Africa because of the crime and bad government, but I would go back in a heartbeat. I might not have had all the expensive iPods or cell phones or the big car, but I was happy, and that was all I needed.

My dad came back from the interview and told us that he thought we should move to Doha, Qatar. We decided it would be a good and interesting experience, and a chance for us to learn about another culture. So in December of 2007, we left South Africa and moved to Qatar.

As the plane landed, I felt nervous, excited and sad all at the same time. I had left all my friends, family and pets behind, but I knew that an adventure awaited, and I was looking forward to a new life.

Now instead of green gardens, blue skies and long afternoons, I had a dusty patch of brown grass, hazy skies and rushed afternoons filled with homework. On the weekends we go to the towering dunes, and the over air-conditioned City Centre. However, I am so happy that our family moved to Doha, because even if it took us a while to settle down, I have learnt so much about myself, another culture and how I should appreciate everything I have and not take it for granted. Along the way I have met so many interesting and wonderful people that I would have never met before and I am so grateful for that.  

Ski Trip to Italy

In the December of 2008, my family and I went on a ski trip to Courmayeur, Italy.

On the 18 of December we departed from Doha, and took a connecting flight to Abu Dhabi, then to Geneva, Switzerland. From Geneva we took a 3 hour bus ride to the border between Switzerland and France, crossed the border and then took the Mont Blanc Tunnel through to the northern tip of Italy, to a small village known as Courmayeur.

As we stepped out of the airport in Geneva, the icy air took my breath away. It was so cold and crisp, a good wake up from the long and tiring plane ride. The skies were clear, the sun was shining and there wasn’t nearly as much snow as I hoped there would be as I looked out the window of the rattling bus. I could tell that it hadn’t snowed in a couple of days, the snow on the side of the road had become brown and mushy and there were patches of grass showing through the melting snow. My eyelids became heavier and heavier and soon I was asleep.

When I woke up, we had reached the border. We caught a taxi that took us through the tunnel, which was 11 kilometres long. When we finally reached the other side, it was like we were on a different continent. There were huge snow clouds hanging low to the ground and no grass or ground was visible. As we wound through the towering mountains, the land became less and less industrial. The 2 lane concrete road towered above the cities below, my mom refused to look down.

After a 3 hour bus ride and a 1 hour taxi ride, we had arrived at the small village of Courmayeur. Courmayeur was situated in a small valley between the mountains of the great Alps. The roads were all one lane and small walk ways wound through the whole village.

The next morning I awoke to stunning blue skies. When I stepped out onto the balcony of our hotel room, I looked out onto enormous towering mountains on every side of the small village. I hadn’t known the mountains were there because when we arrived there were snow clouds blocking them. On the opposite mountain was the ski slopes. Every morning we would take a taxi down to the ski resort (we couldn’t walk because we each had about 6 kilos of ski gear with us). The first day of skiing was horrible! I fell so many times that eventually I didn’t even want to carry on trying. On the second day we went for lessons at the Ski School, and it got much better from there on. We spent the whole of that day on the baby slopes. On the third day we upgraded to the intermediate slope. There was a pony lift going up to the top of the slope. From the bottom I watched as skiers zoomed by, it looked so easy and so much fun! So I took the pony lift up and from the top I went straight down. Looking back at it now, that was probably not the smartest thing to do. I hadn’t had that much practice and I wasn’t comfortable on my skis yet, so of course, I fell and went the whole way down on my back.

Each day it got easier and easier and by the day before Christmas I was going down the slope with no problem! Finally Christmas had arrived. Now seeing that I come from the southern hemisphere, summer is always from November to February, so we never have snow during Christmas, and even during winter, it doesn’t snow. So of course I was really excited for Christmas and I hoped so much that it would snow. The whole week before the news had said that it wouldn’t snow again until January. On December 25 I woke up, and the Christmas angles must have heard my hopes because it was snowing! The whole valley below was covered in a light, puffy, white snow. It looked just like a fairy tale! The whole day my brother and myself played out in the snow until our clothes were soaked through.

The trip to Italy gave me an opportunity to learn a bit more about a different way of life and a different culture. It is a trip I will never forget.

The Kruger National Park

Today I am going to tell you about a place that I hold very dear to my heart, the Kruger National Park.

 As I wake up the cold, crisp early morning air fills my lungs. The night birds and crickets are still singing their melodies and the golden sun hadn’t yet risen over the African savannah. The picnic basket is packed, coffee, tea and Ouma Rusks. We pile into the car and get ready to leave Satara, the camp we are staying at in the Kruger National Park.

 The Kruger Park is a 20, 000 km2 wild life reserve, situated in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It was founded in 1902 and has been going ever since. It is now a popular tourist site and is visited by thousands of people every day. The Kruger Park is home to an impressive amount of indigenous species, 147 mammals, 507 birds, 114 reptiles, 34 amphibians, 49 fish, and 336 trees. There Kruger is divided into six eco-systems: Baobab sandveld, Mopane scrub, Lebombo Knobthorn-Marula bushveld, mixed acacia thicket, Cimbretum-silver clusterleaf woodland on granite and Riverine forest. Altogether there are 1, 982 species of plants in these diverse eco-systems. Each eco-system is home to different animals, so you wouldn’t find a Black Rhinoceros in Mopane scrub because it does not provide the needed food that the rhino eats.

Kruger has 21 rest camps in total. The main restcamps are Berg-en-Dal, Crocodile Bridge, Letaba, Lower Sabie, Mopani, Oilifants, Orpen, Pretoriuskop, Pundu Maria, Satara, Shingwedzi, Skukuza and Tsendze. The bushveld camps are Bataleur, Biyamiti, Shimuweni, Sirheni and Talamati. There are also over night hides. These are hides during the day, but after the Park gates have closed, they become over night sleeping accommodation, they are Sable and Shipandani. Each of these camps is situated in different areas of the park and they all offer a different experience. Most of the main camps are located on rivers, such as Letaba, Oilifants, Lower Sabie etc. There are 9 gates that you can enter the park through.

I strongly suggest that if you want a relaxing holiday in Africa, you go to the Kruger National Park. Accommodation is in-expensive and you are sure to leave with experience and memories.  

Each year my family and I return to the Kruger National Park for the holidays. I have always said that my soul belongs in the Kruger Park; every time I go there it feels like there isn’t a care in the world. For 2 weeks I can get away from the busy city life and go to the bush, where there aren’t any police or ambulance sirens, no barking dogs, and no traffic. Instead there are clear skies, fresh air, the sound of birds and insects, and the smell of the African bush. My favorite part of the whole trip is when late at night, when I’m sitting outside listening to the night sounds and the flowing river, I can look up and see millions of stars shining back at me, and that is when I know that I am home.

Netball

Today I’m going to tell you about a sport that is common in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. It is Netball. I’m going to tell you about the sport and how it is played.

How to Play

Centre passes are taken  alternately by the Centre of each team, after each goal is scored and at the start of each quarter. Each teams’ goal to pass the ball to down to their goal circle and score goals. The team with the most goals at the end of the playing time wins the game. Before the whistle all players must start in the goal thirds except the two Centres. The Centre with the ball must be wholly within the Centre Circle and must obey the footwork rule after the whistle has been blown. The opposing Centre stands anywhere within the Centre Third and is free to move. After the whistle the Centre pass must be caught or touched by a player standing in or landing wholly within the Centre third. When shooting for a goal, only GS or GA can score and they must be completely within the goal circle when the ball is received in order to shoot for goal. A goal is scored when the ball passes over and completely through the goal ring. A game is made up of 4 x 15 minute quarters with an interval of 3 minutes between the first and second and third and fourth quarters and a 5 minute half time interval. There is up to 2 minutes of time allowed for an injury. There are two umpires in charge of every game and their decision is final. When a player is out of their area it is considered off sides. A free pass is awarded when rules are broken. If a player moves into the centre third before the whistle is blown for a centre ball, a free pass is given to the opposing team.

Rules

· At the moment the ball is passes there must be room for a third player between the hands of the thrower and catcher.

· The ball may not be thrown over a complete third without being touched or caught by a player completely within that third.

· No player may contact an opponent, either accidentally or deliberately, in such a way that interferes with the play of that opponent or causes contact to occur.

Foot work

Having caught the ball, a player may land or stand on:
One foot – while the landing foot remains grounded, the second foot may be moved anywhere any number of times, pivoting on the landing foot if desired. Once the landing foot is lifted, it must not be re-grounded until the ball is released.

Two feet (simultaneously) – once one foot is moved, the other is considered to be the landing foot, as above. Hopping or dragging the landing foot is not allowed.

Obstruction

Player with ball: the nearer foot of the defender must be 0.9m (3ft) feet from the landing foot of the player with the ball, or the spot where the first foot had landed if one has been lifted. The defender may jump to intercept or defend the ball from this 0.9m (3ft) feet distance

Player without ball: the defender may be close, but not touching, providing that no effort is made to intercept or defend the ball and there is no interference with the opponents throwing or shooting action. Arms must be in a natural position, not outstretched, and no other part of the body or legs may be used to hamper an opponent.

Netball is a very fast paced game and injuries are not uncommon, I personally have broken my left arm 3 times and my right one 1 while playing netball. However, it is very enjoyable and when played correctly very fun.

My piece of Africa

Ok, so today I am going to give you an idea of what South Africa is like. I know that people have heard all the stories about how it’s so unsafe and how you can get AIDS just by looking at someone. So I wanted to set the record straight. These are just some of the many pros and cons.

I was born in and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa.

During school holidays we would go to our holiday home, which was on the opposite side of the Crocodile River that runs through the biggest wild life reserve in the whole of South Africa, the Kruger National Park. I would wake up to the sound of the flowing river and the call of birds. During the day we would sit on the balcony and watch as the animals came down to the river to drink, elephants, rhinos, leopards, buck, giraffe, zebra, lions and every other African animal you can think of. The sun would come up at 6 and would go down at 7, so from 8 until 7, my brother and I wouldn’t come home unless we were hungry. We would collect bugs and play barefoot, and then we would collect twigs and sticks for the fire at night. The summer sun would bake our skin brown and make light blonde streaks in my hair. We would sit on the balcony and eat dinner, watching the blood red sun set below the dark silhouette of the large acacia trees. At night I would fall asleep to the sound of night birds and crickets. This was all a part of growing up in Africa. But little did I know that away from all the fun and happiness, the country that I loved so much was slowly becoming worse and worse. After our 2 weeks in the bush, we would return to the busy, rushed city life of Johannesburg. In the year 2007 the local municipality started having what they called “Load Sharing”. This was when they would cut the electricity supply for between 2-6 hours everyday. They did this because one of the main power stations had been shut down, because someone was too lazy to fix a small problem, then the small problem became bigger and bigger, and well now the power station had to be shut down. The other new problem was that petrol was becoming more expensive than a bottle of 2 litre milk. Now everyone knows that the crime in South Africa was bad, but this too was becoming worse. Now, everyday you would hear of someone dying in a car accident or being murdered in their own homes. Violence in schools was reaching a state of extreme danger. At one school in the Cape, a 15 year old boy was killed with a samurai sword by his class mate. Now I know within myself what the cause of all these problems is, and I’m sure that other people have their opinions too. The message that I want to get across is that even though crime is now a job profession and even though petrol costs more than milk, and even though we didn’t have electricity for sometimes 6 hours at a time, I still go back to South Africa every year because it is the most diverse and interesting place in the whole world. I still go back ever year to my holiday home in the bush, and for 2 whole weeks, all those problems go away, and I’m reminded why I love South Africa so much. We can overcome those problems, but people should know both sides of the story, not just the crime side. South Africa has so much to offer, you just have to go out there and find it.

Freedom Of Speech as a blogger

In my opinion, freedom of speech means that you can express your emotions and opinions freely and without discrimination.  For example, I can say that I think GAP stores should be shut down because they use child laborers to create clothing, that’s my opinion. Freedom of speech allows people to basically write about anything they want to, as long as it is the truth. In the 2^nd amendment of the U.S.A. it states that everyone has the right to Freedom of Speech, unless it is libel, meaning that it is false or un-true. If someone uses libel, freedom of speech does not protect them, and they could get into trouble for what they have said. In my opinion Freedom of Speech is not applied when you are saying or writing something that is defacing someone or something, especially if it is someone in high authority, for example a king or president. However, I also think it depends on how that person treats everyone else and how they behave in the public eye. 

Freedom of Speech as a blogger probably has more limits and boundaries than what it does if you are writing for a newspaper or for an assignment at school. When you are blogging on the internet, your work gets published to an international audience, and many things you say could offend people, even if that is not your intention. In some places in the world, there is no Freedom o f Speech, in Nepal, if you say something bad about the King, you could get arrested. Now if you didn’t know that, and you said something, you will pay the price. I think that as bloggers, we need to know the boundaries, because if we don’t, there could be serious consequences. We need to know when it’s OK to say something and when you shouldn’t say something.

Entering the Unknown

Hi Everyone

Well, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about, so I have chosen to write about my life. I have had many strange and different experiences and I figured that it would be interesting to share those experiences with others. I will be writing about different things that have happened, it could be about something in  my past or it could be something that is happening now. I hope you enjoy my writing!

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