On April 19, 2013 we packed our bags and drove to Vancouver and it was the longest six hours of my life! (or it seemed like it!) When we finally got there, we stay at a fancy hotel that had a pool (my highlight of the trip). Our suite had a fancy kitchen, too.. and it was on the 10th floor in downtown so there was lots to see).

The reason for our trip was Fan Expo with Stan Lee. The place was so crowded that we had to shuffle across the cement floor, which hurt our feet. That wasn't too much of a problem because  of all the stalls to see. There was the Delorean from Back to the Future, Bronycan, 501st  Legion from Star Wars, Anime Revolution, Lego, Celebrity q & a, and dancing Halo Spartans. While at the stalls, I bought Hetalia manga- which aren't made anymore (Hetalia: a manga series about people named after Countries- making history hilarious). These books  are very pricey anywhere else. Thankfully I had lots of birthday money to spend.

We also tried new food such as Japadog (hotdogs made out of Japanese ingredients like nori and teriyaki) and Taco Del Mar (great burritos). During our 4-day stay in Vancouver,  we walked at least 20 kilometres. Overall, it was a great trip with new things.

For the past 2 months, I have been learning diving at the Penticton Community Centre pool. We learned the basic dives such as back, tuck, pike.... I hope to do the next level and learn technique and new dives.

In October, I decided to start learning to play the bagpipes. My teacher's name is Geordie Young of the Caledonian Pipe Band. The most difficult part of the bagpipes is reading all the notes properly and making sure my fingers are straight. Most instruments make you curl/bend your fingers, but with the chanter (the practice pipe), you have to make sure your fingers are completely straight. I'm learning my first song now, after a couple of months of learning notes and note changes.

Today I learnt about christmas around the world and their traditions. Christmas in Russia wasn't celebrated very much in the time of the Soviet Union. But now it is celebrate every year, and is celebrated on January 10 (some catholics celebrate on the  25th of December), so they had a 40 day  advent calender. They have many traditions such as: fasting (not eating for a period of time), traditional foods (borsch, solyanka, kutia), and lastly the prayers. But Russia isn't the only one with different traditions, other countries also do, such as Latvia.

Latvia's version of  Christmas doesn't have  too much of the tradition factors, but they do have the first ever Christmas tree (as seen in the picture up top), in 1510 they thought Germany had the first, but it is proven that its in Townsquare, Riga, Latvia. Though this culture doesn't have too many traditions,  lets see if Ireland has more.

Ireland's christmas is catholic like North America,but its advent of a ''feast of epiphany" until January 6. In Gaelic Ireland, Christmas is known as "Nolliag" and Father Christmas "daidi na nollaig" and Santa is "san nioclas."  There is also a traditional short tune called "The Wren", this goes back to ancient times when there was a real wren and it was killed and been carried around in a "holy bush". This is a essay on Christmas culture around the world  on Russia, Latvia, and Ireland.

This is a report on the first term of grade six. During this term I learned more advanced mathematics with JumpMath and different organisms and their kingdoms in Science (as well as microscope stuff). I like JumpMath a lot and think the way it's laid out is very smart. I also learned about multiculturalism in Social Studies, and how media is involved with stereotypes. My favourite subject has been Spanish with Senor Aguirre in Penticton.  Spanish is awesome because it makes a lot of sense. We learned how to pronounce different letters/combinations, weather, some common phrases and some verbs. I started 2 more new things this term, which are music (bagpipe lessons) and diving lessons. In music, I play on a chanter and I have learned different notes, fingering and a few short tunes. My teacher is Geordie Young.  In diving, I have learned different dives properly, mostly learning how to position myself so I don't bellyflop! 

In this term I think I did pretty average, but I do want to improve next term. I want to improve on English, especially in the EnglishSmart book. Also, I want to learn more in Quest Atlantis. I am looking forward to more recreational events like skating and learning about electricity in science.

 And lastly, I love the recreational events I was able to do, like canoeing,  and the point that I was able to choose my subjects. 

My spanish class at our fiesta for Christmas... ¡Feliz Navidad!

I have been working on this diorama that shows some of the past and current resources in British Columbia. The river is important because they are used for gold panning and routes for trading, as well fishing. The mountains are used for mineral sites and certain fur like bear. People all a round took camping territories (staked claims) as seen in this picture marked as: Barker, Jones, and Cameron , and the unmarked tent is on Cameron's territory just so you know. This is made mostly out of paper mache and wax and the rest is made out of styrofoam and paint, pebbles and fir branches. I may still add more trees and a railway track to show the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

  

My first year of home schooling has been great, it was a little rough at the start, but I made many different friends along the
year and no bullies or pains in the back. I'm having the greatest time in this program. I'm planning on going next year and
maybe the year after that but I don't know yet. My favourite parts of the year were all the different activities I got to do, like skiing, skating, curling, scuba diving, swimming, and most of all... I like the freedom of learning at home.

P.S. in the picture below I was bracing myself in a windstorm!

Yesterday, I took a lesson at a flying school. I learned how a plane stays in the air. I also took a ride in the air with two other people plus the pilot. I was sitting co- pilots seat but I didn't control it . We went from Naramata to Summerland and back to the Penticton airport . I also saw the KVR tracks through the mountains and a big cloud of smoke. When we were done we got a certificate for COPA saying junior aviator. Overall I loved it! 
Mr. Eaton here's a picture of me in the plane... it was thrilling to take the ride! Being a pilot would be interesting but scary!

 

   11 years ago today I was created into a new life as a baby not knowing what anything does. I was born at night and weighed 8 pounds and 2 ounces.. even though I was 2 weeks early! I was born in St. Albert, Alberta because my dad was in the army in Edmonton. I had a brother who was almost three at the time I was born.
   I am now 11 and I know alot about  anything I can think of, and whats going on around me. 11 years ago i couldn't do anything on my own, today I can do most things others can and even some that they can't.  I am happy with who I am now that i'm eleven.
  For my birthday this year, we went to the H20 centre in Kelowna and went to Red Robin's and Orchard Park.  At Red Robin, my parents surprised me with a Blackberry Playbook... I was not expecting that! I asked just for a normal e-reader! So far on the Playbook, I can do as much as most people can on a computer. I have been mainly using it to watch movies on youtube and using my dictionary app for my schoolwork (definitions and stuff).
   Overall, it was a good year and a good birthday!