Viva Roma!

Recently, my family and I went to Italy. We visited the four beautiful cities of Rome, Venice, Assisi and Orvietto.

 

  

In Rome, we visited many famous landmarks including the Vatican, the Colosseum, and we even visited a city called Assisi. For me, Rome represented a place to appreciate architecture,visit religious monuments and to see what how the history of Italy was formed. Rome was a place of relaxation and scenic views. From the time I got out of the airport, the scenes were a constant reminder of how beautiful Italy really was. While Rome is a busy place, there are plenty of opportunities to find Rome’s peaceful aura and vibe. One of my most favourite places in Rome was our visit to the Colosseum, there we got to imagine the long and difficult process, that was building the Colosseum. Our tour took us across the 5 levels of the Colosseum and we learned many interesting facts there.  Another place we visited in Rome was the Vatican. The Vatican is an amazing place, filled with centuries and centuries of art and history. The Vatican is rich with history and full of scenic views. We even had a day trip to Assisi. On our day trip, we encountered a more rural and traditional version of Italy. We were on a hilltop with spectacular views of the land below. We visited  many Churches  and paid tribute to Assisi`s patron saint, Francis. To finish off our day, we walked the cobblestone rock that Saint Francis likely walked, hundreds of years ago. In conclusion,  Rome is an amazing place with beautiful architecture, amazing scenery and is a must visit for Italy. Another place we visited was Orvietto. In Orvietto we drove across many narrow cobblestone roads. The experience was something new for my entire family and is one I’ll never forget.

My second half of my trip was spent in the majestic city of Venice. To say Venice is absolutely stunning is an understatement because in my opinion, Venice is probably one of the most beautiful places on the face of planet Earth, and that’s coming from a frequent traveller. Venice has this special charm that made me feel happy wherever I walked. In Venice, we roamed the quaint city in search of classic Venice traditions. Whenever we weren't walking, we were on a boat, more commonly referred to as a gondola. Gondolas are a major mode of transportation in Venice as the city is built on water. We spent most of our free time on Piazza San Marco, a town square where tourists and locals can, enjoy music and even grab a gelato or two from neighbouring gelato shops. While Venice is a small place, there will never come a time where the city doesn't cease to take your breath away. From Doge’s palace to the Grand Canal, Venice really does have it all. All in all, Venice is a beautiful place and also is fantastic for tourism and relaxation alike.

5 tips and tricks to follow when learning a new language

Languages are great, they enable us to talk and communicate with others, they even  open up a world of job opportunities and can improve your brain power. But when learning a language, it can get frustrating, a lot. I have compiled of here are 5 tips and tricks to follow when learning a new language.

1. Patience, I get it,  when you start a new language  you may feel helpless. Not knowing what to say or do. Where to put the accent and why masculine and feminine are a thing.  There are plenty of ways to remember the facts you need, one of them being time. With time, you'll practice and get it easily, it's all a matter of patience. 

2.  Cause, know why you're learning the language. When you learn anything,  especially a language, a cause will keep you focused and motivated. Even setting weekly goals can go a long way if you have the right combination of determination and focus. Committing to a language is hard, but you need a genuine reason and a passion to learn it.

3. Shows and movies, probably the best way to learn a language. Watching shows and movies in your newly developing language is great when you want to learn the language informally. Starting with absolute beginner videos can be great and will help you a lot. In my experience, I've started with shows that are slightly above my level and gradually made my way up.

4.  Talking to people will help a lot too. When you learn a language with a person you can both talk to eachother and use eachother to practice your speaking skills. Then after speaking to your friend you will feel more confident when speaking to people who speak the language everyday.

5. Listening, a huge part of learning a language is to watch other people speak it. It's why we have two ears and one mouth, to listen twice as much as we speak.  From personal experience, it taught me to pronounce certain words with more flare or less expression.  Listening will be huge on your journey to a new language. Languages will sound weird for the first, but by exposing yourself to the language your actually familiarizing yourself with it and understanding it more throughout.

All in all, my main message is to keep at it. You'll have your highs and lows but it'll all pay off when you realize that there is nothing more rewarding than that sense of completion. Good luck and have fun with it. 

David.

Muskoka and me

This past week my friends and I went to a camp up north in a small rural town called Muskoka. In Muskoka, the experiences I had and the new friends I made were amazing. We told scary stories around a campfire in a dark forest where wolves roamed all around, or even the time when we went to the  aerial park with ropes and bridges suspended from 60 foot tall trees. At night we even stayed in log cabins that really gave us an idea of what Europeans would've had to do when coming to Canada. But the best part: NO DEVICES

My absolute favourite event at Muskoka was the time when we had a major event called survivor Muskoka! Survivor Muskoka is a 2 hour long project that really tests your survival skills but more over team work and partnership abilities. Our tasks during the activity were to elect a leader, make a chant and a group name. Once we did that the teachers would assess our creativity from our chants. We would then get  time to build a fire that would burn through a thick rope. We also had to find food and water for our team in order to survive. We also built a hut that supported ten people for people who got cold.

Another cool thing we did at Muskoka was going to the aerial park. In the aerial park we climbed a 60 foot tree and went across rickety bridges, steel cables and even suspended logs. It really tested my risk-taking abilities but also my physical abilities and my mental abilities. 

All in all, I think that it's important to attend camps like this because in our lives we use devices so much that it's important to sit back and take a break from all the games. Along with all the fun I had, Camp Muskoka  also integrated some amazing survival skills with the great outdoors. The experience was truly once in a lifetime.

A rap for Mr. F!

Hey everyone,

 

Grade 6 in Mr. F's class has been a blast this year. For our music class' rap/beatbox project, my team wrote a rap about our teacher, Mr F. We hope you enjoy it!

 

Mr. Foresteiri's bald

He's off the wall

He has cool ways of teaching y'all

He teaches us Math and Social Studies

Sometimes he brings his doctor buddies.

Mr. Foresteri,

His lessons are a breeze .

He teaches us about trees, bees and iMovies. 

 

He teaches us about business with great finesse.

He plays the greatest game of all.

The game of chess.

AND HIS NAME IS MR FORESTIERI.

DUN DUN DUN DUN.

I want to thank you for taking the time to reading our rap. I also want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Have a great time over your winter break. Good luck for 2016.

 

 

What Christmas means to me…

For me, Christmas isn’t just a time to get presents. It’s a time to look back at the past year and smile at your accomplishments and learn from things that you could have done better. Christmas is the time to share, for it is in giving that we receive.

This year, I along with my dad participated in an initiative to give gently used jackets to underprivileged kids in Kenya. We hope to get over 30 jackets by February (finger crossed). For this project, I started off by making a script and then calling up my friends and cousins over the phone to ask for their help. It took a lot of work but in the end, it paid off. This Christmas I want to see all the fortunate people do good deeds for the needy in our community, even if it’s volunteering for an hour at your local food bank. It's feels great to give back.

Whatever you decide to do this Christmas, I hope you enjoy yourself with your family and make a difference.

Turning Dreams into Reality

Want to play soccer on water? Talk to the boys in Koh Panyee, Thailand. Koh Panyee is a manmade floating island, the boys there loved watching soccer but they were never able to play because there was very little extra space in the village. Their solution: build a soccer pitch. They collected spare wood from the village to realise their dream. The small pitch, protruding nails and the doubting Thomas' were only a few of the many challenges they faced. However the boys believed in the impossible and ended up winning 3rd place in a local soccer tournament.

So what do we learn from this? When starting a new goal true determination is key because if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will. After all like the soccer legend, Pele said, “Success is no accident”. Never underestimate the power of belief because you can go to great lengths if you simply give it your best shot. The members of Koh Panyee are not just true winners but true leaders. They inspire us have to have a go-getter attitude every single day no matter how hard life may make it. They teach us important virtues like patience, persistence and hard work that all lead to the same thing: success. Remember, “Success will never come to you, you have to go to it.”

The Imminent Federal elections

 

With the elections just around the corner, last minute voters are scrambling to find their perfect candidate. But how does anyone tell who a perfect candidate is? Well first of all, a politician's life is really hard, anything they do will be judged, documented and criticized. Let's look at Stephen Harper, the Duffy trial gave him much negative publicity. Voters aware of controversies have issues when it comes to trusting the government in power. Justin Trudeau has and will face criticism for his views on the legalization of marijuana. Although in Trudeau’s case, it seems like the voters may have been misguided. Going against prior misconception Trudeau has spoken out when one of his ministers said the opposite. When you associated with politics, communication is key, obviously someone hasn't kept up to date or simply has not been paying attention. Tom Mulcair, on the other hand is prompting change because of Canada's recession. Lower cash flow in the country is less money to give to Canadian workers. It all boils down to how well the candidate persuades the nation. That's why Tom Mulcair is so focused on telling everyone about his history, his past in order that everyone will look to him as a strong leader. After all he has no experience in the PM's office. Many people say you can't please everybody, but that's what a politician’s job is all about. All in all October 19 will be a night to remember because the future of Canada is in our hands - this will be a choice and new beginning. Go Canada Go!