Slice Of Life #152 - Goal!!!- Tuesday, January 29th, 2019

    "We're starting!" I heard Daniel's voice as he tapped the ball from the middle of the small pitch that we had at the upper playground. I watch as Storm slowly walked forward and forcefully kicked the ball in front of him. I ran forward, trying to get the ball from Raj, another opposition of mine (for the game, at least). He drove the ball past me, kicking it at the goal.
    Tiago, the goalkeeper for our team, caught it with both hands and kicked it up the pitch. Everyone ran up the pitch. Tobiah kicked the ball towards the goal but missed. Toby, the goalkeeper for the other team grabbed the ball with his hands and kicked it back up the pitch. So far, what was going on was like a game of tennis - the ball being kicked back and forth up and down the pitch.
    Storm dribbled the ball up, but I ran up and tackled him. I ran up and kicked the ball back with my heel. Tommy kicked it back to me as Storm tried to tackle him. I kicked the ball hard and passed it to James. He kicked the ball at the goal, but Toby managed to hit the ball back. Tobiah ran up and kicked the ball towards the goal, but Daniel kicked the ball off course. Daniel then tried to counterattack, kicking the ball towards the other goal. I saw Storm rushing to get the ball, looking straight at the goal.
    "DEFENCE!" I heard people cry out. Everyone on our team ran back to the goal.
    Jules turned as Storm kicked the ball at the goal, and the ball deflected off his back. I rushed to get the rebound and kicked the ball up the pitch. James ran for the ball. He passed it to Tommy, who passed it to Jules, who passed it back to Tommy. Tommy shot the ball. It hit the crossbar. Daniel kicked the ball to the side. I ran for the ball.
    "Over here,  Zhi Hong!" I heard James call out.
    But I didn't pass it back. No one was marking me or trying to get the ball from me, and I had a clear shot ahead of me. The only person in my way was Toby, the goalkeeper, but he was standing in the middle of the goal. There was some space for the ball to go in.
    Ignoring the shouts from my teammates, I took aim, and shot at the goal.
    And it went in.
    "Goal!!!" Me and my teammates shouted, running back towards our side of the pitch. I watched as smiles materialized
    "Yes, Zhi Hong!" I heard Tiago shout over all the noise around us.
    Toby had been too late in defending the goal, and perhaps also a little clumsy. If he had gotten a better grip of the ball, he would have managed to stop the ball from going into the goal. Instead, he knocked it into the goal on accident.
    Disappointed, Daniel brought the ball and placed it in the middle of the pitch and kicked the ball. Everyone on our team retreated. All we had to do now was defend the ball, and we would win. And judging by the time on my watch, it was only about 5 more minutes until recess would end, which meant that the match would end.
    Daniel passed the ball to Storm, but instead passed it to Jules on accident. He kicked it up the pitch. Toby ran up the pitch to kick it up, which wasn't a very wise idea, but we didn't score, and to him, it was all that mattered.
    Toby kicked it to Daniel, who kicked it to Raj. My neck moved slowly as I watched the ball move towards the goal, my eyes transfixed on the ball. I watched as the ball moved and hit the top corner of the goal, but didn't go in. If the ball had went just a little "lefter", it would have went in. I heard cries of disappointment from the other team.
    But the attack wasn't over yet. Daniel had managed to get the ball and was kicking it towards the goal. James dived, blocking the ball with his legs.
    This time, Storm shot. Tiago blocked it with his hands. Now, Raj was right in front of the goal, and he looked ready to kick the ball anytime soon. Rajit, another teammate of mine, kicked the ball up, but it bounced off my knee. Tiago reached up and pushed the ball back out of the goal.
    "Yes, Tiago!" There were cheers from the people on our team.
    I was happy that Tiago was the goalkeeper. If he wasn't, I would have scored an own goal, and that wouldn't be the tiniest bit good.
    Just then, the whistle blew, signalling that recess was over. There were cheers of happiness from the people on our team.
    We had won the game.

Slice Of Life #151 - Currently... - Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019

Currently...

• I am reading a book.
• I have finished a chapter.
• Now, I am bored of reading the book, so I am going to play a game; a game that I have never played before in all my currently posts.
• The game is called zombs.io.
• In this game, zombies attack your fort every night, so you have to fortify your fort and make it stronger. You can also buy new weapons to help fight off the mobs. To upgrade your defenses, you need gold, which you get not only every night, but also from your gold generators, which generate gold. The aim of the game is to protect the gold stash, which is what the zombies want.
• I am trying to join a party, because usually you get more successful if you join one.
• I have been accepted into a party called Enes, which is surprisingly strong, as it's fort is well protected.
• I am buying new tools from the shop.
• Because our fort has good defense, we are being attacked heavily.
• A bunch of people want to join the party, and I am accepting their requests, because the more people in the party, the better.
• Somehow, the zombies that are currently attacking us are really strong, and I am at really low health.
• I am collecting some wood and stone, and now I am installing new defenses and upgrading the old ones.
• I am trying to defend my fort from the zombies, but the zombies are really strong. 10 minutes have passed.
• There are a whole lot of zombies spawning near our fort. They have successfully destroyed our first 2 rows of walls. There are 2 more rows of walls left.
• All of our walls have been destroyed, and now all the mobs are attacking our defenses.
• We have the north side of our fortress under control, but our first row of defenses are destroyed.
• I am trying to counterattack.
• During the process of counterattacking, I have died.

Slice of Life #150 - School's Started! - January 15th, 2019, Tuesday

    Okay. This calls for some celebration (although you may think this statement is weird). School's reopened, which means that I finally won't be bored with nothing to do at home now. Other than that, I'll finally get to see my friends - without having to look of a picture of them on computer screens (we video call) - again!

    Because school's started, it does mean a few things; I'm busy again. I've been selected to represent my school in 800 meter running (I ran 800 meters in 3 minutes 34 seconds), which means that I have to go for practice every Monday and Friday for 1 hour for 6 weeks until the competition. Yesterday was the first training session, and I thought that it was pretty fun, although somewhat tiring. Because it was raining, we broke up our training session into 2 parts. 30 minutes for the fitness circuit, and 30 minutes for running. Normally, the training would be broken into 3 parts, 20 minutes for where you would be practicing your specified event, 20 minutes for the fitness circuit -  a cool course that the teachers set up that would give all your muscles a workout. During the fitness circuit, I would focus more on the cardio parts in the training to train my cardio muscles - and finally 20 minutes for something else (I'm not very clear on that part, but I do know that if you were a thrower you would be using some weights (shot put throwers), and that you may also practice your event again (or maybe I'll do some cardio exercise or something).

    I also have quite some homework to do for the week (we get a week to complete all our homework - we get a week's worth of homework on Monday and have a week to complete it). Fortunately, I managed to finish most of the online homework yesterday, which is very good. I also have some band assignments that I plan to complete after I finish writing this slice, because I already know how to play the song we have to play to complete the assignment online. After I complete my band assignments, I plan to do some piano practice. I need to brush up on my scales and one exercise, which should take me about 10 minutes.

    Currently, I am working on a crossword puzzle about states of matter, which I am almost done with - I need 4 more words to complete. Other than that, I also have to complete the math review sheet which is given out to only 5th graders - in elementary school, at least - to complete. To be honest, I usually find the math review sheet easy, mainly because the sheet's supposed to be a REVIEW, not a worksheet that's supposed to take you hours and hours. In my opinion, this week's math review sheet, is EXTRA EASY, as the questions are really easy (should be easy to understand).  

    Okay, now that I've told you about life, I think that I should really start focusing on completing what I told you I needed to complete now. See you next week!

Slice Of Life #149 - Currently... - Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Currently...

• I am wondering why I have been writing so many currently posts lately. Well, for one thing, I don't have much to write about.
• I am thinking about my trip to the Lost World of Tanbun on Sunday. It was my 2nd time going there. I remember the water slide that I took. The first time I went there, we took the closed tunnel, while the 2nd time I went there, I took the dark tunnel, where everything was completely dark (I took all the slides with my dad - kids needed to go with an adult). My mom went on the semi-closed tunnel, which I hope to take next time.
• My screen is lagging. The mouse is moving really, really, slowly.
• Everything is okay now.
• What game should I play?
• I have decided to play Zombs Royale, which is an io game.
• I have joined a squads game.
• I got a quadra kill (which means I killed 4 people in a row).
• I have been knocked down.
• I am dead.

New Game

• I am deploying my parachute.
• My team is the first in the house, which usually means that you get all the guns first, which usually means that you have the upper hand.
• There are 5 players left. I have found a mythic gun, which is really, really, good - it's better than a legendary. 
• A player has died due to gas.
• Oh no! The other team is a team of 3! Its 3 against 2!
• My teammate is knocked down.
• I am trying to kill two of the people on the opposition team.
• All the people on the opposition team are targeting me on all sides.
• I am retreating.
• I have entered a house.
• I run to the front door (I entered through the back door).
• I have 24 hearts left (which is very little, out of a 100).
• 7 hearts left.
• I am dead.
• No!!!!!! We got 2nd place! We were so close!

Okay, I have to go! See you next Tuesday!

Slice Of Life #148 - A Helping Hand - Tuesday 1/1/2019 (Happy New Year, by the way...)

    Mist materialized from my mouth as I breathed the cold air of Turkey. I bowed, my hands in front of me, carrying an envelope. 

    "Shukran," (Which meant thank you in Syrian.) I said to the man in front of me, looking straight into his eyes.

    The man picked me up and kissed me on the forehead, accepting the envelope. "Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much." 

    And in the envelope, was money. Money to help them live good lives. Money to help them buy food and pay the rental for their house.

    And the man, was a refugee. A Syrian refugee.

    And me, I was here to give love to them. An infinite amount of love.

    I gave the man a firm handshake.
    This was Turkey. 97% Asia, 3% Europe, and about 2°C. Yeah, it was cold here.

    Me and my family were in Turkey to help the Syrian refugees. We were actually supposed to be going to go to Vietnam on holiday, but cancelled the trip because of this opportunity to come to Turkey to help the Syrian refugees. 

    We had come with a non-profit organisation called Tzu-Chi Foundation. This opportunity to see and go into the lives of Syrian refugees was a rare opportunity, so we decided to go take a look. Other than that, we were also helping the refugees, letting them live better lives.

    The day before, we had given out backpacks to the children in the international school Tzu-Chi had opened for the Syrian refugees. All of the students in the school were refugees from Syria, but if you looked at the enormous smile on their faces, you would never be able to decipher the fact that they were refugees. 

    The kids in the school all had talent. Real talent. They performed and sung some amazing and wondrous songs to welcome us to Turkey. If any of them become a world known singer one day, I wouldn't be surprised. 
    Other than that, when we were giving out financial aid to the refugees (the adults), a kid came to me to say thank you. At first, I didn't know what he was trying to tell me, but when I found out, I was very touched. The kid had came just to say thank you to me, just because of a backpack. And sometimes, we take things for granted. We complain because we don't get what we want, but to them, to the refugees, something little to us, is something big for them.

    The next day, we conducted some home visits, where we went to some refugees's homes to visit them. One case we went to stood out from the others. 

    The family was a family of 8, containing 3 boys and 3 girls. The oldest kid (or teenager, I should say) in the family was 18 years old, while the youngest was 3 years old. They had all been born in Syria, and had escaped to Turkey. Their father was sent to jail for doing nothing wrong, and was in jail for 3 years before he was released.

    After being helped by some organization, their father was able to go to Turkey. Unfortunately, the soldiers came again, and asked the kids in the family where their father was, but they didn't know. 

    Because of all that, the soldiers assumed that their father was against them (the party), and the family, including the kids, soon found themselves in damp cells filled with mice, separated from each other.
    I don't know who made up this theory, but it's the worst theory I've ever heard of, I thought. For god's sake, they were kids! Why send them to jail for doing nothing wrong? Even worse, why torture the kids? Why make them live in such a miserable place? You've literally taken their dreams away. For the rest of their lives, they're probably going to be scared!
    In jail, they got severely tortured. Some of them got raped, while something happened to one of the kid's legs, but I have no idea what. Let's just say it didn't look very good.

    One year later, the two parties made a trade. One party would return all the soldiers that were taken captive, while the other would have to release all their prisoners. Because of the deal that was made between the two parties, the family was released from jail.

    Throughout a lot of sophisticated work, the family finally gained contact with each other and were able to unite in Turkey. We also found out that the family had only moved into the room they were renting for 15 days (so far) only. After they shared their story, lots of people's eyes were teary and watery. I looked at the kids' face. Their smile had drifted away from their faces, and on their face was a frown. Together with the family, I shared their grief and madness, and was also mad at the people for starting this prolonged war. They had beaten their father so bad that something was wrong with his bones, and he wasn't able to lift his hands up higher than his heads. The most he could go was to his ears. I felt really bad for them.

    We also got to learn about and meet some people who came from Syria. I got to meet a 16 years old girl named Najwa Muhammad Khalf. But Najwa's life was a sad and deary one. Najwa lost both her legs during the bombings in the war-torn city of Aleppo, but managed to be rescued by relatives and escaped to the Turkish border about 1,200km away. Not only did she have to deal with her legs, she also had to deal with the grief from losing all 11 members of her family, as they were all killed. Fortunately, she has now been given some prosthetic legs, and is now able to walk like a normal person. In the future, Najwa wants to be a doctor so she can help other people in need.
    I also got to meet Ahmed Jned, who was 21 years old, and I thought that he had a great story behind him. He escaped from Syria carrying some clothes, some essentials, but also something that he really valued. His test results. He came to Turkey to seek education, and really wanted to complete his studies. Unfortunately, when he came to Turkey, he realized that he needed to work to earn a living. Now, after his working hours, he comes to the international school that Tzu Chi set up to learn. 
    When asked what he thought the leaders of the parties that were fighting in Syria were thinking in their minds, he came up with an answer that I think is a very short but powerful answer: "Maybe they don't have a mind." In the future, he wishes to become a pharmacist.
    I felt really bad for all these refugees. They were forced to leave their homes, the place that they had grown up in. The country that they loved. They were forced to leave that country. The country, that to them, was their homeland. All because of the war. And every one of them, had a different story to tell. For some of them, they had developed a trauma because of the war, while for others, the war had erased the smile and expression off their faces. This war, had brought our planet, the beautiful planet Earth, into a whole new dimension. A sad, deary, dimension. All the CO2 emissions because of the war. All the people dead because of the war. All the innocent people, once a civilian, now a refugee, just because of the war. But refugees, are still human beings. Homo-sapiens. And there is something I strongly believe in. I strongly believe in giving back to the community, and I think that it's our responsibility to help the Syrian refugees in any way we can.