Warriors Race, by Hannah

I was able to join a race a few weeks ago. It was a really amazing experience because it was actually a lot different from the normal races that I run. We had to run 10 km and about every 500 metres there were obstacles. Some of my favourite obstaces were a wall that you had to climb over and the station where we had to carry a sandbag. I finished the race in about 1:15 and I came 7th in the women's category. I had an amazing time and I really want to experience more races like this.

Starting line (I'm in the middle of the picture in the background with a big smile on my face)

Running alongside a Dalat parent

Flipping a tire

Climbing the wall

Carrying a bucket of cement - the hardest challenge

Gotta do those burpees because I couldn't do one of the challenges (we had one try to get a softball into a bucket that was about 10 meters away)

Crossing the finish line

I look really dead tired

Trying to drink a lot of water afterward

Me with my Spanish teacher, who ran the 10 km race without the obstacles

Me next to the wall after the race

One of the rocks I had to carry (with my mom's foot next to it to show the size)

Our group from Dalat (from left to right: my former English teacher, my former Spanish teacher, one of the Ed Tech guys at the school, his two sons, another student, me)

December 28 - Hebron, by Aimee and Garth

Hebron is a city in the West Bank.  It is important because it was the place where David was king before he had his kingdom in Jerusalem. Hebron is also the burial place of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their wives. It is a holy site for both Muslims and Jews because both groups revere the same people. There is a lot of controversy in Hebron right now because of the Jewish settlements.  The area is populated by a Muslim majority however the actual land of the West Bank is controlled by Israel since after the 1967 Yom Kippur War. The Muslims living in this area are not Israeli citizens and don't have the same rights as Israelis even though they are the majority in the area. The Jewish people have established settlements in the area even though it is discouraged because of the poor relationship between the Jews and Muslims and because certain pockets are more in the control of Muslims now and it makes it more difficult to have a peace agreement.  The small group of Jewish settlers are protected by the Israeli army and there is also an independent group of observers in Hebron from a couple of European countries especially Norway that keep an eye on things for both sides to ensure peace.

Our tour to Hebron was called dual-narrative.  This meant that for the first half of the day we would hear about Hebron and the West Bank from the perspective of a Jewish tour guide, and the second half of the day we would hear from a Palestinian tour guide from their perspective.   

Here is a promotional video for the tour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydIfA24c5Eo

The Jewish tour guide speaking in the video (and the Muslim tour guide in the red shirt) are the same ones that we had, and we also saw many of the same sights and ate our lunch in the same house, belonging to the Muslim family. 

Here is a good article about the current situation in Hebron (one mistake: Hebron was not the birthplace of Abraham):

http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1991to_now_hebron_agreement_1997.php

Israeli soldiers (IDF) have a strong presence in the area, protecting the Jewish settlers. Hebron continues to have problems with Palestinians trying to kill Israeli soldiers in suicide attacks. A few months ago an Israeli soldier was found guilty of killing a Palestinian.  This is the first time that an Israeli soldier was put on trial for killing a Palestinian who was defenseless. This Palestinian had tried to kill some Israeli soldiers with a knife but he had been subdued by the Israelis and was lying on the ground.  That is when another Israeli soldier came up and killed him in cold blood. Some Israelis consider him a hero and that he should not get jail time:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38501886

On the tour, we saw the site where the soldier killed the Palestinian.  It is a complicated issue, to say the least.   

For the first part of the tour we walked around the entire Jewish territory inside Palestine.  This is the only place Jewish people can be; if they go outside this area, they will not be protected by the Israeli army anymore and will probably get badly hurt or killed by the Palestinians.  We first went in the visitor center where a lady told us about the massacre that happened in Hebron.  Many Jews were killed, even women, children, and babies.  It seemed horrible from the pictures.  A lady also told us about her father being murdered by an anonymous Palestinian terrorist.  Then we went out and our tour guide told us about all the knifings and stabbings that happen when Palestinian youth basically go on a suicide mission to kill members of the Israeli soldiers who protect the Jewish settlements.  It happens at least once a month!  Then we walked through the rest of the area and lastly visited the church where the matriarchs and patriarchs (like Rebekah and Abraham) were supposedly buried under it, in a cave.  Even in the church, they had a Muslim and Jewish side, and they couldn't cross over.  

After that, we were introduced to the Palestinian tour guide.  We had lunch at his home and then went to a cafe so he could explain the basics of who controlled what in Hebron.  A lot of it did not make sense to me.  Then we walked through the Palestinian side of Hebron, and we could see that the Palestinians weren't the only ones being mean.  Since the Jewish settlements were in buildings that were high up and overlooked the market and walking areas, the Jews would throw trash, rocks, and other things down at the Palestinians.   Many of the walking areas had to have wire fencing above it to catch the garbage so it would protect the people below it.  We also learned about a shooting that happened in a mosque, where an extreme Jew came in and shot and killed many praying Muslims.  After visiting the mosque where this happened and the actual city of Hebron, the tour ended.  In conclusion, from both sides of the story, I think that Jews and Palestinians are both at fault because they are constantly seeking revenge and justification for what the other group has done.  Sadly, this problem can only stop if one group decides to stop the violence and hate and act with peace toward the other group.

Signs in the Jewish settlements

Army post to protect the Jewish settlements. There is a turnstile and security check below that we walked through to get to another area

Archaeological ruins in the Jewish section of Hebron (which the Israelis use as a justification that they have had a historical connection to that land for a long time)

This is a house where Palestinians live side by side with the Jewish settlers.  It has created some tense situations in the past (thus all the bars and wire) but now it is calm

Picture of Palestinian controlled Hebron city

A panorama view

Tour group  with our Jewish guide in the center.  This is the tomb of Jessie (David's father)

The symbols of the five branches of the Israeli army

Graffiti of the third temple (Jews hope the thrid temple will come in the future)

Graffati depicting chicken cartoon characters that show the type of people who live or come to Hebron. The Jewish guide is pointing to the one that represents our group, the people who come to Hebron with cameras

These Jewish  scrolls were rescued from a fire and are hundreds of years old

A close-up

Side view of the tomb of the matriarchs and patriarchs (considered by both Jews and Muslims).  It was built by Herod the Great over a cave where they were buried

Front view

Ceremonial coffin of Abraham

Through this window, the Muslims are on the other side (the tomb was kind of divided so Muslims and Jews could see the same things but from opposite sides and not be together and "venerate" in different ways

Entering a Hebron market - there was a lot of yelling of people selling their wares, and cars and buggies squeezing down the middle of the market, and garbage.  You had to watch your step.  We were told to keep moving fast so all in all it didn't feel very safe.  But look at the size of the cabbage and spring onions!

Watoto

Last night we went to see the Watoto Children's Choir.  We could hardly believe that this choir would come to little Penang as they are a world class group!  We saw the performance at a local college, close by our home and it was fantastic as usual (we have seen them a few times in Canada).  One of the performers introduced herself as Elizabeth and our Elizabeth talked with her afterward and found out they are the same age too.  Here are some pictures and a link to their concert is below:

 

Watoto Children's Choir: Oh What Love!

You Know You Are A Third Culture Kid When . . .

This post is probably not going to be understood by many people but I wanted to write down these thoughts anyway, for those who have experienced living neither here nor there, and for the sake of our girls, to remember and hopefully understand themselves better later in their lives.

Most of these ideas were taken from a book 'You Know You're An M. K. When . . .' (by Aunt Kathy)

You know you are a third culture kid when . . .

Food:
You know you will get blood on your hands when you get change back from buying chicken.
You now know the meaning of fresh bananas.
You are surprised to learn that not all fast food restaurants have motorcycle delivery service.
The "rare" fruits and vegetables in Canada are everyday foods to you and the "common" things are
     what you stare at.
You have developed a taste for local food that would never be approved by the FDA. (Hannah's fave)
You find a bug in your food (or inside the straw in your cup), you calmly pick it out, and finish
     eating (Eileen and Kate fave).
You know "stall" food is good.
You know that the menu at McDonalds varies greatly from country to country, including an excellent
     slushie (called a Frozen) in Malaysia.
You are not afraid to eat food that you can't pronounce or know what is in it.  You just go by the
     picture and point.
Your idea of fruits and vegetables is buying them "dry" at the "wet market", and the seller will throw
     in an extra apple or banana.
You wonder why eggs have to be refrigerated.
You get upset when people don't finish their food, and feel worse when they scrape it into the trash.
Visiting Canada means stocking up on Kraft Dinner.

Animals:
You don't understand why people have such a problem with a few ants.
You miss seeing stray dogs wander the streets.
People in Canada tell you their horror stories about bugs, rats, and mice and you think "What's so
     amazing about that?".
Your natural instinct is to look for cockroaches no matter how "safe" the environment.

Driving:
Someone has to explain to you that red lights mean stop all the time, without exceptions, and you     must stay stopped until the light turns green, whether or not there is cross-traffic - and you don't understand why.
Your friends nervously remind you to drive on the right side of the road.
You don't understand why you can't do a u-turn whenever you want.
You don't understand why the pedestrian has the right-of-way instead of the driver.
Your first trip driving through town in Canada was a disaster because you honked your horn     continuously (Elizabeth fave).
You're likely to get a ticket because you don't know how to work a seat belt (Kate fave).
Fitting 10 or more people in a car seems normal to you.
You think that some road signs are just there and not really meant to be followed (Garth fave)
You think nothing of straddling white road lines.
You are accused by your friends of being a maniacal driver but that's because everyone from where     you're from drives that way.
You get scared when thinking of driving on the right side of the road.
You don't pull over for ambulances with their lights are on.
Your car doesn't have a heat setting.

Clothing:
You go to Canada and realize you don't have any clothes for colder weather.
You bundle up warmly even in the summer.
You have no clue what's in style.
The sole finally comes right off your favorite pair of shoes, so you go looking for the itinerant shoe     repair man serving chicken rice, who will fix them better than new (Garth fave).
You know how long it takes for different items of clothing to dry on the clothesline, whether inside     or outside the house.
Flip-flops are shoes that can be worn 365 days a year.
Visiting Canada means stocking up on underwear.
You can't find shoes to fit your feet in any of the shoe stores.
You shake your shoes out before putting them on.
Your wardrobe can only handle two seasons: wet and dry.

Bathrooms:
You marvel at the cleanliness of gas station bathrooms.
You are thankful for toilets with seats, and even more if they are clean (Aimee fave).
You are not surprised to see people peeing on the side of the road.
You know how to aim your pee into a hole.

Travel:
You can't remember how many times you have been on an airplane.
You don't think it's strange to see more than two people on a motorcycle.
You're an expert packer.
You speak with authority on the quality of airline travel and food.
Seeing 16 people in the back of a pick-up truck seems normal.
You feel surprisingly at home in an airport.You think VISA is a stamp in your passport and not a     plastic card you carry in your wallet.
You've been to places most teenagers only read about in their textbooks. (Hannah's fave)
You have a money jar with 5 kinds of currency in it.

Other:
Only your family knows what you are saying.
You often slip foreign words into your speaking which makes you unintelligible to most people.
You don't know whether to write the day at month/day/year or day/month/year or some other     variation.
Your life story uses the phrase, "Then we went to . . . " five times.
You live at school, work in the tropics, and go home for vacation (Garth fave).
Your family sends you Kool-Aid and licorice for Christmas.
You grew up with a maid.
"Where are you from?" has more than one reasonable answer.
You ask if there is hot water in the house.
You never take anything for granted like water from the taps and an Internet connection.
You believe vehemently that football is played with a round, spotted ball (Kate fave).
Rain on a corrugated metal roof - - is one of the most wonderful sounds in the world (Eileen fave).
You feel odd being in the ethnic majority. (Hannah's fave)
You don't know where home is.
You feel like you need to move after you've lived in the same place for two years.
The family gathers around the computer to check email.
The end of the school year is bitter-sweet because so many people move away.
You realize it really is a small world, after all.
You can set your watch by when the sun rises.
You keep odd hours when you are expecting a Skype call, to account for the time zones.
You are used to people staring at you.
You can fit all your important possessions in two boxes and only have one tote bag of extra stuff.
Your natural instinct when it's rainy and muddy out is to take your shoes off and go barefoot.
You don't know the Canadian holidays.
You feel like you have to make sure to get enough of the items at the store because you never know     if they will be there the next time you go.
You don't understand why dishes need to be washed in hot water (Aimee fave).
You are really good at calculating time differences.
Sometimes you want to be where you know the rules, don't stand out for your looks, and can fade     into anonymity.
You know there is a definite difference between 30 degrees weather in a dry climate and 30 degrees   in a humid climate (Elizabeth fave).
You miss the subtitles when you go see a movie.
You can't believe that people actually walk up to the front door of someone's house and knock     instead of tapping on bars and calling out (Elizabeth fave).
You stand in lines really close to the person in front of you so that nobody can cut in.
You miss being constantly stared at, and asked if you would pose for pictures.
You miss being followed around in shops by sales clerks eager to write up a receipt for you.
You marvel at how clean and well cared for the sidewalks are in Canada.
When you are in Canada you slow down and look both ways at every intersection . . . even when the   light is green.
National Geographic makes you homesick.
Climates that get below 20 degrees C are against your body's religion.
It scares you more to go to public school than it would to take an unescorted plane trip.
Your home looks a little like a museum with all the "exotic" things you have around.
You haggle with the checkout clerk for a lower price.
You are grateful for the speed and efficiency of the Canadian Postal Service.
You have a hard time living with a roommate who isn't a foreigner.
You wake up one day and realize you're not a foreigner anymore.  You wake up one day and realize     you are still a foreigner (Eileen and Aimee fave).
You tell people where you're from and their eyes get big.

A School Assignment About Running Away, by Elizabeth

This was an assignment from school based on a book I read ('From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler') where the two main characters run away from home.  We had to write a paragraph about if we ran away from home:

It would take a long time to think of all the details for running away because I wouldn’t want to run out of money.  I would save extra money to go to a cheap college later to get a real job. My priority would be to save up for college. I would use my extra money for a weapon to hunt. Then with any extra money I would use it for clothes. If I ran out of money I would get a job like a babysitter. I also might steal just to survive. I would have two meals a day so that I wouldn’t be wasting time or money. I would run away to the forest because then I could survive with extra food like animals, fish, and wild fruits or vegetables. I wouldn’t sleep in the forest. I would find a nice place to sleep or I would sleep in a tent or a sleeping bag. I would want to run away with someone else because it would be hard without support. I would run away with my sister like how Claudia in the book ran away with her sibling. I would run away at night. I read lots of survival books so I think that would help me. I would be an expert at running away.

A Yummy Drink

It looks disgusting but it's great!  It's a green tea blog with pearls from the Junior Class store

Band Concert, by Aimee

On Wednesday (back in December), we had our band concert.  It was special not only because it was a Christmas concert but also because it was held at PenangPac which is a special auditorium.  The choir, mens' and ladies' choirs, and the band were performing.  We did things a bit differently this year because instead of doing full band songs our band split into smaller ensembles and did traditional Christmas music.  We did do one full band song but that was at the end.  I was only in one ensemble and we did two songs: 'Angels from the Realms of Glory' and 'Oh Tannenbaum'.  We also did a full band song called 'Fantasia'.  It was a variation of 'Carol of the Bells'.  Overall, we had a fun time.  The choir also did a very good job.  In the end of the concert, as kind of a finale, the senior players in our band joined with the choir and did the 'Hallelujah Chorus'.

Here is the link to watch the concert
Christmas Concert Go to 13:56 (until 14:29) which is when I play in an ensemble with my French Horn.

A Funeral This Week

As you come into our neighbourhood, this is what you see.  It is the main entrance (of two entrances) to our neighbourhood - the one we would come to as we come home from school / work.  The guardhouse is on the right (little blue shack).  This is where Joe works, the daytime guard.  Sad to say, I don't know the name of the night guard, though I wave at him regularly.  There is no air conditioning in that hut; I'm sure it is like an oven most of the time.  Usually Joe and his night coworker sit outside in the shade, hopefully to catch a breeze

This is a closer view.  The barrel on the speed bump serves the purpose of separating the two lanes of traffic coming opposite directions and also helping to slow cars down because it is pretty narrow.  The street to the left leads to our house (after turning a couple more corners - it's like a maze in there).  Also on that street to the left is where the chicken (see previous post) and formerly the dogs live.  The blue tent in the center of the picture is not usual

   

Here is a close up of the blue tent.  You can see that it takes up half the road and includes chairs and tables underneath.  The street light is on because it was pretty early in the morning (about 7:30 am)

It is outside someone's house - a family member has died.  This is common to have funeral receptions this way and it stays like this for 2 to 3 days.  I think the box in the middle is an air conditioning unit and the tables are set with stacked cups.  You can see banners on the left (they are also on the right side) that express condolences from various companies mostly

Very large flower arrangements line the fence around the house (front and sides).  This set up for the funeral is a little more elaborate than most - larger and more flower arrangements, more banners, and more tables.  In the background you can see one of the ladies (white shirt) arriving at the home to help prepare the food for the reception

On My Way Home From School Today . . .

A while ago I posted about two dogs in our neighbourhood being kept in small cages outside their owner's house while it was being renovated (see "A Sad Animal Story, by Hannah - November 5, 2016).  One of the dogs "disappeared" one day and we never saw again.  About a month after that, the other dog was gone, though we see him occasionally at the house where his owner is temporarily living (which happens to be across the street from our house).  The cage has been empty up until today.  On the way home from work today, we saw a new animal in the cage now.

J.V. Basketball, by Aimee

https://www.facebook.com/DalatAthletics/videos/1412558838755780/

This past week we had a huge tournament for both girl and boy Junior Varsity teams.  It was called the Junior Island Shootout.  It started on Friday and ended on Saturday afternoon.  For the first two games we played against local teams.  We beat one of them and lost to one of them.  On Saturday, we played the International School of Kuala Lumpur J.V. team and we beat them.  But this is the crazy part of that game: we were down by one point and with four seconds on the clock, our coach called a timeout.  He told us a play that we should do and the clock started, but we failed to pull it off but with milliseconds left on the clock, a team member shot from outside the three point line.  It went in!  That is the video link above.  So we won the game and we were going to the finals to play the local team that we had lost to.  (I am blocking the other team so my team member can shoot.)  The final game for first or second place started after lunch and it was also a very close game.  So close that it was tied as the game ended so we had to go into overtime.  They scored in the first minute and we were down until 30 seconds left in overtime when we tied up the game.  Again!!! - in the last four seconds of that game a team member shot and we won that game.  (This game was captured by video on Instragram but I don't have Instragram.)  It was super exciting and from the pictures you can see we were really happy and we won gold for the tournament!

This week, our team, along with the boys and girls middle school teams, went to another tournament in K.L.  It was an overnight trip and we took a bus to get there.  Right when we got off the bus we went to our hotel and then went to the I.S.K.L. school for our first game.  We had three games the first day and all of them we won pretty easily.  Then we had dinner at Subway and went back to our hotel.  The next day we went to Starbucks to have breakfast and then went back to the school.  The first team we played was the I.S.K.L. "A" team.  We didn't play our best game so we lost to them.  Then we played a school from Jarkarta and beat them.  We were in the finals!  And we were going to play the I.S.K.L. "A" team again.  The game started out with us beating them 5-0.  However, some of our star players got badly injured and the team began to overtake us.  Sadly, it was our last game of the season and we couldn't get it back.  We got second place in the tournament which was still really exciting.  Overall, this basketball season was amazing and I would not have asked for better coaches or a better team.

Both J.V. girls and boys won the tournament.  I am on the left side in front (#8).  My coach is on the right side

Celebrating after we won the finals in over time!

The team we played against in the championships

Me shooting

Winning gold medals!

The first, second, and third place teams

Me dribbling

So happy after she shot

Our team in front of the crowd after we won

With the refs and coaches and some of the J.V. boys

Falling to get the ball