Ana’s World

We are currently reading the autobiography Black Boy by Richard Wright in English class.

This week we have to read chapter 2.

Richard Wright was born in 1908 near Natchez, Mississippi. His mother was black and his father white. At four years old he set his house on fire out of boredom. At six, now living in Memphis with his younger brother and mother (their father left them when they were in Memphis), he went to a bar while his mother was at work (for they couldn’t go to school) and they made him drink until he became drunk. Luckily his mother found out and (after beating him) helped him over come his alchohol crave.

Then, when they had enough money, they travelled to Arkansas where his aunt lived. But first they stopped off at his grandmother’s. His grandmother, who was white, was a very strong Christian. She forbode Richard to read books in her house, but Richard read books anyway; he stole books from Ella’s (a coloured schoolteacher his grandmother boarded) room to read.

Finally they moved to Arkansas but after a couple of weeks a horrible incident happened and they (along with Richard’s aunt) move back in with Richard’s grandmother. But when his mother has had enough of his grandmother’s strict religious routine they move to West Helena, along with his aunt.

This is pretty much as far as I’ve gotten in the book (I’m reading chapter three at the moment!) I’ll post more when the book progresses!

Ana.

OK, you may not have heard of Holland (or The Netherlands) but maybe Amsterdam. Or maybe you haven’t heard of either (I don’t blame you though, it’s a really tiny country!). But that’s where I live!

Holland is really, really flat, some parts of Holland is below sea level and some of it is above though.Holland has about 6 million people living in it, most of them are actually refugees or Turkish or from another Asian country, mostly because of the wars in Irak and also because in the ’50’s they immigrated here looking for work.

Unfortunately, Holland is becoming a bit racist, they are considering that people who aren’t Dutch different and therefore “strange”. It’s a real shame, to see this happening. Unlike in the past with America and Africa, Holland has not had any big political racism thing. Inside the government there have been people saying that they should kick out anyone who is not Dutch (for example, someone who’s great grandparents who came to Holland and have lived here all there lives and speaks fluently Dutch would have to go back to Turkey or wherever their ancestors were from) which is silly. And also they say if you want to apply for a Dutch passport you have to give up your old one. Luckily this law has not been passed through or discussed much so hopefully it may not happen!

OK, enough about the history of Holland, if I continue it may take me a week to finish this post!

Anyway, I live near the city Hilversum which is the media city of the country. They have things like music companies, radio stations, t.v. studios, etc. It’s a really interesting city. It’s pretty cool, but it’s not like you run into someone from t.v. there all the time, though.

And then there’s also Rotterdam. Rotterdam was bombed in the Second World War, and now looks very modern and also has the largest boat port in Europe. Den Haag (or The Hague) is the city were all the governmental stuff happens, there’s the Knight’s Hall and the government building there, because Amsterdam attracts a lot of tourists. Amsterdam is the capital, as I said before, and there are lots of tourists coming there all the time but mostly in the summer. It’s madness when you go to the center in summer. It’s packed!

And then there’s also the province Limburg. Limburg is beautiful! It has hills and it feel like you’re not in Holland (you’ll notice if you’ve been more northwards in Holland). I went to Limburg once before and I loved it. I’d advise anyone who wants to go to Holland to go there for a holiday! The main city there is Maastricht, which is really pretty (and here’s the person who got really bored and hated going to Venice talking!).

So, I hope that this has given you a bit of information on Holland. I hope I didn’t drone on too much!

Ana

The Wind Singer is the new book I’m reading. It’s by William Nicholson.

So, here’s a summary of what I’ve read so far:

The book starts off with the Hath family (consisting of, Ira (the mother), Hanno (the father), the two twins- Bowman and Kestral and their baby sister Pinpin) going to the Community Hall for Pinpin’s first real test. You see, all through the lives of the people of Aramanth (the city it’s set in) have tests, ratings. So they can “strive harder, reach higher and in every single way make tomorrow a better day than today” as the Oath of Dedication goes. But Kestral doesn’t want to do any of that. She hates exams. Because, if you fail in an exam you will go down. The city of Aramanth is set into categories (coded by colour) and the most successful are in the middle and the least on the outside. When Kestral decides to rebel she gets taken away to the Chief Examener with her father. He shows them the Mud People under Aramanth and tells Kestral she will be going to “special teaching” to stop her rebelling again. She escapes but is seperated from her father and meets the Emperor who tells her about the wind singer and that she must save Aramanth from it’s imprisonment.

So, along with her brother Bowman and their “friend” Mumpo, they set off to save Aramanth and their father, who was sent to a camp to “help” him reach higher in exams.

Along the way they meet the Mud People (who’re actually as stupid or creepy as the Chief Examener says they are), get chased by these children who look like old people and get caught by this giant moving city called Ombaraka who think they’re the enemies (Omchaka, also a moving city) spies.

So far, the book is really really intreaguing and I really enjoy reading it. It’s the first of a series of books called The Wind on Fire. I think I might read the whole series after this- if I could finish all the other unfinished books I had!

Sheldon, Dyan. Planet Janet.

Candlewick, February 1, 2003

Today, reporter Anastasia Brown will interview teenager Janet Bandry.

London, England

United Kingdom

The Bandry’s House

Anastasia: So, Janet, how old are you?
Janet: I’m sixteen at the moment.

Anastasia: Where do you live?
Janet: London. In the Horror House.

Ana.: Why do you call it the Horror House?
Janet: Because I can’t stand being in the house for too long! My family is v irritating!

Ana.: Can you tell us about your family?
Janet: Ah yes, my family… The female parent- the Mad Cow- is menopausal and favours the other Bandry child over me most of the time! The male parent- Sigmund- is a psychotherapist and lives in the Bunker (his office) most of the time and is mostly out working or not saying anything at all. And then there’s the other Bandry child, Justin, my older brother and pain-in-the-butt photography student in college. I can’t stand being in the same house as him!

Ana.: Hmmm… That is very irritating. So, now I can see a little bit on why you entered the Dark Phase! Can you tell us more about the Dark Phase?
Janet: The Dark Phase (or DP) is when you think deep and meaningful thoughts and you’re v deep and meaningful and always thinking.

Ana.: Hmm… Sounds a bit like myself… So, who’s your best friend?

Janet: That would definitely be Disha Paski. She’s in my class and also started the Dark Phase with me. We’ve been through everything together!

Ana.: What were you like before the Dark Phase?
Janet: Me and Disha were actually very happy and bright and cheerful until last year where we started noticing more of a darker, more truthful side of life and so we decided that we should begin the Dark Phase.

Ana.: Was it hard to get into the Dark Phase?
Janet: [thinks for a moment] Yes, it was quite difficult at first but slowly, it got easier and easier! You kind of think differently without noticing and things like that.

Ana.: I see. And what about sport? What’s your favourite sport?
Janet: That has to be yoga, definitely. It goes v well with the Dark Phase!

Ana.: Yes, it does! Now, I hear Sigmund was cheating on your mother, how is that going now he’s out of the house?
Janet: Oh that! Yeah, it’s much better! Actually, it didn’t make much difference at first because he was hardly ever at home!

Ana.: Is it still a Horror House now that Sigmund is gone?
Janet: Yes, it is. Not so much as it was but it is quite different! Somehow it’s quite surprising how different it was.

Ana.: Which reminds me, I hear Elvin was using you to get Justin to get something’s for his movie, what happened there?
Janet: Yes, Elvin did that, yes. I thought he was a really nice person and he was really sweet! And then it turns out that he was using me to get close to Justin! I can’t believe him!

Ana.: Amazing how low someone can stoop for something! Did you get over the Dark Phase or are you still in it?
Janet:Still in it! It’s amazing how much you can find out in the Dark Phase! Unbelievable, I knew that it would change my way of thinking and my way of doing but this dramatically? Absolutely incredible!

Ana.: What’s been the biggest change?
Janet: That’s gotta be… The way I think. I seem to be thinking more about things and think things through.

Ana.: Did people change towards you when you started the Dark Phase?
Janet: Actually… No, not really. I don’t think people really notice those kinds of things so easily.

Ana.: Thank you for your time, Janet!
Janet: Thank you! I really enjoyed this interview!

*v is an abbreviation of very which Janet uses a lot