Pangu Separates the Sky from the Earth

Pangu is the primary God of ancient Chinese legend, the creator of the world. Before the world was made, the universe is like a big muddy egg with chaotic mixtures. A guy named Pangu, the giant, has been sleep in the “big egg” after waking up about 18,000 years. Pangu then opened the world by his divine power, which separated the sky from the earth. His left eye became the sun, right eye became the moon; hair and beard became the stars in the night sky; his body shaped the end of East, West, North, South and magnificent mountains; his blood becomes creeks and rivers; teeth, bones became the underground treasures and mineral deposits; skin and fine hair became the vegetation on the land; sweat into the rain. The soul Pang became human being when he died after the grand creation of the world.

Bangkok City Pillar Shrine [NICKY]

Bangkok City Pillar Shrine

When I was grade 12, my school took us, my friends and I, to visit Bangkok,  the capital of Thailand. We saw many cultural places such as the Grand Palace, the Emerald Temple and the Bangkok City Pillar Shrine. The teacher told us the story about the history of Thailand and the legend of Bangkok City Pillar Shrine. That was interesting to me.

Bangkok City Pillar Shrine or Sao Lak Muang in Thai was created by King Rama I when he established Bangkok as the capital of Thailand. The shrine was raised and blessed before construction on the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the rest of the city, it was actually the first building of the capital.

Before The Bangkok City Pillar Shrine was built, the king ordered soldiers to make 4 big holes at every corner of the City Pillar Hall. Then they went to the city and made an announcement of volunteer recruition, 16 people were named in the list.: four good meaning and the four names in the lists were In, Jan, Mun and Kong, the meanings are enduring and strong. Before the ceremony, all the men were fed with the best food of the country. Then they took four living men into each hole and overlaid the holes with the big logs.  All 16 men finally died. The four logs that overlay the holes were built to be the shrine, covering the city pillar. They believed that the spirit of the 16 men would be the guardians and defend the city from the bad things. And this is what I heard about the Bangkok City Pillar Shrine

The most influential person in my life

The person with the most influence in my life is my mom. Her name is Felicia Azanfirei. My mom is not so tall, has red hair, and she is all the time well dressed. She is a very friendly person. She was a few years ago the co-owner of a bakery, but now she is not working.

She influenced me in a lot of ways. When I was in high-school, she was in America, and because of that I could do whatever I wanted. Bad grades started to come, I made a lot of friends  with bad habbits and all my life changed.

But my mom heard about me and she returned home quickly. Good grades started to come again, I quit the bad habits and I finished high-school with a high grades. All these because of her, and i am thankful.

One memorable story is when I prepared a surprise for her. It was her birthday and I decorated the entire house with balloons and a lot of other decorations. I invited a lot of relatives and friends. I also ordered a lot of food and drinks. Everything was perfect.

When she came home, she was so surprised, and she started to cry, and she told me the she wasn’t expecting that I could do something like that…But this is just one of them.

Me and my sisters still like to make her a lot of surprises. We try to make our mom happy and proud.

Ramadan by Naif Aljeddani (and Hessa Almehmadi)

The Three Days Trip To Seaside

As the title said, a three-day trip to Seaside should be a very good journey and adventure. However, I got a case of very bad carsickness during the whole trip, so the trip wasn’t a nice one for me as it supposed to be, still, I had a great time while staying at the motel.

The trip virtually starts at the stop by Lincoln City. After about one-and-a- half hour drive, I started to feel a little bit carsick. Therefore, for the rest of the activities I practically did not pay attention. Cheese factory, historical lighthouse, I just remembers they were all looked very wonderful under the blue sky, but other parts of memory seem lost.

When, on the first day, we arrived at Seaside, the weather was beautiful in the evening. Lying on a couch, I felt peace and tranquility that calmed me down. From as far as you could see on the left and right was open water and sand. The splash was open water and sand. The splash of pieces of seashells and driftwood lay scattered on the beach. The wind felt soft and warm and the water not very chilling. Far in the distance the sun was changing color from a yellow to an orange and then to a red ball hanging over the horizon. The horizon was a long gray line broken once by the outline of a ship or a fisherman’s boat. Then, everything was attributed to calm.

Due to the sickness, I unfortunately did not go to any of the adventures or exploration in the trip plan. It’s good for me to have a relaxing time by the sea however.

Seaside Trip We started our trip Monday morning at 9:30 a.m.. and we headed to the cheese factory which was in Tillamook.

There we saw how the cheese is made and also we tasted some cheese and we ate some ice cream with different flavors, some of them were unusual for me.

After that we left the factory and we headed to a restaurant to grab some lunch because we were hungry, and then we went to see a lighthouse and the octopus tree.

With our bellies filled with good food, we made the last part of the first day journey and we finally reached the hotel in Seaside. After relaxing a little bit, Nick, Sheila and I went to visit the town and to grab dinner, and something for breakfast! Xiao didn’t feel so well so he stayed at hotel. We had a very good and delicious dinner at a restaurant that was popular in town, and then we ran to catch the sunset on the beach.

Second day of our trip was more interesting. First we had breakfast cooked by Sheila and Nick (it was delicious) and then we visited a museum that showed us how the salt was made and we learned about the Luis and Clark expedition. After the museum we decided to go and have lunch and then we went on a beach called Indian Beach where I was surprised by the beautiful landscapes and views.

We returned to our hotel where we had dinner comprised of some French fries, 3 slices of cheese pizza, seafood, a salad with chicken and vegetables, and ice cream for dessert. The last day was a short one. First we had breakfast again cooked by our great chefs, then we left the hotel and headed to Hug Beach were we walked a few minutes. We returned on the road again, because we wanted to come back home. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and after lunch I slept in the car for two hours. When I woke up, we were already in Salem—back home. It was a beautiful experience and trip for me. I learned a lot of new words, also I saw a lot of new places and I learned about American history. I have new friends and it is good to know that I am building nice relationships with the other students and professors. I enjoyed the trip!

The north coast trip [Nicky]

The north coast trip [Nicky]


      


          This Monday morning, July 16, I woke up early. After I got out of bed I brushed my teeth, washed my face and hair then I walked to kitchen and had some cereal for breakfast as usual. My mother gave me a ride to the college. Yes, today we had an overnight trip, to the city of Seaside on the north coast of Oregon. Unfortunately, Naif couldn’t join this trip because of husband’s duty, taking care of his pregnant wife.

           We started the trip at 9 o’clock from Chemeketa Community College headed to Seaside. However, on the way to Seaside, we stopped at places we thought would be interesting and fun like Lincoln City beach and Cape Meares State Scenic viewpoint. At Cape Meares, we could see not only the Oregon’s shortest lighthouse but also the popular attractive Sitka Spruce tree, the octopus tree. The octopus tree is an unusually Sitka Spruce tree, it has no central trunk, seven or eight thick branches spread out of the center that why it was named “Octopus Tree.” After that, we visited the big cheese factory at Tillamook city named the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Here, we tried different kinds of cheeses and ice cream that are made fresh at the factory.

         Finally we were here, the Tides by The Sea Hotel, Seaside. We dropped our bags at the hotel and walked around the town sightseeing. Unfortunately, Xiao got carsick , so he decided to stay in his room. The Seaside town was so beautiful, crowded with tourist from different cities, various types of restaurants at every block along the streets and we choose an American seafood restaurant for our dinner. After dinner, the sun was going down, so we walked rapidly from restaurant to the beach to see the sunset. And yes, we were in time. The moment that the sun touched the horizon was so beautiful.

        Day two, this morning we met at my room for making breakfast from food we bought from a market not far from the hotel. We had fried eggs with sausages and bread for breakfast. Unfortunately again, Xiao still got sick. He felt bad and needed some rest. So again he stayed at the hotel to get better. Today we went to the Seaside Museum & Historical Society, Salt Works, Cannon beach, Indian Beach and Seaside Beach to see Haystack rock. Sound like this day was a beaches day and we loved it.

       Last day, we, including Xiao, checked out of the hotel and headed to Salem. On the way to Salem, we stopped at the hug beach and Blue Heron French Cheese. Finally we were home and safe. I loved this trip. I learned some Oregon’s history. I visited the beautiful places and I promised I’ll visit again, the north coast of Oregon.

Xiao

Florin

Oregon is beautiful. The weather of this state is very nice. And Oregon has too much rain but in the summer there is not too much rain. The people of this state are friendly. I like this state because it doesn’t have taxes, the cost of living is cheap. Oregon has many cities. The capitol city is Salem. I live in Salem. Salem is not big. It doesn’t have big buildings. Portland is big. Portland has many big buildings. Oregon has many schools, colleges, and universities. Oregon has many rivers. Salem has many farms. I like the river sounds because they are relaxing. I like tree sounds. I like rain. I like animals: horses, ducks, and cats. I like waves, and I like to listen to relaxing music. I enjoy the smell of flowers, rain, grass after the rain, perfume, good cooking, and new things. Oregon is good-looking, I like cloudy skies, green trees, green grass, rain, river, waterfall, flowers, and the sea. I like state’s delicious food and candy. I like to eat chocolate. I like to eat vegetables and fruits because these things are healthy. I like ice cream in the summer because the ice cream is cold. And fresh fish because it reminds me of home. I like Oregon. I like Salem. And I like American people. By Naif Aljeddani