Conquering the Bunny Hill

Last weekend, my friend Becca and I went to Mt.Brighton to learn how to snowboard. I've been skiing practically my whole life, while my sister has tried to convince me that I should snowboard instead. Finally, I wanted to give snowboarding a try. It looked fun and exciting, and it seemed so different from skiing.

When we first arrived at Mt.Brighton, Becca and I put on all our warm snow clothes. My sister had used various snowboards in all her years on the slopes, and two of them happened to be perfect sizes for Becca and me. But boy, trying to put on the huge boots that fit into the snowboard bindings is really difficult!

Once we were finally ready, we stumbled over to what we thought was the bunny hill. It seemed too big to be for beginners, but we continued on anyway, and grabbed hold of the tow rope that took us up to the top of the hill. From there we slowly strapped our boots to our snowboards. It took me a little while to figure out how to do this, after all there are so many different little parts to the boots and snowboard!

I stood up with both feet tightened into the snowboard. I hopped forward and started sliding down the hill. Before I knew it, I was back on the ground. I fell almost right after I had started. It was then that I discovered snowboarding would not be as easy as it looked.

I got up and continued down the rest of the hill, falling quite a lot! It was very painful, but really funny at the same time. After getting used to the hill for a little while, Becca and I took a lesson. Our instructor laughed every time Becca or I fell. Of course, he was concerned for our safety, but our ridiculous lack of talent did happen to be very entertaining. Becca fell flat on her face more than once, as did I.

After the lesson was over we practiced some more, and by the end of the day, I was able to snowboard down the entire hill without falling, stopping successfully at the bottom. I am so proud of my accomplishment.

We went home, and the next day I woke up with a stiff back, sore neck, and arms that hurt every time I moved them. Yet the pain was all worth it, because learning how to snowboard is one of the best experiences I've ever had, and I hope to go back to Mt.Brighton to learn even more soon.

Snow Day Extreme

One day in the middle of winter, after it had snowed all night and continued to snow all day, there was ten feet of snow. Of course, school was cancelled, being so many children were trapped in their homes. Fortunately for me, there is a window in my bedroom upstairs that can easily be exited. I put on warm snow clothes, and slid out the window onto a pile of snow in my front yard. I met five of my friends, who had also escaped through their upstairs’ windows, at a nearby park to go sledding. But the park’s hill was too small for us big shots. We walked twenty miles at high speed to get to Mt. Brighton, lugging our sleds close behind. Once we arrived, we jumped on a chair lift while no one was looking. The chair lift carried us up to the top of the hill where we lined up across the snow buried hillside. "Ready, set, go!” I said, starting the race, and we all took off down the black diamond ski slope on our cheap plastic sleds.

I flew through the air, like an airplane above the ocean, feeling free and unleashed. I was in the lead too! That is, until one of my friends, Alexi, knocked my sled over! I shot off like a torpedo, and luckily landed right back on my sled again! It was time for my revenge, and we were already more than half way down the slope. I had to make my move, and do it quickly. I built up momentum and rammed my sled right into hers, but she didn't budge, and she flew past the designated finish line before I did! I had lost, she had won, it was over. But the fun had just begun.

When the five of us were stopped at the bottom of the hill Julia made a comment that made Gabe bubble over with pretend anger. Gabe dove towards the giant of our friends, Julia, and Julia, having much strength, threw Gabe to the side with ease. Another mock battle had begun.

I ran towards Julia, trying to help Gabe, and threw the snow I had in my hand right at Julia's head. Her face turned bright red, and her eyes grew wide in anger. I was in for it now. She ran at me full force, and knocked me down. I watched from the ground as Brooke tried to attack Alexi, who was defending Julia. Once again, a friend went down! Julia stood victorious with Alexi at her side.

Laughing off the competitive humorous fight, we started home into the darkness of the night. Our snow day had come to an end, and we soon were safely to our homes climbing the snow piles into our bedroom windows. Settled in my room, I thought back on my day and laughed. It had been the best snow day I'd ever had.

The Congo Needs Help

The United Nations should help the Democratic Republic of the Congo civilians so there isn’t a repeat of the incident in Rwanda, and so many innocent lives won’t be lost.

If the United Nations doesn’t stop the terror in the Congo, no one else will. These violent actions are soon to become another war like the one in Rwanda. The rebels need to be stopped immediately. Not even the Congolese Army can be trusted to protect the Congo’s civilians. When supported logistically by the U.N., the Congolese Army managed to kill many civilians, with the U.N.’s help! The U.N. was tricked into believing that the civilians’ safety can be achieved simply by the Congolese Army. Now that that option is no longer, the U.N. must take a stronger stand, and help the Congo’s civilians themselves. This means, of course, sending in U.N. troops.

The Congolese people don’t have the finances or resources to protect themselves. They need the U.N.’s support, training, resources, and protection, until they can manage to shield themselves from the rebels. Many innocent civilians of the Congo are dying each and every day, because they don’t have the necessities to care for themselves. With the U.N.’s training they could become a force to stop the rebels. With the U.N.’s resources and protection, they could prepare themselves, through training, to fight off the rebels. All they need is help, and if the world can’t take responsibility to support and protect innocent people, then many will suffer the unfair consequences.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/world/africa/14congo.html?_r=1