I'm very glad that Winter Break is here. It's where everyone gets together, sleeps in, and has fun for the holidays. There are two things that I am excited to do during Winter Break. The first thing is that all my cousins, and siblings are going to get together at someone's house, and are going to have a giant sleep over that will last about the whole weekend! I am very excited for us getting together, because we all play video games, joke around, and play game shows, and just plain have fun!
     The second thing I am excited for is the fact of Christmas coming closer. The reason that I am most excited is because in my family, we do a secret Santa gift exchange. The best thing about that is we all put what we want for Christmas on a slip of paper, and we pull each other's name out, but of course, don't tell anyone who we have. This year, the rule was that we had to at least put 5 things we wanted for Christmas. I cheated a little this year, since I put the same thing for all 5 things. But, there was no obligation stated against putting the same thing on our list, so I was fine. After we buy the presents, on Christmas night, we all get together again for a Christmas dinner. After we all eat, there is a time where we exchange the gifts, but we don't just write the name on the tag, and have someone pass it out. We like to do things in a very fun way, so we find a really creative way to present who we have for the secret Santa exchange. I am so excited and can't wait to have an amazing winter break!

     Japan mostly borrowed things from China, and one of the rulers admired China so much, he sent some travelers there to go see how they do things, and act. This ruler wanted Japan to be just like the unified, and powerful China. One of the things they got from them was religion, the most important thing in my opinion. But what is this religion that was borrowed from China? Was it even originally Chinese? Why did the Japanese admire it so much.
     This religion is Buddhism. This was not originally from China, but from India. Buddhism traveled through India, to Nepal, to Afghanistan, and then China. Why this language was so popular is because it helps people achieve peace, and get away from the war-like things in life. Buddhism was very popular in China, and Japan received the religion after the travelers came back from China. They went straight to the ruler, and taught him about Buddhism, and brought the religion to life in Japan. It became very popular there. It got so popular, that the rich would want to do special rituals for the religion. The people who did not have the time and money stayed away from these types of things. This made both religions clash with each other, and there were two forms of Buddhism. The fancy one was called, "Zen Buddhism." The other, which was the original was called, "Pure Land Buddhism." The reason that this is the most important thing that Japan borrowed from China, is because it gives people a new faith, and something to believe in.

     I was working in the farm, plucking some wheat, and then I heard it. The sound of horses' footsteps were closing in. Could it be? Was the army coming in? No. It was the dreaded, and scary Mongols. I looked and saw them slaughtering animals, and I screamed a loud, and high-pitched cry. "Aaaaahhhh!!!" I yelled. Then, the sound of a horn blew out, and I saw the Chinese army rushing towards the Mongols. How can I save myself? My family? And then it hits me. I will pretend to be a nomad, and take the ship away to Japan with my family, since we did not live far from the coastline. I run in my house to find my family huddled together, and scared. "I have an idea to keep us safe!" I said, and then told them my plan.
     My family agreed, and then we heard the Mongols coming even closer, killing some of the army. I rush away with my family, and then I see the boat coming. We may not make it after all! We ran and ran, and then saw a few Mongols rushing our way. We finally got to the docks, and jumped inside. The Mongols, however, jumped on to the dock, ready to hop onto the ship. Luckily, the ship left barely, and those few Mongols fell down in the water, never to be seen. As  we boated to Japan, I was sad that we would be leaving home, but glad that we were safe together, as a family.

     The Chinese have made many achievements. One of the many, is the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall is the longest man-made wall ever to be built, and is seen from outer space. The Great Wall was built to protect the Northern part of China from any invaders who try to attack and come in. Building this wall took a long time, and many people died building the Great Wall. It had to be rebuilt a few times, but was very successful in helping keep the Chinese safe. Even today, the Great Wall stands. If you ever go to China, go see the Great Wall!
     Another great achievement was the small pox inoculation. Without this, people would be dying from small pox. But, since the Chinese found a way to cure it through inoculation, this doesn't occur anymore. Once the inoculation was successful, and cured people from small pox, the Chinese found other ways how to cure other diseases. We are safe from horrible diseases, thanks to the Chinese's inoculations. 
     The final great achievement was gunpowder. We use gunpowder in the military forces, to help keep our country safe. Another thing that gunpowder is used for, is fireworks! Everyone loves to watch beautiful colors of light blast in the twilight night sky, for all to see. We are able to celebrate our independence day with these gorgeous, but a little dangerous fireworks.
     So, the Chinese made great strides in achievements. They created the Great Wall, gunpowder, inoculations, paper, fireworks, and much more! Without the help of the Chinese people, we wouldn't have such things to use where we live today. We should all be thankful for the Chinese, who helped us in many ways.

     Thanksgiving is coming up, and I am thankful for three different things. Number one is a loving family. I love my family so much, and they work so hard to care for us, and feed us, along with a place to live. I know that many people in this world aren't lucky, and they don't have any loving families, because they are careless, or harsh with their children. Other people aren't lucky enough to not have a family at all, which makes me appreciate my family even more than I already do. I am so thankful for them!
     Number two on my thankful list is having a place to live, and food. Many people out in the world do not have any food to eat, or do not have a shelter to live in. I am thankful for food, because we need food and water for glucose in our body to power the cells that keep us alive. We also need salt to maintain in our diets. I am really thankful that I am able to have these things in my daily life. I am also thankful for a place to live, because there are many people who are homeless, and we need somewhere to stay. That way, we can be safe from harmful weather to keep ourselves safe. 
     Number three, the final thing I am thankful for, is games to play. This might sound a little weird, but, we need to entertain ourselves, and keep ourselves away from, boredom. That way, I can have fun, and play with my family and friends! I am so thankful for my loving family, food, water, and shelter, and games. Happy Thanksgiving!

     In African society, some people were known as griots. What are griots exactly? Griots are African storytellers who have memorized hundreds of stories throughout their entire lifetime. They tell stories to the Africans, who listened carefully to every word he said, for they were important, but why? Well, griots are really Africa history books. They retell history. Some people might be thinking why they don't just have a record of the history written down somewhere for all the Africans to see. This is probably weird to us, but the African people have no written language at all.
     The Africans never really came up with a language that everyone could read, write, and understand. There are many different languages that people through Africa speak, so they never came up with a major language that everyone had to learn how to speak. So, this is where griots come into play. They are the written record of history. They are their history books of stories, and myths. Some African people had a griot for themselves, because they were very rich. Others had few griots per area, and they would listen to him tell stories of Africa, and what had happened in the past of Africa. One of the greatest African kings, Mansa Musa, had his own personal griot to listen to wherever he went, even on the holy Muslim hajj. Griots are very important to the African people, because they are their only way of hearing stories from storybooks.

     Most people say that their favorite seaon is Spring or Summer, but not many really think about Fall, which has a lot of great things that come in it, like Halloween. Two of my favorite Fall things are Halloween, and the ending of Daylight Saving Times. Halloween is a really fun day, where you dress up in costumes, really my favorite part of it, and then we go to everyone's house, and ask for candy. In fact, yesterday was Halloween, and the people on my block were so nice. They'd say, "I like your costumes!" or "Stay safe, and have a great day!" Those people are so caring for us. I also have another favorite thing, which is the ending of Daylight Saving Times. 
     When that time finishes, we put our clocks one hour behind, which means we can get more sleep, and go to places later then we imagined. Say school starts at 8:00 am. When we put our clocks one hour behind, we get to sleep in another hour, which means if we stayed up late doing homework, we can get some more sleep, and have our brains charged and ready for the next school day. Having enough sleep is important for our brains. The less you sleep,  the worse your grades and performances get. The more sleep you get, the better your grades and performances will be. Studies prove that everyone should get at least 8 hours of sleep each day, which can be made to 9 hours when the Daylight Savings Times ends. Just go to sleep an hour early than your usual time, and you can get lots more sleep. These two reasons are the reasons

Iron was really a discovery to people. It wasn't just there for people to use it for their daily tasks and things to do. In the early times of Africa, iron was a great discovery for them. It was discovered by the Nok people of Africa. They used iron for ploughs for farming, spears for the military strength, and axes to cut down trees for homes. All these old discoveries are now used by everyone today. But they helped the Africans with survival.

    Do I care? Yes, I do care about the upcoming presidential election. The president is the one who decides what our future will be. Both parties have a different view of things, and both views affect everybody in the United States of America's lives. Being. president is a very important job for the government. They have a lot of authority, and the president needs to be able to handle it well. The people who are over 18 are able to particpate in this voting. Before voting, people need to think a little bit. They need to decide which president will benefit everyone. They shouldn't pick the one who maybe looks better, or things like that. If the president makes a promise, we have to think, " Will they complete that promise?"  The presidential election is something that all people should think about.