TERABITHIA

Monday, February 23, 2009

APPENDIX 1.6a
a)
Last year, my classmate, who is also my friend, invited me to his church for a celebration. Out of curiosity, I asked him what this celebration is about and with much enthusiasm, he told me that it was Easter and he started to explain what it was. This day is when Jesus Christ was resurrected and went up to heaven. This day varies as the day of Good Friday always changes over the years. I realized that this day was always neglected by the people. Being free and nothing on my schedule, I agreed to go with him to his church. We decided to meet outside the school and then made our way down there. The name of the church was Moriah Bible Presbyterian Church. When we went inside, I thought that I was the out one out as I was a Buddhist. But I was wrong. To my astonishment, I saw my cousin there (who was also a Buddhist).we started to sing songs of hymns praising God and was amazed by mood of the church people and the tone of their singing. We then listened to the message by the pastor. I feel that the story of Jesus is very touching as He sacrificed Himself for our sins. After the service I joined him for dinner and felt a little awkward when he and his family was praying and I was not praying at all. But I went home with an exciting experience to share with my family.

b)
By comparing and contrasting my individual experiences with what Jess experienced with his family during Easter, it is partly different and partly similar. First of all the differences, I went to my friend's house to have Easter dinner with their families but Leslie did not make a trip to Jess's house to have dinner. Secondly, my friend and his families does not really care about the way they look or wore when they go to the church. First of all similarities, my friend's parents allow me to join them when they go to church and so did Jess's parents allow Leslie to follow them. Secondly, both Leslie and I felt that the story of Jesus Christ was very interesting. Thirdly, both Leslie and I tried singing the songs that praise God eventhough we did not know much of the lyrics of the song.

c) The two festivals that my friends and I normally celebrate are Halloween and Chirstmas. First of all I shall talk about Halloween. When the word Halloween is said in front of me, the first few things that would come to my mind are 'Ghosts, devils, candy, jack-o'-lanterns, etc' and my opinion is that people go around the neighbouring houses wearing scary masks and costumes and saying,'Trick or treat!' , then they got candy just like that.
Here are some general information about Halloween. Halloween is celebrated on 31 October and it has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. Halloween is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year". Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient Celtic pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores.
While celebrating Halloween, I could just notice that the day is often associated with the colors orange and black, and is strongly associated with symbols such as the jack-o'-lantern. One of the interesting details is that I heard people say that on Halloween, the REAL demons and devils comes alive and haunts the streets but I think that is just a story to scare little children. Another interesting time is when my friends and i were trick or treating, we went to my neighbour's, Old Mrs Granston house to get delicious candies. When she gave us a bowl of sweets and candies, her dentures suddenly fell into the bowl of candies and we immediately ran off with a nauseous look on our faces.

Many people carve faces on pumpkins on Halloween but this practice is not practised in Singapore as it is difficult to obtain a whole pumpkin. I have also noticed that after carving the faces on the pumpkins, people place candles in the pumpkins, giving it a creepier look.

To start off, here are some general informations on Christmas. It is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ and there are 12 days of Christmas. I always longed for a 'white Christmas' since young . It has always been my dream to see snow falling from the sky, rather than ice on the ground. The possibility of having snow in Singapore is extremely low, almost zero. One of the interesting details is that on Christmas, most hotel and shops would sell turkey which I love to eat most. Decorations are put up in most shops and some houses on these days. Parties are organised and presents are exchanged among families and friends. Presents are my favourite part of Christmas as I would get new toys or games.

Labels: MK 32

Terabithia Welcomes You.
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Appendix 1.6a

a)The festival I am doing is Christmas. Every 25th December, we always celebrate the same festval. Christmas is all about sharing and caring and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. On the day of Christmas, I went to my aunt's house to barbercue .On this occasion, my aunt prepared many indigrents. There were so many food like chicken,sausages and most importantly, the turkey! Christmas is also a time of exchanging presents and gathering. In my aunt's house, there was this mini christmas which my cousins and I cousins stared at it for 5 minutes. The decoration in my aunt's house was very nice. The decoration was in all types and colours, red blue and green. On that day, my family and I felt very happy as there were good food and we get to get gifts. At my aunt's house, me and my cousin played the play station 2. Whenever i looked around, there was always a smile on my cousin's face. So i was curious and decided to ask them why they were so happy. First of all, all of them said, "Christmas is not all about having fun, but bonding and strengthening our family relationships. It bonds family relationship as we co-operate to find the ingredients and buy gifts." I was happy to know that they loved Christmas and I love it too. From young, I loved Christmas as i get to meet my relatives and cousins. Therefore, I think that Christmas is an important day where by all families get together and have a good time.

b)Comparing my individual experiences with what Jess experienced with his family during Christmas, I found out that there are some differences. First of all, we are different in the way we spent our time during Christmas. Such as, even though it was just almost a month to Christmas, Jess's sister still spent most of their time fighting on what to buy for their boyfriends but I spent most of my time with my family preparing the ingredients needed for the barbecue and the gifts we should give to our relatives. Also, Jess spent most of his time during Christmas milking the Miss Bessie and spending time with Leslie. But I spent Christmas with my family and relatives instead of my friends. Therefore we can see that Jess is not happy about the way Christmas was spent as he spends little time with his family during Christmas. This might be because his family do not interact much with Jess and do not understand him. It also might be because Jess's family is poor and hence, does not have enough money to buy decorations and celebrate the occasion properly. Thus from here, I can see that my individual experiences with what Jess experienced with his family is different.

c)My friends and I celebrated Christmas and Easter. The interesting thing about Easter is that the date and when it is celebrated changes every year.But usually, from what I know, Easter falls two day after good friday. But Christmas will always be on the 25th of december. Things interesting about Easter is that it is the most important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. Easter is about celebrating Jesus' death, burial and resurrection from the dead. To me, I think that Easter is a time of enjoying and thanksgiving. I often hear people saying that Easter has something to do with rabits and chocolate eggs, well it is. The rabbit, also known as the hare which is symbolically associated with the moon and therefore may have become associated with Easter since the date of Easter is determined by the phases of the moon. Easter eggs represents new life and are specially decorated eggs given to celebrate Easter. These eggs are often hidden for good children to find on Easter morning. For Christmas, it is a time where family gather and exchange gifts. It is a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. But people often ask, why do we need to put a star on top of a christmas tree? It is because the star represent the host of angels. But after all, the christmas tree will still look very nice after decorating it with christmas lights and other things! Therefore after saying so much, I would just like to say that both festivals is a time for family bonding and they are both a happy occasion.

Low Jin An 30

Terabithia Welcomes You.
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APPENDIX 1.6a

(a) I was borned a Buddhist, before I became a pure Christian when I was at the age of eight. That was the year when i recieved Christ and became part of the Christian family. Before that, I knew little about Christian life. Since young, I always wonder what is Easter Day all about. I always have this idea that Easter Day is about the "Eating eggs day". But ever since recieving Christ, I slowly started to understand what is Easter Day all about.

Easter Day was the day when Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead three days after his crucification on the cross. Christians commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and thus his victory over death. It is celebrated on a Sunday between March 22 and April 28 every year. Easter also refers to the season of the church year called Eastertide or the Easter Season.

On Easter Day every year, my family will take time off specially to go to the church to celebrate Easter. This day, we will sit down together and remember this very special day 2000 over years ago when Jesus rose from the dead.

Last year, just like every other church services, we will praise God and worship Him at the start of the service. Sometimes, the whole session will get very emotional and people will start to weep. Then after that, our paster will preach about Easter and its origin and so-forth.

Finally, there came the games event. There was this very one game which created a huge impact on me. That was the competition of the painting of eggs. We were given this limited number of materials and everyone would have to use it to paint the entire egg. It took a great skill in order to do up a successful piece of work. We were given a maximum of 30 minutes to complete everything, and thereafter, the host of the event will choose out the most outstanding painted egg. I painted mine with many different colours and funny patterns on it. To my surprise, I was the champion in that event! I was so glad and joyous about it as I did not ever expected the winner would actually turn out to be myself!

At the end of the day, my family and I went for a roast lamb dinner at one of the restuarants in town. Roast lamb is the traditional meat for the main meal on Easter Day. It was being served with mint sauce and vegetables. There is hardly any chance to eat it now as the price of it is getting even more expensive by the days. It was then that we will start exchanging all our Easter cards and gifts with one another as a family. I loved Easter Day a lot just like how I loved any other festivals. It is the time when my family can gather together as one and bond with one another. We will also be able to chat and understand one another even more, especially when my parents are busy at work on other days, and this can surely improve our relationship as a family!

(b) From what I understand, i could see that the way Jess experienced Easter Day was different from the way I experienced my Easter Day. Jess only goes to the church with his family on Easter Day whereby Jess found the service very boring even though he was a Christian. Besides that, when Jess was at the service, he would not even listen to the preachings. For myself, I find that going to church is a great pleasure and joy for me as I can listen to the word of God, unlike Jess. I loved church services as I can praise and worship God, and for once, I can forget about all the troubles I am facing and just turn to God for help. I always feel very relaxed and calm when I am in church. If you were to ask me, I will say that church is my second home.

(c)The unique thing about Easter Day is that the dates for celebration are not fixed every year, and it is always changing according to the phrases of the moon. I find it very interesting as it is different from almost all other festivals. But one thing that must not change is that Easter Day must be on a Sunday and also two days after the crucification of Christ.

The Easter Bunny, originated with the hare, an ancient symbol for the moon. From what i know of the legend, the bunny was originally a large, handsome bird belonging to Eostre, the Goddess of Spring. She changed the bird into a rabbit, which explains why the Easter bunny builds a nest and fills it with colored eggs.The Easter bunny has its origins in pre-Christian fertility lore. Hares and rabbits served as symbols of abundant new life in the spring season. It really is a hare, not a rabbit, that symbolizes Easter. In my opinion, i think that Easter Day is the day for Christians to attend religious services in Church and also a day for the gathering of the family. That should be the way as Christians must remember this very special day as this was the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we have to commemorate this very day every year.

The egg is another popular symbol of Easter. Christians regarded the egg as an emblem of the universe, the work of the supreme divinity, the germination of life. Eggs were dyed and eaten during spring festivals in ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome. Colored eggs were not associated with Easter until the 15th century. Many Americans follow old traditions of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving children baskets of candy.

Christmas is the day whereby Christians commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. It is the day of giving, sharing and loving. This day, people will exchange presents with one another and decorate their houses with decorations and Christmas tree. There is usually a star placed at the top of the tree to represents the star that lead the three wise men to Bethlehem where Jesus was borned at. The needles of the tree pointing heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven. I feel that this is the best time when the whole family can gather together as one and bond together. Jesus Christ became my best Christmas gift afterall!

TORI LAWE! (39)

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Sunday, February 22, 2009

APPENDIX 1.6a
a)
The date and when Easter is celebrated changes every year, but how it is celebrated never changes when it comes to my family. Whenever Easter comes, we will always join the congregation in the nearby church. Easter is about celebrating Jesus' death, burial and resurrection from the dead. Being in a Christian family, we go to the church and celebrate by saying prayers and doing special chruch services. Sometimes my friends invite me over to their church to celebrate with them. I feel that Easter is a time for thanksgiving and feel happy to be able to celebrate such a wonderful holiday. It is known that Easter is usually associated with chocolate eggs and rabbits, which is a traditional symbol of new life, like Easter. After the service, my family had dinner together and talked about work and things in life. This dinner, which is very simillar to the renunion dinner during Chinese New Year, helps to bond the family together and resovle conflicts between family members. Sometimes, I invite my relatives over or go to my cousin's house to have dinner with them. I always feel welcomed whenever I have dinner with them and I will feel the joy that they have during Easter. It is a time of celebration and thanksgiving, which will be remembered by people for generations to come.:D

b) There are some differences in how I and both Jess and Leslie felt when they celebrated Easter. For example, Jess feels that going to the church is boring even though he's a Christian. As for Leslie, she found the story about Jesus beautiful although she does not believe in the bible. She also wanted to go to the church even though Jess said it was going to be boring. Unlike Jess, I do not feel that the services in the church is boring. Jess also did not feel obligated to sing along when everyone else, even Leslie, was singing. they also spent their time only in the church during Easter and did not have any meal together when they went back home. this might be why the family did not have a close bond with one another and was always quarrelling.

c) The two festivals celebrated by me is usually Easter and Christmas. This 2 festivals are unique in some way and yet is from the same religion, Christianty.

Like what I have said earlier, the date of Easter always changes and tends to fall on the 22nd of March and April 25th. The Americans also have a large Easter egg hunt. I feel that these tradition practiced in America is quite a unique game for young children and did you know that nearly 90 million chocolate bunnies are made every year! That is a lot of chocolate bunnies, Don't you think? The chocolate eggs symbolises new life, whichis referred to Jesus resurrected from the dead. Interesting enough, in medival times, the festival of throwing eggs was held in church where the priest would throw an hard-boiled egg to one of the choirboys! It was then tossed around and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and retained hte egg. When I first heard about it, I found it quite hilarious and dangerous as the choirboy who was in target might get hurt when the priest threw the hard-boiled egg. It was also a wonder to me why such a dangerous thing was held during the medival times.

As for Christmas, there are also a lot of interesting facts to name. For example, although Christmas is a time for sharing and caring, people also give kisses to o, whenever two people were under hte mistletoe. Even though it was associated with peace and friendship, I found it was inappropriate as people should no go around kissing stangers whenever thy were under hte mistletoe. It was also quite hilarious for me as I could not imagine people kissing each other. it is belived in Ukraine that if you find a spider web on Christmas morning, it is a sign of good luck. I felt that this surperstition is quite illogical even though it is belived for many years. It can be interesting to find out about the interesting facts in several festivals and I hope that I am able to laern more about them!

So Choon Chia 37

Terabithia Welcomes You.
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APPENDIX 1.6a

a)
Each year on the 25th December, my family will celebrate the annual holiday, Christmas. Christmas is a very important day because it commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. I feel that Christmas is a time of happiness and joy. My family celebrates Christmas by going to my grandmother’s house in the evening. At there, all my relatives will be present and we will exchange gifts we bought for each other. We then went to East Coast Park and had barbeque. We ate delicious foods like seafood such as prawn, crabs oysters and fish. To me, Christmas is a time where everybody gets together, bond and strengthen our relationships, and also get to understand one another better at the same time. My family always spent our time during this occasion preparing the ingredients for the barbeque feast at night, and also shopping for gifts. While doing so, it bonds my family together as we all co-operate to search for, and buy the ingredients and gifts. We also spent much time planning for the event, like how to make it a memorable one. At midnight, everyone in my family will open all the presents and check what we have gotten. I always loved Christmas since young as I will get to meet up with all my relatives and cousins whom I rarely met. In the meanwhile, we can also exchange common interests and understand each other better. To me, Christmas will always be a memorable time for me, and my family.

b)
Comparing my personal experience with what Jess experienced with his family, I find that there are quit a few differences. Such as, how we spent our time. Even though it is near Christmas, the siblings still spent most of their time quarrelling with one another. But I this spent my time preparing for the Christmas party at night, such as shopping for gifts and searching for ingredients. Also, Jess spends most of his time during Christmas milking Miss Bessie and with his close friend, Leslie whom was all totally unrelated to him. But I spend most of my time with my family and relatives instead of with my friends. From here, I can say that Jess spends his Christmas very unhappily as he rarely spent time with his family. This may be because of the financial difficulties Jess‘s family is facing, hence does not have enough money to celebrate the occasion properly (eg. buying foods and gifts).

c)
2 of the festivals which my friends and i have done are Easter and christmas. There are many interesting details about easter.

Firstly, the date easter is celebrate changes every year. I feel that this is very interesting because most festivals have a fixed date. But usually, easter falls 2 day after Good friday. Easter is usually also associated with chocolate eggs and rabbits. The hare is symbolically associated with the moon and therefore may have indirectly become associated with Easter since the date of Easter is determined by the phases of the moon. The Egg is also associated with easter beacuse it is a symbol of fertility and re-birth. Every Easter day, people will draw picture and decorate the eggs which i feel very meaningful. According to my reserch, people believe it is a symbol of the the stone blocking the Sepulchre from being 'rolled' away. Some people, however, just exchange chocolate eggs with one another as an easier option.

There are also many good things about Christmas. Firstly christmas allows you and your family to bond together, and people often decorate the place with christmas tree. People also hang many colourful decorations around Christmas tree to make it more beautiful. At the top of the tree, there will be an angel or a star placed, representing the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem from the Navity story. People also exchange gifts as a form of love and care for one another.

Christmas and Easter and all associated with Jesus. Christmas, marks the birth of Jesus, while Easter marks the death of Jesus. From all of what i have said, this shows that Easter and Christmas all helps to bond family together, forming closer relationships between the family.

Basil 26

Terabithia Welcomes You.
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Saturday, February 21, 2009

APPENDIX 1.6a
a)
As I come from a Christian family, I will celebrate Christmas every year on 25th December. I feel that Christmas is a very important day in my family's life. It is the day that Jesus Christ came into this earth. I feel that during Christmas, it is a time of giving and also its a time of family gathering. I celebrated Christmas by going to my aunt's house and having a time of exchanging gifts. We exchange gifts is because God gave Jesus to us. We had a bbq in my aunt's balcony and we had great food such as scallops, chicken, otah, satay, fish, etc. I feel that during Christmas, when everyone gets together, it will be a time of gathering and it bonds everyone closer each time. My family will always spend our time, preparing dishes for the dinner at night, in the afternoon. And also during this time, it bonds my family much closer together as we co-operate much better and get to understand one another even better. Christmas is a time of always sharing and gathering. I love Christmas as I will always get to meet up with my cousins and my other relatives. I can also meet up with my nieces and nephews. To me, Christmas will always be a special day of my life.

b)
Comparing my experience during Christmas and Jess' experience during Christmas, there are a few differences. Such as, the way we spend our time. Jess spent his time helping May Belle dressing and undressing her doll and also playing his new racing car set. But I spend my time helping to do the dishes and spending my time catching up with my relatives. Also he spend his time milking the cow and also spends his time with Leslie which is his friend. But I spend my time with my family and also interacting with my relatives and not my friends. I can say that Jess spends his Christmas sadly and does not really spend time with his family. This may be due to the poverty which is what Jess and his family is experiencing.

c) The 2 festivals that my team and I celebrate are Easter and also Christmas. There are many unique and interesting characteristics about both of the festivals. As a believer in Christ, I celebrate both Easter and Christmas. Easter is the day that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. Christmas is the day that Jesus Christ was born. Christmas is a day that we, Christians, commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. But other people think that Christmas day may have been chosen to correspond with either a Roman festival, or with the winter solstice. The modern way of celebrating this day include gift-giving, Church celebrations, and the display of various decorations, this includes the Christmas tree, lights, mistletoe, etc. Santa Claus, also referred to as Father Christmas, is a popular mythological figure often associated with bringing gifts on Christmas nights for children through the chimney. Santa is generally believed to be the result Christian mythology. Buy I do not believe in Santa Claus and I know that there is no Santa Claus at all. I just believe that the presents are blessings from God and nowhere else. Christmas is celebrated throughout the Christian population, but is also celebrated by many non-Christians an annual festival. Because gift-giving and several other aspects of the holiday involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, Christmas has become a major event for many retailers. Easter is the wonderful day that Jesus was resurrected. Easter always come 2 days after Good Friday. And these 2 days depend on the year and changes every year. Parents tell their children that eggs and other treats have been delivered and hidden by the Easter Bunny in an Easter basket which children find waiting for them when they wake up. But I do not believe in these kinds of things. Many families in America will attend Church or services in the morning and then participate in a feast or party in the afternoon. In the UK, children still decorate eggs, but most British people simply exchange chocolate eggs on the Sunday. Chocolate Easter Bunnies can be found in shops. Many families have a traditional Sunday roast, particularly roast lamb. In the north of England and the north of Ireland, the traditions of rolling decorated eggs down steep hills and pace egging are still adhered to. To me, these 2 festivals are very important and it also can bond families closer when they meet up during these 2 days.

MALCOLM LAI 31

Terabithia Welcomes You.
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