Volume I No. 8

(Another Special Edition!)

Gingerbread Weekly News...
Goes to China!!!
(Written by Diane Zhou)
Gingerbread Weekly News goes to China! Diane and Gingy send their wonderful story about their trip to China. That's the surprise!

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story

Gingerbread Weekly News...

Goes to China!!!

(Written by Diane Zhou)

We left on the June the 26th and then landed in Tokyo, Japan, in the afternoon on the 27th, Japan time zone. My family was going to China! We brought Eric (my brother's friend) with us because his parents didn't want to go. The airplane flight was 12 hours long. At the Narita airport, I ate dinner. I didn't eat the airplane food; it's so disgusting. Japanese food is so delicious. In an hour or so, we were off to Shanghai, China. I slept most of the time on the two-and-a-half hour flight. When we finally landed in the Shanghai Pudong Airport, we got our belongings and went to find my uncle who was going to pick us up. I thought my aunt was coming too, but I was depressed to find out she wasn't coming. We had to go on two taxis with so many people and things. We were going to our hotel, which was really near the Shanghai train station, pretty far away from the airport.
It was so hot in Shanghai, or, I guess I should say really humid, that I got sweaty one second after I stepped out the hotel door, even at night!!! I got a horrible stomach ache, and skipped “Dinner #2”. “Dinner #1” was sort of like my lunch. My uncle rented three rooms in the hotel, each room had two twin beds. I had to sleep in a room with my brother! Tell you why. There were three grown-ups, three kids, and each parent was to take a kid. I couldn't go with my uncle, I'm a girl; Eric couldn't, my uncle doesn't really know him; which left my brother to be with him. He cried about that!!! Because I was the oldest, I had to sleep with him!!!
I woke up in the middle of the night, not used to China time zone. At five o'clock, everyone was up, not used to the time zone just like me, besides my uncle (he lives in China). The kids ate breakfast at McDonald's. Then at seven, my parents, my uncle, and I ate in the hotel breakfast buffet. At 7:30, we walked to the Shanghai Train Station. We were off to Nanjing! I played cards with my dad the whole time. It only took two hours with two or three stops in the middle!!! Eric went with his aunt on his real vacation in China. He didn't look happy to leave Alex; they were best friends. My uncle's car was parked at the Nanjing Train Station. We went to my dad's side's family home and had our first meal at “home”.
The next morning, my mom went to her family's home for some personal reasons. My dad took Alex and I to Mochou Lake. We went on a boat, and went saw the beautiful, huge lake. We went “home for lunch. Afterwards, my uncle brought us to my mom's family side. We slept immediately because of China's time difference. That was the end of our first full day in Nanjing.
The next day, my brother and I started playing MaJiang with my dad after eating breakfast. Before lunch, my cousin came and joined us in our game of MaJiang. Then we ate lunch and went to Zhong Shan Ling. The park has 371 steps up the mountain. We counted that much up and another 371 steps down. Very tiring...
Next day was shopping day. It was to buy my brother and my prizes from my relatives for a great school year and many achievements. I got this coloring set, it's totally cool. I also got a watch, a shirt, and a pajama dress. Afterwards, we went back to my dad's side. We had an annual "family reunion" dinner at night, though my brother and I were sleepy then. We slept through the whole thing! That was the end of this day.
After my mom left for her family home in the morning the next day, my dad and my other cousin took us to Xuan Wu Lake. We didn't actually see the lake, but we played in a water park. It's way worse than places like Silliman Aquatic Center or Great America; there's no chlorine in the water, so there are dead bugs and yuck stuff in the water! The water slides are huge and fun. I almost couldn't ride them. I wasn't quite tall enough so they asked me how old I was. I said ten in Chinese, but they heard it as fourteen. That wasn't enough, so my cousin said that I was used to riding big water slides. After awhile of debating, they let me on the water slide, but said that they weren't going to be responsible if I got hurt. It was really fun!
My dad took us to Fuzi Miao the day after. We just went on another boat. We went “home”, ate lunch, then went to a sports center. My brother got to go for his swimming, so then it was my turn for my ice-skating. My brother skated too. I was like the only one who knew how to skate besides another skater about the same age as me and the coaches. The rink was about two times smaller, the ice was also really scratchy. Oh well, it was just for fun.
This day was boring; my brother and I just stayed home watching this really funny Chinese comedy and playing computer. We also built a mini roller coaster (Alex's gift that we bought the other day in China). My parent's were out doing their personal things, don't know what it is.
On Thursday morning, my dad took Alex and me to a place where we could see a huge ship forty times bigger than Columbus's that sailed around the world several times around the same time Columbus did. The original ship, of course, was destroyed a long time ago, but with written notes in old books and pictures, people were able to construct a ship similar to the original. We could even go inside it! In the afternoon, my family went to my mom's family home. All my brother and I did was play computer. No one to play MaJiang with. Two person games were not fun. My dad was getting a new T.V. set up while my mom was helping.
We went back into the city (my mom's family lives in the suburb.) after lunch the next day. We packed up our stuff. We would be leaving Nanjing the next day! Already! We went to the train station after lunch the next day. My aunt went with us. Alex was excited to see Eric. We arrived in Shanghai and went to our hotel. It was near the Shanghai Pudong Airport. We ate at the hotel's restaurant. We slept and woke up at six the next morning. We said bye to my aunt and we were off to America...

Volume I No. 7

Special Edition (New!!!)
Two Cover Stories!!!
Story 1: Father's Day Program
Kids organize the best gift of all...
Story 2: Ice Skating Competition
Let's see how Diane does on her second ice skating competition...

Table of Contents

Cover Story 1
Cover Story 2
Notice

Cover Story 1

Ice Skating Competition

As nervous as she was, Diane stepped on to the ice. The music started and she started and she started skating. “I wasn't that nervous this time, but still really nervous. No falls. But you know what? I got third place,” Diane told Gingerbread Weekly News. “It was a hard group of people to beat; I was competing against eight people!!! Tell you something, I skipped a level in ice skating. I thought the previous level was too easy. I guess I can't always win first place. Top three good enough.”
Then, Diane had a technical or freeskate program to skate. That program was tons harder and graded on how well each little skating move was done. Diane felt confident though, because she had done well in practice. Whoops, she fell on a jump. “I would say that I was smart enough to skip a single jump and do a double in exchange. That earned me fifth place out of eleven people!” Diane also told Gingerbread Weekly News. “My best moves were a combo jump and that 'exchanged double'. I guess I was pretty satisfied with fifth place, it was my first technical competition in this level.”
Now let's talk about fun. Diane has a whole new story to tell:
“My competition was in Vacaville. My family was going to live in a Residence Inn of Marriott. As we neared the hotel, my mom shouted, 'Whoa! A deer!!!' 'It's a rabbit, Mommy! Deer aren't that small,' I said. The rabbit was pretty big, long ears, huge feet and legs. It was cool seeing it run across the street.
“I guess this wasn't exactly 'fun', but it was for my mom. She found an outlet plaza in Vacaville. You know how moms like shopping? That's what happened. It was lucky that it was hot and my mom didn't shop that long. That was the end of my trip to Vacaville. Competing is fun for me!!!”

Cover Story 2

Father's Day Program

On Father's Day, Diane and Alex's family invited Amanda and Andrew's family, Emily and Andy's family, Vicky and Nicole's family, and Snow's family. The kids played Oregon Trail, Play Station 2, made cookies, played with water guns, and watched T.V. The adults ate and talked together. When the kids got bored, they went to the Ardenwood playground with Amanda's dad. When they got back, it was dinner time. The kids ate very little and went back to playing. Diane, Amanda, and Gingy had an idea of making the best Father's Day gift ever: a Father's Day Program!!! They started making program sheets on the computer.
Soon the program started. First, Diane played a five-minute-long GuZheng song. Then Andrew played a short fun piano piece. Amanda played the famous Turkey in the Straw on the piano. Andy played the flute and Emily played a song on the piano next. Then Diane and Alex played a piano duet. Vicky and Nicole performed amazing Kung Fu moves. Next, Snow danced ballet. Then, Emily played the piano again. Diane played the piano and finally, Andy did a magic trick. It was the best gift ever!
Diane even made a DVD for the Father's Day Program. “It's harder than I thought,” Diane told Gingerbread Weekly News.

Father's Day
Program

Sunday, June 17, 2007

瑶族舞曲...........古筝 GuZheng
Diane Zhou
Scaling the Rockies..............Piano
Andrew Chang
Entrees des juines nubinees...Flute
Andy Wang
Maple Leaf Rag.....................Piano
Emily Wang
Rondo for Four Hands..........Piano
Alex and Diane Zhou

Kung Fu
Vicky and Nicole Sun

Ballet Dancing
Snow
Burlesca.................................Piano
Emily Wang
Sonata in G Major...............Piano
Diane Zhou

Magic Tricks

Andy Wang

Thanks for watching our program!!!

Try making your own program sheet! Prizes...you get it. Due July 5, 2007.

Notice

Gingerbread Weekly News will not have an issue next week. There's a surprise for you Gingerbread Weekly News readers, which means, another exciting Special Edition the week after!!! Get ready for fun! It's about...

Mysterious? Too bad. Find out in two weeks.

Volume I No. 6

School is Finally Over!!!
3, 2, 1, last day of school!” Kids are so happy school is finally over. Let's find out what these students were doing on the last few days of school. Just read this Gingerbread Weekly News issue.

Table of Contents

Cover Story
New News
Debate Time
Mail Pail

Debate Time

Parents' Birthdays
Private or Not?

Should parents' birthdays be a family private thing? Or should it be a party type of thing? There's hot debate on this topic...

Stay Private!

Come on, it should be family private. The word is: respect. Parents are grown-up, they don't need the attention to be the birthday person. It's once a year, and just enjoy with the family. Parents can be proud of having such a wonderful family, and relationships should be kept private. So, privacy is important on a parent's birthday.

It's a Friend Thing

Have a party, after all, a parent is a person. Everyone likes to have fun and more people can celebrate with you. Kids play together, parents play together...how nice. Parents are grown-ups; true; but having fun never changes in your life, how old, how young; it doesn't matter. So, have a party on your birthday, that means you too, parents.

Cover Story

School is Finally Over!!!
Gingerbread Weekly News “interviewed” some students about what they did on the last few days of school. Here they are:

• Ardenwood: I would say there wasn't anything really interesting, but there wasn't much work, that was true. There were several assemblies, one was about my school's International Day. Reminds me, my brother, was on the newspaper, the Tri-City Newspaper! Get a June 12 newspaper issue or go online to: http://www.tricityvoice.com/ See this introduction paragraph (be sure to see the rest of the article too!):

International Day Celebration at Ardenwood

Students and parents of Ardenwood Elementary School once again brought the world to their campus as they observed their 20th Annual International Day Celebration on Friday, June 8. International Day was established by a committee of parents and teachers to encourage students and their families to share their cultures with one another. Today this event and similar festivities in other district schools continue to provide an invaluable opportunity for students to learn about each other and the world around them. Each year, Ardenwood parent volunteers with the enthusiastic support of the staff and students make the continued success of International Day possible.

• Forest Park: We had tons of fun every single day! Games, art, movies, I even got sort of tired of all that fun stuff! It's great, no more hard work and lots and LOTS of FUN!!!

• Delaine Eastin: Same as Forest Park, but even MORE FUN! Pool Party, Ice-Cream Party, 5^th Grade Social, all that type of stuff!

• Green Grass (afterschool/education center): The word is: FUN! Finally, once in a millennium, no CHINESE CLASS, or MATH or whatever. EAT EAT EAT! The Intermediate kids' teachers did not need to buy any food or ice-cream... they took leftovers (which was more than the teacher might ever buy!) from other classes. There was a whole chocolate cake, two boxes of ice-cream...and much more!!!

New News

The Drawing Contest

Congratulations to all the people who entered the drawing contest! Here are the prize winners:

First Place (Tie):
Alex Zhou (1st Grade) and Andy Wang (6th Grade)
Second Place (Tie):
Cynthia Yao (4th Grade) and Austin Zou (1st Grade)
Third Place: Nicole Sun (4th Grade)

Gingy in the Mud!!!

Weeeeee! It's fun to fly! Bleh! Yuck! In the mud...
Oh NOOOOOO! Wash Gingy! And you know what? Gingy isn't dirty anymore.
Diane was throwing Gingy and Gingy landed in the mud. But she was actually able to wash the mud off almost perfectly clean. “I was excited that school was over,” Diane told Gingerbread Weekly News. “I guess I was TOO excited.”

FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

At Green Grass (afterschool/education center), boys were having a TOTALLY you know what word (fun!) water gun fight. They got really, really wet. They even squirted water at the little girls!!! “Finally, a day to play!” Alex says.

A day to play is the best thing ever,
It's a day when you don't have to be clever.
Oh, oh, such a nice thing,
To get to play 'till it's very late!

Make a poem yourself! You know the prize and things, don't you?

Mail Pail

Here's all the mail Gingerbread Weekly News received from last week's issue – Happy Birthday, June 10 Issue:

Debate Time:
“No! It's not like you never have birthdays on weekends. And...there are many other years to have your birthday, on average, at my age (9), 60 to 80 more to go!!!” Cynthia, 4th Grade
“Yes! Then it's another day to skip school. Once a year, the 'specialest' day of the year!!!” Vicky and Nicole, 4th Grade

Other Stuff (New!!!):
“Happy Father's Day! A great day to all those dads out there...” Gingerbread Weekly News

Volume I No. 5

Happy Birthday

Say “Happy Birthday” to Alex! It was just Alex's birthday on June 4th, his birthday party on June 3rd. Let's find out all about Alex's 7th Birthday in this Gingerbread Weekly News issue!

Table of Contents
Cover Story
New News
Debate Time
Mail Pail

Debate Time

Should Schools Allow Kids to Skip School on Their Birthdays?
Talking about birthdays, how do you value your birthday? Would you want to be given a choice to go to school or not on your birthday? Let's see the debate on yes or no.

Yes!

Come on people, it's your birthday! Your very own birthday! Schools better allow you not to come to school on your birthday. It happens only once a year, ONCE a year. It was the day you came to life, it's gotta be honored!!!

No!

It's just your birthday. No big deal. And many people share this date with you. You're not the only one that has a birthday on your birthday. On average, three people are born every second. It's not a big event. There are about 700 people in an elementary school, so someone in the school probably shares a birthday with you, just in your school!

Cover Story

Happy Birthday

Say “Happy Birthday” to Alexander Zhou, it was his birthday on June 4th. He is now 7 years old, in first grade. He had his birthday party on Sunday, June 3rd. He invited Andrew (Amanda, Andrew's sister, came too), Eric, and Sean. He had a great party, with tons and tons of ice-cream, with ice-cream cake too, and pizza. Playing games, eating delicious food; that was part of the funnest birthday party ever!

New News

A Mouse in the House!!!

A mouse in the house,
A lot are caught,
But how many more,
Are still by the door?

Diane's house has mice! Three were already caught, but is there more? Who knows? Here are a couple pictures of the mice (sorry, pictures unavailable online)!...But first of all....hmmm...let's have a drawing contest! Gingerbread Weekly News has put quite a few pictures now. Let's see YOURS on an issue.

Draw a picture of a mouse/mice. Due Date: June 12, 2007. Prizes: 1st Place-2 Pencils; 1st , 2nd, 3rd Places- A Certificate.

Good luck!!!

Here is Andy's winning story from two weeks ago:

A Gingy Mystery

One dark, dark night, Nicole was walking toward a random house. She carefully opened the door with magic and went inside. The house was silent. Then, she found a gingerbread girl and threw it into the oven. Ding! It was fully cooked. Then, Nicole left with ONE trace.
The next morning, Diane came downstairs and saw a gingerbread cookie and ate Gingy without realizing it. Then, she looked for Gingy. She was not there. That's weird. Diane thought, I left her on the dinner table... Then she screamed! She had eaten Gingy!
Diane sprang to the phone and called Kai. He was the perfect assassin to kill the person. She sent him and sighed. There were no clues. Wait! There was a note saying Nicole did that. At Nicole's house:....
Kai blew open the door. Carrying his machine gun with him, he killed everyone in sight, all except Nicole. She was in the mall, so Kai waited. Switching to a rifle, he aimed at Nicole. Sorry, but the next part is rated R for Restricted, for strong blood and language. THE END!

Mail Pail

Here's all the mail Gingerbread Weekly News received from last week's issue – A Trip to Yosemite, June 3 Issue:

Debate Time:
“Yes, because when you're having fun, you don't feel the pain.” Vicky and Nicole, 4th Grade

By the way (some news), come check out the Green Grass Monthly (in Chinese and English!), with the editors of Diane and Amanda, editors also of these Gingerbread Weekly News issues!

Volume I No. 4

A Trip to Yosemite

(Written by Amanda Chang)

A trip to Yosemite! Amanda Chang sends her marvelous story to Gingerbread Weekly News. Let's find out what's happening in this issue!

Table of Contents
Cover Story
New News
Debate Time
Mail Pail

Debate Time

Great America Rides!

Diane and Gingy went to Great America on Memorial Day. She had tons of fun! “My brother was so scared after he went on one roller coaster, don't know why. I went on five roller coaster type of things: The Vortex, The White Waterfalls (with Gingy), The Demon (also with Gingy), Survivors, and my favorite (of course with Gingy) – Psycho Mouse! I also went on the Sky Ride,” Diane told Gingerbread Weekly News. “But then...”

Gingerbread Weekly News: “Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop the story there. This is debate, right people? What's all this news?” Diane: “Let me continue...” (Just a little fun.)

“I got a painful shoulder soreness, that caused me to stop practicing ice-skating for awhile. It might be worth having all that fun, but I don't like soreness in my shoulders and I also lost my hat, not a big deal though.”

Do you think it's worth having a pain (plus losing a baseball cap) while you had so much fun?

By the way, the cons (no) won for last week's debate topic, Online Gingerbread Weekly News, so Gingerbread Weekly News won't be putting issues online. Everyone's vote counts! Remember that!

Cover Story

A Trip to Yosemite

(Written by Amanda Chang)

On Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend, my family, Sara's family, and Kelvin's family drove to Yosemite. We drove with only two cars to save gas. When we got to Glacier Point, we climbed rocks and saw many beetles. When we got back to the hotel at Glacier Point (the ones at Yosemite were all occupied), we had to pick which room we would get out of the three rooms we rented. There was one room with a dining , kitchen, living room, and three bedrooms! It was just like a house! Another room had queen beds (just one room) and another had double beds. Our family got the room with the queen beds, Kelvin's family got the “house” room, and Sara's family got the room with the double beds. Everyone went to the “house” to do everything though. The moms cooked dinner and it was delicious! At night all the kids (me, Sara, my brother Andrew, and Kelvin) got to sleep at Kelvin's. It was sooooooooooo fun! We stayed up late laughing and telling jokes.
We woke up super early and started laughing again. Then our parents came over and we had breakfast. We drove to Yosemite again and went to the Visitor's Center. We got tickets for a valley floor tour on a tram. While we were waiting, we went into shops and saw squirrels. We also ate lunch at a hotel in Yosemite. We hurried to get front seats on the tram. We saw many waterfalls and even a tiny waterfall that comes down on tiny rocks. The tour guide said that the Winter Olympics were actually held at Yosemite. He also told us a story that there was a man named Galen Clark. He was 41 years old and caught a disease, his doctor told him he wouldn't live through his 42nd birthday. He wanted to make the ending of his life happy so he went to Yosemite. He wanted to protect this place so he got President Abraham Lincoln to sign an agreement to protect Yosemite. Clark loved it so much he dug out his own grave and put a marker there. He became a protector of Yosemite. One day he was taking a nap and never woke up again. He died four days, just four days before his 96th birthday. He did so much while waiting to die.
The tour guide said that climbers would have to sleep in something like a hammock hanging above the the ground. When we were going back to the Visitor's Center, there was really bad traffic. But fortunately, a ranger made all the cars go to the side to let the tram (us) go through. When we finally got back, we drove back to the hotel. The moms cooked dinner while we played fun games and laughed really really hard. We finally had to go to sleep, but once again, we started laughing just as hard.
We woke up early again and crept around, laughing. We then drove to a creek almost to Yosemite and had a picnic there. Before we ate, we went in the water but didn't swim. We also dug for pretty rocks we called “treasures”. Then we were on the way back. It was a long four hour drive home. Sara and I were feasting around with chips, crackers, gummies, ice-cream sandwiches, and Altoids. We never got bored. We told jokes and started to laugh again. We ate dinner at Shanghai Gourmet restaurant. That was the end of our so fun trip!

New News

Cute Little Kitten...

“Meow, meow, meow...” There was a little kitten at the backyard of Diane's house. “Poor kitty,” Diane thought. The little kitten looked like it was abandoned by its mother, so Diane built a house out of a cereal box. “I didn't touch it because it was wild. It looked cute; little and black and white blended,” Diane told Gingerbread Weekly News. “But the next day, I saw the mother cat, with the 'used to be abandoned kitten' and three other kittens.”

The Party

On Saturday, Alex's family went to a three-person birthday party. It was Alex, Emma, and Dylan's birthday party, held at Emma's house. They had lots of fun. There were a bunch of girls. They locked the boys out of their “clubhouse”. The girls made up a secret knock and Alex heard it. He did the secret knock and went inside!!! Next, Alex's sister, Diane, got everyone to play hide and seek. Then, Victoria, Diane's friend, made a treasure hunt.
She made clues like this:
Clue 1: You find this hanging on the wall, and you use Expo markers with it. (white board)
Clue 2 (On the white board): You put your waste in it. It goes round and round when you flush it. (toilet)
Clue 3 (On the toilet lid): Halfway down the stairs, near the window, it is. (a plug thing)
Clue 4 (On the plug thing): Near the mirror in a bathroom upstairs, a treasure is hidden... (no treasure, HAHAHA!)
The kids were having a lot of fun! What a nice and fun “triple-birthday party” it was!!!