Ditching of US Airwarys 1549

You might have heard of it in the news, US Airways 1549 ditched (emergency landing on water) in the Hudson River about 6 minutes after takeoff. What happened shortly after takeoff was that the airplane crashed into a group of birds in the air. The birds damaged the engines, therefore the engines cannot "fly" the airplane anymore. It's just like a car without an engine, it cannot move on the road. So, if an airplane cannot fly, what will happen? Fall down immediately, hit the ground and everyone dies? Well, not really. Airplane designers are very clever, they design the plane in such a way that, in case of engine failure, the plane glides down. So there is a chance that the plane can be brought back to earth safely even if the engines do not work anymore.
So, why can this heavy airplane float on water? It's because of the special design of this airplane. There's a device called the "ditch button", when this button is pressed, the airplane closes all its valves and openings so that water cannot go in. That's why the airplane could stay above water and all passengers were safe from being drown.

Iditarod

What's Iditarod?

According to wikipedia.org:

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, usually just called the "Iditarod", is an annual sled dog race in Alaska, where mushers (the driver of the sleigh) and teams of typically 16 dogs cover 1,161 miles (1868 km) in eight to fifteen days from Willow (near Anchorage) to Nome.



Looks difficult to you? Let me put it this way, Iditarod is a marathon run in a very cold and snowy countryside. 1 sleigh driver + 16 dogs = 1 team.

It's a very famous event in Alaska, people from around the world pour in just to watch the brave mushers and dogs.

So, how cold is Alaska? You see, these few days are the cold days in Hong Kong, that is about 10 degree Celsius, in Alaska, it's anywhere between -13 to -5 degree Celsius, and it's snowing with strong wind! Imagine how difficult it is to just go outside in this kind of temperature, not to say racing on a sleigh day and night.

Recently there is a TV program about Iditarod on Discovery Channel and it's my new love. I'm so impressed and motivated by the mushers and the dogs. They can combat with the severe weather and overcome hardship. I hope I can have that sort of courage and determination to deal with my challenges in life.

Take care of your body

It's cold...
Your mummy and daddy probably asks you to wear more clothes these few days and you may think they're very nagging. When I was a kid, I thought like this sometimes, but later I realise how true my parents are. So, now I make sure I take good care of my body so that my parents don't have to worry about me.

There is a Chinese saying, "your body is given by your parents, so you must respect and take good care of it". I think it's very true. I'm not only thankful to my parents for giving me a healthy body and a good life, I'm also thankful to the fact that I'm healthy and I don't need them to worry about me.

I recall the first winter I had with my chinchillas. One day they were abnormally inactive because of the cold weather. They didn't even respond to their favorite food, I was so scared and worried. I bought them a heater quickly and they felt good after this. So I thought, I was so worried when my chinchillas fall sick, I guess my mum feels the same when I'm not feeling well. I think taking care of yourself and free your parents from worrying about you is a way to love them. So, if you want to show your love to your parents, don't just say "I love you", but also take good care of yourself.

Work Hard for Your Exams

Hi all!

Happy New Year! I wish you all had a good holiday and revised well. It's exam week and I'm sure everyone is busy preparing for this (including the teachers).
I think many of you may be very afraid of exams, so I would like to talk about it here.

When I was in your age, of course, I had two exams in a year. I wasn't really afraid of exams because I know I always prepare for it and I believe preparing at the last minute is always inefficient and difficult. I remember I liked exam days a lot because I could leave school early and spend more time at home.

How, I don't study at school anymore, but I still have exams. You may think, "What? You have exams?" Yes, I do have exams, but not that kind like you sit in the classroom for 1 hour, it's the exam in life. You see, even at my age I have to cope with different challenges in my life, making myself learning more, acquire more knowledge and skills and test myself on how well I know it and how well I can control it. I basically like the process of pursuing knowledge because I feel good to be filled by knowledge and wisdom.

So, all the best to your exams!