NadStar’s Blog

7 Things You Didn’t Know About Me- Let’s Make a Chain!

Tagged, Tagged, Tagged! I’m a Victim of this now and it is my turn to reveal 7 things you didn’t know about me that you probably should… Thanks for the Tag Lauren! Let’s get started:
1.    I have never broken a hand or leg in my entire 12 years of life! >

2.    I don’t know how to Ski or do any cool things or tricks like that. I have barely been to the snow! I only have gone twice and all I did was build half a snowman because the snow made my fingers feel dead!! >

3.    Once I was reading on my bike, wasn’t paying attention. I was going back and back and didn’t realise the stone stairs behind me coming closer. Bang! The bike’s wheel fell down, everything went so fast and I had no clue what was happening. By the time the second wheel had gone down and I had fallen, I had blacked out and never got to feel the pain…When I woke up, I felt normal, but I was curious so I checked my hands and legs and they were bleeding with scratched skins!!! I couldn’t walk or think. I called my mum and my dad helped me put on about 10 bandaids. PRETTY TOUGH! Couldn’t walk properly for 3 weeks! Took ages to heal too!! >

4.    I haven’t swum in a pool for about 3 years not including the 2 excursions! >

5.    I’m really impatient! I can’t wait in lines for long or I get really sick! Getting bored? That’s easy for someone like me! >

6.    I have glasses and I started wearing them when I was about 10 or 11. I will take them off in an operation when I’m around 18 or 19. I will thankfully wear lenses sometime next  year or in a few years… I just can’t bear wearing glasses! I feel out of place! >

7.    I am writing a book for when I grow up to hopefully publish it! It is still 92 pages but maybe when I have time I will expand it and in a few years when it is done, edit it. It should be altogether about 300 or 200 pages… I just love looking for ideas about books. Whether in novels, posts, movies, comments, things all around me, or anything really! Writing is a passion, a talent for me. I hope to be an author one day!! 

There you go! 7 things you don’t know or probably might, about me. Have you learnt something? Anything in common? Surprised? Well at least you know me more! Good luck to these 7 “victims” – as Lauren calls them- who have to write a post like this too and forward to 7 people:
Helena>
Sam>
Anna>
Michael T>
Pina>
Michael>
Mr Paul ( If possible?)>
Good luck and victims get ready!!!!!!

They’ve Been Counted! + Happy New Year!

That’s right, the results are in and I just checked them after seeing Miss Wyatt’s blog. I was shaking thoroughly, wondering if I had won or not, if this year would be a miracle for me, if one of my friends won… all the way through I was nervous. My fingers couldn’t type properly on the keyboard! But when I discovered the results, came face to face with what I’d been waiting for, for the last 10 weeks, I was… BLOWN AWAY. And it turned out I………….

Had not won! :(  :(  :(  :(  :(  .  Yes, it was a definite sad time where I blinked quickly just to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks.. but they weren’t.I was very disappointed because I had worked so hard all through the tough 10 weeks and wrote my posts with the best of my might. I was even the only student in my category! ( I think?). But I guess to have gotten so far has been marvelous and my dream had come true. I never ever imagined I’d even get through to be one of the nominees. I’m very pleased with myself and will never forget this time, my friends, everything. Everything I’ve learnt from the stubc08 comp which taught me countless things. Thanks Miss Wyatt, and Sue Waters.

  “So Upset I Fainted” I call this!

I GOT 38 VOTES!!! YAY! I feel over the moon because I got more than 3/4 of them, which makes me feel gratified! And I came about 9th or 10th out of 34! It is fascinating to have gotten so much votes even though the winner, the English Blog (Congratulations! ;)   ) received 178!!!Yes, maybe there should have been a Student Award because I was against ADULTS… ADULTS! I am just a 12 year old! Anyways, I don’t feel bad about myself, and I definitely don’t regret joining the Blogging Competition. Thank you endlessly to all my friends, fans and fantastic voters who I owe so much to. You are never to be forgotten in my books!

The winners for the other categories! You can view them all here. Congratulations to them all! And also to Ms Wyatt who got more than 50 votes! If you have been nominated for a category, just click the name of it, scroll down to the bottom of the poll where you’ll see the words “View Results” and “PollDaddy.com”. Click View Results and see how much you got! Thanks again to my wonderful voters and congrats Cameron for getting nominated as well!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL, MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE! It’s time to welcome 2009…

How did you celebrate New Year? Did you watch the Fireworks? Are you looking forward to 2009 or are you not?

I also found this!

Christmas’s Coming to Town!

HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! That’s right… Christmas time is coming soon! I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas when it comes! May all your wishes come true, have lots of fun and let’s hope you get the presents you’ve always wanted!! Oh, and also don’t forget to have a Happy New Year!! 

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I have found a great song on the Internet called “Santa’s Coming To Town” and I loved it! I have heard the song before on a Christmas movie, so I am familiar with it. Let me know if you have heard of it too!

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- Santa Claus is coming to town - that’s right!

You’d better watch out
You’d better not cry
You’d better not pout
I’m telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town !

Santa Claus is coming to town !
Santa Claus is coming to town !

He’s making a list
He’s checkin’ it twice
He’s gonna find out
Whose daughter you’re nice

Santa Claus is coming to town !
Santa Claus is coming to town !
Santa Claus is coming to town !

He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows if you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
(so you’d) better be good for goodness sake
Better be good for goodness sake

Santa Claus is coming to town !
Santa Claus is coming to town !
Santa Claus is coming to town !

Words & Music by J. Fred (John Frederick) Coots and Henry Gillespie, 1932.

Let’s all fly away with Santa and his reindeer!

What presents would you like for Christmas and why? If there was 1 thing you would change about Christmas, what would it be? And make sure to enjoy your Christmas and have a fabulous time with your family! All the best!

UnForgettable! A Time To Move On!

Tears were being released from almost every eye beside me. All the Year 6s were weeping with sadness, of leaving the school, their friends and their teachers. It was a really hard time for us all, with me just getting used to the fantastic school and then having to leave again!

Today was bizarre! The Year 6s went around the whole school getting their School T-Shirts signed by friends and even teachers. Not a single teacher was left out! We had our Year 6 Scrap Books (decorated fabulously with pages all about us and some for signatures) ready to go!

After Lunch Mrs Pericles gave the whole class a bag full of lollies with lollipops, Fizzers, Chocolates, Marsh mellows and so much more! I roamed around the school for the last time, wondering how I was going to leave it and everyone… my marvelous friend Katherine, my terrific teacher Mrs P, and my magnificent principal Mrs Dyer who’s son is getting married today!- Congratulations Mrs Dyer!!  :)  - it is just too sad!! But I didn’t cry, because I knew this experience was great and being in Belmore South was like a dream. All the support I’ve received is just amazing and such brilliant friends you don’t meet everyday! I will never forget my school and my friends and I want to thank everyone for being so good to me.. I want to thank Mrs P for my blogging opportunity and to meet all these fascinating people from around the world who I’d truly like to thank for commenting, giving support and encouragement and being my mates- I will never forget you! YOU ALL DESERVE AN AWARD!- also thank you a million to all the incredible people who voted, I am forever grateful!  :D  And did I tell you… Mrs Dyer announced at Presentation Night that I had won a medal for Good Blogging and Writing. It was a stunning moment, stunning surprise! It was announced in front of a man from the State Parliament called Tony Burke and old members of the school and many more which made me feel so much more dignified. I even got a $50 voucher for a certain electronics shop! I felt so proud, so delighted, content, cheerful, overjoyed. I will never forget it and I am so obliged to Mrs Dyer and wish I could give her a billion gifts, and so goes to Mrs Pericles and my friends!

This year, 2008, has been remarkable. Too remarkable to describe. At the end of the day, the whole school gathered with a partner and joined hands to form a humongous, curvy arch for the Year 6s to go through as their last day. It stretched from the door of the Top Building to the School Gate which is about 20 metres? Some went through with salty tears raining down their cheeks, while others felt happy for being a part of this!

Battling through the outstretched hands of my fellow school mates like branches hassling with the fierce wind, I finally made it to the end with a big sigh of fresh air but with the memory of muffled but load cheers from classmates and friends who muttered “Good luck Nadine!”, “See you Nadine!”, “I’ll miss you Nadine!” and “Bye Nadine!” from the bottom of their hearts. Boy, was it a tough labour getting through the arch, but going through it was like entering a field of friendship, love and care. Beautiful. It touched me dearly and I will never forget it! THANK YOU BELMORE SOUTH FOR EVERYTHING! It has been an honour to be a part of the school!!!!!

Now that I am going to High School, I will blog MUCH less which is very sad but don’t worry if you comment and I don’t reply back. You must always know I send my love and appreciation! So don’t get disappointed if I don’t comment back!! I want to thank you all, my dear mates, for everything you have done. For your votes, your support, your encouragement, your kind words and your posts about me! They all make me smile and I wish I could hug you all and say my most merry good bye of the year! Participating in the Blogging Comp and getting so far is just extraordinary too! I never imagined I’d get so many votes!!

Good luck to everyone, and good luck for next year! THANKS EVERYONE! I wish you all A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as well as a dramatic holiday!           

A Winding Path YOU Choose!

Somehow, I stumbled over a little riddle on a website called RiddleNut. Though this IS  a riddle, I make it a story, where YOU can decide what happens, which is just a click away. In your comment, you may type the solution YOU- no one else, just YOUR decision- think is right and that you’d use in such a situation. Though, I warn you, take your time and consider the consequences and benefits of each one. I hope you enjoy this, and rememeber, this is no contest and there is no right or wrong answer!! I call this:

a story where YOU decide! Your fate is in your hands!       

You are lost and alone in the woods. You stumble across an old cabin, and decide to stay there for the night. You want some heat and light, but the only things you find in the cabin are a candle, an oil lamp and a wood burning stove. You look in your pocket but you only have one match left. What do you light first?

I almost forgot! The solution that gets the most voted on is the winner, and this will continue until the end, following the path your votes select and we’ll see whether you live or you…..

We are SOOOOOOOOO Proud!

Myspace Layouts

Everyone in the AllStars class is excited and proud that Nadine has been nominated in the Edublogs Awards - in the category of Best Individual Blog - and we wanted Nadine’s loyal readers to know too! We thought that Nadine was probably not likely to want to brag or show off so we have added this post ourselves, without her knowing. (Sorry ’bout that Nads - MrsP)

We all know how much effort and enthusiasm Nadine puts into her blogging, her posts are interesting, exciting and informative; and who hasn’t received one of Nadine’s positive, welcoming and happy comments?

Nadine helps make blogging fun.

We know that people who read and comment on Nadines blog might also like to vote for her blog, so here is the link to the voting page.

Win or not Nadine - just know how wonderful we think you are - truly an awesome AllStar!

From your happy and proud AllStars classmates

Time For the Compass!

Well, the Compass for High school! The ‘N’ is for Negative side, the ‘E’ is for somethings I am excited about, the’S’ is for somethings I am looking forward to or wanting to set goals for and last but not least, ‘W’ is for worries! This is what I think after a busy 4 hours visiting my High School:

                                                                     N

 I think some negatives are :the tests to start off with. Exams in High school are so much harder and longer, as well as challenging. If you don’t succeed in tests, you will always feel depressed and disappointed, knowing you didn’t give it your all. But my future High school’s motto is “Let Us Excel” and that really shows how much the school works to show the talents of students, letting the weaknesses be overcome sooner. Another thing I think is negative is the friends. I haven’t met anyone yet and I am really nervous that I might be alone, without anyone to relate or talk to. Half my class knows each other, and I feel I am the odd one out. But on the bright side, Mikhaila is there with me and hopefully we will be together until we feel safe to go in other directions. But I am very nervous about how I will go…

E

I am definitely excited about everything, the opportunities I have now, the chance to show my true and inner personality to the school and prove that I can be a star! I am excited about the subjects, and I what I will learn, including Sport, the special activites like Choir, Drama where I might participate in if I get the chance and act before the school. I am also excited about the Cooking, Wood Work and Sewing which will be unvelievable and tremendously increbile. I am looking forward to everything, and cross fingers everything goes according to plan.

S

I am hoping to achieve good results in all my subjects and get to be in the top class, which is my strongest goal I will work toughest to achieve no matter how difficult the twists and turns will be. I am also hoping that I will get the chance to participate in something special and at the same time something I enjoy!Looking forward to everything I have mentioned above as well, and just pray that High school is fun, easy and a fantastic experience!

W

I am worried about TESTS, TESTS AND NOTHING BUT TESTS! I worried that I might that get the results I always wanted, and as usual, start shaking whenever there is a hard question I don’t know. I am worried about examinations basically… but otherwise, if I find them easy, I might start feeling better, and being less nervous about tests. If I feel uncomfortable during any classes, especialyl Maths, my parents could put me in Tutoring which will be an immense help to my confidence and education.

What do you think of High school? Are you nervous? What are the positives and negatives for you? Do you think it will easy and as fun as you think?

Finale Feat!

Yay! This is the last week of the Blogging competition… it undeniably been a strenuous and challenging 10 weeks, but I guess I will miss being part of a major comp and having lots of frolic writing posts! It has been a spectacular year, fulfilling my dream of entering a competition and revealing my website to the world. I have met new people and made them my friends, got to write posts that made me either cry, feel sympathy for others or that were amusing and thrilling. I want to thank Miss Wyatt for being a fantastic help, and to everyone who has commented-you are all so special to me! - I wish you all the best in the competition.

Blogging has improved my writing in many ways, made me more determined to write, more specific in posts and stories, more descriptive. I have discovered new words from comments of others, learnt to compose pieces that meant something to readers, that made you stop and think ‘Hey, I never knew that!’ , posts that were meaningful, irresistible and an aspect to commemorate. Blogging has been an immense, massive help and I am sure it hasn’t only impacted on MY life, but on every other bloggers life too!

My best post would have to be “A Place I Call My Own’  about Sydney, ‘Don’t You Feel Sad For Them?’ about the disastrous poverty, and the ‘I Didn’t Know That’ of Sleeping! about the stages of sleep. Everyone loved all these posts and I am grateful. I felt these posts gained more attention, stood out and were more amusing than the rest! I couldn’t choose my best post Miss W! Plus, it is magnificent to write with the whole world reading because they comment and encourage you, they let you know how well you wrote your post and if they liked it or not. Audience make you more persevered to write posts for your viewers. In this way, you enjoy writing more now knowing people are reading your posts and you begin to improve in all kinds of written language. You receive more friends and feel proud to talk to them and read their comments. Who wouldn’t want to get feedback about what they author?

Thank you again Miss W and Sue Waters for giving me this opportunity to be part of a major competition. :D  To be Continued….

stubc08

Dreams Could Come True by 2015!

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s Prime Minister: “In 2000, the leaders of 191 nations including the Prime Minister of Australia-me- agreed to set 8 goals for reducing poverty and improving people’s lives around the world by 2015. These are the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and 2 of them are about education.’

MDG 2: by 2015, all boys and girls in the world will complete primary school.

MDG 3: by 2015, there will be as many girls in primary and secondary school as there are boys.”

Barrack Obama-America’s Prime Minister: “Right now, 115 million kids do not attend a primary school and 64% of these are girls. Some countries have made great progress, while others have not. In Australia, 100% of the children complete primary school but in Papua New Guinea, only 70% of the children finish primary school-3 out of 10 don’t get the chance.

One way for countries like Australia to make sure these goals are reached is to help developing countries to spend more money on education so they can rid of school fees, build new schools, and train more teachers. Rich countries like Australia can make money available to poor countries to spend on education. This is called aid or Official Development Assistance (ODA). This year, Australia pupils are joining students from all around the world to tell politicians how significant education is and how we want the Australian government to spend more money on education so that every child in the world can go to school.”

Kevin Rudd: “For children, in poor countries education brings opportunities. It is a right of every child. It isn’t just about getting a job. It can change lives and give kids something to look forward to in their 1 and only life.”

From a worksheet in class, I have written this down to give you awareness about a miracle that could happen to people without an education by 2015! Imagine how this HUGE miracle will impact on their lives and make a difference. (The people who are talking in this post like Kevin Rudd and Barrack Obama aren’t the ones who actually said this, I just added them as an effect!)

Mr Potato’s Priority!

As says this website, potato is: ‘the world’s number one non-grain food commodity, with production reaching a record 325 million tonnes in 2007. Potato consumption is expanding strongly in developing countries, which now account for more than half of the global harvest and where the potato’s ease of cultivation-production of food by preparing the land to grow crops- and high energy content have made it a valuable cash crop for millions of farmers.’

Yes, I have chosen to do: The Year of The Potatoes for my Week 9 Blogging Competition! I chose this subject because I read through all of the rest and nothing caught my eye but the Potato one, because I thought ‘Isn’t it weird to have a potato year?’ and wanted to find out more about it. All that curiosity has led to a whole post about that special type of year! Who wouldn’t want to know more about a potato year!? I had also to list at least 2 websites about this subject and here they are, you’ll have to type them into the address bar because my link icon isn’t working presently:

http://www.potato2008.org/en/index.html

http://www.cipotato.org/pressroom/iyp.asp

http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2008nl/may/potato.htm

Last but not least, the relevance it has to our life. It can fantastically help with every single human’s health and provide a beneficial source of Vitamin C! Eating potatoes in life can fill in half our daily intake just by themselves… if you continue reading below, you will find out all the importances of potatoes.

The International Year of the Potato has raised awareness of the potato’s fundamental importance as a essential food of humanity. But it also had a very practical aim: to promote development of sustainable potato-based systems that reinforce the well-being of producers and consumers and help realize the potato’s full potential as a “food of the future”.

  Over the next two decades, the world’s population is expected to grow on average by more than 100 million people a year. More than 95 percent of that increase will occur in the developing countries, where pressure on land and water is already intense. A key challenge facing the international community is, therefore, to ensure food security for present and future generations, while protecting the natural resource base on which we all depend. The potato will be a significant part of efforts to meet those challenges, for four reasons:

Potatoes feed the hungry, potatoes are good for you-they are a good source of energy, they have the highest protein content, they are rich in vitamin C- a medium sized potato contains half the daily intake for everyone; Demand for potatoes is growing-consumption of potatoes is consistently increasing which is a splendid sign for all because it makes you healthier! Most important: Potatoes are truly global- they have been used for around 8000 years! Taken by the Spanish to Europe in the 16th century, it quickly spread across the globe: today potatoes are grown on an estimated 192 000 sq km, or 74 000 square miles, of farmland, from China’s Yunnan plains and the subtropical lowlands of India, to Java’s tropic highlands and the grasslands of Ukraine.

Wow.. I never actually thought a tiny potato could be so helpful in life! Now, more about the potato: The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is an herbaceous annual that grows up to 100 cm (40 inches) tall and produces a tuber - also called potato - so rich in starch that it ranks as the world’s fourth most important food crop, after corn, wheat and rice. The potato belongs to the Solanaceae - or “nightshade”- family of flowering plants, and shares the genus Solanum with at least 1,000 other species, including tomato and eggplant.

The world potato sector is undergoing major changes. Until the early 1990s, most potatoes were grown and consumed in Europe, North America and countries of the former Soviet Union. Since then, there has been a dramatic increase in potato production and demand in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where output rose from less than 30 million tonnes in the early 1960s to more than 165 million tonnes in 2007. FAO data shows that in 2005, for the first time, the developing world’s potato production exceeded that of the developed world. China is now the biggest potato producer, and almost a third of all potatoes is harvested in China and India.

Top potato producers, 2007

	Quantity (tonnes)
1. China	72 040 000
2. Russian Fed.	36 784 200
3. India	26 280 000
4. United States	20 373 267
5. Ukraine	19 102 300
6. Poland	11 791 072
7. Germany	11 643 769
8. Belarus	8 743 976
9. Netherlands	7 200 000
10. France	6 271 000
Source: FAOSTAT

Some fascinating facts I discovered which I never ever knew or thought of are: In Europe, 96 kg are consumed per person per year; in 2007, potato farmers harvested more than 320 000 000 ( 320 million) tonnes of potatoes; the potato was shown to the rest of the world in 1532 by the Spaniards who passed it on; potatoes day 90 days to grow;

This video is a really good help to explain more about the importance of potatoes.

http://www.potato2008.org/en/aboutiyp/video.html

Now, think you know your potatoes? Take THIS quiz and let me know your score! Good luck! http://www.potato2008.org/en/kids/quiz.html

Thank you for reading and I hope you’ve learnt much more. Do you like potatoes? Do you have any facts to surprise me about Potatoes? Do you grow any potatoes or foods?

Stubc08