Tongan language week shared lunch

In the cold hollow hall, I sat with room 5 waiting for our mouth-watering food. I could see a giant tank of . Before we got ready to dig into the amazing smelling island food, we said a prayer in Tongan.

And then the war began, everyone reached for a bowl and started pouring all of the delicious food onto their plate.My favourite was the chop suey (because that was the only food leftover). Five minutes later i’m pretty sure that the table was now a desert, just crumbs and slopes of leftovers left to be cleaned. The most of room 5 didn’t get to eat any ( well they should of came over and took some food to eat ).

Tongan language week is special to our school because, most of it is made out of Tongans. Its also very special to all the other Polynesian or Palagi kids because we get to experience what it’s like to be Tongan.

My Personal Voice Matua Jim

29/06/16 Marae visit Personal voice

At  the Ruapotaka Marae Visit  my favorite workshop was singing with Matua Jim.  As I entered the Wharenui I saw a older Maori man with white hair and a beard. He was wearing a fancy suit and tie. His name was Matua Jim. He was holding a guitar that belonged to the school. I thought that if he sang his voice would sound like a creaky floorboard, because he looked to old to sing to a large crowd of kids.

The song we were going to sing was in Maori which was going to be hard for me to pronounce properly. The song was hard for me to sing because I couldn’t remember most of the words in the song. In the Wharenui we sounded like bats in a large cave but Matua Jim was the opposite. He sounded like a famous yodeler that traveled all over the world yodeling about John Key!

My favourite song that Matua Jim sang for us was about loved ones that have been lost. As he sang like an angel I saw half of the adults with tears in their eyes, and the children were all still and quiet. After the very emotional song he sang, we all clapped and cheered like kids in a candy store.

At the end of the day we had to leave the Marae and go back to school. We all promised to the staff and elders that this won’t be the last time we visit the Ruapotaka Marae.

Mother’s Day through my mum’s eyes

Today was my special day because it was Mother’s day. When I woke up I didn’t get anything special, not even a hug because my family  were all fast asleep. I had to wake my daughter, Aaliyah up for altar serving. You should have seen her ; she was drooling on the pillow like a bulldog chewing a bone!

When it was time to go to church Aaliyah took a long time to do her hair. Sometimes I just want to shave her hair off!  At church I was sitting all by myself  like an abandoned puppy, but Father Felise brightened up my day up with all his silly stories and jokes.

After the mass my daughter Aaliyah ran up to me and hugged me as tight as a belt. While I was driving, she pulled out a whole block of chocolate. At first I thought that she stole my money so I growled at her. She exclaimed to me that she found some money under her brother’s bed and brought some chocolate for Mother’s Day. I told her to make sure that next time she asked before taking the money, but gave her a big hug for the kind thought.

Afterwards we got out of the car. I carried the plate of food that I made. I feel like the maid in the family, sometimes. Inside the house I was greeted by all my sisters, brothers and cousins. I saw Aaliyah run off with her cousins to play pool and all those other games that young people play.

Later that day I bought some KFC for dinner with drinks and cake. When it was time to eat I saw Aaliyah run up to eat first. She eats like a  dog! I bet a lion could eat less food than my daughter!

At the end of the day it was time to go home so I hugged all my sisters, brothers and cousins. To my surprise my daughter came back with a bag of chocolates. She told me she got them by winning four games in a row playing pool. I think she is more like her brother than me. When we got home we both went to bed. Just as I was falling asleep I felt something wet on my arm…..it was my little bulldog, Aaliyah drooling on me again!

A Ranui Holiday

On a cold Monday morning I woke up early for school, I had just put on my school uniform when I realized it was the school holidays, so I put my pajamas back on and walked to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

Today was Lazy Monday so all we needed to do was sit down on the couch and watch movies on Netflix. But then my ten year old niece woke up and annoyed me for the whole morning, so I walked into the bedroom where I ate my breakfast in peace.

After a couple of boring hours later all my nieces and I went outside for rugby practice. When I was teaching my eight year old niece to kick the ball, a ferocious dog came out of nowhere and ran after us. I was so scared that I ran inside the house and left my nieces outside.

A few minutes later I decided to go outside to see if the dog went away, but instead of a ferocious dog I saw all my nieces petting the dog. I was jealous that the dog like my nieces better but when I turned around I felt a soft furry coat rub against my leg. All of my nieces laughed and ran over to tell me about the dog.

Late in the evening we were watching scary clown pranks when the phone rang so I went to go pick it up but when I put the phone to my ear nobody was there, it happened again three times I was getting scared so I told my niece, but only then she told me it was a prank.

 We all laughed and agreed this was one of the best day we had ever had.

Saint Patrick's Day Mass and soulfriends feast

Saint Patrick’s day recount My personal voice Aaliyah 17 March

On Saint Patrick’s day at the mass I sat next to my soul friend, Malia. When it was time for the vows Malia kept on talking to the children behind her. I felt like a parent with a naughty kid. I thought the mass was realy nice because how father spoke in a language we could understand.

At the shared lunch I was with Malia. Malia didn’t have any shared lunch so I had to share my lunch with her. I felt really hungry because of all the food around us. When I brought out the packet of chips and cookies we all dug in like a pack of hungry wolves. I then brought out the milk for us to drink. After the feast we were all as full as stuffed animals.

We are learning to use our personal voice in writing. I used my personal voice when I described us as full as stuffed animals.