Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hi classmates and teacher!

how are you? I hope you are enjoying this Christmas season with your family and friends.

I celebrated Christmas in Mexico with my family and relatives. Yesterday I ate a big dinner with my family in my parents' restaurant. We were like 30 persons enjoying together the Christmas holiday. At 12:00 am, we gave gifts and best wishes to the whole family. My house was packed with relatives and my parents' friends. Some of them were playing Mahjong, watching movies, playing some games and dancing. They left at 6:00 am!

I could not hang out with my friends because the city has been having a bad social situation. People are getting killed almost everyday! It is something that made me sad. Now, people are inside their homes very early. However, our Christmas celebration was great! And I hope you got a lot of fun and surprises too.

I hope that this Christmas season brings you special happiness, good health, wealth, love and peace. And also, I hope that all your dreams and goals come true!

Richard, I hope you received our cards and you liked it! We miss you... I hope you are getting stronger every day! =)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Guys!

**************************************************************

Merry Christmas to Teacher Richard

Teacher Richard:
I wish you have a Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year
Have a strong body in a New Year.


Amy Hoi
12/24/2008

Holiday celebrattion

We had a great time celebrating Hanukkah at Christmas. Ha To brought a huge cake from Chinatown and we all ate it. It was delicious! Too bad you weren't here. We all miss you and wish you a happy and healthy new year. Get stronger and come back soon! We all love you! Students from your morning class.

Thanks for the Cards!

Thanks for the cards!

You guys know how to make me smile.

I heard about your trip to the Oakland Museum.

I am getting stronger every day.

I'll write more soon.

Until then, enjoy the holidays!

Spelling Words for Dec. 19, 2008

1.  reindeer

2.  menorah

3.  ornament

4.  dreidel

5.  sleigh

6.  mistletoe

7.  joyous

8.  conscience

9.  eternal

10. determination

11. exhausted

12. possession

13. peculiar

14. ornate

15. disapproval

16. elegant

17. wrapped

18. confused

19. Hanukkah

20. miracle

21. Christmas carols

22. wreath

23. instantly

24. decoration

25. Santa Claus

Spelling Words for Dec. 12, 2008

1. retired

2. refugee

3. schedule

4. carefully

5. simultaneously

6. achievements

7. prioritize

8. accomplish

9. sacrifice

10. allocate

11. realistic

12. deadlines

13. controversial

14. access

15. integrate

16. authority

17. offend

18. motivation

19. excuses

20. achieved

21. destroy

22. arguments

23. champion

24. language

25. especially

A Strange Man

Two months ago, something strange happened to me. I was walking alone to Neighborhood Center Adult School. While I was walking, I saw a truck passing very slow, and I felt that someone was watching me. There was a man driving the truck, and I noticed that he was following me. I was scared because I was alone, and I did not know the city well. The man parked the truck and came close to me. He walked with me and started to talk to me. He asked my address, phone number, the place where I was going to, and if I had time to eat something with him. I wanted to run, but I dinnot want to be impolite, so I just answered some of his questions. I did not give my confidential information.

He had followed me for many blocks! When I got into the school, he stood outside. After he class was over, I was worrying to see the man again. Fortunately, he had already left. Now, I rather take the bus!

Thanksgiving Day

Here is a picture that my friend took when we were in her house celebrating Thanksgiving.

Hi classmates and teacher!

How was your Thanksgiving day? I hope it was great, and you enjoyed it with your family.

This was the first time that my sister and I celebrated the Thanksgiving. My family did not consider it as a holiday, so we never celebrated it.

My sister and I were invited to my friend's house on Thanksgiving. Her relatives made a big dinner: a delicious big turkey, tamales, salad, pinto beans, and much more. The house was full with friends and relatives.

After dinner, we gave thanks to the people we love, especially to God. Then we played music and danced, but a lot of us were full and sluggish, so we played karaoke. We also started to play games and had a lot of fun.

I'm glad that they invited us and allowed us to share the table with them. And also, I'm glad being here, in the United States, where my sister and I could learn more about American culture and meet new people!

Your am class celebrating Thanksgiving Day

Hi Richard, We all miss you very much and hope that you're feeling better everyday.

Spelling Words for December 5,2008

religious
prospered
frivolous
threat
investors
celebrated
disagreement
sighted
exceptionally
interfering
settlement
devastating
construct
voyages
enormous
custom
annually
continued
adopted
appointed
neighbor
fleeing
attached
worried
morality

The Key to Long Life

Click here to discover on man's ideas about the key to long life.

Eno's Group-Sing Song List:

Can't Help Falling In Love
Love Me Tender
Keep On the Sunny Side
Sixteen Tons
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Dream
If I Had a Hammer
Love Hurts
I'll Fly Away
Down By the Riverside
Chapel of Love
Wild Mountain Thyme
Que Sera, Sera
Cotton Fields

Spelling Words for Wednesday Nov 25th

persecution
Pilgrims
cornucopia
starve
feast
invite
Native Americans
upheaval
colonization
diverse
indigenous
acorns
dessert
vegetable
beverages
stuffing
pumpkin pie
cranberry sauce
turkey
carbohydrate
immigrants
England
fulfilment
grateful
shamanism

Spelling Words for Friday, November 21 Quiz

location

association

vehicle

volunteer

bulletin board

suggestions

hangouts

Notices

Flyers

marathon

bingo

contesting

meditation

session

exercise

expressions

appointment

certain

senior

superior court

league

borrow

conversation

event

guide

Spelling Words from The Tell-Tale Heart

nervous

resemble

cautious

courage

chuckle

groan

pity

envelop

patiently

terror

lantern

refrained

anxiety

shriek

cunning

conceal

audacity

enthusiasm

triumph

corpse

paced

chatted

suspected

hypocritical

hideous

My High School Graduation

Hi teacher and classmates..! I’m going to narrate one of the most recent events in my life: my graduation from high school. It was so exciting and fun, but it was sad too, because it was the last day that my classmates and I were together.

It was on June 5, 2008. My classmates and I had been stressed for many weeks, and also months before. Prior of the ceremony, all of us had to make many preparations, such as making a budget of all the things we would need: choosing two salons, one for the graduation ceremony, and the other one for the graduation night party, soliciting a group of musicians, deciding the food we would serve, and many other things!

At the beginning of the graduation ceremony, all of us were wearing our gowns, and we got the certificates and diplomas. After that, our godparents spoke some words and played a presentation of pictures of our graduating class. My classmates and I were crying!

When the ceremony finished, we went home to dress up in our party clothes. We looked elegant. At night, we started the party and had a lot of fun. We were dancing and taking pictures all the night. At the end of the party, all of us went to the “after”. I mean, we continued our party in another place! Finally, I went back home at five o’clock in the morning. I remember it as if it had happened yesterday.

The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

Click here to listen to the story of the Tell-Tale Heart.

I hope you like it!

Click here for additional Edgar Allan Poe resources on the web.

The Love of Ganesha

Hi, every one

I would like to talk about my new job in S.F. I was looking for a job for a while, which not in a restaurant any more. Three weeks ago my friend told me to go to talk with the lady who owns a shop in S.F. The shop is named “The love of Ganesha”. I’m a sales clerk now. I sell jewelry, clothes, Crystals, incense, scares, bags, statues of Buddha, statues of Hindu God, pillows, yoga pants. The Most of things came from Indian, Thailand and Southeast Asian. I love this job because first, the location in height-Ashbury neighborhood. I have been live in S.F. for year, before live in Oakland. I used to go to height street to watched hippie people, see decoration in shops and house. Second, working in here I feel like working near Royal Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok such as the smells, sound, colorful clothes, meditation room and arts on the well. I love the whole energy of this store. Third, I meet a lot of different people every day. Some people are tourists and some people are neighbor. They always share of their story to me.

*Also the shop donate money to help poor kids in Thailand, which when you are shopping there

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday
Student and friend
It is an honor
To be be witched again

The Democratic Spirit

Every day I have to drive along Highway 80 four times. There is a pedestrian bridge in Berkeley that crosses over Highway 80. On the days before Election Day, when I went back home after school and went to Oakland again from home in the afternoon, I saw many people standing on that bridge. They showed off their banners to drivers who came and went along Highway 80. They stood almost side by side displaying their opposite views. But the people didn’t quarrel or fight with each other even though they disagreed. They were very peaceful. They waved their hands to the drivers. They only hoped that people would support their views. And some drivers honked their horns to respond to them.

This thing lets me know what the democratic spirit is. American people have mature democratic thinking and they can tolerate different opinions.