MAX’S WORLD JOURNAL (The Real Live Stuff) Sunday, July 9, 2000  My airplane ride was fun because I slept overnight and had a good dinner of noodles. The movie was called Anna and the King, it was boring. The plane ride was eight hours and thirty-five minutes!  When we got to Amsterdam I saw over one million bikes and at the airport the tram was a double-decker. Their money here is prettier than our money, it’s much more colorful. Our American money is so ugly because it’s only green.  The weather in Amsterdam is sixty degrees and it is cold and rainy. The first thing we did was took a cab to our house that we stayed in called a bed and breakfast. The people who own it are Dennis and Lynn. They gave us a good room in the house and made me hot chocolate! Monday, July 10, 2000 Today me, my Mom and Dad went to the zoo. At the zoo we first saw two camels. One camel had a hump that fell over! Then we went into the monkey house and one of the baboons got mad at my mom and kept mooning her. Then we saw the birds. We saw toucans; a fake hummingbird, vultures and I saw an owl that ripped a rat’s head off.  It was GROSS!  There are lots of funny cars here. One car was only as tall as my neck, it was very small.  Then we went to Anne Frank’s house and we went through the bookcase and Dad took a picture of me in front of it. I thought that it was kind of boring.  I wish that they could have just taken the stars off of their jackets. I bought a Game Boy game but the instructions were in Dutch. The game is a skate boarding game called 720. I also got a rubber thing to put around my Game Boy so if I drop it I will hit the rubber instead of breaking. Tuesday, July 11, 2000 Today I went to a place called Haarlem. Some of their buildings were older than the United States of America.  There was a store called Intertoys and I bought three matchbox cars. One was a convertible called a Dodge Concept car, the other car was a Porsche 996, and the last one is a 57 Chevy. I took a train to Haarlem and on the way I saw a windmill.  I also saw cows and horses. It was really fun. The only thing that I didn’t like in Haarlem was that Mom shopped for clogs to wear with her dress. There are no clogs that my Mom liked in Haarlem. The other thing that I didn’t like was that we had to shop for a sweater too because the other one my Mom had was too thin. We found one and I was happy about that.    Wednesday, July 12, 2000 Today I found a half pipe and some skateboarders grinding on the railing.  I ran up and down the half pipe trying to get to the top of the half pipe because there wasn’t a ladder to climb up and that’s why I had to run. I also met someone. His name was Danielle and he tried to run up too. It was hard. Danielle was talented at climbing to the top of the half pipe. His Mom helped me climb to the top of the half pipe but I couldn’t make it so my Dad helped me up. It was hard but I never gave up until I got to the top. Cool! We also went to an art museum and it was kind of boring. We visited the Van Gogh Museum. It was kind of weird because he chopped off his ear. He gave the ear to his friend so that his friend would know that he would always listen to him. He also likes to paint pictures of himself. He had red hair and a mustache and beard to match. Before the museum we went to a big park and it had a tree that had a long, loose branch and you can sit on the branch and swing on it. My Dad swung the branch and drove me crazy.   Thursday, July 13, 2000 Today I went to a town called Naarden that had a moat around it and it was shaped like a star. We went to the museum and it had cannons from the war. Some of the cannons were pretty big and some were small.  I also saw a really long gun that was three feet long. For lunch I mostly had tomato soup every day in Holland. When I was walking back I saw some deer and goats and fed them some bread. There was also a billy goat and a baby billy goat and we fed them both some bread. The bigger billy goat was very obnoxious because when I tried to feed the baby goat the bigger goat rammed into it on purpose and the baby ran away. It was fun.  I also saw some pigeons near the tram station. I had food in my hands and they flew on my arm and ate the food. My day in Naarden was really fun.  Friday and Saturday, July 14 & 15, 2000 We left Amsterdam to an amusement park in Holland called Efteling.  There was a ride called The Vulture and it was fun because the whole ride was in darkness. We also went into a Spook House that was kind of scary.  There was another ride that was a story about some robbers that stole things from people. After we heard the story, we went on the ride. It was real scary because it seemed like the whole house went upside down. When I walked in I thought the hotel room was AWESOME! Our room had 12 telephones, Nintendo 64, and the bedroom had planets and stars that lit up when you put on the black light. There was another ride called the Pagoda that went really high so you could see the whole park. For the two days that I stayed at the park I had Chinese Tomato Soup but when they gave it to me it was really hot. There was also a crazy looking seesaw that looked like a clowns face.  They also had coffee cups that spun around, as usual, and it started raining really hard when I was riding them. The rides were really fun. Sunday, July 16, 2000  Today I drove along the Rhein River and drove our car on to a ferry to get to the other side. Then we visited a castle. It was called the Rheinfels Castle. It keeps raining every day on the trip. In the castle there were lots of steps and hallways. After that we skipped stones in the Rhein River. The food in Germany was really good. My Dad ordered a wiener schnitzel for lunch and I loved it. Then it started to rain again.  After that we went to a park. Then we drove to Switzerland and saw lots of castles along the way. I like seeing castles because some of them were built in the 1200s and they haven’t fallen down. But some of them have been rebuilt. I like old stuff…and I mean castles are old stuff. And now, we travel on to Switzerland. Switzerland Tuesday, July 18, 2000 Yesterday we went to a Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland. It was prettyfun. I climbed on the rocks along side Lake Geneva and played Mission Impossible. We also went to another castle and I videotaped the castle. It was called the Chillon Castle. The day before I got a new pocketknife and it was clear red. The lady there carved my name on it! I got my knife in a town called Gruyere. There is a castle with art in it. Chillon had clothes that they wore in the war and had a pretty gun that was as tall as me. They also had a stick with a chained spike thing. They even had the furniture. I had a fun time. Thursday, July 20, 2000 Today I went to a train station first thing and rented bikes. We rode our bikes from Montreux, Switzerland to France. It was 9 miles each way. On our ride we saw mountains with snow on them, rocky trails, cornfields, and we went over a river. My bike was a red mountain bike with 6 gears and a bell. We rode around Lake Geneva. It was kind of hard and kind of easy. It was easy because most of it was flat. We went down a really steep hill and I was frustrated because my Mom and Dad were always telling me to stay to the right. They were nervous because we were riding along a narrow sidewalk in France. In Switzerland we rode on sidewalks that were cracked and made bumps and I rode on them. It was kind of scary the first bump I went over. I feel brave for riding 18 miles to France. We ate lunch in France and then came back to Switzerland. After our bike ride we went to the Jazz Festival and I ate a hotdog, Swiss chocolate and it was really good, an orange Fanta drink, and a really good waffle with whipped cream. I wish I could have another one. It was a really exciting day and I had lots of fun! When I was working on my journal I was eating an apple and I dropped it. So I threw it out the window and hit a parked car. OOPS! Friday, July 21, 2000 Today we drove up to a glacier in Swiss Alps. But it was closed. So we went on a gondola to the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps. Then we hiked down the mountain, most of it was down hill, but it hurt my ribs. We sang funny songs together through the rocks and when we got to the bottom we saw some skateboarders, then we went to get some ice cream. Monday, July 24 2000 Today my mom went on a hike while me and dad rented two scooters called Razors and we went to the city and after that we had lunch and I had tomato soup, it was good. I met a friend at the restaurant who tried to jump as high as me. There was houses built on stilts and there’s the Matterhorn and we saw a house built on a mountain. We saw roofs and for dinner I had a crepe it was an egg and cheese crepe. And for desert I had a cinnamon crepe. I had a great day. Tuesday, July 25 2000 Today I went to a glacier and actually walked on it, it was really icy and walked in an ice cave had some ice sculptures. We took a gondola to get to the to the top. Then we went on a hike and sang funny songs while we got to the bottom of a mountain. July 31, 2000 Yesterday I was in Bern. We met my uncle Steve and his girlfriend a couple of days ago in Lucerne and they came with us to Bern. In Bern we saw some bears and took some pictures for my website. If you give the bears some chocolate, they will do funny tricks for you. They can clap, roll over, pray and touch their toes! Then we left Bern and drove to Zurich. Today my Dad and I were walking around in Zurich and there was a lady working in a store and my Dad thought she was a mannequin. We also went to a toy store and bought another game boy game. It was called Yoshi and I was frustrated because I didn’t know how to play the game. Then my Dad figured it out for me and now it is fun. Thank goodness, I thought it was a waste of money. My Dad had a Swiss watch that he got for free a long time ago. It was cracked on the side but it still worked. My Dad wanted a new watch that was waterproof. I wanted him to get a new one so I could take the old one apart and look inside the watch and see all the pieces. Guess what? He finally got a new watch and I had a fun time taking the old one apart. I am having a fun time! August 1, 2000 Today I went to a parade because it is Switzerland’s independence day. The parade had a choir, the Swiss Army, The Army Band and these people who had huge cowbells and they played a song when they went by. After that we went to a lake and swam in it. There was a slide that went around and around. It was fun. We also rented a boat and I got to drive it all around the lake. August 3, 2000 Today is our last day in Switzerland. Today we really didn’t do much. I looked for a new pocketknife since I lost my old one. But I didn’t want to buy one because I really don’t need one. Over all, I have had a great time in Switzerland. I have enjoyed looking at all the pocketknives and all the mountains. I thought it was cool in Lucerne because they have all these big frogs all over the city and each one is painted differently. Now I am leaving Switzerland for Turkey and I am happy about it. TURKEY August 10, 2000 Yesterday I went to a water park with my Dad in Bodrum. My first ride was called the Kamikaze. It was fun but the only thing I didn’t like was that the water kept getting in my face. There was a yellow slide and it was fun. But the water park felt like I was in America, not Turkey. In Istanbul I made a friend that owned a carpet store and he is twenty-two years old. He has a cat that he says is my brother. His name is Abraham. There were a lot of poor people so we gave them some money. In Bodrum, there are houses that are square and white with small windows. They are called sugar cube houses because they are white and square just like sugar cubes. August 11, 2000 Today I went in a boat around the Aegean Sea. It was a nice boat and there were three floors on the boat. The first one is where we ate lunch, the second floor was for tanning and the third floor was also for tanning. It was nice. We had drinks and for lunch had chicken on a stick, salad, and noodles. Next we stopped on an island called Camel Island and there were real camels on the island that you could ride. I couldn’t ride it because we didn’t have enough time since the boat stopped for only one hour. My parents said I could ride one in Egypt. August 12, 2000 Today we left Bodrum and drove to Ephesus and it was really, really old. It was from the sixth century B.C. at the time when the Romans were in charge of Turkey. Two hundred and fifty thousand people lived there. When we got there the first thing I saw was the stadium. The stadium is where they had town meetings, shows and tiger fights where the tigers fought the slaves. After that we went through Hercules’ gate and the streets were made of marble. Next we went to the ancient toilets. It didn’t seem like they had any privacy and no toilet paper at the ancient toilets. Then we went to library where they store books and the statues looked like they had casts on their arms and I asked my Dad “ Is this where they invented casts?” The library is called the Celsius Library and we saw the tomb of Celsius. August 13, 2000 Today I went to the town called Selchek and we went to the Efes Museum and I saa bunch of old things then we drove to Izmir. We stayed in Izmir and then we went back to Istanbul. We only stayed in Istanbul for one day and then went to Greece. GREECE August 17, 2000 (boat trip) Today we went to the Acropolis and we saw some awesome columns. It is high on a mountain so it is hard to attack. On the Acropolis is the Parthenon Temple, which was built in the fourth century B.C. The Acropolis has two big stadiums and one that they still have concerts in. My friends Corey and Jordan are here and they are going on a boat trip with us. We are leaving soon to go on a sailboat trip for 10 days. August 27, 2000 (boat trip) Today I went snorkeling with my Dad and we saw three different kinds of fish. One was a silver fish with light blue on the top, the other fish had a black dot by the fin, and the last one was brown with stripes and was eating something in the sand. The water was as clear as a swimming pool. Later on we went snorkeling in a different place but the water wasn’t as clear. When we were in the water, I saw a lobster, three or four sting rays, and the bottom of the ocean was all grass. I had a great time. August 28, 2000 (boat trip) Today I went snorkeling in a cove by one of the islands and there were tons of sea urchins and three needlefish in a group. The water was clear too! I learned how to make two knots. Our lunch was great. For dinner I had grilled cod fish that was grilled right on the grill! It was awesome. At dinner there were two dogs and a girl puppy. There were two dogs and the dogs got in a fight and one got hurt. September 3, 2000 Today I had lots of fun. I am renting an apartment on an island that is a volcano. We live in a town called Oia (eeaa). Our island is called Santorini and there are lots of wild cats and dogs. The crater erupted 3000 years ago and almost destroyed the far away island of Crete. There are lots of lizards. We walked 300 steps to get to a marina with fresh fish for dinner. There was a giant grouper fish and I’m guessing it was two feet long. Our friends were eating with us. I also had fish and it came right off the grill, it was great. September 12, 2000 Today I went to an Island called Delos and nobody lives there. It’s just like Efes but it is ten percent smaller. Daddy and I had a great time. We saw lots of columns and we saw awesome mosaics. We also saw Cleopatra’s house, it was cool! We took a boat and there were some people that spoke sign language. It was interesting. We climbed rocks to Hercules’ hiding spot with a nice view, but we were there for the site, not the views. Our boat ride was wild coming home. There were some rough seas and there was a small fishing boat and it went in mid-air. (There was also a statue that looked like a man’s thing…it was funny!) There was a real dog that looked like a lion and it was so soft. There were narrow, winding streets. Done. Egypt September 20,2000  In the airport we met two people named Candy and Andy on the way to Cairo. In Cairo, we went on horses in the desert to see the pyramids, it was great. We also rode a camel and it made terrible monster sounds. The camel gets up really fast and it freaked me out. To get down, you lean forwards and then backwards…scary! We saw the Sphinx too! We went to the museum and saw King Tut’s mask. We saw lots of mummies. We took an overnight train to Luxor, it took nine hours. When we got there we went ton the Temple of Luxor. It had a row of Sphinxes. Our hotel is called the Winter Palace Hotel and it is really nice. It has a swimming pool. We played a game and we hit the ball to different people. We wanted to hit it 20 times and I hit the last one! September 21, 2000 Yesterday I went to the Karmak Temple and we saw a bunch of sphinxes with a ram’s head on a lion’s body. It was awesome. We also saw a lot of Hieroglyphs. Tonight I celebrated my REAL birthday even though it is September 20 and my birthday is October 2nd. September 21, 2000 We just left Luxor and took an airplane to Dahab. Our hotel had a pool and it was next to a tent. Inside the tent there were little kittens and their mom had abandoned them. There was a lady who feeds the kittens and today she leaves. So now my job is to feed them every day until I leave. We also went snorkeling. It was so beautiful and we saw one poisoning fish. The biggest fish that we saw was a fish that looked like a Grandpa. We also were a couple of fish that had Gator colors on it. That was the best snorkeling I ever did. September 22,2000 Every day the first thing I do is go to the tent and feed the little kittens. Then we went in a van to a Bedouin village. In the Bedouin village all the kids were asking for food and selling bracelets, they were really nice. We gave them some cookies and they gave my Mom a bracelet. We saw a lot of goats and camels and we saw the way that they live. Next we went in a Bedouin jeep to the Colored Canyon and there were weird rock formations. After the canyon we went snorkeling with a dolphin and it bit my dad. I had a great day. The nest day I went to St. Catherine’s Cathedral. We took the same path that Moses took to see the burning bush. Next we went snorkeling and saw a hugh fish and hugh sea urchins. We also saw lots of coral and I like the brain coral. That was the best snorkeling ever. September 24, 2000 Today I went snorkeling in the Blue Hole. They call it the Blue Hole because coral surrounds it. In Greece, I learned to go under water with my snorkel. When Daddy and me went snorkeling we saw a huge grouper or a snapper. But there was not such good visibility. There were a lot of coral and my favorite was the brain coral. Jordan September 25, 2000 Today I woke up at 7:30 to feed the kittens at our hotel and because we are leaving Egypt., too bad. After that we took a taxi to the Egypt / Israel border and we walked to Israel, it was quicker than I thought. Then we walked to Jordan and took a taxi to our hotel. Next we went to the Lost City of Petra, it’s over 2000 years old. I took a burro and the boy made it run, it was great. I also saw cool carvings. It was fun.  September 26, 2000 Today we went to the Lost City of Petra again and we climbed 800 steps. I didn’t have such a good time. When we finally got there, there was a big rock that I climbed around and when we were talking to someone she said that she went on another trail that had 800 steps so my mom said we would go on the same trail which made me even more mad. When we got to the top of the other trail we were at the place where they sacrifice animals to the gods.  I didn’t have such a good day. Done! Done! Done! September 29, 2000  Today we went to the Western Wall and we saw a lot of people praying. You write a note about God and put it in the cracks of the wall and it goes straight to God. I took a couple of pictures and daddy took a Where’s Max photo. It was fun. There were tons of soldiers. Today we bought some DVD’s and after that we went to the market because on Friday, Saturday and Sunday everything is closed. I had a good day. October 2, 2000 Today it is finally my birthday and I had a great time. We went to the zoo and the first animal we saw was a monkey and it jumped off a tree, it was cool. After that we saw penguins, parrots, leopards, lions and cheetahs. My favorite animals were the penguins. We also went across a bridge and under the bridge were four different types of animals running around. There were gazelles, giraffes, ostriches, and rhinos. I had a birthday party before we left but today my parents gave me a traveling game board for my birthday and some cars. October 3, 2000 Today I went to the Israel Museum and it was bigger than I thought it would be. Inside were things like 2000-year old ostrich eggs. We also saw skulls, old clothes, and old statues and art. They also had a place where you can make arts and crafts and I made a guy with a scroll. There was a statue of an apple core and I climbed on it, it was great. I really enjoyed the museum because you could do so many things.  October 5, 2000 Today Daddy, Mommy and I went to the Tower of David and it was fun. We saw a statue of David holding his sword and Goliath’s head was next to him. Next we saw cool art but it wasn’t old art. Before that we watched a short movie about Jerusalem. We also went to a museum in David’s Tower. When we were done with the Tower of David, Mommy didn’t feel well so Daddy and I went to a museum about the holocaust. We saw pictures of people and their menorahs but the menorahs were made out of potato skins because they did not allow real menorahs. We also saw the clothes that they wear. I had a great day.  October 8, 2000  Today I went to another Holocaust museum and we saw pictures of people being hanged. We also saw the guns they used to use and they looked pretty big. We also saw the patches they used to wear on their jackets. The photos we saw looked pretty sad. There’s a story about a boy named Max and he was almost 9-years old and he hid from the Nazis in a shelter and lives in the USA. I feel sorry for these people. Today is Yom Kippur and everything is closed because it is the most, high holiest day in Israel. We went on a walk in the Old City and barely any people were driving, only the police. Since nobody was driving I wanted to ride my roller blades down the street. I was amazed that there was nothing out there.  October 9, 2000  Today we took a bus to a place called Masada (Musada) and it is a place on top of a mountain. I took a cable car up to the top. The story about Masada is the Jewish people would rather be killed than captured by the Romans, so they committed suicide. After that we went to a place called Ein Gedi and saw animals just running around. We also swam in a waterfall and hiked. Swimming in waterfalls is neat because I never swam in one before. We saw lots of waterfalls but we couldn’t go in them because of falling rocks. The special thing about the water is that it was the perfect temperature and very clean. Next we were going to the bus stop but we had a little time so we went to the Dead Sea for 3 minutes. It was like I floated like a boat or like someone was holding me up on my back. When I was going in the shower at the beach I found a huge bundle of salt, it was half an inch big! Anyway, I had a great, great day.  October 14, 2000  Today I went back to Cairo for one day and we went back to the pyramids again but this time we climbed on them. The rocks were really big and far away it looked like you could step right on them. Next, we took a cab to the “step” pyramid and it was fun. There are 200 pyramids in Egypt and the step pyramid is the oldest pyramid in the world. After that we went to the zoo and held a baby lion. Then we saw a monkey do a back flip. Next we held another animal, it was a baby chimp and we put my sunglasses on it and he would dance with me. It was funny and I had a good time.  Nepal  October 16, 2000  Today I am finally in Nepal! The people here drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. Today we also climbed a lot of  steps to get to a big huge temple on top of a hill and the whole, cone shaped roof is gold! There are monkeys running around and one monkey grabbed my shorts because I was too close to his baby. The wild dogs are so cute! Two days ago we met some friends, Winni and Sigourd, and they are from Denmark. They are on a trip around the world for five months and just started their trip. He’s twelve years old and he is going rafting with us. Soon we go trekking. Yay! Also, at the monkey temple we went inside and saw the Buddhist Monks praying and it was real loud. I had a great time. October 18, 2000  We went rafting for two days and the highest number of rapids was grade three. When we went over the rapid the waves were soooo big. We had our friend named Sigourd with us. Next we made a campsite. We went rafting with some other people and there was a lady who took her sleeping bag and threw it at me and we played catch. The next morning, we had oatmeal and sugar crepes for breakfast, yummie! We saw boats made right out of a log and a little kid went in the boat and the boat started going down the river. He tried to paddle forward but the current kept pulling him the other way so Sigourd and his Uncle pulled him to shore. After that we went rafting again and we went on grade two and grade three rapids. We also showered quickly under a waterfall. I thought it was nice with the trees in the background and so far, I am loving Nepal.  October 21, 2000  Today we are finally trekking in Nepal for the first time and it is tiring. When we got to the first village, I met a kid named Nema and he is eight years old. We played tag together and we would play possum. Nema had a little sister and she would dance to some Nepali music, it was cute. There is a volleyball court and on the court was a snake and I touched it. The teenager wanted to kill the snake and I thought they killed it. Then later on Neema told me that they threw it in the river and I was happy. Nema is a great friend.  October 23, 2000  Today I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and climbed a mountain called Poon Hill to see the sunrise. We saw Annapurna South when the sun barely hit the top of the mountain and it was beautiful. When we went on our way down the top of Annapurna South was peaking through the clouds. I was the only kid up there.  October 27, 2000  Today we went trekking again for the 7th time and most of the trail was up. It was difficult because I am a little sick so I get tired easily and the steps are too big for me. Yesterday morning we met some friends and one of them looked like my teacher Ms. Nelson, she was my third grade teacher. We are staying in Tea Houses and the name of this one is the Fishtail Hotel because of a mountain called Fishtail. Other than the steps, I had a wonderful time. Also, I played with some Nepali kids and showed them how to play Duck-Duck-Goose.  October 29, 2000  Yesterday there was a festival and the kids would sing songs and make a chain with their hands and they would not let us go by until we gave them some money. Today is our last trekking day and all of it was downhill. We also saw the sunrise that morning and it was pretty. When we were trekking, I scared a rooster away and another rooster got mad at us. It would make noise at us and when it got quiet, we would make noise at it until it got mad again. It was funny. The trekking that we did was great except for two of the treks. One of the treks was six hours straight up! Overall I think that Nepal has been one of the best places yet!  November 1, 2000  Today we went in a small airplane called Buddha Air and we went to see Mt. Everest. I was really excited to see Mt. Everest because I came all the way to Nepal to see it. When I was on the plane I got to see the cockpit and the pilot showed me which mountain was which. When I saw Mt. Everest it looked just like the shape of a pyramid, it was tall! I had a great time. Thailand November 3, 2000 Now we are in Bangkok. My Grand mom came to visit and brought me the new Pokemon Gold version Game Boy game. Today we went to a temple called Wat Po. It was fun. We saw buildings with sharp roofs and the doors had gold around it and it looked like they had jewelry in them but when you looked real close it was small, colored mirrors. We walked in one of the buildings and saw the largest reclining Buddha in the whole world. Reclining means lying down. Another place we went to had a row of Buddha behind glass. They were all sitting down but if they stood up they would have been my size. We also went to the Grand Palace and it was 217 years old. There were elephant statues and a sign that said "Do Not Touch" but everyone was rubbing the elephant heads because they were praying. After that we saw the weapons and my favorite one was a wooden stick with a knife on the end of the stick. Next we took a tuk-tuk (took-took). A tuk-tuk is like a big tricycle with a motor on it and you steer it like a motorcycle. We rode the tuk-tuk to a place that made jewelry and I learned about birthstones, my birthstone is an opal. We saw how they carved and made shapes with the precious stones. We also saw tons of "chetis" everywhere and at the bottom of the chetis there were flowers carved from tiles. I had a great day! November 8, 2000 Today we went to a festival and the name is Loi Krathong. At the festival there is a banana tree and the people would slice a piece of the trunk, and decorate it with folded leaves and put candles and flowers on it. It turns out beautiful. After that you make a wish with the candle lit up and float it in the river. There's something else where you take some burning tea lights, put a bag over it and it floats high in the sky like a hot air balloon. It's really cool! We floated a krathong and I had a fun time. After that we stayed up until 1:00 in the morning to go on a 7-hour train ride to Chiang Mai. We took an 8-hour train ride in Egypt and I thought the train was a lot nicer. When we got to Chiang Mai I wanted to find an origami book but they did not have one. When we flew back to Bangkok I found a book and now I can make a bird and a butterfly. I had a good time. November 14, 2000 Chiang Mai Today we went in a car and drove around northern Thailand. The first place we went to was an elephant show. The elephants took a harmonica and blew threw it, it was funny. The baby stood on it feet with the elephant trainers hat then walked on its feet over to the trainer and put the hat on him. Next we went to the butterfly farm and saw a humongous butterfly. We also saw scorpions and it was cool. November 16, 2000 Today we went to a festival called Loi Krathong. When we were at Loi Krathong, the people would slice a piece of a banana tree and staple leaves on it, put a candle in the middle, and it turns out beautiful. After that, you make a wish, light the candle and float it in the river. Some people take some tea lights and put a bag on it and it floats up to the sky like a hot air balloon. It is really cool. I had a fun time. Bali November 21, 2000 Today we flew to Bali and the flight was four hours. Of all the flights, this one had the best chicken! The movie was Rocky and Bullwinkle and it was funny. When we arrived in Bali, our driver drove us to our bungalow. A bungalow is sort of like a house only most things are outside like the kitchen and the toilet but nobody could see you because of the walls. When we went to bed we heard all these different bugs and it sounded like an orchestra. I was up all night. When I was sleeping in my room I found all these termites so I decided to sleep with my parents. That was a weird night! November 24, 2000 Today my Dad and I took a walk to Monkey Forrest Road and on the way we took our umbrella because it rains every day at different times. When it started to rain, we took a cab to the Monkey Forrest. We fed them some peanuts, but they were too aggressive. When we were in Thailand my parents bought me a scooter for an early Christmas present. When I threw the peanuts to the monkeys they would catch it and eat it. The different thing is that the monkeys in Bali eat peanuts and the elephants in Thailand eat bananas when it supposed to be the opposite. November 28, 2000 Today we went to a Balinese wedding. Everybody dressed up in a nice sarong and shoulder sash and the ladies wore really pretty headdresses. At the wedding the people were praying and balancing a bird on the peoples lap and make it chirp. It was definitely different from the weddings we have! Later that day it started to rain and the streets flooded and the water came right in the restaurant. So my Mommy was looking at dresses trying to find the exact right size, which almost takes forever, so we ran in the rain to get my mom. I had a good day! December 1, 2000 A couple of days ago we took a two-hour car ride to Lovina. We stayed in the Rini Hotel. The next day, we went on a boat to go snorkeling in the sea. Our boat was a narrow canoe with bamboo poles extended to the sides to balance us. When we got to the reef, we went snorkeling and saw tons of beautiful starfish, clown fish, angel fish, fish that glow and tiny fish swimming in the coral. After the boat ride I found a cute little hermit crab on the beach and when they pinch you it does not hurt because they are soooo small. The next day I found a family of hermit crabs and made a castle for them. I had a fun day! Australia December 3, 2000 Today we arrived in Sydney, Australia. We arrived on my dad's birthday in Australia. If we were in America, his birthday would be tomorrow. My dad is lucky to have two birthdays. When we went out of the airport we saw a bridge that you could walk on the top of but you need to wear a special suit so you wont fall off. It's called Harbor Bridge. When we went outside they had good roads for my scooter. The next day we went to Manly. Manly is a beach town in Australia. At the beach I met a 7-year old kid named Nathan and threw the ball back and forth. The water in the Pacific Ocean was cold. We had pepperoni pizza for lunch that was an inch thick. I had a nice time. December 9, 2000 Today we went to Bondi Beach. When we got to the beach I was ready to go in the water and the life guard told me there were jelly fish but I could still go in because they only make you itch for 30-minutes. So I didn't go in the water. Yesterday we went to a park and saw a rare tree. They also had trees with bats hanging upside down off of the trees. It was neat! I also got a drawing book. At night there are hundreds of bats flying over the lake. One of the street names is "Wooloomooloo". Tonight I watched an old movie and it was very, very funny. I had a good time. December 20, 2000 Since we have been in Australia, we have pet kangaroos, saw three koalas; one had a baby on it. It was cute. When my dad was reading the sign about Koalas is said that their hands either had two thumbs or two claws on one finger. Their ears are hairy. The kangaroos are soft as a sweatshirt. There is one type of animal called a platypus. It is an egg laying mammal and only lives in Australia. I also learned how to play a didjeridoo. The didjeridoo is a hollow stick about 4 inches in diameter and is, well, any length. For Christmas I want a boomerang and a didjeridoo mostly. Today is my moms birthday. I'm having a great time n Australia. December 25, 2000 A couple of das ago we went to a Koala Hospital. When the baby crawls into the pouch they are the size of a peanut. Pretty amazing. The Koalas sleep twenty hours a day. They are very lazy. A couple of days later I went Hang Gliding and it was fantabulous. We were near the water off a cliff and I saw a manta ray and a giant school of fish. When I first got here I was scared but then when people told me about it I wasn't so afraid. When I was strapped in I looked like a bug. When we jumped off the cliff I was afraid. I had a man that drove it for me but I got to drive it for a little bit. I had a WONDERFUL time. I also took a didgeridoo lesson and my teacher was great. My teacher was great because he would take a bottle of water and put some in his mouth and squeeze it out of his cheeks and breathe at the same time. He was funny. I was the youngest because everybody was mostly twenty years old. I was a little bit shy. Our teacher was an Aborigine. My favorite sound that the didjeridoo can make is the boomerang and the kangaroo hopping. I had a G'day (good day). December 26, 2000 A couple of days ago we met some friends, Candy and Andy. Pretty funny. It is Christmas and I got a didgeridoo, a boomerang, a coloring kit, and three really cool key chains. One was a surfboard because a lot of people surf; another was an Olympics because of the Olympics, and a boomerang key chain. I also got swim goggles, one Lego and the greatest present is it is in Australia. I also found out that my parents gave me presents instead of old St. Nick but…that doesn't mean I shouldn't believe in the spirit of Christmas! Later we had a party and I was throwing my boomerang around, playing my didgeridoo, playing a game called cricket and eating good food. My boomerang went into the water a couple of times. Andy had to swim and get it and lost his silver ring. We are 16 hours ahead so tomorrow it will be Christmas in America. Australia is the size of America. I had a great day. G'day everybody says here! December 28, 2000 Today we went to a water park called Wet and Wild. The first thing we did was the River Tube and it would pull you like a river in a tube. Another slide we did would be Daddy and me in a pitch-black slide. We went on a slide called double scream and you would get on a boogie board and fall almost flat then you would ski on the water. I was scared! Next we went on one slide that would swish you around. I had a fun day even though it was wet and raining. January 1, 2001 Yesterday was New Years Eve and they had one concert and I did not know who sang the songs. After that I had a Sprite. Then we walked for two hours. There were lots of drunken people then all of the sudden…five…four…three…two…one…zero…BOOM! Blue fireworks, blue and gold fireworks, red, green and laser like, they would split into more! In America it would be tomorrow so I had two New Years! Everybody say Happy New Years! I had a "G'day" and a very, very, very happy New Years! January 2, 2001 Today I started YMCA Camp and it was great! The only bad thing about the camp was that the other kids swore a lot, I was the only one who didn't swear! On the first day we did archery. I hit the board two times I didn't do very well. For the second activity we climbed a Blue Gum Tree and hooked in to a harness on the pegs in the tree. It is way much bigger than you think. After that we played some games. We also went on a big zip line and I climbed a tree to get to it. Later I went on a giant swing. The giant swing is where you are hooked in a harness and all the other kids pull you up by a rope and then I pulled a string and swung really, really, really, really high and fast. At night I saw a koala that was really cute. The next day we did relay races and hung around. I rode a bus to a bus stop and Candy and Andy drove me back home. I had a great time! January 7, 2001 Today we went to a kangaroo and koala sanctuary. First we went to the koalas and I pet one. I also got to hold one and they weigh about sixteen pounds. After ten seconds they started to get a bit heavy. We took a picture holding it. Next we headed to the kangaroos. The kangaroos were very friendly and you could pet them, feed them, it was wonderful. My Dad gave a kangaroo some food and it took the paper bag of food, poured out the food and ate the bag! It was funny. At least we had two bags. After that we saw crocodiles, really colorful birds, dingo and a Tasmanian devil that ran around the hollow log that it sleeps in. Our picture of the koala looked bright but great! I had a great time! January 14, 2001 A couple of days ago we went to a waterfall tat made pools of water that you can swim in. There was a smooth rock that went down a small little hill and you could slide down it. It was fun. There were big cliffs and the bigger kids would jump off them. They were really high cliffs. January 15, 2001 Today I went to another YMCA Camp in Sydney. When I got to the bus stop one of the leaders said "G'day, Mate!". I thought it was funny. On the bus I met a friend named Nile and he liked to draw too. We were also playing Tic Tac Toe. On our first day, our first activity was archery and I hit the board once, I'm not so good at it. The next day I did rock climbing and I didn'y get to the top, usually I am pretty good at it. After that we did the low ropes, its kind of like an adventure. The low ropes is where you swing on a tire on a rope then you go to the next one, you swing over the ropes and balance on the wires. It was fun. Day three I learned how to play badminton. A little later we camped out for one night only it was not so good because it rained at 1:00am and so we had to go in the bus and drive back to our cabin. After that day we went Abseiling. Abseiling is where you have a big wall and you hold on to a string, bounce off the wall and grip it again. When I got to the top I almost cried, it was fun though. The next day was the last day. The activity we did was Monster Relays and the whole camp does a relay race. Like you would hit the archery board two times, then another kid in your cabin would do a three-legged race. I did a three-legged race and had a great, great time. January 21, 2001 Today we went to a Aboriginal Dance at Sydney Festival. It was neat. There was a HUGE inflated balloon. It was the rainbow serpent. The rainbow serpent is a spirit that the Aboriginal people believe in. It looks likea big snake. The first show was about birth and death and the people looked scary with the movements. The next one was about other animals. It was neat because the platforms would move up and down. I liked it a lot. They dressed up like they were skeletons. After that the next show was about the creation of water, air and land. Big fireworks would shoot out. It was fun. After that, the final show was about the laws of the dreaming. They people moved in slow motion and it was weird. It was very, very cool. After that there were big fireworks and it was over. I had a great, great night. January 22, 2001 Today I took a three-hour flight to Ayers Rock. Ayers Rock is the biggest rock in the world. When we got to the airport we rented a car. When we were driving we saw little mirages that looked like pools of water, then they disappeared. It was weird. As we were driving to our hotel we saw Ayers Roc again and it was HUGE! The Aboriginal people call it Uluru and it was a sacred site for thousands of years. The rock is bigger then what it looks because 25% is what we see and 75% is under ground. The Aboriginals say that their ancestors brought the rock. The rock is really made out of a conglomerate of small stones. When we were at Uluru, we could not leave when we wanted to because the Aboriginal people needed to do men's business so we waited 45 minutes until they were done. I had a good day! January 23, 2001 Today we took a walk in The Olgas. The Olgas look bigger than Ayers Rock but it is 36 big rocks, not one. I was hot and bothered. The most annoying thing was the bush flies was on Mars because all the rocks were big and red. After that, we went swimming at our hotel and I met some friends. Their names were Euwin and Collin. We played for hours in the pool and I told them I was on a world trip. I had a wonderful day. January 24, 2001 Today we woke at 5:30 am to see the sun rise. We missed most of it. After that we took a thirty-minute walk through cuts in the rocks with Aboriginal art on them. Later on that day, My Dad signed him and me up for a helicopter ride. I've never been in a helicopter before and now I can say I have been on one. When I was in the helicopter I wore big headphones because it was SOOO loud. I got to steer it for a while. We went over Ayers Rock and the views were wonderful. My Mom couldn't go because the seats were full. It was so beautiful and The Olgas looked great too. I had a good…actually, GREAT day. January 31, 2001 Yesterday we arrived in New Zealand. Today we went to a place called Antarctica. It was about Antarctica, which is 1300 kilometers from New Zealand. New Zealand is really cold even though it is summer. When we went to the Antarctica place we went to a room that shows you how cold it is and it was full of snow. It even had a slide you could slide down and it was fun. We learned all about the penguins and all the mannequins were dressed like Eskimos. Now I know what it is like to be an Eskimo! I had a cold summer day! February 6, 2001 Since we have been in New Zealand we have seen the Yellow Eyed Penguin. The Yellow Eyed Penguins have a half ring of yellow that goes to the back of the head from one eye to the other eye. They live on the coast of New Zealand where the freezing beaches are. It is the dead of summer and it is freezing cold outside. Some sea lions were up there chasing the penguins for fun. The next day we went on a boat trip and the whole thing took 8 hours. We took a bus and it drove underground. The friend I met on the boat came with me the whole tour. We saw how the electricity works and how it goes to the homes. We saw a couple of dolphins even though it rained the whole trip. Yesterday we also saw birds with the longest wings in the world. The wings are 3 meters long. They spend 80 percent of their life over the water. They never flap they only glide because they lock their wings in place and glide for 4 years over the water. It was an awesome time! February 7, 2001 Today my Dad jumped out of an airplane. He was all dressed up in "a very tight suit", he said! I was really worried about him and I don't know why! He said that he had the butterflies too. I was worried too for no reason. I was really happy he was doing this though. I was definitely too young for this one! Before this we went to a bridge where bungy jumping was invented. We go to see some people bungy themselves off the bridge. It was cool when my dad was skydiving. He said that all the other people wore gloves but im and his hands were freezing. He was is a parachute with rainbow colors and mostly yellow in the middle. He saw some great views he tells us! I was worried though I still had a great time. February 8, 2001 Today we went "canyoning" through the Isobel River in Queenstown, New Zealand. It was fun! The first thing we did was abseil down a cliff, abseiling is where you walk down a cliff and you are tied up. After that we went down waterfalls and jumped off cliffs. It was really good. We wore wet suits and it was sooo tight on me I could barely put my hand through the sleeves even though it was a good size. I wore two layers of wet suits. Some water went in my nose when I went down the waterfall. When I went down the waterfall I went down a rock and then flew in the water. Our helmets had names on them like Sweetie, Bart, Homer, Elvis, Madonna, Head, Brain and all the other silly names. Our guides called us by the name on the helmet. I was Sweetie but I don't care. One part was like a current pool. It was beautiful. The water was as clear as it had chlorine in it! It was freezing cold on my legs and hands. It was GREAT! February 17, 2001 After Queenstown we started to drive to a town called Greymouth. On the way to Greymouth we stopped at a place called Puzzle World and I went through these mazes. It was hard but fun. In the store they had lots of puzzles. Mom had a puzzle with four pieces to make a "T". But she couldn't do it and had to ask the waitress. After we drove to Greymouth. When we got to our hotel (hostel) I wanted to stay there forever because it was really relaxing. It was easy to read because it was so quiet. The next day we went to the brewery, which was a bit funny to my parents because I was the youngest one to se how beer is made, even though I don't drink beer. I also had a great time tasting fish called Kaiwa. Some people at the hotel caught the fish and offered it to me. I also took walk to see the glaciers. I had a good time! February 19, 2001 Today my Dad and I went fishing with the owner of our hotel. He's also a fisherman. The first fish I caught had red on the top and silvery-white on the bottom. Another fish I caught was light brown and the scales felt like sandpaper, not slimy. It is called a Trigger Fish or Leather Jacket. One of the other fish I caught was called a Terricette, it was silvery-white with a little black stripe on it's back. All these fish you can eat. On the boat it was like…in goes the rod…out comes the fish. Dad was just watching and staring barely catching anything. Later on we wet trotting (trolling) to catch a fish called Kiaway. The three that were caught were about 18 inches. When I was pulling the Kiaway it jumped in the air and it was hard to pull it in. When Dad caught his fish, I said that it pays for all the he did not catch before. The owner says I caught 40 fish altogether, but most of them I could not eat because they were too small. The fish dinner was GREAT! I had a great day! February 20, 2001 Today we went to a Maori dance. The Maori people are like the Aboriginals and the American Indians only they are the Maori people of New Zealand. When we were watching them dance they had a big tattoo on their heads and the ladies had one on their chins. They were stomping their feet, slapping their thighs, moving their eyes wildly, and when they are ready to scare the people they are battling they stick out their tongues really far out. They also have hot springs all over the town we are staying in. The next day we went to a hot spring and it had a slide in it. I also met two friends. I was really excited!