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Archery Class

10/5/2013

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Archery Class
Illustration by Ludovica Liu
by Michelle Zeng (Age 12)
Archery had always been a sport that had strongly fascinated me.


I had always seen archery being portrayed as a simple sport, yet an extremely beautiful one, in various movies and books. I was so interested in this sport that I finally signed up for a class. I was extremely excited when I first entered the doors of the classroom. Two of my friends went with me and were just as excited as I was. In my mind, I was
already fantasizing how perfect this class would be, but I later figured out that archery wasn't as easy as it looked. Our instructors were very helpful in guiding us along our way. 
To my frustration, the very first thing they made us do in archery wasn't to immediately start shooting; it was to discover our eye-dominance.


As I later learned, eye-dominance is basically the key to everything as an archer. It determined how one stood, aimed and it also determined which hands they used
to hold the bow and to draw back.


I was surprised when I discovered that I was left-eye dominant, which meant I was stronger in my left eye and would therefore draw the bowstring back with my left hand.
We were taught the proper way to stand, hold a bow, and aim an arrow according to our eye-dominance.


I was already engaged in this new sport and enjoyed learning the basics immensely, though I had yet to shoot my first arrow.


After a while, we finally started shooting, which I was very happy to do. There were many various types of bows in the class, but we were only allowed to use the recurve bows.
The majority of the class used the large recurve bows, which stood up to around my shoulder, and had a drawstring weight of about thirty pounds. I initially thought that due
to its large size and stronger force, I would be able to shoot the arrow further and with more accuracy.


When I attempted to pull back the bowstring, however, I was entirely thrown off by the sheer weight of the bowstring. I hadn’t expected it to be so heavy! Even though my arrow still hit the target, it was extremely off.


After a few more tries, one of my instructors suggested that the larger bow was far too heavy for me and eventually I switched to a smaller bow with the drawstring weight
of about twenty-five pounds. I was rather skeptical about the change and wasn’t too convinced that it would make a difference.


To my surprise, the smaller bow’s drawstring was far easier to manage and when I released the string, it hit the target right above the bull’s-eye. 


I gained more confidence at this achievement, though my previous excitement was starting to die down. I started listening more closely to the instructors when they
gave us advice. Their words stuck with me when I tried applying my newfound knowledge to my form. 


“Two important things to remember while doing archery are the stance and your form,”
one of the instructors told me. Indeed, I found that I had a much better aim when I was straightened up and had good balance.

Though the class was very amusing and lighthearted, we were always aware that archery was not only a sport and a game, but also a weapon. When it came to safety,
our instructors were extremely strict. They marked off the space between the quivers and the targets, which we were not allowed to enter at all unless we were ordered to retrieve our arrows.


Despite all the difficulties I had in my first class, the experience was overall amazing and very fun. I had my fourth class a while ago; I have strengthened considerable and am now able to handle larger bows as well as aim accurately. None of this would have been possible if I had never gone to my first archery class. I hope to learn and improve a lot in archery in the future.
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My Summer Adventure in Europe

10/5/2013

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By Wendy Wang (Age 14)

It’s summertime:
school’s out, the sun’s out, and it’s time to relax and have fun! For Voice K, we couldn't relax yet, we had to get ready to fly to Europe. On July 1st, after getting off an eight hour flight, we began our three-week adventure. We’re shaking it up this summer: instead of relaying the commonly visited attractions that everyone knows about, we are introducing amazing places that people miss out on. Voice K hereby presents some of the “hidden gems” of Europe – some crucial destinations yet to be in the spotlight.
AmsterdamAmsterdam, City of Canals
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

Did you know that in Amsterdam, there are more bikes than people? There are practically no cars since there isn't enough space. The streets are narrow, but not at all crowded. One thing that Voice K learned upon arrival is that Amsterdam is a city of canals, much like Venice. From the sky, the city’s canals form a web.

Netherlands is also the home of tulips, as you can find an entire street that sells a wide variety of tulip bulbs.In the downtown, we visited the Anne Frank House, Netherlands is the home of tulips Stonehenge, one of the seven wonders of the world Amsterdam, city of canals an inspiring memorial of the World Wars. Anne’s diary has been sold worldwide in many languages.

图片
Netherlands is also the home of tulips, as you can find an entire street that sells a wide variety of tulip bulbs.In the downtown, we visited the Anne Frank House, Netherlands is the home of tulips Stonehenge, one of the seven wonders of the world Amsterdam, city of canals an inspiring memorial of the World Wars. Anne’s diary has been sold worldwide in many languages.

Lodon,England

图片Stonehenge, One of Seven Wonders of the World
Almost everyone in London either walks or takes public transit. We did the same, and skipped the taxi. Our fi rst stop was the London Bridge, then we visited the London Tower. There, we saw the world’s largest diamond, at 530 carats. No joke, it was about the size of my fi st! Talking about money, not too far away was the rich part of town. A lot of famous celebrities have stayed there, including the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. He was eventually banned from a certain hotel since his fans would block the entire intersection!

Have you ever heard of the seven ancient wonders of the world? Well, one of them is in England. If you guessed the Stonehenge, you are correct! The stones are colossal, and the biggest one weighs about 40 tons. That’s about the size of a large truck. How Stonehenge was constructed remains a mystery. After all, back then people didn’t have tow trucks or cranes.

图片
Our second goal in England was to relive the moments of Harry Potter.


From where J.K. Rowling got her inspiration for Harry’s lightning shaped sure to see it all! If you have time, take a stroll in Oxford University and visit the building where the Hogwarts’ dining hall was based upon. At King’s Cross Station, there was even an entire shop dedicated to Harry Potter, filled with wands, posters and other gizmos from the wizardly world.

PARIS, FRANCE

Palace of Versailles GardenPalace of Versailles Garden
Bonjour, bienvenue! Hello, welcome to Paris, the elegant capital of France. Voice K was quickly drawn to the beauty of the Palace of Versailles, built by King Louis XVI for his wife. The ceilings of the palace are hand-painted, picturing clouds, people, food and nature. The palace is famous for its striking gardens, so vast you can’t even see the end of it, even from the top of the palace! Inside, it’s like a fantasy from Alice in Wonderland. 

Tall mazes are complete with a series of fountains, with neatly trimmed hedges and trees, and statues guard each corner of the path. The garden goes on for kilometers, and we were quite reluctant to leave the peaceful scenery.

We also visited Toulon, the first military port of Europe, a small French city. The port is filled with yachts, and if you look a little further, you can see the French navy. However, the thing that surprised us the most was the fact that there was palm trees everywhere. Tropical palm trees in France. We’re sure that changed your  impression. Who says you can’t have a beach party in France?

TURKEY

Blue Mosque in IstanbulBlue Mosque in Istanbul
No, the country’s name has nothing to do with turkeys. However, its culture is quite different compared to the rest of Europe, and it was nice to experience something new. 


We visited the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, but it wasn’t really blue. Anyways, to enter woman need to cover their head and arms, and wear clothing past the knee. For men, they
are required to wear long pants. Unfortunately we forgot, but fortunately we were given scarves to wrap around our heads. It is much harder then it seems, as we were struggling miserably to keep the scarves in place. Other than that, the visit was spectacular.

ITALY


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