Two more days until winter break is here! I'm so excited because we have 3 weeks away from school. What I am looking most forward to during winter break  is Christmas. I love Christmas, not only for the presents, but also for the delicious food and the presence of my whole family. Every year, I always looks forward to Christmas because I'm so anxious to open my gifts! Christmas is a very jolly holiday for my family and we always have a good time. This year, we plan on meeting up at my cousins house, and opening our presents there. My other cousins from the bay area are also coming to town so I'm excited for that. 
     Another thing I look forward to is practicing basketball for the basketball tryouts!! I love basketball and the tryouts are right when we come back from winter break. So I think the the majority of my winter break will consist some dribbling and shooting. I love basketball and I hope I make the team. Since the new year is during winter break, I hope I will start it off in a good way. I want to make sure I get rid of bad habits and improve my traits. 
 
      When Japan barely started off as a country, their culture was not known all over the world yet. Part of the reason for that is because Japan really didn't have a culture. They had their own language, but not a written one. Many years later, a Japan written language was developed thanks to China and Korea. They both had an influence on Japan's language, and they are sort of similar.  That is one of the important ideas Japan got from those two countries. Without a written language, there wouldn't be any historic records of any type of mail. 
       Another influence that Japan adapted from China and Korea was philosophy and religion. Japan didn't really have a traditional religion to follow, or a philosophy to live by, but that all changed when Japan was influenced by China and Korea. Korea brought Buddhism into Japan. Buddhism was already known in Japan, but it was not popular. It was pretty popular soon and it is one of the traditional religions in Japan. A philosophy called Confucianism was introduced to Japan from China. Confucianism taught how to properly behave in society, and also with family. Many people in Japan started to follow Confucianism teachings. 
 
    It was another hard working day. The sun was shining, and the children in the village were out playing around, and they were certainly not concerned about anything. As I was pulling weeds from my wheat field, I heard something very loud, something like thunder. But I thought, "Why would there be thunder if the sun is out?" I ignored it and carried on. After 5 minutes or so, I heard it again. It was coming from the other side of the village. I left my wheat field and went to go look at what was happening. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  There was a pack of fierce Mongols riding through the village, yelling at people and threatening them. Once I saw their huge horses, I ran back to my house to inform my family and the others. My only concern was getting out of the village, and saving my people.  
      Luckily, my house was right near the busy city, so we had escaped quickly. I informed my family, and the ones closest to me. We grabbed some food, and we quickly left. As I was looking back, I could already see smoke rising from some houses. The Mongols do not play around when they are angry. I feel bad that I wasn't able to save the others but I'm glad my family and I managed to escape.