Kid's Healthy Snack (Pancakes)

By Yi Ting (Age 8.5, St. Stephen's Prep School)

Kid's Healthy Snack (Pancakes): A Manual!

Supplies

• Stick
• Squeeze bottle
• Butter (salted and hard)
• 1 pack of flour
• 2 chicken eggs
• 1 cup of water (if needed, two cups)
• A spoon
• Frying pan
• Stove
• A big bowl
• Knife

Instructions

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Step 1: Take the big bowl and pour in half of the flour, then crack two chicken eggs into the bowl. Now take the spoon and stir it for thirty seconds. You need to put a spoon of water from the cup. Keep stirring and stirring and if you need more water, keep adding spoon after spoon. If you want to know when the mixture is finished, look for bubbles; it should have some bubbles in it. 

Step 2: Go to the stove and put the fire to low heat. Now use the knife to cut a little bit of butter into the frying pan. Use the knife to stir the butter around the whole frying pan. Put the mixture in the pan and put the pan on the stove. There's another way: you can use a squeeze bottle. Just pour the mixture into the bottle and squeeze the shape you want onto the frying pan. You can use the stick to check if you are not sure if it is cooked yet. Use a spatula to flip the pancake over when one side is done. 

Step 3: Use the spatula to take the pancake out. Put it onto the plate. It is finished. 

Warnings

• You shouldn't put the fire on a very high heat, or you will burn yourself. 
• You can't leave the mixture alone, or it will burn. 
• You shouldn't just cook one side. If you eat an undercooked pancake, you may die.
• You shouldn't pour the mixture too much onto the pan, or you can't cook it.

Troubleshooting

• When the pancake is burned, you need to put it into the bin. 
• If your kitchen is on fire, take a bucket of water and pour it in the kitchen, then call the firemen. 

The Best Parents

By James (Age 10, Renaissance College Hong Kong)

Once upon a time, there was a boy called Dell. He had a very strict father and mother. They made Dell do all his homework in three hours. They also forced Dell to play the piano and the violin for at least one hour every day. They didn't let Dell go for sleepovers and after-school activities, and made him sleep at ten o'clock every night. They also didn't let Dell eat unhealthy and food that was meat. Dell only could eat vegetables. He only got friends that were very dorky, like people that had very good grades. Dell also needed to get good grades. Dell needed to walk to school every day because his mom thought that he needed more time to do more exercise.

One day, when Dell woke up, he looked at the clock and it was eleven o'clock on a Sunday morning. He quickly woke up and ran to brush his teeth and change his clothes. He dressed up and saw his dad and mom cooking breakfast. He ran down and dropped to his knees and said, "I am sorry, dad, mom, I know I should have woken up at eight o'clock in the morning, but I didn't. Sorry, can you forgive me?"

His dad said, "We turned off your alarm clock because we think we've been too strict on you. We read this article about tiger parents. We know that we should give you freedom. So, today, the whole day is your freedom day. You can do whatever you like and you can say all of your wishes out and we will make them come true."

Dell stood up and hugged them both and said thank you. He wrote down a lot of things and told his parents to buy them. The things he wrote were: PSP (new version), NDS I, iPhone 5, iPod Touch, a MacBook Pro, a 43-inch television, and a Visa card. He played with all of the things he bought the whole day until it was 11:48. Dell asked his dad and mom if he could have two wishes. He said, "Dad, mom, can I have two wishes? If I can, my first wish is to own the things you bought for me today. The second wish is that I want to have just a little bit of freedom: like after I finish my homework, piano and violin, can I play games for awhile? I want to have sleepovers with friends and I want to sleep at eleven every night. I also want these wishes to last forever in my life."

The next day, when Dell woke up in the morning, it was eight o'clock. Dell ran down and saw that breakfast was ready. Dell ate his breakfast and changed his clothes and went to school. This time, Dell's dad and mom said to drive him to school. After school that night, when they ate dinner, Dell's dad and mom said, "Dell, we thought about it all night. We want you to have more freedom. Now, we will set the rules again. You can play with your things after you finish your piano and violin and homework. Piano and violin practice will be changed to fifty minutes. You can have other friends but they can't make you go crazy because you are our only son. You still need to get good grades but you can get one B. We will not be so strict like before. You can eat a little meat but you still need to eat vegetables. You can sleep at eleven o'clock but no later than that. The real thing is, we just want to help you." Dell hugged them and went to play the piano.

Your Language is Your Identity

By Chris (Age 15, Canadian International School)

The process of learning Chinese is a beautiful yet complex and tiring exploration into one's mind. Ever since I was a young boy, my parents have pushed me to learn both Chinese and English at the same time. As a new local student who just entered an international school, English to me was a way more fascinating language. However, I had trouble reading it and my accent became a joke in the class. English has always been the language I want to excel at and become familiar with. As time passed by, I began to realize the beauty of the Chinese language. It was only in the past half a year that I realized my Chinese is way too poor. Being a Chinese person living in a Chinese community, it became very clear to me that learning Chinese is a very important component in my life.

To be very honest, I did not like the fact that I have to learn Mandarin. I always thought to myself being able to know both English and Cantonese is enough to live a life. Moreover, I absolutely adore English because it's the only way to bond with my other friends at school. Since I have been studying in an English school for 8 years, my exposure to the art of Chinese was minimal. Chinese was way too easy for me in an English school, which is why I didn't see the point of learning Chinese outside. However, in the past year, I've been listening to more Chinese songs and started to realize how admirable this language is. Being a Chinese person, I felt that I have the responsibility to learn more about my own culture and language. I began to read Chinese newspapers every single day and write some essays in Chinese using more and more complex vocabulary words. It was hard to convince myself that it was a joy to write something in Chinese. It was a very exciting adventure to try and improve my writing every single time.

Chinese is an elegant language which takes a lot of patience and time to understand. Of course being a Chinese myself makes it a lot easier to learn it. I am always heavily impressed by any foreigners who could speak fluent Chinese. It takes a huge amount of determination and perseverance to learn a new language, especially Chinese. I think it's an important value to treasure and explore. It really widens up your scope in a Chinese community.

It is true that Chinese may not be the most important language in the world, but it is no doubt one of the most mysterious and elegant languages in the world. I have once doubted learning Chinese, but as a Chinese, I have discovered how big of a mistake it is to drop your own language and get hold of another foreign language. Your own language is an important value to yourself. It is crucial for you to learn it before learning a foreign language. Mandarin for me and any Chinese person is a language which represents a part of our identity.