12/15

Today in Human Geo, we talked more about the exam. We went over Mr. Schick’s blog, which tells us what we need to know for the exam and also has the essay questions. The essay questions are kind of confusing to me but I am going over them and I will think about what I’m going to say. The president part is the hardest for me to remember but everything else seems relatively easy to remember since I have already started studying. I think this exam is going to be some what hard but hopefully not too hard. My studying will hopefully pay off and I will not struggle when taking it. Tonight I will keep reviewing everything and especially watch the fact video called “Did You Know 3.0.” There will be 130 questions on the exam and we will pick two out of the three essays to answer. As long as I keep studying tonight, I think I will do fine, even though I’m nervous about it.

12/12

Today in Human Geo, we had our Christmas party. It was really fun because a lot of us brought in cookies and candy canes. I had my computer plugged in to the speaker playing Christmas music. We all got a picture together and there were many selfies taken. Grace, Sydney and I played hangman also. When we all sat down, we went over the other test on the twelve countries. I definitely need to study this chapter the most in Human Geo. I'm not sure how the exams will go but I have to study as much as possible and go in with a positive attitude even though I'm nervous. We also went over how much they are worth because I'm also really nervous about that. I've been studying this week and I will this weekend. This specific class was one of my favorites. Studying my notes and making quizlets are some of the best ways for me to study so that is what I'll make sure to do!

11/14

Today in Human Geo, we got back our tests. I already knew what I got but I'm glad we got them back and went over them because I really like to know what I got wrong so that I can correct it and hopefully get it correct on the exam. The ones I got wrong I definitely did not know the answer and I don't remember studying it. Then we got our other test back on the different countries and I didn't do as well on that one. I remember that test was really hard for me even though I studied a lot. Hopefully I will do good on the exams because I have been studying a lot and it would be really disappointing if my studying did not pay off. I study mostly my notes because when Mr. Schick goes through the power points I write everything down because I don't always know if it will be posted on his blog or not. I really hope the exams go well.

12/10 Test

Today in Human Geo we had our test. I first thought it might be open notes but I studied just as much as I would have without having an open note test, which worked in my favor because the test ended up not being open note. The test, in my opinion, ended up being pretty easy. I think I only had problems with the different abbreviations for different organizations and maybe a question about when a religion was founded. I made sure to go over everything at the end just so I didn't put an answer I didn't mean to. Overall I think I did well on the test and Mr. Schick actually is getting them graded right now so we can see how we did so I guess I will find out soon enough. I studied a lot last night and I quizzed myself multiple times and went over them many times. I just saw my grade and I'm happy with my grade and it was worth the studying.

12/8

Today in Human Geo, we review for the upcoming test on Tuesday. The test will cover both of the power points (Cultural Geography and Five Major Religions) plus the movie we watched in class called "Slumdog Millionaire." The main points and things we should focus on for the test were mentioned also. This was our last day to review the topics because we do not have class Tuesdays. Tonight I am going to probably make quizlet flash cards for the religions because I find that flashcards are usually very useful and helpful when studying for tests. I am nervous for this test but I think I will do fine as long as I study my notes and also study Mr. Schicks remake of "Billionaire" by Travie Mccoy to help me study and remember the movie. Christianity will definitely be easy to remember but since I am mostly unfamiliar with the other four religions, I will have to study extra hard.

Five Major Religions 12/5

Yesterday in Human Geo, we mostly took notes and here are the notes we took.

Countries
-Economic Alliances

• European Union (EU)
• Organization of Petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) - experts oil to the US
• (Supply and Demand with Gas)

-Political

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) - European nations and USA alliance that help each other out if one of the countries gets attacked

Five Major Religions

Christianity

• Around 2.2 billion adherents (largest religion in the world)
• Call them: Christians
• Geographic locations: Europe, the Americas, Southern Africa
• Founder: Jesus Christ
• Holy Book: The Bible (mainly the New Testament)
• Beliefs: Jesus led a perfect life, died, came back to life, now reigns in Heaven with God (Jesus is Human and Divine)
• Clergy: Pope, Bishops, Priest
• Denominations: Catholic, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox

Islam

• 1.5 billion adherents (second largest religion in the world)
• Call them: Muslims
• Geographic locations: Indonesia, Middle East, North Africa
• Denominations: Sunnis (75-90%) and Shiites (10-20%)
• Founder: Muhammed
• Holy Book: Qur'an
• Beliefs: Monotheistic - One God, Abrahamic Tradition, Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, donating money or almsgiving, fasting)
• Pilgrimage: Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Alah (God), and observing Islamic law

Hinduism

• 1.1 billion adherents (third largest)
• Geographic locations: India, Nepal
• Holy book: The Vedas - eternal truths to stages written in verses which were in song and easily memorized
• Founder: no founder - It is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, strict set of beliefs
• Beliefs: Reincarnation of a soul to go to a new and younger person

Buddhism

• 500 million to 1.5 billion (estimates vary quite a bit)
• 1.2 million in the USA
• Call them: Buddhists
• Geographic locations: Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan
• Denominations: Tibetan, Zen Theravada, Amidst
• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• You can be a Christian and a Buddhist
• Beliefs: Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold paths

Judaism

• 14-18 million adherents (ninth largest)
• Call them: Jews
• Geographical locations: Israel (80% in Israel are Jews)
• Founder: Abraham (?)
• Holy Book: Talmud and the Torah (The first five books of the Old Testament)
• Beliefs: Ethical Monotheism - God is one and concerned with the actions of human kind
• The Ten commandments and the 13 Principles of Faiths

12/4

Today in Human Geo, we had to do an evacuation drill. I was supposed to go to lot 10 but I guess we were switched to 9. When we got back to the room, Mr. Schick played the guitar to his daughters "cover" of "Billionaire" by Travie Mccoy. The reason I put quotations on cover, was because they rewrote the lyrics to fit the movie "Slum dog Millionaire." Mr. Schick also played the guitar as the track played. Then we started to take notes. Here are the notes we took.

Religion can be a unifying force

• There are five major religions in the world today -- Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam
• They have million followers all believing in the same thing (more or less)

Religion can also be a dividing force around the world

• Hindus and Muslims fight in India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslims)
• There are conflicts between Catholics and Protestants (two forms of Christianity) in Northern Ireland

12/3

Today in Human Geo, it took a little while to get started. When we did get started, we took notes. Here are the notes that I took today which are the second part to ones from before the movie.

Language

• Arabic unites the Arab world
• Spanish unites the Hispanic world 
• Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish. (They speak Portuguese) 
• Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are their official. Canada has provinces instead of states.
• The US has no official languages
• Switzerland has multiple languages but very little conflict between groups
• English is now (some what) considered the world language... (I didn't finish this part)

Ethnic Heritage

• In Yugoslavia, many ethnic groups were made into one country (Serbs, Croats, Bosnians....)

• When strong leaders died out, the different groups fought a very bloody civil war and now they all have separate countries
• In the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, two ethnic groups dominate, the Tutsis and Hutus
• The Hutus are dominant in one and they persecute the Tutsis, and the Tutsis are dominant in the other and they persecute the Hutus. It has led to almost constant war between the groups
• The United States and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries  
• Korea and Japan have primarily one ethnic group
• On the island of Cuprus, the Greeks and Turks try to gain control

12/1

Today in Human Geo, we finished “Slumdog Millionaire.”  Jamal goes to see Latika at her owner’s house but is unable to see her. In one of the next scenes, we see a Latika and many other girls watching “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” with Salim and his boss. The boss changes the channel to a dancing show so the girls get up and dance. Latika sneaks out to watch it in another room.  Salim comes into the room and gives Latika keys and his cellphone and tells her to leave and go see Jamal. She drives to where the show is being filmed in hopes to see find him. When she arrives she doesn’t find him so she goes to someone’s home to watch it. When the show starts, the host gives the question and asks him if he wants to keep his money or continue and risk it all. He admits to not knowing the answer but wants to keep going. He asks to use his “phone a friend.” He dials his brothers number which is the only number he knows.  When Latika sees that he is calling his brother, she realizes she has the phone but it is in her car that she borrowed. She runs as fast as she can and just gets to it and answers it in time. She didn’t know the answer but that didn’t bother either of them. They were just happy to hear from each other. Once the phone is hung up he guesses and chooses A, which was the correct answer. His brother, Salim, knew when he gave Latika the phone and the keys, that it would cost him his life so he locked himself in a room, laid in a bathtub full of all his boss’ money and held a gun to the door. He shot when the door opened but it was no match for all the men flooding in and shooting, so that money was literally blood money. In one of the last scenes, he is sitting at a curb next to the train station. When he looks over, he sees Latika and he runs to see her. When the finally meet in the middle walkway, he kisses her wound and says,  “This is our destiny.” At the very end of the movie, a dance number breaks out with many people, but Jamal and Latika in the front. The younger actors who played Jamal and Latika are seen dancing together also. Overall I really enjoyed this movie though some of it was hard to understand.

11/24

The movie "Slum dog Millionaire" is in my opinion getting more and more complicated. When the two brothers escape with Latika, they find a hotel sort of room to stay in. The older brother Samal goes to meet his future boss who then hires him to do whatever he needs. When Samal goes back to their place, he begins to tell Latika and Jamal that he is the boss of them. Jamal is then kicked out because his brother Samal wants to keep all the money he can make off of Latika, but not with out a fight. Samal even puts a gun to his head but Latika pulls down the gun and tells Jamal to go. Jamal never gave up on Latika and actually finds her, but she is still under the ruling of Samal's boss. When he meets her, he tells her the time and place to meet him. She actually goes but is caught and is violently taken to a car. Jamal also meets his brother but is not happy to see him. There has been two questions (I think) during this period in the movie. The first one he answered was easy for him, but the second one was hard. He had the opportunity to take the money and run but he decided to go on with the next question. In between breaks of the gameshow, the host talks to Jamal and tells him that he is the only other one who has gotten as far as him and they he has faith that he will win. Jamal confesses that he doesn't know the answer. When the host leaves and Jamal goes up to the sink, a "B" is left, but when he goes back on the show he chooses a lifeline so two of the four answers are deleted. The one the host told him and another one were left. We are left to believe that Jamal did not trust him so he chose the other one which he got correct. The host was trying to trick him so that he wouldn't win, but he did not fall for it and is still in the game.

11/21

Differences between the American Culture and the Slum Indian Culture

• Even the worst of the homeless and unfortunate in America is nothing compared to the slums in India
• Most people in the USA take for granted indoor plumbing, a house to live in, and good food to eat
• In Harford County, I rarely see any homeless people but in Mumbai there are homeless people every where and even if they aren't homeless, they are extremely poor with unhealthy living conditions
• In Mumbai, the water they use to bathe, wash clothes, and even to drink (in this specific part) is right next to an open sewer
• In the USA, we have very good water and public/personal wells with purified water
• Our police treat us with respect and protect us when we are in danger
• The police in the slums of Mumbai are mean and basically mock and make fun of the people instead of protecting them

In the part of the movie we watched today, the two brothers escaped away front their town. When they left, they didn't know where to go. They ended up staying under a small tent and it was raining. They asked a girl to come stay and travel with them. (She escaped their town also) They, "the three musketeers," went to a children place, but went to a special house, soon realized when one man blinded a child, they needed to escape. When they were running away, the two brothers got on the train but the girl didn't make it. Eventually, after riding trains for awhile, they found themselves at the world famous Taj Mahal. They gave fake tours and stole shoes. They got away with it for awhile but got caught which in my opinion, scared them away from continuing. The older brother always told his younger brother to forget about their third musketeer "Latika," but he was determined. Through reconnecting to their friend, the one that was blinded, they found out where she was. When they went to save her, the men, threatened them but the older brother had a gun, so as you can guess, was no match for the boys and their escape plan. These are all flashbacks the boy had when he was on the show. So far, he has gotten all the questions correct. As I said in my previous blog, he knows all the answers from his life experiences.

Slumdog Millionare

"Slumdog Millionaire" describes and focuses on the slums in a largely populated city in India called Mumbai. The main character is on a gameshow where he answers questions about the Indian culture. The first scene is of a man hitting the main character to try and get the answer of how he managed to get the answers correctly that lawyers and doctors cannot even answer correctly, which later leads to even more torturing such as electrifying and drowning him. The people, which I'm guessing to be police or government workers, think he must have cheated because he lives in the slums and has had little education. What they don't know is that the main character learned these answers from his childhood experience and his time in the slums. When he was answering the questions, he thought back to his childhood living in the horrible and extremely unhealthy conditions in the slums of Mumbai. There is trash everywhere and the houses are about the size of a modern day bathroom. The "houses" were just big enough to live in and eat in. The bathrooms were basically outhouses with a hole that led to an open sewer. The living conditions were honestly just horrible. Not only were the living conditions awful, but both the Muslims and Hindus were constantly fighting. One scene in the movies shows one of the groups came with people coming in to other groups town by the train full. The two boys ran away and were escaping the local terrorists that were torturing the people in their town. I cannot even imagine what will happen next in this movie.

11/19

Today in Human Geo, Mr. Schick was not here so our substitute told us to check Mr. Schick's website for our work. I finished that last week but I forgot to add the artists for each of the songs so I had to do that. After I finished that, I started on my Spanish homework. I had some trouble so I asked McKenna to help me with it. By the time I finished my Spanish it was time to leave. I'm guessing 150 words for this blog is not necessary considering we had a substitute and everyone was finishing their Human Geo work or was just doing other homework.

11/17

Today in Human Geo we mostly took notes. It was rainy and and everyone seemed tired so the class was kind of dull. I saw my grade on the first part of the test and wasn't very satisfied. The grade I received wasn't bad but it was not my best and I would have liked to have done a better job. I'm not sure what happened because I studied a ton. I am going to try to get a better grade next time and work harder. The first thing we saw on the board was a chart displaying the different general names "carbonated beverages" are called in the United States specified into counties. When we finished going over the chart, we started taking notes on Cultural Geography. Here are the notes I took today:

Cultural Geography

Cultural Characteristics are parts of a group's everyday life. They are the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members. These same characteristics can also link or divide a region.

Some examples of cultural characteristics would be language, religion, and ethnic heritage.

11/14 National Anthem in Germany

Today in Human Geo, we were told to find songs about moving away from your home country or about deciding to stay in your country, but if we did already did that, then we should find the National Anthem for the country that we did for our presentations. I already did the first one, which I will include in this blog, so I looked up Germany's National Anthem and the English translation and found  it pretty quick.

First Blog Songs

-(I Will Remember You - Sara Mclachlan) 

-(Leaving Home Ain't Easy - Queen) 

-(Home - Chris Daughtry)
-(Come Sail Away - Styx)
-(Across the Universe - The Beatles) 

Here is a link to the German National Anthem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhQwLeMcbRY

Here is the lyrics to the German National Anthem in German and English:

Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,	Germany, Germany above all,
Über alles in der Welt,	Above everything in the world,
Wenn es stets zu Schutz und Trutze	When always, for protection,
Brüderlich zusammenhält,	We stand together as brothers.
Von der Maas bis an die Memel,	From the Maas to the Memel
Von der Etsch bis an den Belt -	From the Etsch to the Belt -
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,	Germany, Germany above all
Über alles in der Welt.	Above all in the world.
Deutsche Frauen, deutsche Treue,	German women, German loyalty,
Deutscher Wein und deutscher Sang	German wine and German song,
Sollen in der Welt behalten	Shall retain in the world,
Ihren alten schönen Klang,	Their old lovely ring
Uns zu edler Tat begeistern	To inspire us to noble deeds
Unser ganzes Leben lang.	Our whole life long.
Deutsche Frauen, deutsche Treue,	German women, German loyalty,
Deutscher Wein und deutscher Sang	German wine and German song.
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit	Unity and law and freedom
für das deutsche Vaterland!	For the German Fatherland
Danach lasst uns alle streben	Let us all strive for that
Brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!	In brotherhood with heart and hand!
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit	Unity and law and freedom
Sind des Glückes Unterpfand;	Are the foundation for happiness
Blüh' im Glanze dieses Glückes,	Bloom in the glow of happiness
Blühe, deutsches Vaterland.	Bloom, German Fatherland.
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,*	Germany, Germany above all*
Und im Unglück nun erst recht.	And in misfortune all the more.
Nur im Unglück kann die Liebe	Only in misfortune can love
Zeigen, ob sie stark und echt.	Show if it's strong and true.
Und so soll es weiterklingen	And so it should ring out
Von Geschlechte zu Geschlecht:	From generation to generation:
Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,	Germany, Germany above all,
Und im Unglück nun erst recht.	And in misfortune all the more.   *The fourth verse was written by Albert Matthäi during the French occupation of the Ruhr region in 1923. It is not part of the anthem today. Since 1952, only the third (“Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit”) verse has been the official anthem. (As said where lyrics were found: http://german.about.com/library/blmus_deutschland.htm) This anthem sounds old and very opera-esque.

11/13 Test

Today in Human Geo we took our test. This test, in my opinion was the hardest was probably the hardest test we have taken in this class so far. I know I got the top part where the questions about the leaders right but I'm not sure about the other multiple choice questions. Some of them confused me but over all I think I hopefully did okay, definitely not my best though. Its not that I didn't study, because I did, for around two hours which may sound extreme but I really wanted to do well. I hope all of my studying paid off. I even studied on my off mods to help me remember some quick facts before the test. I am glad it is over but now I'm worried about how I did. I think I did well also on the essay question because I put a lot of thought into it. My essay took up almost the entire writing space! I was worried all throughout the day so now I don't have to worry much anymore because I only have one last test which is tomorrow in English and I don't think it will be too hard!

11/12

Today in Human Geo there was suppose to be a test but didn't because of problems with the study guide. On the study guide, there were links that had the power points that our class did not do. The links were kind of useless considering they were not open to the public, just the one who created it and their partner. A couple other students and I emailed Mr. Schick explaining our problem so he emailed us back saying the test wouldn't be tomorrow (today) and to try to spread the word. After we were told the same thing in class, I made a study cards on Quizlet. I am glad the test wasn't today because I didn't feel very confident in the information even though I studied. I know all of the leaders fairly well but knowing which type of government each country is is my biggest problem. I will study tonight and hopefully get a really good grade on the test tomorrow.

11/10

Today in Human Geo, we didn't do too much, but this class was still interesting. Our test will be on Wednesday and Mr. Schick will post a study guide tonight or tomorrow. This test is already stressing me out (what else is new?) because of my other tests I have on the same day and this week. The test will be on the twelve (thirteen if US is counted) countries the test will be on. After I heard information about the test and heard a ton of "good news and bad news", I listened to Reese rant to Mr. Schick about Obama and other government topics. Then Reese pulled up a desk next to Mr. Schick and basically had a full out conversation with him.

11/7

Today in Human Geo, we presented more countries presentations.

Brazil
Federal Republic since 1988
President Dilma Rousseff
36th president
First elected in 2010
Re-elected in 2014
Chief of state before she was president
Expected to stay in office for the next 4 years
She only won the last election by 3.27%
Can re-elect a new leader at the next election
Can impeach her (has to have an impeachable offense, not just because people don't agree with her)
Some impeachable offenses: Major crime, war crimes, takes someone out of office without getting others agreement)
Assassination (but not likely)

Canada
Parliamentary Democracy
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Canada is a federation of ten provinces and three territories
Has been a constitution monarchy since April 17, 1882
There was a period of time where Britain owned Canada
Stephen Harper has been in power for eight years
Expected that Stephen Harper will be in power until 2015
Impeachment is legal and possible

11/6

Today in Human Geo, we presented more presentations and here are the notes I wrote down from it.

Russia
Federal presidential Republic
Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin
Government started in 1991

Vladimir Putin
President since 2000-2008
Took office again on May 7, 2012

Dmitry Medvedev
10 Prime Minister of Russia
Was president from 2008-2012

Government Responsibilities
Ensure the implementation of a uniform state policy in the areas of culture (What makes the United States and Russia different)

Ways to get rid of the leader
Overthrow the leader
Start a revolution
Impeachment
Protest
Vote a third party candidate
Assassination

Syria
Republic under Baschar al-assad
President Baschar term's are 7 year long and has served 2 so far
Elections are rigged

Republic in Syria
Baschar has been the leader since 2000
No other way besides assassination to get rid of him
He will kill anyone who protests because he uses violence to solve his problems
Expected to stay the leader for a while

Japan
Parliamentary Government and a Constitutional Monarchy
Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Prime Minister has the most power
Emperor Akihito has been on the throne since 1989
Akihito is the world's only monarch with the title "Emperor"
Shinzo Abe was Japan's first Prime Minister
Akihito got power after his fathers death
All men and women who have reached the age of 20 have the right to vote
Petition to have a leader thrown out

11/5

In Human Geo today, we presented our country presentations. McKenna and I went first so we could get it out of the way. Here are the notes I took from the presentations that were presented today.
France
Republic Government

They have had a Monarchy with a King and Queen until 1792. However, in 1789 the French Revolution made the King give his powers up, and they officially became a Republic.

Francois Hollande has been in office since May 15 2012.
Has a 5 year term
In his 2nd term
When he fired a polition, his votes suffered greatly.

The current Constitution of France, adopted by referendum in October 1958, establishes the country as secular and democratic, with its sovereignty derived from the people.
Impeachment has only been allowed in France since 2002.

The president used to be able to serve a 7b year term. Now they can only serve 5 years since 2000. They changed to five years so more people would vote. It can also increases the amount of times a person can vote

USA
Barack Obama
In his last term
Impeachment is legal.
Revolution is possible.
Two terms are allowed for a single president.

Impeachable Offences.
Treason
Bribery
High crimes

After the House of Representatives impeached, the Senate tries the accused and is sworn in.
If Convition by the senate, leader is immediately removed

The only president impeached was Andrew Johnson. (Feb 24, 1868)
We have a Federal Republic
We are democratic but mostly Republic
Majorities vote
Every 6 years, a new governor is elected.

11/2

Today in Human Geo we were going to do our presentations, but Mr. Schick decided to give us another day to work on them which actually means two days because we don't have class tomorrow. Before it was said that we would not be doing them today, I told Mckenna that we should go first so that we would not have to worry about it another day. I am extremely stressed with homework tonight so I started to work on English because Mckenna and I were basically finished our project with just a few critiques to fix. The English homework is a web quest on Shakespeare. I thought it might be somewhat easy, but it turned out to be extremely difficult. The website I was directed to, seemed to not have any answers I actually needed. Google was not much help either. I'm glad our presentation is finished so I have time to work on other homework and protects.

10/30

Today in Human Geo we were finishing up our group project. Before that, Mr. Schick gave us the same pop quiz we took last week but it was blank. At first, my class thought he was giving us another pop quiz but we realized that we were just going to go over it so when we have a test, we can study it.  We were right, and towards the end of going over the quiz, Gabi was picked to read the question and answer it. Every time Mr. Schick picked someone to answer the question, he would ask them, "Answer the question or do a dance." Gabi picked to do a flip so she read the question and did a back handspring. After we finished going over the quiz, we started working on our project. I asked Mr. Schick if the slide I was working was good and he said yes with just a couple suggestions. I kept working on it. When I got stuck I had to ask him a question and he helped me. I will finish it over the weekend and then possibly present it Monday, depending on what order we go in.

10/29 Group Work

Today in Human Geo, I was less than 5 seconds late so Mr. Schick made me do one push up. I’m nor sure really why but I thought it was kind of funny. After my push up, we started doing our group projects. McKenna, my partner, started the first information slide on the government of Germany so I started on the leader of Germany and facts about her. The president is Joachim Gauk but the real leader is the chancellor, Angela Merkel. She has been named one of the most powerful women in the world. She was first elected in November of 2005 and is still the chancellor after winning the next two elections after that one. Some of the facts we are required to look up I had trouble with such as “How can the Leader be taken out of office by the people, if possible?” and “How long is each leader in office, how many terms are allowed, and when is the leader expected to be done their term, if known?”. I was going to ask Mr. Schick if I had enough for the slide but class was over. I will ask him tomorrow when I get a chance.

10/27 Group Projects

Today in Human Geo we picked out names and countries for a powerpoint we will be working on all week. I had to write out the name for each pair and their country. Of course, I was the one who had to pick first which is awful for me because I hate picking under pressure. I ended up picking McKenna and Germany. After the pressure was off, I wrote down the rest of the names and countries on the board. When I finished, there was some confusions about the groups so Mr. Schick took over and rearranged the names. My partner took out her computer and made the Google document for our slideshow. I had a couple questions at the end, but after I heard the answer to my questions and some other peoples questions, I understood. We are writing about the country's government, their leader and how he or she got into the position, how someone gets into that position, and if they can be taken out (as in impeachment), and lastly how long they are in office.

10/24 Pop Quiz

Today in Human Geo we took a pop quiz that was 15 questions and worth 30 points. I was very scared for this quiz because I haven't studied so all the information I know is what I remember from paying attention in class. I ended up passing so I'm happy about that but I wish I would have done better. I am pretty sure I got all of the matching of leaders and countries correct but I'm not sure about the multiple choice. Some I felt confident and some I just kind of took a guess because they looked some what familiar from . I'm pretty sure this quiz did not affect my grade too much and in my opinion, that is what matters most. The grade average for my class was 68.7, so I am glad I managed to get above that. Though this quiz was a "pop quiz", I think I should have expected one a little bit more considering we haven't had one yet and Mr. Schick has said to make sure we knew the facts.

10/23 Political Geography

Here are some notes I took in the beginning of the week.

Political Geography
A Nation
-a group of people with a shared identity
-think of a culture group

Nations are culturally homogeneous groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which share a common language, institutions, religion, and historical experience.

An Independent State
-has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are ok)
-has people who live there on an ongoing basis
-has economic activity and an organized economy, a country regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money
-has the power of social engineering such as education
-has a transportation system for moving goods and people
-has a government which provides public services and police power
-has sovereignty, no other state should have power over foreign countries territory
-has external recognition, a country has been "voted into the club" by other countries

More Interesting Facts

Today in Human Geo, we went over the facts we found for each of the presidents. I was confused when I was doing the assignment of what type of facts I was supposed to look for. Though our facts were alright, Mr. Schick said that some of the facts we found weren't very interesting so I am going to add one more fact to some of them I feel were not interesting. I thought most of my facts were pretty interesting, but there but definitely some that were dull.

Angela Merkel, of Germany, was nick named "the girl" by then chancellor Helmut Kohl. Now, she is sometimes referred to as the "Iron Lady."

Benjamin Netanyahu, of Israel, spent his teenage years attending a high school in Philadelphia.

Francois Hollande, of , pursued a career of acting before politics. He has been nick named "Mr. Normal" and "the nice guy."

10/20 Biographical Facts for Leaders

Mexican Leader Enrique Pena Nieto
-In January of 2012, President Enrique Pena Nieto revealed that he fathered two children out of wedlock with two different women, while married to his first wife.
-Enrique is the fifth member from his extended family to become governor of the State of Mexico.
His second cousin actually preceded him as governor.

German Leader Angela Merkel
-In November of 2005, Angela Merkel was sworn in as the first female chancellor of Germany, and was later elected two more times.
-She was one of the leading figures in the European Union and had the position of the Chairwomen of the Christian Democratic Union Party.
-Former Physicist

Syrian Leader Bashar Al-Assad
-After his brother was killed in a car accident, he decided to take the position to be the new heir for presidency.
-Bashar graduated medical school and moved to London to study opthalmology, before he even had any thoughts of being the President of Syria

Chinese Leader XI Jinping
-He has been been in the government office for a while before he was named China's president in 2013, such as being the Executive Vice Mayor for Xiamen, Fujian Province.
-His second and current wife, Peng Liyuan, is a famous celebrity folk singer.

United Kingdom Leader David Cameron
-In May of 2010, Queen Elizabeth II, invited him to be the prime minister, after Gordon Brown resigned.
- In December of 2005, he was the winner of the Leader of the Conservative Party Election.

Canadian Leader Stephen Joseph Harper
-In March of 2004, he won the leadership of the Conservative Party.\
-In February of 2006, he was sworn in as Canada's 22 Prime Minister

Indian's Leader Pranab Mukherjee
-He is the only finance mister to have presented budgets in the pre and post liberalization era.
-Before he was famous, he earned a degree in political science from the University of Calcutta.

France Leader Francois Hollande
-He was defeated for a French parliamentary seat in 1981, was a member of parliament for Correze during 1997 through 2002, and won French presidential nomination for the Socialist Party in October of 2011.
-He was inaugurated as president on May 15, 2012.

Japanese Leader Akihito
-Akihito is the world's only monarch with the title Emperor.
-Akihito is the first Japanese crown prince to marry a commoner.

Russian Leader Vladimir Vladimirovich
-He has an interest in working out and has a black belt in Judo.
-Vladimir grew up in a communal apartment shared by three other families.

Brazilian Leader Dilma Rousseff
-She was allegedly jailed and tortured for disagreeing with the government in the early 1970s.
-She was the first female leader to kick off the annual United Nations General Assembly debates.

Israeli Leader Shimon Perez
-He was the first Prime Minister of the new National Unity Government in 1984 to 1986.
-In 1996, he founded the Perez Center for Peace

10/17 Human Geography Countries

Mexico
President Enrique Pena Nieto
Federal Republic

Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel

Federal Republic

Syria

President Bashar al-ASAD

Republic under an authoritarian regime

China

President XI Jinping

Communist State

United Kingdom
Prime Minister David Cameron
Constitutional Monarchy and Common Wealth

Canada
Prime Minister Stephen Joseph Harper
A Parliamentary Democracy, a Federation, and a Constitutional Monarchy

India
President Pranab Mukherjee
Federal Republic

France
President Francois Hollande
Republic

Japan
Emperor Akihito
A Parliamentary Government with a Constitutional

Russia
President Vladimir Vladimirovich
Federation

Brazil
President Dilma Rousseff
Federal Republic

Israel
President Shimon Peres
Parliamentary Democracy