Childhood memories

•My earliest memory was the time when I played a game in the garden with my nieces and their cousins. A game called good fairy and bad fairy. • Other childhood memories I have, mostly relate to our backyard. Like the time when my mum invited all her friends and family over. The ladies would be in the house chatting away while the men would play cricket in the backyard. I’d go watch them while the magical, summer breeze blew at me. When it was time to go inside, the food was getting ready by the women and the men sat and talked. It was such a rush. All sorts of smells lingered around in the air which aroused my excitement. •Another memory I have is of the time when my older brother and I played tag . Again, this took place in the garden.

Our neighbourhood was like any other. Sometimes it was as quite as a slight breeze and other times it was loud. But one thing I do remember was that everybody’s front yard was filled with greenery and looked beautiful. Our front yard reminded me of a scene from the movie ‘the secret garden’. On Summer days, the streets would be silent except for the sounds of cicadas. And on every evening, you could hear the screeching of bats that would fly over the neighbourhood, sometimes even perching themselves on the palm trees out on our front yard. Our next door neighbour was very kind and would sometimes talk to us over on the backyard fence.

Whenever I think about it, the street made me feel delighted for no particular reason.

Although there are a lot of nice qualities about our house, there were some places I never stepped foot in. They were completely taboo...

•I never went beyond the banana trees as the place I thought was considered dangerous. My nieces and I would make up stories about what could be lurking behind, such as alligators.•There was also the shed which would occasionally have spiders dangling from the ceiling.•Another is my sister’s bedroom when she’s in an angry mood, I don’t mess with her then...

I also had places where I could escape it all and just be free. Sometimes I’d hang out at my brother’s room where we would tease each other and joke around now and then. He’d go on the computer playing ‘Battlefield 2’ while I just sat there, watched him and talked to him at the same time.

I could also escape into my art book where my thoughts and ideas could just let loose on paper. An example of this is the pictures I am using in this presentation!

I’ve had many turning points for the past 15 years that has affected who I am today. From confusion to freedom to self-awareness and decisions. If these events didn’t take place in my life, I would have been a completely different person.

• Starting school•Ramadan•Moving to Melbourne•Making a friend •Moved to my sister’s school•Starting Tae kwon doe•Sister got married•Studying at DECV

Sunshine and rainChapters:Part one: Sunshine•Welcome to Sydney•Play hours•Responsibilities •Confidence•The wedding•Letting loose•In La la land•Part two: Rain•The face of the Earth•Courage•Undiscovered talent•Freedom•It’s a small world

Part three: Rainbows•Flightless bird•Competition•What it means to fight

Main characters:

•Mum: Humorous, taught me many morals of life and has a bit of a temper.•Dad: Quiet, gave me advice and did activities with me.•Brother: Sporty person, care-free, computer geek, humorous and sometimes very annoying.•Oldest sister: Kind, caring, loves children, cheery and humorous.•Older sister: Smart, bubbly, happy person and a bit of a scaredy cat.•Niece #1: Loves to fight, annoying, cheeky and excels in English.• Niece #2: Responsible, fast worker, bubbly and slightly scary...•( I have several other nieces and nephews which I won’t mention right now.)•Sister-in-law: Very feminine and loves to cook.•Brother-in-law: Quite, smart and very humorous.

A life changing event