The thing that I am looking most forward to over winter break is my aunt's Christmas Eve party. At the party, I get to see relatives that I almost never see, along with friends of the family. There are great appetizers, and it's lots of fun. Near the end of the party, my Uncle Ernie comes dressed up in a Santa suit. Some of the youngish kids notice he's "gone," so we tell them he has "claustrophobia." After the party, my immediate family and I drive to a neighborhood that lines their streets and sidewalks with luminaries. Luminaries are lit candles with a paper bag over them, and they look really neat after dark.

Something else I like about winter break is that I don't have to do much. I have little or no homework, and can sit around the house all day (sort of), or sleep in. I am also allowed to watch more TV, and play more video games without school work to do. This break, though, I have to work in Rosetta Stone for French, and study for the upcoming Science Bowl. I also like being able to use my Christmas presents for about 3 weeks, and I'm always allowed to play more video games if I pull the "But I just got it!" line. Also, during the Christmas season, my family plays Christmas music all day, which is also fun to listen to. Although it's not actually over winter break, Friday is my birthday, and my family and I are going to see the "How to Train Your Dragon" performance at the theater.

The most important contribution that the societies of China and Korea made to Japan was religion and philosophy. Korea introduced Buddhism to Japan, which modified the Japanese way of thinking and produced many great works of architecture in the form of Buddhist temples. Confucianism from China reorganized the family relationship into wife obey husband, children obey parents, and younger sibling obey older sibling. Confucianism also changed the leader to subject, friend to friend, and children to elders relationship. The Japanese produced their own form of Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, and also borrowed Zen Buddhism from the Chinese.

 These contributions added to the self-control, discipline, and overall culture of the Japanese. Without them, the course of Japanese history would be extremely varied

As I was pulling the hundredth weed out of my field, I stood up to rest my back. The little devils reproduced like crazy, it was only a week ago that I had completely cleared the emperor's land that he gave me. As I was resting my back, I heard a sound much like thunder, but the sky was clear, and it was to close to the ground. I looked out into the northern nomadic lands and saw a huge cavalry with giant drums. The Mongols were coming! Quickly, I dove behind a tree. The Mongols gave no sign of having heard me. Then to my own surprise, I walked out towards the oncoming army. I miraculously traveled the many ri between me and the army in less than a few minutes. "Sain uu!" I announced to their leader. The whole time I did not know what was wrong with me. I wanted to turn and flee, but I was performing incredible acts of bravery.

The Mongol chieftain, Genghis Khan, was mightily confused with my acts of boldness and courage. He rode towards me while I unwillingly shouted, "Don't hurt me Mr. Mongol! You wouldn't want to be naughty!" This only seemed to enrage him further and he built up speed while holding his sword out at my chest level. His momentum drove his sword through my chest with unstoppable force, and I expected to feel a red flash of pain before I saw the white light of another live. Instead, the sword merely passed through my chest, and I split into two identical copies. The silence on the plain was almost deafening in its emptiness. In two bodies I was able to see with two pairs of eyes. I was consciously frozen with fear, but I was also calling out to Genghis Khan. "I told you not to be naughty, Mr. Mongol!" shouted one of me. "Yeah, Santy 
Claus won't came to your... tent!" added the other.
 
Khan let out a yell that broke the silence and chopped both of my heads off. I simply reduplicated as the Mongol horde joined in, firing arrows, and horses trampling me into the earth. As they saw that I was not going anywhere, and was multiplying again and again, the horde went insane with fear. Only Genghis Khan and his highest officials stayed calm and shared strategies. I was no better than the horde. The multiple thousands of conflicting views were wrecking havoc on my mind. I had no control over what was happening to me, and there was only one possible explanation. I had been possessed by countless demons, who were used the energies involved with death to create their own individual hosts, replicants of their original: me. As fear overwhelmed my mind, the world started to slip away, until I could no longer hear anything despite my close proximity to the Mongols. Then I woke up.

I was lying underneath the tree in my field, where I must have hit my head in my wild dive for safety and obscurity. There was no time for me to reflect of my unusual, fear inflicted nightmare, for I must hide myself from the horde, which was drawing nearer. I pulled out my spade and dug a shallow hole, just big enough for me to curl up in. I quickly grabbed for my basket of weeds, and wove them into a covering for my hole. I dragged the makeshift cover over the hole just as the first Mongol horse trampled over my fields. The tree that I was behind prevented me from being trampled, and any Mongol who looked back just saw an exceptionally neat pile of weeds on the edge of a field. I jumped out of my hole as soon as the Mongols were off in the distance, and then froze. Then Mongols had left behind a sweeper, to catch anyone such as me who might has jumped out of hiding early. I quickly scampered up my tree, and dropped on his head before he could comprehend what was happening. He hit the ground with a sickening crack, but I did not have time to check for live. I stripped him of his Mongol uniform, and rode off in disguise. Luckily he was also a member of the Mongol postal service, he had on of those badges that would allow him free horses. I would have to ride fast and hard to bring the terrible news to my emperor.

In my opinion, the two most important Chinese achievements were the advances in sailing techniques, and gunpowder. The sailing techniques included new sails that could be used to sail against the wind, bigger ships, the compass, and many other things. These techniques allowed for Chinese trade to develop, along with a naval fleet ready for battle. It also allowed Chinese more contact with foreign cultures. Gunpowder was first used to power cannons, make catapults more powerful, and arrows more deadly. After a while, the Chinese invented the arquebus, an early form of gun, that kept being improved and modified. These weapons allowed the Chinese to win many battles, and stay a strong empire for many thousands of years.

Without these techniques and ideas, and many more, it is impossible to say how advanced modern technology would be today, and even if many of the important scientific discoveries wou