GOGA TIMES English Student Magazine
May 2016
Freshmen’s Ball Erasmus team
“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” Jim Morrison
Goga for Romania
ISSN 2284 – 8177
EDITORIAL
TEAM
EDITOR IN CHIEF
DESIGN
Cosmina Almăşan
Mihai Vulcan Stefan Cîrstea Aurel Vidrean
SENIOR EDITORS Codruţa Colpoş Georgiana Săvescu
Colegiul National Octavian Goga Managerial Team
CONTRIBUTORS 1.Teodora Ancău 2.Denisa Avram 3.Ionuţ Bădăruţă Haşigan 4.Ariana Bichiş 5.Andreea Brudiu 6.Bianca Bundache 7.Miruna Cîrstina 8.Mara Coracioni 9.Raluca Dănuţ 10.Antonia Devian 11.Alexandra Eftenie 12.Denisa Maria Frătean 13.Andreea Frăţilă 14.Ioana-Luciana Grozea 15.Raluca Marinciu 16.Adelina Andreea Mărginean 17.Alina Mihaiu 18.Bianca Muntean 19.Iulia Natea 20.Estera Pădurean 21.Ana Roman 22.Oana Rus 23.Teodora Rusu 24.Ioana Alexandra Silaghi 25.Nicoleta Şalău 26.Alexandru Tătar 27.Octavia Toader 28.Andreea Ţichindelean 29.Munevver Toker
Head Teacher Laura Dumitru
Deputy Head Teachers Cornelia Apostol Luminiţa Ducu
ISSN 2284 – 8177
Table of contents
1.LIFE AT GOGA 1.Living Life Sustainably – Erasmus+ team 2.Project Diary – Cordoba, Spain / Sibiu, Romania - Denisa Maria Frătean, 10 B Tallinn, Estonia - Antonia Devian, 10E 3.Starting High School on Stage – Ariana Bichiş, 9 B
2.THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD 4.Experiencing the “University of Greenwich” – Raluca Marinciu 5. The Fascination with Cambridge University Explained – Ionuţ Bădăruţă Haşigan, 9 I 6. UK Flower Symbols – Maria Beleiu, 9B
3.SOCIAL ISSUES 7.Education Systems in Northern Countries - Ioana Alexandra Silaghi, 9A 8.Integrity Has No Need of Rules – Ionuţ Bădăruţă Haşigan, 9 I 9.Is Eye Contact That Important?– Octavia Toader, 11 B 10.Phobias – Alina Mihaiu, 9 B 11.Talk to the Parents - Ioana-Luciana Grozea, Adelina Andreea Mărginean, 11 F 12.Why We are Surrounded by Mediocrity - Teodora Rusu, Estera Pădurean,11 A
13.Whitewashing in Hollywood and Why You Should Care – Denisa Avram, 12 B 14.The Story of a Teen who Quit Social Media - Teodora Ancău, 10 D 15.Turkey Seen through the Eyes of a Turkish Girl - Munnever Toker, 9 B
4.HOW TO 16.How to Learn a Foreign Language Effectively and Efficiently Miruna Cîrstina, 9 B 17.How to Survive High School – Nicoleta Şalău, 9 B
Table of contents
5.Leisure Time 18.Romania at Its Best - Raluca Dănuţ, Andreea Ţichindelean, 11 A 19.Folk Life - Bianca Muntean, 11 F 20.Dancing Life – Alexandra Eftenie, 9 B 21.Hip Bands – Andreea Frăţilă, 9 B 22.What We Listen to - Andreea Brudiu, Iulia Natea, Ana Roman, 9 B 23.Music as Therapy - Ioana Alexandra Silaghi, 9 A 24.Q&A with a Gamer – Octavia Toader, 11 B 25.Reading Attachments - Bianca Bundache, 12 B 26. Time Travellers. A Story - Mara Coracioni, 9B
5.Fun Time
27.Games2play – Octavia Toader, 11 B 28.LOL - Alexandru Tătar, 10 I 29.Batman cartoon – Oana Rus, 11 B
Life at Goga
LIVING LIFE SUSTAINABLY Are you aware of the fact that what every little thing we do affects our life in the long run? That we can choose to do the right thing or the wrong one, and we so often divert from the right path? “ What is the right path then?”, you might ask. Well, it is the path that ensures in 20 years’ time you will still have fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink, forests to walk in, in short, a planet where you can feel safe.
Starting point:
The concept that embodies all the activities that we do and that have a long term effect on us is known as “sustainability” and it is precisely this concept that the Erasmus+ project “Sustainable Consumption and Production”, financed by the European Commission is based on.
Why?
The report of the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) addressing current unsustainable consumption and production patterns which are increasing water and air pollution, land and forest degradation, waste generation and the use of harmful chemical substances.
Current pressures on the planet’s natural resources and life support systems will increase with population and economic growth unless consumption and production patterns become more efficient and less polluting. Economic growth will have to be decoupled from resource What are we doing? use and environmental degradation, so that inclusive socio-economic development can be susAn Erasmus+ project – Sustainable Consumption tained. and Production What are we discussing? When? During the school years 2015-2017.
Who is involved?
Lycée Louis Thuillier , Amiens – FRANCE
IES Gran Capitan, Cordoba – SPAIN
IS “E. Fermi”, Vittoria, Sicilia -ITALY
AS Audentes School, Tallin – ESTONIA
Çorlu Velimeşe Çok Programlı Lisesi, Tekirdag – TURKEY
Colegiul National Octavian Goga, Sibiu – ROMANIA
Waste Generation Land And Forest Degradation
Use Of Harmful Chemical Substances
Air and Water Pollution
Sustainable Economic Growth For the Future of Europe
Life at Goga STEP 1 We have taken a good look at our rubbish bins and analysed what we throw away. The next question that came naturally was: What happens to waste once it is collected? Our findings? Read about some of them here: “I have found out several efficient and handy ways of reducing the consumption of plastic and metal. Till now, I haven’t realized that I use excessively some plastic objects that could be replaced by others. I have realized how much misfortune I produce for the environment and I have decided to become a more responsible consumer because it all starts with me, with my own wish of changing something, of living in a healthier world. I have also learned several ways of reusing plastic and metal and recycling these objects. In conclusion, the online research was a very useful one, not only for me and for the members of the Erasmus project, but also for our school, for our parents, for our neighbours and why not, for the whole city.” (Denisa Frătean, 10B) “I have learned that the fridge is the biggest energy consumer from our houses because it works 24/7 and other interesting tips like: you should plug your appliances when they’re not in use search for appliances with a good energy rate you should configure your computer to “hibernate” mode because it turns the computer off in a way that doesn’t require you to reload everything when you switch back off” (Andreea Fratila, 9B) “ I have learned what compost is and how we can make it: the compost is natural farming fertilizer which resulting from the slow fermentation of plants and animal scraps. Using compost instead of chemical fertilizers we save us and our planet. Example: My mother makes compost which she using in our garden.” (Andreea Maria Dumitrean, 9D)
“Online research has showed me exactly what we, as humans, are doing to the world. By learning that, I felt like I should do something, like sorting my garbage, even if it is just a small part. From now on, I will do all I can do to help saving what we can save. I thought that, maybe, people just need a “heads up” about what each and every one of us can do and how much that means to the world. After all I saw online, I sincerely hope that one day we will all make a bit of effort to save ourselves, for that is all it takes. It`s not that hard to make a change when we work together.” (Denisa Sinziana Tilvan, 9E)
STEP 2 What better way to find out what happens to waste in Sibiu than to ask the local waste management companies? As part of the Global Education Week activities we had a guest from SC Schuster&Co Ecologic SRL – manager Florin Dancila to tell us what is being done locally. More than 90 students attended a very informative event that convinced us all that recycling is essential and that small steps need to become bigger steps in our area so that we can see the benefits.
Life at Goga STEP 3 The 8th graders have also been introduced to the concepts of sustainability and environmentally-friendly behaviour. Under the guidance of psychologist Simona Craciun they showed what they learned in an original way – by creating illustrative posters
were accompanied by two representatives of A.D.I. Eco Sibiu (the Association for Intercommunity Development), working together with Sibiu County Council. They showed us how cardboard, paper and plastic are sorted and how household waste can be turned into compost. In the very near future in Sibiu will be installed special containers and bins. It was very interesting and useful activity for us because we learned what happens after all paper is brought and selected by different criteria. Same garbage is passed through several stages to become compost, which is good fertilizer. This was useful because it motivated us to separate the garbage and to urge other people to do the same. (Dumitriţa Lupaşcu, 10 D)
STEP 5 STEP 4 On the 25th of November 2015, pupils and teachers from the Erasmus project visited the Sorting and Compost Station from Şura Mică, a village close to Sibiu. The new station has been built with European funds and is operational, but not yet opened. We could see different devices and mechanisms for waste selection so that it can then be recycled. We
Now that we knew how important it is to recycle, we decided to take the first step and not wait for other opportunities to come. The Erasmus + team organised a recycling campaign on November 26th 2016, urging all students to bring paper and small electronic devices to be handed in for recycling purposes. Students from 11 classes joined our effort and brought paper to school, in a total amount of 350 kilos. The most environmentally aware class was IX I (the IT class), who brought 95
kilos. The teachers also contributed so that the final amount was 950 kilos :)
Life at Goga STEP 6 A bit of fun can make learning about the environment easier and more worth while. The Erasmus+ team organized a Treasure Hunt activity in which they involved students from high school classes. Erasmus + members were the volunteers positioned in 11 spots around the school and they gave directions and clues to the participants from 3 classes, organised in groups of three or four. The clues and tasks were all connected to environmentally-friendly behaviour and to the Erasmus+ project.
STEP 7 The Erasmus+ team came up with the idea of making Christmas decorations from recyclable materials (plastic bottles, bottle caps, egg crates and bits of paper and cardboard). The younger students from our school have learned from their older schoolmates that the paper scraps we have around the school should not be thrown away, but can be reused in a creative manner. They created multi-colour Christmas trees from the paper scraps – leftovers from their arts and crafts classes, which they kept especially for this project. The objects they created were later on used to decorate a Christmas tree that we places in the entry hall, so everybody can see that Christmas is all about giving. Follow us on https://erasmusgoga.wordpress.com to know how the project continues :)
Life at Goga
PROJECT DIARY: CORDOBA, SPAIN I always thought that dreams do come true, that they can become real. There is a moment in life and a person that can make all your dreams and your inner plans become possible. The Erasmus+ project offered me the chance to visit my dream country, a country of all possibilities, of outer and inner warmth, Spain. Kind and welcoming
people, incredible places, challenging program, these are the first impressions that I got ever since I arrived at the place surrounded by a allure of exoticism and cordiality. These first impressions, not only followed me all through the week, but they also increased in intensity within my soul, creating the most beautiful feeling: that I was home, among loved ones. This is because of our host families and, es-
pecially, our friendly partners who became like siblings. From the first glimpse, I knew that we would become close friends, that we would all be happy, help and learn from each other, that we would shed tears when we had to leave those places and that’s how it was ‌ We did not just gain a drop of experience, we did not only gather knowledge related to the topic of the project, but we also managed to gain new families and their love with which they will welcome us any time. In Cordoba we spent 5 days full of interactive activities, not only inside the school, but also outside. We had brainstorming activities about the ways we can contribute to protecting the environment. In those international groups we had the op-
portunity to meet children from all the participating countries: Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Estonia, we learnt from each other, we used our abilities to communicate in foreign languages and, finally, we were surprised by the large amount of knowledge we had gathered in a single week. We also had lots of workshops where we have learnt some creative ways to reuse recyclable materials: plastic, paper, metal and ended up making paper from used sheets, making soap from used oil, making bracelets from can rings and ribbon, making lamps from large plastic bottles and plastic spoons, making wallets from milk cartons and decorations from newspaper pages.
Life at Goga We also had the chance to visit wish to return home: to Cordothe city, which is full of tradi- ba. tions and history. We were Denisa Maria Frătean, 10 B guided by professionals and admired the old, narrow streets, the Jewish Quarter, the Roman Bridge and the majestic La Mezquita, which is an impressively large mosque, holding as many as 40,000 worshippers, turned into an equally amazing cathedral by the Christians who had reconquered their city from under the rule of the Moorish invaders. We also took part in sports activities such as archery (using professional bows and arrows) canoeing on the Guadalquivir river and bird watching. These activities took place after a visit to the great Botanical Garden and the Museum of Natural Science. All those activities were organized in order for us to see nature from another perspective.
opportunity to meet new people and new places that I will always remember. I noticed many differences between their culture and mine, and between our lifestyles. I was pleasantly surprised to see students and teachers in other 5 countries who are aware of the situation of waste around the world and they have been trying to reduce the level of waste from their country. This should be a concern and many people should try to save the world. But, this project is a good opportunity to try to be better with nature, because this is our life.
Finally, I am very proud of our work as a team which went Denisa is the best in her class as to represent Romania in Spain. I can see in her excellent marks. She is very quiet and calm. Alexandra Bordea, 9D These days she was very nice to me and my family. We love her. The activities were so funny for me, talking about recycling, videos, etc. We had a good time, I suppose. The Erasmus project is the best experience of my life because I have made many friends from different cultures, countries, etc. But the most important friend that I have made is Denisa.
This wonderful adventure ended with an international evening in which every country presented an artistic performance, mostly including dancing and singing. As a sign of appreciation and gratitude, the parents of Spanish children prepared different traditional dishes which we fully enjoyed, as Lourdes Vacas, Spain we had the opportunity to taste a little bit of every corner of Europe, each country offering I was very excited to its own specific dish. take part in a series of activities Because everything that is which made me understand nice passes very quickly, this better the problem of waste week demonstrated this truth, from my country. Some leaving behind beautiful memo- activities focused on waste, but ries, hopes for the future and a others were built in a fun and entertaining way. I had the
Life at Goga Do you know this feeling when you get off the plane, put your feet on the new ground, breathe the air and smile to yourself at the thought of the adventure that you are about to begin? This is what I felt the first moment when I landed in Malaga, Spain. I love travelling and The ERASMUS project offered me the chance to visit Spain with Romanian team from my school, to open my heart, to speak in English and to meet different people from Spain, Italy, Turkey, France and Estonia. We attended activities, workshops, games about how to reduce/ recycle/reuse waste. The most interesting workshop was when we made soap, lamps, bracelets, paper from rubbish. Also we visited Cordoba and Malaga, we ate traditional food from Spain. Our partners were very friendly and crazy. For me this exchange was fantastic and helpful. My dream come true.
The project was very interesting and a lot of fun. I met new people and I made friends with them. I Iearned about how people live in different countries.
Dumitrita Lupaşcu, 10D
I also found out many interesting facts from different cultures and I managed to learn some words in the other participants’ languages. All the other students from all the 5 countries were so friendly and open hearted that it was a hard separation on the 6th day spent in Cordoba.
Paula Gomez, Spain Going to Spain was one of the most exciting activities in my life, not only because of the fact that it was my first time when I had ever travelled by plane, but because of the fact that I met and travelled with beautiful people, in all ways. I’m glad that I met my partner (Javier) and his family because they are kind persons and we got along very well before, after and while being in Spain. Me and my partner were together in almost all the activities and we made a good team, especially for the kayak ride. He showed me beautiful places in Cordoba and waited for me while I was admiring all the orange trees that we came by.
Most of the activities were very educational, no matter if they consisted in making
new things out of old materials or going to visit La Mezquita or the Roman Bridge. Everybody did their best to make us feel like home while we were in Spain and they almost did it, but you know, there’s no place like home. Besides Cordoba we also stayed in Malaga for 2 days, where we had enough time to visit all the important historical buildings and the majestic beach. In conclusion, I’m delighted that I am one of the 180 students in Erasmus + Project and that I have had the chance to meet all those wonderful people and to discover a new culture, and to fall in love with it. Daniel Popescu, 10E
NOTE: The Cordoba exchange is part of the Erasmus+ Project entitled „Sustainable Consumption and Production”, a project organised with financial support from the European Commission.
Life at Goga
PROJECT DIARY: SIBIU, ROMANIA Spring. Frenzy of games and colours. This season always sprinkles surprises in our souls and lives. This year it didn’t come, as always, only with flowers and warbles, but it brought us a more special and profound present. At the end of March, spring brought us a bunch of special people from 5 parts of Europe, children and teachers who have the same mission: to protect the environment, to inform the citizens and to train valuable people. Do you know who I am referring to? Of course, I am referring to our partners from the Erasmus+ project, the ones who brought a plus of life, colour, culture, not only in our high-school, but also in our city.
We moved from theory to practice and on Saturday we organized a trip to Păltiniș. On the road we stopped at Rășinari, at a tree farm where we found out some important and interesting facts about the growth of conifers and at the end we helped the people working there clean the soil from the weeds grown among the firs and all of us managed to plant 5 fir trees. As a reward for our hard work, both teachers and children had the occasion to force their limits in the famous Arka Park. The fresh air given off from the lofty firs, the patches of snow, all of these made this week spent on the Romanian territory unique and made us think more about how we can The week spent together was fruitful, it brought bring our contribution to protect the living wonders to our minds the wish to protect the corolla of won- that surround us. ders of the world, the forest, to stop deforestation and the degradation of soil. To this aim, we organized in school different creative workshops in which students made flower arrangements from soil, moss and a plant wrapped up with twine, compared the Ph. level of soils, removed the fleshy part of leaves by using chemical processes and obtained beautiful skeletons. They also watched some PowerPoint presentations, movies and at the end they came to a conclusion. We must act! We must do something to protect the environment! If not us, then who? The week passed so quickly from the sandglass of time and left behind memories, dreams, wishes to see our partners soon. We made new friends, we learned from each other, we formed characters and we decided to be the change that nature needs, to plant in the collective conscience that thrill, that emotion which mobilizes population towards a sustainable consumption. Tears of good-bye made us all feel we had done managed to offer to our guests an unforgettable experience and to hope that we would meet again to continue the work that we have started. Denisa Fratean, 10B
Life at Goga
PROJECT DIARY: TALLINN, ESTONIA What can be more beautiful than travelling, exploring new places, finding out how other people in this
world live? With our hearts beating fast and our minds dreaming of the things we would do there, we, a group of nine Romanians (six students and three teachers), set off towards Tallinn, Estonia. Unfortunately, we arrived there a day late, and missed the first activities, as our first flight had been canceled, but that was compensated for by all the fun we had. We arrived there after midnight, tired, and not knowing anything about that place. After a taxi ride, we got to the school, but where was the dorm? We waited there, fascinated in the meantime by the fact that they had ducks in the schoolyard, until the students that were already there heard us. How nice it was for them to wait for us at such a late hour! We greeted them, hugged them, showed them how excited we were to be there with them. After we unpacked and had a good night sleep, we woke up ready to start our real adventure, for we had a lot to catch up with. We started our day with a healthy meal at the school cantina, where we saw the other students that lived in the dorm, in the Erasmus project or not, and some of us were even that lucky and happy to meet with our friends and guests that came in Romania. After that we packed our things and went to get the bus that would take us to Aegna Island.
When we left the school the weather was quite warm, actually. The sun was shining and there was just a little bit of wind that, in my opinion, made it better. But we were kind of thrown off when we were waiting for the motor boats, as the wind was very powerful and quite cold. I for one liked the feeling. My cheeks were flushed with the cold, and my lungs were full of the fresh Baltic Sea air. But others weren’t that lucky. They didn’t dress up very warm and they were scared they would be cold during the activities. But after an amazing and exciting motor boat ride, we got to the green island, and we were welcomed by warmth, that increased during the day. Later we heard that that day was actually one of the warmest days in Estonia, at least in this year. Lucky us!
But let’s see the activities we did there. We were divided into groups and assigned a guide. Then one by one, the group entered the island and discovered its secrets. As I said before the island was very green. It was an amazing sight, seeing pine trees so close to sea water. The island was currently uninhabited but we could see marks of old homes that were abandoned. The guide said something very interesting ‘the island’s history is it being abandoned’. We saw after, and even climbed, some old ruins that were a Russian military base. We saw houses that were started but never finished. But the island, as it was, full of trees and wild animals was more beautiful like this. Then we got the clean, beautiful beach where we played some fun games, that expanded our knowledge about the place, that tested our social skills and
Life at Goga that forced us to know each other. Learning by having fun! We then visited a spiritual place, were some of us performed a ritual to clean our souls. After more walking through the forest and socializing we got to a little chalet, were we ate and then played another fun game before we returned to the dorm. We had some free time, so we, the Romanian students decided to visit the town and catch up with the activities we had missed. Tallinn is quite similar in some ways, mostly architectural, with Sibiu, but every town has its own story and we were really excited to find out Tallinn’s. Glass statues, panoramas where you see the beauty of Tallinn and the nearby sea, inspirational quotes on walls that are all over Instagram, spots where if you can find five church towers you will be happy for the rest of your life (we only found four): these are only a little part of the beauty Tallinn offers. Then we met with the others and explored something else: the malls. And of course our main attraction was...chocolate. After we decided to meet in the evening and watch Eurovision, but due to some technical problems we only met a few of the Romanians and Estonians. But the week only had started. Wednesday, as one of the Estonian teachers said, we worked hard to party hard. We started the day with workshop activities prepared by an NGO. We were divided into two big groups at first, where we started with an imagination and introspective activity: writing our favorite things regarding smell, vision, touch, hearing and taste. You wouldn’t think the activity could also be funny but it was: someone for example said he liked the touch of money. But who doesn’t these days, honestly? After, we talked about the environment, watched some interesting videos, and later on presented our
SWOT analysis film. But the evening was way more fun. After we prepared a little bit for our International Evening show, and after we drew some posters for the evening, we spent our free time exploring the places once again. I went with a fellow Romanian and my former guest and now friend to another mall (we later found out that Tallinn had many many malls) to buy some food for the international evening. There we socialized, talked about so many things, found out so much new information. Time flew so quickly that soon we had to come back and participate in the International Evening. The International Evening is one of the best occasions to connect with others and find out new things about each country. We were presented national dances, national songs, but most importantly we had lots and lots of fun. Of course that the party continued even after we had to go back to the dorm, even after we were told to go to sleep, even if we were more quiet. The next day, we didn’t even feel tired, for our excitement was too great. We took a long bus ride to Jussi bog, a nature trail, where we started with a hike to see the wonders of the Estonian forests. The sight changed abruptly: from tall trees, lakes that behaved miraculously like a mirror, we got to a place with small trees, lakes that we couldn’t actually see as they were covered with some kind of moss, that had many important uses. We stepped on narrow wooden trails, and explored this area. We were amazed to find out that small trees, that we in Romania would have said had just been planted or just grew, could be hundreds of years old, because of the swampy land they grew on.
Life at Goga The place was as well full of berries, of all kinds, that we even tried and saw how tasty they were. Some of us even ventured themselves to try walking out of the trail and into the bog, as we were told that Estonian people even do hikes on bogs if they know where to step. We relaxed afterwards in the forest, near a lake, eating, admiring the nature and some interesting planes that trained nearby. In the evening we had free time, so why not have more fun by connecting with each other? We all went and played basketball, socialized and had fun. Later in the evening we gathered all in a classroom where we ate popcorn and watched, finally, together Eurovision. We could all feel that the week had been too short, and some of us were already feeling nostalgic, but we had one more day together and we were going to make the most of it. So on Friday, all with smiling faces and positive attitudes, we went to the Seaplane Harbour, an amazing place, that really created the atmosphere of the sea, where we went inside a real submarine, admired the exhibits, boats, planes from the war, tanks, learned a great deal of the Estonian history, learned a lot about how boats work, experienced shooting, experienced being a pilot and so much more.
But we all know that when we have fun, time passes so quickly, and soon we had our official goodbyes, even if we knew we’d see each other at least once more. I spent the rest of that bright sunny day by exploring the rest of Tallinn, not only
the tourist areas, but also, in my opinion the real Tallinn, where people live, and saw how they live. I even was lucky to see the beautiful sight at the beach, even if I was really surprised to see how the sea had distanced so much. And I really need to add something about my visit at my former guest and now host’s family. I don’t think I stopped smiling a bit there and then. The people were so nice, so open, and I was glad to be able to meet them. I knew I was so lucky, and I got a bit sad that evening, as we were so close to our coming back at home.
I kept ranting about all our adventure, and I should try to make a closure now right? But there is so much to say! So many emotions, so many memories I will never forget, so many beautiful things we saw and beautiful people we met make it so hard to write a short conclusion. But something I learned in this exchange gives me motivation to try, and I shall share it with you: we make our own stories, our own memories, and we need to always try and experience if we want to live that adventure we crave for. We need to get out of the box we live in, and learn, and change even a little bit of this world if we want it to be a better place. We have been really fortunate people to be able to take part in such an exchange, we have been so lucky to learn so much, but we need to do something good with the things we’ve learned. But, on another note, I am sure I will always have these beautiful memories to remind me of beautiful times spent with amazing people in Estonia. Antonia Devian, 10E
Life at Goga
STARTING HIGH SCHOOL ON STAGE Students’ lives are marked when they enter the highschool. Everything changes and they find new challenges. The most important challenge in my freshman year was “The freshmen’s ball”. I didn’t imagined that I would be capable of starting this “project” and there weren’t so many times when I saw myself as a winner. From the moment I decided to take part in this show I couldn’t think of anything else, but the moment when all our work would be seen by the people we love and everyone would appreciate what we had done during the first two months of high school. With the help of our coordinators, we managed to end in a glorious way what we had started and I really can’t explain all the feelings I had, but I can certainly say that everything was worth it. In the end, I want to advise every teen that can participate in this competition to do his best to be remarked and to the shy ones I only want to say that I have never dreamt of what would happen and I want you to be sure that all the emotions will vanish into thin air when you step on the stage. That will be your moment!
Ariana Bichiş, 9B
The English-Speaking World
EXPERIENCING THE “UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH” High school is one of the most exciting experiences in your life, filled with laughter, joyful moments and many friends. But at the same time is the period when you decide which path to take in life. While I was in my last year of high school, I decided I wanted to study in England. I was not sure which city to choose at first, but then I decided London was the best for my degree. I am an “Events Management” student and I can say I am more than satisfied with what my university provides for me. To study in England you need a few things. First, you need to have an English language certificate (each university asks for different language level), volunteering work and diplomas are well received too. Last but not least, a reasonable grade in the famous “Baccalaureate Exam”. My university is situated in the heart of London, near the Thames, and it has an unbelievably
beautiful campus. The experience was great starting from the first day, when we were welcomed with many surprises, including a grill party and many cookies. The teachers are amazing, very friendly and always willing to help you. They are all people that work in the field and have many networking possibilities. The university also offers many placement programmes for different degrees, so you can have work experience when you finish your studies. One thing you should take into account is that most of the people in the UK that graduate university get jobs in their field. Also, during your study period you are offered possibilities to volunteer or work in your field and to attend networking events and meet employers.
The English-Speaking World London is a city that also offers many opportunities in terms of part time jobs. You are most likely to find a part time job that will suit your schedule and London is also famous for the temporary jobs, giving you the opportunity to choose which days to work. If you want to be in a place where all the cultures coexist, London is indeed the best place to be. You get to experience all the mix of cultures, having the chance to eat food and shop for clothes in different themed stores. As a student, you get discounts when visiting a museum, cinemas and even restaurants in some cases. You can even go to some exhibitions and conferences for free or enjoy your time in Greenwich Market, where you can buy anything starting from antiques to traditional food. The University here is also a multi-national place, where you can meet people from all continents. In my class I have people coming from Australia, South America, Asia and all of them are very friendly and open minded, giving you the opportunity to learn something new about each culture. My university has a private library where
you can come and study, rent a computer/ laptop/tablet, borrow any book for seven days and eat and drink discounted Starbucks food and beverages for students. In the library you have everything you need in order to succeed in your career and studies, including a nice and quiet environment. Rent and accommodation can be either provided by the University (campus) or private landlords. The advantage of choosing a private landlord is the price, but the location might not be as good as the campus accommodation. The supermarkets offer good quality products at a reasonable price, but unfortunately you will have to cook by yourself. Eating out might cost quite a lot, but it’s worth trying all the different cuisines that are available in London. Last but not least, if you want to become a student in UK you have to know it is a unique opportunity, but it takes a lot of hard work, both to achieve your academic results and to support yourself financially. You have to be sure you are able to give your best, then you will be able to succeed and make the best out of your time in university. Raluca Marinciu
The English-Speaking World
The Fascination with Cambridge Cambridge University is one of the best and its history is a very inspiring one! There must be a reason why the College and University buildings are flooded every year by many people from around the world! We may know about some of its famous alumni: Newton, Rutherford, Maxwell, Crick, Russell, Hawking, Hardy, Spenser, Byron, Byatt, Colerige, Wordsworth, Milton and all the other great names! The Nobel Prize has also been awarded to its members: Trinity College has 32 Nobel Prize winners, more than any other Cambridge colleges. In 1950 Bertrand Russell become the first from Cambridge to win the Nobel Prize in Literature for “A History of Western Philosophy”. As for Royals? Not just the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, but lots of kings and queens of England have been connected to University. Famous landmarks like King’s College and Chapel, Corpus Clock, Queens’ College and its “Mathematical Bridge”, Trinity College and St. John’ College, and the college’ s gardens with theirs immaculate lawns , the struc-
ture of DNA ,the splitting of the atom, artificial intelligence, colourful characters, writers and poets: Wordsworth, Byron, Coleridge, punting on the river Cam, biking along historic buildings, all of these and much more make up the unique structure of Cambridge University.
First Impressions Walking along the famous King’s Parade and looking at the impressive spires of the magnificent King’s College and the Chapel you cannot stop thinking how amazing it is to walk on the same cobblestones as Newton, Maxwell, Hardy and a long list of names! It feels as if intelligence and invention are coming out of the ancient walls! However, reading, photos and videos about place will not prepare you for the surprise to see it for the first time! It is incredibly exciting! I didn’t know what to expect from Cambridge! Coming from the hustle and bustle of London, through the British countryside I arrived in Cambridge ready to explore the city. It couldn’t possibly have been better spent days!
The English-Speaking World The July sun above the spires and blue sky made the perfect backdrop for the beautiful sandstones buildings. The narrow, winding and cobblestone streets down the river Cam were so picturesque! Everyone moved around on bike and I think the idea should be adopted in our country! The sunlight between the trees was turning the grass into an ocean of green waves! I felt the magic at this idyllic university town as soon as I stepped into the historical centre!
Hawking’s Backdrop A young man in a wheelchair was signing his name in a book that also has the signature of Isaac Newton. It was a ceremony of investiture of the new fellow at Royal Society, one of the most ancient organisations on the planet. He was a brilliant Cambridge physicist, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, the oldest Professorship in Mathematics, established in 1663 and held by Newton and Dirac. His name is Stephen Hawking. When he decided to write a popular book about space and time (just one equation in2 side, Einstein’s E=mc ) addressing the questions of cosmology and quantum theory, the book became a bestseller and Hawking a legend. The book was “A Brief History of Time. From the Big Bang to Black Holes” he explains to everyone the secrets of black holes, general relativity, cosmology and mysteries of the Universe.
A Mathematician’s Apology Generations of mathematicians have been reading a book by one of the finest mathematical thinkers, G H Hardy “A Mathematician’s Apology”. It was about “the power of mathematical inventions”. Great mathematicians don’t write about themselves or their work. The story of collaboration with a brilliant Indian mathematician, Ramanujan started like this: Hardy received at Trinity College a letter signed by an unknown Indian asking him to give an opinion on some mathematical discoveries. Hardy was bored and irritated by the letter. He put the manuscript aside, and went on with his Cambridge routine: reading “The Time” over breakfast, from nine to one, unless he was giving a lecture, working on his own mathematics. “Four creative hours a day is about the limit for a mathematician” he used to say. Then lunch, a light meal, in the College Hall. After lunch, playing tennis in the University Court. Late afternoon, a stroll back to his college room. One of the evenings, he saw the Indian manuscript, with wild theorems, “theorems such as he had never seen before nor imagined”. Soon he knew that was from a “man of genius”. Ramanujan was “in terms of natural mathematical genius in the class of Gauss and Euler”. Ramanujan was a poor clerk in Madras, selftaught, who arrived at Trinity College in 1914 and become a Fellow of Trinity and then elected a fellow at Royal Society, first Indian at the age of thirty.
The English-Speaking World What is the difference between the University and a College?
sons and Carols, broadcast around the world at Christmas Eve.
The University of Cambridge is a confederation of Schools, Faculties, Departments and Colleges. Cambridge University consists of 31 colleges, buildings where communities develop lots of activities. Students live, eat, learn and socialize here. The undergraduates receive college supervisions here (small groups teaching). This is a famous College system of tutorials/ supervisions, regarded as one the best teaching model in the world! This is a unique and powerful part of Cambridge education!
King’s Library has many collections of paper, like those of John Maynard Keynes and novelist E M Foster. Queens’s College is in the hear t of the city, divided by River Cam. Entering the College through the Gatehouse, suddenly you see the Sundial in the tranquillity of the college garden. With a perfect lawn!
What Not to Miss In the heart of the historical centre, on the King’s Parade you can see a “strange clock”, Corpus Clock. The “Grasshopper”, “chronophage” was unveiled in 2008 by Professor Hawking. “Time eater” has 60 slits cut into its face with a light up to show the time. Blue flushing lights travel across the face of the grasshopper and, eventually stop on the correct time and minute. The Dr. Tyler, the inventor said “time is a destroyer once a minute is gone you can’t get it back”. Corpus Clock is wound up by electronic motor which will be last for next 25 years. King’s College and the chapel are the most iconic images of Cambridge. The Chapel houses the “Adoration of the Magi” by Rubens .The fan vaulted ceiling in Gothic style and stained glass window can be admired during the Festival of Nine Les-
Cambridge at its most extravagant it is during May Week (which is in June, actually) when students have finished their exams and have their well-known May Balls, garden parties with unlimited food and music.
The English-Speaking World From the “Mathematical Bridge “ you can see the famous “College Backs” and enjoy the traditional Cambridge Punting, which is a ride on a boat (punt) along the river Cam . The famous Cambridge punting is one of the best ways to see the Cambridge Colleges, “the Back” starting from “Quayside” near Magdalene College, New St. John’s Court, through Bridge of Sights with amazing view of Wren Library at Trinity College, King’s Chapel , Queens’ College and “Mathematical Bridge”. The punting chauffeurs tell stories about Cambridge history, its Colleges and famous alumni.
ral with the apostrophe after final letter “s”, because the College was founded by two Queens of England. Margaret of Anjou, wife of King Henry VI (founder of King’s College) and Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Eduard VI of England. Of course, that is not true. The spelling change from Queen’s to Queens’ occurred in 1931. Erasmus always called his college “Collegium Reginae”, “Reginae” is Latin for “of the Queen” in the singular. The formal title of the college now is “The Queen’s College of St Margret and St Bernard”, commonly called Queens’ College, in the University of Cambridge. I had a chance to visit some other colleges that make up the University such: King’s and Trinity. The atmosphere was like those colleges were small villages.
I was wandering what a punt was and I found out that it is a flat boat, propelled along by a punter who pushes against the river bed. I was taken away by magical place to pay too much attention to the boatman! … But a lot of information they give is inaccurate, to be honest! The Prettiest and most intimate college I saw definitely had to be Queens’ with its “Mathematical Bridge”, surrounded by beautiful, peaceful and calm gardens. What about “That apostrophe” in the name of Queens’ College? Tourists gets told that the name of Queens’s College is the form of plu-
The English-Speaking World The richest and the largest Oxbridge college is Trinity College, founded by Henr y VIII in 1546. From the great Court you reach the Chapel with all the statues of famous people who studied at Trinity including Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon. Wren Library, designed by C. Wren, the architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The poet lord Byron had a room there. On the roof of the Wren library are four figures which represent the four faculties of the University at that time: Divinity, Law, Medicine and Arts. The library contains Newton’s Principia Mathematica. The Fellow’s garden has become the venue for open air Shakespearian Theatre during the summer. Near the Gatehouse there is old Newton room and in front of the window there is an apple tree. Legend said there is Newton’s apple tree…from the seeds of that Apple. Of course, its’ a legend……
Before returning to London’s busy city life, a contrast and a change, I stopped for souvenirs, all those bits and pieces from small shops. And I had a last stop at “Cambridge Waterstones”, which was overwhelming…so many nice books… I can say Cambridge is one of the beautiful places I have ever visited! And I have great memories too!
A final note for those who might want to study at Cambridge University Ideas from Cambridge have changed the world and the Cambridge teaching experience changes the lives of those who study there. Cambridge’s great strength is the partnership be-
tween the University and the Colleges. The combination provides superb facilities, contact with the very best minds, personal tuition and support which helps you make the very best of Cambridge. The opportunity to develop your academic interests is unparalleled, and you have a huge range of options to engage in: sports, performing arts and social activities you already enjoy, as well as to take up new ones. The experiences, knowledge and transferable skills you develop through your course and extra-curricular activities there also prepare students well for the future. They are greatly sought after by employers and the University has one of the highest graduate employment rates in the United Kingdom. Ionuţ Bădăruţă Haşigan, 9I
The English-Speaking World UK FLOWER SYMBOLS Did you know that each region of the UK has a specific floral emblem?
SCOTLAND The Thistle
ENGLAND
it is a purple flower with prickly leaves and it represents a symbol of defence; the legend says that the thistle became a symbol of defence when, during the Alexander III’s reign, some enemies wanted to attack the Scottish camp. Because they didn’t want to make noise, they removed their footwear. But they had a surprise: the field was full of thistles! They shouted and the Scots managed to defend their camp.
The Rose
it is a symbol of peace which merges a white rose and a red one; it is an icon for the end of the War of the Roses
WALES The Daffodil
it is a symbol of nature’s optimism; David Lloyd George was the only Welsh born prime minister. It is said that he wore a daffodil on St. David’s Day. It was also used on the occasion of the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1911.
NORTHERN IRELAND The Shamrock it is said that the shamrock was used by St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity to the ancient Celts.
Maria Beleiu, 9B
Social issues EDUCATION SYSTEMS IN NORTHERN COUNTRIES Denmark:
does not mean that there is no respect for the teacher. Unlike in our education system, students do not receive so much information in Sweden.
secondary schools exist, but fees for studying are forbidden. This country believes simply that absolutely all children should receive the same treatment. Norway:
The big difference between the Romanian system and the Danish education system is that virtually everything is based on learning through experience. They work a in groups Finland: and rarely individually. Exams and projects are all in groups. No works or written exams like in our country. Everything is based on open discussion and projects. There is something that got me thinking, namely the relationship between student and teacher. There are no wrong answers and rarely teacher-student conflicts. Finland has the highest standard of living in the world and the highest rated educational system. What do the Finnish people do to be placed on top in international educational tests? There are several explanations. The most important secret is educational reforms implemented 40 years ago. The government decided to "reset" the system and tackle the other direction, focusing on education, research Sweden: and technology. Then it adopted a Swedish higher education system was new educational system. And this ranked as the second best in the system actually refers to equal opporworld. In Sweden the education sys- tunities for the children, regardless of tem is very relaxed. Teachers and stu- socio-economic background, or dents are on familiar terms, they where they live. In Finland there is no spend much time together, but this private primary education. Private
The Norwegian school subjects are totally different. They place emphasis on their personal development, the class can discuss in the public. They do not put that much value on mathematics, for example, they learn the radical extraction at the age of 14. What we do in math in the eighth grade they do in the last high school year. The pupils are not evaluated in the class and they do not take tests. There are many practical activities, discussions in class, discussions with the teacher, personal opinions.
Ioana Alexandra Silaghi, 9 A
Social issues
Integrity Has No Need of Rules How are we able to balance respect and responsibility and share our values with others? It is quite common to use blame, excuses, deception to cover our errors! Why does a high level of integrity matter so much?! How can we judge over integrity? Could it be the fact we commit to what we truly believe and can actually deliver? Could it be the right thing or the right reason? Ask yourself: does integrity have a place in your life? What are your values? For a couple of moments, let us talk about this vast terminology.
our souls. One point I would like to make is that ethical behavior is connected to “ought” and “ought not”, not just “must” and “must not”. External rules cannot be imposed upon us by force. They must become our own in order for us to truly believe in what we do. Integrity is driven by personal choices and commitments. The individual is answerable to oneself as opposed to any rule or law. Personal responsibility comes from selfdiscipline, trust in yourself and courage to be honest in every situation. Values do not need regulatory governance to direct personal actions.
he felt that was the right thing to do. He said that you need to be honest with yourself if you want to have an impact on society. He described peacemakers as a category of human beings full of integrity, of honesty, but also of humility.
It might seem an easy path to follow, but it is not. Human nature is weak and people tend to yield to temptation when they think nobody can see them. In fact, if there was no police force, many people would not hesitate to steal. This is not to say that when we do something bad we feel no remorse at all, just that man is weak and easy to divert from the Moreover, we could see integrity as a right path. But even if nobody witnesses our sins and not a soul knows of them, we cannot hide the truth from our conscience.
If we want to define the term integrity we can refer to its dictionary meaning and its etymology. It comes from the Latin integritat, and means “firm adherence to a code or especially moral or artistic values; (an unimpaired condition; the quality or state of being virtue because we know that a man complete or undivided.)” of principles is a man of virtue. There But a definition that anyone can re- are several reasons why integrity late to more easily is given by C. S. must be considered a virtue. One of Lewis: “Integrity is doing the right the most important reasons is to unthing, even when no one is watch- derstand that you should act within the principles, not just act for your ing.” own best interest. Nelson Mandela was one of the most iconic figures of “What is the right thing?” you might our contemporary world as he has ask. Is there a set of rules clearly laid fought against the Apartheid Regime out that could guide our behavior? Or and he was considered a great peaceshould we instinctively know what is maker. He sacrificed his well-being right and what is wrong? The answer and his freedom in order to stand up is simple: there is no guidebook, the for the rights of his people because right path can be found deep down in
However, integrity is not absolute and we must be cautious when anyone claims to have complete integrity. Admitting our mistakes, saying sorry and making things right are powerful qualities in people that strive for integrity. One final, but crucial quality of integrity is that it is not the same as compliance with rules. In fact psychologists and philosophers argue that “integrity has no need of rules”(Albert Camus).In this sense then ,integrity is about understanding and acting within the spirit of the law, not just the letter. Ionuţ Bădăruţă Haşigan, 9I
Social issues Is eye contact that important? When you talk to a person you think the most important aspects of yourself are looks, body language and what you say, right?This is true, but Albert Mehrabian, professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles established through his research the effectiveness of spoken communication highlighted by the 7%-38%-55% Rule, where 7% of meaning is in the words that are spoken, 38% of meaning is paralinguistic (the way that the words are said) and 55% of meaning is in facial expression.
The act of making eye contact has different meanings and it varies from one continent to another. For example, in United States if you have good eye contact with a person, it generally signifies that you are interested in the person you are looking at and in what that person is saying. If you look down or away from a person rather than meet their gaze, you are considered to be distracted or uninterested in them. Also, if you neglect to make eye contact with a person, you may be thought to lack self-confidence.
55% of meaning is in facial expression? Yes. There’s something in your face that says more than your words ever could.. Eye contact. It’s more intimate than words will ever be, it is how souls catch on fire, it’s so very dangerous, but so very lovely at the same time. It’s what gives you unique feelings. So what should you pay attention to when you look in one’s eyes?
In W estern Europe it is considered proper and polite to maintain almost constant eye contact with another person during a business exchange or a conversation but it has a more flirtatious conotation that in the U.S. and, as a result, one may feel quite free to look at someone he is interested in and try to acknowledge his interest by making eye contact. In Middle East, eye contact is much less common and considered to be less appropriate than it is in the United States. Middle Eastern cultures, largely Muslim, have strict rules regarding eye contact between the sexes; these rules are connected to religious laws about appropriateness. Only a brief moment of eye contact would be permitted between a man and a woman, if at all. On the other hand, in many Middle Eastern cultures, intense eye contact between those of the same gender—especially between men—can mean “Trust me! I’m honest!”. In many A sian, A frican and Latin A merican cultures, extended eye contact can be taken as an affront or a challenge of authority. If a Japanese woman avoids looking someone in the eyes, she does not show a lack of interest, nor is she demonstrating lack of self-confidence; instead, she is being polite, respectful and appropriate
First and foremost, to the pupils for these are a part of the body language that the subject has no control over. Eckhard Hess discovered that if the pupil of the person we’re talking to is dilated, this means that they are interested in us. Next, pay attention to blinking. Aside from our instinctive need to blink, the emotions and feelings of the person who talks to us towards ourselves can cause them to subconciously alter their blink rate. Blinking more than the average 610 times per minute can be a good indicator that a person is attracted to the person they're talking to and is for this reason used as a sign of flirting.
according to her culture. Octavia Toader, 11B
Social issues
Phobias WHAT IS A PHOBIA? Phobbias are irrational fears of an activity, situation, or thing. The fear is so bad it limits a person's activities and life. ٭What are the different kinds of phobias? The three types of phobias are social phobia (fear of public speaking, meeting new people, or other social situations), agoraphobia (fear of being outside), and specific phobias (fear of particular items or Zoophobia is a fear of animals and insects.The phobia may refer to fear of bees situations). (apiphobia), spiders (arachnophobia), birds ٭Social Phobias (omithophobia), snakes (arachnophobia) and other Social phobia is an extreme fear of social situations types of animals or insects. such as speaking in public and interacting with Acrophobia is a fear of heights. Even though others.The fear can be so extreme it can affect one's there is no real threat from heights, people experience relationships with friends, family, or work colleagues. severe anxiety. People with social phobia are terrified of being Aerophobia is a fear of flying.Those who have embarrassed in social situations. lost a family member in a plane crash or who have withnessed a plane crash or accident may develop this type of phobia. ٭What Are the Effects of Phobias? Untreated, phobias can significantly inerfere with one's ability to function and enjoy life. People with phobias may experience problems at work, school, and with family and friends.
٭Agoraphobia People who suffer from agoraphobia have excessive fear fo being in open spaces or being anywhere from which they could not easily leave. Those with agoraphobia often worry about help not being available to them or about being embarrassed in front of others.
٭What are the Causes and Risk Factors for Phobias? A varity of factors contribute to the development of phobias. Genes, cultural influences, and traumatic events can contribute to phobias. Someone with phobias tried to manage stress by avoiding things they are afraid of.
٭What are the signs and symptoms of phobias? Phobia symptoms may include panic, terror, dread, ٭Specific phobias rapid, or irregular heartbeat, difficult breathing, Claustrophobia, a common phobia is the fear sweating, feelings of wanting to escape or flee, and of enclosed spaces or of being trapped. People with trembling. claustrophobia may be afraid of being in confined areas. ٭If you or a loved one suffers from a phobia, you need to go to a therapist! Alina Mihaiu, 9B
Social issues
”Talk to the parents!” Problems, wishes for escape, contradictory feelings and the need to communicate with somebody about all these. Many teenagers deal with these kind of situations.
might seem strange, the relationship between a teenager and a parent could be very strong. Their life experience and their maturity can offer us the moral support that we need. No matter what the situation Nowadays, teenagers feel misunderstood and they might be, they will be by our side, will want to share their give us pieces of advice and will listen to us. thoughts with To have a strong relationship, communication somebody and also must be from both sides. An honest and open attitude they want to confide combined with the strong love felt by the children will in someone who will create a relationship beyond words. not criticize them. Ioana-Luciana Grozea, A Some people think delina Andreea Mărginean, 11 F that there is only one solution : ”Talk to your parents!”. But teenagers prefer to communicate with persons the same age as them because they are afraid of being criticized and blamed. We find out how important family is, what it actually represents, a little bit too late. As a short definition, the family is the cosy, hospitable place, where you can find silence, help and understanding no matter what the situation might be. Even though it
Why we are surrounded by mediocrity ? Nowadays, every step we take we only meet dissatisfied people. Dissatisfied with the political class, with their bosses, with the fact that mass media promotes illiteracy and wrong values, even with their work's results; and they have their right to be so.
mania there is no subject focusing on sexual education, personal development and nutrition. We need some courses in which the teachers should interact closely with the student to help them gain more knowledge. In this way, they would be determined to think by themselves.
Education is the most important quality which every person should have in society. This is not a value which you are born with, it is something that you are supposed to gain and develop during life, especially in childhood. In our country the educational system is not one well thought. The information is given in large amounts and most of it is useless. The Romanian schools emphasize memorizing things instead of the most important fact, which is thinking. In Ro-
Another problem of our educational system is that the students are evaluated in the same way, even if their skills and qualities are different. For example, the students should be grouped according to their skills and their abilities should be developed. In this way, our system can be improved.
Moreover, everyone can do a degree. Many universi-
Social issues Moreover, everyone can do a degree. Many universities In conclusion, Romania needs a new educational don't require an entrance examination which could select system created by people with a new vision with the purthe students who truly have the skills in that field. So, pose of bringing about development. some future specialists could be mediocre and they can Teodora Rusu, XI A & Estera Pădurean, 11 A affect the development of society.
Whitewashing in Hollywood and why you should care The movie industry is problematic, that is far from such as Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunoshi in “Breakfast at being a secret anymore. From female actresses getting Tiffany’s (1961)”. paid way less than their male costars, to actors of color The most recent unfortunate casting that I can only managing to score minor and stereotypical roles, think of would be the we’ve heard it all. What I haven’t seen, however, is more big screen adaptation interest in whitewashing which is, sadly, a common pracof the Stonewall riots tice. – “Stonewall First things first, what is whitewashing? When I first encountered the term I thought it was a more pretentions way of saying you have to separate your white laundry from the colored one so you don’t end up with surprise pink shirts. Well I was wrong but, oddly enough, kind of right too? I’m saying this because apparently, Hollywood’s laundering solution is to simply not buy colored clothes… at all.
(2015)”. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay (LGBTQ) community against a police raid that took place in 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, New York City. One of the faces of these riots was Marsha P. Johnson, an African American drag queen and gay liberation activist. In the movie, however, her actions – such as throwing a brick at Stonewall, starting the riots – were attributed to a fictional white male character named Danny Winters. The fact that they If the metaphor flew right over your head, let me chose to tell the story of a crucial moment in the history lay it out for you. Whitewashing is when white actors of LGBTQ community in such biased manner is questionportray characters of color. There is no official reason as able to say the least. to why this happens, since no casting director/film proUnfortunately, the list can go on. Katniss Everduction company ever admitted to having whitewashed a deen, the protagonist of the highly popular “The Hunger character, but my best guess is that they think large audi- Games” series was described as olive skinned in the book ences would relate better to Caucasian portrayals since – she was most likely of Native American descent – but “Minority actors don’t sell overseas”. Whitewashing has the producers brushed off this aspect and specifically been happening since Hollywood’s inception, and was the asked for a Caucasian girl in the casting call. And how norm for years. People applauded it and used it to denigrate and dehumanize minorities with racist caricatures,
Social issues could we not mention the very unfortunate “Prince cares, right? of Persia: The Sand of Time (2010)” where Dastan, the soWrong. called Persian prince, was played – obviously – not by Movies influence the mindset of people whether we someone of Persian or middle-eastern descent but by a very choose to accept it or not. What message does this lack of pale, Swedish, Jake Gyllenhaal. cultural diversity send to the young generation, who are the Another trend that I “Love” (yes, capital “L”, full-on major consumers of motion pictures? If films would depict sarcasm) is taking animated series and turning them into more inspiring characters of color, wouldn’t this contribute live action movies. This practice in itself is not a bad thing, to educating the youth? Wouldn’t it make them more likely however I can’t help but find it odd when a Japanese char- to embrace other ethnicities? acter from a Japanese comic book, that is later on turned My hope is that in the future we’ll see more racial into a still Japanese character in an animated series is played equity in the movby (*drum roll*) a white actor. It was the case with ie industry. And “Dragonball: Evolution”, the adaptation directed by James while we’re waitWong, back in 2009. The same thing happened with “The ing make sure to Last Airbender (2010)” - who successfully whitewashed all check out “Selma” the main characters, beside the antagonists (oh, yes! the – if you haven’t sweet smell of stereotypes). Needless to say, both of these yet – “Belle” or movies bombed critically and commercially because of how “Kumiko, the poorly they depicted PoC (People of Color). Treasure Hunter” The faulty cultural representation in Hollywood was for some refreshing multiculturalism. as obvious as ever through the Academy Awards nominaDenisa Avram, 12B tions this year which were, remarkably, 100% white. But at the end of the day, they’re just movies. Who
The Story of a Teen who Quit Social Media Social media. We live in an era in which if you don’t have a Facebook account or Istagram or others it’s like you don’t exist as a person. If you’re not online you don’t have a life. Right? It’s sad that most of the teens now think like that. We are so influenced by the growth of social media that we become addicted to sharing everything we do and to following people and seeing what they’ve been up to. Is this all we want to do with our free time? Is this what life is about now? Well, the following story may change the way we think about social media. Disclaimer: Let’s be honest and not be hypocrites. We all cared at some point about how many likes we have, or how many people have seen where we went on holiday. Everyone cares or cared at least once about what others think. This being
said, I will continue with the story.
Essena O’Neill is an Australian 19year old model and internet personality who has recently quit social media. She started posting while still in high school and managed to build a social media empire with over half a million Instagram followers. She got sponsorships and got paid for advertising products in the photos she posted. She had it all,
Social issues the perfect body, the perfect life? Not really. She revealed everything about her “perfect” life in a video posted on YouTube. She says:
“I was surrounded by all this wealth and fame and power and yet I have never felt so miserable.”
impossible for everyone to reach, that she started measuring herself, went on diets, and calculated her carbs intake, and so on, just to become a model. She thought she wasn’t enough, that her true self isn’t beautiful enough and she dedicated herself to this, not to art (which she was passionate about), not to singing, not to what she liked. The edited lives of all the celebrities make so many children, young girls and boys think that they need to be like them in order to be happy. They think that if they don’t reach the beauty standards of our society they won’t be accepted by the world. So Essena realized she had an addiction and an unhealthy thinking. The more we let ourselves care about likes, followers, how many friends we have on social media, the farther off we are on the road to happiness. Let’s be clear, I’m not against social sharing, but against the current status of social
She let herself be defined by numbers. It all began at the age of 12 when she started googling models and their measures wishing she was like them. Between ages 12 to 16 she was miserable because she thought so low about herself and then between ages 16 to 19 she was miserable because it wasn’t real.
“There are so many things I could have done with my time instead of just living in a screen wishing that people would value me and that’s all I thought I should do, and it’s not real. I was miserable. I had it “all” and I was miserable because when you let yourself be defined by numbers, you let yourself be defined by something that’s not real, not pure, not love”. She came clean about her perfect photos and edited the caption revealing the truth about them. They were heavily staged and edited and all made out to seem she lived the perfect life.
“Everything I was doing was edited … to get more value. If you think it’s not a business, you’re deluding yourself.” The story is so much deeper than presented. It’s not just the story of a girl who was addicted to social media. It’s about a 12 year-old, now 19, who was so influenced by what was advertised then, and how the beauty standards were so high,
media. There are people around you that you can make real connections with. Don’t throw it away. It’s easy to want and sit and watch others wishing you were them. So go out, meet people, discover yourself. Learn to love yourself. You don’t need anyone’s approval of your value. Only you hold the key to your happiness, you just have to let yourself see that. Break society’s standards. Teodora Ancău, 10D
How to Turkey Seen with a Turkish Girl’s Eyes Hello , dear readers ! This is an article about the life of Turkish people and I am sure that you will enjoy it. I want to tell you some facts about this country, but also about the culture of the people who live there. I am pretty sure that you are asking yourself why I chose this country, so I am telling you that I am a Turkish girl and all I will tell you about Turkey is true.
CULTURE
AND
TRADITIONS
Turkish people have really big respect for their country, its history and religion. A lot of people think that they are strict with their religion, but it´s not true. For the example, when I go to Turkey to my father’s family I am the only one in that family who isn´t Muslim and they just don´t have any problem with that, they don´t compel me to get their religion or to pray to their God, they are fine with my religion, and not only my family, everybody is.
As for the obligation of women to wear a headscarf or to cover themselves from head to toe, it is not so strict nowadays. Most young women wear modern clothes, without wearing a headscarf or other traditional clothes. The older women or the ones who live in rural areas still follow these rules strictly. Turkish weddings are different from the weddings in our country. They stretch over serval days of party and they have 3 stages: before the wedding when the man goes to the woman´s home to ask her family for her hand, next one is the wedding and the last one is “after the wedding”.
DID YOU KNOW THAT … Turkey isn´t called Turkey . It´s actually been called the Republic of Turkey since 1923? Istanbul´s Grand Bazaar has 64 streets, 4000 shops and 25,000 workers? Most Turks didn´t have surnames until 1934? Turkey was the birthplace of historical figures such Aesop, Homer and St. Paul the Apostle? Turkey´s Istanbul Tunnel is the world´s second oldest underground railway – it was opened in 1875? Tulips were introduced to Europe by Turkish traders in the 16th century? Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) was actually born in Patara , Turkey? Munevver Toker, 9B
Social issues
HOW TO LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY Learning a foreign language means definitely expanding your general knowledge and requires determination and ambition. Nowadays you can't progress in your career without being able to speak a non-native language and this is the first reason why it is crucial to know at least one language, apart from the one you speak in your everyday life.
Forget about mental translations, they are going to confuse you for sure. Try to think in the language you are struggling to learn (of course, getting to know a foreign language can be pretty difficult), so that you won't get mentally stuck.
Read a lot. You can read whatever you want (magazines, news, books and so on) in the language you have decided to study, so you have fun and improve your language skills at the same time.
Change your mobile phone’s language setting into the language you desire to learn. As a result, every time you check your phone you are "forced" to make use of what you have just come to know.
In order to make the process of learning a pleasant and a funny one, you ought to take into consideration the following recommendations:
First of all, start with the basic lessons and look up every single word you don't understand in a dictionary. You can download one into your phone, so that you can have the chance to figure out the meaning of whatever word/idiom you don't understand. Don't pass over the pronunciation; repeat each word out loud until you are satisfied with the way you pronounce it.
How to
What can be more relaxing than watching a film? Well, this is a significant method to improve the language you have chosen to study. This is not going to be a waste of time because you will get used to hearing the spoken language and the accents that are often quite different.
Music plays a huge role in what you are about to do and you should bear this in
mind. Singing and learning lyrics by heart genuinely expands the vocabulary and improves pronunciation. Once they are memorized, you will be fully aware of the fact that you have just learnt new idioms whose meanings you have figured out easily.
Don't let the day end without coming to know a fair number of new words. Here is the strategy: the more you learn, the closer you are to understanding the complexity of a foreign language. Therefore you will get used to this and you will avoid complaining about the difficulties you may face while studying.
In conclusion, learning a foreign language is not as difficult as it appears to be if you know how to do it properly. Miruna Cîrstina, 9B
How to
How to survive high school “High school is the most incredible period in your life. You have the chance to meet new people and make new friends. It’s great” Well, it’s not. High school is one of the most difficult periods in your life, and I have some tricks for you to survive it. -First, make some friends. Two or three friends are ok for your first weeks in high school. You will have someone to talk with, to go out with and that’s enough for the beginning.
-Keep in touch with your old friends. Do not forget them, they might give you help, if you need some. -Even if you are in high school now, you have passed your exams and everything should be more relaxing, don’t forget to study a little. It’s important for you to have good marks. - Socialize with your classmates. As a freshman you have to know all your classmates, they could become your best friends! -Stay organised!
Nicoleta Șalău, 9B
Leisure Time ROMANIA AT ITS BEST Romania is a beautiful country, even though the mass-media promote only awful and polluted places. It is true that they exist, but these places don’t characterize my country. Everywhere you look, you can see beautiful things, and all you have to do is have the courage to get over the barriers imposed by television. So, this article is meant to present some beautiful places.
1. Retezat National Park: Retezat National Park is a protected area located in the Retezat Mountains in Hunedoara county, Romania. Containing more than 60 peaks over 2,300 metres and over 100 crystal clear deep glacier lakes, the Retezat Mountains are some of the most beautiful in the Carpathians. In 1935 the Government of Romania set aside an area of the Retezat Mountains creating the country's first national park.
2. Bigar Waterfall: One look at this waterfall and you'll see why traveling to it is a must. The stream falls from a cliff into the moss, which makes the water fall in the interesting patterns you see. Located in the Anina Mountains in western part of Romania, this waterfall has found itself on countless lists of stunning places around the world and one of the most beautiful places in Romania and we can certainly understand why. See for yourself:
Leisure Time
3. Transfagarasan: Transfagarasan route is almost 90 km long. The recommended direction for crossing this route is from the south to the north because of the steep northern slope of the Fagaras Mountains. The route is particular because the landscape is beautiful, with many dangerous curves, large level differences, rocks and steep ravines and waterfalls. This route connects Muntenia and Transylvania.
4. Bran Castle: Located 30 km from Brasov, between the Bucegi and Piatra Craiului, Bran Castle is an important national monument and landmark for tourism in Romania, due to both its beauty, landscape and the legend of Count Dracula. The castle has four tall towers, located in the four cardinal points, being built - as walls, anyway - massive stone. The rooms and corridors that make up the castle form a kind of mysterious maze and in the courtyard there is a fountain which connects with underground hiding places. Another point of tourist interest in Bran is an annex of the castle, in which is kept the heart of Queen Mary, which was discovered in a silver box.
Leisure Time 5. Bears' Cave Bears’ Cave is located in the western part of Apuseni Mountains, near Chişcău village. It was discovered in 1975 by "Speodava", a speleologist group. It is one of the main tourist attractions in our country. The inside is formed by a lot of stalactites and stalagmites and a whole lot of bear fossils.
6. Peles Castle Peles Castle is a castle in the Carpathian Mountains, near Sinaia, in Prahova, Romania, on a medieval route to Transylvania. This castle was built in the 19th century by Carol I and it is considered one of the most beautiful castles from Europe.
7. The Ice Hotel In the central part of the Fagaras Mountains, is located Balea lake. Every year, in winter from January to March, the only ice hotel in Romania and Eastern Europe is built here using blocks of ice taken from Lake Balea. The furniture and the decorations are made only from ice and snow. Depending on the theme, each year the decorations are different.
So, as you can see, Romania has o lot of interesting and beautiful places to visit. You should discover Romania yourself and then give your opinion if Romania is beautiful or not.
Raluca Dănuţ Andreea Ţichindelean, 11A
Leisure Time
Folk Life Hi ... I am Bianca and I am a student in the 11 th grade. I would like to share with you, in a few words, my experience as a dancer with the ensemble "Ceata Junilor". I have been dancing for nine years; I started dancing at the age of eight. I discovered the magic of folk dances three years later when I was about 11 and when I already knew how to dance ”jiana”, ”învârtita”, ”haţegana” and ”hora”. I came to love dancing and Romanian folk dances once I matured and started experiencing my first feelings of love for my country! In the meantime I learned new styles and dances from other areas of the country: Oas, Banat, Somes, Maramures.
We are a united team whose members help each other whenever necessary. We grew up together and we learned that we had to be a team and that, while dancing, we must trust each other. For the last three years, we have participated in the greatest performances of the professional ensemble "Junii Sibiului". I am talking about a huge amount of work, countless hours of exhausting rehearsals. I have participated in several tours abroad in Cyprus, Macedonia, and Germany. I have met many young people, members of other Romanian and foreign ensembles. We learn more from each other's cultures. It is a great joy for us, we can show people, and especially foreigners, what our country really is like, through dances, costumes and, sometimes, even through our traditional cuisine.
Leisure Time Succeeding in the art of folk dances means, first of all, a lot of work and love for what we do. I believe that the main feature that one practising folk dances needs is their love for folklore along with the respect for tradition and for those people who keep, preserve and promote authentic folk dancing, music, customs and traditions. All this can be learned and transmitted to the public only with the heart!
Hundreds of hours of rehearsals, pain and strain and even small accidents ... but the satisfaction of a well done job surpasses and heals any pain. I cannot describe in words the emotions and feelings you experience in a concert hall full of people frantically cheering at the end of each dance!
For me, dancing means elegance, finesse and beauty. I am glad to be part of this ensemble and I will never regret the fact that I chose to be dancer with "Ceata Junilor".
Bianca Muntean, 11 F
Leisure Time
Dancing Life I think dance is the most beautiful art, because it develops your emotions and feelings, amplifying them and this makes you enjoy more things that you like. By dancing, you can also keep fit, because it involves a lot of movement, but it is more creative than just working out. I know all of these things from my own experience. I have been taking dancing classes for 5 years and I could say that it helped me get over bad things, I became more optimistic because of dancing, it makes me happy no matter what happens, because I enjoy it so much and it always makes me smile. The type of dance that I do is folk dance. I am very keen on it as I believe it is wonderful and it also promotes our Romanian traditional culture and customs, both of them being full of creativity and enthusiasm. I really could say that I am in love with Romanian traditional dance. Dacing also helps you to express your feelings by movement in a very interesting and special way. Especially, when I am on stage, I feel that everything is an explosion of colour and love; also I feel that I fly on the wings of a „special universe�. You can always tell who the dancer in any room is by their posture and ability to move with grace. The technique taught in class focuses on mantaining a straight back, pulling the shoulders back, and walking with confidence.
Leisure Time I became keen on dance when I saw The Professional Ansemble „CindrelulJunii Sibiului” at a festival in the centre of Sibiu.I liked them a lot so I wanted to be on the stage with them. I starded taking courses at the Children’s Palace from Sibiu in the kids’ group. At present, I am dancing with the Ansemble „Ceata JunilorJunior”, I had a lot of shows that made me to like it more, because it offers me the posibility to have that perfect feeling.I still have to work more for be accepted at „Junii Sibiului”. I also met a lot of great people and I get on very well with them, because we have a very important thing in common: dancing. Dancing is a conversation between body and soul. I recommend you start dancing courses or dance when you have the occasion, it will make your life more beautiful and will make you a better person. Alexandra Eftenie, 9B
Hip Bands Years & Years are a British electronica trio
founded in Cardiff. The band consists of frontman and keyboard player Olly Alexander, bass guitarist Mikey Goldsworthy, and keyboardist Emre Türkmen. Years & Years' music has been described as electropop, mixing R&B and 1990s house elements, with Flying Lotus, Diplo, Radiohead and Jai Paul being their core influences. The band was formed in 2010, after Goldsworthy moved to London from Australia and met Türkmen online. Shortly afterwards, Alexander joined the band as lead vocalist after Goldsworthy heard him singing in the shower.You have probably heard of their song called "Take Shelter". Here are my favorite songs: "Worship", "Shine", "Eyes Shut".
Leisure Time Broods
is an indie pop and electronica duo from Nelson, New Zealand, made up of Georgia Nott as lead vocal, with older brother and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Nott as production and backing vocals. They released the single "Bridges", which went to No. 8 on the New Zealand single chart, and signed with Capitol and Polydor Records. They released their self-titled debut EP, "Broods", on 30 January 2014, which was followed by a full-length album, Evergreen, on 22 August 2014. Greatest songs: "Mother and Father", "Bridges", "Never Gonna Change", "Four Walls".
Foals
are an English indie rock band from Oxford, England formed in 2005, made up of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Yannis Philippakis, drummer and percussionist Jack Bevan, rhythm guitarist Jimmy Smith, bassist Walter Gervers and keyboardist Edwin Congreave. They are currently signed to Warner Bros. They have released four studio albums: "Antidotes", "Total Life Forever", "Holy Fire", "What Went Down". My favorite songs are: “Mountain at my gates”, “Late Night” and “Give it all”.
James Andrew Arthur
is a British singersongwriter who won the ninth series of The X Factor in 2012. His debut single, "Impossible", went to number one on the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release. It has since gone on to sell over 1 million copies in the UK and 2.5 million copies worldwide. He released his self-titled debut album in November 2013 and it debuted and peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart. He signed a deal with Columbia Records and will release his second album in 2016. Best songs of his: “Recovery”, “Otherwise” (featuring Moks), “Smoke Clouds”.
Leisure Time And last but not least, a band I’m sure you already have heard of, Subcarpaţi, which is a mixture between old Romanian traditional music and the new beats of today. It`s an eclectic combination that brings together melancholic Romanian folk songs, Romanian unity songs, traditional instruments and the rhythms of trip-hop, dubstep, hip-hop or dancehall. Subcarpaţi is made up of Bean MC, Vali Umbră, VJ Andri și DJ Power. Here are some great songs: “Balada românului”, “La jucat și la strigat”.
Andreea Frăţilă, 9 B
What We Listen To Good music never dies and it always remains around us, living in people’s hearts and minds. Music is part of our lives. It doesn’t matter if you’re happy or sad, it doesn’t matter how you feel, there’s always a reason, or desire, to listen to music. Music makes us travelers, through our imagination, all over the world. Well, we can talk a lot about music, but the most important thing is who creates and sings our favorites songs. Here is a short list of some of the most popular singers in UK and USA.
One Direction is one of the most famous British boy bands nowadays. They became famous after the great success of the single “The story of my life”. They are really loved among teenagers, having thousands of fans around the world, but still releasing new albums and new great hits, such as “ Drag me down” and “ Perfect”.
Leisure Time Adele
is the first woman in the history of Billboard “Hot 100” to have three simultaneous Top singles as a lead artist. She actually became famous and much appreciated all over the world after releasing her second album. Her latest single “Hello”, was also, and still is, a real success.
Demi Lovato
is one of the most loved American singers in the world. She has an impressive life story and her songs made many people smile. “Believe in me” and “Skyscraper” are just two of her songs which transmit a motivational message to all young people.
Katy Perry
is currently the highest paid singer in the world. Her most popular songs are “Fireworks” and “Dark Horse”. Her songs reflect the youthfulness and her shows impresses the people every time. Besides having a good voice and esthetic qualities, which are hard to ignore, Katy Perry is also charismatic.
Taylor Swift is a musical phenomenon at international level. Her personality makes her a very loved singer.
Andreea Brudiu, Iulia Natea, Ana Roman, 9B
Leisure Time Music as therapy
Nowadays everyone listens to music. We do it to relax, to be induced a good feeling. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche says: "Life without music is simply a mistake, pain, exile".
What is music? Some say that the definition of music would be "the art of expressing feelings and attitudes with sounds.� But if I were asked what the definition of music was, I would probably find other words that express this art, just as you probably have other definitions for it. For some, music can be a way of relaxing, a business, an art, a way of escaping from everyday life, a friend or just another sound from the multitude of sounds that in the universe in which we live. As Plato said: "Music gives a soul of the universe, wings of the mind, flight of imagination and life to everyone." Whatever music you listen to, be it aggressive or delicate, classical or modern, slow, pop or rock, trance or house, it is important that we choose whatever is most precious and beautiful in order to be happy when we listen to music.
Leisure Time I think music is important to us because in some situations it helps us more than our best friends. Everything comes down to one phrase " tastes are not to be discussed�. Each human is free to listen to what he wants and to whatever genre, but music should never be forgotten. It is always here for us; even though friends come and go, music is our painkiller .For me music is like a safety pin attached to a broken heart.
Ioana Alexandra Silaghi, 9 A
Leisure Time Q&A with a gamer League of Legends
Gaming - When you first hear or see this word written somewhere among the first thoughts that probably come to your mind are addiction, angry and lonely kids and teenagers who spend a lot of time in their rooms or at Internet Cafés playing on the computer or with a console, who are easily pissed off, frustrated and about to blow up on anyone around them, who eat on the keyboard and not always with the rest of the family at the table and who are, one way or another, antisocial. Oh you could be right, because gaming is a totally different world than reality. It gives the gamer something that reality could hardly give so easily. It’s the adrenaline rush that one gets from playing a certain game and this, guys, is the reason why the gamer has behavior changes. Today, I am going to interview a student and also a friend. Let’s see what an exemplary gamer has to share with us! I: Hi, Daniel! How are you today? D: Heeei! I’m wonderful! Thanks! I: You know that today we are going to talk about one of your favorite topics, right? D: Yes? I mean YES! I: So, tell us something about League of Legends. When was it released and how long have you been playing it? D: LOL was released on the 27th of October, 2009 and I‘ve been playing it for 3 years! I: Wow! That’s quite a lot of time! What is actually this game about? What do you, as a player, have to do? D: LOL can be easily compared to co-chess. The
central objective is the enemy base (Nexus) destruction, through skill and team cooperation. I: Interesting! And how many characters are there? D: There are 127 Champions! I: 127?! I did not expect such an answer! There are so many of them…which one is ’the best’ and what exactly makes it the best? D: Every Champion of the game is 'the best', everything depends on the player’s skill! I: I see! Comparing League of Legends to Dota2 for example, which one is better or more interesting and why? D: In my opinion, Dota2 is the "brain" of all MOBA games,
because of its complexity and mechanics! I: If you say so, then what attracted you to playing LOL? D: LOL is for everyone and has a lot of personality compared to other games. As a LOL player , I’m "in love" with the Champions’ personalities (Teeom). I: Sounds fair...there are 127 different types of personalities. Have you ever wanted to back down on playing LOL and why? D: LOL is a team game, that means that you are dependent on other players and sometimes this can be very annoying because of the "toxic players".
Leisure Time I: How much time do you usually spend on playing LOL? D: I play almost 4 hours per day. I: I can tell that that’s not very much. However, on a scale from one to ten, one being the worst and ten being the best, how good do you think you are? D:7 :D I: You’re pretty good! You still have a lot to learn, I guess, but even so you’re good enough. D: Oh, what can I say…I think I am, yes, I am…Of course I am I’ve been playing for 3 years! Octavia Toader, 11 B
(Nexus)
(Team fighting)
(Destroyed Nexus)
Leisure Time Reading Attachments A book review You know those books that are so romantic and cheesy but you can’t help but love them? Well, this is that book. Attachments, published in 2011, is author’s Rainbow Rowell debut novel. Although Rowell may be more widely known for her young adult books such as Eleanor and Park or Fangirl, but Attachments should not be overlooked.
ing to send each other hilarious messages discussing every aspect of their personal lives. Lincoln knows he should report them, but he’s captivated by them and their conversations are the only entertainment he has during his boring late night hours of work, so he can’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he finds himself falling in love with Beth.
I highly recommend you give Attachments a try. It has an original idea and it’s well written. It is so much more than just a love story, it is a story about self discovery, growing and finding happiness. Having said all that, I’m going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the book: “So, what if, instead of thinking about solving your whole life, you just think about adding additional good things. One at a time. Just let your pile of good things grow.”
The action takes place in 1999, just before the turn of the millennium, giving us major throwbacks; a fine example would be the Y2K. The protagonist of the book is Lincoln. He’s in his late twenties and when he applied to be an “internet security officer” he expected to be building firewalls and crushing hackers. But reality is not always as exciting and words can be deceiving, so now his job is to read people’s e-mails. Beth and Jennifer are two best friends who, even though they know their e-mail is being read, can’t seem to take that seriously, continu-
The characters are portrayed as real people, each with their own imperfections and quirks, making it very easy for the reader to connect with them. During the course of the book each character grows, one of the main themes being personal growth. They’re all round, very well developed characters, which I loved. Having an ordinary and genuinely nice guy as a protagonist was also a nice change from the nowadays overused formula ‘rich womanizer changes after falling in love with a beautiful girl that doesn’t know she’s beauti- Bianca Bundache, 12B ful’.
Leisure Time Time Travellers. A Story I am a time traveler. I was born this way. We are normal people if you ignore the fact that we can literally change history. How do we do that? We don’t actually have a boring long scientific explanation (or at least I don’t know it), but what we do have is some sort of talisman, a necklace shaped like an hourglass. In addition, we have to carry around an old diary which had belonged to another time traveler. There are only ten diaries in the entire world, so obviously there must be only ten time travelers. So I guess I’m lucky. A problem for time travelers has always been the fact that we can fool time but Death eventually gets a way to find us, no matter how long we try to escape it. Once you have the power to play with time, you become greedy, and want more. But as I said, no matter how clever you are, you can’t play “hide n’seek” with Death. Our story begins on September 3, 1940. We find ourselves in the middle of World War II. Ordinary day, I was reading a book when my grandpa entered the room violently. I still remember the look he gave me. I put the book down and sat up while he was approaching me with tears in his bright blue eyes. He stopped two steps in front of me, looking me straight in the eyes. He said “I must go now, you know that. You are ready! You have the talisman and the diary. But before I leave I want you to have this”. He handed me a pair of binoculars. I grabbed them, they were old and rusty. After a moment of silence, he said “You know what you have to do. Turn the hourglass 10 times. And, well, I know that what I gave you might seem useless, but who knows? I had tears in my eyes, I couldn’t help it, “Grandpa, I love you!” “I love you too! Go now!” I looked down at my necklace, grabbed it and turned it 10 times. Before I was gone I looked again at my grandpa, he was crying. Then the only thing I remember is that I woke up in the middle of a crowded street of the 21st century, and I almost got hit by a car.
chosen to go to this period. Oh, well, did I forget to tell you what we are supposed to do? I’m sorry for that! We, time travelers, have to go to a period of time and write what happens to us there. And I got the 21st century. I feel so tempted to write about “technology”, but I can’t. We must focus on human beings. I don’t know why, but I keep having a feeling that everything around me is alive. They have their famous smartphones, which frankly I don’t know how to describe. The smartphones are a peculiar combination between what we used to call “books” and a metal plate. I really don’t see what is so interesting in them. They also have a thing called internet, we used to call that library and imagination. They all seem so lonely looking at those virtual books. When they get together they do not even talk to each other, but they have a great laugh in front of their telephones. I feel pity for them. Yesterday I went to a park, the children weren’t playing and laughing, they were all sitting on benches looking at their phones. Have humans lost humanity?
The streets are always crowded, but nobody seems to pay attention to what the other person is doing. I feel so weird in here, I feel more than invisible, I feel like a machine. I went near the highest building I could find, I went on the roof to see the view. I grabbed the binoculars which my grandpa gave me 40 years ago. I can’t believe I spent my life in this era. I never felt so alone. I made myself a family, I even have a Facebook account. I have a job. I have hundreds of friends on Facebook, I have the latest Smartphone, but guess what? I have no one to call. Still with the binoculars in my hand, tears start to fill my eyes. I am looking at the beautiful sunset. I’m no longer a time traveler, I gave the talisman and diary to the next, young traveler.
Time has passed so fast, and I spent days on my computer and my phone. Those days are long gone, and wasted. I felt like a robot for years, but now I feel alive again. Here, looking at the sunset, with the The first thing I did was try to talk to people, binoculars in my hand, in this moment I feel infinite. but no person wanted to talk to me. Everybody was too busy looking down at some sort of glowing, small Mara Coracioni, 9B book. What’s wrong with them? After a while I got used to the so called “technology”, I got used to the ignorance of people, I got used to everything. But I still wonder why, out of 10 other time travelers, I was
Fun Games2play You’ve been friends for a pretty long time and you both feel like you want to bring something new in your relationship, something to boost it. I’ve been there and I would like to share with you some of my favorite games to play with a mate.
1. 3 seconds thoughts It is a brainstorming game. You guys have to cut small pieces of paper on which you write different words. Then, you fold them and one of you randomly picks one and says the word out loud. Once the word is heard, the other person has 3 seconds to say quickly what are the thoughts that instantly came to his/her mind.
2. Push game This can be played only in pairs. You both have to stay face to face holding your feet and hands as in the picture. You cannot move your feet off the ground and you cannot touch the other person’s body. You can touch only their hands by pushing them. The attempts to bring the other person down by pushing him/her should be fast and repeated.
3. Say anything challenge You’ll need duct tape and at least two more friends. You’ll go turns in circles and each of you has to say one random word until one of you hesitates to say a word or repeats one that was said before by any of you. The ’punishment ’for whoever loses the round or a round would be that one of you must take pieces of duct tape and stick it to his/her face (on eyes, lips etc), or tie his/her hands with it . Octavia Toader, 11B
Fun LOL On the first day of school, the teacher asked a student: - What are your parents' names? The student replied: - My father's name is Laughing and my mother's name is Smiling. The teacher said: - Are you kidding? The student said: - No, Kidding is my brother. I am Joking. Teacher: Timmy, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested? Timmy : A teacher TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America. MARIA: Here it is. TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America? CLASS: Maria. I haven't spoken to my wife for 18 months. Why? I don't want to bother her. Talking to the son-in-law: A;Do you think there is life after death? B;After yours, sure! What does Romania do after winning the World Cup? Turns off the play station and goes to sleep.
Alexandru Tătar, 11 A
Fun
Oana Rus XIB