Voice 1/14

VOICE Volume 9

1 13 2014

Resolutions

School

China Week

AOI

Primary

Arts & Culture

What will you resolve to do this year? How will you change?

The Language Festival, Christmas Parties, and Lively Performances

Powerful memories, mentoring, and makeshift houses

A working experience and special time with the elders

Strolling in story wonderland and an adventure with animals

The Legend of Nian, and Chinese New Year

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Guangdong Country Garden School

Words from the

FOUNDER The most valuable investment is in a child’s education.

As an old Chinese adage goes, “A great wealth in one’s family is not as valuable as a slight skill in one’s hand.” Money will be used up some day, but abilities may enable someone to create an unlimited amount of wealth for lifelong enjoyment.

Another Chinese proverb says, “A family’s wealth seldom continues beyond three generations.” Today, I would take the courage to offer my advice to the successful people: “Success in one’s career alone is not enough. Besides your career achievement, your children must be promising and well mannered. Only in this way can the joys of your family life have substantive meaning. In addition,

S

Country Garden Resort (Luxury Club)

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as head of a household, you can enjoy a peaceful and care-free mind only

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after you have raised your children who have a sound physical health; a noble

Southern Gate

determination, and brilliant wisdom to carry forward your career. The realization Gymnasium

of all these will be impossible without receiving a quality education.

Track & Field

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Contact Information Hill

PHONE

Botani

0086-757-2667-7428 0086-757-2667-7328

Observatory Tower

cal G arden Geolo

Library

gical Park

National Junior High School National Senior High School

International Cafeteria

Science and Technology Center

Lab

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und

National Primary School

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International Building

Play

PYP

Theater

tu d

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e as ers Ov ction Se

IT Center

ADDRESS

Guangdong Country Garden School Beijiao town, Shunde district, Foshan, Guangdong province, China 528312

WEBSITE www.bgy.gd.cn bgy.gd.cn/foreign/index.html

Lecture Hall for MYP and DP

+

Western Toilets!

MAIN GATE

Clinic

Administration Building Kindergarten

EMAIL bgy@bgymail.gd.cn countrygardenvoice@gmail.com

a

VOICE

in the

community

Guangdong Country Garden School (GCGS) has a vibrant and purposeful school community.

GCGS is committed to providing a high quality, affordable international education that represents excellence & quality. We are a selective, coeducational, independent Kindergarten through Year 15 school. You will discover new things, and share your enthusiasm with new friends from all over the world. As an international school located in the South of China, we value and celebrate the rich diversity of the many nationalities, cultures and traditions of all our students and we aim to provide a safe, inclusive and caring environment in which young people can learn to live and work together in a spirit of harmony and mutual respect. Each student is encouraged to play an active role in school life, both in and out of the classroom.

We have a tradition of curriculum development and innovation and are currently one of 150 schools in the world to offer all three programs of the International Baccalaureate, PYP, MYP & DP. The final two years of these programs, taught in grades 11 and 12, lead to the award of the IB Diploma, a qualification recognized and sought after by universities around the world. Our students acquire 21st century skills to enable them to thrive in an increasingly mobile and interdependent world. In addition, we also offer IGCSE, IFY & A-Levels as part of our academic program.

To better serve our students’ learning needs and personal development, we aim to continuously improve the quality of our facilities and the educational programs we offer. We are proud of our school and of the achievements of the members of our school community but we are not complacent. We welcome constructive feedback on how we’re doing because it helps us grow and improve.

GCGS is an inclusive learning community, which inspires International Mindedness, Personal Excellence, and Creative and Critical Thinking. One of the things immediately apparent at GCGS is that we are a community of learners, actively engaged in a wide range of activities requiring diverse skills. Because we are a community much of our learning occurs collaboratively, within and across groups, which may be defined socially or professionally.

This sense of community encourages risk-taking, communication and involvement, regardless of age or role.

You are always welcome to contact us or make an appointment to visit.

David Li Principal of Guangdong Country Garden School

Questions? countrygardenvoice@gmail.com Want to contribute? Have a great idea for the magazine? Email us!

WHAT’S TABLE OF CONTENTS

INSIDE 22 04 06

New Year Resolutions

08

Pre-University Christmas Party

15

China Week: The Best Memory

The 9th Language Festival

28 31

2

Area of Inquiry

CONTENTS

Impress & Touch

Faster and Stronger

VOLUME

9

contents THE SCHOOL

CHINA WEEK

40

44 47

AOI Our Adventures in Animal World

Legend of Nian & Chinese New Year

Meet the Musician: Tchaikovsky

PYP & NATIONAL PRIMARY

ARTS & CULTURE

4 New Year Resolutions 6 The 9th Language Festival 8 Pre-U Christmas Party 9 Kindergarten Christmas 10 Primary Drama Performance 12 The Subject Teacher Speaking Competition 13 What will you do for the Spring Festival?

14 Protect the Natural World 15 China Week - The Best Memory 16 The Days we spent in Makeshift Houses 20 China Week - Teaching in Guangxi 22 AOI - Working Experience 23 An Indelible AOI Week 23 Gain a Stream of Happiness 24 Special Time with the Elders 25 Our Process for the AOI Activity 26 Learning to be a Waitress 26 AOI: Three Words, Three Days 27 AOI Report 27 Working in a Restaurant 28 Impress & Touch 30 AOI Week Journal 31 Proud of Me 31 Faster and Stronger 32 My Trip to Korea 32 Short Story: Dangerous Man 33 Hiking at Ying Xi Feng Lin 33 A Camping Trip 33 The Louvre 34 Year 4 Traveling Posters 34 The “EST” in our Class 34 The Dragon and the Princess 35 Book Report: Little Red Riding Hood 35 The Man and the Woman 35 My Mom 35 The Princess and the Prince 36 Linda and Wendy 37 Year 4 Posters 38 Strolling in Story Wonderland 40 Our Adventure in the Animal World 42 What Color is Autumn?

43 A Visit to Midea 44 The Legend of Nian & Chinese New Year 46 Chinese New Year 47 Meet the Musician: Tchaikovsky 48 The Ark & The City of Paradise Chapter 7 50 Year 9 & 10 Art

CONTENTS

3

year of the horse

HAPPY

1

NEW

2 3

RESOLUTIONS

4

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come,

5

Whispering 'it will be happier'...

- Alfred Tennyson 4

RESOLUTIONS

6 7 8 9 10

New Year Worksheet Idea Make a scrapbook with this information every new year. See how you’ve changed!

My Life 2013 2014 My best friends are...

My best family memory

I want to learn...

My favorite thing to do is...

My best school memory

I want to get better at...

Favorite foods

This year I learned...

I want to visit...

Favorite book

I had a hard time...

I want to try...

Favorite show or movie

My best adventure...

I want to travel to...

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION TIPS FOR STUDENTS

Favorite color

zodiac word search puzzle Improve your grades

S R O H I F V V T Y A K

N V A C I B F B I C L L

A C D T A Z A G G C M P

K C R I E H K A E L O I

E P A F Q U D H R W N G

O Y G R H U W J W Q K X

R H O I O G P Z Q R E Q

E A N T R O M G M D Y D

P S B A S A S U Z O W H

V I O B E T T T W G N X

B T S D I J O X E L E E

L E H F P T C D Z R N X

GET MORE SLEEP

BE MORE HEALTH CONSCIOUS

BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS

LEARN NEW SKILLS

FIND BALANCE

word list

rat rooster goat horse

ox dog dragon tiger

monkey rabbit pig snake

VOLUNTEER

MAKE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

5

The 9th Language Festival a perfect event for 2013

As the last grand festival of our school for the year, the 9th language festival presents the creativity of our students as well as the diversity of our school culture.

A series of activities were launched since the beginning of November, including the calligraphy competition, speech competitions in different sections, subject teacher competitions and so on. The drama show in the school opera house and the culture convention in front of the international canteen were the most eyecatching and worth mentioning.

The drama show of middle school students was enjoyed by over 500 parents and students in the school opera house on Friday, Dec. 6th.

The show for the primary school was held a week later in the same place. A lot of excellent performances were created and presented by students from different sections. Some of them were in Chinese and some were in English.

In some plays, students even designed the props and costumes by themselves. Stories of

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various kinds originated from both Chinese

students, who came up with brilliant ideas and

and English literature, which were brought to

tried every means to demonstrate the culture

the stage by students’ imagination which vividly

they represented. Some of the stands focused

demonstrated the talent and creativity of our

on the typical kinds of food in that culture, while

students. Two classic, world-renowned fairy

others concentrated on landscape and history.

tales; The Little Mermaid and The Little Match

Through various activities, including quizzes,

Girl, were given modern twists in the show.

riddles and picture description competitions,

Despite the typical images, students used their

visitors to the stands learned a lot and ha fun

emotion and language to represent another

through observation and participation.

type of spirit. These two tragic characters in history were turned into symbols of courage and strength. In addition, students from the overseas section made full use of their knowledge of Chinese culture and recreated a classic story from the recent Chinese winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Mo Yan. It was primarily a tragedy but turned into a happy and hilarious story through the students’ performance.

As reported, students taking French and German as foreign languages prepared for the culture display thoroughly and carefully, because they wished to illustrate the food culture of the languages they’re learning and get more people to join their classes. The French students were making a French-style pancake known as a crepe, which was made of butter, milk and flour. Besides, the aroma of the

In the meantime, a feast of global culture was

fresh baked cookies and hot German sausage

conducted in front of the international canteen.

from the German table attracted a lot of

Eight stands representing eight types of

visitors. In a nutshell, the culture express opened

distinctive culture, including Chinese, American,

a window for students, teachers and parents

British, Korean, Spanish, French, German and

of GCGS to the larger world. It was, as it was

the UN, were set up along the school path. All

meant to be, a teeny-tiny global village.

of the preparations were made by passionate

Rachel Li Jia Wen

7

CELEBRATION On Christmas night, there was a Christmas

a contemporary street dance, etc. Two games

while surmounting one difficulty over another

party organized by the Pre-U section which

and plays were added in between the shows

to organize this hugely successful party. All

was held in the new opera house with great

to interact with the students and teachers.

in order to send their best Christmas regards

expectations and applauses.

Humorous hosts played interactive games with

The show was remarkable not only in its

lucky guests and sent out mysterious gifts while

quality, but also because of its unique selling

the short sketch “Thank god you are here” invited

point, which was a battle format that was

one of the most reputed teachers as one of their

carried out between similar performances. A

actors which greatly amused the audiences from

total of eight performances were separated

head to tail throughout the show.

into A and B groups according to their type.

The champion was decided by the loudness of the audience applause. In addition to the competing performances, there were two external groups of students from the MYP section that performed dances. The competing performances were with great variety, including a classical middle aged European waltz and

This successful party was solely organized by “Dream Catcher”, a new performance organization group from the Pre-U section.

The group was established in October with brilliant attributes contributing to its birth.

In a brief period of two months, the crews sacrificed countless amounts of spare time

SCHOOL

members devoted themselves to every trivial detail of the show. The energy of youth allowed them to catch the wings of dreams. Even though not all of the students were actors and may be unnoticeable, they are the true heroes behind the screen and the most sparkling stars in the party.

The party that lasted for more than two hours was almost like a minute in the laughs of audiences. Everyone’s heart was warmed with the best Christmas regards. For now, there is a greater expectation for next year’s Christmas, and of course, a better Christmas party.

DP11 丁泽棋、邓晴岚

PRE-U

8

and presents to their classmates. The crew

KIN DERGARTEN

9

PRIMARY DRAMA PERFORMANCE The students put on fantastic performances all forged under the themes of sharing, communicating and learning. The Primary School Drama performance was the result of rehearsals, dedication and team work. Staged for the purpose of developing healthy attitudes and values toward life and study.

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11

TH E SU BJ ECT TEACH ER

SPEAKING COMPETITION The Subject Teacher Speaking Competition was held during our Language Festival.

Sections of the competition

This year’s competition consisted of three events

Self-introduction

Role Play

that were carefully designed to allow our 11

For one minute, teachers gave a prepared

Contestants were asked to role play as famous

Subject Teacher contestants the chance to

speech as a self-introduction. A lot of our

characters. The role plays were based on well-

present their abilities in spoken English. The

subject teachers are very talented. There was a

known films, plays and television series such

audience that attended were both families and

range of different performances. Some danced

as “Friends”, A Shakespeare’s parody ‘Romeo,

colleagues. Headmaster Linsa and principles

while others sang. All of the contestants made

Hamlet and Juliet’, and the film ‘Harry Potter

David Li, Li Lai Xiang, and Yao Ming also came

this a very memorable experience.

and the Sorcerer’s Stone’. All of the scripts were

to watch the event and support the competitors.

Picture Description (90 seconds) Teachers were presented with a grouping of numbers. Behind one number was a picture they would have to describe for 90 seconds.

These pictures had significant themes found in current day discussions such as; environment, friendship and education.

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adapted to be more entertaining and more relevant to the modern day.

All the teachers that participated this evening did exceptionally well. Out of the 11 contestants; 5 were awarded the Exception prize and 6 were awarded that of First Prize.

WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR THE SPRING FESTIVAL?

We went around the school campus asking students what they will do for the Chinese Spring Festival. Can you guess who these National Senior High section students are?

I’m going to sleep until my mother calls me.

I’m going to have hotpot with my family.

I’m going to do some shopping and decorate my home.

I’m going to study hard and finish all my homework.

I’m going to study and go back to my hometown.

crossword CHINESE NEW YEAR

10 TIPS for speaking english

ACROSS 3. The communical feast surrounding the stove is also referred to as ____.

5. The 15th day of the New Year is the Lantern ____.

7. Chinese New Year starts with the ____ Moon on the first day of the New Year.

8. Every few years an extra ____ is inserted into the calendar.

9. The ____ cycle is about 29.5 days.

DOWN 1. Ancestors are served a ____ on New Year’s Eve.

1. Read an English publication, front to back.

1

2. Buy a pocket dictionary.

2. The communal feast honors past and ____ generations.

4. The communal feast symbolizes family ____.

6. ____ are used for the Chinese Zodiac.

2

3. Use the words you learn in conversation.

4. Form something like a ‘study group’.

5. Talk only in English.

6. Try to start thinking in English.

4 3 6 5 7

7. Pick up at least one English book a month.

8. Watch an English news channel.

8

9. Watch an English movie every week, with the subtitles on.

9

10. Pay attention when listening to conversations in English.

13

Protect the Natural World

ESSAY

People’s lives are becoming more convenient and more comfortable. But, have you noticed all the environmental problems we are facing?

Deforestation

These problems include air pollution, water

Earth”, is becoming smaller and smaller. People

pollution, global warming, and haze. People

are cutting millions of trees to make paper

are afraid to breathe the air in cities and to

and some animals are dying because of it. We

buy foods in fresh markets. Why are these

should plant more trees and use less paper

things happening?

so that we can protect the environment of

As the world population grows, more and more people need houses to live in. So more wood is needed. People cut down trees to build houses and make furniture. For example, the Amazon Rain Forest, “The Lung of the

the forest. Please! Let’s take actions now for

Water pollution

ourselves and for the next generation!

When you walk by the Pearl River now, you

MYP Grade 7 Han Kaixin (Happy)

can see that the water is dirty and there is a lot of rubbish floating in it. The water also smells terrible. This is because there are many factories along the river. They let their waste go into the Pearl River. Also, people who live nearby throw rubbish into it. I think people should realize that their improper behavior has brought so much damage to the river. And the government should punish those factories for their misconduct.

5 tips how to help save the environment

Unplug

Light Bulbs

Carpool

Recycle

Fast Food

Leaving devices plugged

Switch to compact florescent

Organize a carpool for

In many countries, recyling

Avoid fast food. Many of

in, such as laptop chargers

or LED light bulbs. While

work or school. If you live

is taken seriously. They have

these restaurants have

or toasters, can eat up

these cost more, they are

near other parents or

one trash can for bags, one

grazing lands for beef

“phantom” energy. Even

also longer lasting than

students at school you could

for glass, one for cans, one

cattle where rain forest

when an appliance is

conventional light bulbs,

save time and money by

for boxes, one for plastic,

used to be. Plus their

turned off, it may still

and they use only one-

agreeing to drop off or pick

one for paper, even one for

products fill landfills, and

use power.

quarter of the energy.

up kids one day a week.

decomposed food.

they’re unhealthy!

Find more tips at www.wikihow.com/help-save-the-environment

14

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CHINA WEEK

The Best Memory Undoubtedly, China Week has proven to be one of the best memories for us during this period in our Pre-U Section experience.

mountainous area. Due to the inconveniences of transportation the whole town is in a poorer situation than we expected.

With preschool classes to the 2nd grade, the primary school

the local government paid a lot

Before we left, we sat together

has 30 students in total, including

of attention to education. The

with all the children in front a TV

kids from age 3 to age 8, most

problem is that teachers have

and watched the photos we took.

of whose families are in poverty,

no idea how to use them. So our

Looking at all those memories

China Week is a time for us to go

and some whose parents have

job became more difficult as the

flashing by; we hoped this week

outside the school and experience

been separated from them and

teachers became our students.

could last forever…

the life in which we’ve never been

employed as migration workers

familiar with. For our team, we

in the cities. What’s worse, a few

have decided to go to YouFangAo

children have been infected by

primary school in NinShan county,

certain diseases. The facilities

Shan Xi province, which is located

for the school however, are

in the remote part of QinBa; a

comparatively advanced because

We taught the children art and painting. They enjoyed it to a

Jonna 谢园 A-level 11-2

large extent. We had a lot of fun doing that together and we even built an art corner for the school.

Guangdong Country Garden School

15

TUTORIAL TEACHING FOR CHINA WEEK

THE DAYS WE SPENT I It is true that the incidents in our life are what touch us. What happened during the 2013 China Week will remain in our memory forever. By offering help and teaching in Yuxi Primary School in Lushan County, Ya’an, Sichuan, we not only warmed the hearts of the children in the disaster-stricken area, but we also learned something from them.

Unlike our bright classrooms and beautiful school; their temporary shelter classrooms were dark. The tents were being blown, and their playground, which was no more than

16

YAAN. After a busy day, we purchased more

why our school sent us out to organize this

than 1,000 books along with the stationery,

“China Week ”.

which was nearly worth 4,000 RMB. The bookshelves and the computer desks soon arrived at the school the next day. All of us gave each other the brightest smiles after an exhausting “shopping’ experience.

The activity in Yuxi primary school contains two parts. Except for volunteer teaching; we also needed to categorize the goods donated by teachers and students from our school.

We also needed to build a tent library and

200 square meters, was terrible with swirling

On the morning of November 11th, we were

a tent computer room. The most memorable

dust. Those memories are still fresh in our minds.

thrilled to set up our voluntary teaching journey.

effort was that from our whole team. They built

The earthquake destroyed the homes of the

There were lots of ruins on the way. The winding

bookshelves and computer desks together. The

local children who, with their lively spirits,

cracks and gaps were declaring to us the

bookshelves were sent to Yuxi primary school

make us realize what the simplest happiness is.

damage that the earthquake had caused. It

on Monday afternoon, when we accidentally

SICHUAN YAAN “420” earthquakes shocked the

really made us upset. After an hour, we passed

met power failure, the delivery workers had

world; the disaster also affects 1,300,000,000

through dozens of relocation housings for post-

to get back to Chengdu, so our teammates

hearts of the Chinese. Our school sent out

earthquake survivors. Some bunkhouses came

decided to work by themselves. We borrowed

donation initiatives right after the earthquake.

into view. In fact, these houses were where

Philips Screwdrivers by going door to door

Five months later on November 9th, our group

we would spend our five-days. Teachers and

and studied to assemble the bookshelves with

of 12 members, including 10 students, one

student there greeted us passionately and even

pieces of board as well as install computer

teacher and one parent volunteer took on the

had built a tent for our future work. We could

desk drawers. We all did this work for the first

trip to Ya’an. Bringing the best wishes to the

see from their bunkhouses, that they only had

Ya’an, We donated 165,249.6 RMB to Ya’an

chairs and desks with blackboards as their

Lushan Baosheng Yu’xi primary school, which

learning facilities; what was even more

had suffered from a catastrophe caused by the

curious was how grieved we were. The

earthquake. Under the help of the school, 20

fragmentary chairs and desks were not

sets of computers, 100 sets of school uniforms

the same size; there was only a filament

as well as 6 electronic organs and 1 printer

lamp suspended under the celling in

had already been sent to the local department

each classroom. A solitary basketball

of education. Most shops in Lushan County had

stand was standing on the space in

a certain extent of collapse, so we decided

front of the classrooms. Heretofore, we

to take one-hour drive to YANAN and see if

realized the pain which that earthquake

we could use the rest of the 70,000 RMB in

had brought to them. We understood

CHINA WEEK

...continued page 18

N MAKESHIFT HOUSES

Guangdong Country Garden School

17

TUTORIAL TEACHING FOR CHINA WEEK time, but none of us flinched. Together with our efforts in nearly one-day time, pieces of the boards turned into completed bookshelves and computer desks to decorate our tent library and computer room. After ordering over one thousand books by grades and assembling twenty all-in-one PCs, our tent library and computer room was open to the students. It attracted dozens of students to visit and use, looking at what we had done, we can not tell you how much joy filled deep inside our hearts.

On the morning of November 13th, we held a grand donation ceremony, and we decorated our field with colorful flags. Leaders from the county education bureau and center school visited our ceremony and made their speeches.

Watching the kids receiving the goods from us one by one; watching every single student wearing the new school uniform, listening to one call after another saying thank you; we really felt, that at that moment, we were touched by them.

However, the experience of being a teacher was unforgettable. The moment that we stood at the dais, it was sacred. We just wanted to bring all those children more things. The class that we gave to the children in the rural area was not the academic one, but music, psychology, calligraphy, “see the world�, ART

18

CHINA WEEK

and TOK. Actually, we were too young to be the teacher and we did not know any teaching skills, but the way they pronounced “teacher” is what motivated and fulfilled us. We tried our best to let the children know about the world outside the village, and the children used their actions to annotate the old saying in China “The favor of a drop of water when animals are reported”. We can see nothing related to sham, profit or boredom in their eyes but only the eagerness of knowing the outside world. Fu Sitao cried at the instant of leaving. Watching the crooked letter that they wrote, I think it was the best thing that I have ever gained.

On the first day of our China week, we gave classes to the children, visited their homes, tried to cook them meals by the river, blessed people that had suffered from the earthquake by lightening lanterns. It felt like we were back in our childhood, innocent, pure, laughing and crying without scruple. We will never forget every subtle movements, whistles, or unique particulars, especially the heart-shaped stone Fu Sitao had polished for us. These will all become the most unforgettable memories of our lifetime. Do remember, the arrangement with the kids to meet in two years.

By Yang Yi (DP11-1)

Guangdong Country Garden School

19

Teaching & learning in Guangxi

China

Week

DURING We arrived at Beihai, Guangxi (our destination) one day before the actual teaching commenced.

That night we had our final meeting

PREPARING

on the materials to teach; this included Korean, English, Math, Music, Physical Education, etc. Our

During the preparation for the week, we had 3 official meetings and numerous discussions through ‘We Chat’.

decided to teach a wide range of subjects and instead of just delivering our teaching materials

Through the meetings, we had shared

Other than teaching, our team had another goal to build a mini library for the students on the

thoughts on where to go, setup common goals,

last two days. Since the students were living in a remote area, faraway from downtown; they had

arranging teams for teaching different grades

a limited access to books to read. To provide them with an optimum environment for education

and adjusted our budget on reserve funds.

we ordered before hand, three knocked-down bookshelves and a variety of English and Chinese

ultimate goal was to succeed at teaching in both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Thus we arbitrarily; we agreed on inducing as much participation and interaction from the students through playing review games and having class discussions.

novels. We decorated a small abandoned storage in the middle of the school into a mini library.

Looking back, thinking of how close we got with the kids at the school; we could assess our work affirmatively for the most part because this reflects the fact that we were fruitful on encouraging participation and interaction during classes.

Nonetheless, our team was not a complete exception of conflict. The conflict our team had was about some of our teammates not being on time in the morning. Being on time is fundamental in social life because if you are not, you are wasting the time of others and it had to be emphasized even more during China Week, because we were obliged to take responsibility of more than 100 students’ and their class-time. So to prevent wasting hundreds of people’s time our team got together to help each other get up by making calls through hotel interphones and setting alarms.

Consequently, departing times got earlier as days passed but we could always be on time at the school for class.

RETURN While we were in the middle of China Week, everything was so exotic and sweet.

We all thought that our first and last China Week will be a cherished memory for us all. This turned out to be true but after our final meeting right after China Week we figured out that it didn’t just end up as a mere part of our memory. Instead, it influenced us immensely to change our views and attitudes in real life. Below are the main points raised at our meeting about our personal changes that occurred during China Week.

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CHINA WEEK

2

1

PREJUDICE

Broader understanding about the meaning of

3

DIFFERENCE

regions thus we learned about rural areas only

SERVICE

through books and had shallow understandings

When we think of volunteer activity, in most cases

in cultural and ethnic backgrounds doesn’t matter

about the lives of rural residents, which made us

we think of the people from World Vision, Green

Our team consisted of 6 Koreans and 6 Chinese,

make hasty judgments about rural life. Initially we

Peace or Red Cross taking care of Africans who

all born and raised in different environments.

thought that the level and desire for education

are in critical status. However, from China Week

The students at Beihai and our team had

had a huge gap between urban and rural.

we learned that meaningful service doesn’t

large disparities in living standards, level of

Currently, the level of education actually has a

always have to be done in places 12 hours

education, hygiene, etc. Nevertheless, despite

gap but never the aspiration for higher level of

away. It can be done within your country, within

such differences that made us all distinct from

education. Rural students’ have potential in their

your city, in your town, in your neighborhood

each other, all of us got together extremely well

learning abilities. The only difference between

and practically anywhere if you have the desire

during China Week, taking pictures together,

us and them was the environment we were born.

to do it.

sharing stories and running around as if we

about rural residents

Most of us were born and raised in urban

We were lucky enough to have wealthy parents

were all back in kindergarten. Through this

whom are capable of financially supporting us.

experience, we learned that even with all the

Since we have been blessed with this luck for

differences in background; it doesn’t matter

almost 20 years; it was about time to share this

when human beings treat each other as a whole

luck with others who are in need of some and

being, with love and concern. Everyone has the

China Week was an excellent chance to put this

right to be respected no matter what.

desire into action.

Jalex Chen (11-2), Sue Kim (11-4), Sally Lee (11-4), Irene Kim (11-4), Leo Lee (11-2), Matteo Tang (11-2), Patrick Cao (11-4), Calvin Lee(11-2), Joshua Kim(112), Manny Lin(11-2), Ben Yi(11-2), Uki Yuan(11-3)

Guangdong Country Garden School

21

Working

Experience

assorted and delicate. All of those buckles

Nevertheless, except the appearance of my

looked shinny under the light and they had

collar, I felt great because I could sew now and

different patterns on them. For instance, there

I had tried to design something for the first time.

was one that I remembered clearly which

It was an awesome day.

had an eagle on it. It seemed so remarkable and shocking. The eagle seemed real and the whole buckle looked upscale. After that, we moved to the manufacturing plant to check out how the buckles were being produced. We stepped closely to the manager so that we could acquire the information clearly. All of us were very concentrated and I had been taking down some notes continuously. At the end, after the whole visit, the manager said that he could let us work on some easy jobs. I chose a job which task was to put complete-buckles into the boxes in order. It was not that smooth at the

This year, we went together with Class 8, Grade 10 and our overall aim was to experience real working life in three different factories. Before the departure, we had our tasks prepared and we were divided into several different teams in order to experience different positions. Despite each of us having our individual responsibilities; we took this opportunity for the same goal, working in factories to observe and learn from real life.

22

the last factory which produced shoe soles and heels. First, we visited the designing department of the factory and saw different raw materials and models. Then, we moved to the manufacturing plant to see how the products were being produced. We had tried some of the jobs and the work was easier and simpler than the last two factories, however, we needed to focus and make efforts. Our work was really were appreciated by the workers and also the manager. We were all delighted.

beginning, I didn’t put them in order and I almost

This AOI Week was very relaxing and I did

destroyed the box! Nevertheless, I learned from

learn something from it. I could stay with

my mistakes and I succeed in the second round.

friends during the three-day journey and we

I felt a strong sense of achievement at the end

took photos together and had fun. On the

when we left the company.

other hand, as one of the team leaders in the

On the second day of the AOI Week, we visited a factory where we produced fashion clothes in Guangzhou. We had a lecture before we started our work which was operated by the human resources manager of that factory. The lecture was really encouraging and it included our occupational choices in the future and something useful in our life. Our task this time was to design our own collar by using some beads and decorations. To do this,

In November, we started

we needed to sew. It was a tragedy for me

our three-day journey.

because since I was born, I haven’t touched a

After an hour of driving;

needle or a thread at anytime and I was not

we arrived at the first factory which produces

good at sewing at all! The process was very

luxury buckles and sells to foreign customers.

challenging for me, but I still tried very hard

Firstly, the manager took us to a large exhibition

and overcame the difficulties. I finally finished

room which really amazed me. I haven’t seen

my collar with the help of the manager. It didn’t

most of those buckles ever in my life. They were

look very nice or beautiful, and it was simple.

AOI WEEK

On the last day of the AOI Week we visited

class, I suppose that I have done well in team working. When something suddenly happened; I would help my team members to solve it. Also, I helped in the canteen during the lunch time in the factories and I must admit that sometimes it was embarrassing but I just let it go. It was not actually a big deal, was it? Anyway, I felt happy to help others. I enjoyed the AOI Week very much, not only because it could released pressure from my school life, but also I was able to learn something from it. The team work, the lecture, the occupation, the experience; all of these made me closer to life. It was an opportunity for me to know the society.

Actually, each of us tried our best to overcome the difficulties and reach the same aim together and we finally succeed, it was the meaningful, wasn’t it? 蓝雨田 Tina MYP 10(5)

In addition to the lessons, we visited their

An indelible aoi week

homes and had dinner with them. They were

During AOI week we went to Shaoguan and had an unforgettable experience.

so warm-hearted and enthusiastic. Even though

Our main theme was “Job Experience”, and we

they were so nice and generous to the guests

volunteered as teachers in HuangKeng Primary

and so concerned about their neighbors.

School. Our task was to teach the children how to

They have imprinted their pure personality,

the food wasn’t abundant, we still enjoyed the dinner so much. Although they were not rich,

fold flying paper cranes. At first, they all listened carefully and behaved

friendliness and optimism on our heart and influenced us.

well, but after a couple of minutes, problems occurred. Some children were too active to be controlled. They didn’t follow our instructions and

Last but not least, through this experience of being a teacher, I have

started to fold by themselves, which was totally wrong. It took a long

learned so much, such as how to communicate with the younger children

time to correct their mistakes. Their overacting was a hard nut to crack

and to be a true and caring person. Those touching moments and

for us. We still finished folding the paper cranes on time and brought

indelible memories are going to linger in our heart forever.

By: 林颍轩 Lynn MYP 10(11)

happiness to them. I felt so satisfied seeing their pure and natural smiles.

prepared some games, performances and activities for them. We had visited some poor families and gave them some necessities. We also

Gain a

went to the clinic station and helped them work.

During this AOI week, we learned a lot. We

Stream of

learned how to take care of the disabled,

Happiness

clinic stations work. We even met an active

how to be a good volunteer and how the

“I am so tired!” I said.

“So am I, but I am happy.” my friend said.

“Yeah, I have never been so happy.” I agreed.

trainees in the little room. All the trainees there

Well, what was it that made us so tired but

about when we got there was seeing that

happy? Volunteer work! Let us say together:

the disabled people we worked with wore

“Service the community, fulfill our life!”

happiness on their faces. That left us, who had

The students from Class One, Grade Ten went out to experience the volunteering life at Panyu Kangyuan Clinic Station during the AOI week.

In fact, it was not the first time we partook in

were disabled; it was volunteers’ jobs to help them to recover, develop new skills and step back into society. The most noticeable thing

sympathized with them, very astonished. It was amazing to see their optimism. It was an inspiring experience, which is why we wanted to volunteer again!

this kind of activity. The first time we took part

We were caught off guard the first time

in volunteering activities was during early

because we weren’t sure what to expect.

autumn. On a sunny fall day, 17 of us, with Mr

However, this time during AOI week, we were

Jiang, went to the clinic station is Shiqiao. We

fully prepared. We were more patient and

arrived and walked through a small door. We

driven this time. We went to Dafu Mountain

were greeted by warm applause from the

to have a trip with the trainees. We had also

volunteer who was crippled himself. However, the most precious thing we got was the smile on the trainees’ faces. We can easily see the happiness in them. We played happily together and never even noticed any difference between us. We know that in our society there is still prejudice towards them. But they are all people with good hearts; they don’t want to harm anything or anybody. I couldn’t forget that a trainee held my hand and wouldn’t let go.

She looked at us and smiled gladly. I believe the only thing they need is love from society.

Besides, if we give them our love, it returns a rewarding feeling of happiness that we may not otherwise feel in life.

So, what are you waiting for? Join us to be a volunteer! (If you want to join us, you can contact Sally Huang in Class 1 Year 10, her Wechat is: HUANG_Leyao. Thank you for your participation!)

By: MYP 10(1) 马文君Angel

23

Recently, our class visited a community center for the elders and an aluminum factory for an AOI week.

When it was time to communicate with the

something again and we moved on to another

elders, my friend Legina (She’s also Korean) and

topic. The Granny told us that the grandpa

I chose to water the plants because this task

wanted to know about Korean industry. I

didn’t require us to speak in Chinese. After we

paused because I was not sure how I should

finished our task, our Chinese friend Rebecca

put my thought into words. Luckily, they began

met us and invited us to her conversation

to talk about the relationship between China

with two elders who were a couple. Without

and Korea. After a hot discussion about Korea,

It was on the first day that our class visited the

doubt, we began to get nervous but somehow

we offered to massage the elders. When the

community centre. When I arrived at the center,

managed to sit down. Rebecca told the

granny told me that she was feeling much

I was quite surprised by how well the center

couple that we were Korean. The grandpa

better, I felt that my time with the two elders

was organized. From my perspective, the place

said something in Cantonese that I obviously

was worthwhile.

seemed to be a suitable place for the elders

couldn’t understand. Then the granny translated

in regards to safety, sanitation and coziness. I

his words into mandarin. The grandpa wanted

felt better thinking that the elders were being

us to read a Chinese newspaper article aloud.

looked after in a proper environment. However,

It was impossible to turn down his request

this thought didn’t last long as another crucial

because the two elders both appeared to be

thought came to my mind: I would have to

interested in us and possibly our Chinese level.

communicate with some elders in Chinese soon.

As I held the newspaper, I felt like I was taking

It’s a big thing for me because I’m always self-

an exam. I read aloud a few sentences, asking

conscious and most importantly, I cannot speak

Rebecca for help when I did not recognize

Chinese well (I’m Korean).

some characters. Soon, the grandpa said

Among the various activities I have done, I would like to share my experience at the community center for the elders.

24

AOI WEEK

As a student studying abroad, I do not get a chance to meet my grandparents often. Visiting the community center is an opportunity for me to think of my grandparents, to think what they mean to me and that I should thank those for what they have done for me. Although I did not expect this AOI to be memorable, it turned out to be special after all.

By 金宣佑 Sally MYP 10(2)

OUR PROCESS FOR the AOI ACTIVITY

good; it even let us feel headache. However it

column, with color pen graffito and scribbled on

Our team prepared for the AOI activity by discussing what materials to use for teaching, what activities we would have for poverty alleviation and what the most efficient questionnaire investigation for Danxia Mountain would be.

also illustrated their ability to be promoted and

the white paper. When we asked her if she was

our shoulders had more invisible responsibilities.

drawing, we found that just like the Cheshire cat,

Our group felt much pressure about the teaching

she didn’t talk. Classmates were repelled by this,

in the day after tomorrow.

but we wanted to help. We patiently explained

We discussed how to develop our teaching

slogan for Danxia Mountain. At first we looked

courses and what unexpected incidents could

at the people around us, everyone was very shy

happen. Everything was the subject of deep

and all dared not to interview. But as more and

discussion and research; finally it all developed

more partners were bold enough to step up the

into an elaborate plan for AOI.

pace to the crowd; we went to a fast-food shop

On November 19, we finally ushered in the longawaited AOI weeks. After more than four hours; we finally arrived at the destination, Renhua, Shaoguan. After we put our luggage in the hotel; we set out for Renhua Huang Keng elementary school where we finally felt the strong contrast of our lives. We finally saw our happier lives,

The next day we went to the Danxia Mountain.

Our task was not to see the scenery, but to do a questionnaire in order to make an advertisement

to do an interview with visitors who were having breakfast. Everything went really well. Later at the entrance of Danxia Mountain, however, we met a group of people who showed an evil phase to refuse our interview which made us frustrated, but it also benefited us to receive this refusal. It exercised our ability to work under pressure.

our requirements to her, and guided her how to paint. Eventually she willingly drew a picture, which made us feel deeply happy. As a teacher, we needed to make more efforts and be more patient for a particular student. The last music class went smoothly. We taught them a simple rhyme "worm fly". They quickly learned. Near the end of the class, we used mobile phones to record their song, which left a deep memory. We spent the whole class on the playground for the children to learn a dance. We jumped more than four or five times and finally jumped at a satisfactory result.

At that time the playground was full of students.

We borrowed a stereo from the school and played in a louder accompaniment in a class with three teachers in the middle. It was such a good

richer teaching resources and better learning

The third day was the last of the AOI activities.

memory; we'll never forget that moment with our

conditions. On the contrary, the students here had

It was the first time for us to be teachers. Looking

children or our smiles on their faces. The setting

a different life; they had to study hard in a primitive

at the young innocent faces of the little children;

sun was infinite good, just near evening.

environment. But what we saw from their eyes

our pressure surged. We taught art lessons firstly

was hope for the future, persistence, striving and

in the theme of "hometown of summer", asking

determination on study. We soon got familiar with

them to make other people get a look at his

the children through a class game. Those grade

own painting in the summer. In this lesson we

two students didn’t understand us sometimes and

met a student sitting in the last row, who took an

was not well-disciplined, sometimes even hard to

eraser from other students without permission

control. All of this made the first contact not so

which led to dissatisfaction. She sat in a single

Although several weeks passed, we still felt a lot. We must have changed, perhaps matured, perhaps gained depth, maybe even have more knowledge of life. We have experience and make the future surer, because of our own precipitation and confidence. 班 李翰峰 Jimmy 10-10

We must have changed, perhaps matured, perhaps gained depth, and have more knowledge of life.

25

Being an apprentice, I missed some important

Learning

elements and made the guests impatient sometimes. One of my biggest problems was the fact that I couldn’t speak Cantonese, which made it so I couldn’t understand my guests’

to be a

orders. So I needed to ask them to keep

waitress

I realized the real society from a small angle.

repeating every time and I felt so embarrassed.

From this memorable AOI week, I learned a lot of things that could never be taught at school.

I saw what wealthy people’s daily lives were like. We are now just tender shoots protected by our parents and teachers; however, we eventually there will be a day when we My main responsibility was to in charge of

difficult to serve and satisfy at the same time.

By 苏晏柔 Anita Su 10(3) Tutor: 刘晓 May Liu

AOI: Three Words, Three Days

the whole electrolysis process was interesting

good use of the opportunities to ask questions

but dangerous because of the acidic salt that

to the manager for more details about the

It is a rare opportunity to experience different facets of life during AOI week.

We need to cherish it. Broadening of our horizons occurred on the first day.

could spill off and hurt the people around it.

occupation and how she went through this. It

We had lunch in a restaurant of their office staff

was unfortunate. After we finished the meal,

which I felt the taste of a career. It was true.

we began designing our own collar. That was

The route of our class was not as long as others.

The first factory was Jnsheng Metal in Xianghe street in Dongguan, which focuses on making the belt buckle; thousands of different kinds of belt buckles. From the mold room to the polishing room, everyone was busy whether they were the workers or the head who was careful in explaining the pictures to us or the students that were taking notes. At that time our group was seizing every opportunity to try different positions on the production line. Some positions were things like; classification, rubbed edge material and the hole punching, color, packaging , etc. To understand the production of belt buckles is not easy. The producer must put a lot of effort in it and stay focused. After Jnsheng Metal we visited the actual electrolysis plant; a place I have seen once before in a book. After I went out there, it made me think

26

will have to face the complicated world by

My last AOI week was spent in an extremely luxurious restaurant in Jiangmen.

I experienced how to be a waitress, which was a very challenging job to complete.

AOI WEEK

a room service, serving teas for guests and listening to their orders. The guests there were mostly very rich and posted. They were very

The next day we came to Qianhui Clothing Design Company, located in an office building that was a part of their facilities . Our schedule there began in the conference room of a meeting called “new employee orientation into the workplace • Recognize occupation” which made me feel the personnel manager was really professional. She also loved her work and her company . I began to feel more love for their profession. This kind of thing can become a power struggle of those whom will have a few inspirational stories, it was

ourselves. I really experienced a lot from this AOI week.

a great experience. I could proudly say that I finally learned to tie a knot and actually sew something. On the Last day, we went to the Happy Shoe Factory and got a fundamental understanding of how the sole of the shoe is not as simple to produce; from design to production. From the raw material selection to the finished product. The customer is a very important position that has favorable development that can also help the decline. I felt very happy that master Long helped me complete a sole edition which was nice.

important that she mentions “ your attitude

Think about it, AOI, Area of interaction. It’s

determines the level of your career , “”the boss

the last time we can go out together in this

can not stop you for the efforts made in the

way. Unfortunate but happily; I got a lot of

future , and therefore no one can deprive you

new experiences. I had the opportunity and

of your physical and mental achievements, “

thought of my own future. Thanks to the other

that moved me for a while , moreover I had

students; I couldn’t have received a wonderful

my own ideas and decided to concentrate

experience of occupation without our

on what I ought to do more firmly. I also

cooperation, thank you.

regretted though, that I did not make very

Jimmyjoe class 8

AOI REPORT Our destination was an old folks’ house and Guangcheng Aluminum Factory in Sanshui, Guangdong province.

her because of her enthusiasm. As a Chinese

On the first day, we went to “Yile Garden”,

a ‘mission’ to welcome a new roommate. So I

which was an old folks’ house and we served

helped her clean up the bedroom. I thought she

as volunteers. Yile Garden consists of four

was a wise lady of great agility even though

blocks, each of which has varied utility rooms

she was at the age of 80.

on a different story. There was a treatment clinic and activity rooms on the first floor and the second floor was for disable people. On arrival, we were taught to operate a wheel chair. This was the first time that I learned that there were so many DOS and DON’TS when using the wheel chair. We should take care of the passengers. This was a fact that raised

teacher she had been teaching in a middle school for nearly 60 years. We talked a lot until assembling time. She told me that she had

On the last two days of AOI week we visited Guangcheng Aluminum Factory. We understood how aluminum was manufactured.

Aluminum is a soft metal and it can be used for decorating and making spare parts. Aluminum oxide could cover metals’ surface in order to prevent corrosion.

my adoration for professional nurses. I spent

I think it was the first day we visited the old

alone and some of them were disable or even

the whole morning on assisting the elderly,

folks’ home that taught me a REAL lesson. From

paralyzed, however, most of them were very

specifically talking with one old lady. At that

the older people; I understood there was a

optimistic and kind. They tried to enjoy everyday

time I was walking past her room and she

crowd of old people who were sent into that

life. That’s what I saw from them when they were

invited me in. She gave me a piece of biscuit

old folks’ house. At first sight, an idea of ‘being

enjoying the afternoon activities.

and told me where she bought that, without

abandoned’ occurred to me, but after visiting

any boggle, I entered her room and talk to

and talking I realized I was wrong. They were

By 廖珮琳 Catelyn Liao MYP 10-7 Tutor 戴建军 Daniel

WORKING IN A

RESTAURANT Our AOI week is always the most popular event of our school because we can leave to enjoy an educational journey. Our class went to Jiangmen to have the experience of being a worker in a Chinese restaurant.

Twenty three of us started our journey with joy. we soon arrived at our destination. The manager of that restaurant arranged us into two main groups. He arranged half of us to work in the kitchen and the other half to serve the customers. The workload was not heavy because those employee had done a lot of the tough work and left the easy work to us. We’ve learned a lot during those days, including some basic knowledge of the difference of tableware; how to infuse tea and how to serve dishes politely. We discussed the work in our

free time and we were quite excited about it.

but we regretted that AOI week had to end.

The AOI week lasted for only three days. We

I’m very much looking forward to the next

finished our internship sooner than expected.

school trip!

We were glad that we could go back to school;

Jessica Chow 周紫岚

27

ensamble of Zheng’s piano and so on. Also, the most critical part of the whole show was the choir by all the students singing a song named ‘Touch’. We aimed to touch and

Before the AOI week we were told to solicit contributions to help the residents in rural areas.

In the past, whenever we were talking about donations, we always thought of donating our pocket money or taking money from our parents, but this was different.

We were going to do something special and worthwhile – hold a charity show.

It seemed to be a complicated job for us because there was a lot of things to do to organize such a big show, and we are unsure of how much money we could actually raise. Still, we persisted to do it – because we are the MYP certificate class. We started to prepare for the charity event both busily and intensely. We wrote proposals and presented the idea to our dear homeroom teacher and the director of the MYP certificate class. We also found our music teacher to help train our performances.

28

AOI WEEK

impress others; to help the poor in the rural areas. Finally, our show ended with a successful close. We ended up raising over 12000RMB within only a weekend. The result reflects how well we did and also how many enthusiastic people there are in this society that are willing to help others. We used the funds to buy a lot of contribution for the students and local people in the area.

Along with the abundant contributions and the great success of the charity show, we started our AOI trip to Chaoshun Puning, a considerably behind place in Guangdong province. In the first day we went to a leprosy recovery village. When we first saw them we were all startled because most of them were disabled due to the disease, but afterwards we comprehended more about their daily life and we felt very sorry for them.

They’re having such a hard time that the subsidies from the government are too little for them. Apparently it’s not enough for daily life. Fortunately enough, there are some

Everyone participated in the show and even our teachers

warm-hearted people always coming to the village to help

and parents were coming by to give us great support

them. We gave them a cotton quilt and we wished them a

and assistance. The show was also very enjoyable. We

warm winter. Supposedly there is also a doctor that can

had band shows, dancing, singing, talk shows and and an

cure leprosy but unfortunately he also caught the disease

during his therapy. He still persists to cure his patients though.

and sat down, had some sweet potatoes, chicken wings,

He only accepts really low payments for his therapy! He’s

fried fish, rice and some sodas. We ate, we chatted, we

already quite old, but he’s still working. That’s how great he is!

played and had fun.

The next day we went to the Sanfung primary school to give

In an evening ; the whole grade 9 gathered together to

support education to the under privilaged. We arrived at

present what they’ve done during the events. Every class

the school early and while we arrived, they already lined up

had done a great job and their work was really wonderful.

straight. We stood opposite them messily and noisily. After

One of the most amazing parts of the evenings however

the donating ceremony, we got into groups and went to

was from our class. Our presentation was different from

differently classes to start our support education. Firstly we

others. We first sang a song which was composed by one

played some simple games like ‘London Bridge’ and ‘hide

of our talented students – Albert. Then we made a video

and seek’ to make them feel relaxed. We also went to some

about what we’ve done. I think this drew a great conclusion

local families to interview them about their living situations.

to our AOI week. One could feel that we’ve really made a

Most of the pupils there were left-behind kids. After lunch

great success. I want to say thanks to everyone in our class.

we taught them lessons like Math, English, Art, Music, P.E

I’m thankful for all of our participation. Without any one of

and so on. It gave us a great experience; like being a

us, we couldn’t have been successful like we were this time.

teacher on a mountain. We felt so happy about it. We did think it was tiring but it was very much worthwhile.

Time seems to go by so fast. The

help others.

AOI trip has since come to an

On the last day, we went to a citrus farm to help peel off the

end and we are now back at

paper that was stuck on the oranges. Even though we were

school. We played, we chatted,

not really very skilled at doing farm work; we took it very

we sang. Now however, we

seriously. Overall we did it pretty well. After working, we

have the opportunity to cherish

felt really tired and we decided to pick some oranges and

the memories and the happiness

taste it for ourselves. It tasted so sweet and cool. It was very

among us.

relaxing. For lunch, we didn’t go to a restaurant but we had

There are many enthusiastic people in this society willing to

By Jasper Wong 黄驌 MYP 9-2

something like a picnic instead. We bought some little chairs

29

AOI WEEK JOURNAL

5 AREAS OF INTERACTION

DAY 1 This year we went to QingYuan to have a teaching program.

Many areas in China are poor, and some children can’t go to school because they

don’t have enough money. So this year we planned to go to some poor areas to teach.

We decided to go to QingYuan. We went with class 4. We taught them seven subjects. We had seven groups and each group taught one subject. Before AOI week, we bought some books and colored pens for them.

We arrived in QingYuan and after lunch we went to the school. First, we had a welcome party, and after the party, we had a class for them. After having class, we went to our hotel and had dinner at 6:30. At 8:00, we went to our team leader’s room to have discussion and talk about our plan.

1

Approaches to learning (ATL) encourages students to take

increasing responsibility for their learning, to question and evaluate information critically, and to seek out and explore the links between subjects. Learning how to learn and how to evaluate information critically is as important as the content of the subject disciplines themselves.

2

DAY 2

DAY 3

We got up at 6:50.

After breakfast, we went to

Time always passes so fast.

It’s the last day of AOI week

school. They have morning reading so we took

and after lunch we’ll go back to school. We just

a storybook and taught them how to read. I

need to have 1 lesson today. After our class,

taught the children in grade 1 and I thought

we will choose some students and have a show.

the storybook was difficult for them but they still

After having AOI week I realize we should

read along with me. After that we had class in

always help other people. Many people don’t

grade 3, and we discovered that we had too

have TV’s or computers. They need our help so

much time so we played some games in the

we should help them!

class. Grade 1 and 2’s students were naughty

Betty (Liang Xiao Jing) – Grade 7EE

and we told them not to speak to others in

Community and service

class but they didn’t listen, so we went outside

encourages students to become

and played games for the rest of the class. The

aware of their roles and responsibilities

weather was not good today. It rained all day

as members of communities. All MYP

and we had 6 lessons so the teachers said we

students are required to become involved

could go back to the hotel early.

with their communities—an involvement that benefits both parties.

3

Health and social education encourages students to explore

personal, physical and societal issues and to develop respect for body and mind.

4

Environments encourages students to become aware of their

interdependence with the world and to develop responsibility and positive attitudes toward their environments.

5

Human ingenuity encourages students to examine and reflect on

the ingenious ways in which humans think, create and initiate change.

-MYP: From principles to practice 2008 – International Baccalaureate – Page 14

30

AOI WEEK

1

SPORTS Crossword

ACROSS

3 2

2. You kick a black and white ball.

4. You need a racket and a net.

5. You throw the ball into a basket.

4

DOWN 1. A sport you play in an ice rink.

3. You need a glove and a bat. 5 6. A winter sport.

6

SPORTS FESTIVAL

Proud of me

When the 9th sports festival came to a close, children gathered in the sports field in the morning.

won a lot of prizes. My daughter was very

We will begin with the closing ceremony. The

physical exercise. I wish our sports festival could

student representatives gave a speech on the

be even better! Wish children in our school

ninth sports festival and concluded that the

could be healthier and happier!

students’ had an excellent performance these passed two days. After that, the awards list was accented with cheers. Representatives from the winning classes received prizes from school leaders. The ninth sports festival ended successfully after its two days of activities.

happy and so was I. I think such games not only help families build a closer relationship, but also let us understand the importance of

——Mother of Linda from Class 1, Grade 5 in National Primary School

“My daughter Sally won the first prize of the girls’ softball match in this ninth sports festival.

Actually I was quite surprised at such great results. My daughter used to be a weak,

The parents-child campaign was opened at

thin girl when she first came to Guangdong

1:30 in that afternoon. A lot of interesting

Country Garden School two years ago.

games were prepared for children and

During these two years, teachers have made

their parents. The 400-meter playground

great efforts to help my daughter strengthen

witnessed the happiness of lots of children and

her physique: they organized exercises every

parents. They were attending different kinds

morning, they gave different sports classes and

of fun games like mini-golf, a relay game, little

also they organized lots of after class activities.

footballer and many other games like that.

I am very proud of my child and very thankful

Some of the parents’ feedback:

to all the teachers!”

“I played many interesting games with my daughter and we cooperated quite well; we

-Father of Sally from Class 3, Grade 5 in National Primary School Reporter: Emma 陈静静

Faster and Stronger It was a special time, on that clear and

of youth burst out in all corners of the games.

refreshing autumn day. We got together

During the opening ceremony of the primary

happily to celebrate the opening ceremony

section, the student chief commander Hugo

of our 9th annual Sports Festival on our sports

made a speech hoping all the athletes can

field. The Sports Festival is a large scale

carry out the Olympic Spirits, obey the judges,

activity. It’s a review of the appearance of

respect the opponents and enjoy the wonderful

the schools’ ethos as well as an exhibition of

weather and welcome the committee members.

students’ overall abilities, sporting performance

Finally, we wish the sports festival great success,

and talents. It’s an opportunity to challenge

and help us become faster and stronger.

ourselves and an opportunity to let the vitality

韦艺丽，Linda

31

I went to Korea recently. I went with friends and teachers to Huarang school and had lessons with their students.

In the evening I stayed with a homestay family.

I think Korean people are very kind because they took me to the Hanjiang River and Nanshan Tower. The Hanjiang River is very beautiful. I went to many famous places in Korea such as Lotte World, KBS Channel, Jingfu palace and the blue house. The Lotte World

My Trip to Korea

is very fun. Also, I think Korean food is very delicious, but it is very hot. I like Korea a lot. I think this national holiday was a happy holiday!

Wendy

short story Dangerous man

Long long ago, there was a man. He was bad,

He killed many people, so people called him

But the man had long ears, so when he heard

he wanted every people die, and then he can

“Dangerous Man”.

someone who called him “Dangerous Man”, he

be the King.

will eat him.

His soldiers were very afraid of him, and

Everyone in the world was dead except the

they hate him very much. But they cannot say

King. So the man wanted to kill the King.

He was ready to kill the King.

it, because they will die if Dangerous Man knows it.

He took out his knife!

At that moment, Leo came and caught the bad man. Then all the dead people were alive again.

32

PYP

After that, no one see “Dangerous Man” again.

By Leo 龙泽宇, PYP C5Y3 Tutor: Nikki 廖文君

A Camping Trip

HIKING

Ying Xi Feng Lin On one Saturday morning, we went to Ying Xi Feng Lin to hike. I like to hike in big groups because we need team work and it makes me feel safe. I also enjoy collecting plants and playing with my brother and other people. I

One day, I had an idea to go camping.

The campsite was the lake. Mother put some cakes, mushrooms and apple juice in the bag. My father bought two tents, six pillows and two big cans of orange juice. Grandma took some medicine.

Grandpa took many fire woods.

love walking on little paths like mazes. It’s fun!

The place was very beautiful and calming. It

The next day, we drove to the lake.

was a wonderful hike!!

Dad put up the tent. Mum cooked the

Sunny 杨阳 from PYP Class 1 Year 3

The Louvre

A Museum in Paris

mushrooms. Sister and I went swimming.

Grandma and grandpa walked to the grass and enjoyed the fresh air.

“Lunch time!” mum called. We ran to

Look at this building. It’s called, the Louvre

the grass and enjoyed our lunch. It was

Museum. It is very famous in Paris, France.

yummy. Sister said that she loved to

It is one of the greatest buildings in the world.

eat cakes because it was a chocolate

I don’t know the name of its designer, but I

cake. She likes chocolate but I like to eat

bet that this is one of the greatest architects. It

cheese. At night, we sat under the sky

opened on August 10, 1793, and it closed from

and looked at the stars in the sky. They

1796 until 1801 because of some problems

were so beautiful. It’s 9:00pm. Sister and I

with the building.

had to go to sleep.

Louvre Museum is one of the landmarks of

The next day, we ate mushrooms and

Paris. There are 3 very important art works

drank apple juice. We packed everything

inside it. They are the greatest treasures, they

in the car. It was time to go.

are the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa.

This is Louvre Museum.

I like to go camping because camping is wonderful!

(Sam 肖涵 from C4, Y4, PYP)

Cara 梅璟茹晖 from PYP Class 1 Year 5

(Tutor Thomas 黄勇泉 )

Tutor: Sue 张淑梅

GREATEST TREASURES Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa

33

Year 4 traveling posters

The “EST” in our class

short story

The Dragon and the Princess Once upon a time, there lived a king, a queen and a princess. One day an ogre captured the

Alen is the tallest.

Anna is the shortest.

Betty is the most beautiful.

Fannie is the youngest.

Angle is the thinnest.

beautiful princess and locked her in his tower. The king and the queen were very sad. They promised to give a bag of gold to the knight who could save the princess. The knights rode as fast as they col to the tower. When the ogre saw the knights, he was very angry and shouted loudly. The knights were so scared that they threw their swords down and ran away as fast as they could. One day, a dragon was flying on the top

Wendy is the cleverest.

of the tower. It heard the princess crying for help.

Leo is the best.

very angry. The dragon blew out some fire.

The dragon saved the princess. The ogre was

Jason is the funniest.

He blew the ogre over and mountain and

James is the saddest.

back to the palace. The king and the queen

into the sea. The dragon carried the princess were very happy. They gave the bag of gold

Angel 冼紫君 from PYP Class 4 Year 3 Tutor: Josie 王久红

to the dragon. They lived happily ever after.

PYP Class 2 Year 3徐海心 Jerry Tutor: Sue 张淑梅

34

PYP

The Princess and the prince My favorite story is Little Red Riding Hood.

MY BOOK REPORT

This story is a fiction. The settings of this story

Little Red Riding Hood

are the forest and the granny’s house. The

Long long ago, there was a beautiful princess named Cici.

characters in this story are Little Red Riding Hood, her mother, the wolf, granny and the woodcutter.

One day, Cici played in her garden. She was very happy.

At the beginning of the story, Little Red Riding Hood wanted to give a nice cake to her granny so she went to her granny’s house.

In the middle part of the story, Little Red Riding Hood met a wolf in the forest, and they talked

Suddenly, a witch appeared.

She caught Cici and took her away.

The witch went back home.

Cici ran away.

to each other.

At the end of the story, the wolf wanted to eat Little Red Riding Hood. A woodcutter in the forest heard Little Red Riding Hood’s scream, so he went to help the girl and her granny.

The witch was very angry.

She went to catch Cici.

I’ve learned a lot from this story! I understand that we’d better not talk to a stranger alone.

And we cannot tell strangers where are we going or where we live.

Linda 霍佩琳 from PYP Class 5 Year 3

MY MOM

The man and the woman Once a upon a time there was a man and a

My mom is a beautiful woman.

She works as the university counselor in our school. This is the reason we came to learn here.

woman. The man liked to play computer; the

My mom is a clever woman. She also likes

woman liked to watch TV.

learning too. She makes us learn French, piano,

One day the man went to play the computer.

violin, and tennis. She also makes us write essays.

First, he watched the weather report. The

She enjoys sports too. She lets us teach her

weather reporter said, “China is cold.” Then

swimming. Now she can swim whenever she

he used the computer to play games. The

wants and, no matter how long, which is shorter

woman went to watch TV. First, she watched the

than 500 meters. Although it’s a mission for me

weather report. The weather reporter said,’’

and Jason to teach her, it’s still fun.

China is cold.“ Then she watched cartoons.

Before they went outside, the woman told the man, “It’s cold outside.” They put on their jackets.

The woman opened the door, but she felt hot,

Now, my dear friends, don’t think my mom is a fearless woman! She’s scared of rats, spiders, dangerous toys, and even a funny face I pull!

so she said, “I hate the weather reporter!”

I love my mom very much!

Viola 梅璟茹玥 from PYP Class1 Year2 Tutor: Julia 许嘉琪

Sam Lan 兰浩川from PYP Class 1 Year 3 Tutor: Tammy

Cici saw a rabbit. She asked, “Can you help me? ” “Yes, I can.” said the rabbit.

Then Cici flew.

She was in the sky.

“Oh, no ! ” Cici said.

The witch flew fast and she was very angry.

Cici went down. Shen saw a dragon. “Can you help me ?” she asked.

The dragon said, “Yes, I can.”

Then the dragon ate the witch.

“Thank you !” Cici was so happy she kissed the dragon.

The dragon became a prince!

Cici loved the prince and they got married. They lived happily ever after.

By Amy 周纯晔 PYP C3Y3

35

DID YOU KNOW?

SHORT STORY Linda and wendy

Storybird is a great tool to make visual stories in seconds.

A platform for writers, readers, and artists of all ages.

visit www.storybird.com tablet I pc I phone

Once upon a time, there was a poor girl, her

She had a very rich sister named Linda.

name was Wendy. She lived in the forest.

Linda lived in the palace.

One day, Wendy met a woman. The woman

“I want to see my sister--- Linda” Wendy said.

was a fairy, her name was Amy. “What do

“pa-pa-pa-” Amy said and waved her magic

you want?” asked Amy.

rod on Wendy’s head.

Wow! Wendy was in the palace then. Linda

It was Monday, Linda and Wendy all

They all married princes and lived in the

saw Wendy and she was very happy. Then

became princesses.

palace forever.

But they never had time to see each other.

Wendy lived in the palace.

By Wendy 黄文琦 , PYP C5Y3

top 10 the best apps for kids in 2013

36

Petting Zoo: Fox & Sheep Chatterpix Kids

Ansel and Clair

Dinorama

Little Red Riding Hood

La Luna: Story Project

Toca Hair Salon Me

Bugs and Buttons 2

Cut the Rope 2

PYP

Wee You-Things

PYP YeAR 4 POSTERS

Students in PYP Year 4 are in the ‘Journey’ of the Unit of ‘Travel’. They have created brilliant posters to express their learning.

37

stories by reading picture books in the classroom and the library, by

UNIT of inquiry STORYtelling

STRO LLI N G I N STO RY

WONDERLAND “Stories are our good friends accompanying us every day.”

“Stories are like a garden with beautiful flowers blooming.”

“Stories are my sunshine bringing me warmth and joy.”

— Answers from the children on the question “What is a story”.

watching puppet shows, shadow theater video and movies, by interaction with volunteer story-telling mothers, by creating their own stories, by drawing stories on paper, by sharing stories with classmates and many other ways. Through listening, sharing, experiencing and cooperating, they learned how to classify stories, how to understand the moral behind the stories, how the stories are spread around, what the basic elements of a story are and also how to create stories with their own imagination.

During this UOI, the children had raised a lot of valuable questions and perspectives and presented a lot of childlike pieces of works. They enjoyed not only stories but also books. They enjoyed not only listening to stories but also telling stories with confidence. They were not only willing

During the past 6 weeks of UOI with theme of Story, the children in Year

to express themselves but also willing to appreciate other’s talent and

one were engaging themselves in listening, telling, drawing, singing,

cooperate with them. Great progress has been achieved during this UOI.

acting, writing and creating assorted stories. They enjoyed the happiness brought by the inquiry into stories very much.

The children were enchanted by stories in various forms. They enjoyed

The UOI concluding presentation entitled Story Show Time was held on the afternoon of the 29th of November. Let’s review the wonderful moments of the story show given by each class.

In Class 3, the children chose to draw or act out their stories in their own way which appeared to be childlike and attractive.

In Class 1, the children remixed the story characters provided by the teacher to create a brand new, vivid story.

In Class 2, the children chose to tell their favorite stories by means of painting, puppet show and acting. They had put in a lot of effort, even their parents also engaged in helping them to practice in front of the mirror during weekends.

38

PYP

Variety could be seen in Class 4. They had a puppet show, a sketch show, a musical and even a shadow theater.

In Class 5, the children made their own decisions from the very beginning of the preparation of the show. They claimed to be the Boss of My Show by choosing their story plots, performing methods, costumes and partners. It turned out to be a rich and varied story show with songs, nursery rhymes, pantomime and even finger puppet theater in English.

In Class 6, some children worked up an original story named The New Home of A Snake with a thick script. Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and Real or Fake Monkey King were put on stage in a

In Class 7 the children performed a textbook play in groups. They finished all the rehearsals own their own.

In Class 8, the children were divided into

vivid way all by themselves.

four groups: story-telling, singing, drawing and acting. The story telling group performed excellently. The story-singing group performed the song Snail and the Oriole in roles. The story-drawing group created a piece of work based on the old fable of The Tortoise and the Hare. The story-acting group performed a pantomime of The Emperor’s New Clothes. Although they were new to the stage, they enjoyed the stories very much during the practice and rehearsal.

The 2nd round of UOI with the theme of Story came to an end though, but the children’s interest in stories has just started. May the children grow up healthily and happily with stories their whole lives long.

By Tan Xiwen, translated by Guan Liming)

39

OU R ADVENTU RE IN TH E

ANIMAL WORLD Children from National Primary Year One have been inquiring about amazing animals recently. They’ve studied pets, zoo animals, farm animals, ocean animals and wild animals. This topic has broadened children’s knowledge and made them more familiar about all kinds of animals.

Students have been bringing pets from

a long trunk that is formed from their mouth.

their homes. The classrooms have all been

Elephants usually live in groups and help each

turned into little zoos. You can see hamsters,

other, Elephants are our good friends, since

parrots, rabbits, fish, shrimps, turtles and crabs

for many years people used elephants to

everywhere! Students like these little animal

carry trees and heavy things.” This is one short

friends very much. Every day, they take care

passage written by a student after they visited

of them and take notes of how they grow day

the zoo. The best way to learn is to put learning

by day. They can even create riddles about

into practice. Students benefit a lot from all

these animals!

kinds of fantastic activities, they are not just

In order to know more about animals and

learning but they enjoy learning.

get closer to them, all the children in Grade

By inquiring about this topic, children get more

One went to visit the Guangzhou Zoo. “I

familiar about animals. They know what animals

know elephants are the largest animals on

mean to our life, they know the importance

land. When it’s born; It weighs about ninety

of protecting animals, and they know animals

kilograms and it’s about one meter high. When

are our good friends. Getting to know the

it is 12 years old, its height is around three

creatures around us helps us love our life

meters. Elephants live in Africa, they love eating

more! This is our amazing adventure in an

different plants. Elephants are gray; they have

animals’ world!

Lora (刘畅)

40

PYP

41

THE COLOR OF AUTUMN

“It’s as blue as the sea!”

“It’s yellow and green!”

“It’s red, red, red!”

Students from Grade Five shouted with glee!

Children from Grape class said with their

“Why?” I asked. “Because, only this color can

eyes sparkling. “Why?” I asked. “ Because we

express our excitement!” Students from Grade

visited the creatures of the abyss!” Children

Five are always ready to take challenging

get to know about amazing ocean animals and

tasks; they always work happily with their

their secrets through observing and searching

teammates. They enjoy learning as well and

for materials about them. Pupils say they feel

show lots of energy. On the weekends, they

like they are sharks that can swim very fast in

took part in a meaningful outward bound such

the sea. This adventure is different from what

as boating and rock climbing. Some of the tasks

we see and do in the zoo. Children learned

could only be completed if students cooperate

from various kinds of new technology. There

with their parents and teammates. “This is not

are various stories as well as scientific and

only for fun, but a fantastic experience for us.

technological knowledge that they are all

We take risks and try new tasks. We encourage

very interested in.

our classmates to do well. We have confidence to achieve and succeed. Today’s activity turned

Children from Cherry Class said with a smile.

out to be a remarkable memory in our future

“why?” I asked. “Because, it’s the color of

life.” said Grade Five students.

sunflowers!” Since they have been to “Million Sunflowers Subject Park”, that is why autumn is yellow and green in their eyes. They went there on the weekends with their parents and teachers. They saw beautiful sunflowers, played parent-child games; joined in interesting tasks and so on. Their smiling faces are just like the sunflowers which bring warmth and happiness to us.

42

NATIONAL PRIMARY

Warm, peaceful and energetic;

yellow, blue and red. These are the definition from our students in the National Primary Section. What color do you think autumn is?

UNIT of inquiry JOBS

A Visit to Midea Students of Grade 2 were lucky enough to visit Midea for the ‘Jobs’ unit of inquiry.

At the beginning of the trip, we entered the

them. After that the staffs thought highly of the

assembly-line job. When they saw a robot as

students’ excellent performance.

a porter and when they understood that an air-conditioner can come into being within 1

meeting room of Midea, “warmly welcome the

The students were then divided into two groups

teachers and students from Country Garden

and visited the exhibition hall of the research

School to visit and inspect the mutual exchange

department and the manufacturing plant. In

of learning,” we heard as we came into view. Mr.

the exhibition hall, the students broadened

The trip to Midea may have ended, but the

Li and Mr. Zhang, who are the engineers there,

their horizon by seeing so many kinds of air-

inquiry is just begining.

gave us a warm welcome while the activities

conditioners, including the peculiar looking

connector Mr. Wu stayed with the children all

ones, the ones with videos on them, the ones

the time. The children excitedly watched the

controlled by iPads, the ones controlled by

introductory video while many questions kept

voice, and so on. They felt a great respect

popping up. “Why are the air-conditioners

for the engineers for their amazing work and

here so great?” “Why do air-conditioners keep

began to inquire into the types they were

upgrading all the time?” Faced with so many

interested in. In the manufacturing plant, the

questions, Mr. Li explained to the children

students witnessed how diligent the workers

patiently and arranged a relative lecture for

are and gained a better understanding of the

matching the job and it’s definition ___ secretary ___ lawyer ___ waiter ___ firefighter ___ actor ___ chef ___ manager ___ doctor

___ pilot ___ taxi driver ___ bus driver ___ nurse ___ accountant ___ police officer ___ journalist

second, they felt surprised at the advanced technology.

By Yan Huirong, translated by Li Xiaoyan)

1. Person who drives a vehicle that carries a lot of people.

8. Works in a bank and keeps records.

2. Rescues people from burning buildings.

3. Works in a hospital and helps doctors.

10. Answers phone calls and does office work for his/her boss.

4. Defends people’s rights in court.

11. Person who reports news on TV.

5. Flies an airplane.

12. Cooks in a restaurant or hotel.

6. Takes people’s orders in a restaurant and serves them food.

13. Manages the affairs of a company.

7. Works in a police station and maintains public security.

9. Works in a hospital and treats patients.

14. A man who acts in a movie.

15. Transports people in a car.

43

THE LEGEND OF NIAN

CHINESE NEW YEAR This is one version of the story. Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in China. It has a long history and is the source of many different myths and legends.

One of the more famous myths concerning the Chinese New Year is that of the Nian monster. According to legend, there once was a mysterious creature living in the hills outside a village in China. It had terrorized the town each New Year by eating crops, cows, pigs, chickens and even villagers! The people of the town were terrified and offered the beast food at the front door of their homes. They believed that if they did, the monster wouldn’t bother

flock of birds broke through a grouping of trees.

The villagers outside fled to their homes. The Nian, large and powerful, blasted through the trees into a clearing. Rocks, dirt and wood flew

as it turned away. The little girl picked up her small doll and watched as the mighty Nian disappeared into the distance.

A little girl, dressed in red had dropped a small doll on the ground while running. She turned to

Today you can still see people wearing and

pick it up. The villagers yelled in panic.

decorating their homes with the color red. A

earth disappeared as the Nian devoured them hungrily. Into the town it ran, roaring loudly, devouring everything it came in contact with.

looked up at the Nian, but she wasn’t afraid.

CULTURE

once a terrifying creature gave one last cry

That New Years, the villagers had found a way of stopping the creature. The Nian was afraid of the color red.

a farmer’s crops. Carrots, cabbage, rocks and

New Years Day they heard it.

from something.

awe as it began to move away. The Nian,

into the air as it began swallowing mouthfuls of

The Nian stopped in her path. The little girl

were snapping and the animals were running

heavily. It shook, it coughed and then suddenly, it began to shriek. The villagers watched in

Its deep roar echoed through the village as a

them. That all changed one New Year however.

There was a rumbling in the distance. The trees

44

It was the Nian.

It quietly examined the child; its large eyes darting back and forth. It began to breathe

long held tradition; representing good fortune and health.

By Jason Ault

TRAVEL word search

E L Y R Y F Q C R Q T I Q B

M M O A L R U U Y W R S G K

P D O I D R T E J T A L Q Q

T L G V R I N N D S P A N B

X H A E E T L O U T E N T Q

T S N N C R I O I O D D T N

L C G U E W S C H T C H C W

Y C R U I S E E K B A T Q Z

E G A U G N A L A E E C G H

R O C T A O B L G S T A A V

S U U D U Q A R R I V E C V

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L D B ticket E S S X T S I U N B A P T Q I Y O D N I P A W O B

P C V I P A S S E N G E R S

T R A I M B K Q F U F B X U

word list

arrive bus cruise destination island passenger

train beach city currency flight language plane

vacation boat country depart holiday overseas

Practice your English! Create sentences using some of the words from the word search.

Guangdong Country Garden School

45

EVENTS the best places to go for Chinese New Year

Beijing

Singapore

London

Harbin

Hong Kong

Fairs with carnivalesque sideshows and circus-style acrobatics.

The annual Chingay Parade, Asia’s largest street procession.

The largest Chinese New Year celebration outside Asia.

Home of the Ice and Snow Festival; snow carvings, ice lanterns, and fireworks.

A massive parade, fantastic fireworks, horse races, and festive atmosphere.

15 day celebration

DAY 1 Honor the elders Kainian: Birthday of

DAY 2 Chinese God of Wealth

Spring Festival includes many family dinners and red decorations.

Chikou/Chigau: Day of

DAY 3 the God of Blazing Wrath DAY 4 Day of spring dinners Po Woo: Eat Jiaozi or

DAY 5 dumplings for prosperity DAY 6 Visit friends and family DAY 7 DAY 8 DAY 9 DAY 10 DAY 11 DAY 12

Renri: the common man’s birthday. Also, no meat.

Family dinner on eve of the Jade Emperor’s birthday The traditional birthday of the Jade Emperor The birthday of the Jade Emperor in some places Visit friends and invite them and family members for dinner at your home (day 11 and 12) Dedicated to Guan Yu, the

DAY 13 God of War and Success

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is a holiday that has been celebrated for centuries. It is also known as Spring Festival (a literal translation) or the Lunar New Year.

It occurs each year according to the Chinese Traditional Calendar. Often times, Chinese New Year is celebrated by spending a great deal of time catching up with family members who have been working far away or those that they haven’t seen for a while.

The day after the New Year, family gathers to have

friends, colleagues, young children and single people that have not married. If you are married; then it is not culturally correct to expect to receive lucky money from anyone unless a friend or colleague gives it to you. It is also traditional for a family to clean their house for the New Year. This is to symbolize ‘sweeping away ill-fortune’, to allow a brighter year to follow. Many windows and doors during the Chinese New Year will be decorated with red paper and cutouts featuring characters displaying themes of good fortune, longevity and happiness.

a dinner (which will be the first of many); catching up

DAY 14 Festival

Each year is represented by a different animal of the

with each other. Instead of gifts, like those given on

Chinese zodiac. This year (2014) is the year of the

Shangyuan Festival DAY 15 The (Lantern Festival)

Christmas or in western holidays, an envelope

Prepare for Lantern

ARTS & CULTURE

horse. Everyone at The Voice magazine

with money is given to symbolize good

would like to wish you a

fortune and luck. This money has

Happy New Year!

been given the title: ‘lucky money’

46

shadowing its purpose. Lucky money is mainly given to

新年快乐!

MEET THE MUSICIAN

As we head out of the holiday season, I thought it would nice to share a bit on the composer of some of the most famous Christmas music, Tchaikovsky.

Orchestra gave a performance

Tchaikovsky was born in Russia in 1840 and

and orchestras alike gave

lived there until he died in 1893. His music was

thousands of performances of

very representative of the Romantic Period

the Nutcracker Suite during

he lived through and was heavily influenced

the month of December. The

by the infamous group of composers known

1812 Overture was the

as “The Russian Five” that preceded him. His

featured music for the film V

start in world of professional music was later

for Vendetta. Throughout the

than many of his European counterparts as

film nearly the entire music

Russia did not have a thriving music education

score was excerpts from the

system in place. Nonetheless he did eventually

Overture. The music itself

study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and

was celebrating Russia

eventually became among the most famous

overcoming Napoleon’s

composers in history.

invasion in 1812 so it was very

of the Violin Concerto and will perform the Fourth Symphony this upcoming spring. Across the United States ballet companies

appropriate for the tone of the movie. The Many of Tchaikovsky’s works are known to most people even if his name is not. His most famous works include the ballets Swan Lake

film The Black Swan also celebrated the music of Tchaikovsky basing it around his ballet Swan Lake.

and the Nutcracker Suite and his works for

Famous Compositions • Swan Lake • 1812 Overture

orchestra, 1812 Overture, Symphony No. 4

This past week, my wife, fellow teachers

• Violin Concerto

and Violin Concerto. The irony of his career

and I were fortunate enough to enjoy a

• Symphony Number Four

is that is most famous works, The Nutcracker

live performance of Swan Lake at Sun Yet

and 1812 Overture, he absolutely detested.

Sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou by the

He saw these works as simple and not on par

St. Petersburg Ballet. The St. Petersburg

with his other creations. The Nutcracker initially

Ballet presented a conservative

flopped when it was premiered and it was not

interpretation of Swan Lake with virtuosic

until the mid 20th Century that it was adopted

dancing in a more traditional style. They did,

into mainstream culture. If you are familiar with

however, opt to use an alternative ending to

these more popular works of Tchaikovsky, I

the original in which the two leads die with

would highly recommend having a listen to his

one where they triumph over evil and their

other compositions.

love prevails.

In the orchestral world Tchaikovsky is among

By Neal Postma

• The Nutcracker Suite

Must have recordings • Philadelphia Orchestra - Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, • Joshua Bell and the Berlin Philharmonic - Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto, • Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – The Nutcracker Suite

the most performed composers, not as much as Beethoven or Mozart but close. This past December The Guangzhou Symphony

Guangdong Country Garden School

47

STORY Continued from Voice Volume 8

“You mean that Simfaria is a witch with magic blood?”

Chapter 7

“Yes. The magic power you’ve got is gifted to the person when he was

Lillian woke up with a start. She didn’t know if the dream was true.

born. Simfaria’s parents probably had magic blood in them, which made

But still she couldn’t believe it: Simfaria called her sister a slave! Jacquelyn

Simfaria did all these highly skilled magic which was not normally done.”

Nasitora seemed to be annoyed with this. But how can Simfaria talk to

Gosh, Cecilia was surely an expert, Lillian thought.

people like that?

It was dawn and the air was chilling. The orange sun rose a little.

Lillian couldn’t sleep. She heard something moved inside the tent and sat

“I want you to hear this. You’ve got to listen carefully.”

Lillian told Cecilia her dream and, when she was finished, Cecilia gasped.

up and saw Cecilia, her friend, sitting up, too.

“You can see through things!” she cried.

“I can’t sleep!” Cecilia admitted. She got out of her bed and went into

“But that’s still weird. Isn’t it? How come Simfaria…How come she didn’t

one of the velvet chairs.

find out about this? I mean, this ‘super-vision’ thing.”

“I can’t, either,” said Lillian.

“I think I read that.” Cecilia hesitated. “What if I have the book…”

“About twenty days until the ‘Day’,” said Cecilia, looking worried.

Lillian took out her magical bag of powder and grabbed a bit. “What’s

“Maybe she was right, that Simfaria.” Lillian sighed.

your mom’s book’s name?” she asked.

“I still don’t believe her. She can’t be right!”

“‘Most Difficult Magic on World’.”

“How about this Bird of Hell sign?”

“Find Cecilia’s mom’s ‘Most Difficult Magic on World’.”

Cecilia thought about it.

“It’s a very difficult magic. I read it from one of my Mom’s magic books,” she added, apparently seeming to leave some information out.

“Wow! Cecilia! You read books!” Lillian exclaimed.

Suddenly a book dropped onto Lillian’s bed out of nowhere. “That’s the book!” cried Cecilia excitedly. She ran over to Lillian’s bed and started turning pages of the old-looking and yellowing book. “There.” She indicated to some words. “Read these.”

Lillian read where Cecilia had pointed. It was a bit helpful. They

“Er…”she looked relief, though Lillian didn’t know why. “That was years

learned that if the victim could see what the Produser—the name for the

ago…Anyway, only strong witches and wizards can do it. The sign tells the

producer of the sign—was doing in the moment, then the Produser must

witch when to do something as the witch left it on someone’s skin.”

have sent a part of his blood to the Victim.

“That was what she did!”

“It means I have Simfaria’s blood. Great.” Lillian sighed.

“Yes. And, even sometimes witches and wizards can’t do it.”

“It lists a lot of sign names on the bottom of the page,” Cecilia pointed to

“Why?”Lillian wondered.

a lot of strange names and read:

“Because they haven’t got enough magic blood in them.”

“Flower of Love, Dog of Hatred, Cat of Night, Butterfly of Freedom, Girl of Beauty, that is weird.” She giggled.

48

WRITING

“It doesn’t have ‘Bird of Hell’,” Lillian pointed out.

“Don’t know. I was wishing for fresh fruits when they appeared out

“’These are the most common signs. Professor Anastasia Frickerweed is still

of nowhere on my plate! I was really amazed, but I didn’t care,”

inventing more Signs,’” Cecilia read.

Lawrence said.

“How old is this book? How do we know if Professor Frickerweed is still

Cecilia dropped her jaw, obviously wanted to say something, but

alive of not?” Lillian cried.

recovered quickly.

“Remember, witches and wizards can live longer than human. This book

“What?”She tried to be calm—unsuccessfully. “Did you ever done

was published 50 years ago.”

that before?”

“Eh…does it say anything apart from these?” Lillian asked.

“Yeah…sometimes. You know what I found? I found Fawkie’s orange

“Yes,” Cecilia replied. “‘Sometimes wizards can Produce unexpected

feathers! And Angelina is gone!”

Signs, but only pure bloods can do it. If you’re a high-skill witch or wizard,

“Eh…how are we supposed to go away without her help?” Rosemary

pure blooded, you can Produce a very strong Sign. Sometimes this kind

cried, forgetting something else.

of Sign is dangerous. At those dangerous times, you yourself would lose

“My magical powder,” Lillian reminded her.

self-control.’”

Fawksie had disappeared, she thought. She didn’t think of him since he’d

“This author, if he meant ‘dangerous’, did he mean like ‘Bird of Hell’,

brought the letter from Lawrence.

for example?”

“Let’s get packed,” said Lawrence, walking out.

“Maybe,” Cecilia said, “But Simfaria already wanted to kill you. So she

“Hey, no, wait!” Cecilia was after him. “I forgot to tell you that…”

Produced the Sign so it can warm her when to kill.”

The remaining two followed out. Lillian took out her magical bag and

“Okay. It’s like, Simfaria Produced the Sign but didn’t lose control. I get it.”

took out a little powder. “Pack Lawrence’s and my tent in our traveling

Lillian said.

backpacks.” The tents folded up and fell into two of their packs.

“Yeah…she’s really high skilled,” Cecilia agreed.

“Thanks,” Lawrence said.

Rosemary yawned. The two turned their heads and saw her sitting up.

“Stand together, grab your own bag and…let’s go!”

“Wow, you’re so early!”

They felt being squashed through a tiny hole but a second later landed

“We can’t sleep,” Cecilia explained.

on solid ground. The air was still chilly.

“Oh,” Rosemary went up and joined them. Lillian figured it was

“We’re on the Southern Mountains,” said Lillian, answering the others’

midmorning, and they could hear someone running around outside of the

unasked question. “And we’re finding the survivors,” she added as Cecilia

tent. Lawrence burst in with two bowls on each hand.

was about to say something.

“Breakfast!” he cried. In the bowls there were some delicious-looking

“What? Survivors? How can you do that?” Lawrence asked, puzzled.

cakes, an egg for each person. He went out again and when returned with four cups of fresh juice.

“Where did you get the fruits?” asked Cecilia.

To be continued…

By Tina Wu of 8EE

Guangdong Country Garden School

49

Martin Grade 10, wire sculpture

Tiffany Grade 10, wire sculpture

1

2

3

Jerry 9-5 IGCSE, still life (pencil study)

Collaborative wire sculptures (1,2,3)

9&10 50

ART CLASS

ART

Jenny

Calvin

Eddie (top) and Brian (bottom)

Kong (T), Daisy (M), and Rocky (B)

Apple (T) and Gigi (B)

K.O. (T), Jack (M), and Emily (B)

Winnie, Sophia, Angel, Tiffany, Sherry, Aurora, Coco, Brian and Sally.

Lisa and Eve

Guangdong Country Garden School

51

January September

九月 jiǔ yuè

October

十月 shí yuè

November

十一月 shí yī yuè

December

十二月 shí èr yuè

January

一月 yī yuè

February

二月 èr yuè

Sunday

5

Monday

6

12 13 March

April

Tuesday

7

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

3

8

9

10 11

14 15 16 17

4

18

三月 sān yuè

四月 sì yuè Final Exams

May

June

五月 wǔ yuè

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

六月 liù yuè

Vacation!

Winter holiday begins GCGS

Winter holiday

July

August

七月 qī yuè

26 27 28 29 30 31

八月 bā yuè

Winter holiday

52

YOU LEARN MORE FROM FAILURE THAN FROM SUCCESS. DON’T LET IT STOP YOU. FAILURE BUILDS CHARACTER. CLIMB MOUNTAINS NOT SO THE WORLD CAN SEE YOU, BUT SO YOU CAN SEE

THE WORLD

PEOPLE AREN’T

AGAINST YOU; THEY ARE FOR

THEMSELVES

THe person that you will spend the most time with in your life is , so make yourself as interesting as possible

yourself

if you accept your limitations you go beyond them

Go where you’re celebrated, not where you’re tolerated,

COMFORT IS THE ENEMY OF ACHIEVEMENT PEOPLE OFTEN SAY THAT MOTIVATION DOESN’T LAST. WELL, NEITHER DOES BATHING. THAT’S WHY WE RECOMMEND IT DAILY.

everyone you meet

is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something

EXCELLENCE KNOWLEDGE STRENGTH

GROWTH ACHIEVEMENT HONOR

Guangdong Country Garden School – an IB World School www.bgy.gd.cn