University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies English Language Program 252 Bloor Street West, Suite 4-106 Toronto, ON M5S 1V6 Canada e-mail: learn.english@utoronto.ca phone: +1 416 978 5104 fax: +1 416 971 2839 website: learn.english.utoronto.ca
inside this issue Tips from the Grammar Queen
4
Introducing your CAs
6
Portrait of a Multitalented Artist A Dream with Wings
8 9
World Press Photo Exhibit Reviews
10
I Admire a Choreographer Globalization Henna Party
11 12 14
Around the World in Pursuit of Fashion
16
A Few of Our Favourite (Canadian) Things
20
A Life Changing Experience Don’t Be Shy Focus on Saudi Arabia Lights, Camera, Action.
22 23 24 28
Halloween Festivities Ice Skating Adventures
30 34
Royal Agriculture Winter Fair Food & the City Surveys
36 38 42
New Year’s Resolutions
50
The Universal Key Airports, a Short Story
52 53
January 2011 Social Activities Calendar
54
Global Warming Biggest Health Threat: Smoking
56 57
Time to Say Goodbye
58
2011 WOW Submission Deadlines: March 18th, 2011, June 10th, 2011, September 9th, 2011, December 2nd, 2011
ELP DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE December 2010 Dear all, As we near the end of another session, and bigger yet, another year, I would like to invite new and returning students, instructors and staff to another very special issue of WOW. This session we welcomed not only new students, but new ELP Cultural Assistants as well! You will see them featured in this issue, where they take us around the world in pursuit of fashion, on ice skating adventure and to the royal agriculture winter fair! In this issue, we take a look at the memorable highlights of this past session, among them the Halloween festivities, new year
resolutions, and of course, holiday wishes! Highlighted in this issue are the ELP students’ reviews of the World Press Photography Exhibit, which was in Toronto in October; survey on travel & coffee, and reviews of a few of Toronto’s restaurants. Moreover, students share a few of their favourite (Canadian) things, their holiday wishes, and their new year’s resolutions! On behalf of everyone at the ELP , I wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors. Congratulations to all of you who are continuing their studies in university. As the program grows bigger, we are trying to maintain an extensive alumni network, please share your success stories with us so you can get a chance to be featured in our upcoming issues! Finally, I would like to thank all of you who help make this publication a success by continuously contributing and encouraging students to contribute as well. We hope you enjoy this special issue of WOW. Happy holidays and happy new year! All the best, Sherry Yuan Hunter Executive Director, English Language Program University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
Masthead Editor & Layout Designer Contributors
Rolla Tahir Cassie Cai, Karen Cao, Chris Chipman, Liane Hanson, Marjatta Holt, Tonia Kwok, Toni Papa, Evelyn Pedersen, Darren Rigo, Yaseen Yusufali, Cindy Zhou
Cover photo credit: photo by Jihae Cho from Japan entitled “Amazing View”. Jihae took the picture on morning in North Island while on a summer camping trip with the English Language Program. 1st place winner in 2010 ELP Photo Contest.
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First things first, tips from the Grammar
Queen
by Marjatta Holt
Grammar Section: There are two expressions in English that look similar but are very different in meaning •
USED TO
•
Used to Get used to/be used to Used to—past habit or past state which is now finished.
grammatical analysis Used (past tense) Used
To Infinitive To BE
Used
To GO
examples He used to live in Taiwan (but now he lives in Canada). She used to be a teacher (but now she is a reporter). When I was little, I used to visit my grandmother every day
important This expression is only used in the past tense. It is seldom used in negatives or questions. When it is used in negatives or questions, there are two ways to do it:
Formal: I used not to like grammar (but now I do). Used you to play tennis?
Informal (and more common): I didn’t use to like grammar. Did you use to play tennis? 4
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grammatical analysis BE/GET Verb (any tense)
USED Adjective
TO Preposition
SOMETHING Noun/Pronoun/Gerund
examples
When I came here, I thought the weather was too cold, but now I am used to Canadian weather. I used to eat supper very late at night, but now I am used to eating supper at 6 o’clock. I have always been used to sharing an apartment with friends. Before he came to Canada, he had been used to living by himself.
GET USED TO —to have experience that changes you – to become familiar with something.
examples When I started my Comprehensive English course, it was sometimes difficult to speak English all the time, but now I am getting used to speaking English. I am sure you will get used to speaking English soon. I have also got used to coming to class in the morning instead of the afternoon. These expressions can be used in any verb tense.
important The important thing to notice is that in ‘used to’ the word ‘to’ is really the infinitive particle – it belongs to the verb that comes after it. In ‘be used to’ the word ‘to’ is a preposition, and prepositions are always followed by some kind of a noun, in other words, a noun, a pronoun, or a gerund.
BE USED TO GET USED TO
BE USED TO—to have experience in something so that it no longer seems strange, difficult, or surprising – if you are used to something, it feels familiar.
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Introducing your CAs. Did you know? CA stands for Cultural Assistant. Cultural assistants help familiarize students with Canadian culture and the city, and encourage them to practice English by accompanying students to social activities, volunteer events and other ELP activities. If you have any questions, your cultural assistants are more than happy to help!
CASSIE Born in: Beijing, China Favorite restaurant: Korean Grill House Favorite music: Pop Favorite movie: The Dark Knight Favorite book: The Catcher in the Rye Something interesting about me: I listen to Chinese classical music :)
CINDY Born in: Harbin, China Favorite restaurant: Moxie’s Favorite music: Pop Favorite movie: Slumdog Millionaire Favorite book: 1984 Something interesting about me: I’m from Vancouver!
TONIA TONI
Born in: Toronto Favorite restaurant: Mother’s Dumplings Favorite music: Pop Favorite movie: Shooter Favorite book: My Sister’s Keeper Something interesting about me: I love to sleep and play badminton
Born in: Manilla, Philippines Favorite restaurant: The Friendly Thai Favorite music: Bedouin Soundclash Favorite movie: National Treasure Favorite book: Not Wanted on the Voyage Something interesting about me: I played rugby for 4 years. 6
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DARREN Born in: a hospital Favorite restaurant: the train place Favorite music: Canadian music Favorite movie: Monoke Hime Favorite book: Green Eggs & Ham Something interesting about me: NOTHING
KAREN Born in: Guangzhou, China Favorite restaurant: New Generation Favorite music: Leslie Feist Favorite movie: Crash Favorite book: The Poisonwood Bible Something interesting about me: I can pee and read at the same time!
JENNIFER Born in: North York Favorite restaurant: Red Lobster Favorite music: Gangsta Rap Favorite movie: The Social Network Favorite book: The Dubliners Something interesting about me: I’m a singer/songwriter!
AYSEGUL Born in: Mersin, Turkey Favorite restaurant: Green Room and Future’s Bakery Favorite music: Tori Amos Favorite movie: Life is Beautiful Favorite poet: Pablo Neruda Something interesting about me: I once had 8 St. Bernard dogs!
LIANE Born in: Windsor, Ontario Favorite restaurant: Elephant and Castles Favorite music: Rock Favorite movie: La Vie en Rose Favorite book: The Count of Mount Cristo Something interesting about me: I’m a fast learner of languages
BEWARE! DON’T CONFUSE TONI AND TONIA OR DARREN AND KAREN! 7
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Portrait of a Multi-talented Artist: Gulzat Egemberdieva Students at the ELP are as diverse professionally as they are culturally! While most students are recent high school graduates, or university students, some are well established professionals. One such student that attracted my attention is Gulzat Egemberdieva, a Kyrgyz journalist and filmmaker. After learning about her new documentary film, I decided to interview Gulzat to learn more about her and spread the word about her film. Gulzat was born and raised in a small village in Kyrgyzstan, where the majority of the population – about 70% - lives in villages. Her typical day would involve chores such as milking cows, shepherding, carrying water, preparing food and cleaning. Gulzat graduated from university in Kyrgyzstan, where she chose to learn Russian to be able to work in media. She has been a journalist for two years now: she hosts a youth and children educational talk show on the radio, and is a host on television as well. Despite the familial issues that affected her childhood, Gulzat was blessed to have several people who were generous enough to help her. While it is tradition for girls to marry at a really young age in Kyrgyzstan, Gulzat moved to the city and finished university with the financial help of her uncle. After university, she was first noticed by a famous female producer at the radio station where she worked who decided to help her. In October 2008, while working as a journalist at a film festival in Kyrgyzstan, she met Thomas Lahusen, which was the beginning of a productive collaboration. Upon hearing her life story, Thomas became interested in documenting her journey. Thomas is currently a professor at the University of Toronto, teaching Russian/Soviet cultural history and film. He started the multi-purpose production company, Chemodan films, to combine his involvement in both
Russian and Soviet history and film. The company is meant to produce cultural, social and political films about Russia and other regions of the former Soviet Union, which is precisely why he took interest in Gulzat’s story as it combines aspects of the political, cultural and most importantly, the social. Gulzat’s primary interest in filmmaking, and specifically documentary filmmaking, stems from her desire to bring social awareness of Kyrgyzstan, especially of Kyrgyz women. With the help and encouragement of Thomas, the next step for Gulzat was to come to Canada to learn English, while working on the post-production of Daughter of Kyrgyzstan. When I asked Gulzat if she is happy and satisfied with her life now, her eyes welled up and said she is so blessed and it is because she believes in God. With a film in the making (by her, and about her) at the age of 24, Gulzat is quite accomplished for her young age and is an inspiration to all young professionals including myself! [This interview is republished from a previous issue.]
You can view Gulzat’s trailer for her new film “Daughter of Kyrgyzstan” at: www.chemodanfilms.com. Gulzat giving a talk on her radio show in Kyrgyzstan. 8
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A DREAM WITH WINGS by Gulzat Egemberdieva When I was a child I always wanted to know what the birds were seeing when they were flying, in what countries they had been, what they were thinking when they saw our world of human beings. I was wondering then, did they see black people, or “yellow people” – as we call people from the west? We consider ourselves “white.” Now I know that we Asians belong to the yellow race. In my mind foreigners were completely different. So I dreamt to meet them, to go to where they live. But for me and most of us to travel is almost impossible, therefore foreign life remains a secret for us. But as the saying goes “hope dies last.” I prefer to say “hope never dies.” Because, I thought, if you want something very strongly, if you deeply believe that you can do that, it can be true. Because God knows what we want, what we are able of. One year ago my child dreams became true, unexpectedly. I was sitting in a plane for the first time in my life to go to Canada. Now I was that bird … I flew above the ground, above rivers and lakes and the ocean. Seventeen hours later I landed in Toronto. As soon as I arrived I was met with smiles. I didn’t speak any English but everybody tried to help me. This gave me the feeling that I was not far from my country. At the same time, walking on Spadina, Bloor and Yonge Street I was meeting the whole world. The city of Toronto impressed me immensely by its mix of cultures and styles. Living in Toronto was like traveling in many countries, I was visiting Italy, China, Poland, Portugal, Jamaica, Russia and many others, enjoying their food, listening to their language and of course their music. Listening to all these different people who talked about their origins, I thought about my own homeland. I wanted to tell them where I was from: Kyrgyzstan, a small country in Central Asia. I remembered the story that my grand grandmother told me. One day God assembled all people of the world and told them that the next day early in the morning he would distribute land to all. The day after all came as early as possible. Only the Kyrgyz was late “as usual.” God said “there is nothing left!” The Kyrgyz was sad. So God said “wait a minute, there is my country house, you can take it.” That’s why my country has many mountains with beautiful flowers, pastures where sheep are grazing and yurts where people are living, and in the middle of the Tianshan mountains, the “Kyrgyz pearl” – Lake Issyk Kul. So I always thought that Kyrgyzstan was the most beautiful place in the world. But when I came to Canada I changed my mind: every country in the world is most beautiful. My homeland has become the planet.
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The Subway that Carried the Dreams of Urbanites: Evaluating “Tokyo Subway Dream” by Anselmo Park About the author: Anselmo is originally from Korea. He plans to complete his Ph.D. in Spiritual Theology at Regis College at U of T.
The exhibition by World Press Photo, which has based in Amsterdam since 1955, aims to select the best of current affairs photography from around the globe. The photography awards are selected by an international jury and ends in a traveling exhibition visited by millions of people around the world each year; it is widely viewed as one of the most coveted international photography awards shows. Among a record number of photographs of 101,960 images submitted by 5,847 photographers from 128 different countries, the photograph “Tokyo Subway Dream” by Michael Wolf, from Germany, is a prizewinning work, 1st Prize Singles in the category of ‘Daily Life’ in the year 2009. When I visited the exhibition, the woman on the subway captured my attention because her picture plainly reflects contemporary life. The photograph of this woman, who travels in rush hour on a jam-packed subway with her eyes closed, seems to symbolically show the emotions typical of the daily routine of an urbanite. Firstly, the simple gray colour of the subway, the woman’s white clothing and the black background capture the life of a bleak city filled with buildings and machinery. Although many passengers are packed like sardines on the subway, the pose of the woman, who stands leaning with her left hand on the window and looks half-asleep with her eyes closed to make up for lost sleep, seems to reflect to us the urbanites’ wearisome days. In addition, the steam which covers the window of subway due to crowded passengers and the woman’s left hand on it seems to suggest her strong desire to escape from her stuffy and hard existence repetitious urban life. The subway, which operates complicated lines regularly and repeatedly, also symbolically represents the contemporary lives of lonely city dwellers since they repeatedly take the subway to work or school like ants in an anthill. Despite using the same underground, they do not know each other; their only shared concern is their destination as if they had become part of the machinery of the city. The photographer portrays this by showing the woman as a half figure through a half window with a somewhat contorted face and in white clothes which contrast with the dark background. Perhaps this image strongly shows us how many urbanites live solitary lives even among the crowds and
are occupied half of their lives by machines, such as cars, computers, and cell phones. Nevertheless, countless commuters in the world use mass transit for their daily commute to work or school because they have a simple dream for their family and future. They hope to arrive into the cheerful and bountiful world via the dark underground world. The subway does not sleep and it carries the dreams and hopes of many passengers without stopping. As the red lips of the woman imply, when she arrives at her destination, her eyes will brightly open with the opening door of the subway, she will hurriedly walk to the office, and will eagerly work for her dream. In conclusion, this photograph “Tokyo Subway Dream” shows us the typical daily dreams of urbanites through this image of a woman who is half asleep, leaning against a subway window. Although we humans live together with machines, we should not become machines ourselves because we have a dream, to which the subway carries us. Turn to page 32 for more coverage on the world press exhibition.
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I Admire a Choreographer By Mai Morita About the author: Mai, originally from Japan, came to Canada to study English . She chose this city, Toronto, because she wanted to met many friends from various backgrounds and cultures. She thinks Toronto is a great place to be because it is such an active and multicultural city. Mai has this to say about her time spent in Toronto: “I have really enjoyed my life here through many activities such as festivals, foods, musicals and the time with my new friends!!”
I admire a choreographer, Maurice Bejart, for two reasons; his creative ideas and his way of thinking. Maurice Bajart who is called “The greatest master of 20th century” was born in 1927 in France. He became a ballet dancer, and after his success as a dancer, he started to create contemporary dance as a choreographer. His most famous work is “Bolero”. When I watched it for the first time, I could not understand what the work was expressing, but at the same time, I realized it attracted me very strongly. I was so moved by it. “Bolero” starts with tones of a flute very quietly in the darkness. The dancer’s arm starts to follow slowly to the rhythm of Borelo on the red round table, but his movement gradually becomes aggressive and passionate; it looks like he is struggling against obstacles in the deep darkness and is yearning for an exit. The dance shows us a circulation of life; a human being is born from a mother, is raised up, and returns to the ground when dead. There are feelings such as happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy and nostalgia in life, and these feelings make our life more valuable. Bejart expresses these feelings in Bolero. As you know from this work, “Bolero”, he has creative ideas and he is a person who can consider matters deeply. Actually, these are the reasons why I admire him. I want to be a person who can think matters deeply and always has creative and sensational ideas and opinions. Finally, Maurice Bejart died in 2007, but his works are alive and will be alive forever.
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Globalization (or globalisation) describes the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation, and trade (Wikipedia).
by Reham Fadul all the sophisticated technological advances to transfer domestic goods into global products, distribute them internationally, and therefore, raise the living standards higher and higher. The third and most important benefit of globalization is the better social and economical status of women's role in today's society. The appreciation of women's contribution has increased remarkably due to the enhancement in women's education. It is proven that well educated woman has fewer children and manage their budget and expenses better than men as they focus on the key aspects such as health, education and nutrition. Once they enter the market they fully participate to improve the country's status and their own independency whether at home or in their community. Just like any other phenomenon, globalization has its own drawbacks. The intention is not to underestimate these consequences as some of them could be serious, yet they are not enough to reduce the significance of globalization. They actually can be marginalized compared to the previously mentioned and many more emerged benefits of globalization.
“Globalization and its
The World Bank, The International Monetary Fund and The World Trade Organization, and how their policies are affecting the world’s political stability and the global economic growth. Stiglitz refers in his book to two severe financial crises, USSR disintegration economic crisis and the Asian Tigers crisis, to demonstrate what these policies could lead to. On the other hand, he presents the benefits few countries have gained from globalization; furthermore, he has dedicated a chapter in his book to explain some adoptable solutions to achieve fairness and advancement to the developing countries under globalization. [published from a previous issue.]
BOOK REVIEW
It is a relatively new phenomenon that has been spreading rapidly over the past few years. It is the integration of the world's different societies, cultures, and economies into one small unified global world. It is the act of globalization and standardizing the experience of everyday's life. In spite of all the cultural affects of globalization and the tremendously increased number of people crossing national borders every day to acquire and share adequate knowledge, business related affects are monumental. First of all, globalization increases the level of competition between the participated countries. As a result, lower prices, higher growth, and better efficiency are the outcomes of such a competition. Moreover, with globalization and mutual respect, countries can know and understand the need of each other in a better way, move businesses to areas with the least wages to improve employment, and as for industrial activities it can be moved to locations with the minimum pollution regulations. Secondly, globalization can effectively defeat global issues like unemployment and low living standard. local businesses were out of the international market because of the time and distance differences. However, currently it has become feasible with globalization and
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Discontent� Joseph E. Stiglitz (Nobel Prize Winner in Economics)
Informed
by his long experience as a university
professor, member of the Council of Economic Advisors at the Whitehouse, chief economist and vice president of the World Bank, Stiglitz provide an analytical view on globalization in his book. He discusses the correlation between economic decision making and politics shedding light on the role being played by the powerful international economic organizations that govern globalization:
by Sultan Sabr
issue 72, december 2010
DID YOU KNOW? Cirque Du Soleil is originally a Quebecois company. It was founded in 1984 by Guy LalibertĂŠ. From humble busker beginnings, it escalated into worldwide success over the years! Picture: CAs Anna & Janet take ELP students to the Banana Shpeel show at the Canon Theatre. 13
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HENNA PARTY Henna (Lawsonia inermis) is a flowering plant used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather and wool. The name is also used for dye preparations derived from the plant, and for the art of temporary tattooing based on those dyes.
by Ayse Nur Aydin Turkish culture is similar to Arabic culture. In my opinion one of the most important tradition is the henna party. The henna party is an occasion where the bride and the womenfolk of her future husband dressed up and celebrate. A heavily embroidered dress called “Bindali” is worn by the bride. Bride’s relative carry a silver tray, it has henna and two burning candles. Other girls carry two candle one in each hand and they start to walk around the bride’s chair. They sing a song. After that bride’s future mother in low puts gold in her hand, a sad song is sung as the other girls walk around the bride, in attempt to make her cry .Her crying believed to bring good luck. The bride’s unmarried friends would also tinge their hands with henna in the belief that this would enable them to get married soon. They eat traditional food and they dance. This day is made for enjoyment. Henna party is one day
Did you know? The English name "henna" comes from the Arabic ﺣِﻨَّﺎء 14
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Around the World in Pursuit of Fashion by Cindy Zhou What is Canadian culture? The cynical will tell you that we don’t have one. I’m going to tell you that Canadian culture is cultural pluralism. People from all around the world come to Canada knowing that they have the freedom to continue practicing their unique cultural traditions. In fact, Canadians are always curious to learn about other cultures. Therefore, I’ve set out on a quest to learn more about traditional and cultural clothing from the students of the English Language Program. They might be here to study English, but there’s so much more that we can learn from them when it comes to the big blue world.
Iran The first person I interviewed was Neshat Deljoomanesh who comes from the capital city of Tehran. She told me that there are many different types of traditional clothing in Iran depending on which part of the country you are in. In general, in the North, women wear very colourful clothes. Most women wear a long white scarf around their heads with a very colourful skirt or dress. She also told me that the amount of skin that is shown depends on the degree of religious belief. Unfortunately, Iranian women today don’t often wear these traditional clothes anymore. However, they do wear it on New Year’s Day called Nowrouz. Iranians have a completely different calendar, so that New Year’s Day is actually the first day of spring rather than Jan. 1st. Neshat also told me that people in Iran also practice the religion of Zoroastrianism but most people today are Muslims. Next, I talked with Nazanin Izadi, who is also from Iran, but the city of Ahvaz. She told me that girls wear knee-long dresses, which are usually very colourful and shiny. Sometimes, girls wear pants underneath this dress. They also wear scarves, which are also very colourful. Jewellery includes things such as gold bracelets. For the men, they have long coats with pants that flare out at the bottom. These traditional clothes are usually never seen in the cities but the village folks still wear them in daily life. When asked if she believes that it is important to preserve traditional clothing such as these, she told me firmly that yes; traditional clothing helps preserve cultural identity. Nonetheless, people should be able to wear whatever they want to. 16
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Thailand Suchawadee Khunmeg was my representative from Thailand. There, the cultural clothing for women is called Suthai. It is usually white or gold, but could come in a variety of other colours. It includes an off-shoulder top with a wrap-around, tube skirt that is tied at the waist. The costume for men is shirt and pants with a tie around the waist, but their shirts are usually decorated with shiny designs. The traditional clothing is worn by everyone for formal occasions such as wedding ceremonies or royal occasions, like the king’s birthday. It is a sign of respect. Suchawadee told me that the clothes are an expression of cultural identity. However, some teenagers today feel that they are not cool and are out of fashion. The older generation doesn’t like this type of thinking.
China Yumeng Jiang comes from China where their traditional clothing is called the qi pao for women and tang zhuang for men. The qi pao is usually red, but can also be in a variety of other colours such as purple, deep green, and white. The dress varies in length from ending at the thighs to reaching the ankles. It is usually decorated by flower embroidery and very form-fitting. There are usually three buttons or knots near the shoulder to secure the dress. The tang zhuang for men is also very form-fitting but is simpler with just a shirt and pants. These clothes are worn at some parties, such as birthday or Christmas parties. Seniors wear them very often, but the younger generation today don’t wear them as much. Yumeng tells me that today, the young people wear a version of traditional clothes that are more modern and are considered quite cool. When asked if it is important to preserve cultural clothing, Yumeng told me that it is not absolutely necessary because our culture is in our hearts and that physical things like clothes are really just for show. TAIWAN: Pingcha Huang comes from Taiwan and she told me that there isn’t anything there that is considered really traditional. Only in some formal occasions, someone might wear the qi pao but most people wear western clothing. Much like Canada, Taiwan is accepting of all cultures so that there is really no need to have any particular cultural clothing. After all, not every country needs to have traditional clothing.
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Saudi Arabia We have many students who come from Saudi Arabia. Manal Khayyat told me that the women wear what’s called a thoup khaliji, which is a long dress that can be in any colour but usually with some decorations. It can be worn over shirts and jeans or it could be worn as a dress by itself. This dress is worn only for celebrations such as National Day or Ramadan, but not for weddings. She also believes that it is important to preserve traditional clothing because not only does it look good, it is also a tradition and an expression of group identity. Wearing the traditional clothing is a symbol of belonging to a group. Alwa Baiesa told me that there was another type of clothing called the abauya. Women must wear this when they are not at home, especially when in the presence of men. It is a long black dress with a black scarf wrapped around the head but the women can wear anything underneath the abauya. Alwa also believes that the abauya is important for Saudi Arabian cultural identity. I had a long conversation with Ali Hawsawi who was very knowledgeable about the men’s clothing in Saudi Arabia. The white headdress, known as gutrah, is worn over a small cap, called tagiyah, and held in place by a black headband, called ogal. The main piece is a white robe that covers the entire body, from neck to ankle, and is called thoup. Men usually wear an undershirt underneath the thoup. The cuffs and the strip down the middle where we usually find buttons can be in another colour, such as gold. Saudi Arabians usually have a closed collar, but there are different collar styles in the UAE, Kuwait, and other countries. The more expensive thoups are made out of special high-quality, wrinkle-free fabric. A decorative watch or pen or rings are common accessories but these are also very expensive accessories. The thoup is always white when going to work or university but can be of another colour for weddings. It is especially important to wear the thoup if you work in an office or for the government or if you are enrolled in certain university departments, but people who work outside or are enrolled in the college for mechanics are not expected to wear the thoup. In fact, it is normal for these people to just wear jeans. Furthermore, wearing a clean, well-kept thoup to an interview is especially important for making a good first impression. High ranking people always wear a coat over the thoup, which is much more expensive and comes in black, white, or beige. Ali agrees that the thoup is very important to tradition but wearing it is a hassle because it must be kept very clean, which is hard to do when the 18
Cultural clothing from all around the world has been integrated in mainstream western fashion in one way or another. To the right, you can see how designers have been reimagining the Saudi traditional abaya.
fabric is white. Every time you would like to sit, you have to make sure that the seat is very clean because a dirty thoup reflects very badly on the person. For Mazin Binishaq, the thoup is very practical and convenient because it allows the air to circulate, thus keeping the body cool. In addition, he believes that it is important to wear the thoup everyday because it is a tradition that expresses Saudi Arabian culture.
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Japan
My representative from Japan is Kahori Aoki. She told me that there are two types of Japanese cultural clothing. One is called the kimono and the other is called the yukata. The kimono is a robe that has many, many layers. It includes a belt around the middle which is called an obi. And it can have a variety of designs such as flowers, butterflies, etc. The kimono is incredibly difficult to wear because it has so many layers and is very tight. It is impossible to put on by yourself. In fact, two to three people is necessary to help one person wear the kimono. Today, the kimono is only worn for coming of age ceremonies and tea ceremonies. The other cultural clothing, the yukata, is worn more commonly at festivals such as the summer festival. It is simpler than the kimono but looks similar because it also has a tie around the middle and can also be in many different designs. However, you only need one person to put on the yukata.
Korea
Soyoon Choi told me that the Korean traditional clothing is called hanbok. The women wear a top called jugori and the skirt is called chima. The jugori is about half as long as a shirt with very big sleeves. It is tied by a ribbon. This clothing is worn twice a year, during Chusok and Sulnal. It is meant to show respect to the elders of the family. Nayong Kim and Chungmin Jung also told me that the two separate pieces can be in any colour, but usually with natural dye. It can also be made out of a variety of fabric. The male traditional clothing is a bit more complicated than the female one. It also has two parts – a top and a bottom. The top is long sleeved, with very big triangular shaped sleeves. It has a double jacket. The outer jacket sometimes has a ribbon on the left side. The pants are wide and loose and end just above the ankles, at which point we see socks and shoes, which are actually made of rubber. The traditional clothing is worn during New Years Day and Thanksgiving and also at wedding ceremonies. There are two parts to a Korean wedding. The first part is a western style wedding. The second part takes place in another room where the newlywed couple greet their parents in traditional clothing. Only a few select people are invited to this ceremony. Today, the hanbok has gone through some modifications to make it more comfortable to wear and the design has become simpler. However, many people still don’t wear the hanbok today, although children do wear it a lot more. One reason is that the hanbok is actually very expensive to buy. And that’s Around the World in Pursuit of Fashion. All of these traditional clothing are gorgeous but they are also deeply symbolic. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little quest as much as I have! And remember, Canadians love to learn more about the cultures of other peoples. It’s something we’re very proud of.
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A Life Changing Experience by Amanda Chen
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ome people said life is like a box of chocolate, you will never know the one you pick is bitter or sweet. The life is full of surprise, and we can’t predict what will happen next. Some special events may change our life perspective in an unexpected way. In my case, one single trip to Japan really gave me a great life experience and at some extent changed my attitude to the life and world. Until now, I am still thankful that God guide me to choose the tastiest chocolate to become a backpacker. When I graduated from university, I decided to travel to Japan by myself. My parents strongly disagreed with my idea because they thought I have never gone abroad on my own and I was so dependent that they worried about my safety in a strange country. However, the drive to explore the world is so strong to me that I determined to change my personality and being a different person. In order to convince my parent, I made every effort to search and collect useful information and made notes on all the important details. I booked the airline ticket, arranged the accommodation and set the trip itinerary all by myself. I knew when I travel alone, I couldn’t depend on anyone and I must take responsibility for myself, I should be aware of any dangerous situation and avoid to that. Actually, during my trip in Japan, I really encounter lots of challenges and problems. For example, on the first day I arrived, I couldn’t find my inn and got lost in a small village at midnight. I was anxious and exhausted and even started regretting to travel alone. However, crisis is the best opportunity to make a person to become stronger and more adaptive. I tried hard to use every possible method to figure out the correct direction and keep myself away from any potential danger. It really improved
From left to right: Amanda Chen and ELP CA Karen Cao
my problem-solving skills. The most important is that it helped me build confidence to face any difficulties and survive from hard time. Being a backpacker indeed changes my life. It makes me to become more mature, independent and adventurous. My parents were surprised about my changes and delighted that I can handle my life better now. This unforgettable trip really broadens my mind and enriches my life experiences.
Have you ever had a life changing experience?
issue 72, december 2010
Don’t be Shy! by
Takuya Horikawa
Takuya is a level 50 Academic English student and is a second year university student in Japan. Takuya is a fan of Toronto and thinks people are quite friendly and kind. Here is an essay about his personal experience in Toronto and a key piece of advice: don’t be shy!
If you want to enjoy your stay in Toronto being shy makes your life in Toronto boring. Hi, my name is Takuya. I’m a nineteen-year-old Japanese boy. I’m studying English in Toronto. This is the first time for me to go outside of my country. I expected that I could enjoy my life in Canada and I could make a lot of friends. However, the reality was different from my ideal. I couldn’t make anyone understood by my English and I always hung out with my Japanese friends at first. This is because first of all, I was shy. There were a large number of students from other countries but I couldn’t communicate with them actively. My personality kept me away from them. Therefore nothing changed compared to the time when I was in my country. I felt myself disappointed but I always thought “it’s not my fault.” One day, one of my classmates asked to me in the class “Why are you so shy and quiet?” I couldn’t answer it. I thought the reason why I was shy because I was shy. But at the same time, I thought that it was up to me to change my personality. I decided to change myself more active. When I tried to communicate with others actively, three things helped me a lot. First of all, “CA” helped me. CA means “cultural assistant” and they always cared about students to enjoy studying English and various activities. For example, they had a coffee chat on every Tuesday and I could enjoy talking with them and other students over eating donuts, drinking a coffee, and playing games. In my case, because of them, I could clear difficulties to communicate with others in English. Second, “alcohol” made me stronger. Actually, I didn’t like taste of beer but when I drink a lot, I could think
things more easily. I mean I could talk with others without feeling shyness. And alcohol makes our talking enjoyable. Finally, “volunteering” was great opportunity for me to socialize with others. When I joined a volunteer club, I could communicate with kind people and this made me feel good. And I was able to know that there were many people who contribute themselves to help others. Today, I’m positive and active. I’m enjoying communicating with people from other countries. The word “don’t be shy“made my life open and I can learn many things from people. If you want to lead full stay in Toronto, “don’t be shy!!” Toronto is a wonderful city in the world and there are a lot of great experiences. Finally, I really think that English is an amazing tool to communicate with people from all over the world.
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Feras talks to us about education in Saudi Arabia and Freedom of Speech.
Education in Saudi Arabia by Feras Almubarak
Freedom of Speech?
1400 years ago, life was very difficult for many people who were living in the Arabian Peninsula, for many of them were illiterate. Because they did not have education system, they did whatever they wanted, and they did not care about others. However, after becoming a prophet, Mohammed started to teach them, not only about Islam but also about general and specific aspects of life. As a result, life changed for all of them, and they were very happy. Many centuries later, this knowledge has been used for several decades. After becoming the greatest king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1902, King Abdulaziz continued to build a very good education system for his country. This education was and is still very successful for two main reasons. Islam advises all Muslims to be educated. When the Prophet Mohammed advocated with Islam, and many People converted to it, he used to give a lecture every day about different subjects, including politics, mathematics, and morality, depending on the audience's ability to understand. Moreover, the Prophet said that knowledge is mandatory for everyone is a Muslim, male or female. Imam Ali, who was chosen by God to be the husband of the Prophet Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima, and both their sons Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain, taught many humans. Furthermore, Imam Hussain had a grandson whose name is Imam Jaffar Al Sadiq, who was the first man teaching chemistry, medicine, and physics in
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more details to the Muslims (Imam Al Sadiq, as defined by western scholars, the University of Strasbourg, France, 1970). After learning, they traveled to many countries to spread the knowledge that they gained. The government of Saudi Arabia spends a large amount of money on education. Since King Abdulaziz came to power with his royal family, and oil was discovered, a lot of money has been spent on universities and schools. The Saudi government has been sending many students on scholarship outside Saudi Arabia to varied countries, including the United Kingdom and United States. King Abdulaziz said that it is very good to acquire knowledge from others; wisdom is what the Muslim is seeking; anywhere he sees it, he gains it. In Saudi Arabia, there are more than 193,565 university students and more than 50,000 outside the Kingdom, divided between Canada, China, Germany, France, New Zealand, and Australia (Ministry of High Education, Saudi Arabia, 2010). There is a special program right now for them, called The King Abdullah Scholarship Program. This Program is essential, creating many opportunities for Saudi students. Imam Ali said to his friend, Kumail, ''O Kuamil, knowledge is better than money; knowledge protects you, and you protect money''. For anyone who wants to be successful, it is very important to have knowledge; all people should seek it if they want to benefit, or they will lose it forever.
Governments have to protect their citizens from external and internal enemies. When Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq, he thought the best way to protect his country was by controlling freedom of expression; thus, citizens could not speak out unless they got permission from him. However, there are many countries that have freedom of speech and the ability to elect their leaders and trust them. While Imam Ali, the husband of the Prophet Mohammed's daughter, Fatima, and the prince of the believers, was in command after he was elected as the fourth calif of Islam in the Arabic countries, Imam Ali allowed all protesters to protest with out his permission. Hence, all of them expressed what they wanted to say, even in front of him, and he did not do any harm. The Prime Minister Stephen Harper was allowing Canadian citizens to have demonstrations about the G20 on 26 and 27 June 2010 in Toronto. This freedom to speak openly is an important right. Individuals' opinions need to be appreciated. People need to know which ideas are very important to them, and after that they can choose which one is the best. To illustrate, in the class at the University of Toronto, we were watching a movie,''Persepoils'', and asking many questions to our classmate, Niluo far,
not only because the Iranian girl in the movie is affected but also because all of us are affected by events like war war. After finishing, we would benefit in different ways. At this moment, there are many Canadians who are still debating whether capital punishment should be legalized or not. People want to find the real truth of all information in the universe. Many traveler who like to explore a variety of culture want to discover the best part of it. Ibn battuta, an Arabic scholar and traveler, for instance, traveled around the world, including China, South Africa, and Spain, seeking beneficial information. He drew an old map of the world and published a book about many nations that he saw. Likewise, a large number of students from repressive regimes come to study medicine and work in Canada. They graduated from the University of Toronto, and some of them work at the Hospital for Sick Children because they can trade ideas and technology freely. According to George Orwell,'' if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear''. Freedom of speech is a legal birthright for everyone, so all national governments should legalize it. At this moment, there are several countries who allege that they have freedom of expression, but do they really have it?
FOCUS ON: SAUDI ARABIA
issue 72, december 2010
Traffic Jams & Noise pollution in Jeddah by Reham Fadul Jeddah city in Saudi Arabia forms a major striking paradox. Even though it is considered to be, from some critics’ perspectives, the Rome of the Middle East, it has been developing a high rate of noise pollution over the past few years. Given the fact that it is located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia overlooking the red sea, which is well-known for its wealth and wonders, and nearing Makkah, the capital of the Islamic world, emphasizes the significance of its location and sets a number one attraction for Saudi citizens and Muslims all over the world. This fact; therefore, led to an increase in the percentage of population and many other social issues related to it such as traffic load. The wide streets of Jeddah city are witnessing unprecedented overcrowding and traffic jams which can be justified by several reasons. First of all, the municipal and city council of Jeddah city has been and still are only focusing on the outer appearance of the city rather than the inner structure. Accordingly, the city has no infrastructure system, and thus, a lack of sophisticated public transportation system. For instance, subways do not exist and buses are poorly maintained if not at all. However, one of the most influential factors is the low social awareness as people tend to avoid the use of public transportation because of the scenario types of tragedies and horrible stories attached to it. Consequently, each family prefers to have its own vehicle which leads to an excessive congestion. Additionally, women in Saudi Arabia do not drive neither because it is forbidden in
Islam nor it is illegal, but because it is simply socially unacceptable. Saudi men are very protective when it comes to their families, so they either drive their women themselves or buy them their own cars along with their own drivers. This bearing also generates more traffic overload. Finally, the last considerable reason is, as mentioned earlier, the number of population that started to exceeds the city’s capacity since many citizens are changing their place of residence and moving to Jeddah. As a result for this overflow, locals try not to leave their homes and drive unless for urgent or necessary matters as it takes a lot of time just to run one errand. In general, reputation of Jeddah is severely harmed. In order to solve this problem the city council raised the number of public buses; however, an elevated number of unpunctual and broken buses is unfortunately not helpful. Legalizing women’s driving had been thought of as a perfect solution to limit the number of vehicles in streets, yet the concept is still refused by the majority. In my point of view, the optimal solution for this confusing problem is a combination of a little bit of the previous two strategies along with others. This solution is easy in concept but really hard, expensive, and time consuming in execution, and it will require a great sense of people’s cooperation and understanding to speed up the process. The first step is to establish an underground subway system that covers at least the downtown, to provide a good maintenance to other public transportations, and to elevate safety and security levels in stations and public places in order to regain people’s trust. A suggested approach to accomplish the first task is by hypothetically dividing the city into work areas and work on one area after the other successively to avoid potential congestions and inconvenience. This will be a long exhausting process yet worthwhile. The second step is to increase the public’s awareness about the benefits of women’s driving through the media or whatever that has the strongest impact over people and by focusing on its advantages and all the good that comes out of it and discarding its drawbacks or consequences. This proposed solution will remarkably decline the amount of traffic, enhance the city’s appearance, and hopefully fix the world-wide reputation of Jeddah city.
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Saudi Arabian Recipe:
FOOD CULTURE
Kabsa
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By Feras Almubarak FUN FACT > The most famous dish in Saudi Arabia is Kabsa.
Ingredients: • chicken, • rice, • tomatoes, • onion, • salt, • and spices. Many steps must be taken to do this dish. Here they are: 1. First, chicken is cut into six to eight pieces and put in boiling water in a pot over the stove. 2. Onions and tomatoes are cut into small pieces and fried in a small quantity of vegetable oil. 3. After they are done, they are added to the chicken that is boiling in the water. 4. Salt and spices are added to the mix. 5. When the chicken becomes soft, it is removed from the water and put in the oven to be grilled for 15 minutes. 6. At the same time, the rice should be put in the place of the chicken in the boiling water with the tomatoes and onions. 7. When both the rice and the chicken are done, they are placed in the same dish, where the chicken is put over the rice. 8. A small quantity of onion and raisin are fired until the onion becomes gold in color and is placed over the rice for decoration.
issue 72, december 2010
ARGOS GAME
CHECK OUT HOW EXCITED DARREN IS! Get this excited with the many enjoyable ELP social events. Want to know more? Check out the activities calendar on pages 54 & 55. 27
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LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
Sub-titles or closed captioning?
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Which ~ if any ~ is best?? by Evelyn Pedersen Evelyn Pedersen has too much fun teaching English through Movies in the Comprehensive English program. Her favourite action film is Get Smart. Many countries use the terms “sub-titles” and “closed captioning” interchangeably, but here in Canada, we make a distinction. “Sub-titles” are the lines of translated dialogue that you read at the bottom of the screen when you are watching a foreign movie or TV program. I have been able to enjoy many foreign films ~ in French, in German, in Chinese, etc. ~ because they had English subtitles. Without those sub-titles, I would’ve been completely lost! “Closed captioning,” (also, “closed captions”) on the other hand, refers to dialogue that appears at the bottom of the screen in the same language the actors are speaking. It was first invented to help folks like my friend Linda, who only has 30% of her hearing. (We can say that Linda is hearing impaired.) Thanks to closed captioning, Linda and I can sit down and enjoy a movie together, and we both “get it”! But what about you, as a movie lover and learner of English ~ what is best for your situation? Well, it really depends on two things: your present English abilities, and your purpose. So if your listening skills are weak, you probably want to use sub-titles in your language, right? Now, this can help you understand the film, but let’s face it: this method doesn’t do much to help you improve your English. So here are a couple of suggestions . . . . . If you have the time, the very best thing would be for you to watch the movie twice ~ the first time with sub-titles in your first language, but the second time with English closed captioning. As you watch the first time, you can focus on following the main events of the story. But when you watch the second time, use the [pause] button on your remote, and try to write down a few new words or phrases. There ~ you’ve just learned some conversational English! Now if you don’t have the time to watch
the movie twice, try this: watch the first 10 or 15 minutes with sub-titles in your language, then hit [pause], go back to the main menu and switch over to English closed captioning. Watch with English captions for the next 10 minutes, then go back to your language’s sub-titles, and so forth until the end of the film. In other words, watch half and half. You may surprise yourself with how much you’re able to understand! At the opposite end of learner ability, if you are an advanced student, you may not want to use closed captioning when you watch a new film. Watching with no captions is a great way to practice listening comprehension, as you listen for main ideas and for supporting details. But it’s still a good idea to pause the film whenever you hear a word or phrase you think may be useful to you in the future, and write it down. After all, here are real-life speech samples being served up to you for two solid hours! For most learners, however, watching with English closed captioning is the most effective path both to improved listening comprehension and to vocabulary development. As you both listen and read the dialogue in the film, you are taking in English through both the eye gate and the ear gate. And one reinforces (= confirms and improves) the other. That is, the dialogue you are reading is a way to check what you are hearing, and the dialogue you are hearing confirms what you are reading. An additional benefit of using closed captions is that when you know exactly what the speakers are saying, you are free to pay closer attention to their pronunciation, especially to aspects such as reductions and linking. Notice how phrases such as “Can you tell her I called?” reduce to “Kenya tellerrai called?” You may well misunderstand that simple phrase ~ unless you are using closed captions. With closed captions, however, you are free to begin to notice these special features of the language. And how great is that?!
Movie Review: “RED”: Starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich Based on a graphic novel published by DC comics, the film follows Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) a retired CIA agent that finds himself the target of a government conspiracy. In the film Frank fights for his life, finds love with a pension clerk (Mary-Louise Parker) and reunites with his old CIA work buddies to combat the evil government agents. The film is an exciting and funny action comedy with enough twists to keep you at the edge of your seat. The highlight of the movie is definitely the female heros (Helen Mirren and Mary-Louise Parker). In most movies, the man is the only action hero but in RED Helen Mirren can be seen firing a gun and taking down the bad guys. I always wanted to be an action hero, and seeing Helen Mirren portray a strong female action star was a lot of fun. Mary-Louise Parker portrays Sarah Ross, a bored and lonely pension clerk that just wants some adventure in her life. She proves to be very brave as she follows Frank on his mission to stop the government conspiracy, but also very funny and adds a lot of light hearted comedy to the film. One part of the film that could have been improved was Morgan Freeman’s character Joe Matheson. This character was not very well developed and under used in the film. Morgan Freeman is a very strong actor and it would have been nice if he had more to work with in the film. Overall the film was very good. The underlying theme of the film is Frank’s desire to have a normal life, and Sarah’s desire to have more adventure
RED
issue 72, december 2010
Tips for Writing a Film Review Try to identify the film’s genre; i.e. is it a documentary, comedy, drama or thriller? Remember that some movies can be a hybrid (or mix) of these categories. For example, a “dramedy” is a cross between a drama and comedy, while a “biopic” is a biography of a famous person that has some dramatic elements. Know your audience - who are you writing the review for? Where and how will it be read by others? Try to read film commentary in the newspaper, in magazines and on the internet to see a variety of writing styles and opinions. This will help you develop a voice that you are comfortable with. Do not summarize the story or plot of the film in detail. The critic’s job is to comment on how effective the movie was in accomplishing its goals. Pay attention to the editing of sounds and images, because they can help you understand the “mood” of the film. Try to avoid words like “good” and “bad” - or even “fun” or “exciting”. These adjectives are too general, and do not tell the reader anything substantial. Be specific, be direct.
in her life. This creates a dynamic film that makes for a fun movie going experience. We give this film 5 stars! *****
Meet the critics: Hong Rong Liu (China), Xiao Xiao Zhen (China) and Chris Chipman (Canada)
Do not try to comment on every element of the film. Focus on a couple of aspects (e.g. the acting, screenplay, musical score, costumes, etc) that you think the film did especially well... or poorly. A good review should make the reader want to see a film (if it is excellent) or avoid it (if it is forgettable). Remember that your writing should aim at either of these end results. Be honest about what you felt while watching the movie - a film review should not try to be objective. This is your opinion of the film, so do not try to hide your subjective voice.
by Yaseen Yusufali Yaseen is an ELP Academic English instructor.
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Halloween Festivities
world of words
issue 72, december 2010
Halloween Festivities
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by Maria Jose Rodriguez Avila
The Night is Over
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A photograph is a glimpse of someone's reality. The World Press Photo Exhibition, an organization based in the Netherlands since 1955 and an event held in Toronto this fall from October sixth to October twenty-eighth, dares to show us images about the most relevant world affairs in 2010. Walking trough the display at the Brookfield centre, we see disturbing images from all over the world, from Iran to Mexico, but in addition to showing the cruel problems of our actuality, this exposition opens a window into the everyday lives of those living in other countries. Karla Gachet, a photographer from Ecuador, won Third Place in Arts and Entertainment Stories thanks to twelve brilliant pictures about Ceci, a tango dancer and student living in Buenos Aires. Gachet is a storyteller and through her eyes we discover a nightlife replete with rhythm, high-heels and the beauty of two bodies moving together as one. The first eleven pictures evoke an atmosphere of movement and passion but the last one of this series is clearly different: the street is silent, illuminated by artificial light and in the foreground our attention is turned towards Meme and Ceci resting after a night of partying and dancing. Gachet's mastery in showing their emotions is outstanding and her sensibility about light and color is remarkable. In addition, the photo composition is simply stunning. But the most notable characteristic in Gachet's work is her skill in narrating someone's life. In this last picture, Ceci is leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. Meme is giving her a kiss. The night seems eternal yet the time is suspended. Finally, she exhales. The night is over.
World Press Photo Reviews
world of words
issue 72, december 2010
WAR
by Ozlem Umdu
IS The World Press Photo is an exhibition which has been organized since 1955. It was established internationally to support and to promote press photographers. An independent jury, consisting of 19 members, chooses winners in ten different categories. The World Press Photo will be exhibited from October 6 to 28, 2010 in the Allen Lambert Gallery at Brookfield Place in Toronto. When I went to see the exhibition, I admired the photo, “War Is Personal” from the Sunday Times Magazine. On February, 13, 2010, an American photographer, Eugene Richards won first prize in the Contemporary Issues Stories categories of the contest. “War Is Personal” affected me because it reflected various emotions such as separation, sadness and death. The photo was about a military man who officiated in the American Army, and he was kissing his sleeping children before returning for duty in Iraq. To begin with, the photo told how war affects people’s lives: it causes people to leave their families, sometimes for a short time, or sometimes
by Reem Al-Otaibi
An Iranian Girl
PERSONAL forever.
According to an article in The Sunday Times Magazine , “By the end of 2009, over 4,300 men and women from US military had been killed, and most of them, about 30,000 have been wounded since the beginning of the conflict in Iraq” (http://www.worldpressphoto.org). In addition, the military man said farewell his children while they were sleeping because he likely did not want to see them crying. Furthermore, when I saw his face, I thought that he would never come back to his home; he was seeing them for the last time. Finally, humanity should remove war from their lives. They should learn to respect each other. To do this, they should not think about other countries’ resources; however, they should consider civilians’ lives.
The World Press Photo Exhibition began in 1955 to assist freedom of expression. More than 5900 photographers have participated in this exhibition which means hundreds thousands of pictures have been involved in it. Regardless of different languages they are speaking, they are showing us true pictures that we can all understand. Olivier Laban-Mattei from France obtained the second prize in his political photo "An Iranian girl”. Actually this event occurred recently, on June the 13th.In the background of this picture protesters are running from the government security while in the front a brave girl who was standing against them !The picture was full of anger and challenge. Actually, I chose this picture because I admired the way she defended herself. Although she is a girl, she did not hesitate from such an action. Alternative she was raising one of her hands as if she looks like the statue of liberty. Also, this Iranian girl was not against religious rule in Iran, and that is apparent through her ‘Hijab’. In fact, she was protesting against the results of the Iranian Elections. However, the government security have arrested about 457 of Iranian for their protest actions. Even though the context is horrible, but it is a pleasant image. The combination of men’s fear and a girl’s courage is such a piece of art work. This picture shows a revolution against repression and a mockery of men’s tyranny! 33
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I C CA Karen shares her E experience while skating with ELP students ‌ S
K A T I N G
We went skating on Thursday. It was a cold November day, so we took the subway to Harbourfront Centre. They have a public skating rink there. During the summer, its just a pool of water with a giant milk carton in the middle. But during the winter, the Zamboni comes out and the pool is transformed into a clean sheet of ice for us. On the train I asked Toni if she ever skated, "yes, as a child - I started skating with a chair and then after 3 times, I was good." I am jealous. "It's a lot easier if you know how to roller-blade" she said, "because that, is harder." I made a mental note of that. Nearly 30 students came with us, during the ride Dunya turned to her friend and said, "you made me come, I've never skated before - I hope this is good!" She won't be disappointed. When we arrived at the rental shop, we formed a line that went out the door. "$7 per rental, only government ID!" yelled the guy at the desk. Toni snaps a few photos as I watch Jamal watch Darren put on his skates. Then I put on mines. Mito has trouble exchanging her skates because one of her friends, who used her one piece of ID, rented 5 pairs and is now missing. I wait with her for a bit. "Do you want some home-made cured meat?" I asked. She stared at me like I was crazy and shook her head. I guess its time to head out onto the ice. Outside, a series of 90s pop music played over the loud speakers, and my skates start to dig into my ankles. Michael seems to know what he was doing, despite never learning how to skate. During a break, while in line together at a Subways restaurant, I asked him, "how can you skate so well?" "I use to roller-blade" he said. That's all he needed to say. On the ice, Soyoon whizzed by and exclaimed, "you're improving!" After she said that, I fell. Hard. Darren helps me tighten my shoelaces, "these skates are bent" he said, "they're not worth $7." He then instructs all the beginners to keep their legs shoulder-width apart and knees bent. Jamal watches us happily from the bench. Did I say its cold out? FanChiang starts taking pictures. He bought along his 50-year old camera that his dad gave him. But it could only take 20 photos; it doesn't require any batteries and weighs nearly a pound. "There is more picture-taking than skating" Mehmet says to FanChiang at one point. Mito comes by and they skated away. Near the mid-point of the evening, a conga line forms, but the rink staff quickly break it up. I note that several students who are beginners are doing really well, Akiko and Olivia; and Imane and Soyoon even manage to form an eloquent dance pose for one of FanChian's pictures. A couple of other skaters zoom by in t-shirts and jeans, "look at them!" says Bee. "Oh don't worry about them," I said, "they're just showing off." Its 8:30pm so I decided to head home. When I go to return my skates, the guy at the rental shop spills his 2L cup of coke all over himself while reaching for my ID. I stared blankly for a moment and thought, I'm jealous at people who can skate, because it is such a beautiful sport. The guy turns to me and says, "its not your fault." It starts raining outside.
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issue 72, december 2010
THE RULES 1st step: get ready. 2nd step: set and go.
3rd step: try not to fall and lend a helping hand to the fallen. 4th step: have a blast & smile to the camera!
Want to try it out? Throughout the winter in Toronto, you can go Ice Skating in Nathan Phillips Square or the Harbourfront. If you have already tried skating, and want to upgrade to a different and more challenging winter sport, why don't you try skiing and snowboarding? Check out the ELP activities calendar pages 54 &55 for more info on ski and snowboarding trips in January!
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g{x eÉçtÄ TzÜ|vâÄàâÜx j|ÇàxÜ Yt|Ü
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issue 72, december 2010
YâÇ tà à{x Yt|Ü AAA by Liane Hanson On Saturday, November 13th, myself and another CA Aysegul took a group of students to the Royal Winter Fair in Exhibition Place. Neither one of us had ever been to the fair before, and none of the students had gone either - we had no idea of what to expect! Needless to say, once we got there we found out that there was A LOT to do, and even more to see! There were a lot of different vendors selling all sorts of interesting things: furniture and decorations that were all hand-painted, paintings and other types of artwork, and even clothes like cowboy hats and boots! There was also a huge food-court, with a large variety of foods from all over the world. My personal favourite was the elephant ear that we all shared, but the cheese-tasting was a pretty delicious experience too! There were also a lot of competitions going on for the duration of the fair, and we got to see a lot of prize winning vegetables and animals while we were there. Did you know that there are pumpkins that can weigh over 1000 pounds? I didn’t! It was bigger than five of us all standing next to it. I think that the best parts of the fair definitely had to have been the petting zoo. It was a blast! There were all sorts of different farm animals like sheep, cows, pigs (the baby piglets were so cute!) and even a couple of ducks and chickens (my favourites were the green and blue chickens...). However, there were also a lot of weird animals that I never expected to see - like the llama, the alpaca, and even some really cute guinea pigs and rabbits! We also got to see some horses being walked around their corral; they were really huge, and looked really friendly. All in all, the Royal Winter Fair was a lot of fun, and a huge success! We even got a professional photo done to commemorate the good times. There were even two men from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police force there on the way out! I would definitely love to visit it again next year!
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I like food.
by Jia-Yun (Karen) Cao, Karen is an ELP Cultural Assistant (CA)! I like food a lot. But I don’t know how to cook. I wish I knew how to cook. My grandmother knows how to cook. She makes a lot of food and once said she is happiest when she sees her grandkids eating merrily together, emphasis on the merrily part. She never quarreled over food. If something was on sale, she would buy a lot of it and leave it out for everyone to eat. But my mom quarreled over food. She quarreled over food almost on a daily basis. Whenever we went out to eat at Chinese dim sum (tea) restaurants, she would count how many items each of us ate and how little she ate. Whenever my grandmother bought food home, she would eat it and argue with my grandmother about how much everyone else ate and how little they left for her. Food defined my life. It brings people together. I like food. Growing up there wasn’t a lot of food though. We lived in Regent Park, back then, it was known as Canada’s largest ghetto and public housing project. This was before the infusion of cash and services. I think I use to hear gunshots every night, but those days were also the best days of my life. Not because of the food though. Food then for me and my sisters composed largely of 80% processed foods from food banks. It was gross. My mother, she’s a tough woman. Working 60 hours a week at the restaurant she and my dad ran, she needed to somehow feed (and cloth and house) 3 growing kids with very little money. So the food bank became a staple. Everything we ate came from there; white bread, muffins, bagels, canned beans, sugary cereals, giant bags of jellybeans, powdered milk, canned veggies and tomato sauces, white pasta and hotdogs. Sometimes, we would get lucky and get a few cans of sweet corn or a couple bags of baked chips or some really expensive cookies or even ice cream! My mother would hoard these in a closet for special occasions. So growing up, there was always an entire closet full of food. We also hung bags of bags of chips and snacks from the ceiling, away from all the cockroaches and mice that were rampant in the entire apartment building. Poverty breeds financial insecurity which breeds social insecurity and constant uncertainty and anxiety about what little you have. This can be difficult on the children. I remember as a measure of punishment once, my mother made me and my sister eat an entire raw onion each. Usually whenever we got in trouble for something as a child, it was always related to food. A few years ago, 38
my grandmother said to us, while cutting the fat from the pork she had bought for a soup, “when you girls were small and we were poor, we needed to eat the fat, but now we should cut it out because it’s not healthy for you.” I especially like grapes now. But I remember as a child, all the grapes we ever ate were never whole. That is, we got them from the food bank and we all know that food banks are impossible with giving out fresh, nutritious food, so whatever they gave out, it always had blemishes. My grandmother would sit at the dining table and create giant bowls of cut up grapes with all the blemishes removed. It’s a lot of work. But those grapes were worth it. Food is so delicious. But living alone downtown is difficult when you’re a student. Rent can be notorious and unforgiving, I don’t think I ever went through a single year in university without working a minimum of 2 jobs (and full-time school somehow). For many people living on minimum wages, 70% of your income went to rent. The rest went to a phone, transportation and you’re left with literally $100 or less for food. Our welfare system is no better and amounts to living below the poverty line. I don’t remember the last time I ate out. But I want to rediscover my Cantonese background and the desire to cook traditional dishes that composed the other 20% of my childhood diet. My grandmother use to make wonderful steamed fish with soy sauce, green onions and ginger; or potato, carrots and pork bone soup; or dumplings stuffed with pork, chives and mushrooms. My roommate recently commented that some people are attributing Westernized Chinese food (sweet and sour chicken balls with the neon red sauce, ginger beef etc.) as the real “Canadian” cuisine because it was developed here. After all, unless you’re a First Nations person, all of us are immigrants. I think I’m hungry now but the only thing in my fridge is a bowl of homemade hummus (sans tahini because it was too expensive) and some expired pita bread. Ug.
issue 72, december 2010
If you like food like Karen, then you’ve come to the right city! Toronto offers a diverse variety of cuisines ... On a budget.
Toronto is often described as a mosaic of neighbourhoods of different ethnicities giving residents and visitors a variety of culinary options. Food always manages to bring people together and the University of Toronto lies is the heart of city allowing students at ELP to get together and explore are sorts of food to Gustav Meuller many Chinese paintings and their convenience. The students here at ELP live to eat and have provided some feedback of their COUNTRY one French painting that personal experiences at various restaurants. ELP Sweden seems to be out of place. RESTAURANT/ETHNICITY RATING OUT OF 5 STARS students review a select few of the city’s various restaurants and eateries. Mother’s Dumplings/Chinese APPROXIMATE COST $10 MY EXPERIENCE This restaurant is located in Chinatown right on Spadina and College. I found out about this restaurant from my dad and have been there many times. The first couple of times I had to ask for a fork but after a while I learned how to eat with chopsticks. The service it just okay and can be slow at times but the dumplings are great. The restaurant has interesting decoration with Toni Valentin Papa COUNTRY Philippines RESTAURANT/ETHNICITY The Friendly Thai/Thai APPROXIMATE COST $18 MY EXPERIENCE I have been to this restaurant many many times! I love Thai food and unfortunately there are just a handful of Thai restaurants in Toronto. Basil Chicken is my favourite dish and The Friendly Thai never disappoints me. It’s always open until 12 am just in time for a late night bite. The restaurant located at 678 Yonge Street has a very calming and relaxing surrounding. Although it is a little pricey for the student budget, it’s a great place for a casual meal with friends. RATING OUT OF 5 STARS 39
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Mizuki Yamazaki COUNTRY Japan RESTAURANT/ETHNICITY Ematei/Japanese APPROXIMATE COST $10 MY EXPERIENCE Ematei is not so expensive and their food has great taste! I enjoyed a bowl of Katsu Don. There is an old Japanese appearance and the inside of the restaurant is decorated like a sushi bar. If you are Japanese, you can feel nostalgia since all staff are from Japan. You will not be able to go to other Japanese restaurants because the taste here is unforgettable! RATING OUT OF 5 STARS
Ryoji Hayashi COUNTRY Japan RESTAURANT/ETHNICITY Camto/Korean APPROXIMATE COST $8 MY EXPERIENCE I prefer to go to Camto compared to any other retaurant when I want to drink with my friends because the food and drinks are really cheap. You can order five beers
Cassie Cai COUNTRY China RESTAURANT/ETHNICITY Korean Grill House/Korean APPROXIMATE COST $20 MY EXPERIENCE It is located pretty close to the campus right at Yonge and Bloor. There service was great and so was their food. The buffet is 40
amazing and great if you are really hungry for meat. It is and overall great experience and you get the change to grill the meat your self. There is a grill in the middle of your table and the server gives you raw meats. I would definitely recommend this restaurant! RATING OUT OF 5 STARS
with one main dish at any time. It’s a really great place to go with friends and it’s located in Korea Town, it is very close to OISE just at Christie station. RATING OUT OF 5 STARS
issue 72, december 2010
Halil Cinar COUNTRY Turkey RESTAURANT/ETHNICITY Mr. Pide/Turkish APPROXIMATE COST $10 MY EXPERIENCE I brought many of my classmates to this restaurant. There are two types of traditional Turkish food restaurants one consists of foods such as Kababs and the other consist of pizzas, Mr. Pide consists of piz-
zas. This restaurant had great service and their foods are very tastey, I always go back! It’s located close to pape station and id a great place if you want to experience authentic middle eastern food. RATING OUT OF 5 STARS
Takuya Horikawa COUNTRY Japan RESTAURANT/ETHNICITY MASA/Japanese APPROXIMATE COST $15 MY EXPERIENCE MASA is close to OISE right at Yonge station. I heard about MASA from my Korean friends. I like to go there because I can eat a lot of Japanese food. You can choose to have the ‘All You Can Eat Buffet’ or just Mehmet Kursunlu COUNTRY Turkey RESTAURANT/ETHNICIT Y Sushi on Bloor/Japanese APPROXIMATE COST $20 MY EXPERIENCE I went to this restaurant with my Japanese friends. When we went there there was a long line and we waited for more than 20 minutes. After that we ate a lot of sushi. It was my first time trying it. It was
choose from the regular menu. One time I went there with my Korean friends. One of them ordered sixtypieces of salmon sushi because she said she likes it. I could not believe it when I saw 60 pieces in front of me, I was very surprised! RATING OUT OF 5 STARS
perfect! I felt that I was in Japan because of the atmosphere of this unique restaurant, with unique food, in such a unique city, with my unique friends. It is work waiting in line for even a hour. It was an unforgettable experience. RATING OUT OF 5 STARS
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Survey on Travel Destinations This survey was conducted by Mehmet Fatih Dundar, Ayuka Matsuo, Ayaka Hozaki, Hanan Aldarweesh, Nesreen Almalky, Gabriela Romero, Fadwa Abunaji and Jin Han Yeon for James McMullan’s Academic English Level 50 class. Travelling around the world is an interesting issue for many people. It is a dream for people who hope to realize it someday. In this survey, we tried to discover what Canadian people think about travelling abroad by asking these following questions: - Do you like travelling abroad? - What kind of travel do you prefer? - Which continent do you like to travel to? - How many vacation days do you have in a year? - What is your reason to not travel? When we planned this survey, we decided to ask people who are on the street or in subway stations. In order to cover a range of opinion, we tried to ask various ages of both males and females. This graph illustrates the interest of travelling abroad of Canadian people in 2010. The percent of people who like to travel abroad is almost 91%, whereas 9% of people aren’t interested in travelling abroad. This graph shows the different reasons for travelling abroad such as sightseeing, shopping, studying, religious holidays and business. Sightseeing is the most popular reason of travelling with about 44%, while almost 17% of people prefer to travel for studying. On the other hand, business is the least popular reason of travelling. The third graph is about preferred continent. 35% of the respondents chose Europe. An interesting answer in this question is that the next highest number of Canadians wanted to go North America especially the USA. The other people selected Asia(16%), South America(8%), Africa(4%). As a result of this, we deduce that advertising is really important for countries. So the more advertisements you have, the more tourists you will get.
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Travel and vacation days should be considered together. The fourth chart shows vacation days. 30% of Canadians in this survey have about two weeks; however, an interesting point in this question is that two weeks was followed by people that said they take more than 4 weeks. This graph shows the different reasons that inhibit people from travelling. Time is the biggest dilemma for 95% of people, and money is the second biggest problem for around 33%. 22% of people don’t have this opportunity for family reasons. To sum up, many Canadians in this survey like travelling abroad, and Europe is the best destination for them. However, one of the important reasons that prevents people from travelling is “time” because nowadays they are busy and don’t have enough time for their vacation.
A footnote An interesting thing happened when I met an old woman to ask her to complete my survey. She started to ask me about everything: “Who are you? Why are you doing this survey? Who asked you to do that?” After she fulfilled her curiosity, she told me: ”Sorry, I don’t have time to answer your questions.” 43
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Coffee Stand-off: a survey
VS This survey was conducted by Adnan Alsaffan, Ai Tsuji, Aqeelah Almarhoon, Hao Ning, bon Myung Ku, Maher Alharbi, and Mizuki Yamazaki for James McMullan’s Academic English Level 50 class. Do you like to go to coffee shops? If you do, you must have heard of Tim Hortons or STARBUCKS. Both shops are among the most successful coffee houses in Canada. We were curious about which coffee shop Torontonians prefer and the reasons. Besides, we wondered if Tim Hortons is still considered as a symbol of Canada, especially after being sold to an American company. We also wanted to get some experience talking with native English speakers.
Before the survey, we needed to make sure which cafĂŠ people prefer, so the first question was which coffee shop people would rather visit, Tim Hortons or Starbucks? Why did you choose this coffee shop? Do you consider Tim Hortons as a symbol of Canada?
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We started conducting our survey around the University of Toronto campus, but we were shocked because of the number of people who ignored us. Eventually, people started giving us attention. Some of them said, "I don't drink coffee.� One lady asked, "Am I going to get free coffee or something else from that?" Another man thought we had been sent by his supervisor to interrogate him. Most Torontonians prefer Tim Hortons to STARBUCKS. This is because Tim Hortons is convenient and located at accessible places such as station. In addition, they have more reasonable prices and a wider variety of food. As a result, approximately 80% of Torontonians consider Tim Hortons as a symbol of Canada. In conclusion, Torontonians equate STARBUCKS with high quality and Tim Hortons with reasonable prices. However, most of them are proud of Tim Hortons because it's considered to be a symbol of Canada.
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The Universal Ke Without a doubt, education is the safest way to ensure a brighter, safer, more intellect future which acts as the pillars of our modern society. We can destroy once and for all racism, ignorance, hate and hopefully warfare by simply educating. Among other subjects that are vital for our future, education is perhaps the subject of the most endless arguments about how it can be improved. Countless research and studies has been done to identify factors that affect and improve our education, and out of these studies, class size stands out. This essay will inform the readers about reducing class sizes, the disadvantages of big class sizes, then move on to discussing the benefits of smaller classrooms. The technique is simple; reduce the number of pupils per teacher to achieve a more successful education. Although this might sound simple, the reductions of class sizes are much more complex then they seem. It requires more teachers, more classrooms and more classroom materials which all lead to the inevitable, much more money. “In the U.S., more than 20 states have adopted policies aimed at decreasing class size, and billions of dollars have been spent or committed in the past few years. The cry for smaller classes is also resounding in Canada, Australia, the U.K. and even Japan, whose record of secondary school performance is the envy of most other developed countries.” Although smaller class sizes cost more than other ideas such as increasing teachers` pay, it is clear more and more school boards are investing in this long term improvement. More students result in more noise which leads to more disruptive behaviour. In big class sizes, students become numbers. Their academic needs fail to be addressed since time is limited; and so is the teacher per pupil. A teacher can only deal with a limited number of students in a given class time. This leads to a problem which the teacher must face; he or she must either move on teaching, or slow down and help students who seem to be struggling. Unfortunately, both choices have consequences. The class falls out of schedule if teacher tries to spend time with everyone. On the other hand, if the teacher decides to keep up to schedule, then some students who need the one-on-one help fall behind, and eventually lose all hope. Discipline problems escalate, and the number
of `problem students` tend to be more in a bigger class size which tires the teacher and disturbs the concentration of other pupils in the class.
“Fewer students in a classroom seems to translate into less noise and disruptive behaviour, which not only gives the teacher more time for class work but also more freedom to engage students creatively—by dividing them into groups for specific projects, say. And smaller classes make it more likely that the teacher can bestow individual attention on struggling student.” In a smaller classroom however, teachers and their students get to know each other better. This helps build up a warm relationship and mutual respect and also help encourage learning. Teachers get to spend more time to learn more about each and every one of their pupils. This can be very helpful since they can apply different teaching techniques if they know the strengths of that particular student. Unlike the big class size, the small ones have more of that `learning environment` with less disruptive noise. Discipline is not usually a problem, since less time is taken to deal with fewer problems which in turn leave the teacher with more time to do their primary duty: teach. In conclusion, it is sometimes better to look at the bigger picture before making an important call. In this case, decreasing class sizes might have a higher cost, but in return, they help build the pillars of our future which is effective education. By spending a few more pennies, we can help our teachers together to ensure that our children get the quality education they deserve. What smarter way than to invest in something that will help ensure a smarter, more respectful, more democratic future with no hatred and no discrimination. After all education is the key to all of our problems. by Mehmet Kursunlu
Is class size a factor in your decision when choosing a university? At U of T, the more popular the program, the bigger the class size. For example, Psychology and Political Science majors attend classes with hundreds of other students! Here at ELP, we know the important of small classroom sizes—we allow only a maximum of 18 students.
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by Maria Jose Rodrigeuz Avila Isabel walked through Mexico City airport carrying a heavy backpack. Saying goodbye to her friends took more time than expected. Now she was running late, and she did not pay attention to the people surrounding her. On her way to the Air-Canada airline gate, she could not avoid running into some distracted people. Airports look the same for the inexpert eye, for they all have the same neat landscape: white floors, international stores, signs in multiple languages. One enters and the homeland left behind seems to gradually disappear. But Isabel sensed that recognizable feeling of going away since she began to pack her luggage. She had to pack all her possessions into two suitcases, each one of merely twenty-three kilos. Eight-teen years old and she already had that practical skill, useful among frequent travelers, of living only with a few belongings (jeans, t-shirts, books and an English-Spanish dictionary). She had a few photographs with her as well. Pictures of her life left behind: friends, sunny days, laughs. She was going to miss them... Of all the voluntary diseases, the one she had was nostalgia. Nevertheless, in a few hours she was going to take a plane into unexplored territories: Canada. "Quien extraña, pierde" she was told once. Missing the past is loosing the present. Sometimes she felt like a kite without a string: flying in the blue sky higher and higher, slowly loosing the sight of her home. Perhaps it was time to seize the present, enjoy the moment. Interesting experiences were lying ahead of her: a new city to discover, new friends, new sounds and colors. She rushed into the security area. As usual, she spent several minutes looking for her passport in the bottom of her purse. Finally, she found it and handed it to the annoyed security guard. Three steps more and she would officially be on an "international area". She looked at the back of her shoulder: her family and friends had gone to the airport to say their farewells. She game them a last friendly gesture and a smirk. Three, two, one. She walked further from them, further from her home country. Three, two, one: her nomadic adventure had just started. Future was so uncertain yet exciting… Isabel took a deep breath. She inhaled, exhaled. She was ready to meet this new city; Toronto.
a nomadic adventure
Jokes
Quotations/Mottos:
“My name is Siqi, but they call me Sushi” – SIQI “59 cents for donuts at Tim Hortons!” – GUSTAV MEULLER At the TTC station… Student: I can’t speak Canadian TTC Officer: Pass, pass, pass, pass. CA: Would you like to share a joke? Student: I fell on the subway CA: … Student: That is funny to me! CA: Which is your favourite restaurant? Student: Mother’s Dumplings! CA: How would you describe the atmosphere? Student: The inside is very Chinese. There are many Chinese paintings on the wall…but there is 1 French painting…
Favourite
LO L R ou l a O u on FL t lou ghi d ng la the rol l ug f in hi loo g ng r
“Never Give Up” – KAHORI “Be Positive” – KIKUYO “Time is Money” – HITOMI & ERI “Keep a Smile =D” Now or Never” – AKIKO “Don’t put yourself down” – IMANE “Life is Beautiful” - ERI “When there is a will, there is a way” – TAKUYA 53
Social Activities Calendar—January 2011
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Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 START OF TERM
11
12
13 Pancake Breakfast (FREE)
14 U of T VS Queen’s— Men’s Ice Hockey (FREE with TCARD)
15 Ski & Snowboard Trip ($80)
16
17 MTV Live (FREE)
18
19 Taste of Toronto: Thai Food! (**)
20 SGT Splatter Paintball ($20)
21 Ice Skating ($8)
22 CN Tower ($20)
23
24 Jazz Night at The REX (**)
25
26 NBA Basketball: Raptors Vs 76s ($38)
27 Bata Shoe Museum (FREE)
28 [3D] Movie Night! ($12)
29 Ski & Snowboard Trip ($80)
30
31 Games Night (FREE)
Build strong friendships. Experience Toronto & bask in the City’s multicultural neighbourhoods Discover life outside of the classroom. 54
issue 72, december 2010
January 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Event
15
Location
Time **Make sure to bring extra money for this event! There may be added costs to the activity (drinks, cover charges, food). Unless otherwise stated, TTC transit or other transportation costs are not included. It is recommended that you bring pocket money to all events, just in case! TICKET SELLING:
START OF CLASSES
Location: ELP 4th floor - Main Lobby Tickets are sold every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 12:30 1:30pm. CASH payments only
Pancake Breakfast
4th Floor Lobby
8:15am
U of T VS Queen’s— Men’s Ice Hockey
4th Floor Lobby
6:30pm
Ski & Snowboard Trip
Yonge/Yorkmills Subway Station
7:45am
MTV Live
4th Floor Lobby
5:15pm
Taste of Toronto: Thai Food!
4th Floor Lobby
5:15pm
• The price listed on tickets does not represent the actual cost.
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
SGT Splatter Paintball
4th Floor Lobby
5:15pm
Ice Skating
4th Floor Lobby
5:15pm
• Tickets are purchased at a discounted, group rate.
CN Tower
4th Floor Lobby
12:45pm
Jazz Night at The REX
4th Floor Lobby
5:30pm
NBA Basketball: Raptors Vs 76s
4th Floor Lobby
5:15pm
27 28 29
Bata Shoe Museum
4th Floor Lobby
5:15pm
[3D] Movie Night!
4th Floor Lobby
6:00pm
Ski & Snowboard Trip
Yonge/Yorkmills Subway Station
7:45am
Games Night
4th Floor Lobby
5:15pm
16 17 18 19
30 31
• Tickets will not be sold outside of the designated times. • Spaces are limited for all events. Be sure to buy your tickets well in advance as some events will sell out.
• We reserve the right to cancel or modify events. We will make every attempt to contact you in advance.
Build strong friendships. Experience Toronto & bask in the City’s multicultural neighbourhoods Discover life outside of the classroom. 55
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Mehmet Kursunlu writes to us
Biggest Health Threat: Smoking.
about two major threats to our health and livelihood : smoking & global warming.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that smoking the biggest health problem in the world. Each year four million people die because of smoking. According to the survey, if necessary measures have not been taken, this casualty will increase to ten million in the next twenty years. Nevertheless, there are many effects of smoking properly, they are continuously being exposed to the life threatening smokes such as carbon monoxide and methanol. We can subcategorize the ffects of smoking; effects on individual and effects on government. Smoking harms the human body and causes fatal diseases. On the other hand, smoking can indirectly gamane the government’ budget. Cigarette contains four thousand different kinds of toxics. Cigarette commercials Fifty five of them were dteremined as cancerogenic are a thing of the past! substance. All these substances are very harmful for human body. These substances damage respiratory system, Do you remember ever a cigarettes cardiovascular system, digestive system and excretory seeing system in the long term. Smoking turns organs into inefficient commercial on TV or compounds by time. after long time, smoking causes advertisements in inevitable fatal diseases. Dor instance, cancer is just on of newspapers, billboards, many. Many smokers die because of cancer. There are some treatments for cancer, but just some or magazines? people are able to overcome this fatal disease. Therefore, government always invests a lot of money in order to find out new treatments and pull people who have cancer out of this fatal disease. The government should increase cigarette taxes to deter people from smoking. Because we know that most smokers will be cancer in the future and government will spend a lot of money for those smokers. Instead of investing a lot of money for insurance expenses of smokers, government could invest to education, science, and technology. The time and effort spent for fighting against the smoking problem can be utilized in more efficient ways. As we see, smoking has got a very bad impact on individuals and government. Smoking ruins the human body and future of people who smoke. It harms the government budget as well. We can not disrupt smoking; it is impossible. However, we can reduce it. In order to have a good life and future, individuals and government should encourage the smokers to give up smoking or at least reduce it as much as possible. Therefore, government should have right and deterrent policy for smoking. Otherwise, a bad future will be waiting for us.
issue 72, december 2010
Global Warming By 2020, between 75 and 250 million people will suffer from water shortages and millions more are not going to be able to find basic nutrition. One of the crucial issue human race faces today is climate change. Variety of researches have been conducted in order to figure out problem in depth. We need to understand causes of climate change and with this perception of knowledge , important solutions can be found. We will discuss what causes climate change, its effects on our planet, and the solution including what each family can do to help out in this global issue Countless number of elements cause climate change such as human activities, emission of carbon dioxide ,and deforestation. Human activities are the core cause of greenhouse effect which warms up earth with the emission of carbon dioxide. For instance, burning more and more wood, coal, gas, and oil are releasing high amount of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide has been playing a key role in greenhouse effects. Naturally our atmosphere has some amount of CO2 in it ; however, as we consume more and more energy we release extra CO2 and break the natural balance of atmosphere and this leads trapping heat in our atmosphere which is supposed to be released into the space. Therefore, normal temperature of our planet has been increasing dramatically. “According to more than 1,300 scientists from the United States and other countries, forecasts a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.” Another factor affecting climate change is
deforestation. forests recover unbalanced atmospheric structure by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. However, people exploit forests in order to use it for agricultural purposes. The warming up of earth comes with many strings attached. One of these are rising sea levels which are caused by the increase in global temperatures. Arctic sea ice melts in response to the high temperatures which increases levels and speeds up warming in the Arctic. The balance of our ecosystem is very delicate , therefore as our shallow seas warm up, they threaten the coral reefs. This also has an impact on lives of inhabitants living in these coral reefs. Some of the species of fish go extinct which breaks the delicate balance of the ocean ecosystem . Some of the inhabitant may adapt themselves to these changes; meanwhile, some cannot fit in these conditions. For instance, if temperatures keep rising the Scottish crossbill-rare bird specie living in England - will go extinct. Even though the population is aware of climate change, or global warming, as it is frequently used, we are still not responding to it as effectively as we should. The world’s political leaders responded to this threat by signing an international agreement in 1992 which was called “Framework Convention on Climate Change”. This agreement was designed to reduce the release of CO2 emissions. Then in 1997, a more specific agreement was signed from the 159 countries that gathered in Japan to sign the “Kyoto Protocol”. This committed many industrialized countries such as Canada to cut down their emissions of greenhouse gases. Even though global awareness is increasing, not enough is being done to prevent global warming. Although we are aware of its contributions to climate change, we still continue to drive to work in
our SUV’s rather than using public transit and still keep forgetting to turn off the air conditioner, not replacing old appliances with environmentally friendly ones, and not taking the minute to sort out our trash when simply recycling and composting can reduce greenhouse emission associated with landfills. In conclusion, the 21st centuries most critical issue should be solved before it’s too late. Some of the aspects of this problem should be analyzed from the perspective of causes and effects. Obtained facts from this analysis can provide solutions such as making international environmental pacts and to inform our society about seriousness of this problem. Governments should act now and take the responsibility with an action of preserving natural inhabitants. If necessary steps are taken, our planet can still recover and can preserve its delicate balance.
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by Diego Alejandro Vitata Sandoval
What time is it?
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It is 7 am on January 7 in what could be the coldest city in the world. The snow looks beautiful; the expectation of things to come make alive all the butterflies in my stomach. It is an awesome sensation to go into a new building where you don’t know anyone, where people around you look so different, but where everyone has the same feeling... Being at the University of Toronto gave me all the experiences I expected the day I took my bags and decided to take the next step named Canada; moreover, those experiences which started on the fourth floor of the OISE building are the greatest memories I will always keep in my mind. Each one of them is unforgettable, from the -40 degrees in the winter camping to the chicken meal in the soccer World Cup final party. Those are memories that have an incalculable value to me, as do the people I met here. The teachers were great, starting with the first one, Heather, and all her kindness with the students who hardly can communicate with each other, passing by Nick and his business class. Ortensia and the funny classes watching Lost. Julie and her teachings about life - accept those who we think are different. Evelyn and her contagious laughter. Maurilio and the long talks about soccer, and of course Sandra and her strictness in class. Thanks to all of them, becoming to be an English speaker wouldn´t have been possible without all the knowledge they provided me. And what can I say about the people? Were we so different? I don’t think so. Having meet people from everywhere around the world gave me the opportunity to know about cultures I wouldn’t probably be in contact with. All of them have marked my life: the Koreans (Jay, Woo, WunJun,) and their games on tables of restaurants around Christie station, the Venezuelans (Alejo and Olsen), The Saudis (Nader and Ahmed), The Japanese (Aoi, Hitomi), the crazy Aurora, Lailla and the admiration I feel to see her living happy. The beautiful Gaby - your support was fundamental- Juli, we are Colombians, the best country ever “parce”, and of course Andrea, what else to say about you, the greatest person I´ve ever met, all the memories with you are such special and unforgettable. Those who I did not mention also are important. Thanks, guys. It is hard to come to a new place, and even harder if you are the youngest person that has ever come there, where you have to show your ID to people to convince them you are as young as you are saying. It was an honour to have been studying in the University of Toronto English Program; all that somebody needs about learning is included plus thousands of smiles and adventures in the exact amount. The resources, the classrooms, the activities, everything was awesome, but how about the CA´s and the front office staff? These guys are stupendous; their help was
unconditional since the first day, that, nervous I came to ask where my classroom was, through when we created the soccer club, until the last day when together we reviewed and corrected this article. Tope, is there anyone better that you? Never, man! Toni and her way to eat, Anna and her class in which I was a guest, Rosa and her desire to learn Spanish in order to visit Panama, Rolla (Rollaldinho for me) don’t worry, he is going to the next World Cup, I swear!. Ennis, man, thanks for everything and you know who to call if you have any questions about soccer; Marjatta, your advice was always taken as a wise person was giving it. It is already 7 am on December 19, eleven months, twelve days and 7 hours since this affair began. The snow is again falling from the stars, my bags are 100 kg full of memories and the call from the speaker says that is time to take the next risk. Now when I can understand what everybody says in English, I can be sure my goal was reached. I know and we know life will have millions of situations. However, nothing will replace the ones I have packed already, and there is nothing left to say than “Thanks” and “See you soon, Toronto.”
issue 72, december 2010
Diego’s nickname was Diego Maradona—he was featured in the last issue of the magazine in the Soccer Super Star Players! Name: Diego Country: Colombia Position: Striker What do you enjoy about soccer? Soccer is my life! What did you enjoy about Toronto? It is a multicultural city and there is lots of freedom here. I love the security; you can go anywhere you want to at any time.
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world of words
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issue 72, december 2010
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world of words
Gingerbread Cookie Decorations December 8th, 2010.
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issue 72, december 2010
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Memories Get your friends and instructors to autograph your issue!