The Islander // Issue 05

issue 05 // summer term 2013

Open-mindedness

Welcome MR VERNON, VICE PRINCIPAL, CURRICULUM, WELCOMES YOU TO ISSUE 05 OF THE ISLANDER. THE TOPIC THIS TERM, OPEN-MINDEDNESS

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t is remarkable to think that we are nearing the end of our second full academic year at NLCS Jeju. We have come a very long way in a short time, not least in working out a sense of who we are.

Developing a strong identity is important for all schools but particularly challenging for new schools. NLCS Jeju began with a tremendous advantage as we were able to draw on the traditions and ethos of NLCS in the UK. Academic ambition; a love of learning; a willingness to try ourselves out in new ways; a community in which everyone matters - these fundamentals of NLCS are part of our educational DNA. Equally, two years in, the staff and students have developed together a strong sense of what makes NLCS Jeju special; something highlighted every term in the pages of The Islander. There is a warmth, humour, quirkiness, creativity, ambition, intelligence, acceptance of others and willingness to take risks evident in these pages that, I think, fairly reflects the personality of our school.

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This term, our IB Learner Profile focus has been ‘open-minded’. Being open-minded involves the acceptance of others and their ideas but in order to respond intelligently we must also have an understanding and appreciation of ourselves. When we know who we are and what we value, then we can participate in a meaningful discussion with others.

As we approach the long summer holiday, I hope all our students will be inspired to take the time to open their minds. Travelling abroad, learning a new language, trying a new activity, reading a book, watching a TED lecture, talking to your grandparents, listening to a challenging piece of music, learning about a topic outside your usual subject area – there are countless ways to work on this.

In classrooms everyday, our students are learning to be open-minded. The classroom is an arena in which students are encouraged to try out their views and test their arguments and hypotheses in discussion with others.

Expressing ideas in front of others requires courage, as does the willingness to seek alternative points of view and modify our own where necessary but we learn that it can be an incredibly enriching experience and well-worth the risk.

Summer holidays are all about enrichment; having the time to explore avenues and linger over thoughts and activities in a way that is not possible in the middle of a busy term. In doing so, we can experience an expanded sense of ourselves, return refreshed and eager to learn from each other for another year.

Congratulations on another extraordinary year at NLCS Jeju. I wish everyone a pleasant and mind-opening summer!

THIS TERM WE FOCUS ON THE IB LEARNER PROFILE: OPEN-MINDEDNESS. AS USUAL, JENNIFER PARK, HALLA, INTRODUCES OUR TOPIC. ‘OPEN-MINDED’ IS AN ADJECTIVE THAT MEANS BEING RECEPTIVE TO NEW AND DIFFERENT IDEAS OR THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS. HOWEVER, OPEN-MINDED ACTUALLY REFERS TO SOMETHING THAT HAS A DEEPER AND MORE COMPLICATED MEANING. HERE ARE SOME VITAL WORDS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE TERM OPEN-MINDED AND SOME WAYS THAT YOU CAN BE MORE OPEN-MINDED.

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Recognise and Respect: In order to be open-minded, you have to recognise and respect others.

You have to recognise the existence of different personalities, cultures, and viewpoints.

Once you have recognised these differences, you have to respect these people, even if they have different perspectives to you. For example, Asian countries and Western countries have very different cultures. Being open-minded refers to the ability to recognize the difference between these two cultures and to respect the uniqueness and specialties of each culture.

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Learn and Understand: Although learning about other people or cultures is not essential for being open-minded, it helps you to be more open-minded. By learning more about different people or cultures, you generally gain more information about those people or cultures, even the aspects that you did not notice, thus the possibility of understanding those people or cultures increase. International schools are a good example of this aspect. Lots of students who attend an international school, that includes NLCS Jeju students, are expanding their knowledge about people from different countries and international issues by attending an international school.

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Different is not wrong: To fully understand the term open-minded; understand that this concept is also really important. Sometimes, people cannot understand a viewpoint that is different from their own, and consider this viewpoint as wrong or incorrect just because it’s different from their perspective. To be open-minded, you should not consider other’s viewpoints as wrong but as different. You have to understand that people around the world all have different backgrounds, thus different habits, perspectives, and personalities.

by Tony Ryu and Daniel Park 6L Our sculpture is an arch that represents open mindedness.

An arch is made out of a keystone and many other stones that hold the arch together. If any one of the stones was taken away, the arch would collapse. This sculpture represents people working together to help each other through cooperation and open mindedness. Also, this arch represents a door that can never be closed in the same way as an open mind. If everyone works together with the same idea, anything will be possible.

Editor in Chief // Mrs Monaghan

Designer // Mr Taylor

Sub Editor // Zi Won Kim, Halla

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Welcome

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Welcome

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Welcome Travel

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Travel

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The Human Brain RECENTLY, MRS CHANDLERTHOMPSON GAVE US AN ASSEMBLY ON THE BIOLOGY OF OPEN-MINDEDNESS. AS SHE LOVES WORDS, SHE STARTED WITH, WHAT WAS TO HER, A NEW WORD:

NEUROPLASTICITY

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ow I’m sure that IB biologists are already familiar with this word. Neuroplasticity refers to the capacity of neurons and neural networks in the brain to change their connections and behaviour in response to new information, sensory stimulation.

Brilliant. But, what on earth does that mean?

For those of you not so familiar with the workings of the brain, this is the science bit: Brains are the most complex organ in the human body. So complex that scientists are only just beginning to understand the slightest potential of this amazing organ.

They are however able to explain how the brain works.

Let’s start with a NEURON The neuron is a special type of cell that processes and transmits information by electrochemical means. Neurons are found in the brain, the spinal chord, and in the nervous system. They come in a great variety of shapes and sizes. Neurons are tiny. The human brain has roughly 100 billion neurons These Neurons are specialised in sending and receiving information. Each neuron has several thousand connections to other neurons. This comes up to a whopping total of 500-1000 trillion connections within the brain. No computer on earth has that many connections. BUT, unlike a computer, the brain is a living thing; it can grow and change.

There are several different ways in which signals travel between neurons, but essentially when you have a thought process in your brain, a connection is being made between neurons. But these are less permanent than the connections in a computer chip. If you think a similar thought several times, you begin to make a pathway in your brain.

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The Human Brain

Imagine it like a pathway in the woods. If you take the same pathway everyday, that path becomes worn and distinct and easy to follow. This is how it works in your brain. When you learn any new skill and crucially, if you continue to practise, you continue to get better. If you practise enough, the habit becomes more and more automatic over time. The neural pathway becomes permanent. If you stop using the connection or path, the pathway becomes less well established, overgrown and that path can fade away.

If however, you decide to take a new path through the woods, the first time you do it, the path is not easy - there is a lot of shrubbery and weeds in the way, but if you walk that way again the next day, and the next, soon there is a pathway that is easier to walk. Even though the paths never become as ingrained and worn as your original paths they are still distinct and worn.

This is similar to how neuroplasticity occurs in our brains as we learn or think something new. The more we repeat something and use that portion of the brain in a focused way new neural pathways might develop in your brain.

So what’s my point here? Well, it means that a lot of the things we take for granted: our skills; our opinions; our thought processes as not at all pre-determined. We decide which pathways to follow in our brains and have the power to make new ones.

Essentially we have absolutely no biological excuse for NOT being OPEN MINDED. When you start to learn a new language for example, you have to make new pathways in your brain-but this can also be applied more widely. There may be certain connections that you have already made in your thinking.

For example, black and night time means something ominous and terrifying. Probably that pathway has been established in your brain over time. Plenty of childhood story books that dressed villains in black or had monsters attack you in the night.

Once that belief was reinforced over and over again, you had a well established pathway in your brain and that association becomes almost automatic- black means fear, negative and bad. But say your pathways had developed differently, that the experiences you had whilst young, during the night were always positive - that say you associated it with looking at the stars at night, or getting cosy in bed - then there would be a different pathway in you brain, you would have a completely different opinion or interpretation about nighttime.

So, just like an open minded traveller, the open minded learner should keep exploring new paths. Keep your mind open and your life will be all the richer for the experience.

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Welcome

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all o

NLCS JEJU

of us

2012 - 2013

Welcome

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Film Review TERRY KWON, HALLA, REVIEWS THIS POLITICALLY CHARGED FILM. One Muslim family’s innocent, peaceful life shattered by post-9.11 prejudice. This is the theme in which Karan Johar’s 2010 Bollywood film My Name is Khan centers around.

Rizwan Khan is a Muslim born in Mumbai, India. However, there is one thing with RIzwan that sets him apart from other people: autism (Asperger’s syndrome). Despite this, he does have some gifted talents, especially a special ability to repair mechanical things ranging from radios to refrigerators. Later, his older brother sponsors Khan to live with him together in San Francisco after their mother’s death, and it seems the movie is going to finish with a happy ending.

However, Khans’ perfect and peaceful existence gets disrupted after the September 11 attacks, a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks launched by the Islamic extremist / terrorist group Al-Qaeda upon the United States of America in New York CIty and the Washington D.C. area on the 11th of September, 2001. Because of this, unseen tensions arise between the Khan family and the people around them. This escalating tension turns into a serious incident one afternoon when an argument between schoolchildren turns into a racially motivated fight, resulting in their son suffering from fatal injury and eventually succumbing from death. The movie does go on to finish with a happy, long-lasting ending, with Rizwan fulfilling his goal of telling President Bush that his name is Khan and that he is not a terrorist.

How does this film tie in with the concept of open-mindedness? The main issues addressed in My Name is Khan are racism and preconception. In this case, all non-Westerners (Muslim) are considered as potential threats, people of violence, crime and terrorism. It is this particular mindset, or way of thinking, that deters us from interpersonal communication with other people, regardless of their race, age or even gender. It is this viewpoint that sets certain groups of people apart from others. We should be able to embrace other people regardless of the racial and cultural differences they have.

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ALICIA CHO AND HANNAH SEO, YEAR 7, JEOJI AND YUBIN OH, YEAR 7, SARAH TACKLE THAT ELUSIVE QUESTION.

Peter Lim, Year 7, Mulchat Being open minded to me is accepting a new concept; whether it is a thing, theory or a perspective, so that I can widen my viewpoint.

Sal Lee, Year 7, Noro I think open-minded can be explained as two key quotes; respecting others and not discriminating against other’s feelings.

Anthony Lee, Year 7, Geomun Open-minded is having your mind open, word-to-word. In other words, it is thinking in a wider space where you can have thoughts that care for other people.

Cindy Kim, Year 6, Harubang Having lots of valuable and memorable times and moments with others, and sharing lots of positive emotions with others.

Anonymous, Year 5 Yes, then it will be exciting to share ideas from others; additionally the other ideas will grow in people’s mind and help them have healthy relationships.

Mariel Song, Year 7, Mulchat I think people should be openminded because of the fact that if we are open-minded, it genuinely relates to respecting others.

Julia Kim, Year 7, Geomun It is needed because people need to adapt to other circumstances and to get along with others.

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Anonymous, Halla Being accepting of different thoughts, people, cultures and beliefs, without judgment. Being able to cope with change better.

Anonymous teacher When my best friend at university told me she was gay and it made no difference to me, she was still my best friend.

Anonymous student When I went to Angel House for community service. The children living there have very different backgrounds from me. I tried to understand those and became close friends.

Elizabeth Peck, Year 6, Harubang After I got over from a fight, I accepted that she should be angry because I understood of our differences.

Peter Lim, Year 7, Mulchat As a student council member, when another person talked to me about things that made me depressed. I try to be open-minded and understand him/her.

Elizabeth Peck, Year 6, Harubang People should be open-minded because that is one of the ways to make friends.

Janice Hwang, Year 7, Sarah Because in a world with many different people, a lack of open mindedness will just cause problems.

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Phobias

LINDSAY LEE, YEAR 9, GEOMUN AND SEWON KIM, YEAR 9, MULCHAT SPEAK TO SOME OF THE COMMUNITY TO FIGURE OUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOUR WHEN IT COMES TO

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ACHEL HAS A PHOBIA. SHE FREAKS OUT WHENEVER SHE SEES A SPIDER. ONE DAY, SHE SPOTS ONE CRAWLING ON THE DESK. AS SOON AS SHE FINDS THE SPIDER, SHE SCREAMS AND RUNS AWAY. SHE CANNOT CONTROL HERSELF, THOUGH SHE KNOWS SHE NEEDS TO OVERCOME THE FEAR. BUT IT IS LIKE AN INSTINCT. Is she being narrow-minded?

Height, insects, spiders, water, darkness... These are what people usually have phobias about.

If the fear against them is very serious, containing a very strong irrational emotion, it is called a ‘phobia.’ To sufferers, a phobia is uncontrollable. Then is open mindedness just to do with controllable fears? Can phobias be controlled by being more open-minded?

A phobia can be treated as a type of narrow mindedness, as it’s a judgement made regardless of reason and logic. Not accepting help and not even trying to overcome the phobia is being narrow-minded. Phobias could be treated as a prejudice. Prejudice is literally defined as judging and determining an attitude against an object or a situation, without much true knowledge about it. That seems to be what phobia are. We are often frightened of things we do not know about or truly understand.

We have done some interviews of what teachers of NLCS Jeju fear and if they personally think these fears are rational or irrational.

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Phobias MRS MILES I have a phobia of spiders. When I was younger, my little brother chased me with a spider and then threw it at me!

I don’ think it’s at all rational - most phobias aren’t rational!

MR CHAPMAN I have a mild case of acrophobia - the fear of heights (insert ironic chuckle here).

It is not based on experience, only that it developed when I was in my preteens. The result is that I feel highly uncomfortable near unprotected, poorly protected, and exposed ledges (like the platform stairs in the boys, girls, and sixth form). Sometimes, I have gotten so nervous near the platforms that I have to take another set of stairs.

While the fear can be rationalised, meaning that I can explain what concerns I have and what I see could possibly happen, the scenarios are no more likely than the danger any other person would be exposed to. Therefore the fear itself is not rational.

MS LEVY I have a phobia of spiders and insects.

I don’t think it really comes from a bad experience, I just really don’t like the idea of insects crawling inside my clothes, and hiding in my shoes. I am particularly scared of daddy long legs, because they move really fast, and are difficult to catch.

I’m very aware that my fear is totally irrational, and as my mum always used to say to me “the spiders are a lot more scared of you than you are of them!”. I always found that hard to believe as I am truly terrified of spiders.

MR ROBINSON When I was 6 years old, my brother and his friends locked me in the dark bit of a rabbit hutch. The space was barely bigger than me and I remember being totally unable to control myself and screaming and screaming until they unlocked the door. I was only in there for seconds but it was the most terrifying experience.

I think as an adult you can learn to logically handle your fears but even now I don’t like being in small spaces.

The rational part of me says being in a lift is ok. It won’t get stuck between floors. I won’t suffocate, but I would never willingly enter a room you could lock me into from the outside and I’d never try pot holing for example. I still get jittery if I’m crowded into a room with too many people and I hate the underground/metro during rush hour.

MS MICHAELS I have a completely irrational phobia of dentists. I had a bad experience having one wisdom tooth extracted in the chair and the other three taken via surgery under general anaesthetic.

Following this I found myself a different dentist and dread anything to do with my teeth.

I do visit my dentist, and hygienist regularly, however I find it extremely stressful. On reflection I don’t think my fear is irrational - I am afraid of experiencing the pain I have felt before, and think that it is fairly natural to want to avoid pain. What does puzzle me is how I willingly endured the pain of childbirth!

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Phobias

MS BRANDON MR WOOD-WILKINSON My two main fears are clowns and heights. I think that my fear of heights is a rational fear, I used to have nightmares about falling when I was young and I always worry when I’m high up, even when there are windows.

Clowns may be viewed as an irrational fear; I always felt unnerved by their painted smile - and when I was about 10 or 11, my fears worsened after watching a film about a serial killer who dressed up as a clown and by subsequently watching ‘IT’ by Stephen King. I will never approach or talk to clowns, they make me feel sick, with their big shoes, rounded noses and coloured wigs.

MR LIDIARD I had a former phobia of people dressed up as cartoon characters. I had an incident when I was about 5 years old, where I was in the underground lair of ‘Count Duckula’ and his family.

My Dad had to carry me out, screaming and crying because I was so afraid they were going to get me. I think my fear is pretty rational - they’re generally about 8ft tall, and their facial expressions are creepily fixed. They’re horrific.

I went through a phase for about 5 years where I hated being around balloons. It was not the actual balloons themselves that scared me but the thought of them popping absolutely terrified me.

I think that this came from them popping in my face while blowing them up. Every time a balloon pops around me, I would scream VERY loudly. I absolutely hated it. To this day, whenever blowing up balloons, I hold the balloon in one hand and protect my face with the other hand and I don’t blow them up very big.

While at University I had a part time job working in a supermarket (like Emart) and I used to supervise all the check out operators. As a joke one day my work colleagues locked me in the cash up room with lots of balloons.

Another day I was speaking over the loudspeaker system to the whole supermarket and someone popped a balloon right by me. I screamed so loud and it of course was projected over the whole supermarket through the speaker system. The whole supermarket went VERY quiet. I was very embarrassed.

My phobia was not rational at all and I got to a stage where I thought it was absolutely pathetic so I have over the last few years managed to overcome this phobia. I still get a fright every now and then when a balloon pops near by but I don’t completely freak out anymore.

An interesting fact discovered during the interviews is that so many people had spider phobias!

It seems that phobias are irrational, even though people consciously know that they are irrational.

A phobia is not a narrow-minded feeling, because it is the unconscious part of the brain that creates the feeling of fear. However this doesn’t mean that phobias are nothing to do with ‘open-mindedness.’

A genuinely open-minded learner will keep try to overcome an instinctive fear, regardless of the rapid heartbeat, cold sweat and short breath.

Through the scientific evidence and interviews with teachers, the conclusion made is the following: Having a phobia is not being narrow-minded, though it can be challenged by being open-minded.

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Welcome

Dear Agony Ant Since arriving in Jeju, I have become addicted to Snickers bars. As the only western chocolate bar on sale in CU, it is that little taste of home that keeps me coming back for more. In the spirit of open mindedness, I have been thinking of branching out to something different, maybe even a Korean snack! Do you think I should stick with what I know or embrace the change? If I should change, is there anything that you recommend?

Mr Bromham You could try “Free time”. They are from “Ghana”.

“Mr Big” will make “Sunflower Seed” “To You”.

“Dove” will bring basic “Chocolate” like “ABC” to your “Atlas”. It’s all “Crunky” “To You”.

Agony Ant Dear Agony Ant I have now been in Korea for 20 months, and I still avoid eating korean food at lunch time. Could you give me some advice on how to become more openminded about trying korean food?

Mrs Monaghan Well, you could wait for World Food Day on October the 16th, which follows different themes each year. Last year’s had the particularly exciting and catchy name of: “Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world”. So you could wait to find out how they’ll possibly top that title this year or you could kick off your shoes, grab a nice spot on the floor, pick up your chop sticks and tuck in to many a delicious dish, such as beautiful bulgogi, delicious ddeok guk or palatable pajeon tonight – just one bit of advice, leave the kimchi on the side for now!

Dear Agony Ant My boyfriend is 179.7cm tall. Even though he looks tall, he is under 180 cm, which makes him a LOSER. What should I do?

Anonymous Do the maths! In maths there are several ways to round up. For example, there are several different ways to round-up the left overs. One is raising the number to the next unit. Even if the number is really low – do not fear - you just round it up. If you are taller than 150 cm, you can be 200 cm, which is much taller than 180 cm – in fact 20 cms beyond loserville. Or you can round off. When the number is larger than 4, the number is increased. Which means that if you’re even a fraction over 150 cm, you’re basically 200cm. Definitely not a loser! Who would have believed that a bit of math knowledge could stop you from being a loser? Now that requires a truly open mind!

Agony Ant

Agony Ant

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Creative writing

BY YE JIN CHOI, YEAR 9, MULCHAT

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Creative Writing

O N C E U P O N A T IM E

there was a high school girl called Clara, whose father was a famous businessman and a billionaire. She lived in a big, fancy house, had a luxurious pet dog and had workers working for her at home. Everyone thought she had everything, but there was one thing that she lacked, something that she secretly hoped for: a boyfriend.

Everyone at school tried to catch her attention; girls, to be her friend, and boys, to attract her, to be her boyfriend. However, not one boy grabbed her attention, because Clara didn’t want a normal boyfriend. She wanted true love. It seemed like there was no hope of finding her true love at school. It was just so obvious that boys were acting to look nice in front of her, and the thing was that she was sick of it.

Then one day, this new boy, who was named ‘Sun’, came to her school. “What a ridiculous name!” thought the girl, and from the first day, he was stamped in her mind as a ridiculous boy with a ridiculous name. He was considered ‘not good looking’ not only to the girls, but to everyone, so it was quite obvious that he stood no chance against the other boys of getting Clara’s attention, let alone being her boyfriend.

She didn’t talk, or look at him. She ignored him whenever he tried to talk to her or even when he said hello - she acted as if he wasn’t there. She figured she had other things to do, things that were much more important and valuable than talking to a boy with a ridiculous name like ‘Sun’.

However, things don’t always turn out as you expect. She found that when she was walking down the street, the name ‘Sun’ just didn’t leave her alone. Sometimes she would start giggling on her own during lessons, in the corridor and even while eating breakfast. “Oh, what’s wrong with me? Why am I bothered? He is not someone worth getting interested in,” thought the girl to herself, “he’s not handsome, probably closer to ugly, and he’s got that ridiculous name.” Even so, she just couldn’t help herself thinking about him.

Then the day came. Clara received an exceptionally high grade in a very hard exam, and a rumour spread that there was bribery involved. Everyone turned their backs on her. She was alone, and she had no way of convincing them that she hadn’t bribed the teacher.

Then, to her surprise, and to everyone’s surprise, someone stood up for her.

It was Sun. Sun, who was always mistreated and ignored by her. He convinced everyone that Clara didn’t do it. Clara was moved, and she started to realise that her feelings towards him were love. A true love. They suited each other like “the Sun and the Moon”. He was what and who she was looking for all her school life. He was always there, near her, but she hadn’t realised it until then, because of her fixed, narrow mind.

We should always remember not to judge a book by its cover.

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G Junior Beach Trip

allery

House Cross Counrty

Junior Sports Day

Senior Musical

National Rugby Champions

PICTURES FROM SOME OF OUR SCHOOL EVENTS SINCE THE LAST ISSUE

Junior Beach Trip

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House Cross Country

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Senior Musical

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Junior Sports Day

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National Rugby Champions

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Language

CULTURE HIDDEN JILLIAN CHUN, YEAR 11, JEOJI EXPLORES HOW LANGUAGES CAN BE A WINDOW INTO THE CULTURES IN WHICH THEY WERE BORN.

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RENOWNED AUSTRIAN PHILOSOPHER, LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN, FAMOUSLY SAID ‘The limits of my language are the limits of my world’. This appears to be a plausible claim - after all, the world we grasp and understand are almost entirely formed from concepts that we can express and utter through the medium of language.

Even the name we give to the unnamable - ‘thing’ - still lies within the realms of language, and while we may not know it, the way we phrase and use language determines how we take in the world.

Learning another language, then, would be a way of expanding the limits of our world.

This is so because although all languages share a large area of common ground - (Korean, English, Nepali and Swahili all have a word for ‘water’, ‘children’, and ‘telephone’), but the way in which meanings are conveyed and received differ significantly depending on language.

Each language shows how a certain culture perceives the world and which part of the same world that we all share is more important to that particular culture. For example, take the simple and generally universal phrase ‘I love you’. This is an English sentence in its purest form - a subject, a verb, and an object. Yet, switch this into Korean and we get a completely different result. The Korean equivalent of ‘I love you’, or ‘사랑해’, is comprised solely with a combination of words ‘love’ and present tense ‘do’. There is no room for either ‘I’ or ‘you’ in this sentence, yet if Korean people came across this phrase,

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say, in the middle of a romance novel, they would simply take it to mean that the speaker of the sentence is the unmentioned ‘I’ and the person that is being spoken to, the unmentioned ‘you’. Korean phrases place far less importance on subjects and pronouns than English, and not a single grammatical rule is broken in omitting subjects at will. This might be a reflection of Korean culture that generally values community over individuals, that puts emphasis in the verb rather than the subject.

A n o t h e r interesting difference is the usage of possessive words. ‘My wife is a dentist’, ‘My glasses are broken’, and ‘My stomach hurts’.

All of these expressions are more frequently used in Korean without ‘my’, which in plain English would be translated into something like ‘The wife is a dentist’, a clearly awkward phrase. If we take into account that Korean doesn’t have articles - no ‘the’ or ‘a’ - the sentence morphs into the even stranger ‘Wife is dentist’.

Language

N IN LANGUAGE If we have to use a possessive case, we tend to use ‘our’ instead of ‘my’, like referring to a child as ‘our son’ instead of ‘my son’. I still remember being told I was rude by my primary school teacher for saying ‘my home’ instead of ‘our home’ - how dare I leave off my poor parents, who after all, were responsible for building u s

that home? Now, my parents were perfectly okay with my self-centred verbal habits, but in retrospect, I think that this preference of ‘our’ to ‘my’ goes along with the Korean inclination to work as a group, while the common usage of possessive case in English may hint back to the long history of a market economy in the West.

But there are certainly words that lie outside the common area of shared vocabulary - for example, Korean has words that are decidedly more emotive than English. There is no equivalent for the word ‘억울’, the emotion one feels when treated unfairly, or ‘서운’, the feeling of mild betrayal one feels when a friend or close acquaintance does not grant a favour,

Artwork by Junha Hwang, Year 11, Jeoji

or ‘흐뭇’, the satisfaction at the prosperity or happiness of one’s children or disciples, or ‘고소함,’ the joy at misfortune of one’s enemies that is likened to the taste of fresh biscuits. Such emotional distinctions or subtle changes of feelings are something that can only be accurately experienced and communicated through these words.

Likewise, English has words that contain concepts that are otherwise ungraspable.

Korean doesn’t have distinctions between ‘hear’ and ‘listen’, or ‘see’ and ‘look’, nor does it have words that totally capture the meaning of words like ‘discreet’, ‘grief’, or ‘conscience’.

Although I’ve only introduced two languages due to the fact that I, regrettably, only speak two languages, it is certain that all languages have these different methods of receiving and understanding the world. Learning another language is an eye-opening experience because in learning a non-mother tongue, one has to continuously wonder, with one’s mother tongue as the standard to compare against, expanding the horizon of one’s world. Not only does it bring one closer to the heart of another culture, it also shows a new way of processing the world. In learning another language, one understands that another form of thought is possible - more or less emphasis on subjects, on possessive cases, or on emotional dynamics. Yes, learning a new language certainly has its practical benefits, but it also adds a new vision or angle to the original filtering of life and all of its implications, opening one’s mind to another culture and also to another style of living. As Charlemagne says, ‘to have another language is to possess a second soul’.

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Travel tips

TRAVEL TIPS SELENE LEE, YEAR 11, JEOJI BRINGS US SOME VERY INTERESTING TRAVEL TIPS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

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O YOU HAVE AN EXPERIENCE OF VISITING A COUNTRY FOR THE FIRST TIME AND BEING SHOCKED BY ITS CULTURE? THE MAJORITY OF STAFF IN OUR SCHOOL HAVE. I REMEMBER SHARING BI-BIM-BAB ON THE SAME PLATE WITH MY FRIEND AND ONE MEMBER STAFF CAME OVER, ASKING US WHY WE WERE SHARING FOOD WITH EACH OTHER. I bet students have also had these moments. The fact that in the UK, ‘pants’ means underwear, not trousers, shocked one of my friends when she once told our gap year student, “I like your pants.”

Cultural differences exist in every country and we sometimes misunderstand them. So, just incase you travel to other countries, I’ll give you a heads-up about various cultures around the world.

These may just be stereotypes, but it’s always best to do your homework on the culture of a country before you go there!

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Travel tips

TURKEY FRANCE Do learn some key French phrases before travelling. There’s a high possibility that you’ll be neglected if you can’t speak any French.

Dress well because French people are very fashionable.

You must remember two important things about visiting Turkey; although it is a Muslim and conservative country, don’t be shocked by drunken people walking around in bikinis. It is this boisterous behaviour that has slowly become reluctantly tolerable in Turkish society.

Don’t just take photographs of a Turkish man’s house or farm. Get permission first!

Do not expect ice in restaurants and cafes when you order a drink. They won’t provide you with any.

NEVER deface any images or statues of Ataturk. Not even with a ‘funny’ photograph. Respect the Turkish flag.

Turkey is a very patriotic country.

Most significantly, do respect the French lunch break. It’s sacred to them. Don’t ask why.

Dalaman airport is ridiculously expensive for food and drinks. 12-euros for a Big Mac Meal!

Don’t arrive in Dalaman and expect to catch a taxi. This is madness and the unbelievable price will shock you to death.

M A L AY S I A One of the significant characteristics about Malaysian culture is its celebration of various festivals. So remember to celebrate one.

But, when you’re inviting someone for dinner, make sure you always check his or her religion.

If you have cooked meat when you have invited your Muslim friend, Uh oh. Be careful because Malaysia is multicultural and religious followers make up 61% of the population.

S P A I N Never ever publically walk around with your valuables taken outside of your bag. Or even at restaurants. Last winter, I traveled to Spain, Barcelona. Barcelona is known to have most burglaries worldwide.

Luckily, I didn’t have any of my valuables stolen but I did witness a robbery, which explains the cops in every street.

When receiving gifts, it’s considered impolite to open them right away. Leave the surprise for later.

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Br horse

se

ls

NAYOUNG

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yant skills

Br horse

JANICE CHOI AND NAYOUNG KIM, HALLA,

& HORSE RIDING

L

ast term, every Saturday morning, we did horse riding for our Bryant activity. The Bryant program is an opportunity to try new things, to be open to new challenges and experiences.

Nayoung said “It was my first time riding a horse, and I was scared by it. However, I felt excited about the fact that this was a very special opportunity to do horse riding on the weekends. So I tried to reduce my nervousness, and enjoy riding.”

Janice also commented “The reason I chose horse riding

for the second time for my Bryant activity is that I wanted to learn new skills that I had not done before. Because I did horse riding before, the coach suggested that I ride a bigger horse. I tried on the first day but because I was really scared, I asked for a smaller horse next time! Even though I had experience, it was really hard to overcome my emotional feeling instead of being open-minded.”

Both of us thought that in order to be open-minded, it is important to be brave and be not afraid of any challenges that we might face.

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Survey

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Survey

CHELSEA PARK AND MINA CHAE, YEAR 8, MULCHAT INVESTIGATE NLCS JEJU’S MOST OPEN-MINDED TEACHER.

“WHEN I FIRST STEPPED INTO MY CLASSROOM, I DIDN’T KNOW ANYONE, SINCE I WAS A NEW STUDENT IN JANUARY. HONESTLY, I JUDGED ALL OF MY CLASSMATES BY THEIR OUTER APPEARANCE. AS TIME PASSED, I REALIZED THAT THEIR APPEARANCE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR PERSONALITIES.” – MINA CHAE What is being open-minded? The majority of people see being open-minded as a willingness to try new things, being unbiased and non-judgmental. This quality is one of several qualities that an NLCS Jeju student should have and there are some members of staff and pupils who have been put forward as being the most open-minded in our school. To decide this, some students from Years 7 to 11 were asked to complete a survey. In the end, one teacher was chosen. Here’s an interview with Mrs Monaghan, NLCS Jeju’s most open-minded teacher.

WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF BEING OPEN-MINDED? Being open minded is often about ignoring your first instincts and stereotypes, and looking beyond that because something cannot be judged by your first impression.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING SELECTED AS THE MOST OPEN-MINDED PERSON IN OUR SCHOOL? DID YOU EXPECT THIS OR ARE YOU SURPRISED? I did not expect this. I am very proud and pleased because being open-minded is one of the most important qualities that a NLCS Jeju student is expected to have.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT A SITUATION IN WHICH YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE BEING OPEN-MINDED? It was when I first came to Korea. The only information that I had about Jeju was from the Internet. I didn’t know about Jeju and when I arrived on Jeju, it was very different from what I had thought. In order to adapt to life on Jeju, I had to cope with everything in a positive way and I had to be open-minded.

PLEASE GIVE US SOME ADVICE ABOUT BEING OPEN-MINDED. The most important thing is learning about the world around you. The best thing to do to achieve this is to learn about different cultures, food, and places by reading the news and traveling a lot.

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I

N MARCH 2013, 5 NLCS JEJU STUDENTS BECAME THE FIRST PARTICIPANTS IN THE NLCS EXCHANGE BETWEEN LONDON AND JEJU. June, Sehong, Jinn, Celine and Lina share there experiences of a different way of life.

Welcome

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Welcome

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Welcome

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Welcome

I

could not open my mouth to answer; my ability to speak English had just blown away. Everyone was staring at me with eyes full of curiosity. I could barely answer. This was my very first day of my exchange to NLCS UK. Almost everything was very different for us, especially the students.

Everyone was very active and engaged in everything. Unlike us chatting quietly or playing on our iPads, they were very talkative and loud. Also, every single person told the whole class their own thoughts and opinions.

It was quite a fresh experience to me to see every student participating in lessons.

Students were also very socialable. At the time I was in NLCS UK, there were also German and Australian exchanges.

All of the exchange students, including

us Jeju people, were very shy and it took quite a long time to talk comfortably with our hosts. However, students at NLCS UK first came and talked to us in such a friendly way. In the end, all of the exchange students could socialise and be part of the group easily. We also added each other as Facebook friends!

There were various kinds of societies at NLCS UK. I went to the Engineering Society with Jinn and we truly had a new experience.

Jinn and I were amazed by the amount of information they knew.

They discussed and shared the information and their interest together, rather than doing research and extra work. We really enjoyed the atmosphere in the society, and Jinn and I learned a lot about Engineering.

One thing I could not adjust to at NLCS UK was the food. The queue in the canteen was even longer than ours, so it took a long time to have lunch.

Also, the lunch was too small for us, especially Sehong. (maybe this is because we always say, “더 주세요!” in Jeju) However, it was still great to experience such a cultural difference.

Life in NLCS UK was wonderful. All five of us learned many new things in England and we especially liked having new cultural experiences. The three weeks we spent in London and in NLCS UK, have given us some of the best memories we have ever had.

It was such a great opportunity for all of us and we all thank the people who were involved in exchange programme.

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Welcome

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Welcome

THE ONLY BOY IN THE SCHOOL

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n the 8th of March 2013, I left my school behind, leaving my friends to head toward the airport and to London. I never expected to be selected for the exchange student program, because there were a lot of great students who applied, who were talented in so many areas. But, after two days of preparation, I was on the plane to UK. I had so many mixed feelings. On one hand I was very excited because it was my first visit to the UK, but on the other hand I was very nervous because I was going to be the only boy in the school.

After a 12 hour flight, finally I was in Heathrow airport, and I met Tahnee (my exchange partner) and her family. Her father, even though it was the first time he had met me, was really kind and relaxed.

Tahnee had a sister, and she looked shy. We drove home and after dinner I went to sleep. It was my first night in England.

The next day, it was school. I was very excited and nervous. As I arrived at the school, all the other students were looking at me suspiciously, thinking,

‘What is he doing in a girl’s school?’. But some of them greeted me in a friendly way. In morning assembly, the exchange students were introduced.

All Tahnee’s classmates were welcoming and kind.

One of the most difficult things was that I was jetlagged and spent almost a week and a half trying to overcome it. In the first few days, Tahnee had rehearsal for drama and I was in the school until 9 o’clock in the evening. For three days, we came back from school at 11 o’clock.

It was tiring but it was great to experience the tube system in London.

I had two weeks of schooldays. During that time, I watched the school production of ‘Sweet Charity’, which was acted by the students and it was amazing. I also attended the lessons and the biggest difference to our school was that it was much freer and more relaxed. Also their school uniform was very informal as well. Lessons only lasted for 35 minutes.

The most interesting part of that school was that the assemblies were very informal and interesting.

As the only boy in the

school, I had a lot of attention, especially when I was walking down the corridors and at lunchtime.

It was sometimes uncomfortable, because I had too much attention from the students. Not only from the students, teachers watched me as well. It was very awkward.

On the last week of the program, Tahnee and I went on a tour around London. We went to Madam Tussauds, which is a museum with wax figures of celebrities. I also went on The London Eye, which I was very scared of because it was so high.

I went to famous streets called Portobello Road and Oxford Street. I really enjoyed buying things that were much cheaper than in Korea. The one thing that I was disappointed was the weather as there were only two sunny days.

I think it was a fantastic experience to go on an exchange program to our sister school. It was very unique, especially for me, because it was a girl’s school. It is one of the few times that I’m going to visit UK. If there is another chance to go, I really would like to return to NLCS London.

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Welcome

First Meeting

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ll of us, with no exceptions, were exhausted when we finally stepped out of the airplane and meet our exchange partners. They greeted us as warmly as possible, but it was pretty awkward for every single one of us.

After the greeting, it was quick separation from our traveling companions. All of us went to our own partner’s houses, with Celine half-dying of exhaustion. My exchange family had cooked a wonderful dinner for me, but my appetite just wasn’t there to swallow more than a few bites, which made me really sad. My partner later told me that Celine’s partner had called her to ask if Celine had everything she needed because Celine fell straight to bed without eating a single bite of her carefully prepared dinner. Celine later messaged me through Facebook at 3 am in the morning that she could sleep no longer. She was half falling asleep during lunch the next day.

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Welcome

Time Difference As you all know or may not know, the time difference between Korea and England is 9 hours.

Therefore, the first two or three days, depending on which one of us you ask, were a virtual nightmare. Imagine the pain of having to sleep when you are not sleepy at all, and vice versa.

Sleeping during class was NOT allowed because we were the “ambassadors” of NLCS Jeju. I am not being rude, but that was a pain. I personally thought that I would get over the time difference easily (this hasty expectation came from my experience of traveling to America once), but in the end I was the only one who couldn’t get to sleep until 3’o clock in the morning every day.

Madame Tussauds

Lessons

Fair

Jinn and Lina’s partners were in Year 9, but Celine, Sehong and my partners were in Year 10, which made it compulsory for three of us to enroll in GCSE classes for two weeks. It was tremendously, wonderfully hard. It wasn’t the language that made it hard, it was just the absolute blankness of our background knowledge that made the lesson into extraterrestrial territory. The lessons themselves were richly packed with information, the teachers considerate, but I just couldn’t get the hang of it. I loved it, but didn’t understand it.

On the last Friday before I left, Lina’s partner’s family and my partner’s family got together and went to the Fete in Hampstead. There were rides, maze, darts and even duck-fishing. My partner’s dad even got me a cute little lamb doll from the darts stall. All the rides there were very dizzy ones where they spin you around really fast or swing you up in the air really high. I could bear the dizzy ones that spin you around like a ten times per second, but I just couldn’t bear the height. Despite my desperate denial, Lina, her partner, my partner and I went on the scariest ride on the fete. I half killed myself. I never usually regret going on a ride, but that was the first time ever, that I regretted it.

Sleepover Too sad to depart, we all had a big sleepover at my partner’s house. Pizza dinner, episodes of Doctor Who and Sherlock. While I stayed with Lina, her partner and mine, Jinn and Celine went downstairs with Celine and Sehong’s partners to play some rugby, in the playroom on the second floor. They said it was pretty fun, except for the fact that the girls lost every single time. I developed a new interest in Sherlock and Doctor Who and ended up watching three episodes of Sherlock on the return flight.

I’ve never been to Madame Tussauds before, so I was very excited. It is a museum full of wax models of famous people. Some of them looked exactly like the real people, but some of them looked so different. Celine and Jinn went to look for wax modeled Hugh Grant (Not Mr Grant the biology) but they failed and eventually lost the rest of us and freaked out. There was a horror section with a guillotine beheading wax people. Sehong’s partner, Celine’s partner and I went up to the ghost house in this section and freaked out.

Goodbye, London In the airport, all of us said goodbye to our English partners and went to post our luggage. All of our luggage was overweight so we had to actually unpack and repack at the airport. Next time, I said to myself, I am definitely not buying six mugs as a present. Amazingly, all of us managed to fit our things into a separate bag and then we said our real goodbyes. It was very emotional at the time, but come to think of it, we are meeting again in June. I am really looking forward to their arrival.

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Welcome

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Welcome However, the moment my partner, Asha, opened the form room door, I could hear my imagined ideas shattering.

A whole bunch of girls, some of them sitting on their desks and some of them standing, were tapping cups along to earsplitting music. The next moment, I realised Asha had joined the crew! It felt like I was in the middle of a festival of an indigenous tribe in somewhere like the Amazon forest. I just did not know what to do, so I just stood there blinking my two black eyes. Where have the castle and the geniuses all gone?

But then, the next moment, I found myself learning how to tap the cups. They were all surprisingly energetic, so I guess I just got swept away by their energy.

The first class that day was Latin. They learnt Latin, French, German and lots of different second languages instead of Mandarin - Asha did Latin and French. Latin was a language I have never encountered before, so I was very excited to see what it was like and how they learnt it.

According to my imagination, which was proven wrong once before, they would all be

shooting genius laser beams from their eyes, trying to penetrate the teacher’s brain.

However, what I found out in Latin was that they actually weren’t all model students that teachers admire. It was always so loud in the school, even in lessons, because they had lots of things to talk about, and lots of questions to ask. Their questions were great in quantity, and quality.

The next lesson was maths.

As a Korean student, I had the duty to be superb in maths.

Fortunately, the topic they were learning when I was there was what we covered in Mr. Clancy’s maths class last year. I was the ‘maths genius from Asia’, solving a page full of exercise at lightening speed! All of a sudden I was overflowing with confidence, and I felt I no longer had to have a strong but silent mind.

But, I had no idea of the ordeal that was coming to torture me - the next lesson was English.

They were analysing poems in English. I don’t even remember the titles of the poems because I was being swept away by the whirlwind of endless ideas and discussions. This was

not understandable; I was struggling to understand the meanings of the words in the poem, but the girls already had their own interpretations of the hidden meaning of the words. I had the confidence from maths, the desire to express myself in the lessons, but when the wave of English literature overwhelmed me, I realised I still had a lot of things to learn and experience. I think that was the moment when I lost faith in myself to stand confidently among them, and when I truly understood why the girls there could achieve so superbly in their academics.

The single most amazing thing about these girls – nothing was a big deal for them. They were never overly stressed because of their schoolwork.

They practiced lacrosse in classrooms with unbelievably loud music, and then switched themselves into serious scholars the next moment.

They could be a hundred different characters in drama lessons, but they had firm personality and individuality.

I admire them for that, and I hope they find something to admire in us when they come here.

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Cover Artwork

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Cover Artwork

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International Correspondent THE MOST OPEN-MINDED JOB? JENNIFER PARK, HALLA, INTERVIEWS DAN RIVERS, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT FOR CNN

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The Correspondent

D

AN RIVERS, A JOURNALIST WHO IS BASED IN LONDON, HAS TRAVELLED ALL AROUND THE WORLD. Since he first decided to become an international reporter, he wanted to visit different countries. He has always loved travelling and wanted to explore different parts of the world and go to places that he would never normally get the chance to visit. The job of a journalist seemed to provide him with these opportunities.

Dan has spent a lot of his journalist life in Bangkok, investigating Asian regions.

When he was based there, he reported on the tsunami that affected Thailand and Indonesia in 2004. He also reported on the first North Korean nuclear weapon in 2006.

He has also reported from different areas of the Middle East, in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Libya. When he stayed in these areas, he witnessed lots of conflict, with gunfire and fighting. Most recently, he was on a US army base in Afghanistan, and the Taliban shot at the canteen that he used to eat in. However, although he has had these dangerous experiences, he still wants to report on various parts of the world, he added: “I’ve never been to North Korea, and I want to visit North Korea maybe one day.”

Then what makes him keep this dangerous job?

When I ask him if he is afraid of visiting these dangerous countries, he said that he sometimes is. His cameraman, Joe, experienced one of his team being shot by a sniper.

However, the ultimate motivation that makes him stick with it is that he believes in the principle of his job. He believes that it’s important to show people what’s going on around the world; there are lots of terrible things going on and people have the right to get information on these issues.

He said that the job needs to be done by someone and that someone has to go to these places and report what’s happening, and that someone can be him.

When he was talking about this motivation, I could sense that he feels the heavy responsibility of being an international correspondent. He feels proud of his job and of the fact that he can give other people information on world issues.

That responsibility and motivation allows him to be more open-minded about visiting and exploring different areas of the world. “Well, I suppose it is looking at both sides of different situations, or even four-sides of a situation,” he said about being openminded. As a journalist, he

always tries not to report an issue from just one perspective. The editors of CNN also check the journalist’s script to make sure that it’s fair for all sides. To be open-minded, he always tries to step out of the story, to move away from his personal opinion, to clear his mind and to be objective. He said that it is harder to be objective with more emotional stories.

Dan is always willing to accept different perspectives. For example, when he first started reporting on Asia, he did not know much about the region at all. He believes that the more you learn about the cultures of different countries, the more you understand. This belief led him to always change his viewpoint, according to his accumulated understanding of different societies.

When he comes in contact with closed or narrowminded people, he also has his own skills for dealing with them. For instance, he sometimes interviews people who are arguing an only one-sided viewpoint, it might be an opinion that he does not agree with or it might not make sense. For these people, he tries not to show that he disagrees and tries to show that he wants to listen to their opinions and the reasons for their behavior.

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Introducing

√

the maths DEPARTMENT “IN MATHEMATICS, THE ART OF PROPOSING A QUESTION MUST BE HELD OF HIGHER VALUE THAN SOLVING IT.”

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ANY OF OUR STUDENTS WILL HAVE SEEN THIS QUOTE ALONG THE MATHEMATICS CORRIDOR, BUT MAYBE NEVER STOPPED TO THINK WHAT IT MEANS. TO SOME IT IS ONE OF THE GUIDELINES TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MATHEMATICIAN.

Mathematics is fundamentally a study of ideas, a language that allows us to explain our thoughts, and when structures and axioms do not apply, new ones are created. Mathematics is therefore, possibly the most creative language on the planet, a way to think and learn in an abstract way. Through mathematics we are not constrained to the physical realities of our human conception of the world around us, but can be transformed into multiple dimensions and imaginary spaces.

As mathematicians, we are seekers, critical thinkers, problem solvers, and questioners.

If we are closed-minded in our thought process, then we become convergent in our ideas and applications, yet by thinking innovatively in a divergent

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GEORG CANTOR sense, we can discover multiple solutions to a problem. If we did not have an open mind, mathematicians of the past and present, then the world we live in, the reality of our daily existence, would be very different. The open minds of mathematicians, the pursuit of questions, and the joy of discovery have led to many theorems and mathematical models. Whist at the time of discovery, these may not have had any application, they were then respected for their own inherent beauty and are now in common use around us everyday.

It is often not until much later that applications for these theories are discovered. Advanced calculus techniques of fast Fourier transformations when linked to radio waves, discovered in the 1920’s, enable wireless connection with our smartphone or iPad. Also, probability models facilitate the search engine process that many of us rely upon today, and computer animation relies on Trigonometry. Truly, most modern research in both the natural and human sciences is underpinned by mathematics.

Introducing

MR BROMHAM MS PHILLIPS Open-mindedness in maths is understanding that there is often more than one way to solve a problem and being able to accept that sometimes “your” way may not be the “best” way!

MR SEXTON In the process of studying mathematics it is very easy to be constrained by the rules and procedures that have become commonplace in solving problems. It is all too easy to forget, or not even realise, that the entire development of mathematics is based on exploration: from the identification of the problem, to the conception of solution ideas, to the refinement and justification of the ‘best’ solution, to its subsequent acceptance and application. The hope that I have for my students, and all students at NLCS Jeju, is that they will not limit themselves to only memorising a rule.

When two non-mathematicians argue, it can go on forever with both sides defending their opinion with vigorous obstinacy. However, when two mathematicians argue there will be a point where one turns to the other and says “OK, I see now that you are right!”

This is because for mathematicians, finding the truth is far more important than defending your opinion. That to me is what open-mindedness means in mathematics.

MR SCHOFIELD The 3 i’s of inquisition, intuition, and imagination are the foundations of mathematical reasoning and understanding.

As mathematicians we go beyond; we are open minded to new ideas. Pure mathematics demands no prior acuity, simply asking of its users to take leaps in their imagination.

Cambodia

JUNWON YANG, YEAR 9, NORO AND HIS DENTIST FATHER VISITED RURAL CAMBODIA TO VOLUNTEER THEIR SERVICES AT A SMALL MEDICAL CENTRE WITH VERY FEW RESOURCES.

I

N SCHOOL WE LEARN ABOUT LESS E C O N O M I C A L LY DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, BUT YOU CAN’T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS LIKE UNTIL YOU TRAVEL TO ONE. DURING MY EASTER VACATION I WENT WITH MY FATHER TO CAMBODIA WHERE I VOLUNTEERED, HELPING MY FATHER AND A GROUP OF DENTISTS AT A SMALL MEDICAL CENTER. Cambodia is bordered by Vietnam, Laos and Thailand and while it has been a stable country for about 15 years, it is nearly impossible for the small towns and villages to feel the security and support that we take for granted in Korea.

My father is a dentist and has travelled several times to

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Cambodia to volunteer his time and experience to help the people in a small community called Phnom Ppeureok, near the boarder with Thailand.

The temperature each day was around 39 C. The hotel we stayed in had no running water, electricity and it was very difficult to travel to.

To start with we had to renovate the area we were to work in.

There was a lot of supplies missing when we arrived, and there was also a big storm on the day we arrived and with holes in the roof everything got wet. The electricity generator wouldn’t work and it took a lot of hard work to make the space suitable for operations.

My role was as a general assistant to all the workers at the medical center and I got

to help prepare anesthesia syringes, hand out tools, organize treatment and clean used operation tools.

Despite only knowing a few words in Cambodian, like ‘sit down’, ‘hello’, and ‘does this hurt?’ I found myself spending a lot of time with the local children. Despite the disadvantages they faced, many don’t attend school until the are 10 years old, they were still very polite and helpful. They always thanked us for our work, and they were always smiling.

They were happy children, and this experience has shown me just how lucky I am. I am so thankful for my broad chances and the ability to learn in one of the best education systems in Korea.

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Welcome

‘Travel with an open heart and an open mind; this allows you to become more open-minded.’

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MR WATERSON’S AFGHAN PORTRAITS

Afghanistan LOUIS SON, HALLA, SPEAKS TO MR WATERSON AND FINDS OUT HOW AN ALREADY OPEN MINDED PERSON BECOMES MORE OPEN-MINDED

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R WATERSON IS A VERY OPEN MINDED PERSON, BUT WHEN HE VISITED AFGHANISTAN, IT MADE HIM MORE OPENMINDED. He mentioned that there are many reasons why he chose to visit such an unusual place as Afghanistan. He knew that this place was a hazardous area but he also knew that there were some parts that were were safer. Even the hazardous areas that were considered too unsafe, such as the western city of Herat, appealed to him as he was already a risk taker.

He felt confident about visiting this hazardous site because he had experience of visiting Iran, considered a ‘dangerous’ region, and had found that actually people had been incredibly friendly there. He also had a friend who worked in UN and lived in Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan.

He also wanted to see if the stereotypes of the country were true. He started with a visit to Kabul and then took a three day journey to the northern city of Mazaral-Sharif.

One of the main stereotypes was the atmosphere of Afghanistan. In recent years, the Afghan people have undergone the horrible experience of war. From the 1960s to recent years, Afghanistan has suffered

from ‘invasions’ from the Soviet Union, America & her allies, as well as civil war. Despite this situation, real life in the Afghanistan was totally different to what Mr Waterson had imagined. Even though they lost their houses, family and friends, it was hard to see the depression that can come after war. Instead, the people were hopeful about the future and happy to joke around.

Another stereotype was the negative view that Afghanistan people would have about Westerners.

Even though their country has been destroyed in places, they were welcoming to foreign travellers and they even wanted to take a picture with Mr Waterson.

The other stereotype was belief about the culture in Afghanistan. Most of people would underestimate the culture of the Afghanistan.

However, they still maintained their rich culture, a culture that is maybe overlooked; the architecture, religion and food, but mainly, the way people interact with each other.

Tourism was more developed in the 1970s but nowadays war and insecurity are most people’s first impression of Afghanistan.

Many people were still living

in a traditional way. Mr Waterson saw families ploughing by hand (the father pulled the plough).

However, this does not mean they were ignorant of other cultures. Historically, their country is not a homozygous country, which means it includes large numbers of different races and cultures, (Hazaras, Pashtuns, Uzbeks and Turkman, to name a few).

So they can accept cultures and technologies from outside countries easily and some technologies can be found, such as mobile phones and internet cafes.

Learning from his experiences, Mr Waterson believes that having an open-minded attitude is important. He was quite an open-minded person before he went to the Afghanistan, but he did have some assumptions that he did not realize; this is one aspect of travel he enjoys most, “replacing the imagined with the real”.

After travelling, he became a more open-minded person, and no longer had stereotypes about Afghanistan. He believes that travelling and being open-minded go hand in hand. It has helped him to be open to ideas of going anywhere; open to change, to challenge, to risk and to being uncomfortable and having plans change.

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Junior Drama SOPHIE KIM & CHLOE HAN, YEAR 6 , TELL US ABOUT THE JUNIOR DRAMA ‘YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN’ At the moment, Year 6 students are practicing a drama called ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” In this drama, the main characters are Charlie Brown, Schroeder, Lucy, Linus, Sally, and Snoopy. Many students are acting as the same character in the show. As for me (Sophie Kim), I play the part of Schroeder, although there are no other students playing the part with me.

In Term 2, students chose their characters and had their first rehearsal. I (Chloe Han) am Marcie in the show. It was the first Drama rehearsal for me.

I felt excited but a little bit nervous because I’ve really been looking forward to the rehearsal for a long time. Mrs. Reed-Clancy leads us. The big songs are ‘You’re a good man, Charlie Brown’, ‘T.E.A.M.’, ‘Beethoven Day’, and ‘Happiness’. In these songs, all of the students in Year 6, including the ones that are not in drama, join in and sing along.

We interviewed Elizabeth Peck, Cindy Kim and Wayne Pang who are students who have a solo in the musical.

Q A

What do you feel like when you are practicing your solos?

I’m looking forward to the show, although I’m nervous while I sing my solos.

Q A

Why did you sign for ‘Charlie Brown’?

I signed up for Charlie Brown to improve my performing skills and my self-confidence towards an audience, and to cherish a great memory in my life!

Q A

Is it the first time for you to do a big production in school?

Yes, it is the first time for me to do a big production in school like this one. I’m a bit nervous, but it’s very fun and a fantastic opportunity at the same time.

As one will know, standing in front of all the people is very heart-shuddering and nerve-making. However, we all have to pull this off by the end of June, so we are working extremely hard with Mrs. Reed- Clancy. In drama lessons, we work on our solos in front of everyone in order to not panic in front of the big crowd.

The Year 6 Junior production is going to performed in the Arts Festival, twice, for all of the students to see the amazing production. Remember to watch this performance at the end of June. You’ll love it!

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Introducing

The Junior School Staff CINDY KIM, YEAR 6, TALKS TO THE TEACHERS IN THE JUNIOR SCHOOL. WHO ARE THEY AND WHAT MAKES THEM TICK?

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LCS JEJU can be divided in two major schools; the Senior school, where students aged 13 to 18 years old are taught, and the Junior school, where children aged 4 to 12 years old students are educated. The students attending NLCS Jeju receive a high – quality education from exceptional teachers, who carry out a massive amount of planning and preparation! Here is an introduction to the Junior School Staff, their responsibilities and jobs.

At the head of the Junior school and as the Vice Principal of the entire school is Mr. Yi. He has whole responsibility for the school curriculum; such as organizing assessments, which are fulfilled by the students at the end of the each term, and arranging the open house day. Additionally, Mr. Yi manages the assemblies and teaches the students based on the topics that are given each half term!

Moreover, he works on marketing and promoting the Junior School while also supervising all the computers in the whole school. In addition, the assessment of new students who join the Junior School every year, are all done by Mr. Yi. Then there is Mr. Spragg, the Deputy Head of the Junior School, who assists the Head Teacher, Mr. Yi, and discusses the school issues with him. He also oversees the whole curriculum of the school; organizing the timetables for the each class

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and coordinating our school.

Furthermore, Mr. Spragg supervises students who may have behavioral issues or friendship problems, and tries to solve those problems, too. He is also a class teacher of Year 5.

In addition to these two men, there are eleven teachers in our school who have their own class to teach, excluding Mr. Yi, the head teacher.

Mr. Brown, Mr. Burford and Mrs. Reed-Clancy are the teachers of Year 6. Mr. Spragg and Ms. Ward are the teachers of Year 5. Mr. Smithson, the Math Coordinator of the Junior School, is the class teacher of Year 4. Following on, Mrs. Tamlyn teaches Year 3 students, and Mrs. Trafford teaches Year 2 students. The second youngest year group in the Junior School, the Year 1’s, class teacher is Ms. Watt, and youngest group in the Junior School, Reception, are taught

by Mr. Ware, a new teacher who arrived at the start of Term 2.

As NLCS Jeju Junior is an international school where diverse cultures and people meet, there are of course several cultural issues that the Junior staff have had to acclimatize to. To gain an understanding of the Junior teachers’ stance on the Junior School and their adaptation to a different society and culture, and to have a small discussion about importance of open –mindedness in education, we interviewed Mr. Smithson, the Math Coordinator of the Junior School.

Introducing

Q A

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Why do you think Junior education at NLCS JEJU is important?

I think it’s excellent because we have enthusiastic, dedicated and hard working teachers to deliver a rich, exciting and varied curriculum to engage and enthuse the children.

How did you adapt to teach in an international school with Korean students?

I think I adapted very quickly because of the help and support of my Junior School colleagues. Everyone helped each other.

What difficulties did you face living in a Korean society?

The main difficulties are still and always are the language. I can read basic Korean but most of the time I have no idea with it means.

Do you think open-mindedness is an essential part of education?

I think you have to be open minded in order to get a greater understanding of theories and ideologies. Frank Zappa said, “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it’s not open.” That sums it up well I think!

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Welcome

SPORTS DAY LILY LEE AND SALLY KIM, YEAR 6, REPORT ON SOME FUN IN THE SUN In May, we held a Junior Sports Day which coincided with Children’s Day in Korea.

Many parents came and enjoyed watching the sports competition. We were divided into two parts for the sports day; the morning section of the day was for Reception to Year 4 and the afternoon section for Year 5 and Year 6 students. Everybody enjoyed the competition. It was a fun, fantastic and a fabulous sports day. It was a great experience for Korean students because it was completely different from what we were used to doing in Korean schools.

First of all, it had different kinds of sports from the Korean schools. For example, vortex, triple jump, hurdle, high jump, and relays would be the sports that Korean school sports day wouldn’t have. The students practiced and learned every sport before sports day with Mrs. Eales, who is the Junior sports teacher. So it was even more interesting as she made what we were learning relevant.

Additionally, it was different in that all of the years were separated into two sections, which in a Korean school doesn’t happen, we would have all gone at the same time. Also, teachers and parents participated on this day. Therefore, it was a more fun and exciting day because many students’ family also enjoyed the day and brought some students lunch such as pizzas and chicken. Other mothers took care of students whose parents didn’t join that time, while they all took many pictures and watched us progress throughout the sports competition.

Sadly, NLCS Jeju Junior School’s sports day had to come to an end. Even though there were a few students who got injured, everyone enjoyed the day. If you were here at NLCS Jeju, you would have enjoyed participating in the sports day too!

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The Power of English

WHY WE SHOULD LEARN ENGLISH ELIZABETH PECK, YEAR 6, TELLS US ABOUT THE MOMENT SHE DECIDED THAT SHE HAD TO MASTER THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

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hen I was 4 years old, I had a trip to Los Angeles. My mum told me to go to a oneweek camp to learn English. I was only able to say, ‘Hi’, ‘Bye’, ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ when I got there. I thought I would be able to communicate with Americans but I couldn’t. I couldn’t understand what they were talking about, I couldn’t understand their culture, I didn’t like their food and I couldn’t make friends easily. Life in America was awkward and strange to me.

I was really frustrated because I did not know how to communicate with others and didn’t know how to adapt to the new culture. I was very stunned when I arrived at the camp.

Everything was new to me. Also, because I couldn’t communicate with others I had to work it out by using gestures. After only one day, I didn’t want to be

there anymore.

However, once I adapted to the camp, I started to like it. I got rid of my concerns when I became friends with some of the teachers and students in the camp. The days passed so quickly. I only had 4 days left before I went back home! I spent good times with the Americans for the last 4 days. On the last day, the teachers were disguised as princesses; Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Belle, Cinderella and Little Mermaid. I don’t know why I liked the princesses but I did. I didn’t know that they were our teachers.

Furthermore, we had a piñata and received a lot of sweets and small toys.

Afterwards, we had to make two symbols from clay; one for ourselves and one for us to make a mark that we were at the camp. I still have it in my house and I recall the days I spent in America every time I look at it.

When I came back to Korea, I experienced two changes. First, my perspective towards America changed. I started to respect America and understand that they are not a country full of crazy people, but spectacular and unique.

Then, I changed my kindergarten to an American kindergarten in Korea. It was simple.

I just stated to my parents that I wanted to move to an American kindergarten. As you can see, I’ve changed a lot after I came back from California. Right now, I’m attending this felicitous, fantastic and fabulous UK school.

Even though this school isn’t American, I’m still very pleased to attend this private London school.

I wish everyone to could start to speak English from now on and have a meaningful experience as I did.

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UK Trip

YEAR 6 VISIT LONDON 63

Junior UK Trip

SUAN LEE, YEAR 6, REFLECTS ON A FASCINATING TRIP TO THE BRITISH CAPITAL AND NLCS UK.

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n the 12th of April, 2013, the majority of the Year 6 students went on a residential trip to London, England, also getting the opportunity to engage with the NLCS UK Year 6 students for two days during the one week they stayed there. By joining in their classes, a deep bond was formed; strengthening the link as sister schools, even though they are thousands of miles apart. Even with different cultures and nationalities, there was no difference felt by those who were there, as everyone enjoyed themselves immensely.

One of the activities that the students took part in was creating a flag with the mixture of Jeju, the UK, Korea, daffodils, and NLCS. This required creativity, cooperation, and open-mindedness. Various ideas were shared which helped the students unite.

Another activity with our sister school was to build a shelter that would either be placed in the jungle, the desert or the Antarctic. We had to discuss the many problems and difficulties that we would experience if we were to live in those locations, and then we began our construction while considering them. It provoked us to work as a team, consider

each other’s ideas and it was the main source of entertainment.

Finally, we had a cultural exchange program, where the students from the United Kingdom and the pupils from Korea taught each other about unique events, holidays, food, and clothing in their home country. The English students were particularly enjoying to learn about Korea’s traditional dress Hanbok, as well as the custom of respecting elders at Chuseok. In return, the Korean students were very interested in fish and chips as well as Yorkshire pudding. Fortunately, they got the chance to taste some of the famous English dishes, and the majority remarked that they loved them. Everyone participated, enjoyed, and had fun making the others understand their culture.

There were many hugs and warm goodbyes when it was time for NLCS Jeju students to leave. A few of the students and teachers accompanied the NLCS Jeju pupils all the way to the bus and everyone was very thankful. Even now, many students are still communicating and interacting with their new foreign friends through email.

These friendships are sure to last forever.

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Welcome

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Classic Song Review

Smoke on the Water MERIC SONG, YEAR 7, SARAH, TELLS ABOUT THE SONG THAT CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT HARD ROCK “Smoke on the water” is well known for its familiar riff (A riff is a cluster or sequence of notes that usually repeats). The name of the song might not be familiar, but I can guarantee that most of you would have heard of the melody. Just search “Smoke on the water” on the web and you will find it easily.

Smoke on the water was released in May 1973. It’s memorable, unique riff changed the image of the genre: hard rock from “hard” rock to an enjoyable genre for everyone. The famous riff made the song much more successful and famous than it would have been without it. The riff is so popular and memorable that almost every beginner guitar player plays it to test the guitar before they buy it. In fact, owners of music shops

in the 20th century were so bored and frustrated by listening to the riff every day, from every customer, that many finally put up a sign that says - “No Smoke on the Water” in their shop.

There were two albums that featured “Smoke on the Water”. They sold like hot cakes. This was how beloved “Smoke on the water” was. ‘Smoke on the Water’ definitely changed the history of hard rock music and made it much more common and enjoyable.

Try to listen to Smoke on the Water!

If it is your first time listening to ‘hard rock’ music, but you enjoy it, you’ve just enjoyed one of the most legendary hard rock hits in history.

SMOKE ON THE WATER IN A RECORD SLEEVE

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Smart Guys

THE BATTLE CONTINUES..

SHUNTO SHIGETOMI, YEAR 7, NORO, INVESTIGATES THE WAR FOR SMARTPHONE TURF BETWEEN SAMSUNG AND APPLE

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hese days, there very many hightech devices such as laptops or electronic tablets. However, one of the most popular electronics is the smart phone, which are engineered to download applications, call other people, and use touch instead of pressing buttons. There are lots of companies that produce smart electronic devices; however, the largest two are Apple and Samsung. Most people think that Apple are the most successful electronics company in the world, but this may not be true. Actually, in many people’s opinions, Samsung is a better electronic producer because it is it beaten its rival Apple in the American US Smartphone market.

The US Smartphone market was dominated by Apple for many years, but now it has changed. Samsung pierced through the roof and became the number one by far. Apple are trying to fight back, saying that Samsung copied

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their ideas but they lost the appeal in Australia and Apple had to pay 1 billion dollars to Samsung in damages.

Another significant element is that Samsung produces more electronics than any other company. From the 4th of June 2010, people bought the Galaxy S 1, leading to the Samsung Galaxy series becoming the world’s number one seller for smart phones. From then on, many countries started to respect Samsung and the electronics it produced. In addition, Apple products have begun to sell less and Apple have had to try and create better electronics to prosper again like they did in the past.

Samsung’s technology is also unique because it automatically updates your apps, the security system is more advanced, and the effect it creates is very attractive and enjoyable. In many people’s minds, Samsung is a better producer than Apple these days.

Film Review

GABBIE YU, YEAR 10, JEOJI, REVIEWS THE HELP. A FILM ADAPTATION OF THE BOOK BY KATHERYN STOCK

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acial discrimination is one of the biggest problems in society. Although all men are born equal, it is still undeniable that some people discriminate and judge others by their skin colour. In Korea, we can often see that people judge black people who live here. Some Koreans also discriminate against Japanese or Chinese people because we are historically enemies, although we have the same skin colour.

In the 1960s, racial discrimination in the US was fought by the Civil Rights Movement. ‘The Help’ is a film about black maids’ lives in Jackson, USA in 1962. They are treated disrespectfully, and humiliated by their masters and mistresses. Aibileen, a black maid, is given a separate toilet just because her mistress thinks the she will infect them with germs. Although she feels ashamed and humiliated, she stays quiet because she thinks she can’t change anything.

One day Skeeter, a white woman, who wants to be a published writer, gets told to write about something

in society. Skeeter persuades the black maids in the town to write a manuscript with their various anecdotes. During the process, Skeeter realizes how serious and unfair this discrimination is, and starts to proactively help them. This brings changes in the black women’s attitude. They have hope about tomorrow, and believe that they can change their lives.

‘The Help’ portrays the power of courage. An obscure, aspiring novelist and a group of black maids in a small town, make a change.

We also need to take action and try to change the things around us that are unfair. We tend to sit silently if what is happening is not directly related to us. However, today we need every individual’s commitment and bravery to change things like bullying, environmental disasters and poverty. Making a change is not easy, but we are all more than capable of making at least a starting point for a better world.

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TV Review SEIN LEE, YEAR 7, GEOMUN, ASKS “HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PROGRAM ‘K-POP STAR’?”

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et me introduce you to some basic facts about K-pop star. K-pop star is suitable for viewers over twelve. This program started on November 18th, 2012 and ended on April 7th, 2013. The main singers are Akdong Musicians, Bang Yedam, YouU, Raccoon Boys, Shin Jihoon, Andrew Choi and various other musicians. The judges were Hyun Suk Yang from YG entertainment, Boa from SM entertainment and Jin Young Park from JYP entertainment. They represent the three biggest music businesses in Korea, respectively. In this program, the contestants get to show their talents to the judges and eventually get chosen to be in one of the companies as the final reward.

In the second series, the winners were Akdong Musicians. They are siblings with one older brother who is seventeen (Chan-Hyuk Lee) and one younger sister (Soo-Hyun Lee) who is fifteen. They were very popular from the start. Their songs have an upbeat rhythm and melody, and also fun lyrics that listeners can enjoy. One example is “Do Not Cross Your Legs” written by Akdong Musicians themselves, and this was their auditioning song for K-pop star.

It had a great impact on the judges and the viewers, although the song was quite informal

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(and not about love stories) unlike any other K- pop music. It is very enjoyable to listen to as well. The artist who was in second place was Bang Yedam, who is sometimes called a genius because of his musical talent despite his age.

(He is only twelve!)

The most popular songs in this show were ‘Crescendo’ sung by Akdong Musicians, ‘That XX’ sung by Andrew choi, and ‘So Hot’ sung by Raccoon Boys. K-pop star songs are arranged and choreographed by the contestants, and that’s why they draw so much attention.

K-pop star had the highest rating (the percentage of a program being watched at a certain time) of 14.6% while another audition program in Korea, Superstar K had only the highest rating of 10.8%. It is noticeable that K-pop star had a much higher rating than Superstar K. One of the reasons why K-pop star is so popular is because it shows footage of the back-stories of the contestants.

So if you didn’t get a chance to watch K-pop star season two, I recommend you watch the next season. Or maybe if you are good at singing or dancing, maybe you could audition for it!

Music Review CHARLIE PARK, YEAR 10, MULCHAT, INTRODUCES US TO 90’S ALTERNATIVE ROCK, IN THE FORM OF AMERICAN INDIE HEROES, THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

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HE 1990’S - In the deluge of alternative rock, the band “The Smashing Pumpkins” released their remarkable third album, which became the pinnacle of their musical career. The album consisted of 28 tracks, and I can dare say that every single song in this album is the essence of alternative rock during the 1990s.

But among these songs, I would firstly like to strongly recommend to you a song called “Porcelina of the Vast Oceans”, which is a 10 minute masterpiece.

What is especially remarkable about this song is that it’s differentiated in terms of structure, compared to how ordinary rock music is structured. Distinctively, ‘Porcelina of the Vast Oceans” contains two climaxes.

The first is on the built-up texture and the second is the part created by the extreme pitched vocal sound. Some critics say that this is abnormal and unbalanced, but the majority agrees that this is the main impetus of the music that makes a listener immersed in the song, despite the fact that it is 10 minutes long.

The song starts simply with repetitions of a guitar riff. For about 2 minutes, that are without vocal sound, instruments such as synthesizers and distorted electric guitars build beautiful texture. At the pinnacle of this thick texture, a dreamlike vocal sound suddenly enters and leads the rest of the song.

Most people, including myself two years ago, had a stereotype about rock music: noisy and difficult. However I can assure you that this experimental music will make you reconsider any stereotype you have, just as I did in the past. Try ‘Rock in’ to alternative rock, and feel a revolutionary musical sense.

MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS THE SMASHING PUMPKINS SEMINAL 3RD ALBUM

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Visiting Author

HOLLY THOMPSON Interviewed by Zi Won Kim, Ji-in (Joanna) Song, Sein Lee, Gabbie Yu, Charlie Park, Meric Song, Shunto Shigetomi, June Yong Park.

WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE A WORLD RENOWNED AUTHOR VISIT THE SCHOOL DURING BOOK FEST. THIS ARTICLE IS WRITTEN BY JI-IN (JOANNA) SONG, SEIN LEE, GABBIE YU, CHARLIE PARK AND EDITTED BY ZI WON KIM AND JOANNA SONG. On 10th of May, a famous teenage book author Holly Thompson visited NLCS Jeju to share her thoughts and ideas about writing. As a writer of teenage novels ‘Orchard’ and ‘Tomo’, she is currently living in Osaka, Japan, even though she was born in the USA. Because of that she shows a special affection towards Japan as a subject for her books. The majority of her writings are in verse form, which means that she uses a writing structure that is similar to poetry. The Islanders talked to her about her amazing personal experiences and valuable ideas about writing:

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Q A

What is the hardest thing you find when writing novels?

Like everybody, the first draft is the hardest. Nothing is there, but you have to start somewhere. So, you have to have faith in yourself. After the first draft, things get much easier. Even if the first draft is a mess, I can play, work, and manipulate the ideas into a novel. It takes a lot of practice and perseverance, like when you have to train to play a sport.

Also, when I am fixing my first draft, I don’t usually do much fine editing work until much later. This editing work is very tiring and it takes up a lot of patience and concentration.

Q A

You majored in Biology, but why did you start writing books and what was your turning point?

I had a great interest in biology, but I started taking creative writing classes during university along with biology. I have been writing books all along. I started poetry in year7, and started writing stories in high school. I am a slow reader, but I just love biology and writing short stories.

Like most people, I definitely had a turning point in my life. When I took creative writing classes in college, and also when I met my husband in Japan.

So I moved to Japan and lived life there for 18 years.

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How did writing change your life and what kind of books do you write?

Writing has got me to observe things or objects very carefully, whether it’s big or small. And observing things carefully has allowed me to write good and detailed stories.

Also, I write fiction, verse novels, poems for wide range of age groups, magazines, in which I do things like interviews, and the ANA Magazine. Oh just to let you know, I don’t always write. I would like to do that, but I have other things going on in my life. I teach, write magazines, and reviews. Also, like everyone else, I do exercise, and take showers as well.

(Hahaha)

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What do you want your readers to get from your book and what are your future plans as a writer?

Well, my plan is to keep writing and I would like to publish a book of poetry. Also, I want to take my readers to a world they haven’t been to before through my books, and since most of my books take place in Japan, I hope that people can experience Japan in a way that they haven’t done before.

Also, maybe my books can help Koreans understand Japan as well.

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What affected your hobby of writing and what made you start writing in verse for some books?

Visiting Author

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My mother’s father was a writer.

My mother always used to talk about him. We had magazines and books in the house, and my mom also loved to read. I guess this has influenced me a lot.

But my mother’s father had a different writing style. He usually wrote books for boys, which included outdoor adventures and I grew up beside a brother who’s an artist. Various forms of creativity were encouraged in our family.

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Where do you get your inspiration from and what would you have done if you didn’t write?

I can get my inspiration from anything. In my own computer, I have a vast number of different stories, and some of them only contains 3 words! Also, I do not have moments of, ‘I don’t have anything to write.’ If I didn’t write, then I would have done anything that requires creativity, like photography. In fact, at University, I did a double major in Biology and Music (piano). But because I wanted to take a creative writing course, I chose to be a writer.

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Are you happy with your books?

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Yes! I am definitely happy with my books, but I am worried about the future. I am basically worried about my next book. There are too many things to research. It’s very difficult sometimes.

people are open minded and it feels natural to read in verse. Because they have learned poetry at school, it should be more familiar and natural for them. I hope they take a lot by thinking in depth.

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Do you feel depressed when you are half way through writing a novel but then you change the story and have to erase a big chunk?

I never erase! I save old versions, and rewrite another version on a different document. That’s why I have tons of backup storage.

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Can you give us some examples of background stories behind your books?

Well the book that is coming out next week, called “The Language Inside”, had several seeds planted. I volunteered in a hospital, and I was supposed to help a woman who had only one eye and who writes poetry. I have taken this experience, and inserted this into my story by having the main character helping a woman with only one eye.

Q A

Is the way of writing in verse common?

Verse novels are fairly common in young adults but not so much for the elderly, since I believe young

Do you have any advice to new writers??

I encourage them to save their ideas down by when something interesting happens, write it down and also, just to inform you, there are publishing opportunities for teens as well that you might be able to take part in.

Since we use English as our second language, we usually get worried about writing something in English; after all, we are not very comfortable with English. Most of us think that our English isn’t good enough, but Holly Thompson has encouraged us to continue writing no matter how good we are at English and use whatever techniques we need.

She told us, “The more you write, the more you will improve.” She also encouraged us to write by telling us that our generation needs writers like us who have experienced a multicultural life, and are capable of writing from multicultural and unbiased perspectives.

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Steve Jobs

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

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Steve Jobs 2

Partner with the Enemy Most people do not really welcome enemies; they rather envy them or try to keep away from them.

However, Steve Jobs did the opposite. He made links and connections with his rival company. It was such a complete shock when Apple and Microsoft announced their partnership at the 1997 Macworld Expo. It was as surprising as Coca-cola getting together with Pepsi! Even with this response, Steve Jobs knew that this would lead Apple to a better future, claiming that “this is about getting Apple healthy, this is about Apple being able to make incredibly great contributions to the industry and to get healthy and prosper again.” And he was right, with Microsoft and Apple combined, now Apple has grown into a greater company, producing products which their buyers love. This was all from Jobs’ different thinking and open-mindedness.

DIANE JUNG, YEAR 11, MULCHAT EXPLORES HOW OPEN-MINDEDNESS MADE STEVE JOBS THE MAN HE WAS

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n the 5th of October, 2011, many people were in sorrow and grief. It was not just the death of one person, but a great person, and a great businessman: Steve Jobs. He was the founder and leader of the Apple Company, whose products are used in almost everybody’s daily life, including NLCS Jeju students. And not surprisingly, open mindedness was his key to success and what made him so keenly remembered for being an innovative entrepreneur.

Here are a few strategies used by Jobs that proved he was truly open minded.

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Don’t be afraid to change the business plan.

At first, Apple started off as just a computer company. However, Steve Jobs realized that he needed to broaden his original approach in order to lead his business to success. Therefore, he expanded Apple into making MP3 players, iPhones, and iPads, which is what made Apple a global company. In such a rapidly changing society, altering the initial plan is definitely something worth doing.

That doesn’t mean completely switch from the original vision, but being prepared to adapt to what society wants. As trends change, consumers’ tastes change as well and they may no longer be satisfied with the original products. A good example of this type of failure would be KODAK, a company that used to sell films for cameras. Nowadays, cameras no longer need films as all of them has changed to digital ones, but KODAK couldn’t keep up with this change, and as a result, it is currently going through a lot of hardship. On the other hand, Apple managed to make a positive change to the company, thanks to Steve Jobs’ open mindedness and boldness to make changes.

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Hire innovative people rather than good workers Surprisingly, there are not many Ivy League graduates in the Apple Company. Many of them are experts in various areas including art, music, literature, psychology, and so on. Steve Jobs didn’t simply want hard-working employees, rather a group of creative thinking people who could not just maintain the company, but actually develop and grow the business. He said, “Part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians, and poets, and artists, and zoologists, and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.” It is that little element of creative open-mindedness which makes the difference between a ‘big’ company and a ‘great’ company.

Although Steve Jobs is no longer with us anymore, his business and his ideas are still with us, and probably will still be with us in the future. Open-mindedness is not only limited to social relationships it is also key in business.

DESIGN BY JIHO CHOI, YEAR 10, MULCHAT

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Welcome

HOW TV TEACHES US TO BE OPEN MINDED KAY NAM, YEAR 7, JEOJI, REPORTS ON HER EXPERIENCE WITH TV AND HOW IT CAN BE A VERY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

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ver the holidays, I watched Pride and Prejudice, Bolt, Jesus Christ Superstar and many other films and TV programmes.

And on the last day, I found the concert film of Glee! Without hesitation, I started watching it with a cup of nice hot chocolate. Also, I’ve heard a lot of recommendations about the movie from my friends so I expected that it would be good!

The Glee club cast has people from different nationalities, with different characteristics and physical appearances.

When I pressed the play button, everybody started coming out onto the stage and when I was looking at it, I couldn’t hear any jeers from the audience, only

warm applause. There was a person in a wheelchair, a big woman, a blonde woman, an Asian woman, and a gay man. I wasn’t surprised or offended or uncomfortable while watching the concert. There were a lot of songs that I knew but as I reinterpreted the meaning of the lyrics, the songs had a whole new message in them.

So, what did I learn from watching Glee? In my opinion, one of the messages was that the pressure we put on girls to be thin is ridiculous. The focus should be on being healthy, or on being toned, and not on being skinny. I think that physical appearances are not as important as how somebody is but people always judge people the other way around.

Glee Club

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Welcome

National Geographic

Television isn’t just about entertainment; it’s also about information. CNN, BBC, the National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel and lots more show programs such as Talk Asia, African Voices, Inside the Middle East are just some of the ways we can learn about the world around us through our TV’s. These are eyeopening programs that help us re-think what we know. There were a lot of stereotypes which I had without me even knowing that I had them. I thought that Africa will never develop and it is a failing continent. However, I watched a political program called Marketplace Africa and was amazed to discover that the continent already has so many resources.

However, we shouldn’t believe in everything that the TV says.

There might be exaggerations which will block your openmindedness towards the world.

According to one of NLCS Jeju’s English teachers, there is a program called Waterloo Road in the UK. This is set in several schools, but the life in those schools is absolutely ridiculous and exaggerated about what teachers and schools are like.

So, Television can teach us open-mindedness by visually showing the truth to the world but I think that we should always be careful because that reality might be exaggerated.

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Societies

High Society ZI WON KIM, HALLA, INTRODUCES SOME OF THE SOCIETIES ON OFFER AT NLCS JEJU.

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ne of the ways that we become more open minded at NLCS Jeju is through our societies. They introduce us to so many different ideas, to outside speakers and to new knowledge and understanding. As a new student arriving at this school, what society would you like to get involved in?

Here, we interview some of the society chairs to find out what’s happening in the World of Societies:

Philosophia H2O Charity Society

If you like helping other people or interested in charity bazaars, I recommend you trying H2O. The chair of charity society Jamie Sang says that they will hold a lot of events next term.

They are currently planning for fundraising events. Contact Jamie Sang or visit their usual meeting at BS28 every Monday 1:40 for more info. You can also try contacting Ms Robinson.

Maths Society

As the name suggests, this society majors in maths. If you are interested or think that you need to improve your maths, please contact Claire Tak in year 11 or go to their usual meetings on Tuesdays at 1:10, BS21. Mr Clancy is the link teacher.

If you like thinking or debating, I recommend you go to the Philosophia. Sadly, this society has an age limit of year 10. Currently they are planning on selling stickers, movie nights and promoting Dr Shillabeer’s lectures. You can contact Dr Shillabeer or contact the chair Eunjung Cho in year 12 or go along to their meeting at Monday 1:15, GS27 if you are interested.

Current Affairs Society This society is good and fun for those who want to know more about world issues and more about what’s happening around us, such as NK, the Greek economy crisis, or the Syrian civil war. This society is currently planning on inviting an external professor into school and holding an exhibition. If you are interested in what’s going on around you, join this society by contacting Ji-young Park at year 12 or visiting one of their meetings on Tuesdays at 5:20, GS311 or Saturday 6:20, SF119. Mr Brannac can also link you to this society.

This is just a list of only some of the societies. My personal recommendation is that you find your own interest and join the society that best suits you.

Open your mind and learn new things from these various societies!

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Welcome

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An open-minded place

NLCS JEJU

AN OPEN MINDED SCHOOL ASHLEY PARK AND ELLY JUNG, BOTH YEAR 9, GEOMUN, INTERVIEWED MR DALY TO FIND OUT HOW THE SCHOOL HELPS US ALL TO BE MORE OPEN-MINDED

O

ur school expects its students to be open-minded. NLCS Jeju has a very different way of teaching, in contrast to most of our previous schools. The teachers are not looking for a single answer, which might hinder students from spreading their own thoughts and ideas. Instead, they can develop intuition and gain new thoughts from others. Our school wants students to seek opinions, and to be collaborative, not only revealing their own opinions but also to accept the views of others.

Since NLCS Jeju is an international school, it is very important for students to respect and understand each other’s cultures and history.

JCSS - The Last Supper

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Even in terms of language, going to our school is a way to improve English but at the same time we are being respectful and not excluding others.

The idea of the students having and sharing their own opinions was shown clearly when there were very contrasting views about the musical production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. The Principal of NLCS Jeju, Mr Daly said, “I really liked the idea of students having two opposing perspectives on JCSS. Rather than just thinking as one group, which might stop a few individuals from sharing their own opinions, it is better to accept diverse perspectives and aspects of JCSS.’

An open-minded place

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Being open minded is knowing about your own culture and your own history and not forgetting that.

Mr Daly was also very keen that we should all be culturally open-minded in school. He said, “You should know about your own culture, wherever you are in the world.” But the problem that could arise is that a lot of our students are immersed in a British school, so that the British values and ways of working begin to interfere with Korean.

Mr Daly continued, “Being openminded is knowing about your own culture and your own history and not forgetting that.” He believes that students must preserve their culture, language and history. The school does it by allowing students to speak Korean in the houses after school and making sure they have Korean lessons. It also tries to make sure that teachers understand Korean culture.

The major reason why students ought to be open to other cultures is because most of us will be working in an international environment, and are probably going to work with people from other countries. Mr Daly has worked in five distinct countries with completely different cultures and to be able to relate and operate in a business environment, he had to know the background, the history of the country and any cultural norms.

For example, whether he should

shake hands or not. We should all be aware and respect other countries’ cultures because if you don’t in some countries that can be offensive.

So, what is school doing to promote open mindedness? Mr Daly said, “I don’t want education to just give you facts.” The school does not want students to only give facts but have different perspectives, opinions and to be able to give rational arguments. The House Competition is one way that the school allows us to develop these skills. “I want people to be able to be open-minded in the way they approach all the different competitions, particularly things like house drama and house singing competitions,” Mr Daly said.

In school lessons, because we are an IB school, students do not just learn Korean history or English history but world history. The school teaches us about the world in subjects like math, science and geography. In English we look at literature from all around the world and from very different cultures.

Since NLCS Jeju is an IB international school, it is essential for students to aim to be open-minded, as they need to accept things that they never have come across before. This will hopefully lead them to an openminded and illustrious future.

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A

rt is a subject in which it is very important to be open-minded. When we look at a piece of artwork, whether it is our own or from a famous artist, we all have different views. We must be open-minded about what the art work means, about what the artist wanted to say and whether we like the artwork or not. Art allows us to explore so many different ideas and interpretations.

Trafalgar Square’s Blue Cockerel.

Is this art?

DESIGN BY JI WON MOON, YEAR 10, GEOMUN

Art

GABRIELLA KIM, YEAR 7, MULCHAT AND CION CHOI, YEAR 7, GEOMUN INVESTIGATE THE IMPORTANCE OF OPEN-MINDEDNESS IN THE ART STUDIO. We interviewed Ms. Michaels and Mr. Robinson, other teachers and students showing one of Picasso’s most famous paintings, drawn in the year 1987, ‘The Weeping Woman’. We wanted to use this painting to explore all the different views that people have about it to show how art helps us to be open-minded.

IS THIS AN ‘OPEN-MINDED’ PICTURE? MR. ROBINSON

MS. MICHAELS

I think this painting of ‘The Weeping Woman’ is both open-minded and not open-minded. It is not open-minded because it is clearly an upset woman, looking at the marks he has used, and it is hard to get another feeling from that painting. But this painting is also very openminded because it explores the theme of the eyeball cascading (turning upside down), and the feeling would not have been as vivid as it is if it was drawn realistically.

YEJIN KIM, YEAR 7

I think that this picture is open-minded because it expresses the idea of the weeping woman in lots of different perspectives, side, front, and back. Pablo Picasso then puts them in a jagged pattern so that it looks strange and interesting.

So I think the style of Picasso’s drawing is very open-minded.

We don’t know who the woman is in this painting, but the vivid and sorrowful feelings are well shown. I think this painting is both open-minded and not open-minded.

Does this piece of artwork make us think of Picasso’s opinions and feelings? Yes. Do we need to be open-minded to understand this picture? Yes. Therefore, we can say that this is an openminded painting.

But is Pablo Picasso himself open-minded? No. Therefore, it is not open-minded.

I think this painting is the most amazing artwork produced in the 20th century. It is so ugly, so unattractive, and so emotional.

YUJIN CHOI, YEAR 7

The awkwardness and variety of colours and different types of lines make this piece of artwork very unique and open-minded. I think this piece of artwork isa very interesting one and surely, open-minded.

MR. WOOD-WILKINSON

I think that the picture is open-minded because it has a lot of abstract features and it contains hidden concepts. It has its own unique mood and feeling which motivates Pablo Picasso to experience different styles of art, which I think leads to open-minded.

MS. BEYER

I think this piece of artwork is very openminded because it has a lot of jagged shapes and colours including some awkward and strange aspects. It makes the people who look at this painting feel very open-minded and actually quite confused.

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Welcome

crew R IT IN G PROV ED M Y W IM I , ER D N LA ID EA S. IN TH E IS ABOUT MORE T H G U O TH D SK IL LS, A N

TH E ISL AN DE R I AM PROU D TO BE IN VE R REGR ET CLUB AN D I WO UL D NE PO RT UN ITY TA KIN G TH IS GR EAT OP MB ERS. TO BE ON E OF TH E ME

I HO PE NE XT I LOVE TH IS CLUB AN D OP LE WI LL PE YEAR LOTS OF NE W ED TO O! LV VO DECID E TO BE IN

TH TH E BR ITI SH I HA D A GR EAT TIM E WI PS ON. AU TH OR, HO LLY TH OM Y W R IT IN G FI D EN CE IN M I G A IN ED CO N U N IT Y G R EAT O PP O RT A N D IT WA S A M Y EN G LI SH. TO IM PROV E

D I EN JOY SU RV EY IN G AN E TH R FO G IN RESEAR CH ISL AN DE R ARTIC LES.

I LEAR NE D A LOT AB OU PU NC TUAL ITY AN D KE EP IN G DEAD LIN ES.

T

CE, M Y D R EA M A C TUA LLY O N OR A N EW SPA PE R WA S TO R U N ED V B EC AU SE I LO A M A G A ZI N E D N N G A B LES A A N N E O F G R EE E. U D O F CA M E TR M Y W IS H KI N

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I HAVE LEARNT THAT AS A DESIGN ASSISTA NT IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO CHOOS E AN EYE CATCHI NG IMAGE TO SPRUC E UP THE ARTICL E.

I FO UN D M YS EL F EN JOYI NG M EE TI NG NE W PEOP LE AN D DI SC US SI NG UN IQ UE ID EA S.

Welcome

IT WA S G R EAT TO B E A PA R C O M M IT T OF A CO T IN G TO M PA N Y, T H IS JO B AS A WR IT E R. I JO IN ED TH E ISL AN DE R BECAUS E I LOVE TH E IDE A OF SH AR IN G DIF FE RE NT IDE AS

TH E ISL AN DE R: IT’S A PROU D NA ME TO WEAR .

IT GAVE ME AN OP PO RT UN ITY TO TRY OU T SO ME TH IN G NE W TH AT I HA D NE VE R DO NE BE FO RE.

I ES PECI AL LY EN JO YE D TH E PROC ES S OF IN TE RV IE W IN G M EM BE RS OF STAF F AN D ST UD EN TS

I LOVE CH AL LE NG IN G M YS EL F IN TH E IS LA ND ER!

I LO V E T H

I THO UGH T THE ISLA NDE R WO ULD BE VERY FUN AND THAT IT WO ULD BE A GREAT EXP ERIE NCE, SO I JOIN ED IT. I WA S COR REC T.

E IS L A N D E R!

I CON TIN UED TO WR ITE UNT IL I BEC AM E THE SUB EDI TOR OF THE ISLA NDE R AND A LEA DER OF 7 STU DEN TS.

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Rugby Champions

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS ROBBIN JO, YEAR 9, MULCHAT, RECOUNTS HIS JOURNEY FROM RUGBY NOVICE TO NATIONAL CHAMPION

F

inally, after a Bronze at the Spring Tournament and silver in Chunmugi, we have won the National Championship! We are the Champions!

Yeonsu, the team that we played in the final, had beaten Seoul National by successfully using a pick and go strategy. Therefore at the start of the match I was worried about us being dragged into the same situation, in which Seoul National lost because of a last minute try.

Unlike Seoul National, we did not give away any late points, despite a close last few minutes. We didn’t give up, straightened our defense and came up as a team to stop them from going further forward. Our defense and unbreakable spirit at this stage in the game finally caused one of the Yeonsu players to make a crucial mistake with

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seconds left to play. The game ended 18-16 to NLCS Jeju. Mr. Long told me that whichever team was more desperate for the Gold Medal would win the match: we were obviously more desperate to win.

I should admit, most of the students who were introduced to rugby, including myself, were not intensely interested at the start. Many weren’t concerned about missing training for this new sport. I was one of those. I thought, ‘Why play Rugby?’ So I didn’t sign up, and missed the vital early days of training where the basic skills and rules were taught. After a few weeks Mr. Long made a list of all those already playing rugby and inviting more of us to join. After five minutes I decided to give rugby a try and light heartedly tagged along to a session.

Before I came to my senses properly I was playing full contact rugby.

Rugby Champions

The team with their medals

I was panicking. I didn’t understand contact rugby, except for what I had seen watching professional rugby matches. Of course, I asked Mr. Long what I should do and he told me several things: tackle, go into rucks, and run forward whenever I got the ball. So I did as he told me. I did it as hard as I could. It was a totally fresh experience for me, but after two years of playing rugby, the early memories have been replaced many times. However, I can still recall the very first tackle I made on Jefferson Lee(Yr10) It was a proper tackle, but I was spun around. I felt dizzy and altogether puzzled from the impact of tackle. When people started to run over me, I was VERY confused. It was rucking, and having missed most a lot of training sessions, was a confusing experience for me, like a kid standing in front of amusement park for the first time in his life.

I started to fall in love with this strange sport and so I returned to training week

after week. Training and understanding got easier and new friendships grew. I played many sports before NLCS Jeju and continue to play basketball, soccer and swim when I’m not busy with schoolwork or playing rugby. There isn’t a sport like it, I fell confident and refreshed and I’m told I’m good, I’m called magnet hand, particularly with there is a chock tackle or maul. For me the happiest moments in rugby are when I go into contact and turnover ball, luckily that happened against Yeonsu and the proudest moment of my life to date was scoring in the final, what a feeling! Unfortunately some little kids were in the way of 2 people recoding the match and so you can’t see the moment I touched down - however the feeling stays strong inside. A group of boys from different homes around Korea came together in NLCS Jeju playing a new sport and made history, I will remember this day with happiness forever.

Robbin touches down for the winning try

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SPORTS DESK IS BACK TO BRING YOU ALL OUR LATEST SPORTING NEWS AND ACHIEVEMENTS.

GIRLS BASKETBALL MS Basketball 1st team played 11 Won 9 2nd team played 9 Won 6 NLCS Jeju was once again very proud to host the first KISAC MS Athletics Championships at Kang Chang Hak stadium. It was a glorious day, certainly a great day for making records and the NLCS teams did not disappoint. We simply dominated the day with top 3 finishes throughout. NLCS Jeju students established many of the KISAC records and Dong Woo Seo certainly stood out as a class athlete.

Out of 12 events the boys came first in 9, setting 9 new records: an outstanding achievement. The girls also did brilliantly setting 4 records in the first ever KISAC tournament. All in all, the NLCS Jeju students showed superb athleticism in what was a brand new sporting competition. June Song and Dong Woo were certainly standout performers. Dong Woo won 5 individual events and also ran the final leg of the relay in a quicker time than that recently run at the Jeju Schools championships. A massive thank you to Ms Rowsell and all the staff who contributed to making the day a success. You all did a great job. The results can be viewed on the NLCS Jeju website.

BOYS BASKETBALL MS Basketball 1st team played 6 Won 4 2nd team played 6 Won 3 KISAC MS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS Girls: Champions & 3rd Boys: 3rd & 4th GIRLS FOOTBALL HS Football Played 8 Won 3 Drew 2 BOYS FOOTBALL HS Football Played 3 – Won 1 Drew 1 NETBALL MS Netball Played 7 – Won 4 RUGBY HS Rugby Played 2 Won 1 MS Rugby Played 12 Won 10 ATHLETICS KISAC MS Athletics Championships 22 Events Girls had six 1st place finishers Boys had nine 1st place finishers Total of 15 records out of 22 events for NLCS Jeju students

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The girls made us very proud through their skills and tenacity by winning the U13 shield.

More silver ware!

We continue to go to this tournament because the quality of play is so good. The girls made me particularly proud by the way that they grew as team, supporting each other, showing great sportsmanship with both the opposition and officials and generally being a positive force. Their skills and ability to apply set plays to open game play improved immensely from the first game onwards and their individual drive to improve was great to see. Even in game five in the full heat of Beijing! It’s very pleasing as a coach to see your team cement and apply the skills and tactics you have taught them.

They represented themselves, their families and the school with pride and honour.

Many of the other schools left with positive impressions of the NLCS girls. Thank you to Mrs Eales for her continue coaching and management this year and Mrs Long for assisting in the tour.

NLCS Jeju hosted the KISAC Basketball championships for 2013. We were delighted to have 7 International schools playing in this tournament and the quality of basketball was excellent. While the boys were fighting it out in some very competitive games, the girls were in total control of their groups. KIS and BIFS boys both looked strong & NLCS Jeju Boys A team narrowly lost to BIFS in the group stages but won all other games convincingly.

The B team had a similar result, winning all but 1 group game. This meant both boy teams qualified for the semifinals.

In the semi final the boys A played KIS and lost a tight fought game by one point. It was frustrating as we beat KIS friendly the week earlier. We could have won with a lay-up in the last five seconds but unfortunately we missed! The B team did tremendously well to make the semifinal but lost to BIFS. This made for a NLCS Jeju 3rd & 4th place play off. The B’s really dug deep and almost created the shock of the day but the A’s pulled it off with some power play in the final 3 minutes.

Both teams did well considering they had only been together as a squad for three weeks.

Special mention goes to Ted Cho who was outstanding and Dongwoo whose athleticism and fitness showed what a great athlete he is.

Aiden Yoo was very influential as a Forward.

In the B’s Martin Yun controlled the game well playing Guard while Peter Han and Harry Jung also impressed. Well done to all the squads.

NLCS Jeju girls really showed their class and dominated the group stages; only one team got close to beating NLCS Jeju and that was NLCS Jeju. Yes, the A team v the B team. It was unfortunate that both NLCS Jeju A & B met each other as they certainly looked like the two strongest sides. The A’s narrowly won and progressed to the final. The final was against DCSL who are always a welldrilled side, but it was NLCS Jeju’s day. DCSL were simply blown away. The NLCS Jeju girls were just too quick, strong and clinical when it mattered. June Song really stood out as a class act but all players in both the A and B teams were tremendous. Well done girls. A big thank you as always to the coaches, Ms levy, Mr Chapman, Mr Fowler & Mr Chung who did an excellent job.

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