Pandora Volume 5 Issue 1 by Pandora Dcb

PANDORA VOLUME FIVE ISSUE ONE

EDITOR’S MESSAGE WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Readers, The Pandora team presents to you a new box full of surprises – it’s a little bit of everything. We’re sometimes recognized as a group of cynics who have been granted some publication skills and a vomit of words. Well, we kindly ask of you now to not become cynics too. Give us a chance. We strive to uncover the past and look into the future, to write with a style and an open mind. This year we’ve tackled two forms of publication, both a hard and soft copy. We wanted to continue with the increasing accessibility of our previous Pandora generation but we also wanted to keep it old school. Our sincere apologies for having an unhealthy attachment to the smell of freshly-printed magazine paper. In the end, it will really be up to your response as to which one we should go forward with. We hope you can enjoy this reading experience, whether it be through gawking at the flawless layout, challenging our logic or learning something new. Ultimately, we are just a group of voices waiting to be heard. Kay Liang

Open.

Special STUDENT COUNCIL P6 SHUT UP AND LISTEN P8

Openings

UNSUNG HEROES P12 LESSONS IN LOVE P14 P16 INTERACT’S MONOPOLY P18 DULWICH NEWS FEED

Airheads S P21 REVIEWS AND RANT VIEW P22 2013 A YEAR IN RE 4 CORY MONTEITH P2

Opinions CE P26 AWKWARD ADVI SHUTDOWN P28 P29 TEACHERS TALK

TABLE OF CONTENTS Photograph © to Michelle Lim

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Photograph ÂŠ David Ok

OPINIONS

Our special feature for this issue is none other than the Student Council

THE SPECIAL 5

OPINIONS SPECIAL

STUDENT COUNCIL The Student Council, or Stuco as it’s commonly called, is supposed to be a significant part of the school and a representative for the student body, but in recent years a distorted perception of the council has led to an absence of trust and interest in Stuco. Let’s take a deeper look at this year’s candidates for Chairperson:

Q1 WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO CHANGE AS STUCO CHAIR? Q2 WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FOR THE STUDENT COUNCIL?

BY ERICA JIN

ALEX JIN

“Firstly I think what worked really well with last year’s Student Council, were the sub-divisions, so I’d obviously get that organized first and improve a little on that, so we can get up and running quickly, and also talking more specifically about certain changes; just some more chairs for the IB common room, just little tiny things around the school that could be changed first (baby steps) like updating the displays around the school etc. I’ve been involved in Stuco for quite a few years and I’ve been in this school since it was founded in Beijing, and I was also in this school before it. I just really love our school and I just want to see it and help it improve. I think Stuco definitely has a lot of potential within our school to do that.”

YEWON KIM

“Okay, it’s not about what I will change about the school, it’s about how I will change the Student Council to function more effectively. I feel like the Student Council gets no work done because we reach for such unrealistic goals and thus I want to start by establishing small tasks the Student Council will be responsible for, like at the moment we only have parties, we should have more of those small tasks, so that we actually make small changes, no matter how small they are, we will actually make changes. So I’m running – I’m not going to lie, obviously I do want it for my resume, but I’m also running because I feel like the Student Council deserves more

power, deserves more attention and appreciation from the student body, and I feel like at the moment it’s not reaching its full potential.”

FLORA CHEN

“First of all I know what not to change because I’ve been in the Student Council for one year [already] and you know honestly it is very bureaucratic, inefficient and you get nothing done. If the head teacher says ‘no’ to a project, it’s the end of the story. So I’m not going to try and change how the school is run, instead I’m going to focus on the student body, provide more entertainment for the student body, such as holding more parties. I also want to do more outreach [programs] such as holding more charity events and making the student body more aware of the environment they’re in and basically the city they’re living in as well. I want to run for the Student Council to change how the Student Council works, to change how the school expects the Student Council to be. The school expects the Student Council to be nice and scandal-free. Right now the school is using the Student Council, to be honest, as a tool to advertise how well rounded the students are, and I want to change that. I want the Student Council to be the student body. It should be run solely by the students, not “supervised” by the teachers. The Student Council is a student government, and they have the right to govern themselves.” Photograph © David Ok

SPECIAL

L : 2013 ELECTIONS In the end, Joshua Chang won us over with the prospect of a more honest and open Student Council but don’t forget that there are many other candidates with plenty of diverse ideas: from working on minor tasks to reforming the entire council. Hopefully, Joshua will collate the great ideas other candidates have suggested and put them into action!

JOSHUA CHANG

“I want to make sure that this Student Council will be the most controversial Student Council we have ever had. I’ve heard all the stories about people saying that Student Council don’t do squat, they are just Party Planners. I’ve been a form rep twice and I’ve heard the Student Council members saying it’s unfair, you know what, they work their socks off and the students don’t give a squat, ain’t that unfair, you’ve got my word. What I want to make sure is that this year’s Student Council is actually a, “Students’ Council”, that it is expressive, controversial and constantly active. I want to change the structure of the student body. For years the Student Council has been—not necessarily oppressed but silent and obedient, it has always been compromised.”

JOON CHOI

“Other candidates like Shenzhi last year said he wanted to change the lunch, well, I think all the candidates are thinking about changing the Common Room or making things better for the students, which I personally think is not possible. Student Council never had that power, Student Council never had that progression – why would you say “I can do this” when nobody actually did it before? So my point here is that: nobody trusts the Student Council. I was a voter

last year and when I was sitting down I just gave my vote to anyone, I didn’t even care. Now as a candidate I can understand how the voters will feel about the elections, I think half will sleep in the assembly, who will actually be interested? Candidates go up there to lie and entertain just to become one of the executives and they don’t actually do much in the end, so the reputation of the Student Council here is really bad. I don’t want to go up there and be like anyone else and lure them with some possibilities. I actually want to change the Student Council itself, I want to change their reputation. I think one of the problems they have is just having formal meetings every week, I don’t see how that can change the school, I mean, they sit there and talk about school, about complaints, but actually the results are nothing. So if I become chairperson I want to change that, I think it’s going to be more challenging than changing lunch because the reputation won’t change in one day. But first we have to approach the Student Council differently, we have to listen to people’s opinions and look realistically towards issues.”

SPECIAL

STOP TALKING AND LISTEN

How many times have our teachers told us that Student Council is a respectable leadership team that is a positive representative and the “voice” of the student body? How many times have we rolled our eyes at their words and disregarded it as words with little significance? Little did we know that the words “Student Council” mean so much to teachers. These are not words just spoken out of obligation and duty; they carry a sense of nostalgia and pride in it. These words have the power to send them off on a trip down memory lane and give a nudging reminder of the halcyon days when they thought the same stereotypes of Student Council as us. (Yes, teachers were actually once children!) As much as teachers appreciate and promote the Student Council now, there was a time when they neglected and undermined the importance of this leadership system in their own school as well. “It was a long time ago, I think there was a Student Council,” says Mr Herbert. “I think I was a part of it, a form rep or something like that, I only did it for a term.” Mr Parekh was even less sure about his case. “In complete honesty, I had no involvement with my Student Council and I didn’t pay attention. That’s not something I think I should have done, but at my level of maturity, I didn't appreciate it.” What can we say?

BY MEGAN NG JEREMY YANG

There’s an “irresponsible and rebellious child” in all of us. However, surely, the teachers couldn’t have forgotten high school’s biggest night to remember: the Formal? “Oh gosh, my formal was the biggest thing going.” Mr Gagne said with a wistful smile. “It was 10th, 11th, 12th grade. It was very well attended by seniors. Juniors and sophomores could go, but usually they could only go with a senior. It was huge; the biggest social event of the year outside of graduation. Always held in the school. It was huge to be invited. You could go alone, but it wasn’t too popular. If you didn’t have a date, you weren’t cool.” Phew, that sounds like a lot of peer pressure! Thankfully, DCB is not so restricted and socially hierarchical; lots of students tend to go dateless or with a bunch of friends instead. However, not everyone is a major fan of DCB’s formals. Mr Parekh certainly has some suggestions in mind, “In my opinion, the formals in DCB here are a little too formal, if that makes sense. I really don’t like it. If it were up to me, a student event would just be in school. I find very highly formal events not relaxed and comfort-

able, so I don’t understand why they’re so formal. My gut feeling would be that Stuco should communicate with the students to find out exactly what kind of formal they want.” As much as formals are stereotyped to be nothing more than a party, in many years to come, this party will eventually transform into a story to cherish and share with friends and family. Someday, it will be a memory we can smile longingly and reminisce upon. What kind of formal will be organised this year; will Student Council take Mr Parekh’s advice into consideration and incorporate the students’ opinions into this year’s planning? More importantly, what kind of lifelong memories of formal will we be taking away from our high school days? Stuco, the decision is yours. It is an undeniable and wellknown fact that students like to complain and lament tirelessly about Student Council’s “inefficiency”, but how many actually do this with solid proof, sound reasons and legitimate arguments? It’s always so easy to be an armchair critic, than to be out there fighting on the battlegrounds with a positive attitude against all the sharp swords of hurtful and harsh words and the army of negativity. The teachers have their own opinions on Student Council’s unfortunate reputation. “If it does have [an ineffi-

SPECIAL

cient] reputation then I think it’s a shame,” says Ms Mankin, who is relatively new to the school. “I think sometimes it is too easy to sit back and criticise. Especially when you are not involved in something and do not know all the facts or everything that goes on ‘behind the scenes’. The student council cannot just do whatever they want in the school – it has to be approved and this is not always going to happen. But that doesn’t mean the Student Council are not working hard on behalf of the students. For all those who do think the Student Council is inefficient they should be standing as form representatives or putting themselves forward for positions on the Student Council executive and taking a proactive approach to further improving the Student Council.” Mr Gagne went so far as to claim that, “Stuco’s greatest achievement is surviving”, “[Students have to understand that] things don’t happen just like that. The expectations are way out of whack, they don’t understand nor do they have

any positive input to help Stuco. They criticise and criticise but they don’t have the answers. For a highly educated student population, they have to understand that every government in the world takes time to change. Stuco has made some nice changes. Yes, it takes a while but we get there.” Every rose has its thorn. Everything has room for improvement. We should never indulge and bask in praise; instead we should seek for criticism. That’s how we can grow, learn and flourish from our mistakes. Therefore, our teachers have offered up some constructive criticism towards Student Council.

Stuco has not quite understood the key to a successful organization – communication. “They’ve lost some money in certain years, they’ve not budgeted well. It’s not entirely their fault, they may have thought they were going to receive more money from Friends. Perhaps they should have assemblies every month? They could report their answers to all students’ questions.”

Student Council often claims it is the “voice” of the student body, but what the school (students, staff members and parents) really needs right now, is just a listening ear. The school doesn’t want Stuco to speak louder; we want them to listen louder to our opinions, to “Why not have Stuco leaders in our criticisms, to our voice. Only KS3?” Mr Parekh asks intriguing- then will we listen to theirs, and ly. “(They can be) under the wing only then can we become one. So of the 3 main people. The per- perhaps, the next time, when the son could be regularly updating teachers bug you about Student KS3, it might be a better way to Council news, just listen a little get KS3 people to get a hold in it. bit harder. Maybe you’ll finally Plus, it might start breeding peo- hear the amount of faith, power ple into real leaders when they get and sentimentality that is repto KS4/5.” Mr Herbert feels that resented and concealed behind the words “Student Council”.

“In my opinion, the formals in DCB here are a little too formal, if that makes sense.”

Photograph © Michelle Lim

OPENINGS

OPENINGS Here we reveal whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going on behind the scenes in our school. We open the box.

OPENINGS

Do you have something you’d like to share with the school? Any questions for the writers? Would you like to be a part of Pandora?

If the answer is yes—

Photograph © Ai Yat Goh

OPENINGS

UNSUNG HEROES THE UNTOLD STORIES

BY ALLY BAO

When I was first assigned to write “The Unsung Heroes”, an article about the daily lives of ayis and guards, I was not sure what to write. Surely I couldn’t just write a summary of their daily schedule—the school managers have already done that. What’s more, most of them had little to say about their lives as adults. “Then what about your childhood?” I asked. “What was life like as a child?” That was when words started to flow. “I was born in a rural county town in the eastern part of China,” said ayi A, “On the outskirts of Zaozhuang City. I still remember my life as a child living in the countryside, a lot of mischief, a lot of fun, and of course, a lot of trouble… The outlandish iron train tracks streaked through the center of town and stretched miles and miles beyond the horizon. Tufts of withered grass flanked the rutted dirt paths that led to a straggle of straw houses encompassing a small hill of a flat summit. My house sat on the crest of that hill. The elders of the town said that the crest’s level, windswept terrain made it an ideal training ground for the Japanese army during the Sino-Japanese War. It was rumored that right there on the side of that hill, in the depths of the soil and undergrowth, were the bodies of soldiers who’d perished in battle. I remember how my playmates and I would scout the threshing grounds of our neighbors’ backyards and steal

their soybeans. The grownups would then chase us out with broomsticks and rolling pins, screaming profanities of all sorts as we scampered off into the distance. We did it frequently, almost like a ritual. I was the only girl, and leader of the band of juvenile miscreants. Every time after our raid we would assemble at the hilltop, my house, and each member would offer a portion of their loot as tributes, or in more modernised terms, ‘taxes’, to their matriarch. Then there was this one overcast afternoon, when my friends converged at the hilltop after their heist, and realised I was nowhere to be found. They retraced their steps back to the hillsides, and found me mired in the muddy pit of what appeared to be a burial site that I’d stumbled upon and plunged into during my escape. It took all four of my friends to haul me back to the surface. On the following nights, I was haunted by nightmares of a dead man, chiding me for intruding on his rest. Fearing

that the dead would wreak vengeance on me, I solemnly swore as a child that I was never again to trespass anyone’s property, living or dead. That marked the end of my years of mischief.” “I spent my childhood in a village far in the northern regions of the country. Both my parents worked there as the ‘sent-down youths’ some time during the 1950s. They married later on and had 3 daughters and a son. I was the eldest of my four siblings,” reminisced ayi B. “One of the enjoyments of growing up in the north was spending the winters there. It started with the soft pattering of falling snow at the windowsill, the wearied hollering of street vendors selling candied gourds, the sharp crackle made by children whipping ice tops on the surface of frozen creeks. These sounds marked the beginning of winter. My siblings and I were enlivened by the arrival of the season, mostly because, as the schools closed and the harvesting ended, fami-

Photograph © Maricela Valdez

OPENINGS

lies would gather together in the snuggled warmth of bungalows and share stories to pass the chilling winter nights. Grandma was the best storyteller in our family. When the smell of steamed buns, herbal medicine and fumes from her tobacco pipe mingled through the air, grandma would begin with her stories. She would sit cross-legged on the Kang bed-stoves, surrounded by my siblings and me, a group of wide-eyed and eager children. It was one of the only times we’d cease our endless prattling, and listen. Eyes locked. Mouths agape. The stories she told us were a motley assortment of superstitious folk tales. She would tell us the poignant story of a young man who was spirited away after napping under the shades of a poplar tree, whose roots entombed the corpse of a young maiden. She would tell us the haunting tale of a woman whose soul turned vile after being accused of practicing witchcraft and buried alive by the angry villagers. She would also tell us that every one of her stories was true, and warned us not to question the veracity of an elder’s words. Then they would ensue a long period of silence, punctuated only by the occasional crackle of fire from beneath the bed-stove…”

“Childhood in Sichuan was a lot of things,” said guard C, “The games, the food, the culture. Life was...different. Tag was one of our favorite games we played as young boys. To us it was more than a silly game; it was a test of speed and intelligence. Whether it was veering around the corners or breaking into sudden sprints, every strategic manoeuvre was devised by quick wits and executed with swiftness. I remember running bare feet across the sizzling pavements in the sweltering July heat, bobbing in and out of the leafy summer shades as my friend tried to tag me. I would leap the gutters, zigzag through the crowd of vendors, and careen down the bustling streets. The sky above was always seamlessly blue, occasionally frayed by wisps of white clouds quietly drifting pass. Somewhere in the treetops nearby, the unremitting hums of cicadas would rise to a crescendo and fade away into the morning haze. It always felt good to run... When evening fell, grownups would sit on the stone steps before their doorways, waving their cattail fans to fend off the last waves of afternoon heat as they sang Chinese Operas. The quavering falsetto

of an opera singer would blare through every radio in the neighborhood. As children, my friends and I could never make out the opera’s archaic lyrics, but we sang along nevertheless. At times, we even learnt the lyrics and sing them on a whim. Our parents would often laugh and cheer us along when we did it, happy to see us practising a cultural tradition.”

Yang Shuo © Shannon O’Donnell

Feng Jiang © Fotosmundo

OPENINGS

LESSONS IN LOVE BY YIUMIN GAN

Dulwich College Beijing has an extremely talented Drama Department that has organised multiple outstanding productions over the years. But the recent musical production, Lessons in Love, was known to be the most eagerly awaited performance of the year. Not simply because it was the Grand Opening of the new Wodehouse Theatre and the ice-rink, but also because this production featured esteemed guests like the Beijing Youth Orchestra and two West-End Stars, Morgan Crowley and Aoife Mulholland. But what was happening backstage? After months of rehearsals, the performers were feeling nervous as time started ticking by and the performance date secretly crept up on them. But what most of us did not notice was the sweat trickling down our three female directors, Ms. Maguire, Ms. Bugden and Mrs. Simpson, their uncoordinated waving hand gestures were all subtle signals of their immense stress. If you ever paid a visit to the afterschool rehearsals, you would have walked in on Ms Bugden singing strings of gibberish like, “As shoobop sha wadda wadda yippiy boom de boom,” or Mrs Simpson speaking with a Puerto Rican

accent declaring her passion for San Juan. At the same time, Ms Maguire had been working with her Year 12 IB HL Theatre students, Eva Lee, Capucine Brunet and myself to devise and script the dramatic aspect of the production. Multiple Theatre lessons were spent devising the script from several different stimuli and developing our ideas using Brechtian and Commedia dell’Arte techniques. As we got closer to the date, both the directors and the performers were nervous about the rapidly decreasing time left for rehearsals. However, the anxiety immediately overshadowed when the costumes arrived. The newly made Greek goddess outfits, fluorescent skirts, fans, and the leather jackets intensified our enthusiasm for the show as we took a step closer to embodying our characters. One of the most memorable moments in rehearsal was watching our Grease boys: BJ, Alex Chang, Jose and Jason Yuan strut out onto stage with their leather jackets, their wigs and their combs. In a performance that exuded masculinity, the smooth, dulcet tones, beautiful harmonies and the dance moves all roused whooping and screaming from the female fans, including our directors. Photographs © Dulwich Marketing Department

OPENINGS Fun fact: after that initial performance, young female performers, all sighing with adoration every time he passed by, constantly bombarded the lead vocalist with praise. But it was certainly undeniable that ‘Grease Lightning’ was one of the most electrifying performances in the show. Fortunately, our female performers also had their time to shine and show off our “girl power”. In the number ‘America’, the captivating voices of Hannah Zhu and Hannah Kwek, combined with the choreography of Eva Lee and Caitlin Choe, sparked an intense performance between the ‘Puerto Rican’ girls who wanted to stay in America, and those who did not. But what most of you did not know was that Eva conducted a session prior to the performance, demonstrating and instructing us on how to be “sassy”. Sounds a bit silly, doesn’t it? Truth be told, it was what caused the large amount of attitude behind the performance. Eva Lee’s, ‘How to be a Sass Queen’ (an intense course, I might add) clearly proved to be necessary and effective. Furthermore, I am certain we all agreed that one of the most goosebumps-worthy moments was when, Jasmin Spooner and Risako Katsumata, performed D’efying Gravity ‘ from the Broadway musical Wicked. An anonymous (guy) source said: “Of course I enjoyed it. Oh my god, Jasmin made me cry and I had to pretend I was looking at the orchestra so no one would see”. Although that is pretty hilarious, it is a true reflection of the high quality of singing and performing from the two students that entranced the entire theatre. But evidently, the two scenes that caused the audience’s roaring laughter to fill the theatre was ‘Love is not always what it seems’ and ‘Love is Fickle’. In both scenes, Mr. O’Shea worked with the drama students to create a sense of conversation between the audience and the performers. The ‘jokes’ and ‘insults’ directed at Mr. O’Shea seemed to cause the most laughter amongst the audience, and even Mr. O’Shea himself could not resist a smirk from creeping out. Additionally, we invited several male teachers up on stage to share with us the pick-up lines that got them their female partners. Despite being pre-arranged, the teachers picked out their own pick-up lines and thoroughly surprised us all with their excellent courting skills. Another memorable moment was when poor Sam Ross and Sam Tang suffered the consequences of having their hair drenched with water (this was a complete surprise to them) in order to prove their loyalty to their girlfriends. But it did seem to win them a loud, approving applause from the audience members and was the peak of entertainment for both nights. I am certain that the audience was thoroughly enter-

Scene from America

Scene from Pick a Pocket or Two

Scene from Any Dream Will Do

tained by both the young and professional performers coming together to create a piece of magic that will forever remain a memorable moment in the school’s history. Whether it was the cheeky performance of ‘Master of the House’ by Jason Yuan, or the energetic performance of ‘We Go Together’ by the entire cast, it was a true display of the dramatic talent in the Drama and Music Department within Dulwich College Beijing. True story: Before the curtains opened on Saturday night, some of our performers were crying on stage as the acknowledgement that this amazing journey was coming to an end. As cheesy as it may sound, it was the moment we realised that one way or another, we had truly fallen in love with this production.

OPENINGS

INTERACT’S MONOPOLY BY KAY LIANG To make a difference as an organisation, you will find that you need funding. That sounds simple and straightforward – just pull off a bake sale or issue a free dress day and a loaf of money will be waiting for you the next day. It’s like setting up a project on kickstarter but instead of giving backers video game characters and avatars, you’re giving them a cupcake. It’s actually not as simple as it sounds. In order to establish different fundraising projects around school, a charity application form must be filled in and sent to Ms. O’Hara, the Senior School Charities Environment Co-ordinator and the Interact supervisor. Your organisation is then taken to a meeting and evaluated in terms of originality and level of difference made. It’s enrolled in a competition against all the other projects of your CAS-crazed fellow classmates, making that goal you pledged a few months ago seem very distant. There is an opportunity cost because there is a scarcity of free dress days the school permits. And as appealing as it may seem, we can’t have bake sales every single day of the school year, as bake sales take time and effort and they need to stay scarce to stay appealing. So why is it that your organisation and countless others are the lost alternatives while Interact remains the best option? Why does Interact hold monopoly power over fundraisers? This article is here to tell you why they deserve it. Surely if all other organisations were given sufficient funding they would all become something meaningful and long lasting. Perhaps. But if the total amount of donations generated by fundraisers in one school year were divided equally among every school organisation, no one would have enough to achieve something substantial. This was realised by Mr. Kelly and other teachers involved with charities, so the decision to prioritise one charity that triumphs in terms of benefits to the community and sustainability was made. In terms of sustainability, one of the reasons why Interact is recognised as the top Dulwich charity is because its establishment goes way back before many other organisations. Established in 2008, the word “Interact” has been officially engraved in the history of Dulwich Beijing alongside the Prefect team that was created in the same year. The average CAS project lasts for one year if not continued in Y13 or by the next generation of Y12s. Interact has lasted for five. The longer a charity lasts, the more it improves as it can reflect on any inefficient measures of the past. The Cambodia trip has been ongoing for seven years (even before Interact was founded), with each year becoming more impactful than the last and

Photographs © Mark Pankratz

OPENINGS the relationships between the local Cambodians growing stronger. Furthermore, a house will last for at least twenty years! They may not have been the first charity but they have been the most sustainable charity to this day. Interact became a monopoly because it has reaped all the benefits of survival, such as loyalty and a never-ending supply of members. As they are the charity that represents the most students, they have a larger voice than other groups. In terms of benefits to the Cambodian community, Interact provides many. Cambodia, a country that is still recovering from the atrocities committed by the Pol Pot regime and the Khmer Rouge, was hand-picked by teachers as the location that most needed our attention and assistance. Moreover the familes we help are chosen by the Cambodian community itself to benefit from the house-building project with the rest of the community assisting. Interact has been providing these people with a necessity and strengthening bonds between families. The monopoly has therefore been created because the quality of the service is incredibly high, making it hard for substitutes to compete. Students know that volunteering for Interact means volunteering for something meaningful. There are benefits to the bake sales and free-dress day limit—it’s generated more innovative ideas from other service clubs, ideas that help differentiate themselves from each other. We’ve had busking, anime sales and plenty of mini-carnival games held last term, not only giving us all an interesting assortment of events every month but also giving volunteers a chance to be creative, resilient and flexible. Interact’s Cambodia trip is resoundingly known to “change lives,” for both the Cambodians and the students themselves. It has been ongoing for seven years and constantly increasing in quality. Essentially, that is why it is one of the most anticipated trips of the year, why Interact has so many members and why, in terms of fundraisers, Interact is the monopoly.

OPENINGS

THE DU NEWS

AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. HERBERT “part of the larger plan”. Designers and architects

THE FAQ’S BY BARON BANG

will be employed to consider the space.

Why are there screen free zones?

Nowadays, it has become a, “Norm for students to take their computers everywhere”. Some students Why is it called the are, “Addicted to the screen and are leading sedentary lives”. The management of the school want to Wodehouse Theatre? The connection with Dulwich London. It is named support parents who do not want their children to after the author and humorist PG Wodehouse, for- have their face in a computer all day long, so they mer student at Dulwich College London. It is ap- created the screen free zones in order to, “Encourpropriate to name a theatre after a Dulwich alum- age students to think about talking, socializing and nus who was an actor, author or a playwright, just playing without interference from social media/ as the Edward Alleyn Theatre was named after the screens”. The main focus of the screen free zones is to, “Allow students to engage more with their celebrated actor and founder of Dulwich College. friends, one-to-one.”

What will happen to the Student Services Centre? Why do we have an ice rink? The concept of Student Services Centre, located in How will it work? the Old Media Centre, was established this year after relocating the Library to the New Building. At present it has a pastoral focus and will be the site of a new ‘grab and go’. Mr Herbert said that it is a,

Mr. Herbert said, whilst admitting he was probably not the best person to ask, “I shall be looking at the recreational and sporting possibilities of this. The main focus is to create more recreational opportu-

Photographs © Dulwich Marketing Department, Mark Pankratz, Arvind Bangay

OPENINGS

ULWICH FEED

nities for the students, and also to enhance the look of the overall campus.”

Why was it compulsory for KS3 STUDENTS to go to at least one Diversity Week Concert?

receiving the students’ and parents’ comments? An ongoing process and some positive changes have already been made. Mr Mansfield has been working hard with parents on this.

This was a directive from the Music Department. The Music Department saw the need for students to listen to live performance as part of a listening module in KS3. Given that a concert took place every night, it was an opportunity to fulfill the requirements of the course. Though it was intended to be helpful, it was recognized that the enforced aspect led some students to question this. Next year, Mr Herbert stated that it will be,“Clearer from the outset, and students will be allowed to attend a live performance of their choice wherever they wish, not necessarily one at school”.

What is happening with the catering system? Were any changes made after Photographs © David Ok, Jenna Yeh, Michelle Lim, Cherry Li

AIRHEADS

AIRHEADS Bits and bobs that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really matter in the long-run but are cherished in the moment.

20 20

AIRHEADS

REVIEWS & RANTS Last Review: Rise of the Guardians

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE

BY ALEX CHANG I am a perfectionist and a die-hard nerd. And I must confess I have an annoying habit: whenever I watch a movie I am methodically taking apart the inaccuracies in it. This is multiplied exponentially when I watch a movie adaptation of a book. During the Harry Potter finale, a frown entrenched itself in my face like an earthquake fissure as the movie proceeded, by the time I left the cinema after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II. This was my attitude.

my opinion, always go to the Megabox to watch a movie in Beijing, everyone knows it, and they usually accept Dulwich ID for Student Tickets. I met up with my friends, and went into the cinema.

But this all changed recently, when I watched Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire.

It continues the story from where the first movie left off and is based on the second book of the series of the same name (Catching Fire). A young girl by the name of Katniss has been put through hell and fire as she was subject to a ritual in a post-apocalyptic nation, where the outlying districts of the country must offer up a youth of each gender in a fight to the death every year in the Hunger Games; to remind them of the sacrifice that came of a failed rebellion seventy four years before the beginning of the story. Katniss out-

I enjoyed the movie immensely; of course there were still the few conflicts that gave me a terrible itch at the base of my neck, but this time I ignored it. In part because one of my friends was laughing ridiculously loudly at the very points where the movie was not funny. I’m sure many of my fellow classmates in my year can guess who that person is. I watched it at the Sanlitun Megabox, it was a nice autumn evening, and in Photographs © E-Online

The movie is the sequel to the much acclaimed Hunger Games, an adaptation from the book by Suzanne Collins which is now developing into a phenomenon not unlike Harry Potter, although much smaller in size.

smarted the Capitol that enforced these games, but now the Capitol returns to exact vengeance by putting her back in the Games, an unprecendented action. The story itself is much better in book format, I’ve merely simplified in overtly dramatic fashion to prevent spoilers while trying to illustrate a rather broad-stroked picture of the setting. It is my personal opinion that, as a movie, the leading actress, director and producer have done an excellent job. The set design is fantastic, and in the 21st century of CGI, special effects are used judiciously without overwhelming the plot or the acting itself. It has scored an excellent score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and I would highly recommend to watch it in a theatre for the full dramatic effect of the heart-racing acting and voice dynamics to thunder and course through you. Although, in my everlasting opinion, the book is always better than the movie, because no director can match what we ourselves spark in our minds.

AIRHEADS

2013 YEAR IN REVIEW INTERNET TRENDS AND MEMES BY JENNA YEH 2013 - the year of #selfies, Harlem Shake and celebrity cringes. The year when Miley Cyrus’ tongue appeared more often than the food posts on my Tumblr newsfeed. The year that went ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow hatee-hatee-hatee-ho joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff. Here are the unmissable internet trends and memes by month throughout 2013.

JANUARY To kickstart the year, One Million Likes Challenges flooded Facebook after Ryan Cordell (jokingly) promised his two children that they could get a new puppy if they managed to gain 1 million likes on Facebook. Within 24 hours, the page gained over 1.2 million likes, as well as being covered by news outlets including Good Morning America.

FEBRUARY In February, Patrick Star was added to a GIF of chocolate dessert by a Redditor, triggering the Internet takeover of the Surprised Patrick meme. “Harlem Shake” by Baauer is the heavybass instrumental track produced in 2012 which spawned a series of dance videos in February 2013. By mid-February, over 12,000 Harlem Shake videos had been posted onto Youtube, reaching over 400 million views. Special mention: Our gracious Dulwich contribution.

AUGUST JULY

To spur on the summer, Tumblr food blogger Alexis Brault kindly pointed out that cliche pictures of legs by the pool or on the beach looked just like uncooked hotdogs. Soon, the term hotdog legs would be crawling its way through the Internet.

Miley Cyrus’ raunchy performance of medley Blurred Lines/We Can’t Stop/ Give It 2 U with singer Robin Thicke and rapper 2 Chainz at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards sparked controversy throughout social media and brought on the new high (or low) of twerking. During the entire broadcast of the twerk-filled performance on the East Coast, Miley was mentioned a total of 4.5 million times; whilst GIFS of celebrity reactions to the performance such as Will Smith’s family, Rihanna and One Direction also piled up in social media and gossip blogs.

MARCH The Unflattering Beyonce photoshop meme was based on BuzzFeed’s hilarious compilation of her performance during the SuperBowl XLVII. Following her publicist’s request for BuzzFeed to remove the photos, they immediately became a trending topic throughout social media, as well as launching several fan photoshop contests in the process.

SEPTEMBER

As if the VMA’s weren’t enough, Miley Cyrus comes in like a wrecking ball in December and the Internet is forever scarred. The debut of her “Wrecking Ball” music video, directed by Terry Richardson, swung in full-force on Vevo, holding the record for the fastest clip to reach 100 million views on the service. She very decently decided to wear boots throughout the entire video.

AIRHEADS

Photograph © Michelle Lim

APRIL The Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal video series first emerged on Vine in April depicting Ryan Gosling in intensely emotional scenes, whilst being fed a spoonful of cereal by the videographer. For all of you living under a terrible rock, Vine is a Twitter-owned mobile app that allows its users to post short 6-second clips, which can be shared onto other social media sites.

MAY

JUNE

Draw My Life videos reached 850,000 search results on Youtube by May 2013. It is a Youtube tag where essentially the person narrates their life in a voiceover across speeded-up footage of them drawing in stick figures on a white board. Well-known comedy Youtubers such as nigahiga, Jenna Marbles, Pewdiepie and DailyGrace all made heartfelt videos demonstrating positive growth and change throughout their lives. *feels*

French Vine-user Jerome Jarre posted several Vines in June that went viral. Living in New York City, Jerome’s Vines generally consist of him being a public embarrassment, or pulling pranks on strangers. He currently has 3.9 million followers, 270+ Vine posts, and his own hashtag #lovelifelikecrazy.

OCTOBER The 2013 U.S. Government Shutdown began on 12.00 am on October 1st, with the provisional suspension of supposedly “non-essential” civil services following a congressional stalemate over Obamacare. More than 1,200 search results for government shutdown exist on Reddit, whilst hashtags like #ShutDownPickUpLines and #NoBudgetNoPants spread across Twitter; the latter with protestors refusing to wear pants in uploaded pictures in order to make a stance against the shutdown.

NOVEMBER

The month of November brought us the loveable Doge. A Tumblr meme featuring pictures of Shiba Inus and internal monologues in Comic Sans, Doge language featuring grammar many good use has undeniably filtered into our daily speak.

DECEMBER Following the death of Nelson Mandela on December 5th—the inspirational First President of South Africa under the new constitution, waves of posts followed to commemorate the leader. Furthermore, the Obama–Thorning-Schmidt–Cameron selfie of Barack Obama, Helle Thorning-Schmidt and David Cameron at his funeral faced lashes of criticisms throughout social media. The death of Fast & Furious star Paul Walker in a car accident also caused his colleagues and fans to leave commemorative posts throughout social media, with hashtags like #TeamPW leaving an emotional note to the year.

It has been a wild and hectic year online for 2013: avoiding twerking at all costs has become second nature; trying hard not to hashtag just about everything; and desperately hoping that Miley Cyrus will have retired before next Halloween. Conclusively, we should all probably get off the Internet before 2014 throws more awkward and/or unbearable trends at us, for we shall never be the same again. #muchconcern.

AIRHEADS

CORY MONTEITH A TRIBUTE

BY MICHELLE LIM Song: “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele (alternatively, try the Glee version) May 11, 1982 - July 13, 2013 Sometimes, your favourite celebrities go way before their time and it’s a completely unreal experience. These are the people who play characters that avoid any and every form of death when it comes barrelling their way in an absolutely ridiculous plot line—but you love them anyways. So when death hits in reality, the shock is inexplicably indescribable. Cory Monteith was the reason I began watching Glee, I was promised an awkward yet adorable (hence, adorkable) performance with his portrayal of ‘William McKinley High’s’ star quarterback, Finn Hudson; I wasn’t disappointed. I’m one of those people who will have an insane Gleek (excuse my terminology) phase before it crashes and burns. I then go on to condemn every plot twist the show throws at me. Eventually, I’ll cave in and start the vicious cycle all over again. Monteith would always draw me back in, and I honestly can’t imagine myself wanting to go back to Glee knowing we won’t have Monteith or Hudson. Before the official reports on his death were publicised, there were many rumours on how he died. However, it was later confirmed that it was caused by, “A mixed drug toxicity”. Prior to his death, there have been numerous public reports of his visits to rehab and his struggle to cope with substance abuse. In his youth, his mother noted that the very first indication of his habits was that at one point, money began suspiciously going missing around the house. Cory himself revealed that his problem was so overwhelmingly severe, that his drug use was practically, “Anything and everything, as much as possible.” This led to accusations, of friends who

supposedly sparked his addiction, and even faulting Monteith entirely for his own death. As controversial as his death may be, how he died is unfortunate but irrelevant as Monteith left behind many: family, friends, and fans. I cannot say that I am familiar with his work beyond Glee, but for me, there was no doubt he was talented after watching his audition tape, which showed him drumming passionately with pencils on an array of Tupperware containers. If I’m being perfectly honest, I didn’t know I cared this much until his passing. This has happened so many times: Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Heath Ledger, Amy Winehouse. To quote The Band Perry, it really is “Funny when you’re dead, how people start listening”. This is partly because I can’t always say that I’ve supported every one of Finn’s life decisions. I’ve spent a lot of my time criticising Ryan Murphy’s directorial choices, but I guess we tend to always focus on the negative before anything remotely positive. Consequently, his best performances were forgotten, for example, his a cappella rendition of Can’t Fight This Feeling, his mellowed down cover of Cyndi Lauper’s, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and of course, the Glee classic, Don’t Stop Believing. Whether you openly love Glee, if it’s your guilty pleasure or if you hate it emphatically, everybody can sympathise with Gleeks all over because losing someone you idolise is not easy. Different people have different coping methods, be it remembering Monteith through his music, watching his hilarious interviews or talking about it to other equally heartbroken fans. It’s an exhausting process, but neither Cory nor Finn will be easily forgotten.

OPINIONS

These are the voices waiting to be heard.

OPINIONS

MY CRUSH IS TOO YOUNG FOR ME!

Well that’s a bit of an awkward question. If you’re a girl, and the guy you have a crush on is younger than you, it’s usually deemed socially unacceptable to date somebody more than a couple of months younger than you. But if you’re a guy, you can date a girl (usually) up to about 2 years younger than you. It’s very difficult though, you just have to go with what you think is right (and socially acceptable in your friend/year group).

I CAN’T TALK TO MY CRUSH!

Okay either talk to your crush, or get over it. If you can’t talk to your crush, you aren’t going to date them are you?

I DON’T KNOW WHICH MAJOR TO CHOOSE?

AWKW

ADV

THE TWELVE RECOMMEN

BY KATE A

This is a question that I am not particularly qualified to answer. However, you should try and pick a major at university that you feel you will really enjoy. For example, if you really love chemistry, look at a major in biochemical engineering and the likes. Good luck!

MY TEACHERS ARE GIVING ME TOO MUCH WORK?

If you really feel the teachers are giving you too much homework, the first thing you have to do is prioritise. Write out a list of all the work you have, and its due date. Complete the most essential/important task. Then email the teachers who set the homework you can’t complete, explain why you cannot do it on time, and hopefully get an extension on your work. However, make sure not to overwork yourself!

MY FRIEND IS ASKING ME TO SEND HER MY WORK BUT I’M WORRIED SHE’LL PLAGARISE IT?

SEND IN YOUR TO PANDORA@DUL

If this is via skype, simply send your friend a link to a relevant wikipedia article of your choice, or a GIF that you find states your feelings of annoyance. Or, if it’s in person, simply hand them a nice empty piece of paper and say, “Yeah, awks I didn’t do it either,” before walking away.

MY FRIEND AND I LIKE THE SAME PERSON! Well sit down, and have a little chat about it. There are three possibilities; possibility one, the person likes you, possibility two, the person likes your friend, possibility

WARD

VICE

NDATIONS OF CHRISTMAS

ADDISCOTT

R QUESTIONS LWICH-BEIJING.CN

OPINIONS three, the person likes neither of you. Either way, you both need to agree that if the person in question likes one of you— and you start dating— to stay friends. And if the person likes somebody else, then both of you can happily move on.

I THINK I’M ATTRACTED TO SOMEONE OF THE SAME GENDER?

This is an issue you really need to approach with yourself before anybody else. However, don’t be afraid to approach these feelings head on. Talk to your parents or counselor about how you feel. You are not abnormal in any way.

THIS GUY IS NOT GIVING ME MY PERSONAL SPACE! Then tell him to talk to the hand, cause the face ain’t listening, friend.

FRIENDZONES.

I’m not sure what to say about the friendzone to be honest. However, if you want to start dating one of your friends, talk to them about it. Make your feelings heard. But be aware that if they don’t feel the same way, your friendship may not be the same.

WHAT IF MY FRIEND AND I ARE VERY COMPETITIVE? Uhm... Beat them?

I FEEL LIKE I’M INFERIOR TO MY FRIENDS.

Listen to the song What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction. You’ll feel much better. But you’re not inferior. You are awesome. Don’t feel like you need to compete with anybody.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CRUSH AND LIKING SOMEONE?

Crush—well a crush is like when you see somebody and think, “Dang they’re cute”, but you don’t necessarily know them well enough to date them, and you probably haven’t even spoken to them have you? Like—Liking somebody is when you know somebody well, you speak to them often, you still think, “Dang they’re cute,” but you have a possibility of actually dating them. The flow chart usually goes; crush -> like -> date

OPINIONS

THE SHUTDOWN BY VIOLET TAN

The American Government shutdown was an event that shook the world. Beginning on the 1st of October, it lasted for more than 2 weeks, finally ending on the 17th, when Obama signed a legislation to reopen the government and repay America’s bills, to the immense relief of the civilian population. However, even though the shutdown is officially over, its aftershock continues to rattle the lives of America’s citizens, and one oft-asked question remains: whose fault was it? According to a new poll (Associated Press-GfK survey), over 62% of Americans mainly blamed the Republicans for the shutdown, while 50% of them believe that Obama or the Democrats bear just as much responsibility. While both Obama/Democrats and the Republicans took home a fair share of the blame, it seems that most of America thinks that the Republicans are the cause of the trouble. But are the Republicans really to blame? There are very few arguments to defend the republicans. However, one must take an objective view of all the facts; as a wise man once said, ‘there are two sides to every story’. Before Senator Ted Cruz convinced his more conservative Republican friends in the senate and House that a shutdown was preferable to providing any money for Obamacare, the Affordable Health Care Act, most of the Republicans were satisfied with the current spending bill. Unfortunately, Senator Cruz and his fellow Tea Party radical Mike Lee were rather persuasive, and managed to get House Speaker (John Boehner) to include several amendments against the Affordable Health Care act. The House passed it, but the senate (which consisted of mostly Democrats) did not. This was the beginning of a vicious cycle, in which the resolution was passed back and forth from the House to the senate and back (to be revised), with both sides relentless and refusing to budge. This led to the government shutdown. So can we blame the government shutdown on a few individuals? That is what Obama seems to think; he publicly laid responsibility at the feet of John Boehner in an exclusive interview by the Associated Press, where he said: “The only thing

that is keeping that [opening the government] from happen happening is Speaker Boehner,” and he has made the decision to hold out to see if he can get additional concessions. On the other hand, some Republicans, such as Senator Paul Rand, continue to stand behind their anti-Obamacare opinions, calling for a balanced budget and accusing Obama of offering “free stuff [Affordable Health Care Act]” but making the Americans poor with his policies. Perhaps they may have good reason to be anti-Obamacare. In America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb, author Peter Ferrara estimates that Obama’s legacy will add another $4 to $6 trillion to the nation’s deficits and debts over the first 20 years alone. Perhaps they were just trying to stop America’s federal debt from rising to unreachable heights, albeit in a slightly impetuous fashion. However, one cannot continue to play the blame game. Pointing fingers and public humiliation might be ‘fun’, but the fact remains that the government shutdown was unnecessary and that it caused incalculable damage to the USA’s post-Great recession, recovering economy. In the 14-day period of political bickering, research projects were put on halt, consumer confidence (and thus spending) has plummeted and 0.6 percentage points were ‘shaved’ off GDP growth, amounting to about $24 billion out of the economy (according to Standard & Poor’s). In conclusion, no single person is to blame. While the problem does stem from some of the more stubborn republicans, one shouldn’t generalise and say that all the Republicans are to blame, something that Obama avoided doing. Could this have been avoided? Perhaps. Maybe the President could’ve spent a little more time ‘schmoozing’ with his ‘adversaries’, as Jack Welch suggested in his article. Maybe not. It seems fun to sit and ponder the alternatives, the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘mights’. But the truth is that for better or for worse, it happened, and America, as well as the rest of the world has to deal with the consequences that are to come. As Julianna Baggot (novelist and poet) said, “Sometimes the only way to fix a mistake- is to make it twice.” This was the second government shutdown in history. Let’s hope that we have learned enough to prevent the third one.

OPINIONS

TEACHERS TALK BY MR. HEATH

A MALAWIAN BEGGAR

WHAT I THINK

Let me take you on a trip most of you will never make. I don’t hold this against you. If you go on holiday to a country, you see nothing. What do I see of the real China, I hear you ask? My answer? Not much certainly not reality. But I can take you somewhere. Come. Let’s go. You are at the People’s Supermarket in Nyambadwe, Blantyre, Malawi - defined by the fact that most people can’t shop there, as it’s too expensive. Look it up. Use Google. The primary food for Malawians is a maize pulp goo called Nsima, with sugar or chilli sauce added to give flavour. To buy these bags of Nsima you must either be a farmer or have money. Money. You, however, are neither a farmer nor the owner of even a wallet. You live in a disgusting hovel: no water, no electricity, nothing – I mean nothing, behind the Supermarket and hang around the entrance. You hope a Mzungu (a white person) will attend. They sometimes tip. You attend. I have forgotten something crucial. You also lost an arm in a farming accident many years ago and have a bizarre brown plastic prosthetic arm hanging out of the sleeve of your shirt – a shirt you try and keep clean, somehow, because you have standards. You see me. Mzungu. I drive a nice, clean Jeep. I unlock the back of my car – taking care to keep my mobile and wallet with me. Thieves, you see. I have empty bottles to return – 2 crates. You barge through the smelly beggar boys who blight all places these days, it seems. God knows their stories. You smile – winsomely, yet assertively. You can’t lift 2 crates: you only have 1 arm. What do you do? Take the crates? Get a tip. Mzungu are loaded. All of them.

What quality is most to be respected in a human being? Generosity? Tolerance? Acceptance of others? Of course – it is self-evidently true these are desirable. But, the big one for me? (Drum roll, maestro) Kindness. Look it up and it seems bland – the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate. But what does it actually mean in practice? For me, it means doing something for someone else that you don’t have to do that has no obvious benefit to you. Examples I have seen in my life? In rural Malawi my car broke down and my family was stuck in the middle of nowhere. The first – the first – car that went past us stopped and the driver asked if he could help. He drove off, returned with a tow rope he had bought and towed us for 50km to a garage. Once the car was fixed, he said – “Tomorrow it might be me.” What goes around comes around. I remember when my daughter was found crying in the toilet at her new school because she was lost. A girl took her where she had to go. She was 8. Kindness cost her nothing, but she could’ve just walked away. A teacher told me recently a boy was obviously unhappy in her class. How did she know? Because she was kind. We helped him and he felt better. More sadly, when my Mum died my best friend couldn’t come to the funeral. He lived a long way away and he just couldn’t. So his mum came on his behalf. At the end of that exhausting day I asked her if she would be my new mum. Because she was kind, she said yes. Since then, I have had to - incredibly sadly - go to the funeral of that best friend. I travelled from Malawi to the UK for 48 hours straight to get there. “Where else could I be?” I said, when she asked me how I had got there.

This man was a real man and for 2 years I paid him to lift the crates and take them one metre as they were too heavy for his emaciated form to manage without help. But, by Christ, he tried. My question to you is this: did I help him? When I left Malawi I stuffed a bundle of notes in his hand – remember: he only had one. I never spoke a word to him.

MEET THE TEAM

MEGAN

2013-2014 January 2014

ASKBOX

Special Thanks to Mr. Gagne, Ms. Mankin, Mr. Herbert, & Jenny Xie,

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