The High 62

THE HIGH EDITION 62 | DECEMBER 16, 2016

Photograph by Camilla Lozinska-Brown

THE EXIT INTERVIEW (found on page 3)

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ruby Griffiths DEPUTY EDITOR

Edward Fraser

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

The good, the Habib and the ugly

CHRISTMAS MR. GUIDE PRESIDENT Films, food and festivities

The nightmare before Christmas

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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inter season tends to accumulate snotty noses, numb toes, and aching temples, in my experience. As it starts to get dark at around five o’clock, it becomes acceptable to curl up in bed earlier. The concrete ISL walls are slightly colder to touch, and seemingly greyer than usual. Most days become Christmas jumper competitions. The heart of the school has burrowed down for winter. Our director is moving on to much warmer ground, while we remain in the darkness of the Swiss December. This issue we have talked with Ms Cheetham about her time with us, her future in Hong Kong, and our future with Mr Cairns.

However, hopefully, Issue 62 will be the glimmer in the darkness, for a brief moment. This issue we have a series of festive pieces to pour over, like Natasha’s guide to a happy High Christmas and Nick’s satirical santa story. Amanda’s eloquent piece about the rise of pornography is compelling, and a must-read. Emily reviews Noises Off and captures the night of the twisting stage in a similarly dynamic fashion. Finally, Manon’s illustrations adorn our issue with wit and style.

Issue 62 is our homage to the light of Winter.

Sink into warm socks. Inhale olbas-infused handkerchiefs. Peel an orange: chocolate or otherwise. Thumb through our winter issue. The High team wishes you a New York-style fairytale Christmas.

RUBY GRIFFITHS Editor-in-Chief

EDITORS Suhasini Mehra Nick Jennings Anna Voigt

Fredrik Falk Amelia Lumme Christine Geiger – special guest

TABLE OF CONTENTS Goodbye Ms. Cheetham Makeup Social Media Religious Holidays Jealousy Conversion Therapy Pornography Nihilism

03 04 05 06 07 08 09 09

FIND US ONLINE

Christmas Wordsearch Trump Christmas Guide The Year in Review Fandom Noises Off Review Battlefield 1 Review Comic & Wordsearch issuu.com/thehigh

10 11 12 13 14 15 15 16

THE EXIT INTERVIEW

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ou may think of her as a figure, behind a heavy curtain, whose magic controls the machine. You may think of her as a friend. You may think of her as the difference between studying computer science and not.

You may think of her as the captain of a tightly-run ship. You may think of her as a blur of blonde and the swish of a pantsuit. You may think of her as the reason you walk a lot more than you did, a year ago. You may think of her as the conductor of a very large, outof-control, but highly capable orchestra. You may think of her as a pianist, a crafter of melody. You may wonder whether she is all of these things or none of them. She may just be the figurehead of a great school or much more.

A normal day for Ms Cheetham is far from monotonous. In fact, an average day may involve bestriding a plastic toy police car and pretending to be a police officer. Although she was merely joining in a game down at the Early Childhood centre, Ms Cheetham gets involved in a bit of everything, even playing good cop for an afternoon.

What we probably do not all know is what she really does for us, as Director of ISL. At a vague level, she guards the core values of our school, our mission and aims, and polices those who let standards slip, like the defender of IB law. We tend not to see too much of Ms Cheetham in our classrooms and hallways, but her touch is felt on every computer we use, every click of an art room camera, and every slumberous step we take towards the South Campus —the yield of a 46 million dollar expansion plan. Apparently, Ms Cheetham has been working with the ISL staff for a year on it, as “it is all about collaboration”, deciding what a “high quality high school looks like”, leaving it up to her to carry out. It is why our arts department has been pimped out considerably and our science labs have

doubled. On top of facilities, we’ve been given “wider subject ranges and a wider cohort of students to engage with”. The infamous expansion will remain with her always, for being a part of such a vast and enduring change is an overwhelming achievement. Ms Cheetham has granted us the right to stretch out comfortably and yet not to sprawl. Despite evolving into a larger school, our coherency as a student body is just as harmonious.

Nonetheless, Ms Cheetham emphasised that the “beauty of this school [as] not just about academics; it’s about social and emotional development”. Her impact resonates throughout each component of school life, ameliorating our schooling opportunities beyond paper and pen. Each teacher is selected because of their warmth, genuineness and competence, as enforced by Ms Cheetham. The task she has continuously driven through her mission for the school is the preservation of our culture. From the “outset I knew this was a very special school and that I had to build on the culture, not ruin it”. We still feel, due to Ms Cheetham’s directorial moves, the retainment of our familial, hug-like environment. If our experiences can be whittled down to the impressions of a map of relationships and feelings, our school experiences also reduce down to a culture of “great relationships”.

Our school stands as a place where we “feel like we belong and are listened to”, which is where the best sort of learning is bred. This is what Ms Cheetham has spent her time since 2007 at ISL accomplishing.

At the end of a misty Swiss December, however, Ms Cheetham shall leave behind the ISL monument, and soon join the humidity of East Asia —where she “will be invited to prize-giving ceremonies and to watch sports events” as if not much has changed. However, everything will have. Her goal will be to unify

Ruby Griffiths talks to our departing director

twenty five schools together under one organisation, as a part of the HongKong based Chow Tai Fook Education Management Enterprise, “with one set of strategic goals”. Instead of leading a school as the director, Ms Cheetham will be looking “to inspire the directors of [other] schools” to become the best they can be. ISL will be used as a model to “instil the idea of continuous improvement” in her new schools. Our success as a school will be splashed onto a much larger canvas, to “improve the education of millions [more] students”, something Ms Cheetham expressed as the purpose of her work.

We don’t always know or appreciate what Ms Cheetham provides for us, for her work sinks in from above. We don’t always know how the magic behind the curtain happens. However, Ms Cheetham’s role in ISL’s history is tremendous.

Her mark has been concreted. It will continue to bless the millions more students who will benefit from her management.

Ms Cheetham’s move into new territory also parallels our own growth and change. Improvements will continue through the eager hands of Mr Cairns, and more temporarily through Mr Erikson. By next year, our school leadership team will have been entirely replaced within a few years, after Ms Secker steps down as High School Principal.

The school may become a little different now with a new leader. Ms Cheetham predicts that there “won’t be major differences” but that the school may take on “more service programmes” under Mr Cairns’ leadership. Although we do not always know who she is or what she does for us, Ms Cheetham’s presence will echo throughout our halls like gentle piano song.

MAKE UP YOUR MIND

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here have been several instances when girls in my year have worn “a lot” of makeup and have been made fun of as a result of it. When I say “made fun of” I don’t mean laughing in their face or being pushed around, but rather told they look strange or fake and ultimately made to feel ashamed of the amount of makeup they are wearing. So let me just get something straight here: a lot of girls don’t wear makeup to impress other people or because they are insecure. They use it to make themselves feel slightly more confident and enhance features that are already there. A lot of girls wear makeup because it is fun. I wear makeup because it is satisfying to put on and helps release an enormous amount of stress. It is like a form of art for your face. There shouldn’t be any rules to makeup; it is something that is very subjective. It is degrading and hurtful when people tell girls to either wear more makeup or to wear less. Really when we wear makeup, it is not for anyone else’s sake but our own.

When girls wear makeup, we are not lying to you. Makeup is a form of expression, and what you wear on your face or on your body is not who you are. People should not judge your character by the amount of powder on your face or the color or style of your clothing, like you do not judge a book by its cover. It is unfair for people to think that we are wearing makeup to impress them, when maybe we are just wearing it for ourselves as an extra boost of confidence. There is nothing wrong with that. It does not mean that we are insecure, if anything it just means that we love ourselves enough to experiment with our current look and not be afraid of what other people think.

It is not the same thing as arrogance, makeup should not make us feel more pretty than someone else; rather it is an expression of self compassion that we love our features enough to want to enhance them in the first place. Why

disapprove of women who want to feel more confident? Some of us are just as confident without makeup.

However, there are two sides to this coin. I think that sometimes girls who wear a lot of makeup on a daily basis feel like they shouldn’t go out in public without makeup on because people will tell them that they look sick or have too much acne. We should not feel like we have to match people’s expectations of us when it comes to our looks. A woman should feel confident no matter how much or how little makeup she is wearing, because beauty is very subjective. It is even more subjective coming from a school with a mix of cultures.

Maybe winged eyeliner is acceptable in the States, but is not the social norm in France. Why do we let people dictate how we see ourselves? A girl should not have to feel like she should always wear makeup because she is beautiful either way. And I know that I just said

Anna Voigt has a solid foundation and does not blush beauty is subjective, but why should we bend to the ridiculous standards of what beauty is? Shouldn’t we just wear as much makeup as we feel comfortable doing and if one doesn’t want to wear makeup one day why let people’s judgements stop them? I know this is easier said than done, but makeup shaming is a real thing that can hurt a girl’s confidence. As if most of my generation’s confidence is not already in tatters.

Makeup should not be a part of us, but rather an accessory to add or take away when we feel like it, for fun.

Teachers and students, we should not have to feel the need to apologize for how little or how much makeup we are wearing. Ultimately, what matters is how it makes us feel. Each person should wear as much or as little makeup as they please, and if you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all.

Illustration by Camilla Lozinska-Brown

SELFIE ESTEEM

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h, the winter holidays: time to get out your fluffy sweaters and winter hats, string out the colorful fairy lights and begin to mass produce your favorite hot beverage.

And don’t forget the fun activities and all the cute winter photoshoots you’ll be having that will make the best Facebook cover photos.

You know you would have rather just stayed home that day, watching Netflix and eating sugary foods all afternoon, but you soon realize that you haven’t posted anything on Instagram lately, so now you have to get up and show people how much fun you’re having decorating your house, or how #blessed you feel that the holidays have finally arrived - you know, just to keep them up to date.

Meanwhile on your finsta, you post pictures of you wrapped up in 37 blankets with pizza and hot chocolate, contemplating your life decisions, but at the same time looking completely comfortable. But of course these types of posts would never be found on your main account, since appearances must be kept and many people don’t seem to think that their primary account suits what they would share with their close friends – how ironic.

Social media is a great way to share your experiences, but sometimes it can

have more backlash than benefits to your physical and mental health.

Anne-Marie Rusu took 100 attempts to make this article media in a person’s life.

Essena O’Neill is an instafamous 18 year old from Australia, who decided enough was enough when her love of sharing her experiences with the people around her became a burden to constantly exceed the expectations of her seemingly flawless self image on Instagram. She would often take “100 [pictures] in similar poses” to make sure that everything about her was as perfect as it could get before deeming it worthy of her Instagram feed. I’m not going to lie, she did look like she had the perfect body, face, hair, life, you name it; the only thing missing was the actual joy in what she chose to put forward for everyone else to see.

In her 20 minute video revealing why she quit social media, she explains how being dependent on likes and followers for happiness is one of the most damaging things that a person could do to themselves. She was, in fact, miserable for most of her time on social media, although it seemed like she had the “perfect life”. Sure, main accounts are made to show your personality and style, but sometimes it feels like the finstas hold more truth than any other account could have. Main accounts can try so hard to follow trends and shape themselves to the liking of society that in the end, they lose all depth and just turn out to be another mask that someone can shield themselves behind; and that can turn out to be a very lonely place.

Of course it’s okay to show off your life a little when you want to, but social media can sometimes sweep you away in its mess of fabrication, falsehood and desire to be unique and out of the box.

Before she proceeded to delete her instagram, she took the time to recaption all of her photos, this time telling the truth about how she conceived them all and how eating disorders, deceptive body image expectations and the strive for perfection have changed her perspective entirely on the role of social

Although platforms like Facebook or Instagram are incredible to share and view each other’s experiences, sometimes we just need to take a step back and go experience life for ourselves, without the need of social approval from others. Our happiness shouldn’t be determined by the number of likes or followers we have on social media and our value and self worth should not be either.

Illustration by Manon Libine

FESTIVE TRUMPETS

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n a distressing report from Santa’s workshop, Barry the Elf has revealed that many toy deliveries will be delayed to make room for the tons of coal being delivered to Trump Tower this Christmas Eve. According to our reporter, Barry had managed to make several recordings of a exhausted Saint Nick complaining to his wife over the incredibly difficult task assigned to him.

“I just don’t have a big enough sleigh to get it all to New York in one night.” He said over a bottle of scotch. “I’ll have to sign on with shipping companies, maybe even buy the rest of it from China.”

When the word got out, the far-right rejoiced that they now had something better than Starbucks cups to complain about for the holiday season. Joyful

mobs poured onto the streets as the boycott on overpriced coffee finally came to an end.

When word of the coming deliveries got out, President Elect Trump took to Twitter to address the issue in a civil manner. Santa Claus is illegally crossing into the United States with toys made in China… SAD!!! Tweeted Mr. Trump at 1:00 AM on Sunday. Later, he claimed that Santa Claus was conspiring to destroy the toy industry by flooding the country with cheaper foreign-made merchandise. Yesterday, when shipping crates full of coal from China were confiscated by the US Coast Guard upon entry into New York Harbor, Mr. Trump once again voiced his

HOLY DAYS

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rom the first day of December, Christmas is here. When walking in the streets of most European cities we can see the Christmas lights above our streets, children window shopping, Christmas trees placed in squares, and most importantly we rejoice to celebrate this amazing holiday.

However, while in Switzerland, Christianity is the dominant religion. What do the people following other beliefs (or none) do during Christmas? Do they celebrate it? And if they do, why do they celebrate this holiday? And finally, what does Christmas represent to them?

According to the Pew Research Center, 81% of non- Christians in the United States do celebrate Christmas. Even though ISL has a student body coming from different countries across the world and not only the United States, this data provides an estimate to how many people who do not identify as Christians celebrate Christmas.

To look at a perspective coming from this school, I have asked a few non-Christian ISL students about their

relationship and opinion regarding the Christmas holiday. For the sake of some students wanting to keep their anonymity, their names will not be mentioned throughout this article.

What religion do you believe in?

I am…

“Jewish” “Atheist...”

“Muslim...”

Do you celebrate Christmas and why?

“I do not really care... I have no reason to celebrate it... I have another celebration.”

“Most people around me seem to celebrate it and enjoy it… it’s just a good excuse to give and receive gifts.”

“Christmas is not really a holiday for Muslims… we still celebrate the New Year. Also, It’s fun to decorate a Christmas tree, we even hung a santa who sings at our door.”

What does Christmas represent to you?

“When I was younger I didn’t really

Nick Jennings thoughts on Twitter.

Trump Tower is a no-fly zone now that I am President. Secret Service will shoot down Terrorist Santa! In addition, holiday sales have gone through the roof in certain markets that haven’t seen big business since the 1960’s, such as reinforced concrete bunkers and canned meat. A new trend is also emerging in the United States in the form of “gift passports” where you photoshop the faces of your loved ones onto passports belonging to Canada, Germany, and other civilized countries. The trend is expected to be short lived, however, following the announcement of Mr. Trump’s proposed Second Wall, designed to keep Americans from crossing illegally into Canada.

Leonardo Morosini know what it was. As I got older, I saw that my friends celebrated it [Christmas] and they explained it to me... otherwise I do not celebrate it [Christmas] and It does not change anything or have any impact in my life.”

“For me it’s just a time to enjoy and get presents if anything but, it’s not religious at all.”

“We do not celebrate Christmas for religious purposes… it’s more to enjoy ourselves.”

By only having looked at the perspective of three ISL students, we can clearly notice how diverse our school is, not only by looking at people’s nationalities but, by looking at their beliefs. It makes me realise that we are very lucky to have have the chance to experience this mix of social and cultural diversity in our school. To conclude, regardless of our beliefs or whether it is Christmas or not, we have to keep reminding ourselves to be grateful for all the privileges we have in this world, which we can use to make it a better one.

THE WHINER TAKES IT ALL

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s students, we know that ISL encourages us to work “collaboratively, in a supportive and respectful atmosphere” in order for us to develop academically and achieve the best we possibly can. We are also known as a school that has an excellent IB average, with extremely caring teachers who motivate students to do well.

As we grow up, school becomes a sort of second home, as we spend most of our time there. We not only learn vital lessons from the subjects that we take, but also from the interactions that we have on a daily basis. The environment in which we spend most of our days is a huge contributing factor in shaping our personalities and thoughts. However, is it meant to cause us stress and sadness, if we don’t fit into the ideal that is created by the school? Do the high expectations of the school cause students to feel pressured or do they motivate us to do well? And, do we actually support our peers? Or are we too competitive for our own good?

“ We have created this idea that life is a competition” It is important to state that most academics think that competition between students is a good thing, as it motivates them to do well, tries to help them come to terms with the possibility of failing, and, finally, prepares them for the ‘real’ world. However, the other side to the argument is that too much competition and being too competitive can lead to ten-

sion among peers, depression, and a lack of confidence in one’s abilities.

From a young age we are taught to “give it our best shot”, and that our effort and participation are the only things that matter in the end. I remember that games such as hide and seek were taken so seriously to the point where tears would be shed if one was caught. How did such an insignificant and supposedly fun game turn hostile and competitive? Well, Lucy Clark addresses this in her article ‘So who says competition in the classroom is inevitable?’ and thinks that it is because, during most of a child’s upbringing, they have been told to focus on themselves, and that parents have high expectations for their children. As we grow up, our jealousy towards one another increases. If someone else is better academically or in sport or the arts, we immediately envy them. In general, most people would not take this as motivation to become better, but rather as a sign that they are not good enough for the activity and, therefore, contemplate stopping.

When students enter high school, they suddenly realise that their performance and grades start to matter, and they start to feel that they need to do well. After moving to ISL in Year 10, I noticed that students strived to do well and that they had a preconceived idea of what success is. I also noticed that I had a very different point of view on what succeeding meant. When walking past some younger students the other day, I heard them complaining to each other about the grades that they were receiving as they were not as good as the grades that some of their peers were receiving. The pressure to want to meet the high educational standards increases as a student reaches their final school year. We become

Amelia Lozinska-Brown is better than you obsessed with the idea of exams, and the horrid thought of potentially failing or not doing as well as we would like to. The chat in Year 13 seems to revolve around predicted grades, university applications, offers and the pile of work. There have been some strange reactions when all the topics above have been mentioned, ranging from jealousy to sadness. This is very surprising as we should after all be happy for our peer’s success. Why do we immediately think that we have failed in comparison to them?

This competition is not only found in the classroom, but in every aspect of our daily lives, and in our society.

Therefore, it is no surprise that people have become competitive about the most insignificant things, such as appearances and personality. Having asked Year 13 if they feel that they have been judged on their appearance, nearly all of them replied yes.

Who has created this imagined standard and why do adolescents feel that they have to conform to a particular standard? The media is mostly to blame as trends to do with fashion and beauty are created through it. It is quite alarming that our society has pushed us to become stressed, jealous and competitive about the most minute and most insignificant things.

Being competitive to a certain extent can be beneficial. It can have its positive effects, though it is just as important to realise that comparing our grades and individual performances between one another may prove to be more counter-intuitive than a force for good as it ultimately demotivates us more than it encourages us to progress further academically.

MAKE AMERICA STRAIGHT AGAIN

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ver a month has passed since November 8th, a dismal day that will go down in history when it was confirmed Donald Trump would be the president of the United States. I could ramble on about everything this result could entail, but instead I’d like to focus on a (seemingly) more positive concept: the impeachment of Trump. ‘Seemingly’ because this could lead to the fate of the Americans being put into the hands of the vice president elect, Mike Pence.

However, due to Pence’s shocking attitude towards the LGBTQ community, perhaps Trump’s small hands would be more suitable.

Pence is a wealthy, white man driven by his strong christian beliefs. Many people weren’t all too aware of him until recently, when news articles about a statement he made on gay conversion therapy surfaced on the internet, evoking an uproar of disbelief and fear.

The statement read: ‘Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior’.

One could argue that the negative reactions to this were uncalled for because of the ambiguity the statement carries.

However, once you put it into context and consider how he refused to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to whether or not discrimination against homosexuals should be allowed in the state of Indiana and that not allowing discrimination against the LGBTQ community would infringe on religious freedom, and how he’s opposed to marriage equality (the list goes on), it’s hard to deny Pence was talking about conversion therapy.

as a mental disorder, and is therefore trying to be ‘cured’. However, it is not one’s non-heterosexuality which causes disturbance to their mental health, but rather societal ignorance and the pressure imposed on people to conform to heteronormative ideals.

Conversion therapy can be incredibly traumatic, and through studies (and common sense) it’s clear that it does more harm than good.

For those of you who aren’t sure why this is so controversial, conversion therapy is considered an effort to change someone’s sexuality to heterosexual through the use of forceful and sometimes traumatic methods. These methods are not only inhumane and exacerbate anxiety and self-hatred, but have been proved ineffective. Some of these methods include aversion therapy, psychoanalysis, and even electroconvulsive therapy, which induces seizures and can result in memory loss.

People who have undergone conversion therapy are also 8.9 times more likely to face suicidal ideation and experience depression at 5.9 times the rate of others.

The issue is that under these circumstances, homosexuality is being seen

Trump has (somewhat) shown support for the LGBTQ community, and any action Pence wants to take against it will have to be approved by Trump first, so a nationwide law allowing conversion therapy probably won’t become reality. Although, there’s still the threat of his pro-life beliefs, his opposition to Planned-Parenthood, and the fact that he voted against fair pay for women and minorities influencing Trump.

No one really knows how the TrumpPence leadership will play out, but if all goes terribly wrong, I’m sure the Canadians would be more than happy to welcome some more Americans across the border. Or perhaps Mike Pence could just be electrocuted until he changes his mind.

STUCO

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igh School, you’ve all made it…

One more day of school and that’s us done for 2016! I hope you all have a fantastic holiday and some well deserved time off (unless you’re in Year 13). Just like all of you, StuCo has been working hard this term. We’re very pleased to announce that Marc-Antoine will be joining the Student Council team after the break, taking on the role of secretary. This term has been an exciting one for the arts department, with many students participating in the Gala Concert and

Amelia Lumme drops the Mike

Beth Rennie the production of Noises Off. StuCo would like to congratulate everyone who participated in these events! This week, you may have noticed that in the North Campus we arranged a service fair as part of our Action for Others Week. We’d like to give a big thank you to all of the groups who presented - the fair wouldn’t have been possible without you. This term, your homeroom leaders asked you all to propose some questions about some of rules that you wanted clarification for, along with any additional questions that you wanted

to ask our senior leadership team. The Q&A session that followed provided a chance for you to get some answers, and we hope that it was beneficial for you all. Finally, we’d like to say a big well done to all the sports teams - it’s been a great year and we can’t wait for even better results next year! So, on behalf of the Student Council, I wish you all a restful and enjoyable break, and I hope that 2017 is the best year yet.

NOT SAFE FOR SCHOOL

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riding itself on its excellent sexual education, ISL’s Middle School students seem to be well informed. But in fact, sexual education starts much earlier. There are currently 420 million web pages dedicated to Internet pornography. It has become a part of everyday life for many high school students. It’s free, fast and accessible to anyone, and ‘educates’ students about sex far more than any biology class or pastoral session could. It is certain that almost every high school student has been exposed to internet pornography at some point in their lives. When teenagers, and even children, are exposed to such unrealistic and degrading depictions of such a private matter, their views can be warped forever. Internet pornography might just seem like harmless fun, but it does much more damage than it seems.

Hardly any pornographic video is not insulting to women. If objectifying women were a competition, pornography would certainly take the gold. A woman is seen as an object which can be insulted, verbally and physically abused. Women are supposed to take whatever a man does without objec-

tion. What this does is teach young girls that they can be treated with abuse by men, and that in order to please a partner, they have to submit themselves completely to him. The female body is colonized to sell a fantasy of compliant submissiveness.

As well as distorting a women’s role in sex, porn does the same to men.

The man is expected to be ‘masculine’ (whatever that means), dominant, aggressive and not to mention have certain body proportions which cannot be fully discussed in a school newspaper.

What this does is tell men that they must act and look a certain way in order to be appealing to women. If boys and men do not fit in with this standard, they feel undesirable and inadequate, crushing their self esteem.

Lesbians, teenagers and Asian women are fetishized in porn, to name a few.

Lesbians are used to entertain heterosexual men, rather than pursue their own sexuality. Teenagers are inappropriately paired with older people, and Asian women are seen as demure and shy, following orders and giggling. The length of this article is not sufficient to tackle every social group that pornog-

raphy has stereotyped and degraded.

Let’s ask the public: if porn is so bad, why do we watch it? I asked a few guys in my year what they thought about porn. While they appreciated that porn is completely unrealistic and degrading, they said that since they know that it is, they do not take it seriously and do not expect their own sexual experiences to replicate what they watch online. “Yeah it’s completely messed up, and at the beginning you find it really weird, but after a while, you get used to watching it.”

Unless porn viewers know that what they are watching is unrealistic, porn can only be damaging to their perception of sex. It is good that most people seem to be aware that what they are watching is far from real life. However, the people who admit this are not boys, they are 18 year old men, who have a higher degree of maturity than a young boy who starts watching porn in Year 9. It is questionable whether or not a young boy watching porn would have the same views.

Sidenote: No porn was watched (in school) in the making of this article.

WHAT’S THE POINT?

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obody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody’s going to die.” As young Morty puts it in the TV show “Rick & Morty”. Nihilism is the belief that nothing in this world has any significance or purpose, and the actions and choices made during this life have no consequences in the next. This belief is often synonymous with being pessimistic, as it alludes to thoughts of negativity. However, in a world where negativity is more and more prevalent, we can question whether nihilism is in fact pessimistic or realistic. Science has always had a battling relationship with religion, and many scientific facts contradict religious ones. However, although many claim to have seen miracles, no scientific explanations have ever been able to back these up. Now, what I’m not trying to get at is whether

religion is fake or not, but in an atheist world, wouldn’t nihilism just be facing the hard cold facts? Scientifically, when people die, there is no after; no one has ever lived to tell the tale. If we make an attitude scale from one to ten, where pessimism is one and optimism is ten.

If nihilism is a level one and the afterlife is a level ten, then what is a level 5? If an atheist bases their faith in the fact that nothing exists on purpose and that is considered pessimistic, what’s neutral?

What does an optimistic atheist say happens after death? I asked Floris Van Lieshout (a pronounced atheist) what he believed happens after death. He replied: “What happens before birth?”

Unbothered by the inevitable impending doom, he chooses to confront the fact that planet Earth is just a mishap of physical, biological and chemical probabilities. The chances of us even

Amanda Bris

Lyndon Kwan

being here in the first place are close to one in infinity. It is wistfully true that maybe we have no significance to the universe, and our actions have no importance to the universe. For an atheist, there is nothing more to build your beliefs on and so there is no optimistic nor pessimistic approach to death.

There is just nihilism. For some, nihilism may be the solid ground to which they wake up every morning. For others, they choose to believe in a greater force holding the world together. So how should we take each day? Personally, whether you believe that the world is based on probability, or a greater being looking down on us, treat each day like it is your last. No one can know for sure what happens after we pass, and thus no one can truly and confidently argue that their way of treating each day is the correct way.

NAUGHTY OR NICE?

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h, Father Christmas, Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Pelznickel. The old chubby pal - watching us sleeping and keeping track of our waking moves - we’ve come to love and adore. Right? Did you know that he actually used to have the appearance of a tall, green, dark elf who snuck into your homes and, rather violently, delivered the wishes of our hearts right to our festively decorated evergreen fir trees. The delightfully chubby NSA agent we know today, dressed in his red garbs with blushing cheeks, was brought to us by Coca Cola™? Is it possible that our lovable Pelznickel is actually a corporate ploy to increase the marketing value of carbonated liquid sugar? Probably not.

By the way, the origin of our Christmas trees, believe it or not, came from a combination of the Vikings worshiping a Sun God (how Quaint!) and the German pagans bringing the sun into their homes. The perfect thing for your family this Christmas: get your Sun God representative in there ASAP, buddy, we need to celebrate the birth of Christ! Speaking of which, did you know that according to the New Testa-

ment (all the rage today, apparently), Christmas doesn’t really celebrate the birth of Jesus, but rather his baptism as an adult. Really sets the familial tone, giving presents to your children to celebrate dipping a grown man into a Church bowl? It seems sort of forced at that point.

I would get it if Christmas was just a ploy by the children to get as many presents as possible out of their parents. They could have made some MAJOR improvements to make that work better, though. You know who really has the monetisation of archaic holidays down to every detail? Just look at Hanukkah! The Jewish community has got it down to an entire eight days off from school and eight days of presents!

They’ve even got a better story behind it: the man who travelled for days to save his people, and had his lantern last for an entire eight days on its oil.

That’s one great way to rekindle the interest and up the sales for lantern oil, boy, let me tell you.

Back to our creepy pal, Father Christmas. Do you not find it even slightly unsettling that he’s rummaging through

BURIED NAMES

Nikolay Zhurov your house in the late hours of the night? And the fact that he does this to (supposedly) every Christmas-believing household in their respective time zones at the exact same time? Has it never occurred to you that Santa might be crowdsourcing his chubby, ruddy, old men in order to save time? If so, is it possible that your local Santa Claus™ is on a list himself (and a very naughty one at that)? On another note entirely, what if Santa is a celiac or lactose intolerant, and you’ve doomed him with your gluten-filled cookies and lactose-full milk? What if you’re to blame for no Christmas this year? And what about the children that can’t sleep, or decide to wake up at night? Does Santa have to ‘take care of them’ so the trade secrets aren’t exposed? Is Santa just a corporate machine funded by Coca Cola to replace the dreams of young children with early-onset diabetes?

Who are you, Kris Kringle? What sort of sicko do you have to be to watch and judge children every year and give them presents accordingly? Oh, and will I still get my Xbox One this Christmas?

ORANGE MAN IN A WHITE HOUSE

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few words I thought I would never have to say: Donald Trump, President of the United States of America. On the 8th of November, America elected a man who broke every image and idea of what a president should be, through his unscrupulous and unconventional campaign – centring more upon the flaws of his opposition than actually providing concise proposals. Apart from the frequent shouting: “Build up that wall”; “Hillary doesn’t have the stamina”; labelling Muslims as terrorists, among many more ‘proposals’.

Entering school the following day of the election felt as if I had entered upon the collective mourning of the student body for America’s choice of a racist, sexist leader. A student in Year 13 summarised what the majority of the school community was feeling – she was ashamed to be American as it became clear to her that her nation is still

A man who is certainly incompetent for the job was elected prominently sexist and racist.

It is understandable that some Americans did not want to cast their ballot towards the democratic party just because of the “first female president” reason. You may not agree with the party’s choices or beliefs. But then again voting for a man who, to say the least, is unprepared for the job seems rather incredulous. Just last week, Trump proved his incompetence through his lack of understanding of the US foreign policy by being the first president – or president-elect – to directly address a Taiwanese leader since 1979. As at

this time, the US and Chinese governments established formal diplomatic ties through the “One China” policy.

This meant that the US had to sever its diplomatic ties with Taiwan and close its Taipei embassy as the adoption of the policy meant that Taiwan was to be considered as a breakaway province of China. The US benefits from its formal relations with China as it is the country’s biggest lender and one of its top trade partners. Thus, Trump’s action could have major implications on the US trade relationship with China as the latter risk breaking off their diplomatic relations with the United States.

The unspecified actions of Trump’s campaign are causing tension to rise around the unpredictable nature and moves of the man who will now be in the White House (with nuclear codes hasten I to add) as his recent exchange with Taiwan highlights further his unpreparedness for the job. Another recent development from the President Elect is that he is refusing to receive all intelligence briefings but one a week, essentially he is not gaining the knowledge and perception of different global situations that are analysed by specialised agents and needed to carry out well-educated decisions for the country.

The first few days following his win, people gave the newly elected President the benefit of doubt saying “He probably won’t carry out all that he was saying.”; “He was saying it all for attention” or “He does not have as much power as everyone thinks he does.”.

However, how can we as a society devalue all the racist, sexist, sizeist, ... statements that he made? There is no such thing as being mildly racist, sexist, homophobic – you are either racist or not. From Trump’s number of outrageous statements, I think it is pretty clear of what he is (and it’s nothing positive). When talking about the Mexicans, Donald Trump said the following

Camilla Lozinska-Brown did not vote for this man

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems.

They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime.”. Shocked? Outraged at the fact that a man who is clearly unqualified is now head of the White House?

Well so are the 63,649,978 million people who voted for Hillary compared to the 61,943,670 million who voted for Trump. Ah America, the only democracy in the world that doesn’t count the popular vote but functions with the electoral college system. This system works that every time someone within a state votes for their preferred candidate they are in fact voting for an elector, that will vote for their candidate. However, if in a state more electors were to have voted for Trump, the whole state would consequently end up voting for him, and thus disregarding the votes for the opposing opponent.

Basically, the US is not a traditional democracy with its voting system.

From this I cannot help but wonder whether a woman would have ever been able to run in a similar way that Trump did - I’m confident that I can say no after the results of the election. As a man who is certainly incompetent for the job was elected when there was a woman who dedicated her whole life to American politics. Regardless of gender, one candidate was clearly more suited for the job to ensure the stability of America’s future, and this was Hillary Clinton. But for now the future of America’s foreign relations remain shaky as well as the accessibility to contraception; the status of Muslims within the country; among many other things. All I can say is that 2017 will be a very interesting and tense year for politics worldwide.

THE HIGH’S GUIDE TO CHRISTMAS

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t’s that time of year again. Warm beverages, pyjama days and of course your favorite relatives. The holidays come with some wonderful time off and rare moments when you can pause your busy schedule and indulge in the magic of Christmas. Of course unless you’re a Year 13—then you better be wishing for some stellar study packets.

Either way the spirit of Christmas is one not to be taken for granted and thus we must make the most of the indulgent holiday. So without further ado, this is The High’s Guide to the Best Christmas Ever.

The holidays would not be complete without your favorite Christmas movies, so here’s three that The High recommends: Elf Elf is the story of Buddy the Elf, a lost, misfit, human being stuck in the north pole. Having been raised as an elf, Buddy discovers his true identity and flees from the North Pole in search for his father in none other than New York City. The already magical NYC is in its prime during the Holiday season. This film is the ultimate feel-good Christmas movie. Why not see how Buddy tries to make do in the human world?

Love, Actually This film is the original intertwining story where everyone seems to have some sort of connection. With the background of a classic London Christmas, we see the good and the bad part of the Holidays. The film never fails to enlighten its viewers on the nature of love and the appreciation of it.

The Grinch Christmas’ infamous villain attempts to steal the delightful holiday from the Who’s in a thought out revenge plan.

The value and true meaning of Christmas can be found within this film and your inner child will be awoken as you

feel this sudden sentiment about the, what seems now, materialistic holiday.

Welcome, Christmas, bring your cheer.

Cheer to all Whos far and near. Christmas Day is in our grasp, so long as we have hands to clasp. Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we.

Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart, and hand in hand.

If you’re willing to go the extra mile this Holiday Season may we recommend some more festive treats. I myself am a huge fan of sugar cookies and have no doubt that they will allow you to evoke the true spirit of Christmas, without further a do here is a great recipe for some festive sugar cookies courtesy of Pinterest: INGREDIENTS For the Cookies 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened 1 cup sour cream 1¾ cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ½ teaspoon almond extract 6 cups all purpose flour 1½ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter) INGREDIENTS For the Frosting 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla, coconut, almond, or peppermint extract 4 cups powdered sugar 5 tablespoons milk Food coloring and sprinkles, optional INSTRUCTIONS To make the cookies 1. Preheat oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with cooking spray 2. In a stand mixer fitted with a scraper/paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sour cream until smooth and light in color.

3. Add in the sugar, eggs, vanilla ex-

Natasha Read brings good tidings

4.

5.

6.

tract, and almond extract. Mix until just combined.

In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (if using).

Add the dry ingredients to the wet in three additions—mixing well after each.

To form rolled cookies: cover the dough and chill for 20-30 minutes.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface until ¼” thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut cookies and place 2” apart on the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake cookies in preheated oven for 5-7 minutes, until the cookies just begin to set up and the bottoms are lightly brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and let cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.

INSTRUCTIONS To make the frosting 1. In a stand mixer fitted with a scraper/paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and extract of choice until smooth.

2. Add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition. Add in the milk and food color, and beat until fluffy and smooth. Spread onto cooled cookies and immediately sprinkle on sprinkles.

This makes 4 dozen cookies (4x12=48).

You may freely consume 48 sugar cookies in whatever stretch of time you deem appropriate.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

A

Shardul Bansal goes through his search history Illustration by Manon Libine

t the start of 2016, if you would have placed a £5 bet on Leicester winning the title of the Premier League, Brexit and Donald Trump being elected president of the United States, you’d have won a staggering £15 million. Add the whole host of challenges including bottle flipping, running man, 100 pieces of clothing, mannequin challenge, backpack challenge, etc and you’re looking at an incredibly exhausting year.

The outside world had an eventful 2016, but how did it rate for the ISL community? 2016 for ISL has been noteworthy, to say the least. We’ve got our own little timeline of events. Let’s take a step back and admire the year we’ve had!

2016’s Wacky Week was one of the best ones yet! While the Year 9’s of last year freshly remember taking 2nd spot away from the (usual winners) Year 12’s, there were a whole host of memorable moments. Our secret themes showed great enthusiasm and were all received in good spirit. Let’s not forget Bruno ripping his shirt open (we’re glad the gym membership’s paying off!) and Year 11’s Spice Market theme, which had its fair share of racial undertones.

However, the moment of the Wacky Week goes to Antonis (Year 14) for his comedic take on recreating Titanic’s drawing scene.

Before the summer ended, ISL made a big decision to elect Habib Makhlouf as President of Student Council. While the decision was viewed by many as a controversial one, the ISL community still has yet to experience his impact.

However, recently, the PTA found ties of Russia funding the election.

2016 was a special year for Mr. Foley.

He got a new chair.

The ISL school trips are a great way for new students to settle into the community. Even more so for the new students in Year 10, who pushed the boundaries of protesting by initiating the “No phones, no shirts” peaceful protest.

When the Year 10s’ phones were taken away, instead of asking for the phones back, they decided to participate in a peaceful protest...shirtless. While an unorthodox medium of protesting, it did raise plenty of eyebrows. Of all the challenges that caught on in 2016, we’re just glad that wasn’t one of them.

ISL, like every year, dominated in sports events this year. A few of the moments that deserve a mention include the success of Girls’ Basketball, the Senior Boys Volleyball putting out the best boys volleyball performance to date, winning the indoor Milan (trophies and cups) won by the Football team and

the Tennis team winning the European Sports Conference held in Barcelona this year. Let’s keep the fighting spirit continuing into 2017!

Unfortunately, 2016 also marks the end of Ms. Cheetham’s time here as Director. In spite of that, we wish her all the best in Hong Kong under some well deserved sun. Her cheerful smile and her caring attitude throughout her 9 years here at ISL will be greatly missed. However, while we will miss Mrs. Cheetham’s contribution to ISL, we’ve welcomed 50 new students to the school as well as about 10 new teachers. 2016 was a successful year for ISL. Let’s make 2017 better and let’s hope we don’t need any new chairs!

THE SORCERER’S CANON

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ave you ever witnessed someone clutching a book or their laptop, spinning in their chair and screaming something barely coherent about ships and canons?

If you have, you’ve wondered… well, you’ve likely wondered whether to get them some calming tea or to run away and call a psych ward, but after the initial shock wore off, you were probably confused as to what they were talking about.

Ships? Who in their right mind gets excited about ships?

Short answer? Fangirls. Long answer? Well…

Dear reader, I am here today on behalf of the fandom community to educate you on some of the most basic terms commonly used in our everyday speech. With any luck, you’ll leave this article just a little more informed on the daily happenings of your fellow students, and, quite possibly, you’ll be a slightly trashier person for it. Let’s begin.

First, let’s clarify: a fandom is a group of people who are definitely not, in fact, obsessed with a book, anime, TV show, or movie series. We just read or watch them over and over again, analyze them, write about them, draw their characters, make music videos out of them, make collages and laptop wallpapers of them, collect all of their merchandise, and spend hours reading and rereading trivia about them on Wikia. But we’re not obsessed. Nope.

The first and most commonly used term in fandom is the aforementioned ship. No, we’re not sea vessel enthusiasts (although there’s probably a fandom out there for that, too).

‘Ship’ is short for ‘relationship’, and the term refers to the pairings we make while watching - pairs of characters who are clearly soulmates and were obviously written for the sole purpose of meeting and falling in love, while going on insane adventures that involve one of them nearly dying and scaring the other into confessing their eternal love, before they go on to save the world from imminent destruction and have a dramatic first kiss in a crumbling city as ashes rain from the blazing sky. Or something along those lines. Ships can be lowkey, something you enjoy but aren’t particularly invested in, or highkey, something you are emotionally tied to. The highest form of ship (or lowest, depending on how you look at it), is the OTP. The acronym stands for ‘one true pairing’, but, as any fan knows, it really stands for ‘oh, the pain’. If fans enjoy a regular ship, we cherish an OTP. These are the ships that fill your camera roll, the ones that engulf your life and drag you into hell, the ones you have shed genuine tears over at least once. You may draw fanart for a ship - for an OTP, you’d actually summon Satan for a mere chance to make it canon.

That brings me to the second term - canon. Another common phrase, usually spoken with some degree of bitterness, canon refers to an event or pairing that has actually occurred - ‘canon’ means ‘rule’ or ‘law’, and in fandom terminology, it refers to anything the author has said, be it within the story

Suhasini Mehra

or in a Twitter post. (A example being JK Rowling’s famous years-later proclamation that Dumbledore was gay.) Canon material is also the least important part of any fandom, and can be manipulated and cherry-picked as one pleases - unless, of course, the material in question gives evidence of the OTP, in which case it’s extremely important and cannot be tampered with under any circumstances. Far more important to fans is the headcanon - simply put, an event or behaviour fans wish could be canon. One popular headcanon amongst the Potter fandom following the conclusion of the series was that Rose Weasley would quickly befriend Scorpius Malfoy - a headcanon that was promptly shot down upon the release of The Cursed Child. If you’re lucky, someone could see your headcanon and make a story or drawing based on it. And if you’re really lucky, it might become fanon. Something that is fanon once began as someone’s personal headcanon, but quickly spread throughout the fandom, popping up in every fanfiction and fanart for the next month at least. Fanon material is not canon, but, as far as any fan is concerned, it might as well be. One of the most challenging tasks for any newcomer to an old fandom is deciphering what is actually canon, and what is fanon - what terrible event actually happened in a character’s past, and what the fandom just decided happened for the sake of their own suffering.

Because that, in essence, is what fandom is all about - suffering. That, and fluff. These are the two extremes of fandom: at any given time, fans are either deep in the pits of angst, or soaring through clouds of cotton candy and floating kittens.

There is no inbetween. And there’s nothing fans love more than spreading these emotional extremes. There are many ways to accomplish this - fanfiction, fanart, and music videos being just a few. But, of all the techniques employed by fans, one of the most popular is the AU. Short for Alternate Universe, an AU is a piece of writing or art that plucks characters from one setting and drops them in another. AU’s can be of other stories, time periods, or just cliches. The Coffee Shop AU, for example, is a prevalent presence in every fandom, as well as the Harry Potter AU. And, of course, every fandom has a multitude of High School AU’s that absolutely no one asked for. There is often little way to tell, going into one, whether you’ll end up grinning like an idiot, or lying broken on the cold floor. But that’s okay - fans will be happy no matter the outcome.

You may be wondering, how can any of this be normal? By now, you should have learned that nothing is normal in this strange world of fandom, this messy blend of fiction and reality that makes up the lives of people like Yours Truly. Hopefully, you’ve picked up something about our most important terms, and, hopefully, you’ll be able to understand us, just a little bit. Either that, or you’re now utterly convinced that we are, in fact, in need of a good psych ward.

Yeah, it’s probably that second one.

NOISES OFF

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e heard the complaints: endless hours of rehearsals, early mornings on the weekend, long nights after school. We saw the concern: last minute sprained ankles, highlighted scripts desperately clutched for final memorisation. We witnessed the fear: jokes that would go unheard, scenes that would be misinterpreted, a play that simply would not work.

We didn’t know what to expect, but ISL has set the performance standard high and mighty. The production team has consistently pulled together amazing musicals, dramatic plays, each one seemingly better than the last. Would “Noises Off” reach the ISL benchmark?

In a simple answer, yes. The cast pulled together an incredibly witty, dynamic and mature performance. The play was broken down into three parts, which while this admittedly created quite a long three hours of performance - the time flew by. The first part of the play

established the cast, and we quickly realised that Noises Off is essentially a play within a play, very unique in it’s setup. Each actor effectively portrayed this setup, fluidly jumping in and out of their “real” character and the character within the play, with clear accents.

Mr. Fessler was right in casting an all high school cast, with the majority from year 13, to suit the mature humour and cheeky innuendos throughout the play.

His choice of placing Thomas Murphy, (acting as director in the play) in the audience, speaking to the actors from a seat amongst spectators, was possibly one the most brilliant decisions in the play; every single person watching felt that they were part of an intimate interaction, and that they were literally watching a dress rehearsal of a play, as the setup intended.

The second part of the play had the set turned around, and we saw the misfortunes and arguments that occurred backstage between the cast. The ex-

BATTLEFIELD 1

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he first person shooter market in video games is nowadays mostly dominated by two franchises: Call of Duty and Battlefield, that are the same in some ways, but very different in others. However this year, with the release of both video games at roughly the same time, the competition between them has become more evident than ever.

After playing Battlefield 1 extensively, it has become clear why it has earned the nickname “Battlefield Won”, regarding this rivalry. The name “Battlefield 1” comes from this time period during the later stages of the First World War. The time period of a war game probably wouldn’t appear to have much of an impact on the gameplay. However, I believe that it is exactly that, which brought the game better reception over the most recent Call of Duty. The primary reason for this is when one plays a war game, they want gameplay

that is full of action, yet not so much to the point when the gameplay mechanics become somewhat comical.

This is something that the ‘Call of Duty franchise has come up short on. For two years now, ever since the release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in November of 2014, the majority of gamers have rejected the idea of a futuristic setting and the use of exo-suits.

Despite this, the two consecutive Call of Duty releases since then have maintained the same disliked theme.

However, let’s go back to the strengths of Battlefield 1. The single-player campaign mode was amazing, telling the unique stories of different characters in war zones across the world. The campaign always provides a fun challenge, and the motive to play more and finish each person’s story, and even includes a few cameos from Lawrence of Arabia. The legacies of the campaign are probably reasons to buy the game,

Emily Coyne haustion that all the actors had experienced during rehearsals was suddenly very clear; this 40 minute section had barely any speech but consisted of mainly physical theatre. Each movement flowed and their ability have the audience in tears of laughter with minimal speech was testimony to their endless hours of hard work.

For the final part, the set was turned back around the front, and we saw another performance of the play following all the arguments. Despite the pregnancies and cheating that had the cast all falling apart, our actors came together, more powerful than ever in their execution. Each joke was smoothly delivered and never overdone, and each cast member seemed totally at ease on stage. The nature of the play meant that any mistakes could be passed off as a deliberate choice, which added to the humour and ease of the environment they created. Who even knew sardines could be so funny?

Paul Baroudi however, it is incomplete without the multiplayer.

The multiplayer is everything that I remember it to be from previous games of the franchise, the best part about it being the teamwork that is needed to properly play the game. It is probably the only time that one will see this level of collaboration between a group of strangers striving for the same goal. In contrast, the only critique that I have about the whole game, does relate to the multiplayer. If you want to play this game properly, a lot of patience is required, as it is a very different atmosphere regarding gameplay, meaning that when you start, everyone will seem much better at the game than you. All this means is that you need to give time towards becoming better at the game.

The time committed to this though is very much worth it, as this game is one that I can very well see myself playing in the future, and highly recommend.

THE LAST LAUGH

Manon Libine