Lorem Ipsum Dolor Issue #, Date
THE HOWL #3
Fashion 2
Are you excited for the “BIG 4” fashion weeks?
Sleep 4
DID YOU KNOW? Oversleeping is as bad as being sleep deprived!
Valentines 9
Are you single and ready to mingle?
Also inside this issue…
February 2014 Volume 1, Issue 3
Chinese New Year at TCIS – page 3
Trip to Taiwan – page 6
Sports Event: Bisac – page 7
Hearthstone – page 8
Current Events in Thailand – page 10
FIFA World Cup in Brazil – Page 12
Where is the Chinese New Year Spirit?
By: Kunlanit Chongsujipunt
Getting together to eat the biggest dinner, play cards, chat loudly, receive red envelopes, watch fireworks -‐ these are just a few moments that always happen during Chinese New Year. Even before Chinese New Year’s approach, the lively atmosphere had already started at TCIS. Walking throughout the school, you can see the vivid decorations all around: lanterns, fans, and banners with great wishes and messages on them. On the 21st of January, even the Taiwanese Parent Association set up a Chinese Food Sale with all the delicious traditional Chinese food for students to try! On January
24th, Grade 8 Mother Tongue Chinese students also dedicated their time and effort to host their own Chinese Food Sale. Both events filled our stomachs with tasty foods and brought smiles to everyone’s faces. The Chinese New Year spirit increased even more when the afternoon show started. The loud, “Tum! Tum!” from the big drums captured everyone’s attention. Laughter could be heard from the crowd when the lion troupe danced along with the popular “Gangnam Style.” Parents showed their support through the cheerleading dances; the presentations taught us more about the Chinese New Year origin and how to celebrate it;
adorable kids danced and sang; students competed by saying idioms quickly. The show ended with the traditional Chinese fan dance. On the way out of this auditorium, we were all ready to celebrate Chinese New Year.
Sleep, Sleep, Sleep By Napat Karnsakultorn
Sleep? People often emphasize that not sleeping enough is bad, but little do we talk about oversleeping. Most of us probably never received complaints about sleeping too much (other than from our moms). Each individual requires different sleeping needs, depending on age, daily activities, health and habits. But did you know? Oversleeping is as bad as being sleep deprived. Can’t help it?
Really. Some people just can’t seem to get enough. Hypersomnia, or excessive daytime sleepiness, causes people to feel sleepy, regardless of how much they have slept. Not only will people with this disorder feel sleepy all the time, but even napping will not relieve their sleepiness. Hypersomnia results in symptoms that include anxiety, low energy and memory
problems. The other syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea, causes the upper airway to collapse; which then makes the person stops breathing for short amounts of time. A person with this syndrome can stop breathing from around 20 to 40 seconds, which is not extremely harmful. Still, it disturbs the sleeping cycle, thus, increasing the person’s sleepiness. Symptoms for the syndrome includes loud snoring, apnea (lack of oxygen), and gasping or choking while sleeping. Effects Depression -‐ Although not a leading cause of depression, oversleeping contributes to 15% of depressed patients. Sleep drunkenness -‐ Groggy feeling caused by oversleeping.
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Diabetes -‐ Either sleeping too much or getting not enough sleep results in higher risk of diabetes. Headaches -‐ Oversleeping affects the neurotransmitters in the brain that causes headaches. Heart disease -‐ Sleeping from 9 to 11 hours a night increases the likelihood of heart disease by 38%, compared to a healthier 8 hours of sleep. Sleeping Facts -‐ Sleep deprivation does not affect how people function. In fact, you will function the way you would normally. It also makes you more optimistic. BUT it makes you too optimistic that you start making unreasonable, risky decisions. -‐ Some animals sleep way more than others, and for some, a lot less. Also, size doesn’t matter! Giraffes only sleep for 1.9 hours a day, and a horse, 2.9 hours a day. On the other hand, cats sleep up to 12.1 hours and armadillos, 18.1 hours. -‐ Dolphins are capable of putting a side of their brain to sleep at a time while keeping another side awake. In that condition, they can remain active for 360 hours (15 days).
Still, sleeping... -‐ Reduces stress -‐ Improves mood -‐ Improves athletic performance and coordination -‐ Increases memory -‐ Increases ability to pay attention -‐ Helps when recovering from sickness -‐ Helps healing after surgery -‐ Helps adjust to change in time-‐zone So, goodnight and sleep tight!
Sources: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kellyoakes/25-‐surprising-‐facts-‐about-‐sleep http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/how-‐sleep-‐works/how-‐much-‐sleep-‐do-‐we-‐really-‐need http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/05/health/upwave-‐sleep-‐too-‐much/ http://www.webmd.com/sleep-‐disorders/guide/physical-‐side-‐effects-‐oversleeping
Trip To Taiwan By Owen Wu
Did you know that TCIS went on a music and drama tour in Taiwan during the December Break?
Well, if you didn’t then you’re missing out on A LOT!
The music and drama tour went from the 20th of December, 2013, and ended on January 2nd, 2014. The orchestra and drama group performed in Taipei, ChungHwa, Taichung, and Kaoshiung. Apart from performing in different schools, students also visited various tourist attractions and shopping areas in the cities. The students in orchestra also made new friends in The Affiliated Senior High School of National Kaohsiung
Normal University (高雄師大附中) by staying with host families for a few days. Practice makes perfect, and that is no joke when you apply the concept to the orchestra and drama crew; they were rehearsing for countless hours before jumping on the plane to Taiwan and continued to grow as artists as they performed each show in Taiwan. The orchestra, led by Ms. Lichou, played pieces such as, “A Vaughun Williams Christmas”, “Dark Adventure”, “Smooth”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and a compilation of Michael Jackson’s hits. The drama crew performed “A Fairy Tale Rescue”, a semi-‐musical comedy play
written and performed by the Drama & Theater Arts Class directed by Mr. A. The 2013 December music and drama tour was filled with laughter, companionship, teamwork, art, and memories for the students. Special thanks to Mr. Tony, Ms. Vivian, Mr. Andrew and other chaperones for making this trip possible, thanks to Ms. Lichou for directing the orchestra and Mr. Jay for being our guest drummer, thanks to Mr. A for directing the drama crew and Ms. Julie, Ms. Vera for chaperoning.
of the game. Tina, a junior who play
the position as a center, joined the basketball team in her first year at TCIS. She said, “To me, they are more than teammates. They are sisters who share the same passion, and they are also the engines that keep me playing basketball.” Three years of playing basketball with her teammates, she is attached to the team, and has built a close relationship with them.
Each season ends with a BISAC-‐wide tournament hosted by one of the BISAC-‐member schools. This is also when sport teams combine all their effort from the whole season of practices and trainings into this last tournament. Tina’s most exciting moment during BISAC was when they were about to beat Shrewsbury International School (SHB) with their score catching-‐up. SHB has always been their rival team.
“I don’t know what happened... we just couldn’t keep up the on fire moment and lost the game. However, that wasn’t very frustrating for me since I had already fought the best I could, and left no regret on the court. I did my best, and had fun -‐ that’s what it all matters.” Tina said.
After interviewing Tina about her reflection on the BISAC tournament and her thoughts on this season’s U19 girl basketball team, I perceived that sportsmanship is as important as an athletic abilities. Tina has a positive attitude when confronting all her games. It doesn’t matter if she wins or loses, because she tries her best. Tina’s spirit and enthusiasm will support her throughout her basketball path. Her bonding with the team and all their hard work will lead her to success. Don’t ever give up!
After all the sweat, teamwork, and challenges, the U19 varsity girl basketball team had their final battle in January at the BISAC tournament. This team was formed with unity and companionship that has been cultivated over many years. Athletes tried their best until the last second of the
Nerdy News By: RexarAwe
Blizzard, one of the most renowned gaming companies of this generation and mother to eternal classics such as the Warcraft and Starcraft games, has once again unleashed an amazing product in the gaming industry: Hearthstone. Like many of its predecessors, Hearthstone is extremely polished, if not yet completely balanced, hence the reason why it is still in open beta. For those people who do not know what “open beta” is, it simply means that the game is “open” for anyone willing to play, but is still prone to tweaks and fixes depending on the player base, who are held responsible to report bugs and errors (mistakes in the game). Having played a full day’s worth of Hearthstone, I can honestly say that I am still as, if not more, enthusiastic as when I first started playing. That’s saying A LOT considering that I have a duty to play other games (from my 3000 GB collection of games) as well. I had high expectations going into this title, and I got more than I ever bargained for. Hearthstone managed to suck me into a wormhole.
I swear I only played for a few hours, but like many other things that overflow with addictive fun, it sliced away an entire day of my life (and probably more in the near future). The question remains, though. What is Hearthstone? Hearthstone fits into a category of games called “card games”. This genre has its devoted fanbase, but isn’t as “hot” as other genres such as MOBAs (I’m looking at you, League of Legends), first person shooters (FPS), role-‐playing games, and real time strategy (RTS) games. Blizzard has already come to dominate the RTS field with Starcraft II and the RPG field with (the once highest subscribed) World of Warcraft. Now Blizzard is locking its sights on the battlefield of card games.
Any gamer would know that a good game is not defined by its graphics, but by its mechanics and rules. Good rules and a good execution of
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those rules make a good game. Everything else such as graphics come in second. Hearthstone takes place in the Warcraft universe. For those unfamiliar with it, imagine a cartoonish remake of Tolkien’s Middle Earth for the less nerdy. While a certain level of literature expertise is required to appreciate The Lord of the Rings, Hearthstone is full, fantastic fun for all ages and genders, provided you have a basic understanding of English and numbers. There are two types of cards: spells and minions. Each player has a certain store of mana that expands as the game goes on. Different amounts of mana is required for using different cards. Spell cards have unique effects such as healing minions and turning enemy minions into sheep. Minion cards summon a variety of monsters that can deal and take a certain amount of damage. Each player has thirty life points; victory is reached when the enemy’s life points reach zero. Well, it sounds like any other generic card game, right? Here’s the catch: Each player can choose from nine different heroes (more in the future) that have their own set of unique spell and minion cards. With fun mechanics and gameplay, the professional “cover” the game has with its
stylish art and bad-‐donkey voice acting creates a wonderful experience for anyone, be it a fantasy, card or strategy enthusiast. Oops! I forgot to mention. This game is FREE. Don’t believe it? Go to battle.net, create an account, install the game, and start playing. You only have a mac? NO PROBLEM! The game, like all other Blizzard games, support both Mac and Windows operating systems. For those who think that this game might be “pay-‐to-‐win” like most other MMO (massively multiplayer online) games, it definitely is not. While you can pay real money to buy new card packs, you can alternatively but them with in-‐game currency you earn through quests or battling in the arena (it just takes more time). I even feel like the few dollars it takes to buy new cards is worth the cost. The creators definitely earned it. Keep in mind that this is coming from a very stingy guy. Don’t believe me? Ask my friends! Oops, I don’t have any. Haha! I lied.
Do I regret all the time I invested into this game? NO. And from what I’ve played, I won’t ever. If I have but on regret, it would be that life is too short to truly cherish all the games in the world.
What is going on in Thailand? By
Ant Phongpandecha
Background Thailand moved from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy in 1932 when King Prajadhipok (King Rama VII) agreed to sign a temporary charter and announced that “the highest power in the land belongs to all people”. Constitutional monarchy is a type of government where the Prime Minister is the head of government and a hereditary monarch is head of state.
Who? On the surface, there is a clear political conflict between two major camps—the ruling Pheu Thai Party on one side and the opposition Democrat Party on the other.
What happened? Turmoil in Thailand has been ongoing since December 2013, when Pheu Thai party, current government led by Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, proposed an amnesty bill that would have pardoned Thai politicians Abhisit Vejjajiva and Suthep Thaugsuban (formers of Democrat Party) over murder charges, and Thaksin Shinawatra (former of Pheu Thai Party) for corruption charges. The bill was rejected by the Senate of Thailand on 11 November 2013. Suthep Thaugsuban, a former of Democrat MP, continued and turned towards an anti-‐government agenda.
What do the demonstrators want? Suthep Thaugsuban has said the demonstrations will not stop until Thaksin’s regime is wiped out. The government also maintains that it will hold on to it’s power. So, we will just have to wait and see how everything turns out!
Pheu Thai Party Logo Democrat Party Logo
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By
Han Jong Won
Fast Facts -‐ World’s most widely viewed sporting event -‐ Takes place every 4 years! -‐ Held by FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) -‐ Games in the 2014 World Cup will be played in twelve Brazilian cities: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiaba, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Sao Paulo -‐ 32 teams from all over the world participate
Fun Facts -‐ 3.2 billion people worldwide watched the 2010 World Cup -‐ 46.4 percent of the world! -‐ Brazil was won more championships (5), scored more goals (210) and won more games (67) than any other team since 1930 -‐ The first world cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay -‐ The Goal line technology will first be implemented -‐ Only seven nations have won the World Cup; Brazil, Italy, West Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, England and France.
Things to Look Out For
1) The Battle between Gods (Ronaldo and Messi): These two names undeniably appear on the front pages of magazines and the news week in week out. After Ronaldo received the Ballon d’or and the title of World’s Best Player, it would be interesting to see who will come out on top of the other in the stage of the world’s 32 best teams.
2) The Rise of the New Powers (Columbia, Belgium, Argentina, Portugal)
Despite claims that either Spain, Germany, or Brazil will win the World Cup, there are several other countries like Columbia, Belgium, Argentina, and Portugal with their superstar-‐studded squads and new generation of talents. It will be one thing to look out for the players, another thing to look out for the countries to compete!
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3) Will Brazil Successfully Host the World Cup?
There has been many doubts about whether the 12 stadiums Brazil promised to build will be successfully constructed with all the troubles from workers dying, low wages, and anti-‐government protest. We will have to wait and see how Brazil will do in the remaining four months to host the World’s largest sport event that will draw millions from all around the world.