Special points of in-

terest:

Loads of photos!

Articles on our stay!

Students explain!

Learn about

Thailand!

The International

Award

The IDEALS

Adventure 2

Challenge 3

Environment 4

Field Study 5

Internationalism 6

Service 7

Leadership 8

Inside this issue:

Renaissance International School Saigon in

Thailand.

The RISS Annual IDEALS Journal.

Spring 2011. Volume 1, Issue 1

The Maekok River Vil-

lage Project (MRVP)

has been in operation

for eleven years and

offers a range of activi-

ties for school trips in-

cluding subject specific

fieldwork, out door ed-

ucation and communi-

ty service projects. The

Year 10s were the first

students from RISS to

visit the MRVP and

their week long trip

was a huge success,

made possible by the

excellent service pro-

vided by the staff in

the resort and the

commitment and per-

severance of our stu-

dents. The best way to

find out more about

the trip is from the

students themselves

and I’m sure you will

enjoy reading about

their experiences in

the following articles.

Philip MacDonald-

Milner, Trip Leader

The Year 10 students

enjoy the first ever

international field

trip for RISS in Thai-

land

Adventure and Service: Learning

Archery and assisting at a local or-

phanage

The MRVR—Ban Thaton, Thailand.

The first team who shot the

balloon is becoming a winner.

I really enjoyed it and I really

want to do it again. It might

be the unforgettable memory

for me.

Kim Ji Yeon

On the fourth day of the IDE-

ALS school trip to Thailand, we

did archery as part of an activi-

ty. On that day, the weather

was terrible, we planned to do

rock climbing but we cancelled

because of the rain. Therefore,

we took to the gym after we fin-

ished mountain biking and

teamwork games.

It was my first time to do ar-

chery. When I saw it on TV, I

thought that I could do it well.

However, it was n’t easy, and I

could n’t do it well. It was hard

to shoot in the middle, or even

at the edge of the target.

However, I got better with prac-

tice and I had a very enjoyable

time, even if the weather was

really cold.

For the activity, we were sepa-

rated into 4 groups with 3 peo-

ple in each group. We tried 3

times (3 arrows) for each person

Trying Something New—Archery.

Page 2 The RISS Annual IDEALS Journal.

“ At first,

everyone

seemed not so

good at archery,

but, with

practice they

improved. “

The Maekok River Village Resort—Student

Centre

The Restaurant at the resort

At first, everyone seemed not so

good at archery, but, with prac-

tice they improved. Some stu-

dents shoot to the middle of the

circle and some students shoot to

near the middle of the circle. At

the end, we had a small competi-

tion which is shooting balloon.

On the third day of trip, we did

the confidence course. During

the trip to Thailand, all of the

students were looking forward

to this particular activity. The

confidence course was installed

in the MRVR which we stayed

for 5 days. There were 6 sec-

tions of obstacles.

Many of the students we re very

anxious about the course, but

others were fine with it. Before

we started, we learnt about

safety because it was the most

important part of the confidence

course. Many of the boys want-

ed go first as they were very

excited.

First, we had to check the safe-

ty rope. The safety rope was

joined with our body and the

top of the course obstacle. If we

made a false step, the rope will

support our body. After we

learnt about safety, finally we

could start. Of course the in-

structor showed us first how to

do it.

The first section was very easy

and all of the student passed

that easily and fast. It was

walking on the two stick and we

have to balance. However the

second was not so easy for some

students, I remember that one

of the student fall out his leg to

the small hole and he had diffi-

culty to get up. The third sec-

tion was also easy but when we

reach the fourth section, it was

tough to go through. The fifth

section was the hardest section

because when I walk, it swung

a lot and I couldn’t balance

well. The last two sections were

just crossing. One of the stu-

dents was tried but couldn’t go

through all the sections because

she was very scared. She

crossed the middle of the confi-

dence course which is the short-

est and easier way to complete.

All of the students enjoyed the

course and found it very excit-

ing.

Mi Ran

Challenging Yourself—The Confidence Course.

Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 3

Beautiful Northern Thailand.

Learning About The Environment.

Page 4 The RISS Annual IDEALS Journal.

The International Award.

Initially , we took a flight to

Bangkok and after that a flight

to Chiang Rai (northern of Thai-

land). After that, we ate a lot,

but we tried not towaste any

food. Then we get to the resort

by car., it’s in the countryside of

Chiang Rai. On the way, I can

see many traffic in the street,

it’s a busy city. But the more

further to the countryside,

there’s less traffic, the environ-

ment is more fresh.

The day after, we had field work

on the Mae Ai river. It has clean

water, a variety of plants and

fresh air. We saw some of the

litter on the river surface, we

took it then and threw it into

the bin. There’s a little bit hu-

man activity so it does not af-

fect much on the environment.

The next day, we planned to

camp but it’ was raining so we

cancelled it. Instead of camp-

ing, we hiked on a mountain.

It’s a big mountain with fresh

environment. Moreover, its qui-

et and peaceful.

The next day we went mountain

biking through the countryside.

As you know, the villages are

very clean, the locals can keep

clean public environment.

Nabi and Truc

Hello, everyone! I am going to

interview two girls who had

unique experiences during the

IDEALS trip in Thailand. They

are Ah Young and Ye Rim who

are doing Duke of Edinburgh.

Let’s talk with them!!

Interviewer: Hello, girls. How

are you?

Ah young & Ye Rim: Hello, I

am fine. Thanks.

Interviewer: I heard that you

guys had very memorable expe-

rience in Thailand. What was

it?

Ah Young: We are doing inter-

national award which is also

know as the Duke of Edin-

burgh’s Award. In Thailand,

we had chance to complete the

adventure section by hiking

the mountain and sleeping in-

side the tent that we put up by

ourselves.

Ye Rim: Before we go, I and

Ah Young studied with teach-

ers how to use compass and

read a map. It was hard to un-

derstand at first because nowa-

days, reading map and using

compass to hike are not usual

activities.

Interviewer: I agree with you.

I also can not use compass and

map. What else did you do?

Ye Rim: We made our meal by

ourselves.

Interviewer: Meals? How in-

teresting! What did you make?

Ye Rim: For dinner, we made

spaghetti and in the morning

we ate Thai instant noodle.

Interviewer: Did you have

any special recipes to make

food?

Ah Young: Recipes? Ha Ha

We haven’t made food before

ourselves. We just got materi-

als for food.

Interviewer: How was it?

Was it delicious?

Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 5

Studying In The field (Or River!) During the Thailand trip, as

geography students, we had got

a great opportunity to approach

the Mae AI River which is par-

ticularly important for our Ge-

ography IGCSE final. Mr. Aus-

tin introduced to us some gen-

eral information about the field-

work. Unfortunately, the

weather was quite bad; the sky

was filled with dark clouds and

temperature was very low. The

truck that we used to move was

really unique. While we on the

road, we saw the phenomenal

Thai landscape in tht back of

the truck. Enjoying the fresh

air was fantastic. It was a real

experience for us.

To reach the river, the path was

quite dangerous and slippery

and a few students fell down

several times-site 1 was espe-

cially bad. When we reached to

the river, it was very beautiful.

The river flowed very rapidly

and the shape of the river was

very narrow. We started our

investigations. First, we meas-

ured the velocity with digital

flow meter. It was very easy to

get the flow velocity of the riv-

er. And then we observed and

recorded the bed loads (stones).

After that we measured the

width and depth of the river. It

was simpler than we thought.

After that, we moved to the site

2.

When we arrived at site 2, it

wasn’t like site 1 as the path

was quite wide, neither slippery

nor dangerous. When we got

there, we did the same meas-

urements that we did at site 1

in order to do the comparison.

Unluckily, the digital flow me-

ter failed and we had to meas-

ure the river speed using an

orange. It is quite simple meth-

od. We put an orange in the riv-

er and measured the time until

it reached the finish point. Eve-

ryone was focused on the or-

ange whilst it surfed the river!

After finishing site 2, the heavy

rain came, so we couldn’t inves-

tigate site 3. Unfortunately,

most of the students didn’t have

their own umbrella at that

time, so they got wet. It was

quite interesting experience for

us and learnt a lot of geogra-

phy!

Seong Jae and Eddie

Geography students all undertook ele-

ments of fieldwork upon the trip which in-

cluded some rather wet river studies

“Unfortunately, the

weather was quite bad; the

sky was filled with dark

clouds and temperature

was very low. “

Demonstrating International Mindedness.

Being Adventurous

Through Mountain

Biking.

Page 6 The RISS Annual IDEALS Journal.

We met each other at Tan Son

Nhat airport and Mr. Charlie

gave us the IDEALS booklets.

Then we took the morning

flight to Chiang Rai Interna-

tional Airport (CEI). Later, we

went on the vans to our resort.

We were very tired but the at-

mosphere at the Maekok Ai

River resort impressed us. Liv-

ing there was fantastic because

we had a chance to meet not

only Western people but also

Thai people. We got on well

and shared everything with

them. We realized that they

were so friendly and helpful.

We studied some Thai words,

for examples:” Sawadee Kaa”

(hello) and “Kob Kun Man”

(thank you). Thai food was very

tasty, and somewhat similar

to Vietnamese food. However,

some of them are more spicy

and salty. We mostly ate rice,

curry, soup like Vietnamese

food.

During the trip, we met the

resort staff who are from vari-

ous nationalities and we joined

the activities with them like

stick games, Olympic games

and basketball. Also, the Bam-

boo club where we bought ice

creams and beverages was im-

pressive with its decoration.

The days at the resort were

unforgettable.

The last day of the trip, we vis-

ited the temples. Thai temples

are very luxurious and beauti-

ful. The buildings were elabo-

rately constructed. We spent a

wonderful time there to learn

more about Thai civilians’ be-

liefs in their religion and enjoy

the clear atmosphere. We also

took lots of photos with our

friends and teachers.

Lisa and Uyen

We arrived at the meeting

place to decide which group go

biking or enjoy team work ac-

tivities because there are not

enough bikes for all of us.

Luckily I’m in the first group

which went for mountain bik-

ing. The instructors let us

choose our bikes and we were

ready to rock!. Because of the

bad weather we had to wear

rain coat and many shirts.

They rent a taxi which guided

us during the trip.. I really

enjoy the sightseeing on the

road and understand more

about the life of the local peo-

ple. It is really cold and mud-

dy so not everyone could easi-

ly pass through.

The further we went into the

countryside the more mud on

road cause of heavy rain.

It had many potholes on the

road so it hurt us when we

went over it. The instructors

wanted us to be safe so they

made us go in one line in a

constant speed. I and my

friend had a race that was re-

ally fun and there were many

trucks so we aren’t going fast

as much as we could. We are

arrived back at the same time

in the resort.

I learnt loads of things

through the activity; we learnt

how to overcome the challeng-

es and teamwork.

Khoa

Through team building ac-

tivities, students bonded

with others from different

cultures and backgrounds.

Providing Service and Developing

Compassion.

The Environment—How Healthy Is It?

Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 7

We had some field work for both

Biology and Geography classes.

We had to go to the three loca-

tions. At the first location, we had

to clam up the mountain because

it’s the top, where the river start-

ed and we were looking for crea-

tures which live in the fresh wa-

ter. Then, we continued going to

the second location which was

further down the river’s course

and we stopped to have our

lunch. We also found some crea-

tures which were found at this

location, because the water here

still quite clean. After that, we

went towards the third location.

Here, it was very dirty and

smelly. We went back to the

camp and had a shower because

we were all got wet (it rained all

day long). We had dinner and

congregated at the gym for

games to finish the day.

Phuong and Vu

Recording biodiversity in

different river locations.

On the last day, we visited a local

Thai school nearby the centre.

It’s a orphanage school. Before we

went to the orphanage, we decid-

ed what will we do with them. We

were able to use materials such

as hoops, balls , etc inside the

centre. We had about 5 or 4

groups of 3 to 4 people. The su-

pervisors helped us communicate

with them since we don’t speak

Thai and they were very friendly.

Some of us played basketball,

some decided to play Kore-

an/Vietnamese traditional games.

Even though it was hard to trans-

late from English to Thai (there

were only two translators) we

were happy to play games with

them. Also, we were proud of our-

selves by helping young people

who need love and care from the

others. We learnt about the need

of these services which is about

looking after the weak and poor.

We believe that this experience

was the most fun activity of the

school trip. We hope that we have

a chance to meet them again

soon.

Ye Lim and Sony

Service for others exemplified through our orphanage visit is an

area where the school is looking to progress.

“We believe that this

experience was the

most fun activity of

the school trip. “

Also, there were three beds in

each side but because only four

students stayed in a room, two

beds were left. Every night dur-

ing the Thailand trip, we came

together at the room and chat-

ted into the night. It was really

interesting and we could be-

came more friendly with each

other. Accordingly, we could

share our room with Vietnam-

ese and Korean students and it

was really interesting and made

us more internationally aware.

Many boys were playing the

basketball at night. There was

a gym in the resort. Also there

were lots of things what we

could play such as archery and

playing basketball. There

was a confidence course and

one night during the Thai-

land trip, we did it. Before

The resort which we stayed was

the Maekok river Village resort

in Thailand. At first, since it

was too rural, we did not expect

a lot. But when we arrived at

there, we were pleased . The

restaurant was separated with

the resort and it was also good

and the food was delicious. We

stayed four nights at the resort

.There was a room which we

heard about biology and geogra-

phy activities, and a table ten-

nis room which we could play

the tennis table whenever we

wanted to do. So Every night,

we went to the table tennis

room and played.

Where I and my mates slept

and took a rest were comforta-

ble and nice rooms. There were

two bathrooms so we could use

them without inconvenience.

doing that, we were scared

about it, However, after doing

that, we gained confidence. And

we gathered at the gym before

going somewhere and listened

about the activity. When we

could not do anything due to

the weather, we played in the

gym. There was a swimming

pool in front of the gym. Alt-

hough we could not play at

there, we could always see it

while we were passing it.

There was a net in the swim-

ming pool. I think that was for

some games which could play in

the water.

Jeong Eon

What Is It Like On A Residential?

Leadership And Responding To Pressure. We think the trekking was the

most difficult but most memo-

rable part of our trip. Even

though I’ve hiked several

mountains, it was not compa-

rable to the one we’ve experi-

enced before. The weather

when we were trekking was

extremely bad as it rained all

day. The trekking route was

very challenging. The pathway

was so narrow and rocky that

just one person could go pass

and the road was slippery and

muddy because of the rain. We

saw several people slipping

down including me during the

trek. Our trainers got so wet

and our hands were shaking

due to rainy and cold condition.

We were glad that we wore wa-

terproof rain coats and trou-

sers. At the end of the trek, we

were glad that there has some-

where warming warm to go

and we didn’t freeze like ani-

mals during the ice age! While

we were trekking we was just

thinking about the finishing

point and anything to keep us

warm. The finishing point

made us very happy!

Won Hyuk and Jung Hoon

“We think the trekking was

the most difficult but most

memorable part of our trip.”

From Mr. Charlie…. I would finally like to say how pleased I was to attend this

trip and work with everyone involved. This is a premier trip

and a fantastic experience for all the students involved to de-

velop the IDEALS. Long may this trip continue on an annual

basis for all future Year 10s.