eagle's eye dec 2011

Eagle’s Eye December 20111

Drama Club puts on perfor-mance at new Performing Arts Centre

You can stand under . . 7Annual Fund surpasses goal of rm105,000!

December 2011

The Blinding Spotlight . . 8Middle School Honor Band performs in Jakarta

What’s Inside:I Came, I Sawed (?) . . . 5

Dalat International School, Tanjung Bunga, 11200 Penang, Malaysia

Digging Down DeepBy Danae Frentz

Eagle’s Asia Tour By Nathan Peace

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On 11.11.11 students and staff pause to remember the sacrifices given for freedom by veterans

Humble Remembrance . 13

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For the first time ever in the history of the school, 14 sporty starlets, accompanied by their coach Mr. Jason Hall and chap-erone Aunt Valerie Weidemann, received the opportunity to represent God and Dalat at the 2011 Cutts Cup Showcase tour-nament in Manila, Philippines. All the sweat, tears, time, and dedication from the season’s practices came to a climax as the whistle blew, signaling the kickoff for the championship match. Having sustained numer-ous minor setbacks throughout the entire tournament, the var-sity girls’ football team banded together, leaning on each other in order to win their games. Rebekah Wiesner (12) re-ported, “Despite all of our inju-ries, we still pulled through and fought until the end.” Football matches and tourna-ments drain athletes of physical energy; however, strong minds and passionate hearts unite for collective victory.

Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of this excursion fell on the team’s keeper, Katie Stevens (12). Born in Manila and a former student at Faith Acad-emy, Stevens’s two worlds and homes collided. “At first, I was scared because I know a lot of girls at Faith, and I thought they would jump on all my mistakes,” said Stevens about her home-coming. But after shutting out all shots in the first two games of the tournament, these fears quickly dissipated. Stevens soon became known as the tourna-ment’s best goalkeeper.

The Lady Eagles asserted their dominance on the field and went into their last day of games with two wins and no losses.

In the midst of the blaz-ing sun, the pouring sweat, and the flowing water, girls from all teams found it hard to stay hy-dra ted. In spite of this, the team mem-bers put on their game faces for the first showdown against the home team, Faith Academy.

Knowing that the outcome of the morning’s match would have no effect on their slot in the afternoon’s championship game, the girls played smart, saving their energy and inten-sity, and securing focus for the final.With the blaring clamor

from the stands, Dalat and Faith took the stage, fac-

ing off yet again in the gold medal match. After a scoreless first

half, the players each tried their hand at jump-starting the

The 16 high school boys and two coaches who make up Da-lat’s varsity boys’ football team crowded around the bus as it pulled up in front of the school gate. They threw their bags into the luggage compartment and clambered onto the bus that would take them to the airport. In a few hours, they would board the Cathay Pacific flight to Tai-wan that would make up Dalat’s first international football trip.

Although excited, these foot-ballers had awakened hours earlier than they would have for school. Exclamations like “Why am I awake?” and “It’s not even light yet!” expressed the students’ feelings towards early morning flights. Although tired, and despite the fact that the

sun had not yet risen, the team talked excitedly. “I can’t wait till we get to Taiwan so that we can try the legendary Taiwanese bubble tea!” exclaimed Joseph Kim (12).

As Kim and Eun Hyo Chang (10) discussed bubble tea, others talked over how well they would do in the Five Nations Cup they had trained for all season. The young team had never played any of the other schools in the tournament and did not know how they would stack up. They would soon find out.

After arriving at Morrison Academy in Taichung, Taiwan, on the evening of Tuesday, 25 October, and playing two 70-minute games on Wednesday,

Eagle’s Eye Staff

Note: This copy of the school paper has been written by the students in the regular English 12 class.

Writers: Nicole Cheah, Casey Chen, Dino Chiu, Jim Choi, Xher Rael Choo, Juliet De-Vette, Dylan Frans, Danae Frentz, Andy Goh, Nathan Guthrie, Jeffrey Hsiao, Sar-ah Hwang, Christina Kim, Joseph Kim, Sarah Law-rence, Marco Lee, Sarah Lim, Yu-Ting Lin, Dwayne Lourdes, Nicole Mauger, Jo-seph Merusi, Ji Hun Moon, Chan Hee Park, Christian Park, Jennifer Park, Nathan Peace, Yee Pei Png, Hung Ching Song, Katie Stevens, Jasmine Stoltzfus, Charissa Tan, David Toh, Benjamin Unruh, Sarah Uzzle, Re-bekah Wiesner, Roc Wu, Adrian Yeap, Samuel Yeo

Adviser: Mr. David Stengele


Girls’ Manila Football...

(Continued from page 1, col. 4)team. “Who wants it more?” cried Wiesner with urgency in her voice as the girls searched desperately for a goal to take the lead. With shots whizzing to and fro, both keepers had their work cut out for them. Emma Chinn (10) stealthily attacked Faith’s 18-yard box, along with fellow striker Charlotte Scherf (9), yet neither could bring down the hammer. Dalat and Faith alike had su-perb scoring chances, but could not quite capitalize on them. A loud shrill from the referee signaled the end of the second half, once again scoreless. This became the phrase also coined

for both periods of extra time. The game’s convincing finish could only come from a last resort. The infamous deadly shoot-out remained the final obstacle to face.

Faith’s first player missed the target completely; Dalat an-swered with an opening goal of their own. The next two kickers found the back of the net. After rounds three and four, Dalat led three goals to two.

Faith’s fifth and final kicker had to face Dalat’s fearless keeper. Stevens stepped into goal, her heart pounding. As Faith’s kick flew, she sailed through the air and punched the ball safely clear of the goal. Faith’s last hope had failed.

Great cheering and excite-

ment followed this stupendous save, as the Eagles rushed to celebrate their deserved victory with the hero of the hour.

Both of the team’s coaches expressed immense satisfaction with the outcome of the season. “It is not often that a sports team gets to ends its season with a win, much less a tournament win. This team did just that, showing ourselves and others how all the hard work had paid off,” said Mr. Hall.

Coach Steve Liss followed suit, “I wish I could have been there; I’m proud of my girls.”

The final remaining chal-lenge of the season centered on bringing the trophy home safely and in one piece, but this team accomplished just that. •

Football in Taiwan...

(Continued from page 1, col. 4)the team tiredly fell into bed. They had lost 2-1 to Morrison Academy and faced Chiang Mai International School only a couple of hours later. After gaining a 2-1 lead at the end of the first half, the Dalat boys felt confident that they could finish the game with a win. CMIS, how-ever, came out strong in the second half, putting one in early in the half and then stunning Dalat with 4 goals in the last 10 minutes to win the game 6-2.

Although disappointed by the outcome of the previous night’s game, the team woke up ready to go Thursday morn-ing. They split up into groups for service projects at orphan-ages, old folk’s homes, and a

school for the blind. After spending the morning

helping at the different schools and homes, Dalat prepared for their third game of the tourna-ment. Albeit close, Faith Acad-emy won the game 2-0.

On Friday morning, Dalat faced Hong Kong International Christian School. After a long game, Hong Kong came out on top with a

2-1 win. Later that night Dalat

stepped up their game and tied 1-1 with Grace International School, who would go on to win first in the tournament. “Coming off of the pitch, I was happy with our 1-1 draw. We played really hard and Jordan’s [Strong, 12] goal was very well placed. It was great to be the only team that had scored on Grace,” said Sam Eckman (11).

Proud of their draw, Chang, Kim, Ben Unruh (12), Dylan Frans (12) and Wesley Ku (11) went out to celebrate at their favorite local restaurant.

“The Chinese Restaurant,” as the players had jok-ingly dubbed it because of its completely Chinese menu, served dishes such as steamed fish, tofu and de-licious chicken with unlimited r i ce . Chang called the res-taurant his “favorite part of the trip,” but Unruh praised it as “cheap and exotic.”

After stuffing themselves with the bottomless rice and delicious dishes, they headed over to “Crazy Sues” for a cup of leg-

endary Taiwanese bubble tea. “It was amazing and addicting; much better than Penang’s. Definitely an eye-opening ex-perience,” said Frans about the delicious drink.

Dalat still had one more game to play. The team’s f inal

match of the s e a s o n ,

for f i f th p l a c e , p i t t e d

t h e m against Hong Kong. Da-lat played well, tak-ing fifth

place with a re-markable 6-1 win. “The tournament provided us a great opportunity to improve our playing skills,” said Nathan Unruh (10), “and I think that showed through the result of our final game.”

After spending so much time together, the team had grown much closer. Rick Brake (10) said, “Taiwan was a fantastic opportunity for me to get to know the other soccer players because we were with each other twenty-four seven for an entire week.”

Lucas Martens (11) summed up the team’s experience by saying, “Playing in another country against schools we’ve never faced before really helped us bond together as a team. I think that our play style reflected that.”

As the bus pulled up in front of Dalat’s gate, the 16 high school boys and the two coaches jumped off ready to tell their friends and family all about their trip to Taiwan. •

Triple 11 Lock-Down! By Dino Chiu

“Dude! Stop pushing!” yelled Joel Shafer as he got ganged up by five buck-buck boys. Joy and laughter filled the tiny chapel as the seniors enjoyed their slumber party at the 11-11-11 senior lock-in. In night clothes and paja-mas, the class of 2012 released their frustration and stress from college applications, SATs, and schoolwork, going way out and losing control.

The night of the slumber party started with crazy and fun games as the class divided into groups and competed in mini-games. As the games went on,

the competition grew tougher and more furious due to the competitive, hot-blooded nature of seniors. Among the games, “one leg bumper cars” brought the most joy. The chapel echoed with sounds of stomping feet as everyone hopped around on one leg trying to push others to the ground.

After several hours, deep in the darkest hour of midnight, chaos occurred: the lights went out. All eyes stared at the screen as it showed a mysterious hood-ed figure with a tied up David Toh. The lights came back on,

and senior class president, Da-nae Frentz, lying lifelessly on the stage. Now who could have done such a terrible thing?

“Not me! I went to finish a conversation,” said Jasmine Stoltzfus.

“Not me! I went to hit the light,” said Joseph Kim.

“Not me! I went to take a picture,” said Winnie Tan.

The next three hours be-came a game of questions and answers as everyone bombarded Stoltzfus and Tan with ques-tions concerning the “murder.” After countless accusations and

arguments, the seniors finally discovered the truth: Stoltzfus, sick and jealous of having Frentz as the class president, planned to bribe the sponsors, known for their thirst for money, to vote for her as the new president. Together with Tan, they kid-napped the treasurer, Toh, and stole all the money they needed. Fortunately, Frentz discovered the plot and set off to rescue Toh. Unfortunately, she got killed before she had a chance to help. Luckily, she resur-rected unharmed, and everyone forgave and forgot, ending this murder puzzle game.

At the end, after the buck-buck war, and the crime, all the (Continued on page 3, col. 1)


Lock-down...

(Continued from page 2, col. 4)seniors along with their spon-sors lay down on mattresses and blankets and watched two mov-ies before finally going to sleep. Despite the hard floor and the rough carpets, the seniors had one of the best sleeps in their lives as they took this chance to bond with each other. In the middle of the night, the tiny chapel filled up with big dreams and sweet memories. •

Leprechauns Seeking Their RevengeBy Yu-Ting Lin

“Save your energy for your events, leprechauns!” Mr. Jason Hall exclaimed in the noisy bus on the way to City Stadium. On 24 November, Dalat students, each in assigned team colors, competed against one another in various track and field events. The clear sky suggested a great day for a wide range of activities, but the furious sun created a sizzling and torturous atmo-sphere.

“The blazing sun re-ally burned me throughout the day; I had to constantly hydrate myself so that I wouldn’t suffer from a heatstroke,” Shawn Kim (10) stated. Nevertheless, students rushed to their first events, eager to participate in competition and eager to win.

As students competed fierce-

ly with each other, many others found themselves socializing with their friends and team-mates. Christina Kim (8) said, “I had a really nice time because I got to hang out with my friends; it was exciting and fun to cheer

my classmates on as they proceeded to win rac-es and events.”

As the day pro-gressed, the computer

screens showed the points each athlete had won for their team. Win-ners received ribbons if

they placed in the top four of the events they participated in. Dwayne Lourdes (12), hav-ing won several ribbons from a variety of track and field events, exclaimed, “Wow! Everybody here is competitive! It really is

tough having to compete with all these talented athletes!”

Asked about what improve-ments students wanted to see in the future, Joy Kim (10) en-thusiastically said, “I really wish that they didn’t cancel the final 200 meters race. I was just get-ting excited to watch my dorm brothers run in that race!”

One of the competitors of the final 200 meters race, Chan Hee Park (12), nodded in approval as he said, “I was disappointed that the race was cancelled.”

As the day closed down, a group of angels suddenly flew onto the track. “Sam Yeo, you’re the best man I know…” Juliet DeVette (12) and her group of angels sang as the crowd stared at a dumbfounded Yeo (12), who stood on the bleachers. As Yeo

walked down the stairs, DeVette walked up to him and asked him to the upcoming Christmas Banquet, an event hosted by Dalat’s StuCo. On the way back, Yeo blushed as he admitted, “The highlight of this day was definitely my CB asking. In fact, I will even admit that it was one of the most fantastic moments in my life!”

The day ended with red team in the lead, and green team, last; but the smiles on everybody’s faces revealed the fact that they definitely had had a great time. Amanda Leech (11) reflected on the day and said, “It was a great opportunity to hang out with my friends and work together with as team. Even though we are last, we are all winners.”

On the way back, Mr. Hall encouraged his green team, “Leprechauns, we will have our revenge next year.” Sev-eral students smiled as they fell asleep, exhausted from the eventful day. •

Where to Eat? So Hungry, Lah! By Adrian Yeap

The seniors looked forward to the sweet knell of their respec-tive lunch bells each day so that they could relax, take a break and go out to get some food outside school. “The opportunity to indulge in lunch outside of campus has truly expanded my cultural ho-rizon, allowing my taste buds to experience cuisine of infi-nite variety and diversity,” de-clared Christian Park with a confident tone. The wondrous food that Pen-ang offers exhibits uniqueness and satisfaction. The seniors def-

initely savor the Hillside chicken rice, chicken meat roasted to perfection on top of a warm bowl of rice with a few slices of fresh cucumbers, accompanied with a spicy, lemony chili sauce. Dwayne Lourdes just can’t get

enough of the food; he sa id , “It’s tasty b u t e x -pens ive ! M o r e , m o r e , more!”

Joseph Kim mentioned, “I have waited 12 years to go out to eat! Watch-ing the previous seniors eating economy rice and chicken rice in the canteen during lunch was so atrocious because I had to eat school lunch. Though once jealous, now I feel more special with the privilege I have over other classmen.”

Every day when the bell rang, the seniors asked each other where they would like to go for lunch; some walked to the nearby restaurants to have lunch such as the Fu Wang restaurant, Hillside Cafe or SAB. Some stu-dents who have cars carpooled to a restaurant and had a nice meal, then drove back to school before the bell rang. “Senior lunch gives me hope

to get out of bed every morning. I can’t find a word to describe the complex beauty of going out for senior lunch,” rendered Chan Hee Park.

Seniors would sometimes drive down to Tesco to get some McDonald’s or KFC or some-times even get some economy rice. Chi Yuan Lo often got take-away economy rice to eat behind the StuCo counter while doing his job at the same time. Lo said, “Economy rice every day is awesome,” he said.

Seniors who didn’t want to go out just asked their fel-low peers to bring back food for them and then enjoy their repast in the student center,

sharing jokes and laughing together.

Senior lunch and the oppor-tunity to go out for 45 minutes lets the seniors savor their lunch with their fellow classmates. “Senior lunch defines my senior year,” said Jeffrey Hsiao.

“I really love the freedom of being able to go out for lunch; there are so many more choices out there to choose from,” said Sarah Lim.

Some seniors dined at the Seaside Café on campus. Marco Lee stated, “The Seaside Café, as its name implies, is located by the beautiful, panoramic beach of Penang island, and its variety of food probably gives the stu-dents a whole new sensation of eating experience.”

Now, every lunch bell thrills the seniors as never before! •

After-School Hangoversby Katie Stevens

Rinnnggg!! The rush of students filled the empty hallways as they attempted to leave the class-rooms, ready for the school day to end. “Hey, Sam [McIntyre, 10]! What homework do we have?” Reese Terry (10) yelled over the loud bangs of lockers opening and closing as students talked about the day. School fin-ishing for the day gave a sense of

laughter to the campus, allowing students to relax.

After school, a group of seniors—Joel Kirk , Winnie Tan, Sarah Uzzle, Nathan Guthrie, and Dylan Frans—stood beside the clock tower talking and laughing about their day before four o’clock rolled by, making them leave for their extracur-(Continued on page 4, col. 1)


After-School Hangovers...

(Continued from page 3, col. 4)ricular activities. But after school activities didn’t affect only these seniors; Tim Phan (9) said, “I love it when I have basketball practice; it fills my time in the afternoons.”

Freshmen and sophomores migrated to the Student Center after school to catch up on life and hang out. Matthew Law-rence (10) and Anita Nordenso (10) went there in their free time to catch up on homework that could lead them to work late hours. “I enjoy working after school with friends. It seems to be the only enjoyable time to do homework. If there is no one around, then I will usually go home,” Lawrence expressed.

A majority of students en-joyed spending their time af-ter school talking outside with others while middle schoolers played on the basketball court. Christian Park (12) told Nicole Mauger (12), while she ate a

chocolate bar, and Charissa Tan (12), doing homework, that he liked to spend his afternoons slapping tiger balm on his leg, doing a back flip, while lighting candles when he doesn’t have basketball practice to attend. David Toh (12), on the other hand, enjoyed throwing a Fris-bee across the field to Hung Ching Song (12). “It is good to live an active and healthy social life,” Toh remarked, then added, “which I learned from Health class.”

The students loved to spend their afternoons on campus whether it involved sports, dra-ma, or hanging out with friends. They relaxed before going home to face the pile of work that awaited on their desks. “I love hanging out with friends after school, because going home is almost dreadful sometimes since it means that I have to do homework. Sometimes I wish that the 5:30 bell would never ring,” groaned Hannah Graves (8) before heading home. •

A Bolt Out of the Blue Strikes TrioBy Sarah Hwang

Magnificent illumination re-flected majestically off silver and gold keys of winds, sweet and joyful whisperings that touched body and soul, and the thrilling suspense before and throughout the performance gave the three selected high school musicians a

passionate longing for the most unforgettable and breathtaking music event of the year, the Southeast Asian Honor Band Festival in Bangkok, Thailand.

But as the flood situation in Bangkok grew more serious, the high-pitched chatter, animated expressions of excitement, and faces glowing with unceasing happiness when talking about the band trip started to fade away. Finally, the fatal news

from Mr. Thomas P. Myers, the band director at the International School Bangkok, cast gloomy shadows completely over the hopeful faces of the trio. He wrote: “I was hoping not to have to send this message, but it is now time to do so. The

flood situation in Bangkok is now an emer-gency situa-tion. We are in one of the p r o v i n c e s (Nonthaburi) that has been affected by the flooding…So the South Eas t As ian Honor Band e v e n t f o r

2011 is officially cancelled.” This came as a harsh blow to the three Honor Band students who had waited longingly to share the same passion and to make music on 6 November with other musicians from different schools in Southeast Asia.

This heartbreaking news not only crushed a whole year’s worth of dreamy talks and eager fantasies of an exotic and valu-able learning experience, but it

also troubled Emily Brokaw (12), one of the Honor Band students. Expressing her grief, she said, “The SEA Honor Bands have offered incredible learning ex-periences these past two years, so naturally I looked forward to another such experience. After hearing that the 2011 trip was cancelled, I was more concerned for those living in Bangkok than those missing the trip.”

The flood situation did seem severe, for Mr. Myers gravely noted, “…for the next couple of days, the Chao Phraya River will overflow its flood walls; and the impact will be massive on so many people and residences and businesses, as it already has been and continues to be in commu-nities to the north of Bangkok. Someone described the flood as a ‘slow moving tsunami,’ and from all reports that is what is happening.”

This slow-moving tsuna-mi gulped down the time and energy the trio had put into

their preparations for the festival ravenously and mercilessly. The disappointment and despair felt as a result of this unfortunate disaster did not, however, seem to linger for long. As one of the musicians, Xiao Leen Siow (11) said, “A couple of people told me that the flood situation in Bangkok was serious, but I still had hoped that we could go. I was so sad on the day I found out it was cancelled, but later in the week I was thankful because I had so many things due that week!”

The three selected Dalat school musicians put away their dismay, just as they had done with their Honor Band music pieces. While the majestically re-flected illumination, sweet whis-perings, and thrill flooded away violently under the furious sky of Thailand, the ordinary lives of the trio continued on with the sound of the school bell rending the brilliant blue sky, thankful for the warm sizzling sunlight. •

http://thaivisual.com/some-latest-photos-of-bangkok-floods-2011/&docid=2Pj8-0tTdsQYlM&imgurl

Hip-Hop & OrigamiBy Jasmine Stoltzfus

The weather forecast for Thurs-day, 17 November, predicted sunshine and humidity—as it does almost every other day here on this tropical island. But third and fourth graders knew well that this day differed from just any other day. Today, in the span of four hours, they wou ld hone their ho r s e shoe -tossing skills, learn how to “pop” and “lock it,” and develop a new friendship with a student from the Penang Japanese School (PJS).

At 8:30 a.m, Mrs. Karen Sasse, decked out in full cowgirl getup with braids and a cowboy hat, led a group of 24 third and fourth graders from both schools in a few rounds of rodeo games with Mrs. Hawk’s help. Meanwhile, 24 other students learned hip-hop dance moves from Ms. Jodi

Petrie in the student center. At the same time, Mrs. Marsha Yost took another 24 to New York—by way of Google Earth. In Room 4, the students spent a day as California rock stars with Mrs. Christina Orr and decorated and posed for their

very own photo shoots with the renowned photographer Mr. Jonathan Steffen.

For the last five years, third and fourth grade Dalat

students have partnered up with students from PJS in a

day of new friendships, new cultural experiences, and fun as they visit each other’s

schools. Each year, teachers match up each Dalat student with a new buddy from PJS, and they spend the day show-ing their new friend around

and getting to know him. Each wore a name tag and carried his very own personalized “pass-port” which he had stamped at each station.

According to Ms. Petrie, the highlights of the day for the(Continued on page 5, col. 1)


I Came, I Sawed Some Concrete

Japanese School Exchange...

(Continued from page 4, col. 4)students included posing with their stars and “cha-cha-ing” along to the “Cha-Cha Slide,” and the hotdogs Mr. Jonas Hawk and Mr. Eddie and Mrs. Becky Jenkins prepared for snack time. Other Dalat staff, including Mrs. Lydia Roberts, Mrs. Heather Fis-cher, Mr. Brandon Orr, and Mrs. Akiko Stengele contributed their time and talents to making the event a success.

The day ended at the out-door basketball court around 12:30 p.m. with the students from PJS performing a Japa-nese song and a martial arts routine. They then passed out

origami creations to their new Dalat friends before heading over to the amphitheater to take a group picture.

Sophia Stoltzfus (3) expressed her appreciation for the effort her partner put into the event, saying, “I know it must have been hard to speak English the whole time, and they must have spent a lot of time working on it.”

At 12:45 p.m., all the students said good-bye and prepared to head back to the rest of the normal class day for the third and fourth graders. How the teachers managed to keep their attention for the rest of the day after the students had seen them in pigtails and “breakin’ it down” remains a mystery. •

I Came, I Sawed Some ConcreteBy Nathan Guthrie

Opening night of the perfor-mance of Romans on the Couch took place on 18 No-vember in the Dalat chapel. The creativity of the student writers projected through each line delivered from the talents of the actors. Everything played out smoothly, and the whole cast performed well despite the excitement and nervousness in the air. The audience walked away truly entertained. Sarah Lim (12) summed up the night very well by saying, “I thought that the perspective of the play was interesting and out of the ordinary. I really liked how some of the characters were sit-ting in the audience, too.”

Tuesday, 22 November, presented the interactive per-formance where some of the audience members had the op-portunity to participate in the drama; they performed on Stage 2 of the new Penang Perform-ing Arts Centre at Straits Quay. This added a hilarious aspect to an already engaging dialogue. Nicole Mauger (12) stated, “I absolutely loved the interac-tive play. I laughed whenever people went up to help. The actors worked really well with the audience. It really showed their skill, but it also helped that the audience was so willing. I laughed so hard to see all the crazy humor in the play. I loved the whole thing!”

The final performance also took place at the new Pen-ang Performing Arts Centre at Straits Quay; however, closing

night the actors had the unique opportunity to display their talents on Stage 1, with its old theatre feel in a state-of-the-art atmosphere. Every inspiring actor dreams of performing in front of a full house of over 300 people in a breathtak-ingly structured hall. The three perfor-mances offered a smashing w e e k o f entertain-ment for e v e r y -one i n a t t e n -dance.

R o -m a n s o n the Couch, a play done in two acts, por-trayed a direc-tor played by Keegan Ladner (12), who tried to put his mag-nificent play into action, only to find himself blatantly interrupted by several wild and unruly char-acters, Wilbert and Netty (Na-than Danneker (12) and Emily Brokaw, 12). This young couple erupted into a lovers’ spat while seated in the audience. All of these events conspired to help bring attention to Dr. Jill (Abigail Brake, 12) in order that she not lose her beloved TV show. As Brake conducted a therapy session on the Roman’s couch, Ladner, barely holding it together, tried desperately to convince the couple that they

should leave the stage so that his show could go on!

As the Roman soldiers Anita Nordenso (10), Shawn Kim (10), and Nathan Guthrie (12), tried to intervene and give some control to the situation, the events that followed grew even more wild and out of control as two new

characters, Kate Sun (10) and Benjamin Unruh (12), entered the theatre hall during the middle of the first act, believing they

had arrived in time to see the beginning of the play. They do, however, encounter Brake trying to implement her counseling expertise on them. Danneker and Brokaw exit back stage to work through their issues concerning another woman. Brake stumbled upon some information that could lead to disaster when Sun introduced herself to her talk show hero, re-vealing that she stood as the same girl that started the lovers’ spat between Danneker and Brokaw.

In the meantime, the direc-tor all but hyperventilates as he

struggles to gain control of his actors and bring some order to the stage. The constant inter-ruptions of Dr. Wilkerson, Dr. Foolhardy, and Dr. Harrison, played by Joseph Kim (12), Joseph Merusi (12), and Joshua Graves (10), greatly intensified the play. Everyone received hugs from a reformed Caesar, played by Kirk Ladner (9), as his char-acter gains some much needed compassion. Also the two stage hands, played by Tesa Sasse (9) and Jessie Brandon (9), brought some interesting situations by dragging people off stage and bringing the infamous couch on and off stage.

Ultimately the show does go on, just not as the director had intended. Brake’s scheme of orchestrating the lovers’ spat in order to gain public notoriety for her counseling skills reveals itself and eventually uncovers the truth. Hearts begin to heal as each of the characters works through his or her inner struggles to find peace that had escaped them due to fighting their own personal inhibitions.

Romans on the Couch took its audience on an emotional journey that ended with the sat-isfaction of everything becoming right in the world again. •

Chapters from ChaosBy Sarah Uzzle

Chaos: a state of complete disorder and confusion. Life feels like chaos some-times, especially when multiple teachers assign papers, projects, and tests all in the same week. Absolute chaos. Students feel hassled and stressed. When the bell rings every Monday afternoon, releasing students to their X-block classes, six of these stressed students make their way to Mr. David Stengele’s classroom. A problem weighs heavily on these students’ minds, along with the usual chaos of their school week: How on earth will they convince more people to send in submissions for Dalat’s own literary magazine? Yes, the X-block these students attend involves creating and editing A Collection of Adequate Poems and Short stories Thrown Into A Magazine, also known as ACAPSTIAM: Chapters from Chaos.

The struggle these students ran into while attempting to find a suitable name for the literary

magazine turned into a bit of a tug-of-war.

Jackie Ashkin (10), eager to come to a conclusion, proposed, “Let’s just name it ‘Dragon’s Breath!’”

“No! We should name it ‘Shakespeare’s Bald Spot!’” Jordan Strong (12) argued, only half joking.

Days of endless debate amongst the students finally concluded with the decision of letting people outside the class send in ideas for the name of the literary magazine. The downside to their brilliant scheme? Few people sent in ideas. Only after Mr. Stengele offered five free freezies to whoever could send in the best name for the liter-ary magazine did suggestions begin to trickle in more quickly. But about three more X-blocks passed before the student editors of the literary magazine success-fully selected an adequate name: they picked ACAPSTIAM: Chapters from Chaos, an ac-ronym derived from one of Karl (Continued on page 6, col. 1)


ACAPSTIAM ...

(Continued from page 5, col. 4)Reeves’s (12) myriad suggestions for a title. The student editors added the tag-line in order to illustrate what writing feels like sometimes—chaos.

If student editors had this much trouble just coming up w i t h a s u i t a b l e name for the magazine, imagine the dif-ficulty they had convincing other students to submit their own literary works. At that time, ACAP-STIAM had only 22 sub-missions to its name. The student editors once again found themselves in a struggle.

In response to this bind, the students in the class sent in their own submissions multiple times. Six students, however, can only do so much. In order to gain more attention for the literary magazine, Ashkin designed hu-

morous digital banners, one of which played on Strong’s great admiration for the actress Emma Watson.

But most people mistook this banner as a promotion for the upcoming Christmas Banquet. After this attempt to gather more submissions for the magazine, only one or two more people sent in their work; and the class decided to re-evaluate their means of

persuasion.Because of the

low response, the publication had to be postponed ti l l second se-mester. But until then, the editors work hard to cre-

ate more literary pieces, as well as new and clever ways to attract more submissions from people outside the class. Any articles received bring the first edition of ACAPSTIAM: Chapters from Chaos a little bit closer to completion and a little farther away from falling into total chaos. •

Colliding for His Name By Sarah Lim

The afternoon sweltered in the heat and the campus lay still. The school bell rang, its lyrical resonance echoing through the empty hallways, signaling the end of the school day. As students fi led out of classrooms filling up the hall-ways, conversations picked up; and soon, the long corridors throbbed with loud chatter. As the students trudged past the high school bulletin board, a tangerine poster fell to the ground, crumpling into a pile on the floor. “Well, there goes our Collide poster,” sighed Rebekah Wiesner (12) as she walked up to the now trampled sheet of paper with the words “Collide, 6:30–7:30 in the Student Center on Wednesdays” plas-tered across the poster plain as day; “guess we’ll have to make another one.”A student-led organization, Col-lide, began last year as the con-ception of three girls, Bethany Weidemann, Khalie Mahoney, and Beth Nguyen (Class of 2011). Searching to create an atmosphere where ordinary students could come together

and share a love of God and grow together in the company of friends without the pressure of having a teacher listening in, the girls formed Collide, a place where high school students would feel secure. At the beginning of the se-mester, Wiesner, along with two other seniors Sarah Lawrence and Sarah Lim, stepped up to the plate and signed up as the new Collide Executive Committee, taking up the reigns of last year’s seniors to keep this new tradition alive. Having attend-ed several Collide “sessions” last year, Wiesner helped ex-plain the basic concept of the group: “I really decided to join Collide this year because I think it’s a good idea for kids in high school to be able to meet together—without the influences of school and teachers around them—and also just to discuss issues relevant to their lives, pray for each other, and fellowship away from schoolwork.”

A typical Collide night con-sists of music, great food, shar-ing, games, and sheer fun. As the weeks progressed, word about Collide spread throughout the school and more people started to attend, although most nights seniors dominated. Regulars to the group like Roc Wu (12), Ben Un-

ruh (12), and Jordan Strong (12) never failed to show up

at the weekly meeting, at-tending for

the company of others or for the amaz-ing food that makes i t s appearance

some Wednes-day nights. Nathan Guthrie (12), also a frequent visitor to Collide, said, “I think Collide is a great place for students to get together and congregate while discuss-ing our faith and just getting to

know God better together. I really enjoy the time getting to learn more about Him with my friends.” David Toh (12) joked, “My favorite part of Collide probably has to be the banana bread. Oh, I like the sharing too.” But no matter what the rea-sons for showing up, this group of students always brought life to the gatherings; from insane games like Buck Buck to just enjoying the companionship and the serenity of basking in God’s presence, Collide always created smiles on the faces of many. The night ended in prayer, the pulsating ring of the school bell in the background breaking the serenity. The group got up and replaced chairs in their original positions, cleaning up the mess as they went. As the students filed out of the student center, the three leaders thanked them for their presence and sent the group off with warm wishes. Lawrence, the last one out, turned the lights off and took one last glance at the now empty room. She smiled and then shut the door, strolling away in the direction of her locker. The night remained cool, and the campus quiet. •

Food Fair Not FoulBy Christina Kim

After the sun’s annual game of hide and seek, it finally shone in luminous intensity above the basketball court on 18 Novem-ber. Under this new cheerful at-mosphere, elementary, middle, and high school Parent Teacher Organization’s representatives lined up their various interna-tional dishes from America, Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan on display, rimming the corners of the basketball court. The junior class candy store and the Golden Crust bakery also joined. “Food Fair Not Foul, to paraphrase Macbeth.” As always, Mr. David Stengele used a pun to humor-ously sum up his admiration of both Shakespeare and the food on display at this year’s event.

Elementary students, some of the earliest customers, had mischievous grins on their faces as they gathered around the ice cream box, patiently waiting in line to collect their free ice cream with the coupons they’d received when they’d signed up.

The rush of spicy fragrance met the students as they exited their classrooms, and the won-derful aroma of freshly baked bread and cooked rice emanated pleasantly all through the eve-ning. After a short while, men and women of all ages gathered around the food corners and celebrated the wide variety of dishes that the PTO had prepared and organized. The colors of the ingredients found in Kimbaps, Korean sushi, and Bibimbaps (one of the signature Korean dishes, which literally means “mixed meal”) shone as vividly as the blossom flowers in a spring garden and made mouths water.

“This year’s Food Fair was really fun because a group of seniors, my friends, hung out together and told random stories and laughed while eating the amazing food,” Katie Stevens (12) remarked, her green eyes twinkling with amusement. (Continued on page 7, col. 1)


Food Fair...

(Continued from page 6, col. 4)David Toh (12) reflected on

the event and said, “The wide variety of food coupled with the cheerful atmosphere really awoke my appetite.”

Most students and teachers complimented the efforts and care the parents put into mak-ing the event a success. “It’s a great and wonderful event. It’s nice to see all the parents and students involved,” Mr. Brian Merusi exclaimed as he gazed at the delighted people chatting and laughing over their dinner. The merry atmosphere of the Food Fair not only came from the amazing dishes but also from the community itself. •

I Can Speak in Prompt; Can You?By Juliet DeVette

Remember that horrible thrill you received when you told a lie knowing you might very well get away with it? How about the twin-kling delightfulness af-ter finally convincing a friend that “gullible is [indeed] written on the ceiling,” or “[Mr. Brian] Brewster said he’s giving you a de-tention for that”? Or perhaps finally winning a petty argu-ment over that snob-by little nerd who claimed he knew it all. Members of the high school Forensics team frequently expe-rience these feelings—though not without months of working hard. The painful cycle repeats itself with each week of practice, research, practice, reevaluation, practice yet again, and finally, presentation. Often, more than once a week, students meet with their expert teachers who watch and critique, transferring years of knowledge to the eager students. Students also debate with Dalat staff—and most often win.

The highlight of the first semester of forensics, however, came in late November. Nine forensics new-comers piled into a school van at 3:00 a.m. to drive to Kuala Lumpur for the SEA Forensics workshop: Brittany Hurlbut (10), Thush-ara Kantimahanti (10), Emma Chinn (10), Stephanie Jones (10), Yang Yang Sim (11), Hung Ching Song (12), Roc Wu (12),

Rebekah Wiesner (12), Juliet DeVette (12), as well as Ms. Jasmane Frans, Mrs. Debbie Chinn, and Mr. and Mrs. Jason Selvanayagam. Despite the early hours, students arrived at the International School of Kuala Lumpur around 8:00 a.m., wiping sleep from their eyes and pasting smiles onto their faces—excited.

Students chose from a va-riety of workshops, though they mainly attended the fol-lowing four: Solo Acting, Oral Interpretation, Debate, and Impromptu.

Ms. Frans conducted the Solo Acting seminar, asking students from both ISKL and Dalat to give demonstrations. The warm-ups

especially compelled students to participate with their actions in hilarious situations. Wiesner re-called, laughing at herself, “First I was a baby, then I had a baby, then I went crazy, and then I broke up with a boy. [chuckles] Usually it happens the other way around!”

Students also enjoyed the Impromptu workshop. An ec-centric teacher from ISKL con-ducted this, welcoming students into his English classroom clad with flare-hippie-yoga-style-Japanese pants, numerous ear-rings, tattoo-covered arms, and an adventurous “attitude.” He went over tips and what-not-to-do’s, giving examples from past students. Dalat students clung on to every word, taking pages

of notes and asking incessant questions. Sim even asked for the man’s email address, saying that he wanted as much help as he could get. The Dalat students then left, excited.

The workshop had ignited a new flame that burned bright. It did not seem like it would die anytime soon. The whole ride back, Sim and Song prompted each other continually, making speeches up and stopping only when they ate at McDonald’s. Sim, determined, said, “Ah, I really want to get this. I just want to get better!” Hung agreed; Ms. Frans smiled, proud of her students’ determination and excitement.

In Forensics, students experi-ence such thrills every time they reach a new boundary. How do they do this? Through months of hard work and an unquenchable desire to achieve. •

You Can Stand Under My UmbrellaBy Sarah Lawrence

The sky became immersed in dark, tumultuous masses; and the white sea rocked and ravaged in protest against the relentless gusts of Heavens’ breath. Looks of dread from the faces of children multiplied as they scattered, all in pursuit of cover from the smattering, unforgiving rain drops falling from above. The carpet of grassy expanse became ridden with insuperable masses of mud and murky water. The shrieks from children taken by surprise by the flash storm erupted throughout the campus. Water-logged students sighed in angst when it became apparent that they would not conquer the day in a dry state. “What I would give for an umbrella on the ready!” cried Sarah Lim (12) after run-ning up from Mr. David Sten-gele’s English class through the rain to her Choir class. All this changed with the kick-off of this year’s annual fund on 12 October at the Paradise Sandy Beach Hotel. The Annual Fund aimed to raise a total of rm105,000, which the school distributed to various projects to better the general community. These projects included the purchase of Advanced Place-ment T1-89 calculators, in-dustrial equipment, robotics equipment, Smart Boards for

the elementary, basketball uni-forms for the middle school, a preschool climbing frame, the Umbrella Sharing Program, and numerous other extremely beneficial projects. The auction of desserts and other items helped the annual fund start off well. Both Mrs. Lydia Roberts and Mr. Larry Chinn agreed that the turnout from the Dalat community, even including elementary families, came up to about 400 people. They understandably appreci-ated all the hard work from not only both the musical depart-ments but also from the PTO.

When Dalat’s high school bands and choir performed, although for the first time in comparison to previous Annual Funds, it turned out a smashing success. “It was so generous of Paradise Hotel to let us use their ballroom for free! The high school band and choir did an outstanding job; as usual, the Jazz Ensemble and I had fun with our music, too! Over-all, the evening was entirely memorable!” said Mrs. Valeri Brokaw, the conductor of the Jazz Ensemble.

The beautifully moving pieces displayed school talent during the concert. Whether choosing the ringing of the triangle at the pinnacle of a piece or the trium-phant trumpet players, undoubt-

edly the highlight of the night for many included the concert band performance of “Flourish,” “Ceremonial Dance,” and lastly “Jubilance,” all directed by Mr. Kerry Mahoney.

Then the seductive aroma of cheesecakes, truffles, pies, and numerous, rich cakes guided the crowd near the entrance for their bidding. Among the des-serts, guitars, hotel stays, and special dinner vouchers captured the attention of Dalatites young and old.

After bidding, the entertain-ment kept flowing with the choir who chorused “Let Everything That Hath Breath,” an African song “Tshotsholoza,” and lastly the sweet, soft “Seal Lullaby.” Directly following the per-formance, the winners of the auction became known. Then last but not least, the Jazz Ensemble graced the ears of the audience with two songs, “Martinique” and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” Once the last note rang out, the jazzed individuals all shuffled toward their prizes. Empowered with every bite they took from their desserts, they would surely re-member the cause they helped support.

The extremely successful and productive Annual Fund opened well with support from various (Continued on page 8, col. 1)


Annual Fund...

(Continued from page 7, col. 4)talents from the high school student body, and every single bidder in the auction. “It was a great way for Dalat to represent our theme of being God-Seekers and doing all that we can to better the community in order for us to fulfill whatever He would like us to achieve with the wonderful blessings He be-stows upon us,” concluded Mr. Chinn.

From start to finish, the evening will stand as a bright memory in the hearts of friends, family, students, and teachers. Through selfless giving, every-one who attended unconsciously allowed the Dalat staff to give back to students and parents alike through the donations made even through simple ways such as aiding students adventuring from one end of the campus to the other, on the frequent rainy days that they faced, to conquer the day in a dry state. •

The Blinding SpotlightBy Marco Lee

Shiny silver, embedded in the contrasting colors of black and white, and all the faces show-ing excitement, a group of teen-agers held their instruments ready on their arms. With trumpets, trombones, saxophones, drums, and other musical in-struments, the students waited for instructions from the figure standing in the middle. Putting lips on the mouthpieces and fingers on the buttons, they antici-pated the time with enthusiasm and delight on the stage while having their eyes looking only at the silhouette of the figure in front of the blinding spotlight.

Fourteen Middle School stu-dents left campus to participate in the Southeast Asian Middle School Honor Band on Thurs-day, 10 November. Led by Mr. Kerry Mahoney, they took the plane from Penang to Kuala Lumpur and from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta, Indonesia.

Five schools (American Inter-national School of Guangzhou, Canadian International School of Hong Kong, Jakarta Inter-national School, Mont Kiara International School, and Dalat International School) partici-pated in this performance.

Dalat, participating in Middle School Honor Band for the first time, prepared the finest musi-cal players for the night. Each school chose its best musical players to form an honor band to perform at Jakarta Interna-tional School.

JIS provided enough space for the honor band players to practice and work together on

Friday, 11 November. Middle School students from different schools collaborated and prac-ticed together for the perfor-mance on Saturday night.

Sunny Kim (8) said, “Our clar-inet section couldn’t talk much because our

lips were so sore.” Hours and hours of practicing

had consumed their energy, but their

spirits had not faded. The

s t u -dents a l s o

g o t motivation from others. “Playing alongside very passionate and talented musicians forced us to push ourselves as far as we could go,” said Isabel Girling (8).

Two students each stayed with a family host who would wake them up and prepare them for the day. “They treated us just like family, and we were ready to stay with them for another week!” said Tayah Lee (8). The family hosts treated them very well, and the students wholeheartedly ap-preciated their hospitality.

The night came that all the Middle School students had pre-pared for in the Fine Arts The-atre. They performed five pieces of music, each conducted by a different conductor from each school. Mr. Mahoney conducted the third beautiful piece of music called “Exaltation,” composed by J. Swearingen.

Waiting for instruction with nervous anticipation with the ears-piercing clapping and cheering sounds from the au-dience, the students gazed at the conductor without motion. Anxiety quickly abated when the night started. The students

played their parts with their best effort and accomplished making an enjoyable night after putting in days of effort. The night signi-fied a success.

The day after the success-ful night, they had to leave Jakarta for Penang. The musi-cians missed Jakarta and the people there. Zachary Tan (8) said, “I was so sad to leave that wonderful school but happy to go back to Dalat.”

Again, led by Mr. Mahoney, they took the plane back to Pen-ang on Sunday, 13 November.

This experience benefitted

the Middle School students by teaching them unity. They learned how to work together with new people and new di-rectors.

“The band directors were all very helpful and funny,” com-mented Emma Merusi (8).

Attending this trip, they had honed their skills to another level. “We all learned so much, and improved our musical skills incredibly,” said Girling.

This trip made a great impact on these 14 Middle School stu-dents’ lives. “I’ll never forget this trip, ever,” said Kathy Lee (8).

The exciting and pleasant memories had just inscribed in their minds, especially the mo-ment of anticipation eyeing the conductor’s outline before the blinding spotlight. •

What Can I Say? By Ji Hun Moon

“What can I say?” said Mr. David Stengele as the last presentation ended with a storm of applause. No words could ever describe the outstanding achievements and passion that six students expressed. Instead of using plain words, the audience chose to answer with joyful cheers and smiles. Six unique stories intro-duced in six distinct voices from six different students, the Ad-vanced Merit Diploma senior exhibition presentations began on 30 November and finished on 1 December involving not only students, but also teach-ers and parents from the Dalat community.

“Yes, in here we can see so many things from the medieval siege warfare to the blues and I enjoyed all of them,” Dino Chiu (12) said after giving his speech on medieval siege warfare and his ballista.

The Advanced Merit Diploma participants chose their unique topics including modern Korean poetry by Ji Hun Moon (12), classical symphony by Roc Wu (12), Chinese culture by Jasmine Stoltzfus (12), medieval siege warfare by Chiu, first aid kit by David Tse (12), and blues by Keegan Ladner (12).

“We have a larger number of participants in the Advanced Merit Diploma than previous years. I am excited with my students,” said Mr. Jason Hall, the AMD coordinator.

As Mr. Hall mentioned, this year’s AMD had the largest num-ber of participants who decided

to take their final challenge, the presentation. To pass the Ad-vanced Merit Diploma, students must get over 85 percent in four different areas including a research paper, portfolio, prod-uct, and presentation.

The student selected his or her topic and an adviser who guided and helped him or her for this nearly two-year-long process. Three judges graded the presentations considering the visual, content, and delivery. For this year, Mr. Fred Colburn, the acting director, Mr. Brian Brewster, the high school prin-cipal, Mr. Joel Steinkamp, the high school and middle school special services, and Mrs. Beth-any Thomas, the high school counselor, became the judges and listened to the students.

What did the students think about their massive amount of work? Ladner, who gave his presentation on the blues, ex-plained with two words, “Stress incarnated.”

As seniors, these students had to keep up not only with their AMD work but also with their homework and tests from their classes. Fortunately, they managed to survive and success-fully present their topics.

Not only students but also adults found delivering a speech in front of an audience very diffi-cult. The AMD participants must have felt the same. However, all of them bravely presented and greatly enjoyed introducing what they had learned and achieved not only to the judges but also to (Continued on page 9, col. 1)


Advanced Merit Diploma...

(Continued from page 8, col. 4)their friends, and parents. “Once I started talking, I didn’t feel ner-vous,” said Tse after delivering his speech on the first aid kit. All six students had practiced their speeches over and over, which helped them build con-fidence.

All participants congratulated one another for their hard work after Ladner finished his last presentation. “Now I can give a sigh of relief!” said Stoltzfus with a gleeful smile on her face.

The teachers, friends, and families all felicitated the partici-pants for their huge efforts and passion. “I can’t believe we are done. I’m so happy!” said Wu with a merry laugh.

Everyone who watched the presentations agreed that these students had achieved

their goals. But as Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, said, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”

These six students promised to continue their growth, not let-ting their improved skills, newly achieved goals, and successful learning sink in vain. The Ad-vanced Merit Diploma ignited their passion and promised continual growth and progress in various ar-eas from literature to music. Their experiences in the Advanced Merit Diploma will light their paths and guide their ways as Proverbs 2:10-11 says, “For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, un-derstanding will guard you,” What can we say? Their growth shall never end. •

Slithering FriendBy Casey Chen

Middle school girls screamed as they dared each other to touch the scaly skin of the python. Raj, a maintenance worker, had brought in an 11-foot long reticulated python, its stomach bulging with its last meal, to show to students. He had dis-covered the python swallowing one of his full-grown pet geese whole. The snake appeared in a coma state after consuming a large meal, but to ensure safety, Raj whacked its head before bringing it in to school. Some students cringed away from the snake, but others stroked and admired its scaly

skin. More courageous boys jumped over the snake; some even ventured to lift up its tail. All this time, the snake lay mo-tionless, its glassy eyes staring unseeingly into space, blood trickling out of its mouth.

Seeing this as a great op-portunity, Biology teacher Mrs. Monica Tan decided to dissect the python. Word spread like wildfire; and soon, both staff and students crowded in the Biology room around Mrs. Tan and the snake. As soon as the dissection began, however, more than half of the crowd disappeared. “It was a scary day, followed by

many smelly days,” said Win-nie Tan (12). The smell of the half-digested goose drove away a huge portion of the students, yet as they gradually got used to the smell, their curiosity drew them back to the dissection

Staff and s t u d e n t s made no ef-fort to hide the amazement they felt when they found the goose still intact in the python’s stomach. “When I saw the python, I was shocked at the little amount of organs it had,” said Joel Kirk (12).

To their delight, high school students had the chance to help with the long process of dissec-tion. The python served as a great opportunity for students

to learn and have the experience of dissecting an animal. “Having a real specimen before my eye heightened my learning of sci-ence,” said Christian Park (12). Seeing that the python had

such amazing and beautiful skin, the science depart-

ment peeled it off and preserved it.

“I used to have this phobia of snakes, but

after seeing this python face-to-face, it almost

drove away my fear. It was insane how that python, which wasn’t very big either, could swallow a whole grown-up goose. I also got to know the new staff members Mr. and Mrs. Tan better than I did before. The dissection and all the excitement of the python brought me closer to them,” said Charissa Tan (12). •

Major Comeback for the “Major” League By Joseph Kim

The sun brightly shone in the sky, making the cloud look bluer than ever before as crowds of fans went wild over the games in Singapore on 24-27 November. The proud Pen-ang representatives played eight tough games of base-ball. The competitive games brought many emotions to the team and unified it as never before.

“As I have coached most of the baseball games on Saturdays, I knew

which players would do well and which would do bad. But the middle school students proved my prejudice wrong, and every

member showed his talent in base-ball with extreme

pride which made me happy—regard-

less of the score,” said Hank Wong (11) with a

huge smile on his face as he remembered the splen-

did weekend he had had. Even though Dalat fielded a

new and young team, they still managed to bring two victories on their side with hard work. “Although it was hot, sweaty, and hard, our team never lost focus and our hard work was later re-warded! Like the game we played against Singapore Mad Dog—we were losing 4-0, but at the end, with an impressive hit from An-drew [Kim, 7] and Evan [Chinn, 8], we were able to make a come-back and win the game 6-5!” said Timothy Sasse (7).

Ten students who went on the trip all agreed that they had grown in their baseball skills and techniques; also, they learned how to play as a team in a new envi-ronment with new pressure that resulted in unpredictable results.

“When we won our second-to-last game, we were so happy that we dog-piled one another with great excitement as if we were going to be playing the championship game next!” said Tesa Sasse (9).

Baseball, a fairly new sport at

Dalat, made not only the school proud, but also the state. “I never knew Dalat students were involved in baseball! I knew there was softball, but I never knew that the middle school had a baseball team, that later went to another country not as the school repre-sentatives, but as Penang rep-resentatives to make us proud!” said Chan-Yang Kim (11) as she encouraged Joseph Brake (6).

The gracious and baseball loving parents’ support for this non-school-sponsored trip made the whole event possible.

“I was surprised with the results when they returned from Singapore because none of the players were on the same team before,” said Wesley Lee (11). But how they were able to adjust to one another made me proud of them as a coach.”

Ten athletes and three coach-es will never forget the dates 24–27 November as they cre-ated many memories under a bright blue Singapore sky. •

Behindthe closed school gates

By Chan Hee Park

“I hate the dorms!” exclaimed Amanda Leech (11), filling the study room with tension and uneasiness as she successfully obtained everyone’s undivided attention. “Just kidding! I can’t believe you guys took that seri-

ously,” she giggled, allowing everyone to feel the desired sense of relief. As laughter spread through the study room, one could not help but wonder about the ob-(Continued on page 10, col. 1)


picked up an instrument, so I am glad that I could help them try something new.” The musical experience definitely etched a smile onto the children’s faces, and they left the room humming softly to themselves.

Proceeding to the cafeteria, the children ravenously devoured their lunches and cooled off with refreshing ice cream. The day’s events, however, had not ended. Upon heading back to the chapel, the Lifebri-dge children thanked the helpers and volunteers with a special per-formance of “It’s a Small World After All.” The song, epitomiz-ing the bonding between the children and the helpers and volunteers, would have served as a fitting conclusion for the day. But Ms. Frans had one final surprise in store; hiding gift bags in the amphitheater, she sent the children out in groups to scour the area. Fueled with excitement and adrenaline, the children quickly found their spoils.

But alas, all good things had to come to an end; and the seniors histrionically waved goodbye to their new-found friends as the latter prepared to board their bus. The day, albeit exhausting, had reached a suc-cessful conclusion.

As the volunteers watched the bus journey back to But-terworth, their faces burst into uncontrollable grins; the day had blessed them just as much as they had blessed the Lifebridge children. •

Dorm Life...

(Continued from page 9, col. 4)scure qualities that place smiles in the students that live under various demanding restrictions. Despite the early bedtimes, limited bandwidth, lack of pri-vacy, and a strict curfew—which would unquestionably affect the majority of growing teenag-ers— something else seemed to overshadow these restrictions with optimism.

Numerous day-students had a difficult time trying to imagine themselves in the dorms. “I dare not imagine how I would manage to get through the day without my access to late internet hours,” said Jeffrey Hsiao (12).

Joseph Kim (12) and Chris-

tian Park (12) seemed to firmly support Hsiao’s position: “Ex-actly, and I cannot imagine myself living in the dorms. I am so thankful to live with my parents,” said Kim.

“Let’s face it, asking a day-stu-dent to accurately imagine himself living in the dorms is simply an impossible task,” said Park.

The majority of the day-students clearly expressed their favor—some even showed a sense of pride—of living in their own houses. The idea of living under bold restrictions seemed to terrify most of the day-students.

On the other hand, all of the interviewed dorm students demonstrated their appreciation of living in the dorms. Uncon-scious smiles appeared as they

thought about their reasons for appreciating the dorm.

Despite their positive views, however, they could not ignore the variety of hardships they faced as dorm students.

“Being surrounded by my friends all the time can have some damaging academic con-sequences; however, at the end of the day, the bond that is cre-ated is definitely worth the ride,” said Ina Park (10).

Yu-Ting Lin (12) added his view: “I cannot emphasize enough how much I miss my mom’s cooking—and so many other things that I was surround-ed by while growing up. But I have to admit that coming to the dorms, which limited my access to homey comfort, has helped me realize that I would have to

move on towards the real world one day. I can’t depend on my mom to cook for me till I am 40 anyways.”

Besides the minor benefits such as not having to travel to school every morning or gain-ing constant access to lockers, something more significant allowed the dorm-students to obtain and maintain a positive perspective about the dorm. Maybe the mutual respect and companionship towards others majorly contributes; however, how can anyone generalize such a broad quality that would justify every dorm-student’s view? No one can; every dorm-student has his or her personal view that makes dorm life unique. Perhaps that characteristic itself structures a unique dorm. •

Building Bridges, Connecting Lives By David Toh

Sweat beaded; eyes darted; arms flailed. Searching for their hid-den gift bags, the children from Lifebridge, a home for refugee children in Malaysia, combed the amphitheater. Needless to say, the outreach event organized by Ms. Jasmane Frans on Saturday, 19 Novem-ber, concluded successfully. The children had arrived in a bus all the way from Butterworth, excitement lining their faces as they prepared to meet their hosts for the day. Together with the second graders, the senior class warmly welcomed the visitors with wide grins and awkward handshakes.

“Eight-thirty is too early for me to do anything on a Satur-day,” joked Hung Ching Song (12) as he stacked chairs with half-closed eyes. Along with his fellow classmates, Song helped to organize the chapel before the Lifebridge children arrived. Shortly after, the seniors finished preparing the area; and they readied themselves to meet their guests.

Bursting through the gates, the guests spilled onto the cam-pus grounds once their bus had reached Dalat. After making their way to the chapel, acting director Mr. Fred Colburn gave a brief welcoming speech. Before long, the children broke off into teams and proceeded to their stations to participate in the day’s activities. The seniors and teachers had planned a wide array of exciting games and in-

teresting programs ranging from futsal to aquarium design for the children to engage in.

“I think [the children] had a blast with the puff paint! It was really messy but also very fun,” said Sarah Uzzle (12), who had volunteered to help teach the children creative ways of painting.

Like Uzzle, the senior class helped out wherever they could, always lending a hand with a smile. Apart from painting, the seniors and volunteers also taught music, com-puter skills, a n d t h e v a l u e o f teamwork through i n t e r -a c t i v e games and ac-tivities.

“At first, the children tried to score al l on their own. But as the game progressed, they started recognizing the benefits of teamwork and passed [the ball] more,” observed Sarah Lim (12) as she watched a highly intense game of futsal.

From dribbling basketballs to scampering under parachutes, Mrs. Lisa Munson and her help-ers managed to imbue the value of working together as a team while maintaining a fun, exhila-rating environment for the chil-dren to participate in. Volunteers in other committees likewise

ensured that the children had equally productive times.

In the computer lab, Mr. Jim Dickert taught the children to produce a cartoonish, animated virtual aquarium using Microsoft PowerPoint. With a wide range of animated fish available to choose from, the children enthu-siastically clicked away.

“It was like [the children] were glued to their screens the whole time. It was fascinating watch-ing each screen pop up with a unique aquarium,” recalled

Yu-T ing Lin (12), m a r -veling at the

a m o u n t o f j o y such a simple

a c t i v -ity stirred up.

But the j o y did not end

with the aquariums. Over in the music room, children sang and tapped along to the beat of nursery songs. Some of them played their instruments seri-ously and tried to hit every note perfectly; but others, lost in the tintinnabulation of the music, simply banged away on their instruments.

Roc Wu (12), one of the mu-sic helpers, concluded, “The chil-dren caught on to the rhythms pretty fast. It was probably the first time most of them had ever


Surfing Our Way into the Future By Dwayne Lourdes

The chatter of keyboards and the clicking of mice sounded from the computer labs. The glowing screens reflected upon the faces of students working hard on their classes of choice.

Dalat School offers a host of over 200 online classes that high school students can take, including Dalat’s own “hybrid” e-learning courses through the school system DIS-course. Students from all over the world can at-tend these on-line classes and together share their knowledge and ideas.

“It is really fun, getting to know other people around the world learn-ing the same course,” said Joseph Kim (12).

Having students from various cultural backgrounds and varying academic abilities interacting with each other creates a broad pool of information through which students can help educate one another.

It’s also a new and innovative way of learning through the use of the Internet and collabora-tion with technology, integrat-ing students with the technical progressions of today. Further-

more, as Mr. Douglas Yost (the coordinator of online classes) says “Work[ing] in an online environment will make students more employable in the future.” And employability concerns any aspiring student. Therefore,

by providing them with these life skills, Dalat

sets students up for assimilation into the

corporate world. Online classes

also prepare stu-dents well for the

anticipated years at uni-versity. Kim, a strong supporter of online classes, says, “It pre-

pares me for college where there won’t be any teachers who will make me do any-

thing. I learn how to do my work more independently.”

For some, online classes cre-ate difficulties as they demand a great deal of self-discipline. “There is not a teacher hovering over a student, prodding him along to get his work done and turned in. Online learning is easy to ignore since students do not see a teacher on a daily basis,” says Mr. Yost.

Learning to gage this sense of discipline from oneself, how-ever, prepares students for the challenges and distractions of university life. By coping with

the structure of online classes, one should find it easy to put this practice into use in further education.

Some m i s -takenly think t ha t t a k i ng online classes means a lack of student-t e a c h e r contact. C o n -trari ly, s t u d e n t s put a block in their timetable dedi-cated to their online class, where they do their work under the supervision of a teacher. Furthermore, teachers at Dalat always readily provide help if a student needs it.

“Students involved in online learning have to take more re-sponsibility for being involved with a teacher. Both teachers and students have to work at communicating,” says Mr. Yost. The student must use initiative and communicate with her teacher efficiently if she requires help.

Students look favorably upon online classes. Jeffrey Hsiao (12) said, “I absolutely love them with all my heart and soul. They’re so easy that even a second grader

can do it.” Their easy accessibility,

simple layout, and organized structure make online classes popular. They ensure that even

if a pupil misses school, he can still keep

up with his work from home and

not miss out on anything.

They help to b roaden t he

knowledge o f students via mod-

er n techno logy and contribute to

a different form of educating that plays a close relation to the functioning of the ever-developing world in which we live.

With online classes gradually becoming part of the future of education, Dalat has taken these monumental steps for-ward in educating the genera-tion of the future.

The bell has rung, and chairs nestle in under the computers. All the noise has stopped except for one student who sits in the corner of the room frantically clicking and typing away, trying to finish all the work he could have done while preoccupied with Facebook. •

Love-15 or Love-for-Tennis?By Jeffrey Hsiao

Her eyes blazed with passion, as she riveted her vision upon the open field under the scorching sun, choosing entirely to ignore the presence of her formidable enemy. There—on the left —an open spot! Winnie Tan (12) quivered from the sudden soaring dos-age of adrenaline, stiffened her right arm while she regained possession of her only weapon, ventured in eras ing a l l thoughts on her mind (though this failed miserably as the chicken rice she had eaten for lunch felt heavier than ever in her); but just as the flickering drip of brine trickled down her forehead—she thrashed her racket in a perfectly fluid motion, and the tennis ball

shot off to the opposite side of the court. Love–15.

Early this semester, Mr. Steve Liss and Aunt Jan Hogan, in a conjoined effort, announced the reinstatement of the school ten-nis team that had mysteriously disappeared 10 years ago. Stu-

dents of all ages have shown overwhelming

levels of interest, as more than 20 people turned out for the first

meeting.“I think it’s great that we are doing tennis again. Dalat had it years ago but we

haven’t fielded a team in recent years. I guess the main reason is that until this year, no one expressed a desire to spon-sor the team,” said Mr. Liss with the usual smile on his face.

Aunt Jan makes her vision for the team clear, as she wishes students not only to participate in the MSSPP tournament in February, but also to invest their time in developing the skills for the sport itself. “My main goal for the tennis team is to encourage students to play for their own health and well-being, to encourage them to develop their skills in a life-long sport,” she said. “A secondary goal is to compete with other local students in the MSSPP tournament.”

The attendance at the first meeting may have surprised the coaches as it surpassed their initial expectations, but the com-mitment that the players have demonstrated impressed them even more. Faithful players such as Tan practice two to three

times per week, never failing to meet the required practice hours.

“I’ve been hoping that Dalat will make a tennis team for ages, and here we are, the real deal. [I am] so excited,” said Tan zealously. “I can’t wait until the MSSPP tournament next semester.”

The heavens seemed too generous; the sun’s ruthless beams of sweltering light rays could have very well kindled a huge conflagration on the court. A smile, nevertheless, beamed across Tan’s countenance; and it radiated nothing short of true delight and passion. She had already long forgotten about the earlier shot that she had missed; her self-esteem would never al-low errors to bring her down. Then, she stood on the end line and bounced the tennis ball swiftly off her clammy palms. A conceited smirk suddenly took possession of her face. Love–15 —let’s make it a 15 all. •


Trick or Treasure?By Jennifer Park

Find the yellow staircase that leads you to gold where you shall be told what the future beholds. Beware! Wise fools may be lurking! As the instructor handed out the clue, a group of peers looked around and started guess-ing the possible locations for the next station.

Student Coun-ci l inv i ted high school students to their third event, Trick or Treasure, which took place on 21 October. The 11 members of StuCo, led by presi-dent, Nathan Peace (12), in-tended to celebrate Halloween in a different way.

Students signed up as a team

of eight people on sheets set on the counter of the Student Center. The prize for “the best dressed” group intrigued them, so they dressed uniquely up as a team.

“My group of friends saw Trick or Treasure

as a superb oppor-tunity to unite and display our effer-vescent appeal for Halloween and its playful spirit. We also desired to sup-port StuCo and par-

ticipate in their well-prepared event by dedicating ourselves in creating the perfect outfit necessary to win the approval of our fellow students and end the night in victorious ecstasy,” said Christian Park (12).

The unexpected weather condition delayed the event 30 minutes and changed the pro-gramming. First, the students went down to the chapel and watched an episode from the third season of “Psych” called “Tuesday the 17th.”

After the episode ended, Wesley Lee (11), junior class representative, went up to the stage and gave brief instructions for the main event: students had to complete a total of 11 sta-tions and could depend only on the clues given to find the next location.

“Trick or Treasure was really good because it enabled us to bond together as friends, dress up, and have a great time. My favorite was the watermelon sta-tion which reminded me of real Halloween pumpkin carving,” said Hayli Mayo (9).

Each station provided a maximum of four minutes to complete the mission, and the students in teams of eight tried to complete in the shortest time pe-

riod. When they accomplished the mission given to them, the instructor for the stage gave clues for the next station.

When all the groups finished their adventure race, they came back to the chapel and waited patiently as the StuCo members calculated the time and came up with the result.

Two uniquely dressed groups, the Gypsies and the Thunder Cats, danced on the stage to compete for the “Best Dressed” prize; and the Thunder Cats with the strong support from males in the audience won.

“I loved dressing up with my friends as gypsies. I thought our group looked the best until I saw Chris Park’s group. I just burst out laughing. I still can’t believe Wesley made us dance,” said Nicole Mauger (12).

The intense race of the night left great pleasure of bonding as a team with peers. Regardless of the result, all the participants had smiles on their faces as they walked out of the chapel. •

Greek Cuisine to Flambé Doritos By Benjamin Unruh

“Is it tonight?” Nicole Mauger (12) excitedly asked. “I think so,” replied Roc Wu (12). “Oh, I’m so excited!” exclaimed Mauger.

As 10 o’clock ap-proached, the atmo-sphere in the dorm loung-es filled with enthusiasm as the seniors counted down the minutes until that weekly special treat they had anticipated for the past week.

The seniors in the dorms receive a treat once a week of an

extra hour with staff members who provide them food and

entertainment. “I think we are at your

dorm parents’ apartment tonight,” mused Wu, referring to Mauger’s

home, Jackson Dorm, supervised by Mr. Jonas and

Mrs. Mary Hawk, one of two new dorm couples this year.

The Hawks and others

spentthe better part of their af-ternoon and evening preparing the snacks and entertainment in order to give the seniors an extra special time.

In the past, staff have treat-ed seniors to salmon and cream cheese delicacies, pizza, and Greek foods. The unique snack so far goes to Hot Dor-itos, not so much because of the generic chips themselves, but because the seniors got to ignite their chips and pop

them in their mouths, flame and all.

As the staff members of the night ensured that their guests had provisions, the seniors re-laxed and conversed with each other about all things random, undoubtedly finding cause for great laughter.

But as all good things come to an end, so too must the tired seniors return to their respec-tive dorms. Evading the regular bed time no longer, the excited seniors, now with sleep in their eyes, said farewell . . . until next treat. •

The Best Christmas Present By Charissa Tan

Looking out through the glass windowpane, a slight thrill arises at the first glimpse of soft snow-flakes floating in the air, falling to rest on the white carpeted pavement. In the distance, one could hear the faint ringing of sleigh bells accompanied by a choir of voices caroling down the streets. A perfect luxury, indeed, for one to sip on a cup of hot chocolate, wrapped up in soft blankets while listening to the cackle of the fire, sniffing at the scent of warm cookies in the oven. The next morning, one would wake up with anticipation to the mystery of the presents

under the tree and a joyous of celebration of a very special day, Christmas.

A beautiful season of joy and excitement, Christmas indeed seems a season to look forward to. But in the craze of parties, presents, and Santa Claus, some may lose focus of the true mean-ing of Christmas.

Staring blankly into lonely Penang streets on the night of Christmas Eve, one may find no soft white snow floating nor cheerful lights twinkling. One may attempt to mimic the at-mosphere of winter by cuddling under the blankets in a freez-

ing air-conditioned room, but somehow, it just has a different feeling to it. Disappointed and lonely with no presents under the Christmas tree, or worse still, finding no Christmas tree, one may just give up the excitement of Christmas and resort to a sad, “I wish I had a white Christmas” spirit.

Pastor Jonathan Boll-back (PJ) began his mes-sage this way in the Christmas chapel on 30 November.

Murmurs of excitement had filled the air as students trooped into the chapel. The

cheerful chorus of the famous song, “Feliz Navidad” created a nice Christmassy atmosphere. Even the usually reserved ones couldn’t resist singing along. “It was so entertaining to hear Mr. [David] Stengele sing that

song. I was sitting right next to him and his voice just, like, rang through my head,” joked Yu-Ting Lin (12).

S h i v e r s r a n down spines as Danae F r en t z

(12) and Nathan Guthrie’s (12) voice echoed in the cha-pel to the song, “O Holy Night.” Rebekah Wiesner (12) (Continued on page 13, col. 1)


Christmas...

(Continued from page 12, col. 4)and Frentz harmonized perfectly with another song, followed by Julie DeVette (12), who ended the chapel with a cheery note with the last song “Joy to the World.” Mrs. Valeri Brokaw and Mr. Kerry Mahoney played beautiful accom-paniments with their trumpet and saxophone. “It was the first time I’ve heard Mrs. Brokaw play her saxophone. She and Mr. Mahoney were simply amaz-ing!” said Nathan Peace (12).

The Road Less Traveled play-ers had a performance of their interpretation of the Wisdom and Folly parable told in the Bible. With Jennifer Vo (10) acting as “Wisdom” and Jessie Brandon (9) as “Folly,” followed by Joel Shafer (12), Tesa Sasse (9) and others, the play brought peals of laughter and entertain-ment to everyone.

“It was a good demonstration

of the benefits that Wisdom of-fers that people don’t often see because they are too distracted by the temporary pleasures of Folly,” said Abbie Brake (12), reflectively.

PJ picked up on the mo-mentum gathered by the play to introduce his topic on the true meaning of the season:

“Christmas is a sea-son of hope,” he said. “There are some people who just wish for a plate of food for Christmas.”

It didn’t matter if no snowflakes floated outside the window nor if no lights decorated the streets; the true

meaning of Christmas counted. The gift of love brought more fulfillment than the temporary enticements of Folly.

Only through first under-standing the true meaning of Christmas, can one truly feel the joy of the season. PJ concluded, “Don’t forget that Christmas has the word Christ in it. The hope in the promise of Christ is the best Christmas present anyone can receive.” •

A Day of Humble Remembrance and Joyful Celebration By Andy Goh

For an entire minute, students, teachers, and staff did not make a single sound. This incredible feat of absolute silence only takes place once a year on the school calendar. A visitor enter-ing campus during this time would probably have come to the conclusion that the whole population had mysteriously d i s a p p e a r e d into thin air. If this visitor had read the an-nouncements, he would have ar-rived at a more accu-rate explanation for the unexpected silence that filled the school.

On 11 November, during X-Block, the entire Dalat com-munity crowded into the gym for Remembrance Day. Staff, teach-ers, and students congregated to remember the selfless warriors who gave up their lives fight-ing for their countries, and to honor and celebrate the military veterans. As people entered the gym, their eyes first encountered the brightly-colored flags that hung around the corners of the gym. At the center of the court

lay the memorial coffin, beauti-fully decorated with flowers. As the crowd settled into their seats, Mr. Bob Pagee, the host of the event, commenced the gathering by introducing the respectable individuals seated on stage. These individual included Chaplain Dean T. Griffiths,

Warrant Office (WO) Brad Stevens, Veteran Bar-

end Blom, Veteran Thyagarajah Gov-indasamy, retired Major Sivarahan Ramanathan, and Pastor Jonathan Bollback, aka PJ,

our very own spiri-tual life director.

After proper introduc-tion of the individuals on stage, Joe Merusi (11) commanded the Honor Guard to move towards the memorial coffin with a deep, booming voice. The sharp sound of the snare drum sprang to life, accompanying the Honor Guard’s march towards the cof-fin. The Honor Guard guarding the memorial coffin symbolized the presence of sanctity in the gym. Once the Honor Guard had sanctified the ground, in the words of Mr. Pagee, it “turns

from a gym into a memorial service.”

The efficiency and smooth-ness of the whole procession greatly impressed the students and teachers. During the cer-emony, PJ gave an insightful message on Remembrance Day. In his message, he expounded on the staggering sacrifice that warriors have made.

A t t he conc l u s i on o f PJ’s speech, Karsten Ladner (8) and Kimberly Horton (7) walked to the center of the gym to read two poems: “In Flanders Fields” and “We Shall Keep the Faith.” These helped the audience to reflect on the soldiers who sac-rificed their lives for the good of many. Some individuals may even have come to the humbling realization that many of the comforts that they currently enjoy came as a result of these selfless warriors. After the stirring poems, Jo-seph Kim (12), with his trumpet in hand, moved into position to play “Last Post.” At the sound of the trumpet, everyone in the gym respectfully rose from his or her seat. The minute of silence that followed the playing of

the “Last Post” gave people the chance to devote a small part of their busy lives to reflect on those who had selflessly given up so much for the good of oth-ers. In the span of one minute, people came up with different reflections. “During this moment of silence, I would reflect on the price that Jesus paid for our sins, and how brave soldiers had also paid a price for freedom,” said Mr. Pagee. Yu-Ting Lin (12) felt inspired during this time to make a differ-ence. “I reflected upon my own life, wondering if I had actually lived it to its fullest, and how there were/have been people making a difference today or throughout history. So I encour-aged myself, by telling myself ‘I can make a difference too!’”

As students, teachers, and staff walked past the memorial coffin, the colorful flags, and through the gym doors, they walked with absolute silence, remembering those who had paid a price for their freedom—and further deceiving the unfor-tunate, fictitious visitor on our quiet campus into supporting his absurd theory. •

Banquet Fit for an EmperorBy Dylan Frans

After studying the rich history of the Roman Empire, second graders set out to make a ban-quet that would give them a taste of the kinds of food Romans ate. Making and forming patties out of mince meat, herbs, spices, and vegetables, they walked with their Roman traditional spiced patties from the Grade 2 class-room all the way to the stretch of grass next to the basketball court. With the barbecue all set to grill the patties, 1 September became a day much anticipated by these seven-year-olds.

“It was exciting when we got to act out the fight between Romans and Barbarians,” said Andrew Thomas (2).

Before the day of the bar-becue, the class learned and became immersed in the Ro-man world. Learning about the rise and fall of this Empire, they took on projects to give the classroom a more Roman feel. Replicating Roman architecture became a personal favourite as

they built columns, a colosseum, and researched aqueducts giving a feel for the Pax Romana.

“The part when we got to eat our food at the barbecue was my favourite,” said Jae Sung Kim (2)

Christianity’s influence on Rome became a highlight in studying the Romans. This gave second graders a perspective on how Roman culture persecuted early Christians. Second Graders also saw how Romans left the rest of the world a rich heritage including the solar calendar, the law system, and the Roman numerals.

“I loved learning about how the barbarians invaded Rome,” said Ethan Chan (2).

Second graders found enjoy-ment through experiencing a Roman Banquet. All of what they learned gave them more understanding and the ability to enjoy the heritage of the Roman Empire. Dressing up and act-(Continued on page 14, col. 1)


Roman Empire...

(Continued from page 13, col. 4)ing out roles in Roman cul-ture developed into an exciting highlight of the barbecue. They particularly enjoyed Mr. Chance Edman’s appearance as a Ro-man centurion. Entertaining second graders with his comical performance, the event turned into a pleasant way to finish off learning about this old empire, giving second graders a sweet and lasting memory on the his-tory of the Romans. •

Diving In !By Nicole Mauger

Jordan Suen (1) swam hard down the 50-meter swimming pool at TAR College. Occasion-ally he turned his head to the side to get a breath of air while he kicked his way to the end, sending up sprays of water. A couple of his teammates, including Hayli Mayo (9), Mi-chelle Chan (10) and Sara Stoltz-fus (5), ran alongside him, cheer-ing him on at their swim meet against Uplands. “The swimming team is about two things, personal workout and support for each other,” said Raymond Pow (10). He and the other swimmers proved this fact as they dedicated themselves to swimming as well as each other.

The sun shone bright as all

the students boarded the vans to drive to the pool. The Uplands team included older students, all with identical swimsuits and caps. Dalat’s swimmers showed up in a hodgepodge of swimsuits with a number of younger swim-mers. This, however, did not intimidate them even though they did feel the nerves.

As they arrived at TAR Col-lege, pre-competition jitters spread throughout the team as they went into one of their first swim meets.

“I was scared to death. I almost puked,” said Joseph Hawthorne (10).

Kate Sun (10) agreed, saying, “I was really nervous until I hit the water.”

Regardless of their nerves,

the swimmers showed their determination and training as nearly all beat their old records. Mayo put it well when she said, “The swim meet pushed us all. That was our fastest all year.” All of them, ranging from first grade to twelfth, felt the need to push themselves even harder. Though the swim team had practiced twice a week since the middle of September, a couple of the swimmers had joined a week or two before and had little to no practice.

David Tse (12) understood his coaches’ advice, saying, “Even though swimming is an indi-vidual sport as everyone swims in their own lane, our coaches [Mr. Nick Sutherland and Miss Jenn Hartner] encourage us to cheer each other on as we finish our laps. It’s the best way to bond with your friends and excel individually.”

Knowing this, the swimmers focused on supporting each other as well as swimming, which made the meet memo-rable to those swimming and those watching.

No one will forget Suen reaching the end of the pool to the great cheers of his team-mates. They shouted congratu-lations and reached down to help him out of the pool. He accepted the hug offered him by Mayo and grinned as Pow slapped him on the back. All of them walked away smiling as they went to prepare for their next swim. •

Shoot for the Moon By Hung Ching Song

“Five!” Yu-Ting Lin (12) shouted clearly for all in the vicinity to hear. “Four!” Timers fumbled frantically around with their stopwatches in anticipation with slightly jittery hands. “Three!” Angle measurers quickly verified yet again that they had a broad enough scope. “Two!” The muscles in Lin’s forearms bulged in their exertion of a sufficient of counteractive force. “One!” An electrifying moment of silence dawned over the landscape, and then…

Bam! The sound of the jet-ted effusion of suppressed and compressed water and air rever-berated across the field on upper campus as the translucently

green water bottle rocket took flight.

Each with a hand upraised to deflect the blinding glare of the radiant sunlight, the physics students gaped with wide-eyes at the rapid rate of ascension. In unison and in awe, all exclaimed, “Whoa!”

Eventually, as with most objects, earth’s gravitational pull overcame the magnitude of the velocity upwards, and angle measurers noted down their readings at the peak of the arc as timers waited a mere one to three seconds longer for the precise moment of impact.

Upon the conclusion of a quick comparison of the data collected, Mr. Tom Miller grandly announced the hang time to be roughly 5.5 seconds. With this single variable and the free fall equation of d=1/2gt2, Yung Tsen Ooi (11) declared that the water bottle rocket had reached a height of roughly 38 meters or 125 feet.

With a deep sigh, Lin mut-tered, “It’s not bad, but I think we can go even higher.”

Who can deny that all humans dream of achieving the greatest of heights? The glory of reaching the pinnacle of any feat cannot be compared to anything else. How does one come about such an accomplishment though? As

the famous Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger once said, “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.”

Complex equations such as 2πr2

n(pin – pout) > mg, which determined the success rate of liftoff, blazed the path of this rough road. Even so, as mere ju-niors and seniors of high school asked to design, not a real-life, fuel-powered rocket, but just a fundamental water bottle rocket, it made reasonable sense that the tedious process of trial and error took precedence.

“The only reason that our rocket went decently high was because of the fact that we kept testing and testing and testing,” said Lin.

Questionable rumors about a mysterious white water battle rocket exceeding the height of Copthorne Hotel from the previous year further instigated a sense of competition among students.

“It sounds almost unbeliev-able, like a legendary goal we are shooting for,” said Charissa Tan (11). “But the more I watched our own rocket, the more exag-gerated it sounded.”

In the end, the days of the official class launch, 22 and 23 November, came upon all of the physics students faster than they expected. On these days, a

wide array of both unique water bottle rockets and specialized launchers presented themselves. Chareesa Usaha (11), Sharath Murugan (11), Wesley Lee (11), and Ken Chee (11) constructed an uncommon type of launcher that undoubtedly resembled a spear; and Jarrod Forsdick (11), Josh Thorne (11), and Reagan Mahoney (11) defied the stereo-typical models by utilizing four bottles strung together instead of one, in addition to having an abnormal launcher that allowed for the simultaneous pumping of all bottles at once.

Though the general con-sensus, after all had finished, ran along the lines of one of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous and profound quotes: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

As the last official trial came and went, most of the juniors and seniors gathered their be-longings together in preparation to leave for their next class. A handful, however, stayed behind with a mischievous fire dancing in their eyes and a cocksure grin upon their visages.

Rushing to Mr. Miller, they hurriedly requested his permis-sion to run one last, additional trial; and with the obtained con-sent, Lee stabbed the end of his odd spear-like launcher into the earth, attached Lin’s simplistic yet effective water bottle rocket, and aimed it towards the football goal on the opposing end of (Continued on page 15, col. 1)


Bottle Rockets...

(Continued from page 14, col. 4)the field. Lin started to pump rapidly away.

“Five!” Lee shouted loudly, beginning his countdown and attracting the attention of most of the physics students who had begun their descent back to the main campus. “Four! Three! Two! One!”

Bam!Goal?Not quite. A failure?Not quite either. •

Ready, Set, BOOOOM!By Xher Rael Choo

Squeals of laughter filled the air as liquid exploded up into the sky, spraying aqueous drops on the students in the amphitheater. “We were all not really paying attention at one point, and then all of a sudden the nitrogen that was in the water exploded really loudly, and scared us all to death! It was great,” exclaimed Sarah Uzzle (12).

On 20 October, around 15 students from St. Christopher’s International Primary School (SCIPS) arrived on campus for an exchange program themed “The Amazing Race.” The stu-dents watched a pre-recorded video of Gary and Mallory Er-vin of “The Amazing Race” (Seasons 17 &18) welcoming them to the event. In the video, Gary and Mallory talked about overcoming obstacles and not forgetting to work as a team.

After dividing into teams, the SCIPS students each paired up with a Dalat student and eagerly spread out to their scheduled sta-tions for activities. Each group had the opportunity to involve themselves in activities such as recycling, instrument matching, butterfly species identifying, pitching, soccer, science and math lessons, flags, and a par-ticularly horrifying food stand.

“At my station, because it was an ‘Amazing Race’ theme this year, I stayed by the butterfly farm and had each team that came to where I was identify at least three butterflies from a laminated sheet to either me, or my helper, Rachel [Halbedl, 8]. Then once they finished I gave them a clue,” Sarah Lawrence (12) said.

“At my station the kids had to

match certain instruments with the names, and then place them each in their correct category: woodwind, brass or percus-sion,” Uzzle said.

As everyone gathered in the amphitheater after finishing the activities, Mr. Brian Brewster, the high school principal, had a demonstration with liquid nitrogen. “He filled a large metal oil drum with water. He then put liquid nitrogen into an empty one-liter Coke bottle

and sealed it. He then stood the bottle into the bottom of the oil drum filled with water. We waited a couple of minutes, and then BOOOOOOOOM!! It was very loud, and it threw water about 20 feet into the air,” Mr. Scott Uzzle, the middle school counselor, said, describing the demonstration.

“At the end we used the liquid nitrogen to make some ice cream for everyone. The ice cream was so worth the sweat-

ing throughout the day,” Jen-nifer Vo (10) said excitedly.

As the students reminisced in their wet uniforms about the events that had just unfolded, Uzzle reveled in the adrena-line the explosion had caused. Students with eyes wide open quickly turned to their friends to share in the excitement as Mr. Uzzle looked on smiling, stating, “The kids had a lot of fun. A lot of friendships were formed. The SCIPS kids got to experience Dalat for a little bit.”

The students left with memo-ries engraved in their minds of closer friendships, warmer hearts, and the thrill of an excit-ing day. •

Die Meister, die Besten, les Grandes Équipes, the Champions!By Jim Choi

“Let’s go Javan Rhinos! Let’s go Shione [Stengele, 8]!” Joseph Kim (12) and Mr. David Sten-gele cheerfully shouted in support. Many fans cheered for the f i n a l chapter of the mid-dle school baseball league, Javan Rhinos vs. Monitor Lizards on 9 November on the upper field.

But p layers and f an s had a wor-rying look as dark clouds covered the sky. Despite ostensibly bad weather, Mr. Wayne Sawatzky, the um-pire of the match, continued the game.

“Strike!” Javan Rhinos’ pitcher Tim Sasse (7) strived to defend by pitching three strikes.

“OOOOHHHHH!” As the ball flew high and far, Monitor Lizards’ fans applauded loudly and excitedly. “I thought that was a foul ball. Oh no…” With a nervous voice, Mr. Stengele anxiously watched as the top of the first inning finished with the score 4-0.

As the bottom of the first in-ning began, Javan Rhinos’ fans cheered and encouraged their players. Despite this passionate support, the Rhinos failed to score in the first inning.

After the first inning, the two teams had contrasting fig-ures. During the top of the second inning, Monitor Lizards made a successful two-run hit, and widened the gap between them. “This game seems to be

one-sided,” said Kim with slight disappointment as

he nervously continued to watch.

During the bottom of the second inning, with a moment of silence, the fans fervently concentrated on the match. Two batters in Javan Rhinos had suc-cessfully proceeded to first and second base. The next batter, Stengele, stood on the home base filled with anxiety. He didn’t miss a wonderful opportunity, however, made an outstanding hit, and successfully proceeded to the first base.

With all the bases loaded, the next batter, Zachary Tan (8), made an excellent hit; and all batters came back to the home

base with no outs! Besides, with Lizards’ defense struggle, Rhinos stood up and began to “charge” the reptiles. The catcher of the Monitor Lizards, Joseph Hsu (7), threw his glove and walked back to the bench after the bottom of the second inning finished.

The third inning, which might end as the last inning of this match, began. Both teams braced themselves and prepared for glorious victory. After mak-ing some crucial mistakes in the second inning, the reptiles de-fended very well and the Rhinos had to move on to the bottom of the third inning to prevent the Lizards’ winning.

Despite the Rhinos’ effort, Monitor Lizards eventually scored 1 point, becoming the champions of middle school baseball.

One of the Monitor Lizards’ players Andrew Kim (7) said, “I was stressed out because I had a presentation for social studies before the baseball game, so I was really concerned about it. It was such a worrying day. But after my team won the match, I was so happy that I didn’t have to worry about anything.” •

Shall We Go?By Samuel Yeo

Every year, high school stu-dents anticipate this one day with enthusiasm: the Christmas Banquet. Before the actual Christmas Banquet happens, however, one predestined event

that causes all guys to shiver with fear, patience, agony, and joy must happen: the asking.

“Will you go to CB with me?” Abigail Brake (12) asked Nathan Peace (12) with the help of several dorm students. Brake planned an elaborate set-ting of a play, “The Christmas Banquet Carol,” by transforming

the student center into a huge stage. Each monologue, spoken by the ghosts of Christmas Ban-quet past, present, and future, contained a snippet of Peace’s previous and possible future ex-periences with CB. At the end, Peace replied, “Sure.”

Girls also fought each other(Continued on page 16, col. 1)


CB Asking...

(Continued from page 15, col. 4)to secure their star-crossed dates as boys spied on others’ peculiar actions. During this season, guys transformed into nicer and more amiable gentlemen, with perhaps the sole purpose of attracting the attention of their date-to-be.

“I was very excited because I didn’t really expect her to ask me, and everyone around me was hinting that I would love my CB because of my CB date. I think it will be a great CB for me,” said Shawn Kim (10), who went to the banquet with Anita Nordenso (10).

Asked male students con-cealed their twisted expressions, attempting to camouflage ef-fervescence that came from the excitement of the asking.

Once in a while, female students would ask the boys to whom they talked the most with an ambush. “I was surprised, because she [Emma Chinn, 10] purposely made me believe that she wasn’t going to ask me,” said Rick Brake (10), who did

not know who would ask him until the end. Chinn asked Brake while they played the game “Taboo.”

On the other hand, girls felt shy and nervous during the ask-ing as well. “I felt really excited because I was pretty sure that he would say yes, but there is always that little moment of uncertainty,” said Nicole Mauger (12).

Students also received help from various teach-ers to accomplish their asking. “I hoped he

[Shaun Hiew, 10] would say yes about going to

CB. Since Mrs. [Monica] Tan helped me to ask him during Biology, it was more

enthusiastic and fun,” said Joy Kim (10).

This festive annual event always gave hope to the current eighth grade students. “I feel sad and disappointed, and I can’t wait until next year because I get to hang out with my friends!” said Amanda Goh (8).

Next year, during this season, all male students will suffer and all female students will experi-ence nervousness to continue this tradition once again. •

UpBumping to the Top

By Christian Park

Wandering around campus and even mentioning the subject of men’s volleyball guaranteed the reaction of a confused stare or lighthearted chuckle. Quite frankly, the sport lost its seri-ousness and competitive views in the eyes of the male student body. But the sports program finally flipped the script and brought men’s volleyball back as a le-gitimate sport and resurrected its deserved respect after a long period of “non-existence” with a strong push. With the support and coach-ing of former volleyball player Mr. Chance Edman, a group of curious, yet determined players aspiring to learn such an elegant sport banded together; and the team finally built a foundation with a high potential for success at the MSSPP state tourna-ment.

Buzzes about the new sport rapidly flooded the school and began to raise momentum. A

small group of students already familiar with the sport eagerly spread the word to their friends to give it a shot. Raymond Pow (11) made sure to let his friends know about the upcoming tryouts. “This was a great year to get a team together. There are many stu-dents willing to take a chance at it,” he said.

It became a true mystery as to who would actually show up to the tryouts, but surprisingly it attracted the interest of more students than anticipated and turned out to become a great success.

Students piled into the gym and stared in awe as Coach Ed-man demonstrated the unique fundamentals of the game. The

students began to get down the basics, and the distinct thud of the ball striking against the fore-arms and hands of the players orchestrated around the entire gym. Volleyballs soared through the air like a medieval battlefield as students experimented with their fellow peers.

Instead of becoming intimi-dated by the towering net, play-ers insisted on conquering their new challenges and honing their skills. They immediately showed enjoyment for the game and its easily taught elements.

“Volleyball was really easy to learn and has become a new in-terest of mine. I’m excited to see how team grows in the future,” said Shion Matsumoto (9).

The team became a hope for upcoming athletes who desired to play a sport that opened its welcoming arms to any additions. It also gave those students feeling apathetic about

the semester’s winding down an opportunity to utilize their spare time and accept a challenge. With the football season ending a few weeks ago, a large number of the players showed an interest in volleyball and established themselves as impor-tant parts of the team.

“Volleyball is a fantastic sport that has high intensity and is fairly easy to learn. It’s great that we brought it back from the dead this year because it offers the soccer guys like me another sport after soccer is over,” said Jordan Strong (12).

With only a couple of months left until the competitive MSSPP tournament, the team continues to work hard at sharpening their skills and learning something new every practice. Once the team gets a chance to showcase their talents and the true colors to the entire school, the sport will take on an entirely new reputation.

This new team brought back not only the sport itself but also the spirit of the game. By Feb-ruary, the new united team will attempt to reach their goal and bring another prized banner to the gym. •

That Wednesday MorningBy Joe Merusi

Plenty within the community know of the drama perfor-mances that the high school puts on every year; some might even remember the names of a few, such as Take Two or Spy Blue. Few, however, knew anything about the Road Less Traveled Players (RLT players) before chapel that Wednesday morn-ing, 30 November. As students quieted down, an energetic group of young people, brought together to perform small sketches, greeted them. Jackie Ashkin (10) walked to the center of the chapel, full of anticipation, ready to show off the RLT Players. Students laughed as Julie DeVette (12) tromped over the stage, posing as a rowdy polar bear. All the while, questions wan-dered through heads: just how did this group form and why?

It all started in Mark Sasse’s classroom with the man himself and two very ambitious young women. The RLT Players didn’t simply appear out of nowhere, but instead required careful

thought and the will to take the road less traveled. Ashkin and Ciera Nash often visited Mr. Sasse during their F block lunch, having conversations about anything from food to homework; but one day a fan-tastic idea spawned that would benefit students and likely keep Mr. Sasse busy for the rest of the semester. Discussions about a group called “The Footstool Players,” who wrote scripts and then preformed them, inspired the idea of the RLT Players.

With their idea in motion, Ashkin, Nash, and Mr. Sasse worked hard to find a theme that would fit the empirical prowess of such an outstanding brainchild, so they chose the one right in front of them. The Road Less Traveled theme had circulated throughout Dalat since the beginning of the year, and the most logical choice seemed to go along with it.

With the theme in place and the writers ready to exercise their creative genius, only the need for Mr. Brian Brewster’s (Continued on page 17, col. 1)


The RTL Players...

(Continued from page 16, col. 4)approval kept the RLT players from performing. In the end, Mr. Brewster consented to the per-formance and the idea quickly turned to reality.

“It’s a lot of commitment and hard work, but in the end it pays off,” said Ashkin.

Those who wanted to join a drama production, such as Joel Shafer (12), now had the ability to do so. Shafer said, “I wanted to have an outlet for drama, something enjoyable to do.”

Others like Jennifer Vo (10) felt like the RLT players provided the chance to perform in some-thing a little out of the ordinary.

“The style of drama is different from most dramas, [for example] there is more than one story,” said Vo.

People such as Vo and Sha-fer had the chance to perform this semester even though the regular drama had all of its cast chosen.

That Wednesday chapel may have seemed short, but the possibilities for the RLT players continues. Though Dalat drama still roots itself in contemporary plays, the RLT players have brought something new to the table. These sketches may yet become another part of the Da-lat drama tradition and bring a completely new aspect of perfor-mance to the student body. •

Who Is the Next Mozart?By Roc Wu

A s 4 o ’ c l o ck ap -proached, the children and their parents sat in the cha-

pel, wait ing for Mrs. Valeri

Brokaw to call on t h e first participant. This performer walked up to the piano nervously and pre-pared himself for his first piece of piano music to be played. The first note coming from the piano announced that the piano recital had begun. As he finished his

performance, the crowd clapped loudly in awe.

Every semester, Mrs. Brokaw and Mrs. Noreen Khoo organize two piano recitals on the same day, one at 4 o’clock and one at 7.

This event provided children who play the piano or the violin an opportunity to perform rep-ertoires they had prepared for months. The children took this opportunity and demonstrated the hard work and progress they had put into their pieces to their family members, their peers, and their friends.

“It was so much fun listen-ing to them playing the piano!” exclaimed Nicole Mauger (12). “The kids were so adorable!”

“I’m extremely impressed with the talent of Dalat students! Dalat academics and athletics are so rigorous, and yet in addition, these musicians have made time in their busy schedule to study piano and perform at a high caliber. The recital contained a variety of performance levels and genres, making it interesting and entertaining. A favorite of many was the delightful perfor-mance of Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Sugar Plum Fairy’ by Roc Wu [12] and Juliet DeVette [12],” shared Mrs. Michele Trescott, a new middle school teacher.

Aside from the wonderful music played by the piano play-ers, one tiny incident that hap-pened added some comic relief to the 7 o’clock session. As De-Vette started to play her piece, her sheet music fell off the stand. Even with this accident, DeVette continued to perform as soon as she adjusted her music back to the stand. DeVette’s courage to finish her performance and her talent earned her the loudest applause from the crowd.

As DeVette finished the night with “Interlude” by Lizst, the re-cital came to an end. The music heard at this event showed how Dalat’s students can achieve suc-cess not only in academics but also in the field of music. •

A Lasting FriendshipBy Yee Pei Png

“I begged my sister to tell me who my senior buddy was but she did not want to,” stated Brenda Ng (8). Cries of joy and excitement erupted from the eighth graders as they opened their lockers and saw the notes from their senior buddies.

The smell of salt water and the gentle roar of the waves filled the atmosphere as the Class of 2012 prepared outside of the cafeteria, under the hot sun, for the annual eighth grade buddy meeting on Friday, 4 November.

As the bell rang at 3:45 p.m., the seniors greeted the

eighth graders with a “failed” tunnel and welcoming smiles. The seniors then began to talk with their buddies and served them Coke floats. “I could see that the seniors and the eighth graders really clicked well, and that they really enjoyed hang-ing out with each other at the event,” exclaimed Xher Rael Choo (12).

Every year, seniors partner up with at least one eighth grader to guide them in their transition from middle school to high school. Nervousness crept in as the eighth graders and seniors met each other for the first time. Christina Kim

(12) admitted, “It was kind of awkward the first time I saw my eighth grade buddies, but I tried to make it not awkward. Over-all I had fun with them. Some seniors and eighth graders had to leave for sports [practice], so it would’ve been nicer if they stayed. Anyways, I look forward to see them again.”

After a little chit chat outside the cafeteria, the seniors invited the eighth graders into the cha-pel for a game of Jeopardy led by Winnie Tan (12).

As the host of the evening, Joseph Kim (12) split up the groups by numbering the seniors with their eighth grade buddies. Jeopardy included facts about 47 seniors; the eighth graders had to match a fact to a senior. According to the rules, the se-

niors could not offer any help; however, some disregarded this rule, whispering answers to the eighth graders whenever a description of one of their friends appeared on the screen. Surprisingly, the seniors knew each other incredibly well; but some of the eighth graders man-aged to guess which senior the facts belonged to without any assistance.

“I wasn’t sure of some things about high school before we had senior buddies. I had quite a lot of questions, but you [Yee Pei Png, 12] answered all of them. I looked forward to it when I heard that we were going to have senior buddies. I had a lot of fun meeting you and the seniors. The Jeopardy game was awe-some! ” said Cheryl Yeap (8).

The meeting offered a great opportunity for seniors and eighth graders to bond closely and to create a lasting friend-ship. After the Jeopardy, all left the chapel with joy and smiles on their faces. •

Smiles T hat Are Worth the MileBy Nicole Cheah

Rays of the sun gleaming upon the waters with coconut palms swaying overhead, complete with white sandy beaches and fishing boats bobbing on the waves at the southwest coast of Penang Island—far away from the busy streets and crowded shopping malls in town—lies the quiet fishing village of Gertak Sanggul.

For the past two years, Dalat

students have volunteered to teach English to the local kids. On 19 November, Dalat students hosted an outdoor carnival at the local village school’s field for the entire community.

The sun shone brightly on the cloudless day, making it perfect for an outdoor carnival. The sound of children’s laughter and screams filled the place as they (Continued on page 18, col. 1)


Gertak Sanggul’s Party...

(Continued from page 17, col. 4)ran about with brightly colored balloons in their hands to various game stations set up for them. Some parents joined in the games; others sat at the tables prepared for them, socializing with their fellow villagers. Dalat students and staff helped run different game stations and a prize table. Children who won tickets in any game could exchange them for popcorn, candies, stationery, board games,

and small toys at the prize table.As the hour went by, Mr.

Jonathan Steffen made an an-nouncement to ask the villagers and their children to queue up and receive their share of the free KFC set meal and a dessert of coconut jelly.

After dinner came the time for lucky draws. Dalat staff had prepared many toys, board games, and miscellaneous items to give away to the lucky win-ners. The grand prizes for the lucky draw included a flashing new mountain bike and a few

other smaller bikes.As the sun set, the blue

cloudless sky gradually faded to a darker shade; the villagers slowly made their way out of the field. Eventually, as the sound of talking and laughter died down, Dalat students and staff, hungry and tired, made their way to the classroom at the side of the field to have dinner and share their experiences during the carnival. Then came the time to clean up the trash and pack everything back into the school van.

At approximately 8 p.m.,

CB: a Winter Wonderland By Rebekah Wiesner

Outside the halls of Santa’s workshop, on 3 December, in the muggy Malaysian air, the high school students waited anxiously for a peek into the Flamingo Hotel’s ballroom. Chatter filled the air, dates exchanged gifts, and girls shuffled to and fro snapping pictures; all waited for the doors to open and the an-nual Christmas Ban-quet to begin. Students turned to see Evelyne Kiiza (11) open the doors at last. Cold air rushed from the room, reliev-ing everyone of the sweltering heat as they filed into Santa’s workshop.

The brightly decorated room automatically caught everyone’s

attention. Hand painted deco-rations hung on the walls and artificial snow dabbled the tables to give the entire room a Winter Wonderland feel. By the door,

under a Christmas tree, stu-dents began placing the gifts that they had brought for those less fortunate. With the help of Mrs. Anne-Marie Pagee, this year

students not only gave gifts to their dates but

also to an orphan-age to help make

Christmas a special time for the orphans as well.

“Chi Yuan [Lo, 12] was really funny with his unique accent. He was instrumental to the night because he kept the program running, and even when we had to wait for food

we had fun!” said Reagan Ma-honey (11).

He and others laughed as Lo, the emcee of the night, dressed up in a Santa suit and sandals, started off the night with his hilarious antics and his uproari-ous accent.

The program included deco-rating gingerbread men, a game to test how well some of the dates worked together, and, caroling to end the night.

Danae Frentz (12), remem-bering the aura of the night said with a chuckle, “Getting all dressed up is actually quite exciting! I loved seeing everyone in debonair apparel, as opposed to the seemingly drab school uniform. My favorite part was just laughing as a whole table. I enjoyed everyone’s company.”

Then she added, “Also, the gingerbread cookie decorating was an entertaining and creative activity that Student Council thought of.”

As the night came to a close and the students began to file out of the ballroom, welcomed once again by the muggy Malaysian air, they wished to return, sad-dened by the thought that the night had ended.

Christian Park (12) left the ballroom with a heavy heart saying, “The sight of everyone coming together on such a splendid occasion sparked a tingling sensation in my heart. It was remarkable to see all my classmates in their breathtaking outfits. I wish the night didn’t have to end.”

Many left the ballroom with the same feeling as Park, wish-ing that the Christmas spirit could continue on and that the night didn’t have to end. •

vans left the little village. “This carnival was about blessing the village—showing care and love without any religious or political affairs. The target was the local children and their parents. The parents were happy. It was a success,” said Mr. Steffen.

Dalat students and staff blessed the small community when given the chance to help out and saw the local villagers and children’s smiles on their faces; despite the long ride to the tip of the island, it definitely seemed worth the trip. •

Eagle’s Eye Dalat InternatIonal School

tanjung Bunga

Penang, MalaYSIa

eagle's eye dec 2011

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