Student Exchange: Cheese and Hot Chocolate!

Posted on November 5, 2014 by admin

Even though I have been here for a little more than three weeks now, I still cannot believe that you can buy a subway sandwich for $7,000! (2,000 Pesos ≈ 1 USD). It’s always funny walking around the streets and thinking “Honestly, who would buy a burger for $7,000?” and then remembering the exchange rate.

Last weekend, I went to a beautiful town called Villa de Leyva. Villa de Leyva is full of Spanish architecture that dates back to the Spanish invasion. This makes it a very historically interesting place. I learned quite a few things on Colombian history in that city.

Not only did we have the chance to visit the wonderful streets and beautiful little shops that inhabit them, but we also had the opportunity to go see an ostrich farm. Those big ridiculous birds are actually very scary up front.

In the city, on the night of our first day, there was a very nice firework celebrating la Señora del Rosario who is the saint of Villa de Leyva. Also, I had the opportunity to try a very local soup called “ajiaco” that is made from a whole bunch of things: multiple potato varieties, different flowers, corn, and some beef. It’s very good!

Speaking of food, Colombians LOVE cheese. They put cheese in absolutely everything! Over at Villa de Leyva, I learned that they don’t put marshmallows in their hot chocolate. Oh no, that’s too sweet. Instead, they put cheese! I would have never thought of doing that… This may sound crazy, but it is actually pretty good. I might start replacing my marshmallows with cheese now.

I had a wonderful time at Villa de Leyva, and I can’t wait for the Halloween party this weekend and everything else that Colombia has to offer. – Paul Virally ’17, Exchange Student @ Colegia Anglo Colombiano

Discovering Our Personal Legends

Posted on November 4, 2014 by admin

In its broadest sense, alchemy is the process of transforming a common substance or quality into a valuable one, for example, the creation of precious gold from base lead or, as in the case of The Alchemist, the realization of one’s destiny. Paulo Coelho defines alchemy as “penetrating to the soul of the world, and discovering the treasure that has been reserved for you.”

In realizing your personal legend or reason for being, you undergo the alchemy of self-transformation, an internal process influenced by external realities but remaining nonetheless your unique dream. Coelho maintains, “People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them, or that they’ll be unable to achieve them.” However, he adds, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.” And Coelho is not referring to the latest material fad, like the iPhone 6. Rather he is teaching us about our inner truth or spiritual treasure, in other words, what makes us who we are and drives us to be the person we aspire to be. As he says, “To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation.”

Our special guest for today’s LCC Reads assembly embodies the ideals Coelho captures in The Alchemist. Patrick Watson ’97, an alumnus of our school and my former student, learned early in his life his reason for being. As a young man, he aspired to be a professional musician, not the kind of livelihood parents tend to support enthusiastically. However, in his single-minded pursuit of his dream, Mr. Watson has not only succeeded but also excelled. His personal legend is to create music, and, unlike many who did not persevere and gave up on their dream, he was not afraid to pursue his most important dream and continues to remain true to his ideals.

Likewise, In a collective way, over the past ten years, the LCC Reads Committee has realized its personal legend: to promote the value and joy of reading. Reading and self-reflection, along with positive action, allow us to understand our place in the world and our true aspirations. As American author Stephen King writes, “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” Reading is transformative; it can change you and your thinking; it turns base metal into gold.

Brian Moore – International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Coordinator & English Department Head

Get Uncentered

Posted on November 4, 2014 by admin

This week I urged our Middle and Senior School students to become uncentered. Yes, uncentered. To be centred is about being balanced, to feel calm and at ease. I value the opportunity to be centred as much as the next person. However, in our lifelong quest to be balanced and focused, I believe that we also benefit from actively seeking opportunities to be uncentered.

It is subtle, but I asked our students to notice that the Round Square Associations of schools intentionally placed the name of its organization off-centre in its own logo. This is because one of the key objectives of membership in Round Square is to provide meaningful experiences that take adolescents out of their regular routines and challenge their values, norms and assumptions. This can be done through leadership conferences that explore the six RS IDEALS, and through international exchanges and service projects.

Two weeks ago I returned from Jordan along with Ms. Shadley and six grade 11 LCC students. The international Round Square conference included delegates from 52 schools. All of our students were active participants, very willing to be uncentered.

Just going to Jordan required a good dose of courage. According to our popular media, a trip to the Middle East – and specifically to the Muslim world –is alleged to be a dangerous decision that will inevitably lead to problems with terrorists, extremists and political instability. But that was certainly not our experience!

So, a few thoughts about Jordan… More than anything, it is known for its moderation and openness amongst Muslim states. It is dedicated to the promotion of tolerance, inclusiveness, peacekeeping, dialogue and global citizenship. The Jordanian Prime Minister told all student delegates from the 52 schools gathered that the country has a mission among all Arab states: to be a prototype and example of human commitment to respect and peace. Despite these lofty goals, its territory is small, as is its population – about 8 million – the same as Quebec. Jordan has a lot of strategic borders with countries such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and Israel. Nonetheless, Jordan has a stable political environment and a recent history marked by peace and minimal terrorist activity.

Jordan is a real leader in the region by its response to the recent civil strife in Syria just to the north. Jordan has accepted 1.4 million desperate political refugees from that war-torn country. Consider the impact if we did the same here in Quebec! Unbelievably, Jordan has not shut its borders. Despite the extraordinary financial cost of sheltering so many refugees, Jordan continues to welcome Syria’s war-weary because it believes deeply in its humanitarian responsibilities.

The host RS school, King’s Academy, is a relatively new school. Established in 2007 by Jordan’s King Abdullah, it is the Arab world’s first boarding school – and and the first high school to bring students from all around the world to Jordan to study.

There are many elements of being uncentered that I remember. Every morning, the 5 am call-to-prayer dominated the landscape, as did the call to-prayer- several times throughout the day.

But I was particularly struck by the intelligence and courage of a young female presenter whose life experience is radically at odds with everything our students know, value, and consider normal. Shabana Basij-Rasikh is a 23-year-old Afghani woman who attended a secret primary and secondary school in Afghanistan when the country was under the rule of the Taliban. Under that extremist group’s control, it was illegal for girls to attend school. Yet, Shabana’s parents actually risked death by dressing their daughter as a boy and sent her to a secret school because they valued learning so much.

Shabana’s story is a powerful one. She was successful in school and along the way managed to earn a scholarship to a top American university. She shared with us that despite her good fortune, she felt guilty to be so lucky because less than 1% of Afghan girls receive any post-secondary education or training outside of the home, and 90% of women remain illiterate. So she asked herself, what will I do with this privilege? What will I do with my education?

She told us that the most valued profession in her country is to become a doctor. However, she didn’t see this possibility as her personal passion. She considered becoming a lawyer, but dropped that too because she felt her eventual social impact would be limited. After considering how she would have the broadest impact on Afghan society, she decided to become a teacher – and she challenged our students on this point. She noted to the RS student delegates that 75 million girls in the world today are prevented from receiving an education by governments that actively limit the roles and progress of girls.

At age 23, Shabana has gone on to establish the first boarding school for girls in Afghanistan. SOLA – the School of Leadership in Afghanistan – now teaches 42 girls and wants to grow to 340 students, with girls coming on scholarship from each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. Already under Shabana’s dedication and leadership, more than 40 Afghan students have earned close to $10 million in scholarships to study at universities abroad.

I was very impressed by Shabana’s courage, her entrepreneurial skills and her devotion to the teaching, growth and development of young women in Afghanistan. She was very clear that she does not see her role as empowerment. Rather, she describes it “as simply creating space so that young, smart girls can grow into their confident selves”. Very impressive!

Reminding students that very few girls in her country even receive an education, Shabana sees knowledge, training and learning as precious. So she asked delegates to do their best to use their education wisely. Her core question was “How will you give your education a purpose? Is it just for you? Or can you help others help others to raise their voices?

I thank Shabana for those great questions. And the more our students have the courage to become uncentered as they grow older, the easier it will become to answer those questions for themselves. What will they do with their education? – Christopher Shannon, Headmaster

Student Exchange: Discovering Bogotá

Posted on November 3, 2014 by admin

Arriving in the city of Bogotá was amazing. The whole city is surrounded by mountains making it nice and cozy. All of the buildings were inside this little box made by the mountains. It vas very weird to see all of that green land, and right next to it, a series of buildings. That got me really excited to visit this interesting city.

Also, since Bogotá is 2600m high, it became a little difficult to do normal tasks like walking or going up stairs. So, when my host family picked me up, I was already out of breath just from walking around the airport. But thankfully, they were very kind and helped me with everything that I needed.

On the way to my new home for the next month and a half, I was able to see what happens when you squeeze 8 million people in a relatively small city. It took about two hours to get to the house (which was not very far away) because of all of the traffic. It wasn’t even a busy day! Apparently, from what my exchange, Camilo, said, the traffic is one of the worst in the world.

Once we got home, I was shown the love of soccer that Colombian’s (yes, Colombia, not Columbia. It’s practically a crime to call a Colombian, a Columbian…) have. Even a family like the family that I am staying with who are not very big fans of soccer love that sport. The night I was home, I was watching a soccer game. It was Colombia vs. El Salvador. Colombia, as one of the best teams in the world, won 3-1. The whole family screamed and we had a very good time that night.

On Tuesday, my first day of school, I was shown eight huge buildings. Apparently all of those belong to the school. It was very easy to get lost, but thankfully all of the wonderful new friends that I made helped me navigate my way around the school. Only three courses are in Spanish so I can actually understand what the teachers are saying most of the time. But during the Spanish classes, I try to understand as much as I can to build up a vocabulary to be able to talk with my exchange family only in Spanish.

On the weekend, we visited the older part of Bogotá, where you could see all of the ancient Spanish architecture. It was beautiful and we had lunch at a very typical Colombian restaurant. So far, I have tried at least a dozen new foods, especially fruits. They have many exotic fruits in Colombia.

I also had the opportunity to go to a Colombian party. We danced to some very different music (they call it reggaeton), and I had lots of fun there.

The following Tuesday, there was another exciting soccer game. Although, this time, it was Colombia vs. Canada! I was very excited to see how it would turn out, and I was happy to see that we only lost 1-0 to one of the best teams in the world.

I am now getting ready to go to Villa de Leyva which is a very old and small town. It dates back to the Spanish invasion. I know that it will be awesome. I know that Colombia has a lot more to show me and I hope to be able to tell you all about it in my future blogs.

Espero que todos ustedes tengan la oportunidad de visitar Bogotá un día, ya que es uno de los lugares más interesantes que he visitado. Chao! – Paul Virally ’17 – Exchange Student @ Colegia Anglo Colombiano

Round Square International Conference Jordan 2014: Student Reflections

Posted on October 29, 2014 by admin

It sometimes happens, though not at all frequently, that a setting is so extraordinary, foreign and exotic that it will steal the show and threaten to make one forget primary themes. Jordan is such a setting. It is a country so exciting that we could be forgiven for forgetting, for a little while, that the point is not really the country but the Conference itself and that a setting is merely background to highlight the main message. The Conference, then, is the highlight. Internationalism was a somewhat abstract concept for me; being a delegate at the Round Square conference in Jordan at the beginning of October became a lesson in applied internationalism. I learned that internationalism is so much more than just traveling thousands of miles to a foreign country. It is more than the pleasure of mingling with students of different nationalities. Internationalism is more than getting Facebook requests from students in South Korea, Dubai or Jordan. Internationalism means to discover that peace, universally desired, holds different meaning for different people and that there exists widely differing visions on how to achieve peace. It means arguing with students from 80 Round Square schools, but ultimately finding common ground in our belief in an education based on such pillars as democracy and leadership. It means getting a renewed hope in dialogues between countries, and an understanding that we are indeed part of a global village. – David Elbaz ’15

Travelling to Jordan for the Round Square Conference was an extremely eye opening experience. While it was incredible to see people ride donkeys and camels on the side of a busy highway, or walk through Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World the true eye opener was that for once us “North-Americans” felt like a small minority. On the first night of our conference, we heard a speech about the Palestine-Israel conflict that was very clearly pro-Palestine. Because of my background the speech made me feel slightly uncomfortable, and I quickly realized that there are so many different ways to view an issue and attaining peace isn’t as easy as I’d thought. From then on, we discussed many other prominent issues in the Middle East, such as Syrian Refugees, ISIS and the Israel vs. Hamas conflict. – Jessie Lackstein ’15

Al salamu alaikum, Peace be With You was the theme for this Conference. Guest Speaker Shabana Basij-Rasikh and her mission truly encompassed this theme. She was a notable guest speaker that had an amazing impact on us. At the age of six, the Taliban invaded her town restricting her from receiving any schooling. The consequences in Afghanistan for a woman to attend school or walk alone outside without male escort is death. Luckily in 2002, Shabana was given the opportunity to attend a proper high school in the USA. She then went on the Middlebury College as a student and went on to co-found the only boarding school for girls in Afghanistan. Shabana felt the responsibility to found a girl school in her own country as a way to give back after being given so much opportunity in her own life. She did not want to say that she was empowering the girls who attend her school as she see’s that word as condescending but simply educate them in hopes of a more prosperous future for the next female generation in Afghanistan. Today, SOLA, is free for the 42 Afghani girls who attend her school. – Nora Althani ’15

One story from this conference I’d like to share is that of one of the bravest men I’ve ever met, Sariah Samake, an 18 year old grade 10 student. While most of you may associate being older than your grade with failure, Sariah’s story is a little more complex. Living in Syria, he was kidnapped three times in three years: by Syrian rebels, the Syrian government, and ISIS. Each respective time, he had to endure unbearable psychological torture, yet he never compromised the truth, even under gunpoint, with death staring him in the face. To me, that’s what makes these trips worthwhile: the incredible people you meet. Whether it’s someone like Sariah who can tell life-changing stories firsthand, or simply someone who you talk to once, each individual offers a unique perspective of the world and society we live in, challenging our dogmatism and offering exposure to the amazing world around us. – Spencer Albert ’15

A ce point ci, mes camarades ont dit tout qui est profond. Cette conférence était la même chose pour moi, mais je veux parler de quelque chose différente ; Petra. Un poste de commerce d’antiquité, Petra était ciselé dans la pierre par les Nabateans Anciens. Notre randonnée nous à pris jusqu’au sommet d’une montagne déserte, et sur la piste nous avons vues des constructions qui ont donnés un nouveau sens au mot « Épique ». Après un vue spectaculaire en haut du montagne, nous avons retournés à l’Autobus par âne et chameau. Petra est une destination absolument fantastique et il faut y aller pour vraiment savourer Jordanie. – Maxim Makarov ’15

De la part de Jessie, Nora, Max, David, Spencer et moi, nous voudrions remercier Mme Shadley, M. Shannon et Mme Garber, qui nous a accompagnés pendant ce voyage extraordinaire et inoubliable. Sans eux, nous n’aurions jamais eu cette chance d’explorer la beauté inspirante du Moyen-Orient et d’apprendre la diversité des cultures et les défis qui viennent avec. De plus, nous avons beaucoup apprécié l’accueil chaleureux de tous les élèves de King’s Academy et un grand merci à tous les autres élèves autour du monde, qui ont participé à cette conférence mémorable. Al Salamu Alaikum. Peace be with you. Merci. – Sabrina Chan ’15

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