Nothing, Issue #11 - 1st International School of Ostrava

NOTHiNg
March 2013 Issue #11
www.is-ostrava.cz
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Cover bys Lucie Smrktova
. . . but there is
always somethin
g!!!
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WE
NO printing = saving
TREES !!!
Staff
Editor-in-Chief Eva Urbančíková
Design & Layout Betty Lištvanová
Video Engineer
Art Editor
Photo Editor
Cover Art
Jirka Staněk
Veronika Šigutová
Lucie Lollková
Lucie Smrktová
Writers
Natálie Krsičková
Hai Dinhová
Marie Drabinová
Anna Holešínská
Benjamin Kotik
Caruna Qaundinya
Teresa Bilan
Every Trial Makes You Stronger
It probably seemed to you that our magazine had a short
break during last two months, but be sure that the Nothing team was working really hard. Students are exhausted
as well as teachers. Negative energy is spreading through
the air and everybody needs rest. I am asking myself “Why
is today’s world based on a hurry?”
Vendula Vilimovská
Kateřina Petrusová
Viktorie Karkošková
Dominika Rašťáková
Veronika Šigutová
David Nguyen
Christo Christov
Design & Photography
Romis Truong Soňa Krupková
Comics
Tereza Fojtíková
Sometimes, It is obvious that almost everybody gets pressured by time. But we are just people, not robots as the
modern world tells us. If you cancel some activities you
like, you can manage more things successfully, but you
cannot be relaxed. If you keep all your activities, you are
happy to do it, but you cannot manage it successfully.
Generally, you cannot be well-relaxed in both cases and
that is the point. It is a vicious spiral, which absorbs you
more and more…
content
SCHOOL
Teacher to Students.........................................4
Open House Day.............................................5
Why Do You Do That?!.....................................6
Active Citizens..................................................7
Life after ISO: when the good times begin...........9
Healthy Snack Day...........................................11
Teresa Times...................................................12
However, Nothing crew has managed to prepare for you
a brand new issue full of interesting interviews, articles,
graphics, photos and videos. During the past weeks,
many competitions happened, as you can read in this issue. The guests of our “Why Do You Do That?” column are
winners of the Christmas Party Talent Show. Our reporters
have also interviewed the student and teacher winners of
“Best of ISO Competition” arranged by Nothing magazine.
We also have an article for you about our students´ new
project called Active Citizens, which is concerned with improving our social behaviour. Our column “My Dream Job”
is introducing you to the great actress and singer Teresa
Polk, who is from Los Angeles, but lives now in Ostrava!
And do not forget to read a letter from alum Tereza Krátká,
who is studying now at university in France!
LOCAL
What’s Up.......................................................14
One Year of Ostravanka....................................16
Movie Review...................................................17
World’s Best on Ostrava’s Ice............................20
Interview with Teresa Polk..................................21
SOCKS
The Secret of Life (part 2)..................................24
High Heels Corner............................................24
The Best of ISO Competition.............................25
My Spring Holidays......................................... 28
Science Box....................................................28
Editorial Page: Personal Opinions.......................29
Book Review....................................................30
Nothing in the Hall............................................31
Dr. & Mr. Halls..................................................31
So, even if you are tired from all the tasks and events in
your life, try to see it in a positive way and be optimistic like
us. It will help you feel at least little bit relaxed and to manage things better. As the famous phrase says, “Every trial
makes you stronger.”
Eva Urbančíková
Editor-in-Chief
3
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Teache
Interview with Ms. Straszheim
r to stu
dents
Miss Charity Straszheim is our new teacher of this school year. We decided to ask her
a few questions to see how she got here and what she likes about our school.
Nothing: Hello Ms. Straszheim!
Ms. Straszheim: Hello.
big family. I have 3 sisters, 3 brothers-in-law, 3 nieces, 1
nephew, and one of my sisters is pregnant right now.
Nothing: We would like to do an interview with you
because you are quite new at the school and we
don´t know many things about you. Is it OK for you?
Ms. Straszheim: Yes, I´d be happy to do an interview
with you.
Nothing: Oh, congratulations! How often do you
meet each other? I guess you miss them, right?
Ms. Straszheim: Yes – the 3 sisters visited me here in
Czech Republic last year.
Nothing: That is nice. – I have one more question
for you. Is the Czech Republic different from the
USA and in what way is it different?
Ms. Straszheim: It is hard to say. There are many
small differences. But the biggest difference is probably
that the USA is much bigger than the Czech Republic
so everything seems to be closer here.
Nothing: OK. So the first question: Where do you
come from?
Ms. Straszheim: I am from Iowa and I studied at a
university in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Nothing: And for how long have you been living
here in the Czech Republic?
Ms. Straszheim: I have been here a year and a half
already.
Nothing: OK. That is all I wanted to ask you. Thank
you very much.
Ms. Straszheim: You are welcome.
Nothing: And why did you decide to move here? I
think that lots of our st dents would be happy if they
could live in the USA. But you have moved the opposite way - from the USA to the Czech
Republic.
Ms. Straszheim: Well, the
Czech Republic is the first foreign country I ever went to. I was
15 years old when I came here
for the first time to help with English
camps. Later on I decided that I would
like
to have some international experience.
Because of that I decided that I would like to come to the
Czech Republic again. I did a fellowship with the Fulbright Commission in 2011-2012
by Dominika Rašťáková
Nothing: That sounds interesting. How do you like
it here?
Ms. Straszheim: The thing I like the most are the
Czech people. I think that people are what make the
country interesting.
Nothing: OK. And what about your family? I guess
that they have stayed in USA, haven´t they?
Ms. Straszheim: Yes, they have. Actually I have quite
4
As we know, the ISO organized the “Open House Day”. People came to look at our
school to see if they or their children want to study at our school. My 4 classmates,
Sany, Ben, Týna and Eliška helped out with the O.H.D. They showed our school to the
guests who came. So I interviewed them about O.H.D…
Nothing: What were you doing at the O.H.D.?
Sany: We were walking through our school with people
who came to the O.H.D.
same time?
Ben: Yes, sometimes it was little bit hard.
Nothing: Did you enjoy this O.H.D?
Ben: It was great.
Sany: Yes, I liked to help with that.
Eli: I liked that too.
Týna: It was fine. We hope that some new students will
come. Maybe they will be in our class!
Nothing: And you were only walking, or the people
were also asking some questions about school?
Ben: They were asking about learning, if it wasn’t hard for
us to move from our old Czech school.
Nothing: And how many people came?
Týna: I think 10-15 people.
Nothing: Would you go to a similar event next year?
Sany: Yes, it was fun, and we didn’t have to study! We
had free time!
Nothing: And how many children?
Týna: Children came, too. Maybe 5 to 8.
by Natálie Krsičková
Nothing: And wasn’t it hard to guide all the people
through our school and answer their questions at the
5
SCHOOL
Open House Day
SCHOOL
Winners of ISO’s Got Talent!
Our Nothing team interviewed the winners of the 1st ISO Got Talent
competition, which took place at the Christmas Party in December!
Míša Macháčková
talented singer who was chosen
to win by the audience!
LINK for the video
LINK for the video
http://bit.ly/10uJyup
http://bit.ly/13NA4LC
WHY DO YOU DO THAT!?
Honza Krawczyk
talented trialbiker who was
chosen to win by the judges!
by David Nguyen
6
SCHOOL
. . .making our society better
Do you mind inappropriate and nasty behaviour in
public? In today´s world, there is a lack of etiquette
and good behaviour. That is why our school is introducing a new project called “Etiketo, těší mě!”
(Nice to meet you, Etiquette!), which was prepared
under our student group called Active Citizens. Our
team is cooperating not only with the British Council, which is the leading organization, but also with
the European Union and Člověk v tísni (People in
Need).
With this project, we want our citizens to create and
develop more active social attitudes toward society. We would like to tell them about basic polite
behaviour on the public places and in the means
of the public transportation especially. We cooperate with the City of Ostrava and the Transportation
Company of Ostrava (DPO).
7
•
•
•
•
Educational workshops at schools
Promotion of polite manners at schools and in public
2 happenings on Masaryk square in Ostrava
Media campaign in Ostrava public transport (Dopravní podnik Ostrava a.s.)
Karolína Lukoszová
Jan Morawiec
(Grade 12, project leader):
(Grade 12, project leader):
“Personally I consider this project
to be a great way to actively
participate in our community life.
I enjoy working on this project
a lot - it is entertaining to create everything step by step and
cooperate with others. And the
best thing is that we can help every person who would notice
and remember our adverts is a
great success.”
“I believe that this project
has real potential. In my
opinion it has the power to
change people's behaviour
in the same way an advertisement for Coca Cola
does. Only this is an advertisement for etiquette.”
Nina Pavelková:
Ivo Helebrant:
I’m really proud of our students
because they discovered what it
means to be really involved and
how to prepare and manage
a really great project from the
very beginning! Big thanks go to
everyone who is participating in
this project. Keep it up!
“I am absolutely satisfied with
the running of this project,
especially with the positive
attitude and work of students
engaged to this project.”
Are you travelling by public
transport in Ostrava? The
campaign is running now!
Notice our advertisements
about behaviour, conscience, and good mood!
Advertisement art done by Veronika Šigutová and Romis
8
SCHOOL
We are realizing step by step:
2012 alum and a former member of Nothing, Tereza Krátká, sent us a letter
about her new life in France! Enjoy it!:)
Bonjour, my dearest ISO!
I can’t believe that my first year of university is almost over! As some of you
might know, I study Economics and Business Administration in a lovely city called
Nantes in France. I follow a special program called “parcours International” which
doesn’t mean, as I thought, that there would be many international students. In
fact, it’s just me and about 23 French students. In the first semester, we had two
classes taught in English so that was a great relief for me while some of my classmates
were facing a language barrier. Nevertheless, the classes of the second semester are
entirely in French but after 4 months I got used to it and it’s really cool now.
I still find it incredible to be meeting people from all over the world. There are many international students; most of them are just Erasmus students and stay
either for a semester or two. It’s amazing to have friends not only from France as you
could assume, but even from Mexico, Columbia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, ... There
is a Czech community in Nantes, too, so every Monday there is so called “cafe francoslave”- a French-Slav cafe where Czechs, Bulgarians, and some French people meet.
I’m definitely the youngest of all the Czechs that go there-most of them are around
25-30 years old but then when we hang out, it feels like there’s no age difference at
all. Everyone is really friendly with me and every time I say I come from the Czech
Republic they say that either they had already been to Prague or heard it was amazing.
I never knew that Prague was so popular!
SCHOOL
Life after ISO : when the good
times begin...
hockey match (yes, that’s right! a hockey match in France!) and found it ironic that
there were 4 Czech and Slovak players in the local team (in the team of Toulon against
which Nantes was playing there was also a considerable number of Czech players-like a
goal keeper named J. Jagr). And actually a cool story happened to me there. I was really lucky to hear a girl speaking in Czech to a small kid so after the match I went to
say Hi. She was so happy to see someone from CZ that she invited me to the VIP club
to meet the guys (plus there was a free buffet)- something that would probably never
happen if I were in the Czech Republic.
From time to time I start being nostalgic and remember my high school life. At
that time I either send a message to someone or just open the new issue of Nothing
and I feel proud to be one of the founding crew. I hope you guys still have as much fun
with it as I had! And congratulations to all the members of Nothing, you’re doing a
great job!
Tereza Kratka
P.S. There’s a picture from one of our international dinners-almost every week we get
together with my 2 Mexican friends, my French friend, and my Tunisian friend and
make a meal from one of these countries. They’ve already tried smazeny kvetak, halusky,
and bramboraky and loved it all. On this picture we’re having Mexican quesadillas and
nachos with guacamole (and Czech beer :) ).
SCHOOL
I actually start feeling that there are really many Czechs here. Once I went to see a
SCHOOL
t to
h
g
i
s
In
Brief
ool
h
c
S
y
Primar
:
Healthy Snack Day
In primary school we were talking
with Ms. Hartmannová about what
the students have. Her answer is:
It’s called Healthy Snack Day. We organize the event every month and moms or
dads prepare some sweets and we sell
them to other students. They cost 5-30
CZK also depends how the snack is big.
Sometimes we even raise 2000 CZK to
3000 CZK during the day. Then we count
every student and add how many students are in each class. Then the class
with the result can buy something for the
money. We also donate the money to
charity. Students like sweet snacks the
most, but sweet chicken from Korea is
also very popular (It’s very spicy).
“We also donate
the money to
some charity.”
What will be upcoming events at primary school?
In March we have our biggest event called the Talent Show. It’s very similar to ISO Got Talent and it’s going to take place in
the auditorium on March 20th. All students will come but they can also participate in it, it’s on them.
On July 1st is the sports day. It’s divided into four houses: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow. A different house wins every two weeks.
by Ben Kotik
11
SCHOOL
Teresa Times
Our Grade 12 student, Teresa Bilan, sent us another letter from
her one year study in the USA.
It is interesting to be in a new environment and hear what people think about me.
The comments are sometimes so contradicting but also so true! Here are some
of them: "You never listen", "You live in your own little world", "You are such a bad
student", "You never give a straight answer, you alwayas answer by a question",
"Your grades are so good and you don't even study all the time", "You break the
rules all the time", "Your questions are always so interesteing. You actually make
me think", "You are so disorganized", "You seem so content and happy and your
life so perfect that it must be boring and empty".
The last one hurt me, actually. Why should my life be shallow just because I am
smiley and quite easy-going? But the other ones are mostly nice. In fact, I really
listen just to some parts of what people say e.g. at the morning meetings or even
classes and then I never know what my homework is, where and when we are
meeting, etc. However, I usually notice the details that no one pays attention to.
That's why the friend told me that I lived in my own little world. Then another friend
(German) keeps telling me that I am extremely disorganized and I break so many
rules and I never care and I am such a horrible student. But then I always bring
the point that if I am such a bad student, how come my trimester average was
97? And she stays quiet for a few days... I guess that asking people puzzling
questions is my strength. The worse part is that I usually don't know the answer
for them myself.
It's also interesting to see how my first impressions of people change. I realized
that I was not a star at predicting people's personalities.
12
SCHOOL
I experienced another natural disaster: there was an ice-storm
and we lost power for a week and we couldn't get out of the
house at all because in Arkansas, they have no snow-removing
equipment at all. But it was fun even with the candles.
Today, something really disturbing happened - someone
has stolen my apples!! How could anyone commit such
an awful crime? I bought five beautiful, juicy apples on
Friday and today, I found just two of them in the fridge. In
addition to this awfulness, my name was written on the
sac so people were knowingly stealing them from me.
there are many apple-thieves out there and it doesn’t hurt
to put the apples in a safer place.
My amazing apples also brought me to contemplation
about morality. How can someone steal? Don’t they feel
guilty for stealing those tasty apples from poor little Teresa? I other words, don’t they have any sense of morality? Or is it conscience what is supposed to keep them
from stealing my apples? What is the difference between
the two? I always thought that conscience was an innate sense of ‘wrong and right’ and morality was an acquired codex of socially acceptable rules; that’s why in
some cultures it is different than in others. However, are
we born with anything at all or we are completely ‘tabula
rasa’? Then conscience would be the same as morality
and both would depend on our social and cultural background. In fact, when you look at small kids, they can
be really cruel because they still haven’t figured out how
far they can go. If their mommy doesn’t scold them for
destroying other kids’ send-castles, they don’t know that
it is wrong. But they know the feeling of happiness so
then they have to know disappointment as well, so from
feeling bad they have to know that what they’ve done
was wrong, don’t they? Maybe they just don’t make logical connections yet? I still somehow want to believe that
people instinctually know what is wrong and right.
It upset me a lot because stealing is not ok. Things are
money and money is time and time is life, so this someone stole a bit of my parents' life! So then I started to
doubt the humanity and I came to a conclusion that people are mean and untrustworthy. But now I have a difficult
choice to make: do I want to completely stop trusting all
people around me because one of them stole my three
marvelous apples, and stop putting my food in the public
fridge because someone might steal it again? Or should
I just accept that there are a few bad people around me
even though the majority is good and continue placing my
apples in the fridge risking that they will get stolen again?
It is so easy to condemn a group of people for something
what just small percentage of it does. I guess that's how
discrimination and racism start. We assume that people
who have something in common have much more in
common than they actually do. I can say that everyone
at St. Tim's is an apple-thief but this not true, it's probably
just one person.
Well, however much I think about my unhappy juicy apples, nothing will bring them back, so does it make sense
to think about them?
But back to my delicious apples! One of my friends told
me that she refuses to live her life in a cage just so that no
one can harm her or steal anything from her. I like this idea
but I still think that some protection is necessary because
13
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What’s up?
WHEN: 2nd March 2011, 16.00
WHERE: Dům umění Ostrava
ADDRESS: Jurečkova 1750/9,
702 00 Ostrava
TRANSPORT: Tram 1, 2, 4, 8,
12 (“Elektra”)
ENTRANCE FEE: 100CZK
adults/50CZK students
Jan Zrzavý was a famous Czech painter and a very important person of the 20th century avant-garde art. He is known
for his use of symbolism and his paintings suggest his inspiration by the medieval art. He was an illustrator too (for
example Erben’s Kytice). The exhibition of his art, Božská hra (The Divine Game) in Dům umění lasts till 10th March,
but there will be only one possibility of seeing the exhibition with the former keeper at the Gallery of Prague, Karel Srp!
KRISTÝNA JAKLOVÁ – FINLAND
WHEN: 11th March 2013, 19.00
WHERE: Klub Atlantik
ADDRESS: Čs. Legií 3058/7, 702 00
Ostrava
TRANSPORT: Tram 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 18
(“Elektra”), bus 38, 71 (“Husův sad”), troll
102, 103, 104, 105, 108, 111 (“Husův
sad”)
ENTRANCE FEE: 50 CZK
TICKETS: in club Atlantic
Are you considering working or studying abroad? Or do you just enjoy Scandinavia’s beautiful nature and culture? Either way, you will enjoy the lecture of a
student who spent four months in Finland. Come to see stunning photographs,
taste traditional Finnish food and learn something new about this northern country.
14
http://bit.ly/dcNTmM
CHARLIE STRAIGHT
LOCAL
These young Czech guys from Třinec will please any fan of British music because their style is heavily affected by it. Their first album came out in 2009 and they became popular instantly, winning many awards, such
as Český Slavík, Anděl and MTV Awards. Last year their second album, Someone with a Slow Heartbeat,
was released. And in August 2012 they even were the forerunners on the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert!
WHEN: 20th March 2013, 20.00
WHERE: Club Fabric Ostrava
ADDRESS: Plynární 1634/7, 702 00 Ostrava
TRANSPORT: Tram 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 18, bus 52, 67 (“Plynárny”)
ENTRANCE FEE: 200CZK
TICKETS: http://www.smsticket.cz/akce/1112-charlie-straight-fabric.aspx
YAMATO
WHEN: 24th March
2013, 19.00
WHERE: Gong hall Vítkovice
ADDRESS: Dolní oblast
Vítkovice - NKP, 703 00
TRANSPORT: tram 1,
2, 6, 10, 13 (“Vítkovice
vys. pece”)
ENTRANCE FEE: 790
– 1290 CZK
TICKETS: http://www.
ticketart.cz/
It is not the first time they are visiting the Czech Republic, but as always, even
this year their show is going to be unique! Yamato started in 1993 in a Japanese mountain village of Nara and they exercise hard every day so that they
can then set off on a tour of the world. So far, they have visited 51 countries!
By
Veronika Šigutová
15
“This photo taken near the Millennium Bridge, London.”
LOCAL
"One should pay for the quality"
Ivo Helebrant
It has been some time since the Ostravanka Coffeeshop
opened opposite to the town hall as most of you have probably noticed. This cozy place does its best to satisfy their customers. It is a very good place to sit and have a talk while
enjoying coffee with a great extraordinary taste. The offer is
also modified when the season changes, so in winter, you
can try a big variety of hot drinks and in the summer, you can
enjoy something cold and fresh. We are glad we could ask
Mr.Helebrant, the co-owner of the coffeeshop, some questions to know more about the history, presence and also future
of this place.
Nothing: What is your relationship to the Ostravanka coffeeshop?
Mr. Helebrant: I am the co-owner. We are free owners and I
own one quarter of that. The main owners are my brother-inlaw and sister-in-law.
the building. Actually, even though we have a different name,
we offer the same portfolio of products as other Ostravankas.
Nothing: How did you feel after the project was created?
Mr. Helebrant: It was a great feeling because it took a long
time. All the paperwork… and we also had to wait for the approval and fill all the requirements. It also took some to deal
with design problems. We had some ideas for the design
but we found out it is not so easy to realize them. It was a big
relief when we opened last February and we could finally say
that we made it.
Nothing: Why did you make a decision to create this project?
Mr. Helebrant: We liked the idea of Ostravanka when the
first Ostravanka in Milíčova St. opened. We liked the style,
the products, the way and the taste of the coffee was really
extraordinary. After a while, we decided to ask for this space.
Because it belongs to the city and it is a historical building,
we had to wait for the permission to begin. The name of our
Ostravanka, ‘U černého stromu’ refers to the original name of
Nothing: Would you open another shop if you got the
opportunity?
Mr. Helebrant: I don’t think so, as it is quite a lot of investment.
17
LOCAL
Nothing: What were the first reactions of people when
you opened the coffeeshop?
Mr. Helebrant: I think they were quite positive. Some customers from Milíčova St. knew that a new Ostravanka was going
to open opposite to the town hall. They were excited about
it and I think they also enjoyed the moment when it opened.
Nothing: What are your future plans with Ostravanka?
Mr. Helebrant: I´d like to say that for example, if you consider
the seasons of the year, every season in Czech Republic is
different, so we would like to try to modify the offer for the
customers according to that. In winter, we try to offer more
hot drinks, on the other hand, in the summer we change the
offer for some cold and fresh drinks. That is the way how we
want to develop. We also still want to improve the way the
coffee and the other things are served. It is important that the
customers are satisfied. We also try to get inspiration from
cafes all over the world. One of the most important things is
that we serve fresh coffee, I think that a good coffee must be
fresh. It is not the most expensive, but I think that one should
pay for the quality.
by Hai Dinhová, Caruna Qaundinya
Creative. Curious. Communicative
Be part of 1st ISO Model United Nations club. It will
give you opportunity to develop your debating skills,
to experience real debates and to find solutions for
every problem in the world.
Join us!!!
Be part of our model conference on March 25 2013.
For more information do not hesitate to contact Jan
Morawiec (jan.morawiec@is-ostrava.cz)
18
LOCAL
movie review:
As you can tell from the title, Life of Pi is a story about
Pi, who lived in India and his family owned a zoo there.
His greatest adventure began when he moved with his
family and animals from zoo to Canada. The ship sank
because of a big storm and Pi luckily survived thanks to
a lifeboat.
to see how people can change when they face death or
how they can keep clean mind in terrible conditions. The
film can take your full attention because of the incredible story even through an unimportant beginning in my
opinion.
However, he wasn’t alone. He had an extraordinary company, a Bengal tiger. The story takes place in the middle
of the Pacific, where Pi and the tiger are fighting for survival and simultaneously taking care of each other.
I really enjoyed this film and I liked the visual effects, which
made the cinematography so much fascinating and also
great story. It is shocking that such a film is based on real
life story, originally written in the novel of the same name,
because it is quite unbelievable. I would rate this 8 out
of 10.
Life of Pi is a really beautiful film with great scenery; it
shows the beauty of nature really well. It shows realistic
behaviour of characters in the movie and it is interesting
by David Nguyen
19
LOCAL
Sex Bomb, Swan and a Heart Breaker:
World´s Best on Ostrava´s Ice!
As every year, many professional world ice skaters came to Ostrava to perform and show their skills
with a new exhibition programme. I was really interested to watch the performance called “The Master of Ice” to see the legendary “ice master” who I knew just from TV before. On 12th December, the
ice stadium in Ostrava-Poruba was full of people and I could not wait till the beginning. In few minutes, the master himself suddenly appeared from the dark on ice. Evgeni Plushenko is a 30-year-old
figure skater from Russia. He is among few figure skaters who always show quadruple jump during
their performances. Plushenko won the senior World Championship in 1998 at the age of just 15. He
also won the 2006 Olympics.
Our two best Czech representatives were also on the list
of performers, but Michal Březina was ill, so we saw only
Tomáš Verner, winner of the 2008 European Championship.
He performed as a “Sex Bomb” with the song “I Am Sexy
and I Know It” by LMFAO. Moderator Aleš Valenta asked
Tomáš where the fans and support are better – in Toronto or
in Ostrava. Tomáš explained it: “I am from České Budějovice,
but I practised in Prague for many years. Now, I have training
in Canada, but actually, my first step towards success in figure skating happened here in Ostrava. Here in Ostrava, I was
taught for future competitions. Here in Ostrava, there have
always been the best fans, support, and cheering!”
During the night, many famous figure skaters also performed
with a variety of costumes and styles from all over the world.
Swiss figure skater Stéphane Lambiel is known as the master
of pirouettes. He showed many of his perfect rotations during
the performance. He is also called the “Heart Breaker” for his
attractive look. Laura Lepisto from Finland had already ended
her figure skating career, but she still performs on many ice
shows. She was also named as the most beautiful “Swan”
during the night.
Generally, this show was an unforgettable experience. Some
moves, such as Bulgarian Albena Denkova holding his partner Maxim Staviski above her arms, were really breath-taking!
The show was accompanied by violinist Edvin Marton and
had huge standing ovation! Evgeni Plushenko again proved
that age does not mean anything and that 30 years is not the
right year to retire for figure skaters like him.
LINK for
video: http://bit.ly/X74WiN
20
by Eva Urbančíková
LOCAL
Teresa Folk:
“The secret is, I´m an actress who enjoys singing”
….from L.A. to Ostrava
Teresa comes from Los Angeles, a place full of people involved in the entertainment industry. She has loved
acting since her childhood and has a lot of experience with musicals and movie production. Teresa has
worked for Warner Brothers, Musicians Institute, Universal Studios and Walt Disney. Now, she teaches English in Ostrava and has her own band, L.A. Sunday. We had the honour to hear her life story and talk to her
about her journey from L.A. to the Czech Republic.
more questions. Actually, I did not have to. Teresa was still
talking and there wasn’t almost any space for questions.
But I was so interested in her job in Hollywood, which millions of people are dreaming about…
For the purpose of this interview, I was invited to her flat,
which is located in the centre of Ostrava. Her flat is quite
small, but nicely organized. Teresa is always smiling and
full of energy. How did this amazing singer get from Los
Angeles to Ostrava? And how did she start singing? I had
not even taken my shoes off yet and she already started
to tell me her life story.
“Since that event, I was singing almost every Sunday,
every special occasion, but I still did not have the real confidence because I did not have proper training. Through
different acting jobs that I have got, I started getting parts
that involved singing or I did music shows for children.
“The secret is I am really an actress who enjoys singing.
I have always enjoyed acting. My mum was an actress
and a model. I always had a desire to sing but I was never
confident about my singing. The thing is that the people
who knew me knew I was funny and that I was an actress, so when I asked them about my singing, they were
like ‘AHAHAHA, you´re kidding!’ Back in the US, I went to
church and enjoyed gospel music. I am the only child,
which means I would often be home alone and to entertain myself for fun, I loved listening to music and I would
always try to sing the harmony with the people who are
singing. That is how I developed the ability to harmonize.
One day, I was sitting at church and my friend who hand
a punk-rock told me, after I started to sing with the music,
that I have a nice voice and asked me to sing with the
band when they were offered to perform at the church. It
was a night with young people.”
Teresa and her band LA Sunday in a
Czech TV show “Sama doma” (Home
Alone) – CLICK ON THE PHOTO!!!
The story was so interesting that I almost forgot to ask
21
strain on my neck. So it was not as funny as I thought it
will be.”
I was also interested, if she has some idol… “One of my
favourite artists is Stevie Wonder. I do a lot of his songs.
Also, I love Ella Fitzgerald. There are a lot of people that I
like. I like all kinds of music, except of country and death
metal, even though I sang with a punk band. Actually, I did
not fit in at all.”
I also worked at Universal Studios where I was always surrounded by very talented people but they were also encouraging at the same time. They were not competitive
and gave me courage to go to some auditions that were
happening. However, I could not read music at that time,
so they just thought I did not know what I am doing. I then
told myself that if I got some proper training, I could get
better and better offers. I worked at the Musicians Institute
which is the international music school in Hollywood for
two years as an administrative person and being there,
I was able to sit in some classes and students were always asking me to sing. So, I got some training while I
was working there but I learned most stuff at the L.A. Music Academy. I was in the vocal department where I was
taught that your voice is your instrument. I had to learn all
the parts of throats in detail, for example.”
And we are finally getting to the question: How did she get
from LA to the Czech Republic? “Americans know about
the Czech Republic, they just do not know much about
it. I actually came here to get English teaching experience.
In California, everyone works in the entertainment industry. There are so many unemployed entertainment people
because there is a lot of competition. Sometimes, there
is a lot of work, sometimes not so much. It is impossible
to have a stable job when you work in entertainment. It is
hard to find a job that will give you the freedom to go to
the auditions you want to. I´ve had many performing jobs.
For example, when I did some entertainment shows for
children, I had to wear big huge costumes and dance
in them, they were heavy and they cause injuries. Once,
when I did a show for Disney, the stage was really high
and the stuff is moving along the stage and I fell down
because the floor was opened. The theatre held almost
six hundred people so I just had to get up and keep going
but my leg really hurt. My doctor had suggested I should
try another job.”
Teresa’s “Passport of the Wallachian kingdom” (Pas
Valašského království)
As an actress, she acted in a few commercials. At the
beginning of 2000s, Teresa worked at the Walt Disney.
“I also worked as a mascot in Universal Studios – theme
park. My role was to wear a huge costume of a character
called Angelica from “Rugrats”, American cartoon for children. I had to wear a heavy head of Angelica. The vision
was possible only through her mouth and it caused me
22
Trying archery at the Bouzov Castle in the CZ:
LOCAL
Singing for the former Czech president Václav
Klaus (on the right side) in 2011
It was an interesting turn – from actress and singer to
teacher. But we still do not know why she chose the
Czech Republic. “I actually came here to get English
teaching experiences as I already mentioned. Firstly, I tried
it in Western Europe, but my way was going more east
and east. I could choose between Russia, Poland and the
Czech Republic. So, I decided to try to live and work in the
Czech Republic.”
Teresa and a rugby team from Belgium in Ostrava,
2008.
to California’s public transport where you rather use a car
instead. However, my first two years here were really bad.
My contract was horrible. I thought I would move out of
this country. But since 2011, my life finally started to be
normal here. It was also the first year without any injuries
and hospitals for me here.”
Since 2009, Teresa has had her own band, L.A. Sunday, which was created in Ostrava. At the moment, she
is planning to move to Prague to work there, but she is
going to travel to Ostrava often too. “Be ready for a huge
surprise. I am not leaving from Ostrava forever,” she says.
“Czech police called me ´Crazy Američanka´
because I wanted to take a photo with
them.” This is a nice and funny photo of
Teresa with a guard of the Prague Castle:
Californian newspaper article about Teresa’s performance "Playhouse Disney: Live On Stage" in
Disneyland Resorts
She has experience not only with teaching, but also with
translating. In 2008, she worked as a translator for Rugby
teams from all over the world, which had trainings and
matches in Ostrava.
Does she have any good or bad experiences here?
“Czechs love conversation, which is an advantage for
me as a teacher. I also like that I do not need a car, because public transport is always on time here, comparing
23
By Hai Dinhová
LOCAL
And that was the first impulse for Teresa to move to Europe and try to teach English for foreigners. “I like people
and children so I thought I could get a certificate for teaching English. I also spoke Spanish which I was forced to
learn in childhood. My grandma and mum always told me
that if you are bilingual, you get more opportunities in life.
However, it went smoothly and I got an easy A. They told
me I have to get two years of teaching experience before
teaching English in California. I decided to get that experience overseas.”
NOTHiNg
S
K
C
SO
The Secret of Life - Part 2
4. Self-esteem. I am not pretty enough. ‘ or ‘ I am not but in the past you had a trauma that doesn’t allow you
intelligent enough to pass the incoming exams, I am not
so smart and I am not enough talented ‘. There is at least
once that every person says this during his whole lifetime.
If you seek a higher level you need to tell yourself the exact
opposite. When your self-esteem is on a proper level you feel more comfortable and you are more confident
in your actions. Have faith in yourself and know that no
matter how difficult the current situation is - you are better
than that. Mostly the
low self-esteem is
caused by the past
as well. Because
you were the ‘ weird
one ‘ in your neighbourhood or you
had the family problems which made
your childhood so
much more uncomfortable and crushing? You like sports
do the proper sports you desire? That’s usually a couple
of the reasons why our self-esteem is getting lower. There
are a couple things that might help you in raising your
self-esteem.
• You must stop comparing yourself to others, think
that they are more beautiful or more successful then
you are. Don’t be jealous because of their material
possessions. • Be true to yourself. • Don’t put yourself down and don’t give up, no matter the situation - keep believing in yourself and have
faith. • Be helpful and considerate to others, be polite. If
you respect others and threat them good, they will
threat you back the same way. • Get used of telling positive things about yourself to
yourself.
To be continued in the next issue...
Author: Christo Christov (Bulgaria)
HIGH HEELS CORNER
-for Fabulous
The time has come to build a snowman
and hang an old Prada purse on his arm,
because the real winter is finally here!
What a shame we didn’t get to celebrate
Christmas under these conditions. Oh
well. There is nothing better than a bubble bath with rose petals from Valentine’s
Day after such a cold, snowy day. A cup of hot chocolate
might also be just what you need. Speaking of, how about
another bath, in chocolate this time? It is certainly something
we do and if you haven’t tried it yet, winter is the best time
to start.
Even though winter is taking our breath away (not only because of how beautiful it is), we must admit that we are looking forward spring. Aren’t you? To make winter and waiting
for spring shorter, we thought of different tips. How about a
trip to the sauna? It is exactly what we need, this cold weather only makes us tired and we desperately await summer.
Going shopping makes everything better as well, doesn’t it?
Spring collections have just arrived, so why not stop by and
check them out? We heard it’s stripes and different shapes
this year, so don’t worry, you can’t make a mistake with a
striped shirt. Prada’s new collection has just arrived yesterday and we all know that a new purse never goes wrong.
Because February surprised us with a pile of snow, we
decided to surprise you with our tips for your skiing outfits.
Whether it’s snowboarding, ice-skating, skiing or sledging
that you like, you should always keep it bright and colorful
this year. This winter’s color is light purple, so don’t hesitate
and get a jacket like that! Crazy hats, scarfs and helmets
are also amazing. Mix all the colors you want, it’s all about
you and your creativity. Just remember not to end up like a
chameleon.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter if you go snowboarding, shopping
or just for a walk to enjoy winter’s beauties, because you
know we are always here for you to pick just the right jacket
to wear. Enjoy the rest of March,
Xoxo,
Your Fabulous Barbie Girls.
24
WINNERS
The most charismatic students
and teachers of 2013!
BEST OF TEACHERS
1. Rowan Killduff / Táňa
Micková
2. Aggeliki Karsinou
3. Nina Pavelková
4. Petra Helebrantová
5. Petra Rohanová
6. Šárka Flámová
7. Thomas Healy
8. Debra Phillip
9. Philip Corkill
10. Dagmar Blahetová
BEST OF STUDENTS
Best of class
6A
Benjamin Kotík
7A
Jáchym Pivovar
8A
Kryštof Bálek
9A
Damian Dalimore
10A
Karolína Baloušková
10B
Marek Mogza
11A
Otto Bartsch
11B
Melichar Oravec
12A
Milan Šír
13A
Danny Kotlár/Clea
Boban
MYP1 Adam Koneval
MYP2 Benjamin Bergel
MYP3 Kateřina Petrusová/
Benedict Corkill
25
Best of all
1. Kája Baloušková /
Damian Dalimore
2. Adam Koneval
3. Jiří Staněk
Runners up
4. Jáchym Pivovar
5. Veronika Šigutová
6. Otto Bartsch
7. Melichar Oravec
8. Ani Tchetchenianová
9. Kryštof Bálek
10. Michaela Macháčková
11. Patrik Satek
12. Jan Ondruš
13. Marek Zemek
14. Tien Dat Do
15. Betty Lištvanová
SOCKS
the Best of ISO Competition n.1
SOCKS
Best of Teachers: Mr Kilduff
Nothing: So why do you think you’re here?
Mr. Kilduff: I think it’s part of some evil plan. In any moment
something’s gonna happen. Something weird’s just gonna
happen.
school?
Mr. Kilduff: Eeerr, leaving?
(laughter)
Mr. Kilduff: No no, I was a really bad student when I was in
school. I really hated it; I couldn’t wait to escape every day.
And somehow by an amazing accident, I’m a teacher now.
And sometimes I still have that feeling that I can’t wait to get
out but school is, if you have the right people together, a
place where you can do amazing things.
Nothing: That’s true, that’s true!
Mr. Kilduff: Wait! Is it a prize?
(laughter)
Nothing: Who do you think won the Nothing ISO competition? From the teachers?
Mr. Kilduff: Aaaah aaah, was it me?
Nothing: And what did you originally want to do?
Mr. Kilduff: The thing I still am doing, playing music. Music,
arts, all of these things. Not being in one place, travelling. I’m
doing all these things combined together and teaching now.
Nothing: Uhm yeah, congratulations! (laughter)
Mr. Kilduff: Thank you very much!
(applause)
Nothing: So a dream come true?
Mr. Kilduff: Yeah, kind of, yes.
Nothing: How do you feel about it?
Mr. Kilduff: Now after the applause I feel amazing. I feel great,
it’s fantastic.
Nothing: That’s great. So playing music is your hobby, right?
Mr. Kilduff: Yes, it’s my life.
Nothing: Who do you think won from the students?
Mr. Kilduff: Uhmm. I can’t tell you who I voted for, but for the
most charismatic student... hmm.
Nothing: So you sing, or you just play or..?
Mr. Kilduff: I sing, play electric guitar, acoustic guitar, many
other instruments. I have a band, and that’s what I do, what
I enjoy.
Nothing: Or maybe a whole class?
Mr. Kilduff: Oh a class? Maybe Grade 11A? It’s too hard. But
for my favourite ones, I would choose probably the younger
ones, ‘cause they’re awesome. They are incredible students,
they’re so cool. Like MYP 1 or so.
Nothing: And you just released an album right?
Mr. Kilduff: It’s funny that you asked, because this Saturday
(March 9th) we have a concert in Havířov. A ‘křest’ for our
new EP. So you should all come!
Nothing: Do you have any life motto?
(shows a tattoo on his forearm)
Nothing: Today is a gift. Great, that’s amazing. And any
role model? A celebrity or someone you like?
Mr. Kilduff: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Nah I don’t know, a lot of
musicians, Gándhí, John Lennon. It’s really hard to say right
here on the spot. Oh, Dave Grohl! From the Foo Fighters.
And also The Moz and Spider Monkey!
So that’s it! Thank you!
Nothing: So what do you like about
26
Nothing: So why do you think you are here now?
Ms. Micková: I don’t know.
Nothing: Well who do you think won the Nothing ISO competition?
Ms. Micková: Well I suppose I did, then.
Nothing: That’s right, congratulations, you won!
Ms. Micková: So what do I get as a prize then? Tell me! (gets excited)
Nothing: That’s a surprise yet but we’re sure it’ll be something
nice!
Nothing: Why do you think they chose you?
Ms. Micková: Because I’m just awesome.
Nothing: Haha, that’s right. So what do you like about school?
Ms. Micková: Lunch! Naah, students of course, and working with
them.
Nothing: Who do you think won the student part of the competition?
Ms. Micková: Someone from my class of course!
Nothing: Why do you think you are here?
Kája: I have no clue! (shy)
Damian: Because of English education and the IB diploma programme.
Best of Students: Kaja and Damian
Nothing: So who do you think won the Nothing ISO competition?
Kája: (not happy to be interviewed) I guess Miss Micková because everyone loves her...
Nothing: but from the students?
Kája: Well I don’t know why am I here... (desperate)
Damian: I can think of many people..
Nothing: You have won the Nothing ISO competition! Why do you
think you have won?
Damian: I’m perfect.
Kája: (doesn’t know whether to cry or to laugh)
Nothing: Do you have any hobby?
Kája: Sure! I dance, I also do a lot of school work (laugh).. But I really do!
Damian: I have many hobbies. I do football, golf, tennis, I just started boxing...
Nothing: What do you like about school?
(Both laughing)
Kája: I like the free lessons and breaks.
Damian: I like this school because you have a lot of freedom – it’s not very
strict here.
Nothing: What are your favorite teachers?
Kája: Miss Micková, my class teacher.
Damian: Miss Karsinou, my class teacher.
Nothing: Do you have any role models?
Kája: I like Nicky Minaj! She’s not my role model though, I just like her.
Damian: I like Tom Cruise.
The interviewed winners will recieve a phenomenal bar of chocolate!
27
SOCKS
Best of Teachers: Ms Mickova
SOCKS
My spring holidays
I really looked forward for this holiday like every year, because I could finally take my board and go to enjoy winter.
I was with my family in Switzerland. We were skiing, snowboarding, and relaxing. One thing that could be better was
the weather which was really terrible. When we arrived at the ski
station it starts to snow and rain.
There was big fog everywhere
and we did not see anything. The
next day the weather was quite
better. So I arranged with my very
good friend Katia to go skiing or
snowboarding together. I really
liked the time with her because I
could practise speaking English
and German. We were also in my
favourite place where you could do some tricks and where
you could get an adrenaline to your body, yea I mean the
snowpark! We stayed there for a long time and had a lot
of fun! Other days were very similar like the first day, so
with snow and wind. I love winter
but this weather was too crazy and
dangerous, of course. But I am glad
that I spent one day with my friend
and that we had fun together. I also
felt that my English is better than last
years because I was not afraid of
speaking. I hope that the next year
will be nice weather and that I will
meet my friend again!
by Tereza Fojtíková
Science box
q
q
Last year’s landing of the NASA’s rover, Curiosity, on Mars
was a big event. However, have you heard of its further
fate? For the first time, a piece of Martian rock dug up
by Curiosity got into a laboratory. The scientists are now
examining it. We already know there might be water on
Mars – what will come next?
q that, but do you also know that by Facebook, Twitter and
Social networks reveal a lot about you. I bet you knew
other networks you can often tell whether the person
comes from western or eastern countries? It is true. Linda
Jackson, professor of psychology, did a study among
American and Chinese students and found out that the
western culture spends much more time on social networks. Also, only about 4% of American college students
admitted to having never used any network, while in China it was about one fifth of the participants. Jackson says
that is because cultures in the Eastern world are raised
to value family, learning and real life contact much more.
Is there another gold rush coming? Probably yes. Except
for it won’t be gold this time, but platinum. Also, forget
California and Yukon. This time, we are digging in space.
Indeed. It has been found out that there are thousands
of tons of precious metals hiding in asteroids not far from
the Earth. By 2025, we might be mining platinum using
robots.
Source: National Geographic
28
SOCKS
Editorial page: personal opinions
Like nation,
like president
At the beginning of the article, I would like to say, that
I do not want to insult anyone, but the fans of our new
president should rather skip this page..
Before the elections, the majority of the people thought
that Miloš Zeman would win the elections. Unfortunately
there were also, as in every election, many people who
think that their one voice does not count and therefore
it has no point to vote. The medial campaign of Karel
Schwarzenberg affected many young people, but it still
was not enough. National pessimism is so widespread,
that most of the people who remember communist times
want to go back to them. It seems that these 20 years
after the Velvet Revolution were just a waste of time.
We became the audience of the fight between the right
and left side of the government. It divided the society into
two parts. One part, which wanted to go back to communism in hope of equal opportunities for everyone and the
other part, who believe that everyone should have what
they deserve. (Personally I belong to the second side, so
I was quite fed up of old people’s speeches about unemployment and homeless people.) To the point, people
with vision and people who wanted to retire with higher
benefits.
So now we have to hope that our new president will not
make important decisions under the influence of alcohol
and Russian mafia.
Marie Drabinová
www.thesimpsons.com
29
Author: Herbert Slavík
A CLOCKWORK
ORANGE
SOCKS
Book review:
nificent film adaptation of this piece, I’ve been longing to read
the book itself for almost a year. I’m not gonna lie; I expected
a lot from it and well, what can I say I wasn’t disappointed.
Author: Anthony Burgess
Published: 1963
Genre: Science Fiction / Dystopia
It’s all fun and games until one night
when a burglary doesn’t go as
planned and Alex is sentenced to
prison. Nevertheless, he doesn’t stay
there for too long as he is chosen to
undergo a new treatment technique
which is supposed to ‘cure’ people’s
craving for violence. Alex is excited
at first to escape from the prison’s
gloomy environment, but he isn’t
aware of the treatment’s full effect yet.
The story and its main idea is definitely one of the best I’ve
ever came across. The book mainly discusses the topic of
good and evil. However, it’s mainly the way in which the story
is written that I enjoyed the most - the
so called ‘Nadsat’. Nadsat is a made
up language
created from British slang and Russian, which the teenagers in this story
use. It’s a bit tricky at the beginning
but once you get into the story you
won’t even notice anything odd about
the words anymore. I fell in love with
this fictional argot and it certainly gives
the book a very extraordinary touch.I
personally consider this book to be a
masterpiece and would highly recommend it. I must
warn you a little though - there are
some very explicit scenes involving
brutal violence, so if
you get easily sick you might reconsider picking this book up.
Opinion: After seeing Kubrick’s mag-
by Anna Holešínská
Meet Alex; a fifteen-year-old boy living in a near-future London,
whose interests revolve around violence and classical music. Along with his three friends Alex
spends most of his time by drinking
milk mixed with drugs in local Korova
bar, beating up people on the street,
burgling houses, and constantly looking for more opportunities to practice
violence and cause disturbance.
comics by Tereza Fojtíková
14
SOCKS
NOTHING IN THE HALL: VALENTINE'S DAY
Did you plan anything special for Valentine‘s day?
Betty Lištvanová: We spent the
Ivo Helebrant: I didn¨t give anything, I
afternoon together.
Romis Truong: Flowers and chocolate!
don‘t celebrate it.
Petra Helebrantová: We have Valentine‘s day every day.
Jan Krawczyk: I haven‘t think about it
yet, but it will be something original and
it has to be from my heart.
Lucie Ščurková: I bought stuffed toy
with chocolate.
By Veldula Vilimovská & Lucie Smrktová
Dr. & Mr. Halls
Our psychological advisors, Dr. and Mr. Halls
are here to answer your serious questions!
Send your questions to nothing@is-ostrava.cz
Q:
Dear Dr. and Mr. Halls,
Due to the time difference from Korea, I am late for school almost every
day. My class teacher is fed up and now refuses to excuse my tardiness.
What can I do? It’s not my fault! Please help!
Signed,
Sleepy from Seoul
A:
Sleepy, you come from a technically developed country so probably you
have heard about alarm clocks.
Q:
A:
Dear Dr. and Mr. Halls,
I am addicted to an online love calculator (it calculates how good of a
match I am with boys). I’m fine with the addiction, but my main problem
is, that according to the calculator, I am not compatible with any of the
boys that I like. This makes me sad. Please help.
Signed,
Crazy in Calculation
Fake your online account and you will see!
14
comics by Tereza Fojtíková
Lucie Lollkova
“I took this photo during the walk in Prague.”