The rexonian march 2015

Page 1

T he R exonian

“A l l t h e n e w s t h e y le t u s p r i nt ”

Thursday, March 12, 2015

vol. VIII . . № 29

Dance Mode On!

‘Justice: For All?’ By Amelia kenna

By Leen madanat

This past weekend, King’s Academy Model United Nations hosted its fifth annual conference on campus. For three days, the campus buzzed with the excited chatter of delegates, organizers, and distinguished speakers. Holding true to its founding mission, there is no doubt that KAMUN 2015 has furthered the reputation of MUN within the school and nation of Jordan. Founded in 2010 by four ambitious students who hoped to improve the opportunities for debate at King’s, KAMUN has witnessed enormous growth. Though the conference began with fewer than one hundred delegates, one would be hard-pressed to call the conference’s beginnings ‘humble.’ Hosted at the Dead Sea for the first few years, KAMUN was internationally recognized as the lowest MUN conference on Earth. Two years ago, the secretariat decided to cut conference costs by hosting KAMUN on campus. This decision allowed for greater diversity of delegates to participate in MUN. KAMUN today boasts over 300 participants across eleven forums, many of which are unique to Jordan. Forums such as the Jordan Model Parliament, which was pioneered at King’s Academy, have gained popularity throughout the nation in both private and government-run schools. In addition, embracing the Middle East, KAMUN allows for lobbying and debate in both Arabic and English, depending on the forum. From the get-go, the conference distinguished itself by emphasizing delegate proficiency and commitment over the quantity of participants. This year, KAMUN organizers personally interviewed most of the delegates and all of the chairs, thereby ensuring debate and knowledge unmatched by past conferences. We sat down with Secretary General Sun Woo Kim ’15 for an interview to reflect on his experience of organizing MUN and watching KAMUN’s legacy develop. Interview on A4

As I repeat after Mr. Ryuji the next part of the choreography, I look around the dance studio at the Evening Dance Ensemble through the mirror, and observe how much our dance group has grown. Ever since freshmen year, I have watched the dance program flourish and become more and more professional. Students have been joining, not only to learn contemporary dance, but to also learn Dabke and choreograph their own individual pieces. This year’s dance showcase was proof of all the hard work and vigor that was put into producing our all-encompassing show. On Wednesday, March 4th, about 26 dancers performed our pieces, with 14 of the dancers involved in 3-6 pieces. As we had never before done a showcase without a host, changing quickly between pieces was a skill that each dancer had to develop. The first dance was performed by our incredible dabke group, the first part of which was choreographed by Omar Lutfi. Mr. Omar has been teaching dabke at King’s for three years now, and I was one of his students for two years; I can tell you for sure that it was a fantastic experience to learn more about my own culture in a different environment. What distinguishes the King’s dabke troupe is its large number of international participants; students of different cultures are willing to experience something new about the culture of Jordan. The second piece that the Dabke troop performed is choreographed by El-Funoun Dance Troupe of Palestine. Mr. Ryuji provided instruction to the King’s Academy Dabke Troupe on the choreography of the piece. Right after Dabke followed a solo piece that Raghad Akrouk ’14 and I choreographed at the end of the past summer vacation just before she left for university. It was this summer that I realised dance was something I would do in my free time, as a hobby, and not just a class I had to take. “A Glimpse of Our Imagination” Continued on A7

photo credit: mark foster

Orchid in the rain

Ning Bao ’16 performs in KA dance showcase

Celebrating the Year of the Sheep By jianing zhao

Once upon a time, there was a scary beast called Nian. It came out on the first day of every Lunar New Year to raid the countryside, devouring livestock and villagers, especially young children whose meat was considered the most delicious. To protect themselves, villagers prepared a huge feast on that day and presented the best dishes in front of their houses so that Nian might choose to eat these dishes instead of the innocent children. Unfortunately, the villagers’ generosity did not put an end to the beast’s brutality, leading them to seek revenge on Nian. Moved by their tragedy, a god came down from heaven and advised the villagers to put red paper and firecrackers in front of their houses on the day when Nian would attack. Realizing that Nian was suseptible to red and loud sounds, the villagers hung red lanterns on their doors and pasted red paper decor on their windows. When Nian revisited the village on the first day of the next year, it was scared off by the red decorations and the firecrackers ignited around him. No one was killed that night, and never again did Nian return to the village. Of course this is merely the Chinese mythology that explains the Chinese New Year (the literal translation of “year” in Chinese

is “Nian”), or more accurately, the Lunar New Year, as multiple East Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia all celebrate this holiday. Most traditions derived from Nian’s story are still in practice today: Chinese families still put up red decorations around the house, prepare feasts, and light firecrackers during the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival is 15-days long, starting from New Year’s Eve and lasting until the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, according to the East Asian lunar calendar. However, some traditions have evolved since then. The feast has become more of a family reunion, which is usually taken very seriously by the whole family, particularly by the elders. Families hang red paper squares on their doors with the word ‘Fu’— meaning ‘bless’—written in calligraphy. Because the Chinese word for ‘upside-down’ has the same sound as ‘arrive,’ the “Fu” paper has to be hung upside-down in order for blessing to come upon the family. For children, the Spring Festival is best time of year. Not only will they not* be eaten by the beast, but they will also receive a significant amount of money in red paper envelopes from older relatives. The rule is simple: the more relatives one visits during Continued on A3

opinion a2

campus a3

interviews a4

sports a5

arts & culture A7

A hmed A l K halayleh reflects on a summer at Seeds of Peace

Youssef A l M ughrabi questions King’s Academy’s response to water scarcity

A melia K enna talks kamun 2015 with Sun Woo Kim

All things basketball with H yun Taek Lim & C arina Ellis

Waleed Alsulaiman lists legendary video game series

Dina K uttab on normalization in the Middle East

Seung H ee Yang and Sophia R ami Rustom interviews the Sarmadi speak with Orlando two Nihalists behind ShermIts Arellano of Seeds of Peace

cinema & Television a6 A min Janjua reviews A Most Violent Year

Carina Ellis explores the power of language immersion


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The rexonian march 2015 by King's Academy - Issuu