Boarding newsletter 4th april 2014

REGENT’S newsletter

Boarding primaterm 2 April 2014

In this issue:

Welcome

60 second interviews

SAFARI WORLD

WAKE BOARDING

MR. KIRK WADSWORTH HEAD OF BOARDING kirk.wadsworth@regents.ac.th

Dear Boarding Community, With the Songkran celebrations fast approaching, we say farewell to all but three of our boarders for the two week holiday.

FAREWELL TO MELANIE

the MATCH OF THE CENTURY

hALF TERM TRIP

Also...

IRON MAN CHALLENGE

For those who are not aware, Songkran marks the Thai New Year and sees most of Thailand and its visitors taking to the streets to splash water over anyone or anything that moves! This water festival is not only great fun but it is thought to be the biggest water fight in the world and symbolizes purity, the washing away of bad thoughts and an opportunity to make a fresh start.

One of the most motivating aspects of the school calendar, and particularly one in an International setting is the ability to reflect, make positive change and move forward with each new term. Once again, this edition of our Boarding Newsletter shows the breadth and depth of the boarding life over the last 6 weeks. We hope you enjoy reading about as much as we have enjoyed experiencing it.

On behalf of the boarding community, I wish you and your families a wonderful Songkran.

Best wishes,

ladies night out the regent’s, uk

YR 13 - tHE LAST PUSH

SERVICE DAY

Kirk Wadsworth.

REGENT’S newsletter

REGENT’S

recent news & events

newsletter

60 second interview

We get to know some of our boarding community and their home countries in 60 seconds!

Japan

by Mitsumasa Kiyohaya from Japan

ARMENIA

by Svetlana Manucharyan from Armenia Describe your home town: My hometown differs a lot from the other countries in the world. We don’t have high skyscrapers; our buildings are much shorter. Most of them have an 80’s style, as we had a lot of excellent architects during that period of time. Usually the streets aren’t crowded during the daytime, as the weather in Armenia is too rough. In the evenings the teenagers are always going out with their friends and having fun in the city centre.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

The biggest challenge for me was to take care of myself, as most things my family used to do for me.

Since I came to Regents I learned how to look after myself, buy things for myself and use my money wisely. Also I got used to having a daily routine and being more punctual.

What is your favourite thing about your boarding house?

My favourite thing about the boarding house is that I am always with my friends. It was my dream since childhood to have a friend who will be living with me and I will be able to talk to her all the day.

What do you miss the most about home?

I miss everything about my home. Thailand is so different from Armenia. Sometimes the things which I would hardly get in Armenia I can easily get in Thailand and vise-versa.

What do you love that is unique to Bangkok/Thailand?

The thing which I mostly like about Thailand is the eco-system. For example, they have a lot of elephants here, when in Armenia we don’t have that many.

I am happy that in every safari park I can easily communicate with them, feed them and take photos with them.

Describe your home town: I live in Tokyo, which is the capital of Japan and one of the largest international cities in the world. In Tokyo, there are a lot of skyscrapers, high quality traffic systems and even many natural places. There are four seasons in Japan. Every year, in spring, a lot of cherry blossoms bloom in many places, in summer it is very hot, in fall many leaves changes colour to yellow, red and orange and in winter it is very cold, in Tokyo the snow season is from January to February.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

Before moving to Bangkok I didn’t even know how to communicate with international friends in English.

So when I came here I was like a YES man, which means I did not understand anything what people said so I just said “Yes..yes ok ok”, but I have tried to understand what people say, studied hard and now I am pretty sure I have a lot of friends from different countries and I know how to communicate in English!

What is your favourite thing about your boarding house?

Mostly I like talking with friends because everybody has his/her own unique background. And recently we’ve got a snooker table in boarding house so I can play with staff and friends which is so much fun!

What do you miss the most about home?

Actually I really don’t miss anything because I can talk with my parents by Skype, and is very easy to get Japanese things in Bangkok but honestly the only thing I miss is the Disneyland Tokyo because there is no Disneyland in Thailand.

What do you love that is unique to Bangkok/Thailand?

First of all I love the hot weather in Thailand because I am terrible at cold places so I’m very happy to be here. And I also love the spirit of “Mai Pen Rai” which means “Never mind, Let it go”. I really like how Thai

REGENT’S newsletter

recent news & events

recent news & events

REGENT’S newsletter

australia ESTONIA

by Claudia Kiitsak from Estonia Describe your home town: I am from the capital of Estonia, Tallinn, but compared to Thailand it seems more like a little village with its population of 430,000 people. Tallinn is situated in the North of Estonia and is just a ferry ride away from Finland. Estonia is 61% covered with forests, Tallinn is also filled with parks, forests and other green areas that make living there very peaceful.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

I think the biggest challenge of all was coming to Regents but in school the biggest challenge is catching up with the gaps I have from my old school and also the scientific words in most of my subjects.

What is your favourite thing about your boarding house?

I think that my favorite thing in the boarding house is the community. Fortunately I have a lot of things in common with my fellow boarders and we never run out of things to talk about. We often have movie nights and study together. That’s another aspect that’s good about living in the boarding house. There are not that many distractions and whenever you have a problem with a certain subject you can just ask your roommate or go next door.

What do you miss the most about home?

Of course the main thing I miss is spending time with my family, especially my little 3yearold sister. Also, even though I like the warm weather here I miss seeing the seasons change. Right now the ground is covered with thick snow back home. I also miss the peace and quiet atmosphere and seeing stars in the night sky. One of the things I miss every day is the food. Estonian people are used to eating allot of meat. Back home most of our meals consist of a big piece of meat and of something on the side. In summer we spend most of our time outside by the barbeque and the air is always filled with sweet smell of marinade.

What do you love that is unique to Bangkok/Thailand?

The thing I like most about Thailand is the cultural difference. Thailand is a complete opposite to Estonia in most aspects, and that’s one of the reasons I was so interested to come here. I like that I can experience the different culture and see how people are like in the other side of the world.

GERMANY

by Elisabeth Bethge from Germany Describe your home town: My hometown is in east Germany, 2 hours away from Berlin. Compared to Bangkok is very small. I know every street there and I can walk out of town to a forest or fields. We also have a pretty nice cinema were you can watch movies while you’re eating a meal.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

One of the biggest challenges was probably get used to Thai food and communicating in English during the first weeks.

What is your favourite thing about your boarding house?

It’s great that in the boarding house is full of people. There is always someone you can talk to or joke with.

What do you miss the most about home?

I miss driving in my car just for fun and the nice green landscapes close to my town. I also miss seeing more than 5 stars at night.

What do you love that is unique to Bangkok/Thailand?

The islands in Thailand are awesome! I’ve never visited beaches that were so beautiful like Koh Phi Phi’s. Also I love the weather! It’s nice, warm and sunny and not cloudy and rainy like Germany right now.

REGENT’S

recent news & events

newsletter

REGENT’S newsletter

SAFARI WORLD

By Nuch samang from Thailand

This term I went to Safari World with the Boarding community. We had a good time watching the cowboy show and dolphin show. One of the most interesting things to see is the trained dolphins doing tricks to get people’s attention; they can sing and jump very high. The marine park is all about the show, a lot of the animals are trained to perform on stage and they put on a great show. We were also looking at other animals because Safari World is full of wild and exotic animals. I’ve visited Safari World on previous occasions and I believe it has improved a lot, I keep going because I like the animals and how you can interact with them. You can touch them, take pictures with them and some of the monkeys might even kiss you on the cheek. In the future I would go back to Safari World.

Wake boarding

By Boyka Lee from Korea

On Saturday the 1st of March I went to the wake boarding activity. Firstly I was nervous and excited because I didn’t know what to do or how to do it. Carefully I got on the board and was ready to start but I ended up falling in the water, it was very funny. I decided to do it one more time.

After falling a second time I thought it was impossible but I decided to try it a third time, just for fun! I got on the board and this time I was able to do one round, I felt very happy and a bit tired. Later, I took a break and had some food. I tried it one last time and it ended up being the most successful of all since I manage do one and a half round, it was great fun. At the end we took some funny pictures and went back to the boarding house. It was a wonderful trip.

recent news & events

REGENT’S newsletter

farewell to melanie

We are sad to say farewell to our wonderful exchange student from South Africa. Melanie is well and truly part of our house now and it will be difficult to imagine her not being here. Like any new student to the boarding environment Melanie battled with home sickness during the early days but simply cannot believe she is going home soon. Melanie has embraced every aspect of boarding and school life with vigour and there is no doubt she has made life long friends. Whilst her departure is our loss, there is a very excited mother in South Africa awaiting her return! We wish her every success for the future and thank her for being a ‘ray of sunshine’ in our lives for the past eight weeks.

Unsung heroes...

By Mrs. Wadsworth, Girls House Parent

Once again, we would like to pay tribute to those who work tirelessly behind the scenes to support our boarding community. Thank you. Your efforts do not go unnoticed.

On March the 1st most of the boys in the boarding house enjoyed a basketball session with Mr. William Vosko. He managed to give them a few tips on how to shoot the ball and how to be faster inside the basketball court.

They boys were really excited to have this opportunity and it definitely improved their basketball skills.

Eight incredible, whirl-wind weeks have gone by in a blur and I can’t believe that I have to say goodbye to the most epic and life-changing experiences of my entire life. All I’ll have to remember it by are the awesome memories of market and mall trips, Thai beaches, mouth-watering cuisine, eyeopening service projects and the most incredible and unforgettable friendships. I arrived as a girl from South Africa whos view of the world was limited and I am leaving as a different person. Sure, still a girl from South Africa but inside I have transformed my entire perspective on internationalism and what it means to appreciate, embrace and live with a different culture.

I have met people who have left footprints in my heart and I know that I will never be able to forget the huge impact they had, not only on my exchange and making it as special and worthwhile as it was but also on my life as a whole. Thanks to this experience, those people and the chance to find myself and who

I really am in a place that is very far from home. I am leaving as a better, more rounded and understanding person who has grown in unbelievable, wonderful ways. I have so many people to thank, Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth for making this exchange so easy and comfortable, to Miss. Gavino and Ms. Cel for tending to my every need, to the Gaps for the endless taxi, mall, market and 7/11 trips, to the boarding community who let me be a part of your lives so openly and welcomed me so warmly and of course to my girls. You know who you are and I hope you know that every single one of you has made a difference and will forever be a part of me. Regents will always be home, because they say that home is where the heart is and my heart will forever be with Regents.

Thank you for this life-changing opportunity, I cannot express my gratitude enough! Love you all so much!

By Melanie Lesch, exchange student from South Africa

REGENT’S newsletter

the match of the century!

recent news & events

Filipino cooking class

by Makani Luske from Australia

On the afternoon of Friday the 7th of March participating teachers and boarders made their way to the boarding campus, where the staff and boarders battled it out, in an afternoon of volleyball, rounders and football. Although two of the winning trophies were regrettably handed over to the victorious staff teams, the boarders did manage to grab the rounders trophy with an easy win. The event was a superb afternoon filled with laughter, joy and some healthy staff student competitiveness.

All the boarders played their best and worked hard in preparing up to the event with regular training sessions, fantastic enthusiasm, and team support. A delightful afternoon for everyone involved.

by Garik Mirzoyan from Armenia

In the morning of the 1st of March, a group of boarders did some cooking in the girls’ boarding house with Mr. Svenningsen, Mr. Revelry and with Miss Odyssa. She introduced us to the dishes and we cooked some Filipino dishes including “empanadas”, “maja blanca” and “yema”.

The three dishes were tasty and I enjoyed eating Filipino food with other nationalities. The experience that I gained from cooking was to be able to communicate with other people from different nationalities while cooking the dishes and acting as fast as I could to prevent something from going wrong or getting burnt.

Museum of contemporary art

by Meeri Tomson from estonia

On 29th of March 4 girls from the boarding house decided to do something educational. We decided to have a Saturday full of art so we payed a visit to Bangkok’s Museum Of Contemporary Art (MOCA). When we arrived, we were stunned by the size and construction of the building. Everything was enormous and extremely bright. Somehow it reminded me of home. It had 4 floors, each floor showed the different styles and techniques of quite a diverse group of artists. Although it took us almost 3 hours to see the whole museum we enjoyed taking our Saturday off to spend it admiring the most incredible pieces of Thai art.

Staff vs Boarders

An afternoon of sport for all!

iron man challenge

by Ronnie Bierdrager from the netherlands On a great Saturday morning, everybody rolled off their beds, stuck on a sporting top, and tied up their laces.

We had a magnificent Sunday breakfast but it was wise not to eat too much.

After breakfast, we had our first event, running. We had to run all the way to the girls’ boarding house, then around the football field and into the main boarding hub…a pretty long route and my friends that only counted as one lap. Everybody from Y7 to Y13 gave their hearts outs on the run, gasping for air, pushing off as far as they can with every step, and smiling for the camera as they ran by. Some people managed to run 13 laps which was amazing, but we were all defeated by Melanie who managed to run 14 laps.

Right after that, we all got changed and moved on into

swimming. It was a great way to cool off and like the running event, everybody tired their best. However all of us were forced to stop as for the lightning had stormed in over our heads covering the sun like a shadow. The sky flooded the football pitch where we were supposed to have our bicycle event. However like the well-rounded leaders of the future that we are, we adapted to the situation and held the bicycle activity under the basketball court and at the girls’ boarding house where the area was as dry as a tissue.

In the end, everybody had a great time…sweating… sweating….and sweating, which is why we all ran in the rain to cool our selves off. It was like having a shower, though instead of having soap, we had mud instead all over our bodies.

REGENT’S newsletter

recent news & events

Year 13 - the last push!

Our Year 13s are about to begin their final IB exams. They have worked hard, showing discipline, motivation and sacrifice. There have been tears, both from joy and despair but soon they will begin the final push. We wish them all the very best of luck. Go for it!

Name: Gor Martirosyan Age: 18 Nationality: Armenian Potential career choice: Economics and Business Management What would he be in 10 years? The president of Armenia or a professional football player, or both.

What would he take to a deserted island?

His phone or his football boots.

Name: Davit Avetisyan Age: 17 Nationality: Armenian Potential career choice: Business and accounting What would he be in 10 years? A student What would he take to a deserted island?

Sunscreen

Name: Lenka Moravcikova Age: 17 Nationality: Slovakian Potential career choice: Journalism What would she be in 10 years? The editor-in-chief of American VOGUE What would she take to a deserted island?

The latest issue of VOGUE magazine

Name: Monica Lilian Age: 18 Nationality: Australian Potential career choice: She’s still thinking about it What would she be in 10 years?

Happy What would she take to a deserted island?

A really good book

Name: Tyler Kim Age: 18 Nationality: Korean Potential career choice: Zoology What would he be in 10 years?

A rich zoologist and a father What would he take to a deserted island?

A survival knife

Name: Maria Lustsikov Age: 19 Nationality: Estonian Potential career choice: Medicine What would she be in 10 years? She’ll email us when she gets there What would she take to a deserted island?

Coffee, a lot of coffee

recent news & events

REGENT’S newsletter

service day

by Miriam crosbie gap staff from tasmania

On Saturday 15th of March, the Regents’s School hosted a service day, where Thai children in the nearby area were welcome to participate in three exciting activities. Twenty-eight kids arrived on Saturday morning and were divided into three groups ready to participate in the swimming activities, the sporting games of football and ribbon tag and a creative activity where the kids could do sour-dough painting and mask making. Each group was assigned two boarders who led them around the campus to each activity and translated for them as the kids had very little or no English. Each activity was thirty minutes, at the end of which time the group would rotate to the next activity. Once every group had completed all activities a lunch was held in the dining hall followed by a movie in the girls’ boarding house. Each activity was a huge success with the children coming away having made new friends and interacting with the boarding community.

service

Our local children join us for the day!

REGENT’S newsletter

recent news & events

recent news & events

LADIES NIGHT OUT

by serena bawden from the uk Getting to the middle of the half term always becomes quite a difficult period for most students, with work building up and the pressure of being at school a while with a long way still to go. It was evident in the house that many of us truly needed a bit of relief from the stress and therefore the girls night out was a fantastic night for us all to have a bit of fun and take our minds off studies for a short time, while also building on our relationships with one another. It is not often that the whole house is together for excursions like this, however on this night we managed to get everyone together which was very rewarding. We all had a great time bowling and singing karaoke (if you could call it singing!), ate a wonderful meal and most important of all we managed to have a laugh with one another for an overall fantastic and very worthwhile evening break.

Our sharp shooters practice their shots!

REGENT’S newsletter

REGENT’S newsletter

The ‘khun tu’ Cup

The Boarders came out worthy winners but the game has become much more than just scoring goals. Thanks to Khun Tu and his team for being great sports.

Letting off steam in our Boarding Campus pool!

REGENT’S

REGENT’S

newsletter

newsletter

half term trip - hua hin

by Michelle Hlavata from slovakia This half term break was very exciting for all of boarders who decided to spend a week in Hua Hin. We stayed in a beautiful, music-filled hotel - some of us were super-lucky and even got to share a room with the Beatles! The break was full of sea, sand, and fun. We went to see the Monkey Temple and some were robbed of their ice-cream and drinks by the cheeky monkeys that craved for something sweet and cold. Living by the school motto “leave places better than you found them” we engaged ourselves in a service/environmental activity of cleaning up the beach we stayed on. In one morning we managed to fill 10 garbage bags full of plastic bottles, pieces of wood, and cigarette butts. All in all, it was a wonderful experience and a great bonding-trip.

Monday night challenge...

REGENT’S

REGENT’S

newsletter

newsletter

Certificates Celebrating success and awarding those with special talents in Boarding!

After an 11 week long tournament, team 4 emerged victorious beating team 5 by just 1 point.

REGENT’S newsletter

REGENT’S newsletter

Happy Songkran everyone! See you next term!

the regent’s school, uk Students will gain valuable experience within a British academic environment and a home-from-home boarding facility, which offers care and security.

Diss • Norfolk • IP22 2PA • England

The Regent’s School, UK

spend a term in the uk! term 3 summer term

The Regent’s, UK study and recreational environments

The Regent’s School, Bangkok now offers a unique opportunity for students to experience real British style boarding at The Regent’s School UK. The Regent’s School UK is based at the Riddlesworth Hall Campus, near Cambridge; a beautiful city in England, rich with history. This 300 year old school boasts of prominent alumni members, including the late Diana, Princess of Wales. We open this exciting opportunity for both boys and girls who are currently in Year 5 to Year 8.

accommodation

places to visit

The Boarding House provides the utmost in security and comfort, with supervision from the Headmaster and a team of Boarding Staff. They ensure that your child is happy and at home in their new environment.

Within the exchange programme, there is the possibility to visit some of the most beautiful and interesting sights that make the United Kingdom one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world. London has many exciting points of interest, including Pleasurewood Theme Park.

Boarding at The Regent’s School, UK

admissionspri-bkk@regents.ac.th

www.regents.ac.th/uk

E xt 222 5777 957 02

afternoon activities Students keep busy in the afternoon with a variety of activities, including hockey, rugby and horse riding.

Students have a variety of recreational activities to choose from

contact us For more information or to enrol your child please contact admissions by phoning 02 957 577 ext. 222 or e-mailing admissionspri-bkk@regents.ac.th. Further information can also be found on the website at www.regents. ac.th/uk.

admissionspri-bkk@regents.ac.th

www.regents.ac.th/uk

E xt 222 5777 957 02