The document compares and contrasts the schools TIS (Turkestan International School) and AIS (Almaty International School) based on the author's visit to AIS. Some of the key areas compared include bells/signals, school decor, bathrooms, lockers, cafeteria, environmental awareness, and kitchen facilities. Overall, TIS is seen as superior in most areas such as bells, decor, bathrooms, and environmental awareness. However, AIS is praised for its larger lockers and the presence of a kitchen that serves meals.

2. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Contents
Editor-in-
Contents:
Chief:
UN Day, Too Old to Participate...........................................2 Gulnara Radjapova
AIS vs. TIS......................................................................3-7
Photographer:
Dance Night Reviews.....................................................8-10 Nursultan Salikhbaev
Oct 15th - ONE BILLION people living in hunger...............11
Designer:
Coffee.........................................................................12-13 Nobonita Bhowmik
Hello Cafeteria, Are you there?...................................14-15
Journalists:
Where on earth Koreans get their food from?..............16-17 Malika Baratova
Asiya Yakhina
Students’ lunch...........................................................18-19
Isabella Zohrab
School Lunch Constellation..........................................20-21 Julia McNulty
Elena Kvak
Candy Shop Reviews...................................................22-24 Hyun Jeong An
Milind Shah
Book Reviews:
Persepolis..................................................................25
Xinbo Zhang
Tomorrow, When the War Began................................26 Said Turaev
Ralph Minderhoud
Ejik..................................................................................27 Gulnara Radjapova

3. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
UN Day
UN Day, United Nations day, the day of the
year where we bring together all the nations, a day
where one is proud to dress up in your national dress
and teach people about your country. So where do
you draw the line for when to stop doing this? At
what age should we stop acknowledging UN day?
Well according to TIS after elementary you are to old
to engage in it. This year the elementary had a fan-
tastic set up, where each classroom was organized to
reflect a country, with games and pictures centred The type of lives we lead encourages us to be un-
on the culture of that specific country. The kids had derstanding and accepting of other nations, since
passports made and they “travelled” to each coun- we are constantly being exposed to it daily. So why
try getting stamps for their passport, and learning didn’t we do anything?! Personally I think it’s sad
new things from each different room. By the end of that a school with the assortment of nationalities
the day the elementary students went home after such as TIS can’t pull it together to reflect this. It’s
having a whole day dedicated to enjoying and be- important to encourage the acknowledgement the
ing aware of UN day. Which is all good and great importance of others, especially as we get older. To
for the elementary kids but what about us?! I hadn’t enforce this, as our age is what will ensure that when
recognized that you got too old to acknowledge the we move on and go to other countries the lessons we
unification of nations. Especially at TIS which is an have learned from our schooling years will always be
international school, it should be dedicated to the there.
promotion of the mixture of nationalities and cul-
ture us students have. Even the manner in which the younger stu-
dents celebrated UN was a bit under developed,
Understandingly we are too old to be play- they weren’t included in the culture, but rather
ing games and winning prizes (as fun as they are, had it thrust upon them. Granted the children are
we’ll have to stick to doing this in the privacy of our young, and at least this way they are getting an in-
homes) but that doesn’t mean we can’t find an age troduction into awareness of others but just having
appropriate way of celebrating UN day. An assembly these rooms full of England decorations doesn’t re-
where students volunteer to represent an aspect of ally explain the culture. It all feels very underplayed
their culture either from a national dance, or poem, and much more about showing off. Perhaps, when
or anthem. It doesn’t have to be the whole day as it comes to doing something for the older kids they
obviously IB students can’t afford to be losing that could give them the opportunity to debate and com-
time, but something would be appreciated! ment on issues surrounding the UN. That way it
would actually be educational and culturally awak-
ening. Some sort of community action that can in-
volve all the students, no matter what the age, be-
cause when you come down to it, there is no age cut
off for celebrating our nations, and it’s a ridiculous
assumption on the part of the teachers to think that
we wouldn’t be bothered by the fact it’s almost prac-
tically unnoticeable in the high school and middle
school. I mean unless you had a younger brother or
sister telling you about what they did in school for
UN day or the little mark on the school calendar,
you would hardly know what day it was. So in fu-
ture, a note out for all the teachers of the school, UN
day isn’t an ageist thing so don’t treat it like one.
By Julia C.M
2

4. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
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Dec. Issue
AIS vs. TIS
As you know, there was a soccer tournament in Almaty recently. All games were held in AIS (guess what
it stands for...? Automatic Intercept System...? No way… Alarm Indication Signal...?...uhm…are you seri-
ous...? Australian Institute of Sport?.. Haah... that would be cool, but still… back to the harsh reality: Al-
maty International School). Actually, we were given a hearty welcome there, probably because the hosts couldn’t
even think of our malicious intent to explore, observe, and (attention!!) memorize everything we see…
It’s great to go on international trips to get to know other countries, make new friends, compete at
sports, debating, or whatever else. Another bonus resulting from these trips is being able to vindictively com-
pare your school to their school in all possible ways.
So, TIS versus AIS...
Bells 1 point Décor 1 point
How effective is the signal to drag your informa- Do the colors of your school literally brighten
tion-overloaded body to your next class? your day?
One thing we found very odd about AIS was One of the areas where TIS beats AIS is defi-
their bell. In TIS, we have a shrieking, piercing, pay- nitely the color scheme. The color of all AIS lockers
attention-to-me-or-be-shot bell which you can’t help is – grey. The outer walls – grey. The roofs – grey. The
but here. I have seen people drop their books when floors – white. The walls – white. The bathrooms –
the bell goes off unexpectedly and sleeping students white with white walls.
wake up yelling “What’s happening?” This is a bell Let’s consider TIS. The outer walls – pale tur-
that demands attention and clearly tells all who here quoise. The roofs – dark green. The floors – wooden
it to get up, for crying out loud, and get yourself to or cream tiles. The walls – white, but covered with
your next class. bright posters and artwork. The bathrooms – pink or
The AIS bell, on the other hand, would never blue.
surprise anyone and couldn’t wake up a sleeping stu- Certainly, a school with yellow walls and red
dent if it was played over and over a hundred times lockers and pink floors would be the stuff that horror
louder than the TIS bell. Simply put, the AIS bell is movies are made of. On the other hand, a grey and
– a doorbell. Ding-dong, it beeps, signaling all AIS white school is extremely depressing and rather like
students to head to their next class. How in the world a hospital. In the freezing, grey, depressing weather
would anyone here this bell in a crowded lunchroom that accompanied the football tournament, there was
full of hungry teenagers? How would anybody in Ms not a single piece of color to brighten the atmosphere.
Oakley’s class drama class hear such a gentle, pas-
sive, timid bell and be bothered to move to their next TIS wins (exclamations of joy)
class?
TIS wins (thunderous applause) TIS: 2
AIS: 0
TIS: 1
AIS: 0
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5. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
AIS vs. TIS
Bathrooms 2 points
The strangest thing about AIS was the strange
absence of mirrors. The bathroom next to the cafete-
ria had a common area for boys and girls with sinks,
and then a door for a girls’ bathroom and a door for
the boys’ bathroom, each bathroom containing one
toilet. The room was completely white with one wall
mostly windows, two sinks, a paper towel dispenser,
and…no mirrors. Tiny mirrors that showed only your
chest could be found in the actual bathrooms. The
other bathrooms near the gym had separate rooms
for girls and boys. There, you entered into a room
with two sinks and two tiny mirrors and then you
moved into the rooms with the toilets, three in each.
In TIS, however, on every floor there are a pair
of bathrooms. These bathrooms each have two sinks
and one huge mirror, and each bathroom has four
toilets. Mirrors are essential for girls who need to fix Orienteering 2 points
hair and makeup. In TIS, they can stand quite com-
fortably. In AIS, you would have to crouch, and that’s How many weeks did it take you to figure out
just uncomfortable. how to find your way around?
For the average un-athletic, sleep-deprived,
TIS wins (Yeeeey!!!) book-laden student, stairs are simply a chore. We do
not want to have to drag heavy backpacks up three
TIS: 4 flights of stairs to get to homeroom. Interestingly, the
AIS: 0 eleventh and twelfth graders, the IB students, whose
backpacks are presumably the heaviest, have most
classes situated on the third floor. The elementary
students, on the other hand, most of whom do not
need backpacks, only have to climb a flight of stairs
to learn to type or to do finger-painting, or perhaps to
learn Russian. Where is the justice?
Anyway, the point is, most of AIS is one floor.
There is no need to drag bags up three flights of stairs
to get to the next class. All walking is done horizon-
tally. Vertical movement is very limited, keeping un-
necessary exercise to a minimum.
Unfortunately, a lot of horizontal movement
makes the matter of finding places much more diffi-
cult. AIS’s maze of hallways is organized in such a way
that I was frequently suspicious that I was literally
going to circles, not to mention the fact that the walls
lined with lockers all look the same and there are no
windows to see if the landscape is repeating itself.
The exhaustion of chairs versus finding your
next class…let’s call it a tie. One point each.
TIS: 5
AIS: 1
4

6. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
AIS vs. TIS
Lockers 2 points
Can you really cram all your stuff into your locker?
Walking down the maze hallways of AIS, one thing
caught the attention of all TIS students – the lockers!
It was like something out of a generic American high-
school movie – tall, grey and grey. They are wider and
bigger than the TIS lockers, and much more grey and
professional-looking. As we walked through the school
to eat, the strange imitation of a bell informed the
AIS students that it was time to use their lockers. We
couldn’t help but see the contents of those lockers.
People could fit jackets, books, changes of clothes,
shoes, and many more things into their lockers. Imag-
ine a school where you can leave your sneakers and your
PE clothes in your locker instead of dragging a gym
bag to school every four days. Also, imagine a locker
big enough to hold musical instruments. The TIS lock-
ers can probably hold flutes, and maybe violins if there
wasn’t much else inside, but what about guitars or clari-
nets? Imagine being able to actually fit your locker with
everything you need! What a wonderful world…
AIS wins (Cry of grief)
Changing Rooms 3 points
TIS: 5
How accommodating is the room in which you must AIS: 3
change to do all things athletic?
We all know TIS’s changing rooms. You can hear any-
thing that is said by the people in them, they smell funny,
and the girls’ changing room has a pair of socks that have
been resident on the heater for over a month.
AIS’s changing room has a bench for placing one’s stuff
surrounded by – lockers! Players on the sports teams have
lockers there to store their uniforms, sneakers, water bot-
tles, and addictive gum.
On the other hand, the AIS girls’ changing room has
2 showers, the boys’ has 1. The TIS changing rooms have
5 each. AIS’s changing room is a little crowded because of
all the lockers; there is heaps of space in the TIS changing
room. There’s also the matter of the extra door in the AIS
changing room, giving people a great opportunity to open
the door when you really would rather they didn’t.
Once again, it’s a toss-up. Storing all your stuff and
less chance of someone staring at you, or a higher chance of
getting a shower and having space to move?
TIS-1 AIS-2
TIS: 6
AIS: 5
5

7. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
AIS vs. TIS
Environmental Awareness 3 points
To what extent does the school community sob
over murdered trees?
Another interesting fact about AIS is that in the
bathrooms they have containers with tissues on the
walls. “Um… very interesting… “ – you might say, but be
patient. Attention now. While taking out a tissue you
can’t help reading a request, or maybe an entreaty… as
you like. “Save trees. Please, use ONLY ONE tissue.” In
our school we have those rolls of suspiciously brown toi-
let paper and no warnings about disappearing trees. You
know why? Because TIS students are environmentally
friendly by nature, they do not need reminders all over Kitchen 5 points
the bathroom to remember about dying trees. More-
over, the TIS administration, which is environmentally Oh, the glory of having fresh food sold in the
friendly as well, acts wisely when choosing that special school cafeteria...
kind of toilet paper (recycled toilet paper and quite There is a big and very significant BUT as
rough) to prevent students from over-expenditure of an advantage of AIS. (Cry of despair) They have a
the paper and killing trees. That is a much more effec- kitchen!!! Students have their breakfast and lunch
tive way to save trees then hanging those humiliating at school. And the food is quite tasty.
posters and counting on students’ conscience. So, in the For breakfast we had milk with different
both nominations of ‘environmental friendliness’ and kinds of cereal, juice, tea, omelettes, and different
‘the most creative administration’ TIS wins. (Thunder- kinds of cookies or doughnuts, I don’t remember
ous clapping) exactly. For lunch we had juice, pizza, and lasa-
gne. The staff was so kind to us. Once we couldn’t
TIS: 9 have our breakfast on time because we had a game.
AIS: 5 We came to the cafeteria when there was nobody
besides staff down there. They said that we were
late, and there was nothing left. A suspicion that
they still might have something for us crept in my
mind, that’s why we immediately turned on our
natural charm and asked for food again mention-
ing that we just had a game outside and showing
are blue frozen fingers this time. It worked, and we
Cafeteria 5 points got our breakfast.
Since that time, when I go to bed, every single
Is the room in which you eat big enough to accom- night I have a dream about TIS with a kitchen…
modate everyone? Students are standing in the line for their break-
The Cafeteria in AIS is relatively small. I don’t fasts. I can see shiny smiles on their faces. One by
think that all AIS students can be there at once. Prob- one they get their food and take seats at tables in
ably students have to eat by turns. But all AIS students the cafeteria. They slowly sip their steaming coffee,
eat in the cafeteria and don’t bring their lunches from and eat their doughnuts with gusto. At that very
home. Our school cafeteria is more capacious, though moment I always wake up with a cold sweat on my
not all of our students eat in the cafeteria. Life is unfair, face.
isn’t it?.. So, in the nomination of the ‘biggest cafeteria’
TIS wins. (Prolonged applause) AIS wins (Goood…)
TIS: 14 TIS: 14
AIS: 5 AIS: 10
6

8. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
AIS vs. TIS
Football field 5 points
The state of the TIS football field is a sensi-
tive subject. With its uneven ground, the corpses
of birds infrequently found in the tufts of grass, the
yellow bald spots, and the suspicious large patches
of muddy water, it is hardly an ideal place to learn
how to play football.
The AIS field on the other hand, is more or
less even, young, therefore not balding. It’s relative-
ly smooth, with no deep muddy ponds to fall into,
and no holes or grassy knolls to break an ankle trip-
ping over.
AIS also actually has places to sit and watch
the games – three or four benches compared to
TIS’s two. Both are quite pathetic numbers, but
still, AIS is slightly less pathetic in the accommoda-
tion of enthusiastic (freezing) fans.
AIS wins (Cry of desperation)
It was close in the end, but AIS still beats TIS. Our lack
TIS: 14 of a kitchen, balding excuse for a football field, and
AIS: 15 tiny lockers can’t compare to AIS’s busy kitchen, smooth
green field, and huge grey lockers. Even though our
changing rooms and the organization of our schools are
tied, and TIS excels with our piercing school bells, our
brightly decorated hallways, our huge bathrooms with
their big mirrors, our big cafeteria and our care for
all things green, AIS still beat us in the end, just like
they beat the girls in the tournament…
By Isabella Z. and Asiya Y.
7

9. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Dance Night
Slack Beginning Épigraphe:
”I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good
It was my first and hopefully not last dance night…”
night at TIS. Dance night started off from drawing Black Eyed Peas
nice pink ticks, or birds, or maybe curves (y=2x2) on
the hands of those who were lavish with two thou-
sands sum on that day… So after STUCO drew those
signs of wealth on our hands, proud and gratified,
we entered the MPR but… found nobody there (6:30
p.m.). Some people were waiting for something in-
conceivable to happen in the study area and were
vigorously not going to dance. Others were sitting
on the chairs by the walls in MPR and looked strange
while just attentively observing garish green rays
playing on the walls instead of dancing. Why, if we
want to do something, don’t we just start doing it in-
stead of waiting for others to do it for us? Even if it’s
dancing… people still waited for something and we
decided to set a shining example by making uncoor-
dinated movements to the music. (6:50 p.m.)Gradu-
ally more and more people overcame their shyness
and threw themselves into a dance.
Compared to the Dance Night at AIS…
Time passed and I noticed how talented TIS
dancers are. By the way during the AIS dance night
I was bored but here I had fun. In AIS there was a
certain group of dabbling-in-being-DJs people who
selected songs, but in TIS People’s opinion was taken
into consideration and we could choose songs on our
own. Long live Democracy!!! Hurray!
What Happens When the Demand Doesn’t Corre-
spond to the Supply…
Soon more and more people went to the small
gym to have a snack (about 7:15 p.m.) and I found
myself almost all alone in the MPR. Did people
come to the dance night to eat? Duuh… Though
many people stayed in the small gym for quite a
long time and apparently were eating during this
period of time, StuCo still had food to sell by the
end of the dance night. After I heard Gulya’s voice
calling people to buy something to eat, I went to
the small gym and bought a bottle of coke. Dear
StuCo, sorry I didn’t buy any food. I swear I wasn’t
hungry.
8

10. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Dance Night
Reviews
Dance Battle
An enormous multitude of TIS students could show
their talent for dancing during the dance battle. It was
hooot in the MPR when dancers were competing against
each other trying to figure out who is better, who is good
enough to win. It took rather long to decide who was better
because the crowd as a rule, voted equally loud for both
dancers. I would like to make a special mention of two
people who also participated in the dance battle: Rodrigo
and Jasper. You guys were awesome!!! Dancing in such your
style undoubtedly deserves respect and recognition.
This dance night was fun. Moreover, it was well orga-
nized. There were two interesting competitions (wriggle-
in-a-not-really-comfortable-way-under-the-stick competi-
tion and dance battle), we could buy food or something to
drink if we wanted to, and there were songs we asked for.
Thank you, StuCo members, for taking our opinion into
consideration and organizing this event.
By Asiya Y.
9

11. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Dance Night
Reviews
At the end of the quarter after many re- PEOPLE YOU CAME TO
quests were made by the TIS students STUCO
decided to organize a new event. It was a Dance
DANCE NIGHT TO DANCE
Night. NOT TO
Those of you who came I bet don’t regret EAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it. On the whole, dance night was successful and
not successful at the same time. Yes, there was Also I would like to note that dance night was the
fun. Yes, music was good. Yes, food was awe- first event when our FOTO (Friends Of The Orphanage)
some. And yes, the price wasn’t high. But the team started to work. They made a beautiful big tree and
huge failure of STUCO was that they didn’t pay every student could come and buy a leaf or an apple and
enough attention to the promotion part of the through this help the orphans.
event. Many students just ignored it. It means
that posting small A4 size papers on the walls
and making one morning announcement 2 days
before the actual event is not enough.
Again like in a previous event Candy Shop
did a good job. The Food they were selling was
as good as ever. There were many tables so you
could eat with comfort, away from the MPR
where music didn’t disturb you. I think, howev-
er, this fact also played a bad role. Not many peo-
ple came to dance, night but STUCO lost even
more people because they preferred to spend
their time chatting with their friends and eating
delicious food in a so called cafeteria. I think
that it was disappointing not only for STUCO
but also for those who didn’t want to leave but
had to as they didn’t want to spend time alone.
ATTENTION HERE: this action is still in operation
– buy an apple or a leaf from Loulou or Wonsuk in
Grade 12.
I think it was a good job that they earned 61000
soums.
As always I want to say thanks to our STUCO as it
was a great job. Despite the problem that occurred, our
students had fun. Also I want to say that our 10th graders
were the best dancers as nothing could stop them. They
were not seduced by food or the overwhelming desire to
chat. They were dancing all night long and moreover al-
most all of them came to the event.
So, at the end we say more dancing night and more
cool events from our STUCO are needed.
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12. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Oct 15th
ONE BILLION of Population Living in Hunger
On Oct 15th many people in TIS are very hap-
py, because it’s the day before the fall break; some
people plan to go back to their homeland, some
people plan to travel to another country and so
on… Almost 16% of the world population can’t even
dream about such things - a simple reason is they
are still living in hunger, and their number is ex-
tremely large which is about 1.02 billion - according
to the FAO(Food and Agriculture Organization)
World food day
On Oct 15th, the FAO published its report
which showed there are around 1.02 billion people
around the world still living in hunger. For the first
time in the past 40 years this number broke 1 bil-
lion. Compared to last year the hungry population
has increased by nearly 100 million, which is about
10%, and such an increase is one of the highest in
past 40 years. What concerns the FAO is that this
number is calculated from the data from the past
two years, which can only partially reflect the world
food crisis today, and the report has shown that
even before the economic crisis the number of peo-
ple starving is increasing, which is pretty awful. If
you look at the starvation line which set by the FAO,
people who get less than 1800 calories per day are
considered to be starving. How much is 100 grams
of chocolate? Every 100 grams of chocolate contains
nearly 2500 CALORIES! I think you probably should
have a general idea about their life.
What can we do?
There are many things we can do; you can do-
nate money to the FAO or give some money to the
Red Cross and so on, but I’m not recommending You can always find some burgers which are not
you do these things, because you are not earning even opened in the trash cans. We should really
money right now. Therefore, a simple way you can take the problem of wasting food seriously, be-
help hungry people is STOP WASTING FOOD. I cause if we look at the hungry population, which
don’t want give a lot of scary numbers about how is equal to nearly one in every seven people, which
much food we are wasting very day, but if you were is unbelievable in the 21st century.
paying a little bit more attention to the lunch room
trash can, you will know the waste of food in TIS is a Conclusion
serious problem.
Stop wasting your FOOD!
11

13. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Coffee
Newsflash:
Energizer Bunny
Actuall Drinks Coffee!!!
y
How many days in a school year do we
sense the delicious coffee aroma wafting all over
the room? Adults seem to live on coffee, which
isn’t surprising to a modern student. What ex-
actly makes the adult subspecies, among us
called teachers, so much in need of and in love
with coffee? Why do students, as they near
graduation, also become dependent on this iron
of beverages?
If you don’t know the answer, you are
probably a young, innocent sixth grader. While
this is not a bad thing, it’s pretty clear that you
might not have the experience with coffee that
overloaded students in the double-digit grades
have. Therefore you don’t know about the mi-
raculous effects that coffee brings, namely alert-
ness and hyperactivity. So, some teachers are
walking around with their mugs full of instant
coffee, while others prefer the real stuff (for a
price). If you ever felt like playing a sport after
passing the office, it is because you have inhaled
the energizing fumes of coffee brewed in the “The PTA did mention, I want to be very
PTA coffee machine. transparent, that they wouldn’t have a problem,
they would like, the students to buy because that
Now, of course some of us, students, have would mean they’d make more money. But, the
drunk coffee at home. But are we allowed to price of coffee is going from 500 to 1000, still that’s
drink coffee at school, buy it here or bring it a bargain for a good cup of coffee, but I don’t think
with you in a shiny thermos? Has anyone ever the PTA has thought through it because I don’t
discussed it at a serious level with anyone? “No- think the machine could sustain that.”
body has ever approached me about it, and I’ve
been here four years.” says Ms. Heard. “I know Fellas, let’s face it, that machine is one flimsy
a lot of schools do have coffee but I think what little box. The reason for not allowing us to drink
we don’t want to happen is for students to be coffee is because of the fear that if students joined
wired with that coffee because this particular the coffee-drinking cult, the machine would break.
coffee is very strong.” Our principal is, of course, “Right now as it is, because of where it’s located,
speaking of the priced stuff made in the office the office staff have to put water in it, load the
for teachers and parents. Students have no ac- beans, we’re talking about pulling people away
cess to the instant teacher coffee, but no one from their jobs to maintain that coffee machine for
has prohibited students from buying this coffee, the PTA. Were students to be allowed to use it too
right? I think we’d have to talk about a different location,
a different machine and somebody there to be re-
sponsible for it.” Hey, what if the Candy Shop took
to maintaining a coffee machine? Wouldn’t that be
fine?
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14. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
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Dec. Issue
Coffee
Newsflash:
Energizer Bunny
Actuall Drinks Coffee!!!
y
“I think the point is if you’re using it as a bev-
erage just because you love it or drink it and it’s
not so strong and it’s not making you really hyper,
I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But, I think that
as a faculty and a school we’d have to look into a
policy on coffee because at this moment there isn’t
one.”
A policy. Yes, the school will have to estab-
lish who will be responsible for the coffee ma-
chine, who will maintain it, who will be allowed
to buy the coffee. If anyone in the school decides
to bring this topic up, there will be quite a discus-
sion. “We’d have to look at it from a lot of different
angles.” notes Ms. Heard. “I’ve been in seven dif-
ferent schools and coffee has never been allowed.
Or cokes.” So we’re actually pretty lucky.
Why isn’t coffee allowed in some schools
and completely available to all in others? Well,
because the schools have different policies and
belief statements. If a school decides it wants to
be one-hundred-percent healthy, they won’t allow
coffee. If a school decides that their student body
is wise enough to know if they should drink coffee,
the school just makes it available. Ms. Heard says,
“I think the initiative would have to come from
and involve the parents, faculty, the PTA. We’d
all have to be involved in this.” If this was a USSR
propaganda poster, it would say, “Students of the I’ll answer the last:
World, Unite in the Fight for Our Coffee Rights!
Equality for all Consumers of Coffee!” We aren’t in
the USSR anymore and the message is thus: if we,
students of TIS, do not care about coffee enough
to make a suggestion to the PTA or someone high So that we don’t walk around the school with
up in the school, we will not get anything done, a glassy stare. So that we never fall asleep while
since grown ups are well-known to forget things reading a book in class. So that we never answer
and die before they remember. We have to take the to a teacher “I don’t know?” again when the actual
initiative in getting what we want, right? answer is about fifty words longer and doesn’t end
with a question mark. I have said enough. I’m off
to invent coffee batteries- when I’m done the Ener-
gizer Bunny will lose the race.
By Malika B.
13

15. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
School Cafeteria
Let’s imagine here, that you’re going into a
fancy restaurant that’s just opened. The reviews
on the food are great and you’re really looking
forward to the idea of going out with your friends
and trying out somewhere new. So your turn up
at this restaurant and the smells, even from the
outside are positively mouth watering, and you’re
thinking this place is going to be good. Then
you walk inside, and you see that there isn’t any-
where to sit. You’ve got this fantastic kitchen in
the background, and all these really fancy look-
ing servers and yet, no tables. I bet you’re think-
ing that isn’t right, where are the tables? Well you
know what; you have every right to be thinking
that!
I wanted to paint that picture for you, an
analogy of what our cafeteria or lack there of is
like. See, the food options at TIS include, ei-
ther bring your own lunch from home (in my
opinion the safest bet) or pre-order the school
lunch. Oh wait, of course I forgot the other op-
tion although you’ll have to be Korean to get
included, but well some of you are. The mysteri-
ous option number three is Korean food served
by the mothers to only Korean kids. But that
aside, what ever your food choice, your going to
need somewhere to eat it. Otherwise, it all feels
sort of wasted. Good food eaten standing up is
hardly worth it. At the moment the places to eat
consist of the MPR, (small and rather cramped
for the entire school to be eating in) the candy
shop (only about four benches, and when it gets
cold where do we go?) and well wherever you
can find an empty spot, that isn’t the library of
course. (That would be deadly)
14

16. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
School Cafeteria
Anyway, it’s a much debated argument
amongst students where can we eat, and what can
we eat? As I said the options are rather limited at
best, and the eating arrangements even more lack-
ing. So as an active member of the Spark newspa-
per, I took it upon myself to interview the man in
charge; Mr.Brindley. And I can say that a cafeteria
is fortunately on the horizon, of course no official
date was set or a particular time frame but we can’t
be picky, at least it’s been brought to attention eh?
Mr.Brindley says that as of last week’s Board
meeting the cafeteria idea was set in motion.
However, the down side is it’s not actually up to
him, and will have to be passed through the com-
mittees, who of course are much more concerned
with expansion for the primary, secondary and
office space. But when you come down to it, if the
school expands and we have an increase in stu-
dent population, catering for 500 students is going
to be even more difficult with the facilities avail-
able then it is now. That will all come in due time,
though for now the basic idea is that it would be
adjacent to the park in the front of the school, so
that students could have a nice view and atmo-
sphere when eating. What is being considered is a
kitchen, serving area and of course a seating area.
The food will no doubt have to be healthy, as pro-
moting unhealthy food would be a crime against
nature. Mr.Brindley was suggesting a wide range
of cultural food, perhaps served by local people,
and a mixture of cold food and hot food. This is
always an issue, as timing is essential. Hot food
needs time to be prepared and cold food doesn’t so
how do you organize these around one another?
Prices are another issue, but until we know what
sort of food is going to be served I wouldn’t worry
too much. But the cafeteria is hopefully going to
be catering to the parents and teachers as well.
Somewhere for them to sit in and perhaps enjoy a
tea or coffee, while waiting for their children. This
cafeteria will surely be a big impact on everyone,
so hopefully the board will take this into acknowl-
edgement and do something about it quickly, not
put it off as a less important issue. As it most sure-
ly is not. Bottom line is, the cafeteria now is not
sufficient at all, and action should be a top priority
for the near future.
15 By Julia C.M

17. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
School Lunch
The time is 11:30am. Just like everyday, the bell
rings and lunch time starts. Some people head to
candy shop, some people head to benches outside
and some people go directly to the MPR. Most of
Korean students who go to the MPR are offered Ko-
rean food. They receive stainless dishes, with rice
and warm soup with three different kinds of dishes
that go with rice from Korean women. After they
finish the lunch they return the empty dishes and
leisurely leave the MPR. Where on earth did they
get the food from? Why do only Koreans have that
food? Who are those Korean women who are dis-
tributing the food?
It came to light that the food is from one old
Korean woman who volunteered to cook and offered
the food. The Korean mothers volunteered to work
at the MPR distributing the food to the students. A
system like this is common in Korea. The main aim
of starting this Korean food system was for Korean
students who could not adapt to the school lunch
services.
If so, is it impossible for students who are not
Korean to have Korean lunch? According to one
woman who was giving the food to the kids, there
are a few students and teachers who are not Korean
having Korean food. Nevertheless rather than get-
ting it regularly, they inform the day that they want
the food to the old woman and pay for the food on
that specific day. The reason why any person cannot
pay and immediately get the food is the quantity of
food and the number of the dishes is limited. Some
students get food by asking their Korean friends.
But both of those two ways are quite annoying and
complicated.
16

18. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
School Lunch
The situation is not proper and quite hard
for people who are not Korean to have Korean
lunch service regularly. The reason is, first of all,
because it is not applicable just like school lunch
service. School lunch service provides a small
coated sheet, which is the menu, to everybody.
When one gives this to the man in front, the food
is offered. Unlike this, the only way to get the Ko-
rean food is to ask the old Korean woman to offer
the food. However, unfortunately, she does not
speak English and that makes it much harder to
communicate. The second reason is the extremely
high price. The average price for one meal is 6000
to 6500 sum. This is much more expensive than
the price of the school lunch service or a sandwich
from the candy shop. People are rarely willing to
pay that high of a price unless they are Korean.
In spite of the increasing number of students
who want to be able to purchase Korean food, the
access it is limited. This is also because of a lack
of support from the school itself. When we get
the application form for the school lunch service,
there is only one sheet and nothing about Korean
food.
On the other hand there are lots of Korean
students who prefer not to have Korean food. This
is because of the price that may weigh heavily on
students and the limitation that they should eat in
the MPR. Or they prefer their own food or simpler
food such as hot dogs or sandwiches to have more
spare time during lunch time.
If you are not Korean I suggest that the sim-
plest way to get Korean food is to ask any of your
Korean friends. And if you are Korean, there must
be movement against the extremely high price
compared to the other choices. These also would
lead to the conclusion that the school should find
ways to offer a lunch service that would satisfy
both Korean and non-Korean students.
By Hyun-Jeong An
17

19. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Students’ Lunch
In this issue we are trying to deeply look at the lunch
problem in our school.
My job here is to tell you more about
lunches that come here everyday from
a mysterious café or restaurant, who
knows, and that is sold by people in the
MPR. I will call it just lunch.
So, basically I’m writing about this
because I’m one of these rare people who
buy it.
Another problem is that our school is working
with these lunch makers for the first time so basi-
cally when you choose a dish you don’t know what’s
going to jump out of the plastic box. Some food they
make is so delicious and tasty that you start thinking
why didn’t you order more portions. On the other
hand, sometimes when you open the box you think
that you better not take any risks and buy something
else. Actually it doesn’t mean that the food is bad or
you can be poisoned but the way it looks make you
think about your safety.
It happened to me once when I ordered
“Chicken with macaroni”. When I took it I saw
that there were green and orange macaroni, but no
white. I was surprised and didn’t eat it. But what it
actually meant was that any day I chose this dish, for
I had to find another source to buy food from and it
was annoying.
The main problem with this lunch is that you
have to decide what you want to eat for the whole
month and once you put a tick mark in front of the
dish on the form you cannot change it. But what if
I suddenly change my mind? What if I don’t want
to eat noodle soup today? Don’t think that the sell-
ers will be happy if you tell them this and will give
you anything you want. Nope! They won’t do this.
You are just going to be hungry and starving without
lunch, if you won’t buy something else for an addi-
tional price. I’m actually a person who changes her
mood and desires every second, so I have problems
with this “month predicting and planning method”.
18

20. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Students’ Lunch
Ok. Here, for you I have list of dishes that I’ve already tested
and I made notes for each one. My list isn’t long but still it could
help you to make your choice when you will have to plan your
lunch.
Kimbab – guys, this is the best dish
I have ever eaten from this caf-
eteria
Chicken with macaroni – for those of
you who want to take risks + all
the comments above
Kiev style cutlet with corn – actually it
was a really good one, I advise you
to try
Chicken filet roasted in eggs – it’s too
oily but not bad
Macaroni with cheese – not enough
cheese
Fruit salad – vegetarians, this is for
you
Vegetarian sandwich – do we call a
sandwich something with meat in-
side? But as it is vegetarian, there
was no meat inside so it was just
bread, salad, tomato and cucumber.
This is for those who like vegeta-
bles and refuses meat
Pizza – fast food forever!!!! It
was good enough but not actually
nourishing.
So, for now this is the whole list of dishes I ordered
before. I hope it will help you somehow. Students’ lunches
could be good and could be bad. In our case everything de-
pends on your unconscious choice.
19

21. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
School Lunch
Constellation
Today in TIS there are probably 3 types of lunches, one is Korean
Lunch for Koreans, second is school restaurant lunch for the rest, and the
third is Candy Shop or your own packed lunch. In this article I’m just
trying to evaluate three different types of lunches, I will list the advan-
tage and disadvantage below, then you can determine which lunch is best
for you. This is based on my own experiences; and in general this is a
disaster, I would never want to have such an experience again.
In general, school lunch is not bad, but this Then if we look at the price of Samsa, a potato Sam-
still is a disaster, at least for me and some side- sa cost 700 sum! And the taste needs to be tolerated.
effects have happened to me when I try the school
lunch. But school lunch has some advantages, which
is that they are the official lunch provider of school
The hot dog is what most people like to buy and everyone can order their lunch , and the speed
from the school lunch shop. However you can of getting your food is well… speedy; also some
see that, less and less people are buying the hot- dishes have quite a nice taste based on my last year
dog from the school lunch shop. Why? I think of school lunch experiences.
the price is important. How much does a hot-dog
cost outside of school? Probably from 600-1000 Even though some school dishes have quite a
sum would be the maximum. The bread is usually good taste, and arrive faster, but when you think of
much bigger and the sausage is much longer, but the price of lunch, and the side-effect of eating the
if we look at school lunch, a single small hot-dog lunch.
with a little sausage costs 1500 sum, which is a di-
saster.
In general I think that the Korean Lunch tastes pretty
good. Everyday they have either rice or Kimpab, also soup
and I especially like the pickles, so, I have a pretty good re-
view about Korean Lunch. The largest Non-official school
lunch provider of TIS.
You can always see people fighting for a Kimpab when
Koreans have it for lunch. I really don’t know whether this
is good or bad, because on one side it means the Korean
lunch is very tasty, but on the other hand it means “you
can’t get Korean lunch very easily, unless you are a Korean.”
This is a Quote from a teacher in TIS. Therefore the
key point I will talk about here is why non-Koreans can’t
have Korean Lunch.
Some teachers were trying to ask for Korean lunch,
but the Korean lady was saying NO to the teachers. My Ko-
rean friends told me that maybe that Korean lady doesn’t
understand English really well; she might think the teacher
20

22. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
School Lunch
Constellation
just want a Korean lunch for one day, therefore the Russian or Uzbek, and every single of them are
lady says NO to the teacher. He said it is possible ordering lunch from the official school lunch pro-
to let non-Koreans have Korean lunch, but the vider.
form that you need to complete is written in Ko-
rean. So, if you want have a Korean lunch you need So, it’s very interesting to see that the two
to know how to speak Korean or some of your Ko- majority groups of school students have their own
rean friends should help you to complete the form. lunch provider, but what about the minority of the
TIS students? Most of them chose to bring their
Even though lots of people would like to try own lunch from home, and therefore read my next
the Korean lunch, there are also people who said sub-topic.
even if they have an opportunity to have Korean
lunch they wouldn’t take it, and most of them are
It is hard for me to determine the taste of That’s a lot more love than you can’t get
your lunch, unless I can try everyone’s lunch, from any school lunch provider. The price will be
therefore you need to decide whether you have a much cheaper if cooking at home.
good and tasty lunch or not. As the one who brings
his own lunch every day I would like to use my Disadvantages are also involved in this case.
example to talk of some advantages and disadvan- If your parent’s forced you to eat lunch cooked by
tages of bringing your own lunch. them and they think they cooked up a very nice
taste but actually it’s gross, that’s going to be a
There are tons and tons of advantages to disaster for you. Also if you forget your lunch at
bringing your own lunch. One is the food that home and you just realize this during lunch time,
wouldn’t make you feel bad down there, because then you don’t have money to buy food.
you are adjusted to it and you know how old the
bread is and how they cook it. In many cases your
parents cook lunch for you; therefore you can taste
the “love” that your parents put in your lunch.
Every lunch provider has their own advantage and disadvantage and
if you are smart you know which lunch is good for you, you won’t think
lunch is a disaster, but if you have make the wrong choice, I think the
only word you can describe your lunch is “DISASTER.”
21

23. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Candy Shop
The candy shop, normally the place where stu-
dents unquestionably devote their teeth to the on-
slaught of sugary sweets, has sparked some unrest
among the students. Well, unrest is an exaggeration,
people were initially upset about the new prices at
the candy shop but, as humans tend todo more often
than they should, they have long forgotten the good The second issue is that the candy shop now has
old days of 1,000 sum chocolate and coca-cola. This no purpose, other than to sell us candy. It is no dif-
price raise, on top of the fact that the candy shop has ferent than a McDonalds opening in school, I doubt
seceded from the student council, has raised some people would tolerate that, yet we tolerate the candy
eyebrows among the candy-addicts. Are the candy- shop? Our toleration was based on the fact that
fanatic’s feelings unjustified or is there in fact a prob- we knew our money was coming back to us in the
lem with the way the candy shop is operating? form of events. Now our money goes into the candy
shop and into making it a bigger, better and stron-
The issue of price was the initial action that ger organization (McDonalds style). The candy shop
caused people to question the beloved candy shop. members like to argue that they are doing it for the
I would like to point out that based on observation students and they are taking the profit to buy new
the candy shop has not been receiving fewer custom- machines to offer new products to us. Profit only
ers and I wouldn’t hesitate to guess that they were, leads to one outcome, more profit. Since the candy
in fact, receiving more. It would seem that people shop now has no purpose, the only logical thing for
are either too addicted or don’t care enough to have them to do is to sell for no-profit and just be a center
done anything about the candy shop’s new prices, for sweets. This would resolve the issue of prices be-
although they did manage to moan and groan for the ing raised as now people know that if the prices are
first few weeks the candy shop started selling. To be raised it is not for the candy shop’s self-interest. An-
fair to the candy shop group, yes that group of female other thing they could do is rejoin the student council
students whose system of management is similar which in the past allowed the candy shop to spend
to that of a mafia, the prices are actually reasonable their money on new things before giving it to the
based on other prices in Tashkent. It would seem student council. Some examples are the new toasters,
candy prices have in fact risen and I’ve been in a few new water boiler (although the noodles have disap-
shops selling things for similar prices. For example, peared) and the slushy machines.
the last time I checked, the closest shop to school
sells Twix and M&Ms for 1,100 cym which is only 100 Although this shift in the candy shop’s modus
cym less than the candy shop. So the complaints operandi has left us critical of the candy shop we
about the prices are just normal complaints that are mustn’t forget the good things. The candy shop is a
expressed when anything becomes more expensive. great place to hang out. I’m not sure whether it’s habit
Albeit there is still an issue here and it stems from or the shade that attracts people but I tend to find
the issue of the increased prices. myself instinctively heading in that general direction
at lunch and after school. I would also like to com-
Prices are increased to maintain a profit margin mend the group as they do invest a lot of time and ef-
and in the past the candy shop’s profit margin was fort. They always try their best to make sure the candy
given to the student council to use in events. This shop is stocked up and they make cheese sandwiches
year the candy shop is no longer part of the student daily, not to mention that sometimes we get a home-
council which means that their profit margin stays at made treat on Mondays. Also during events which re-
the candy shop. The candy shop is now a completely quire large amounts of food, the lock-in for example,
independent enterprise that has no purpose but to the candy shop always invests countless hours clean-
give us sweets.This is a problem for a few reasons. ing, cutting and cooking. Hopefully the candy shop
The first being is that now the student council’s will resolve some of the issues of this year and the
source of money has disappeared. This is an issue candy-addicts can indulge themselves without having
as the student council is supposed to be the central to complain about the prices.
organization responsible for organizing events but By Ralph M.
now they don’t even have the money to.
22

24. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Candy Shop
Lunchtime! We finally get our rest from learn- Back to the topic- the Candy Shop. How pop-
ing and can go sit down and have a chicken and ular is it at school? Quite popular, I’d say, despite
mustard and banana sandwich, which you eat in the fact that there is (“oh, my!”) competition- the
about 5 minutes, as usual. So what do you do now? school caterers also sell some “yummies”, as does
You’re still very hungry. Of course, you go to the the Sports Council, but only on sport matches. Of
Candy Shop! No offense, Stuco, but Candy Shop is course, we prefer the Candy Shop due to it selling
hardly an appropriate name, since the thing closest representatives of most levels of the food pyra-
to candy that one might get there is Starburst. It’s mid as well as due to the fact that the Candy Shop
more like a chocolate bar shop… is open after school, during lunch, and during
matches. This neither of the competition even at-
tempt.
Now, even though we have some fruits, juices, and There have been speculations about what
baked goods available, a lot of people still prefer would happen if we were to suddenly cut all sourc-
the energy-packed sugary candy bars. The reasons es for chocolate bars within the school. If there
for our maximized sugar consumption are that sec- were no student-employing chocolate-selling in-
ondary students generally stay after school, doing stitutions at school, would people eat less sugar-
activities or waiting for activities to start, or they based chocolate bars and be healthier? Or would
are doing homework or projects and need sugar to students calmly bring chocolate from home, and
slap them awake. One of the teachers I know even the consumption of sugar be about the same per
refers to candy bars as “survival”. average student? Now that would make an amaz-
ing lab report. Except for the fact that you get eat-
en by sugar-depraved students at some point dur-
ing the experiment.
23

25. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Candy Shop
About the chocolate dealers- do you know
how the Candy Shop started? Before that, there
was nothing- nowhere to get our energy from,
no amazing little box of a shop to get your food
from- until the Stuco decided to change things.
They set up the very first Candy Shop! You know
the “study area” before you enter the MPR? Well
between the bamboo screen and the window,
was the CS. Anyway, in 2007, the Candy Shop
moved outside, into a box which we are so famil-
iar with. Beautifully decorated and equipped,
it was ready for action and lots of customers!
Which it obviously received.
How much money does the CS make from Sounds like the Candy Shop management
selling food every day? I didn’t dare ask such im- knows what they want. But do they know what
pudent questions. What I did ask is what is all we want? Has anyone heard about a survey pro-
this money-making for? Last year, school year vided by the Candy Shop to see what we like
2008- 2009, Student Council sold subsidized to eat? No, because there isn’t one! The Candy
TIS hoodies- an interesting, school spirit-up- Shop has gone way healthier since last year,
lifting investment. What will happen this year which is pleasing for dieters and health nuts,
then? Will the student council proceed with and there are still things to be cleared up. Why,
their school-spirit uplifting mission, or will they for example, aren’t there hot cup noodles this
find a different way of investing? It’s much too year? The Candy Shop management is great but
early in the year to see, and from what I heard, we have yet to connect to them directly. As far as
the Student Council is actually quite a separate I know the Candy Shop, has been a body which
entity from the Candy Shop which, means that exists in integration with the rest of the student
all money earned by the Candy Shop goes to body, but always thinks up its own menu. This is
(gasp!) the Candy Shop. A Candy Shop repre- good for a basic selection of snacks but wouldn’t
sentative, Madina Gazieva, has kindly respond- you want to work on the details with the con-
ed to my inquiries. sumers?
“The money is to buy more food: chocolate,
drinks, fruits, bread, cheese, ice cream, etc,
The sole purpose of this in-school business
and we are planning to buy more technologies,
is, of course, to provide us with all the junk and
once we have enough. A big water boiler is our non-junk food that might help us not starve to
aim for now, later we will come up with more death during the school year. This isn’t an inter-
things we can do to improve the Candy Shop.” esting or very controversial topic, but aren’t you
grateful for the bountiful realms of the box out-
side? While we’re on the topic, I think we should
register the Candy Shop as a TIS trademark.
Who knows..?
By Malika B.
24

26. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Book Reviews
Once upon a time, a little girl grew up. Then she drew a lot of cartoons on how she did it....
The little girl’s name is Marjane Satrapi, who brings us a
tale of growing up in her non-fiction, partially philosophical,
and completely alive graphic novel. With pictures containing
only two colors and seemingly primitive (keeping in mind that
at times less is more) images, we are brought into Iran at the
end of the 1970’s and 1980’s where life is taking a new turn.
The Islamic Revolution brought immense changes to
life. Before a mostly secular country lead by a Shah, Iran is
now revealing religious fanatics at every corner- the Revolu-
tion hasn’t brought anything new that Marjane’s family likes.
All females, very young and very old, must wear veils. Men
mustn’t wear ties (“You piece of Westernized trash!”). Schools
close to let the government completely rewrite the education-
al system. War with Iraq, right after the Revolution. People
hide in their basements to feel safe from the bombs which
drop frequently. First young men, then boys as young as four-
teen are coaxed by propaganda to enlist in the army. Anyone
who is against the Revolution is imprisoned. Life goes on.
Growing up is a story in itself, as Satrapi shows us. She’s
lived through great turmoil which changed her being, which
makes her life now. Reading Persepolis is like reading a diary
which was neglected most of the time, except for a few times
when something important happened. Each chapter of this
story is a highlight of Marjane’s childhood- starting with The
Veil, and ending with The Trip.
Satrapi tells us that life never stops until it really stops.
At no time during this tale do we Through peacetime, war, terror and happiness we go on try-
feel the urge to put the book down, but ing to do the things we do every day, enjoying life, spending
it also doesn’t force you to stay glued to it time with our families, going out with friends. Drawing and
until you finish. If you ever met a person writing Persepolis, Satrapi wanted to make us see the life of
who looks skinny and weak but in fact people in the Iran of her time. She wanted us to feel the life,
weighs a ton and can pick up as much, instead of watching the news for information on how people
this book is like that person. It carries a live there. She tells us not to judge an entire nation by the
weight of thought which is impossible to government- because indeed, people are different all over
not notice and not to understand. The and life is what unites us.
simplicity with which this memoir was
writing strikes and appeals to the reader. By Malika B.
Whoever reads this will never again un-
derestimate the air of familiarity which
this book radiates. PS: This is only the first half of the story- hopefully we’ll
know the other half when our school library purchases the
sequel, Persepolis 2: Story of a Return. Hint, hint.
25

27. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Book Reviews
Tomorrow, When the War Began is the first book in a seven-
book series by John Marsden. The series is set mostly in Australia
and a little bit in New Zealand. Basically, an unnamed country in-
vades Australia, landing their first invasion in a small Australian
town called Wirawee. Seven teenagers had gone camping a few
days before, and didn’t know about the invasion until they came
home to their farms and found their properties abandoned and
their animals dying of hunger and thirst.
The military situation seemed pretty hopeless – Australia
had been taken completely by surprise and except for New Zea-
land, no other countries wanted to get involved in the war in any
way.
Those seven teenagers not only managed to survive in the
wilderness, they took the opportunity to fight for their country
and for their families. They blew up a bridge, a street of houses, a
harbor full of military ships, and became top of the enemy’s Most
Wanted List. They were famous all over Australia and New Zea-
land for their achievements.
Have you ever wondered what you would do under a high-
pressure situation? If someone had a gun pointed at your friend,
would you step in front of them? If you were the only group of
free people within hitchhiking distance, would you fight for your
country?
Would you be like Lee, and do whatever you have to do to
save your family? Would you be like Kevin and crack up? Would
you be like Homer, and keep cracking jokes even when you have
a death sentence in a week? Would you be like Fiona, and rise to
the challenge even if everyone expects you to fail? Would you be
like Ellie, and do whatever you have to do to get the job done?
Would you be like Robyn, and sacrifice everything for all your
friends?
Although you may need to learn some Australian slang be-
fore you read these books, and you might not understand a thing
the first time you read it – Australians have a strange vocabulary
– they are definitely worth reading. Unlike the books you read in
class, the Tomorrow series is told from a point of view of a teen-
ager. Unlike almost all books, these books are realistic.
By Isabella Z.
26

28. The
TIS MONTHLY JOURNAL
SparkJournal
Dec. Issue
Eжiк
Food. I like food. It’s yummy. It can also
be yucky. Ever tried this thing called egg-
plant? Gross. Good thing the school doesn’t
sell eggplant. It might be healthy but dying of
disgustingness isn’t a very good thing for your
health either. I can’t believe some people
like eggplant! No really, how can people eat
that? It looks like barf. I also hate cream-of
soups. You know, like when someone makes a
soup and then kills it by blending it. I mean,
why would you do that? I was having lunch
the other day and a friend of mine goes “Ew
that’s nasty how can you eat that and that
”
person doesn’t eat meat and I was like ex-
cuse me?
It’s a normal hunk of animal parts
and you better not mess with animal parts
’cause they’re tasty. Then we had an argu-
ment about the pros and cons of meat. Then
she ate yogurt and I finished my meat loaf.
I suppose it depends on each person, what
they eat, I mean. I also hate that phrase
“You Are What You Eat I bet some can-
”
nibal came up with that. At least I’m not an
eggplant. Anyway, as I said, it’s good that at
school there are different types of food which
a person can choose to eat, since everyone
has a different taste. Which is tragic for
spinach and all those other nasty-but-healthy
foods since no one seems to like those ones.
27