Volume IV; Issue 2 October 2010 King’s Academy, Manja - Madaba, Jordan

Pages 2 -3

OPINION

Page 4

HeaLTH

Pages 5-6

LIFe

sNaPsHOTs

CO-CurrICuLars

VaLuINg Our eduCaTION

Our INTegraTed LIVes

emINem aNd rIHaNNa

drINkINg: aN ePIdemIC

HOw TO TraIN FOr a maraTHON

New TeaCHer PrOFILes

FuLL BOarder mOVINg wOes

reVIew: THe sOCIaL NeTwOrk

a LeTTer TO THe FresHmaN

gamINg wITH yOur PareNTs

wOrLd CuP CeLeBraTIONs IN sPaIN

THe exPuLsION OF THe rOma FrOm FraNCe

a Creme BruLee reCIPe

seParaTed aT BIrTH

games

HOrOsCOPes

VOLLeyBaLL TOurNameNTs

wOrLd CuP reCaP

sOCCer seasON OPeNer

a New sPOrTs sysTem

Table of ConTenTs

Bow-man becomes Bow-men and women

Mr. Bowman, left, adjusts a bow tie as Rumz Madanat ’12 waits for help in tying it around his neck. Qxhna Titcomb ’11 looks on, having already tied hers.

ROBERT BAHOU ‘11

September 30th, a lazy Thursday afternoon, a mysterious individual visiting King’s Academy was on the custom tour around the campus. He abruptly stopped after seeing a group of students. “And here I thought the King’s Academy uniform was quite dull,” he chuckled.

What caught his eye was the bright colored bow ties decorating the uniforms of many King’s Acade-my students. Bow Tie Thursdays has become a sensation among the King’s Academy community. The craze was brought to life when Mr. Bowman Dickson, faculty member in Phys-ics and Mathematics, made an an-nouncement during a whole-school meeting about the establishment of the Bow Tie Club, and that the sup-

ply of bow ties were just waiting to be taken down from the shelves. Not only this, the normally strict guide-lines for dress code waved to allow bowties to be worn on Thursdays.

Witnesses report that as soon as the school meeting ended, students were seen dashing off to the stu-dent union to get their very own, dandy, King’s Academy bow ties, in three different colors. “They blasted through the doors into the student union,” reports Sami Sawalha ’12.

“It was unbelievable,” says an employee in the Student Union, “we had kids just begging for a particular color of bow ties, and frantically ask-ing if we knew how to tie them. Not to mention that while we hardly see many students in the shop, within a

By JOOHO SHIN ’12NEWS SUB-EDTIOR

The bow tie trend sweeps campus

Dancer Films in PetraA first hand account of faculty member Ryuji Yamaguchi starring in a film project

On Thursday 21st of October, Filmmaker Claire Scoville came to Jordan to continue the shooting of her project entitled “Dancer, Jor-dan, Ryuji Yamaguchi” that was to be filmed in Petra. Claire and Mr. Ryuji were accompanied by Mr. Tristan Stringer, Reema Lateef ’12, and me to observe and participate in the produc-tion process. We left right after school and ar-rived 30 minutes late for the “Petra by night” tour. This proved to be a good thing as we walked through a completely empty Petra lit solely by candle and moon light. This empti-ness soon faded away as we arrived at the end of the Siq to see the Treasury, crowded with seated people, and hundreds of brown paper bags with lit candles in them, it was truly ma-jestic, but we hadn’t realized that this was not

going to be the highlight of our trip. After a pleasant dinner at the Red Cave Restaurant, we called it a day and slept at the Rashid Hotel, checking in at about midnight. We woke up at 5 the next morning to catch the sunrise in Petra, but also to try and avoid the masses of tourists that would soon flood the gates. With exception of a dedicated group of Dutch tour-ists, we were the first to enter Petra that morn-ing. Mr. Ryuji was dressed in the outfit that Mr. Tristan dubbed “The marshmallow”, because of his all white getup and Claire was following Mr. Ryuji’s warm up into Petra with her cam-era as if she was a persistent paparazzo, or so it seemed. The rest of the day was character-ized by the travelling to some pretty amazing locations and having Mr. Ryuji dance in them,

ROBERT BAHOU ’11

see BOW TIES on page 2

His Excellency, Mr. Karim Kawar, the new head of the King’s Acad-emy Board of Trustees.

IZEDEN ARYAN ’14

By RObeRt baHOu ’11ExEcUTIvE EDITOR

Since September 1st, 2010, King’s Academy has had the honor of welcom-ing His Excellency Karim Kawar as the new head of the Board of Trustees, re-placing Founding Chairman Professor Safwan Masri.

His Excellency Karim Kawar has numerous promi-nent reputations, including serving as Jordan’s ambassa-dor to Washington between 2002 and 2007, president of the Kawar Group of Com-panies, chairman of Iris-Guard Inc, trustee of the Jordan River Foundation, a member of the Economic

Consultative Council and much, much more.

HE Karim Kawar above all else, is also a King’s Acad-emy parent, who saw his son Faisal Kawar ’10, a member of the pioneering graduating Class of 2010, graduate last year and enroll in Yale Uni-versity. His daughter, Abla Kawar ’12, is currently a ju-nior also enrolled in King’s Academy.

HE Mr. Kawar gave the King’s Academy commu-nity a delight by appearing in a school meeting to intro-duce himself and his visions for the future. With a small speech and presentation, he left a lasting impression

upon the community as a whole, and will continue to do so in the future.

By JOOHO SHIN ’12NEWS SUB-EDTIOR

The Board’s New Leader

Mr. Ryuji Yamaguchi dances on a cliff above the ancient city of Petra.

see FILMING on page 3

Page 7

FOreIgN LaNguage

Pages 8-9

FuN Page

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sPOrTs

The RexonianPage 2OPINION

exeCuTIVe edITOr

maNagINg edITOr

News suB- edITOr

OPINION suB- edITOr

LIFe suB- edITOr FuN Page suB- edITOr

sPOrTs suB- edITOr

FaCuLTy adVIsOr

FaCuLTy adVIsOr

rOBerT BaHOu ‘11ImaN aBu aLIa ‘11

JOOHO sHIN ‘12mOuNIr eNNeNBaCH ‘12seema samawI ‘11reem aL HaddadIN ‘11ZaCk samawI ‘11

mr. BOwmaN dICksONmr. PaTrICk O’BrIeN

few minutes of the meeting a good ten to fif-teen students ran in for them!”

Mr. Bowman, as his name might suggest, took up the initiative to have bow tie tying ses-sions throughout the week, in areas such as the dining hall so that all students would have a chance to participate.

The meeting presented a new challenge of difficulties for the school as our most tal-ented students were perplexed as to how the approach this new puzzle. Moans and groans of students were heard throughout the week about the difficulties and complexities of ty-ing a bow tie. “I had to spend close to an hour to finally get the loop right,” says Rumz Mad-anat ’12. “It looks hilarious when it’s done right, but horrible when done wrong.” In the

dorms, boarders were also seen in their rooms, grunting as they fruitlessly try to put together a bow tie, and some screaming in exhilaration upon completing it.

While the cause of this craze is still being researched by experts in the field, squeals of “It’s adorable,” has been heard around cam-pus from students and teachers alike. The student union confirmed that although they are being sold at a slower rate than before, the bow ties remain the most popular item in the school store.

“Although it is a deviation from the stan-dard King’s Academy uniform, the bo wties seem to bring the school closer together in the spirit of community, and establishes a great rapport among students and teachers alike,” an anonymous faculty member said. “Mr. Bowman actually did something right,” she joked.

BOW TIEScontinued from Page 1

Our Changing Co-Curricular System

The new co-curricular system gets students involved in activities, but restricts those who want to do more than two

By MOuNIR eNNeNbaCH ’12OPINION SUB-EDITOR

Whether you are on the school’s soccer team, a member of KAMUN, or just like to dabble around in the vast number of activities that King’s Academy offers, you’re sure to have noticed the massive overhaul of the school’s co-curricular system. Last year, the system was more flexible overall, with shorter meeting periods and a greater amount of activities per day. This year, however, each student is limited to two activities, a major, which meets three times a week, and a minor, which meets once a week. In addition, students must choose at least one sport.

Dean of Students Ms. Julianne Puente, the driving force behind the revamped co-curricular schedule defends this change saying that “the goal of the new co-curricular system is to fulfill the mission and vision of the school” as well as “putting the students in the greatest position for success.”

Many students are happy with this new system, but it is not without its critics. Some feel that it limits them to too few activities and that they cannot get the most out of it. Ms. Julianne, however, mentioned that many exceptions have been made and will continue to be made throughout the school year. She stresses that co-curricular activities are a part of the integrated life that King’s Academy tries to bring to its students and that they are “inseparable from the normal school day.”

“A lot of thought and work from the staff went into finding the right balance,” Ms. Julianne went on. “I

find that there isn’t enough time for school activities anyway.” Indeed, it does seem that much effort was put into creating the new system, especially in terms of the availability of activities. Furthermore, many co-curriculars are available in both minor and major form, thereby giving students an even wider reach.

The reason for many of the changes is the lack of seriousness students exhibited last year in terms of attendance. Many students feel that co-curriculars are just an extension of the school day, and should not be considered obligatory. For this reason, many day students, who constitute around half of the school’s population, used to leave before six o’clock last year. This year,

however, day students are not given permission to leave before six.

“I feel that the new system of co-curricular activities is too rigid,” one student, who wishes to remain anonymous, says. He continues, “Although there are a greater number of activities to choose from, the fact that you

can only choose two is what makes me prefer last year’s system.”

Although the system does seem rigid, there is an add-drop session at the beginning of every term. Students are given a week to see which activities they enjoy the most. This method has proven itself at least for this term, as there have been over two-hundred and fifty switches the first week of school alone. Despite a few limitations presented by the inability to choose more than two activities, it looks like this new co-curricular system is here to stay.

”“The reason for

many of the changes is the lack of

seriousness exhibited last

year in terms of attendance.

SNAPSHOTSSNAPSHOTSMeissa House

residents prepare for an unexpected

slumber party when a physical problem in the dorm forced

them to evacuate and spend the night in Nihal and Sulafat.

Jamil Madanat ‘11 is hoisted on the shoulders of his classmates while a Syrian band plays a traditional wedding ceremony. The event was part of orientation at the beginning of the year.

Members of the Senior Class enjoyed a brunch at Dean of Students Ms. Julianne Puente’s apartment while the underclassmen toiled away at the PSAT.

Young children from the area enjoy

a soccer match at King’s as part of

the Round Square community service

program.

Page 3October 2010OPINION

“Just gonna stand there/And watch me burn/But that’s alright/Because I like/The way it hurts/Just gonna stand there/And hear me cry/But that’s alright/Because I love/The way you lie […].” On the surface, these lines from the legendary Eminem’s second single, “Love the Way You Lie,” featuring Rihanna, from Eminem’s seventh studio album, Recovery, seem to be glorifying the violence that sometimes emerges in romantic relationships. But that’s just it: only on the surface or with a narrow perspective can this song be interpreted in this manner.

When one closely analyzes the song’s lyrics, it becomes apparent that the real story it is telling is a gloomy one, which many people have undeniably encountered in their lives: that of how love turns into abuse. Such people find themselves trapped in a precarious, inescapable routine, as this perceived “love” is one of the few things they have in their lives that keep them going, that keep them alive. This is evident when Eminem continues to sing, “[…] High of a love/Drunk from the hate/It’s like I’m huffin’ paint/And I love it the more that I suffer/I suffocate/And right before I’m about to drown/She resuscitates me […].”

Rihanna’s sad and seemingly exhausted tone, which emerges as she sings the song’s opening lines and chorus, sets an alarmingly icy mood for listeners. Interestingly enough, more than a year prior to the song’s release, Rihanna endured an abusive relationship with singer Chris Brown, which it seems she has never quite fully recovered from, so it is not unexpected for Rihanna to take part in this song.

On another note, as Eminem picks up from where Rihanna leaves off, he raps his verses in a high-paced man-ner filled with painfully raw feelings where he is undoubtedly expressing his pent-up frustrations on his own abuse-filled relationship with ex-wife Kimberley Anne Scott.

Indeed, this highly contemplative song is a truly ingenious one about the abuse many people encounter in their roman-tic relationships and their futile attempts to either improve or escape from them. Finally, while many attack the song for its repeated and explicit allusions to violence, it is important to note that when compared to other contemporary songs dealing with this issue, “Love the Way You Lie” shares with its audience one of the truest and most important lessons that can be gained from romantic relationships: when love is on the brink of transforming into abuse, a person must escape before the situation becomes more dangerous.

Integrated life, one of the King’s Academy’s five Guiding Principles, is presented as one of the goals that all members of the community should work to-wards. On a typical school day, students find them-selves exhausted from the day’s activities, ranging from academics between 8:05 A.M to 3:30 P.M to co-curriculars from 4:45 pm to 6:00 P.M. With the new emphasis on co-curricular activities this year, one of the main issues students generally face is find-ing the time and energy to complete their homework assignments come study hall. After this exhausting period, students are expected to be in bed by 11:00 pm; however, it is no secret that a high percentage of the student body stays up longer than this and has to struggle to stay awake and fully alert throughout the next day.

With an infinite amount of complaints about this year’s new schedule, we find it highly important to dedicate a part of the Rexonian’s Opinion section to sharing with you efficient, thorough and active study-ing methods that can help you work productively and efficiently when you find yourselves limited time- and energy-wise.

To begin with, having a productive presence in class by listening attentively, participating actively, taking thorough notes and always asking critical ques-tions is one such valuable study method. Employing this method makes it easier to complete homework assignments, as it saves time that is usually used re-

learning material covered in class. Dividing up your work will make studying easier

and more efficient. Try using your free periods to fin-ish or to begin homework, as an extra half an hour makes all the difference. Through this method, the student can better retain learned material and not drown in work as a result of procrastination. Almost all high school students know that this translates into cramming the night before the assignments are due.

Third, use your study periods efficiently. Count-less students find themselves barely completing as-signments that should take barely 10 minutes, in an hour. Try not to let anything distract you, whether the distraction is music, your friends, etc.

Lastly, don’t allow yourself to give up much-need-ed time for sleep to complete assignments. Getting around eight hours of sleep a night is essential to maintaining a high energy and concentration. Ex-hausting yourself will only make it harder to relax and remain focused on assignments. However, if you feel forced to sacrifice a few hours of sleep a night, try to make it up by taking power naps. It is scientifi-cally proven that 20 minutes of snoozing leads to a heightened focus level.

So, while you will find yourselves struggling to complete your homework assignments at one point or another because of a lack of time or mental and physical exhaustion after a long days’ worth of activi-ties, making use of these study methods will help you focus better on completing assignments thoroughly and efficiently.

It all started as a dream, in one mind, but not any mind, but one of the most spectacular, brightest mind ever… The mind of our beloved King Abdullah II.

The idea of King;s academy is not one that is easily stumbled upon, and in essence, King’s can create dreams for those who otherwise would never had an opportunity to get such a great education.

Though I am not going to praise the school any more, I will present the reality, the truth about every unfortunate applicant who was not accepted into this institution.

The greatest feeling overcomes one when they get accepted here, and the greatest disappointment drowns them when financial aid isn’t that much of help to them. When their prayers get recognized but their parents disap-point them with the truth about their financial situation,

there really is not much that can be done. We are all blessed by the fact that we were accepted

into King;s, though even more so that we can pay for it, either with our own family’s means or through financial aid. We gain the time, experience and education of our lives. Many bright Jordanian minds applied to King’s, and many got accepted, but what determines if one can actu-ally go to the school relies on the financial situation. We all have potential to step into this “Heaven of Education” but many of us lack the financial resources to do so. How would you feel if suddenly, next year you could no longer afford the school’s tuition? Would you want to leave this school? If you are anything like me and most of the other students here, your answer would be no.

We are wasting our time indeed by studying normally, waking up sleepy, or even not eating our breakfast; I think it is a sin!

Lots and lots of people dream about being in our shoes, and we are skipping classes, fighting or smoking, changing Study Hall to Counter Hall (a counter-strike epidemic has spread through some of the hallways in the dorms). In-stead of changing the little things that would make big dif-ferences, like doing our 10 minute homework assignment, waking up 30 minutes before class instead of 30 minutes after class, throwing garbage into the trash cans and gen-erally just living up to the responsibility that our names carry. All those things could impact our lives greatly, with hardly any effort on our behalf! Why not apply our minds to creating our future, instead of using them to create our temporary teenage life.

Why don’t you be the change you want to see in the world? In our school?

Think of what effortless things you could do, that would please your parents, surprise your teachers and at-tract friends. Think of what you can do to show that you are thankful of the opportunity to be at this place that many cannot afford.

The Price and Value of an Elite EducationYou ought to be thankful of the opportunity you have here – not everyone can afford it

By SaNaD ZuMOt ’13STAFF WRITER

Reading between the lines of our favorite pop songs

Is Your Life “Integrated?”Ideas for all of us to help achieve one of the schools guiding principles

By RaMY baDRIe ’12STAFF WRITER

“Love the Way You Lie”

By RaMY baDRIe ’12STAFF WRITER

FILMINGcontinued from Page 1

whilst being filmed by Claire and photographed by both Reema and me. I’d say the highlight of the trip would be a tie between two things. The first being the last place we shot, which was dubbed by thee locals as “the end of the world”. We were there till sundown and there really aren’t any words to describe it. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a deep

canyon extending very far into the horizon, but those words can’t possible do it justice. The second highlight was the walk back from the Monastery at moonlight; we stayed very late so we were the last people left in Petra. As we de-scended the 900 steps of stairs we broke into song singing a bunch of random songs led by the fabulous Mr. Tristan. Walking through an abandoned Petra at moonlight is truly indescribable. In Petra, every-body sees that same world wonder,

but nobody sees it when the gates are closed, and that’s probably why it was so special. Everything just looks so different when you know you’re there on your own, without tourists contaminating the scene with their painfully intrusive camera-flashes (I didn’t use a flash in case you were wondering). In the end, we got two hours of tape, four hours of sleep, seven hours in the car, fifteen hours in the city of Petra and many thousands of pictures.

The RexonianPage 4HEALTH

”“Alcohol and tobacco

companies want to make money, and they make their mon-ey off of the lives of their customers.

It’s nothing personal, strictly business.

Here’s where the newspaper is open to you! E-mail in any health related question to seemasamawi11@kingsacademy.edu.jo and find the answer in the next Rexonian issue!

Q. I’m not the most athletic person. I’m probably an average athlete, I walk when I can. Recently a friend asked me to run a half mara-

thon in February. This gives me 7 months to train to run/jog 13 or so miles. How would I train for something like this? Since I’m not normally a runner to begin with, is this something I could actually accomplish? - Anonymous

A. Hi there!Let me start by telling you that it is possible but it will

not happen overnight. It will require a lot of effort and dedica-tion and if you work hard at it you will accomplish your goals.

Probably one of the most important things to keep in mind is keeping a healthy diet. Food is your fuel and by eating differ-ent food you gain different kinds of energy. You want to have a sustainable form of energy, and this comes from grains and fruits, or in other words, carbohydrates. You should also have a source of protein, as carbohydrates without protein are not a good energy source. You should keep hydrated by drinking be-tween 6 to 8 cups of water a day. I’m sure you know that food such as sugar and saturated fats give you a energy but do not last long. A balanced diet is essential to get the most out of your training. If you need any more help on that then you should check out www.mypyramid.org – it has a lot of information about healthy dieting.

However, diet is only half of the work you must do. If you walk, try to gradually increase your tempo and eventually start jogging. Jogging is great; it gets your heart beating, you burn fat and by staying at an elevated heart level, you increase your cardio endurance which is necessary for marathon running. By running at a pace challenging to you, your heart gets trained into pumping blood faster around your body. Cardio also has many benefits including increased lung capacity, better sleep, lowered risk of heart disease and so on…

You should get to the point where you jog for about 20 – 30 minutes four times a week. If you have time and ability to go beyond that, that’s great, but if not, don’t worry. Gradually add more time to your jogs to give you the endurance you need. The average jogging pace of a human is 6 miles per hour, or 10km/h, and the average running pace of a human is anything over 8mph so doing the math the marathon should take you just over 2 hours to complete if you have an relatively good level of fitness. So you will need all the endurance you can get.

Ideally you’ll be able to jog for two hours on the weekend as you’ll have more time available to you. Try it, because you’ll be able to see how far you can go. However, that being said, you should aim to jog for 2 hours without walking. If you’re not at

Last time, we discussed the problem of Big To-bacco and its effect on the youth of this generation, and how they try so hard to get people to smoke so they may profit by them killing themselves; similar to how some big companies in the world invest in the lives of their employees so that when an employee dies, they make money from the insurance compa-nies. They become nothing more than a piece of property, an investment for big compa-nies like Hershey and Nestle.

In this article, we are going to discuss drinking and the danger alcohol poses to people, not only for the youth. First of all, alcohol refers spe-cifically to ethanol. Ethanol has been made and used by hu-mans for thousands of years, as industrial solvents, car fuel, cleaning material, antiseptic, a sedative, and more. In this ar-ticle, I’m going to talk about ethanol in beverages such as beer and wine.

Even though alcohol is a natural product, people, especially teens, need to be concerned about drinking it. When one consumes alco-hol, it is absorbed into one’s bloodstream. It then has vari-ous effects on the central ner-vous system (which concern the brain – which controls all body functions - and spinal cord.) And the brain is still de-veloping and growing during our teen years.

How does it affect the cen-tral nervous system? Firstly, alcohol is a depressant, which means it will slow down the function of the central ner-vous system. It actually blocks some of the messages the body is trying send to the brain. In the end, this will alter one’s perceptions, emotions, move-ment, vision, and hearing. In short, it will mess you up.

Large doses of alcohol can result in something called in-toxication. Those who have over consumed alcohol may stagger, their pupils may dilate, they may lose their coordina-tion, and they may also slur in their speech. They will simply be confused and disoriented. Interest-ingly, depending on the person, intoxication can make someone very friendly and talkative or very aggressive and angry. And when people are intoxi-cated they may think they’re moving properly and feel fine when they actually aren’t. And when large doses are taken over a short period of time, alcohol poisoning will most likely be the result. With alco-hol poisoning, the symptoms would include violent vomiting, extreme sleepiness, unconsciousness, dif-ficulty breathing, dangerously low blood sugar, sei-zures, which may result in death.

Additionally on alcohol, people who drink reg-ularly often have problems with school. Drinking can damage a student’s ability to study well and get decent grades, as well as affect a student’s sports performance (coordination). Those who continue drinking heavily well into adulthood risk damag-ing their organs, such as the liver, heart, and brain. In the end, alcohol destroys one’s liver, reduces memory and focus, damages brain cells, dries up the

blood, can cause cancer, hyperten-sion, and much more. For these rea-sons, experts say that the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption are outweighed by the increased risks.

The pharmaceutical industry and alcohol industry have been involved in exaggerating the health benefits of alcohol; which, as mentioned be-fore, have been argued by experts to be outweighed by the increased risks

by alcohol. Hence, kids would see advertising mes-sages showing beautiful people enjoying life with alcohol. And because there are cases of parents and other adults who use alcohol socially, like having beer or wine with dinner, alcohol may seem harm-less to teens.

To conclude, alcohol and tobacco companies want to make money, and they make their money off of the lives of their customers. It’s nothing per-sonal, strictly business.

[Thank you to Mr. Michael Kussaim, and Dr. Steven Dowshen for information]

Drinking: Another Teen EpidemicThe real deal about drinking alcohol

Question time:How should I train for

a half marathon?

By aDeL NeSHeIWat ’11STAFF WRITER

see HALF MARATHON on page 6

By SeeMa SaMaWI ’11LIFE SUB-EDITOR

Mrs. Jennie FOrDMr. Win FOrD

Mrs. CAssie O’Brien Mr. PATriCK O’Brien

Page 5October 2010LIFE

Moving into your dorm, moving out of your dorm, holidays, moving back in, everything you could possibly think of to do with summer vacation from the eyes of a full boarder!

This summer was great! It was relaxing, exciting and extremely long, but there is one thing that wish could have been changed. That was the moving back and forth from Jordan to Syria at the beginning of the summer, and then back to Jordan at the end of the summer. Granted, I didn’t expect myself to use some five star transport to commute between homes, but sitting crammed in the back of a car with a guitar above my head and a backpack on my lap for four hours wasn’t exactly what I expected either.

The first problem was the packing. It sort of went like this in my mind: ‘ I’ll take everything in my drawers first…no wait I need to take that whiteboard…what about my laundry…and my bed sheets’. I literally didn’t know where to start but unfortunately, that wasn’t the least of my worries. I didn’t have enough suitcases. Getting ready to leave took me an exhausting nine hours. Between all the packing, getting all the files off my laptop and on a hard drive, returning my laptop, making sure my room was in the same condition as when I got it and getting it approved by Public Safety wasn’t that hard for me, but some students found it difficult to get rid of their other mattresses and thus resorted to throw-ing them out of the window, by accident no doubt.

After completing everything on my checklist I was ready to go, with four suitcases two backpacks and my sister’s massive arsenal of baggage. After being

Mrs. Jackie was born and raised Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She is married to Mr. Devon O’Rourke. She is an avid surfer and ice-hockey player. She attended boarding school for 4 years.

Favorite food: Chocolate and cookies.Favorite Color: Blue.Free time: Reading and playing with her

dog Jackson.Interesting Facts: She can build a house out

of wood and cement and she likes climbing.

Mr. Patrick is from New York and went to Hofstra University where he studied English. He loves California, lived in LA, where he met many famous people, and in San Francisco he met Mrs. Cassie. He is a professional photographer.

Favorite food: Sushi. Favorite Color: Green and Blue. Free time: Photography Interesting fact: Mr. Patrick likes to eat bugs.

Mr. Patrick and Mrs. Cassie had Elvis sing at their wedding in June! They are also Wii champi-ons on campus!

Mrs. Jennie was born and grew up in Chi-cago. She moved to Jordan from New York. She majored in history and minored in medieval studies. She enjoys theatre. Her favorite role was Cinderella’s evil stepmother.

Favorite Color: PinkFood: Cheese burger and friesInteresting fact: Mrs. Jennie used to compete

in kick boxing in jujitsu.

Summer TroublesWhat full boardera go through to get their life to and from campus

David Fincher’s The Social Network, an adrenaline-charged, gloomy and dramatized account of the world’s youngest billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg, and his creation of the world’s most successful social networking site, Facebook, portrays Mark as a onetime ordinary Harvard student turned youngest billionaire in the world. However, underneath it all, there is nothing ordinary about Mark. He may seem to be greatly lacking in the social department, but he more than makes up for it by being astute and cunning. He is undoubtedly supe-rior among the nerds of his league and can be considered the twenty-something-year-old equivalent of computer program creating ty-coons such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. And the film’s vivid representation of this is what lends it the most cinematic value.

While this may sound a bit cliché, the Mark in The Social Network is truly a round charac-ter. Underneath all those layers of pure genius, Mark is an ambitious and scheming young man who like many of us truly cares about the way

people perceive him. It is Mark’s internal de-sire to gain back the respect and acceptance of his Harvard peers—after humiliating several Harvard women by using their photos on a self-created “ugly or hot” Internet game—that results in the creation of Facebook. This is be-cause Mark meets a pair of twins who tell him they will help regain acceptance if he creates a social networking site for them.

Indeed, Mark is an appealing character and while his manipulative and conniving nature will definitely alarm some, it is the different facets of Mark’s personality, particularly those “evil forces” lurking beneath his computer geek self that make the film feel more like a thriller than a fictionalized biography. Each of these negative layers, such as his scheming de-sire for revenge, helps move the film along at an adrenaline-charged pace while at the same time telling the tragic story of ambition.

Furthermore, Mark goes from being a so-cially awkward and distant young man with little, if no, enemies, to one of the most popu-lar people on the planet, Facebook-wise, with

REVIEW: The Social Network: “You Don’t Get to 500 Million Friends Without Making a Few Enemies”

By RaMY baDRIe ’12STAFF WRITER

By taMeeM SaMaWI ’13STAFF WRITER

Mr. Win grew up in Boston. He went to Grover High school. He studied music and religion. He has a master’s degree in opera.

Favorite color: PeriwinkleFavorite food: a pile of meat.Interesting Fact: Mr. Win was supposed to be the first

American heavy weight full contact skit fighter in the Philip-pines but didn’t end up fighting that match.

“Who’s stronger you or Mr. Nick?” I asked.“All I know is I’m better looking!” says Mr. Win.

Mr. Devon was born just outside of Toronto. His family moved a lot and by the time he graduated high school, he had attended 8 different schools. When he wasn’t at school, he would be at the rink playing ice hockey. Mr. Devon and Mrs. Jackie both played ice hockey in college. Mr. Devon plays the guitar, albeit poorly, but he enjoys playing.

Favorite food: Potatoes.Favorite Color: 450 nm (nanometers).Free time: Also playing with his dog Jackson.Interesting Facts: Mr. Devon was a model as a child and

likes to stack things.

Mrs. Cassie was born in Florida and was raised in Georgia. She has a younger brother and sister. She went to a public school. After graduating, she went to North Carolina to Duke University. She is a passionate supporter of the Duke Basketball team. In col-lege, She majored in physiology and minored French, and she also studied abroad in Paris.

Favorite food: SushiFavorite Color: Green and Blue.Favorite City: San Francisco – she met Mr. Patrick there!Free time: Traveling, scuba diving, and outdoor activities!Interesting fact: Mrs. Cassie loves driving in Amman. She enjoys

the traffic, the more the traffic, the bigger the smile on her face!

see FULL BOARDERS on page 10 see SOCIAL NETWORK on page 10

How well do you know your new teachers?New teacher profiles by Nora Nesheiwat ‘14

Mrs. JACKie O’rOurKeMr. DeVOn O’rOurKe

Ms. MAriA sCHreiBerMs. Maria was born in Bonn, Germany and is of German

and Philippine origin. She moved to U.S.A. at the age of 6. She attended Brown University and graduated in 2010. She majored in Biology and German studies.

Favorite Color: GreenFavorite meal: tomato mozzarella salad (appetizer), shrimp

asparagus risotto (main dish), tiramisu (dessert).Hobbies: Yoga and Ballet (which she did throughout high

school)Interesting Fact: Will NOT let anybody touch her music col-

lection. Ms. Maria is very private about it and would stop the car if somebody touches it while driving!

Dr. GArY KLeinDr. Gary was born in New York. His piano teacher was Steve

Taylor’s father but he can’t play piano. He has a Bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Gary has been teaching for 16 years.

Favorite color: Purple (it is the color of royalty) Food: sushi and ice cream filled profiteroles with Belgian

chocolate sauce.Most embarrassing moment: 20 years ago, Dr. Gary was teach-

ing in an all-female high school. He taught a class that he had been evaluated on with a HUGE hole in the back of his pants!

Ms. rAnD ABDeL nOurMs. Rand is a Jordanian woman of Palestinian origin who

was born and raised in Amman. Her artistic talent lead her to teach art, drawing, and sketching. Ms. Rand started drawing at a young age; starting as a hobby and later developing into a passion. At college, she studied studio art which now is the core of her profession. She also designs studios, is a makeup artist and a very talented painter.

Favorite food: Shish Barak.Favorite Color: Black and red.Free time: Drawing, Sketching, chilling with friends.Interesting Fact: She happens to be a total klutz!

Ms. COLeTTe sALeMiMs. Colette was born in New Jersey. She studied at Williams

College. She played basketball throughout high school and a little bit in college. She loves to cook and bake.

Favorite Color: MaroonFood: Her mother’s red sauce.Hobbies: writing, traveling, and exploring the Middle East.Interesting fact: She always wears a ring which was given to her

by a stranger physic lady that said it would bring her good luck.

The RexonianPage 6LIFE

HALF MARATHONcontinued from Page 4

that level yet, it’s alright to walk during your run, just don’t stop, and when you catch your breath again, start running again. A good idea would be to get a pedometer which you should be able to find at any pharmacy/sports shop, so that you can calculate the distance you ran and at what speed you ran it, so you can have the information a treadmill gives you with the added bonus of running outdoors.

Once you feel you can run comfortably without walking for extended periods of time you should consider increas-ing your pace. At first it may be difficult to keep a faster pace but eventually you will be able to manage without a problem. The golden rule for your training is to resist walk-ing as long as possible, until you can’t run any longer, then walk. You need to push yourself to the limit to get to mara-thon fitness. As long as you make an effort to train, be it on a daily basis or not, you will be able to complete the mara-thon. But ideally with your long jogs 3-4 times per week you should try and squeeze in some runs on the rest days, such as a fast paced run for 10 minutes, which shouldn’t be hard to fit into your busy days.

You should also try to strengthen your core muscles.

Find 10 minutes a day for aerobic fitness exercise, ideally, do bicycle crunches. Start with three sets of 15 repeti-tions with 45 seconds rest in between them, and gradually increase until you reach 50 reps. Also do push-ups and other various exercises that can target your shoulders, as your shoulders propel you forward while you run. If you can’t do a full pushup, start by doing them on your knees, and then build up to full ones. Strengthening core mus-cles is essential because you use your abdominal muscles to keep your back a straight, and they are used when you run.

And one last thing, always make sure to stretch. I can-not stress how important this is. You should most defi-nitely begin your workout with a 5-10 minute warm up of fast walking and cool down with slow walking so you do not pull muscles, but please ensure to stretch because it helps loosen your muscles lessening soreness and prevent-ing cramps. If you get a cramp while running, walk it off slowly and call it a day. Running with a cramp is dangerous. Cramps arise because of a buildup of lactic acid in a certain painful area which means that you do not have enough oxy-gen to break down the lactic acid and you are anaerobically respiring, which is dangerous.

A couple of thing to note are:

Do not take diet pills, as they won’t do anything for you.

Even if you’re dead tired, go out and run/jog to the best of your ability, it will make you feel much better. It’s simple science really, when you exercise, you release endor-phins, which makes you feel better, the same happens when you laugh excessively, you’ll feel a strange feeling of happi-ness when you’re done. With time, running may become addictive for you which is healthy, but don’t over train, you can harm your joints.

Your i-Pod/mp3 player will become your best friend. Make sure to have a good song list playing because running and jogging to music really helps keep you going, especial-ly when you want to give up. My favorite running song is “Like a G6” by “Far East Movement” it’s got a great beat and is very useful when I want to stop. Try and look for songs that go at the beat of your running, they generally vary between 120 beats per minute, 140, and so on, the right one can really help you when you run.

Make sure to take a water bottle with you. You need to also stay hydrated while running, but don’t drink too much as you can get a cramp, or a “stitch”.

Other than that I think that should be enough to get you ready for your marathon in February. Enjoy running!

When you see the parental con-trol settings of your game console, what do you honestly do? You ignore the setting and crank up the graph-ics. Companies like Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Activision, Infinity ward and many more create games and it’s a known fact that they have hooked the customer for life with the kill shot of one fantastic game that will take up their your time. In the company’s opinion, hooking a customer to their video games is equal to scoring a goal in FIFA 11, in other words, easy, but satisfying. I am definitely not saying that I hate video games, I am actually an avid gamer myself so I know what I’m talk-ing about. Endless weekends on the couch with my surround sound and a plasma TV holding a controller in my hands and a drink in my lap, that’s all old news to me.

A week or so ago my dad walked past me and looked at my screen and said “Get off that nonsense and go study”. This weekend I had him play that “nonsense” to see what he thought of it. After some fumbling with the controller and a quick tuto-rial, and by quick I mean half an hour, we started what would be my father’s first adventure in the realm of video gaming. He ran around the map fol-lowing the little red dot on his radar which would also be his doom (in other words, me), and after about an hour of playing he put down the con-

troller in defeat, although he did man-age to kill me a few times.

I realized later that parents don’t hate video games; they hate what they do to us. They hate how they make us stay up late for that trophy and wake up early to finish an achievement to get the edge over a friend. They hate seeing us drive a caddy into pedestri-ans or taking a sniper rifle and blowing

someones head off into a gory mess. The occasional game of Call of Duty or the week-end game session is never bad, games should be used in moderation and as a stress relief, but this shouldn’t be

pushed too far. Games shouldn’t turn into an escape from obligations and reality; there is a big difference be-tween one hour and five.

Parental ControlHave your parents actually tried playing the video games they say

they hate? Now my father has...

”“I realized later that

parents don’t hate video games;

they hate what they do to us.

By NaDeeM MaDaNat ’12STAFF WRITER

ROERT BAHOU ’11

“Freshmen year, socially, is a test. It’s the journey where you begin to dis-cover who you are. It may be the place where we fit in as “cool”, or the “not so cool”. It can be hard succeeding in the social world, but in the end, everyone adapts to who they want to be. So try your best and also hope for it. The edu-cation and the classes in freshmen year are like the appetizer of the whole meal. If you don’t try hard, then don’t expect to do well in the following years, so put in as much effort as you can. “Try hard, hard, hard. And good Luck.”

-Rifaat Samawi ‘13

“During Freshmen year (la Allah sah) we did everything that we were not supposed to do. If you are a fresh-man be proud and don’t be afraid to get picked on. If you got picked on by sophomores its okay, just remember that experience when you are a sopho-more yourself. And by the way, do NOT skip classes, seriously don’t, you’ll re-gret it.”

-Khalid Jarwan ‘13

“Freshmen year is like the super-lative phase you would experience at King’s, because your surroundings aren’t like anything you’ve experienced before, for example; the dorms, being away from home, or even just meet-ing new people are all completely new experiences that you aren’t yet accus-tomed to. But give it time, as everything you do will become normal, a daily routine that you might even get bored of next year”

-Sanad Zumot ’13 “Freshmen year… where do I be-

gin? If I had to summarize that year in

one word it would be; “Galag”, I think I grew a few grey hairs over the year. My piece of advice would be to ignore jeers from the upper classmen, you’re freshmen and khawa you might get picked on but hey it’s a fact of life, have fun while you can but don’t take it too far because you will probably regret it. But don’t expect all your problems to fade away next year. Sophomore year will be tough as well though, and you don’t know what you really have until it’s gone.”

-Awn Al-Hadeed ‘13 (3ammak Abul-H).

“My advice to you all is to have fun as much as you can, for this year is go-ing to be a step forward, a new year to challenge yourself new things and to gain more experience that you will nev-er forget. But don’t lose track of time, study well and do what is expected of you. Set yourself goal and try your best to achieve it and I guarantee that being in this school is a chance in a lifetime that you shouldn’t squander.”

-Faris Naffa ‘13

“I believe that lot of the reasons you guys get picked on by upperclassmen is because last year you were the “Kings” of Middle School and you still believe that you are.. eh? Well now, you’re at the bottom of the food chain.”

-Tammara Nassar ‘13

“Freshmen year is when you find your close friends. So try to get to know everybody and make the right choices. There are no boundaries so don’t be afraid to meet upperclassmen. A piece of advice; take care of your homework, but don’t take it too seriously. Stress-

For all you Freshmen out there ...Tips for our newest community members from those who just finished their first year

By FaRaH KILaNI ’13STAFF WRITER

see FRESHMEN on page 10

Page 7October 2010 ¡ЯEЖØÑİÄИ!

L’un des sujets brûlant récemment dans les nouvelles françaises et mondiales est la décision de Nicolas Sarkozy d’expulser de France des milliers de citoyens Roms qui vi-ennent clandestinement de Roumanie et de Bulgarie.

La raison de cette décision contre cette minorité ethnique a été à la conséquence d’une attaque contre un poste de police ef-fectuée par un groupe de Roms armés qui avait essayé de mettre à feu des voitures et des arbres dans la petite ville du Val de Loire à Saint-Aignan en France.

A la suite de cette décosion, le gouverne-

ment français a reçu beaucoup d’objections locales et internationales spécialement de la Commission à la Justice de l’Union Europée-nne qui a considéré cet acte comme discrim-inatoire contre l’origine ethnique et raciale de cette population. En plus, elle a indiqué que c’est une violation claire de l’éthique et des idées de l’Union Européenne.

L’action de l’autorité française, c’est à dire l’expulsion en masse des Roms est une in-fraction aux lois et aux idées de l’Union Eu-ropéenne dont le but est la préservation des droits de l’homme et des libertés fondamen-tales pour chaque citoyen européen. Il devi-ent alors indispensable que la France renonce à cette décision d’expulsion collective.

Recette de crème brulée selon chef Paul Bocuse

Les ingrédients pour 6 personnes :

10 jaunes d’œufs250 grammes de sucre semoule (blanche)1 litre de crème (non allégée) liquide 30%

1 gousse de vanille 40 grammes de sucre cassonade (marron)

Progression :

1) Ouvrez en 2 votre gousse de vanille, raclez les graines et mettez les dans la crème, faites chauffer doucement.

2) Dans un saladier «blanchissez» les jaunes et le sucre puis ajoutez la crème bouillante remuez en tachant de faire le moins possible de mousse puis passez au chinois fin en posant délicatement avec une louche la crème sur votre passoire (toujours pour ne pas avoir de mousse sur les crèmes).

3) Allumez votre four à 100°

4) Versez doucement la crème dans vos petits moules (porcelaine ou terre cuite). cuisson 1h1/4, la crème doit être tremblante (juste prise).

5) Laissez refroidir puis au moment de servir pour caraméliser vos crèmes brûlées vous avez 3 solutions : soit sous le grill de votre four soit avec un petit chalumeau soit comme dans les bonnes tables avec un fer chauffé à blanc.

P.S : Pour les gousses de vanille ouvertes ne les jetez pas, faites les sécher puis mettez-les dans un bocal fermé et couvrez de sucre semoule vous aurez comme cela un sucre vanillé prêt pour toutes vos recettes de pâtisserie.

Finalmente, España ganó este verano la Copa del Mundo de fút-bol en un partido bastante vio-lento contra Holanda. Un gol fue suficiente para conseguir la vic-toria, esperada por 40.5 millones de españoles y por los hinchas del equipo de España de otros países del mundo. Hubo celebraciones en muchas partes del país ya que era la primera vez que España ha ganado el Mundial.

El único gol del partido fue mar-

cado por Iniesta durante la prórro-ga. Las geniales técnicas utilizadas por el equipo y desarrolladas por el entrenador español, Vicente del Bosque, ayudaron a la Selección nacional a obtener la copa, a pesar de la violenta manera con la que jugaban los holandeses.

250 000 personas se congrega-ron en el Paseo de Recoletos de Madrid a las ocho y media para ver la final de la Copa del Mundo. Con el fin del partido, hubo fuegos arti-ficiales en todo el país. Los hinchas de ciudades españolas como Ma-

drid, Barcelona y Bilbao celebraron el triunfo de la Selección en las call-es, llevando banderas de España.

Aunque la reacción general de los españoles fue de emoción y alegría, no han faltado las voces de los que piensan que el equipo no representaba a España, ya que en su mayoría los jugadores de la Se-lección eran catalanes (y jugadores del Barça). Este tipo de desunión presenta un problema no pequeño al gobierno central de un país, Es-paña, en el que hay importantes movimientos separatistas.

La décision française d’expulser les Roms de France

La Copa en Manos EspañolasComo celebraron los triunfadores en las calles de España.

By ISSa aSFOuR ’12FRENcH cORRESPONDENT

By FaReeD HaLteH ’12FRENcH cORRESPONDENT

By OMaR HaLaWa ’12SPANISH cORRESPONDENT

¡Hola! Ça va? Welcome to the new foreign language section of the Rexonian. The three articles on this page have been written in Spanish and French. For those of you that don’t habla or parlez, above is an recap of the world cup celebrations in Spain, below is an article on the explusions of the Roma by Sarkozy in French, and for those of you that love desserts, to the right is a recipe for crème brulée in French.

If you would like to submit an article in any other language, bienvenidos and bienvenue! All submissions should go to Omar Halawa ‘12, omarhalawa12@kingsacademy.edu.jo.

COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

The RexonianPage 8 FUN PAGE

nuMBers

MAZe

Try to fill in the missing numbers. Use the numbers 1 through 9 to complete the equations. Each number is only used once.

Each row is a math equation. Each column is a math equation.

Remember that multiplication and division are performed before addition and subtraction

SEPARATED AT BIRTH?Is that Michael Cera walking into the Student Union? Or Robin Williams teaching me Economics?

Nope, just one of the many celebrity look-a-likes on campus

Mayss Akasheh ‘14 Katy PerryMr. Clean Mr. Chris Bossie

Farah Kilani ‘13 Selena GomezTameem Samawi ‘13 Elijah Wood Mr. Bowman Dickson Woody

Ahmed Alireza ‘11 Alvin the Chipmunk

Mr. Win Ford

Ahmad Ahmad ‘12 Adrian Grenier(“Vince” from Entourage)

Rifaat Samawi ‘13 Michael CeraYasmin Darwazah ‘11 Eva LongoriaMr. Barry Nabholz Robin Williams

Ali Abu Khadra ‘12 Seth Rogen

Photos by Izzeden Aryan ‘14 and Robert Bahou ‘11

HOROSCOPESPage 9October 2010 FUN PAGE

VIRGO: Virgos have a reputation for being incredibly humane, which incidentally is not stuck up French for ‘human’, but simply means that they don’t eat chicken and think that convicted criminals would be traumatized if they didn’t have sat-ellite TV in their cells.

Today: Spend your pennies today. This is the rainy day you’ve been waiting for.

CANCER: Cancers are sensitive and sympathetic, always ready to listen and to help and are very well liked by all – for about 15 minutes. If there is one thing that Cancers are particularly bad at, it is disguising the scheming, manipulative, self-interested intentions behind their every action. And because nobody likes egotistical jerks, nobody likes Cancers.

Today: The Stain Fairy is out to get you. Do NOT wear white. Avoid eating or drinking in the car.

LEO: Leos are proud and pretentious and will take advantage of every op-portunity to brag about the silliest of things – from the six cans of baked beans they bought for a pound from the supermarket’s bargain section, to the amorous exploits of their great-aunt’s pet Chihuahua. Some Leos will even brag about being the best brag-ger in town.

Today: You have two pairs of pants that look absolutely horrible on you in your closet right now. Throw them out. Just throw them out.

CAPRICORN: Capricorns are generally very responsible. In fact, throughout his-tory, they have been responsible for an incredible amount of stuff. For example, the lookout boy on the Titanic who saw the iceberg too late was Capricorn. So was the chief engineer at Chernobyl that fatal day. Even the baker whose unat-tended oven caused the Great Fire of London in 1666 is said to have been born under this sign. You get the picture.

Today: This random crazy world makes sense today. Carry a pen. Take notes.

AQUARIUS: Aquarians just love to go against accepted ideas and norms. Not surprisingly, they have come up with many of the world’s weirdest ideas such as lobotomy, break dancing and salmon flavored ice-cream. This freethinking trait lasts until around their 60th birth-day, when they suddenly become stubborn, and eccentric.

Today: Success is contagious, and you need to catch it. Look for some coat tails--FAST!

PISCES: Pisceans are very caring, compassionate and emotional. In other words, they are total push-overs. They are weak-willed and can usually be persuaded to exchange anything, no matter how precious, (their autographed Beatles ‘White Album’ for example) for a couple of pizza discount vouchers if you tell them that it’s a matter of life or death.

Today: An old crush comes back and crushes you some more.

ARIES: Aries are terrible losers and will desperately fight to the end. For an Aries, it’s ‘do or die’. If you play a game of poker against an Aries you can expect to get his house… or give him yours.

Today: Gossip hounds are go-ing to sniff your butt today. Play dead. Say nothing.

TAURUS: Taurus are the definition of stubborn. Once a thought gets into a Taurus’ head, it never ever gets out again. Actually, it’s very hard to get anything into a Taurus’ head in the first place!

Today: The number 10 may be given added significance today and will randomly pop up in everyday conversations... 10.

GEMINI: Gemini lead pretty boring, mundane lives. However, it is in every Gem-ini’s destiny to one day discover something that will change their life forever. It could be a terrible family secret, a hidden talent, or simply the convenience of frozen pizza.

Today: The day’s events will make you want to move abroad. Whilst you may think that this horoscope is completely useless... I have to admit - I have a very guilty secret. You see, all horoscopes are completely useless. There - I said it.

LIBRA: Libras are very peaceful and try to avoid confrontation at all costs. Pick an argument with a Libra and you’ll probably be given a rose the next day – in a pot, of course. If you ask a Libra who his best buddy is, the most probable reply is going to be a tree, a scruffy one-eyed dog, or a goldfish named Elton.

Today: You are almost out of clean socks. Don’t sweat laundry. Just buy more socks

SCORPIO: Scorpios are very passionate by nature, but also very selfish in love. Fail to please a Scorpio and you will be dumped in the middle of the night. When a Scorpio gives a gift, he’s expect-ing 10 times back in return – plus inter-est. So if it’s a diamond ring or a trip to Hawaii, refuse it immediately.

Today: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. That’s why you haven’t met a lot of doctors. Eat some cheesecake and mingle.

SAGITTARIUS: One good point about Sagittarians is their gen-erosity. Another good point is that they are very enthusiastic. And one bad point about Sagit-tarians is that what they are most enthusiastically generous with is in fact other people’s stuff

Today: Someone who loves you wants you to change. Humor them, but don’t fall for it.

by Tamara Nassar ’13, Photos by Robert Bahou ’11

Suhayb Al-Jawhari ‘11 Suhayb Al-Jawhari ‘11Rana Abulaban ‘11 Jae Sok Surh ‘13

Adel Nesheiwat’ 11 Sally Shaban ’11 Owen Jennings ‘13

Khalook Al-Yassin ‘12Jaber Al-Sabah ‘11 Manaf Irani ‘12Jamil Madanat ‘11Ghayth Sandouka ‘11 Sterling Beecroft ‘11

WARNING: May induce heart attacks or fits in those who take themselves too seriously.

The RexonianPage 10SPORTS

ing yourself won’t do you any good. Be confident about your-self and don’t be afraid to ex-press yourself. We were once told that there are no stupid questions, stupid questions are the ones that are kept to your-self. Have fun and try to enjoy every moment, because it isn’t time for you to get stressed and be under pressure. Just learn how to manage your time well and don’t take too much time off. This year is the year where your dreams start to become true…”

-Shahd Al-Jawhari ’13 & Dima Arabiyat ’13

Dear freshmen, Guys take it from us, live up

to every moment, work hard, live and let live. You only get to be freshmen in high school once in your life, so don’t ruin it, and don’t do things you may

regret later. We were in your place less than a year ago and we know how tempting it is to skip a biology or math class, but don’t, seriously, take it from us. Also, try not to get yourself kicked out, it really isn’t hard to stay here, just fol-low the rules and you’ll be fine. But the rules are not there to oppress you, they are there to represent guiding principles on how to live the rest of your life, but for now they apply to King’s . It’s your home, the place where your identity will be formed. Don’t be afraid to express yourself. Believe me, you’ll grow and learn almost all you need to know about the world out there in those couple of years, so start right, and end by making an influence on everyone you’ve encountered. Make memories, because trust me; your life will never ever be the same. It’s a once in a life-time experience.

-Sincerely, the Sophomore Class ‘13

FRESHMENcontinued from Page 6

crammed in the tin can that was our packed car, and going through the borders filled with Saudis and Kuwaitis we finally got home!

The summer was great and really relaxing. Everyone thought it was exactly what we needed after all those tests and quizzes. Everything was going smoothly until we had to come back. Repacking everything was like thinking you’ve finished all your homework at 1 AM and then finding out you have another essay. In other words, it was very painstaking.

After the strenuous packing up of my belongings, and waking up at Four AM for a four hour car ride to school, we were finally back again. Quizzes, tests, waking up early and homework all came back, but now 3 weeks later, we’re all settling in and it looks like this year is off to a far better start than last year.

more than 500 million friends but many enemies. One of the film’s main ironies sheds light on how Facebook, whose main pur-pose is to allow people to “con-nect and share with the people in [their] lives,” was conceived by a creator whose social skills at the

time were highly lacking.Unquestionably, Mark’s

scheming nature conquers him along his Facebook creation journey. Mark finds himself in a lonely world where fame and fortune contrast with a feeling of ambivalence towards the people that he has hurt on this journey. This becomes especially evident in the film’s closing scene where

Mark sends a friend request to his ex-Harvard girlfriend—one of the people who got hurt the most by his actions—and repeat-edly refreshes the screen in an almost frenzied manner while waiting for her to reply. Indeed, the marvel of “The Social Net-work” is that it complements a thriller pace with Mark’s somber story of ambition.

SOCIAL NETWORKcontinued from Page 5

FULL BOARDERScontinued from Page 5

ROBERT BAHOU ’11

Packed and ready to go home.

In a tournament that took place just a few

weeks ago, the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams

played different matches at ABS in order to get

an idea of the skill of high school volleyball

teams in Amman. The boys, captained by Faris

Batayneh ‘11, played 4 sets of games against

ABS. Fortunately, the results were good – King’s

won all 4 matches by a fair margin. Varsity player

Hani Murad ‘11 said, “We beat them by a lot all

four matches and showed who the better players

were.” As for the girls, there were mixed results

as the King’s girls lost to ACS early on in the

tournament. The King’s Boys’ Volleyball team has gained

reputation in Jordan and neighboring countries,

winningtitles often. The tournament a couple

weeks ago was a reiteration that they are com-

ing back this year to take it all. Coached by the

talented Iyad Abu Touq, the volleyball team will

hopefully spike through teams easily this year. “I

never thought that the volleyball team could’ve

improved quickly throughout the years; I’m

looking forward to this year” said Rawan Sarai-

reh ’11. As for the girls, despite their modest per-

formance on Saturday, they plan to improve this

year with their new coach, Ms. Ghadeer Diab,

who is rumored to be a previous volleyball player

on the Jordanian national team. They have been

struggling these previous years but plan to get

back up with new setter Reed Ghandour ’11.

Only time will tell of the volleyball teams

and their performance this year, but The Lions

will stay hopeful and expect a win everytime!

By ZaCK SaMaWI ‘11NEWS SUB-EDITOR

Volleyball Off to a Great StartBoth the Boy’s and Girl’s Varsity team open

their season with tournaments at ABS

PHOTOS BY ROBERT BAHOU ’11

Page 11October 2010SPORTS

World Cup Fever Spreads to MadabaA recap of the biggest sporting event in the world, with first hand accounts from two King’s Academy students

On the 11th of June 2010 football fans around the world rejoiced at the beginning of the 19th edition of the FIFA World Cup held in South Africa, the first ever on African soil. Breaths were held, tears were shed and nerves were wrecked from the start. Already the World Cup was full of surprises even before the start of the tournament. Turkey, Croatia, and Russia all impressed during Euro 2008 yet failed to qualify. Regular participants such as Asian giants Saudi Arabia were missing. Stars shined and others ridiculed, and with over 140 goals produced, the fans were in for an amazing tourna-ment.

The group stages offered many surprises. World Cup holders Italy and runners-up France were both unceremoniously dumped out of the compe-tition, ending up a lowly 4th in their group, in embarrassing fashion. England and the Netherlands struggled but went through. Germany qualified even though they suffered an embarrassing and unexpected defeat to minnows Serbia, while Switzerland provided another shocker with their 1-0 victory over tournament favorites Spain. Diego Maradona’s underestimated Argen-tine side was aiming to prove the critics wrong and topped their group with ease. Portugal managed to thrash North Korea 7-0, while in the same group the Ivory Coast surprisingly failed to impress in a tournament they were ex-pected to shine in. A huge blow by Uruguay, in the form of a 3-0 thrashing, ended the hosts’ hopes of qualifying.

By the time the knock out stages was reached proceedings were well and truly under way. The pick of the round of 16 matches was the epic England vs. Germany match. At 2-1 to Germany, England’s Frank Lampard had a clearly good goal disallowed because the referee hadn’t seen the ball cross the line. England went on to lose 4-1. Argentina defeated Mexico 3-1, while Spain defeated Portugal 1-0, thanks to a solitary goal by David Villa.

The quarter finals produced arguably one of the best matches of the tournament. With tournament favorites Brazil 1-0 up against a fine Dutch side, a Wesley Sneijder inspired performance set up one of the best come-backs and provided one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, in an un-likely 2-1 Dutch win. Spain went through after a hard fought match against Paraguay, who greatly impressed at the tournament, which produced a missed spot-kick for each side within 4 minutes of each other. Germany finally did the expected and dumped Argentina out of the competition with a 4-0 thumping. Finally, Luis Suarez of Uruguay produced one of the most controversial moments of World Cup history when he blocked a sure goal with his hand during stoppage time of extra time, with the score level at 1-1. Ghana somehow missed the resulting spot-kick, the last kick of the game, and bowed out on penalties. African hearts were broken, as Ghana were the last African team left in the competition.

Germany had lit up the competition by playing the best football up until that point, however their young side played in a timid manner against Spain, in the semi-final, who ran out 1-0 victors. Holland then defeated a Suarez-less Uruguayan side 3-2. The match had produced arguably the best goal of the tournament, a Giovanni Van Bronckhorst screamer from around 35 yards out. Germany then played out one of the most free-flowing and entertaining matches of the tournament in a 3-2 win over tournament dark horses Uruguay for 3rd place. The final was contested between tournament favorites Spain and the Netherlands. The game was a very tense and con-troversial affair. Holland played in a very rough manner and both teams should have had men sent off by the end of 90 minutes, with the score tied at 0-0. Chances went begging for both sides, including an ArjenRobben one on one opportunity. Both sides had done well not to concede, and both goalkeepers had impressed. In the 2nd half of extra time Heitinga was sent off for his second offence, and then with just 4 minutes to go till the end of the match, Spain somehow, in controversial circumstances, managed to breach the 10 man Netherlands’ defense. The 1st attempt at a cross should have been judged for offside, that attempt was cleared however and the rebound was crossed perfectly in for the inform Andres Iniesta to stroke in the winner and break Dutch hearts. Spain were champions for the 1st time, while the Netherlands were now for the 3rd time runners up.

Thomas Mueller was named the best young player of the tournament and top scorer as well. Diego Forlan was handed the honor of player of the tournament for his astounding performances to help lift Uruguay all the way to 4th place. The tournament had provided many goals, assists, and bril-liant moments, as well as controversy and surprise. It had been a success for the whole of Africa to put on such a spectacular show, and now all eyes are turn on Brazil to emulate or supersede South Africa in 2014.

By abDuLKaReeM SHeRaIF ’11STAFF WRITER

Who were you supporting?HA: Personally, I was supporting England,

Brazil and Ghana but when it came to the fi-nal game Spain against Holland, I switched to Spain as I attended the Spain and Portugal game which made me enthusiastic and excited about the games to come.

AA: I was supporting Spain since the begin-ning of the tournament, I kind of had a feeling they would win and they did!Can you describe how the country was like during that time? (Did they have World Cup fever?)

HA: The country was packed with people of different cultures, all excited for the games. Everyone was colorfully dressed according to the team they were supporting. The energy that you would get from these people was definitely World Cup fever; it was an experience to be sur-rounded by such lively people.

AA: Of course! They did have the World Cup fever, every company (MTN, VISA, Mc-Donalds, Adidas, Sony etc.) who are partners of the World Cup had advertising about the World Cup all around Johannesburg. Everyone there was talking about the World Cup and nothing but the World Cup, carried their Vuvuzelas with them where ever they went, painted their faces with the teams they supported.How were the preparations?

HA: Preparations were very lively and filled with decorations, flags and colors. People would attend matches two hours early because of se-curity checks but all in all everything was pre-pared properly from the stadiums to the games itself wherever you were watching it. People were always enthusiastic about it. Posters were hung everywhere in South Africa.

AA: I think FIFA did a pretty good job in preparing for the World Cup. For example, at half-time there were places where you can get food, chips, hot chocolate, chocolates, coffee. And there were stalls that would sell FIFA mer-

chandise like the Jo’bulani ball, shirts, vuvzelas and a lot more.How did you like the tournament as a whole? Would you repeat the experience?

HA: I loved the tournament as a whole; just being there in the audience and supporting a team made me feel like I was a part of the team. It’s a definite yes to repeat the experience es-pecially that it was in South Africa; the most beautiful country I’ve ever been to and I hope everyone can have the chance to go to a world cup game.

AA: Besides Spain’s early slip up against Switzerland (0-1) I really enjoyed the tourna-ment, but I should say I hoped for a better Final Game. Yes, I would definitely repeat the expe-rience. My heart keeps racing every time I re-member that I went to the World Cup. I would think to myself “Oh my god !!! I was actually in the World Cup final !!!!”How did they react to their team’s misfortune? and Af-rica’s as well? Ghana’s elimination?

HA: They were devastated in a way because Ghana was Africa’s last hope of making it to the semifinals ever in the world cup. Watching the game in a place where half of the people were supporting Ghana shows how much the African countries are united as whole.

AA: I wasn’t there to witness the Bafana’s heartbreak when South Africa was eliminated but I think it’s all about the love of the game. Again, I wasn’t there to witness Ghana’s elimina-tion, that definitely hurt because all of Africa’s hopes were placed on Ghana, but then again I was really happy to see Uruguay proceed to the quarter finals because they wanted it more than Ghana and I guess the better man wins.Which teams had the best support there?

I’m not so sure about this one. It actually de-pends on what game was coming up or where

see INTERVIEW on page 12

Luckily, a number of King’s Academy students attended the World Cup in person. Haya Abdel-Hadi ‘11 and Ahmad Ahmad ‘12 courteously shared with us about their experiences.

COURTESY OF

HAYA ABDEL-HADI ‘11

The RexonianPage 12SPORTS

the people came from but if I had to pick one depend-ing on what I’ve seen mostly around South Africa it would be Ghana.(Haya Abdulhadi)

While I was in the stadium watching the final, I saw more Netherland flags than Spanish flags. Maybe it’s because this is not the first time Netherlands was in a World Cup final. But the majority of the fans where cheering for Netherlands. (Ahmad Ahmad)How were the stadiums?

HA: The stadiums were huge and it could fit about 60 thousand people I think. And at every game, they would show us how many people are attending the game. The stadium was properly equipped and the field was special and fitting to the players and desirable to play soccer on.

AA: I have only been to Soccer City and it was de-signed to perfection. All the FIFA partners had their own lounges with food, drinks and accommodations for their guests. We had transportation to and from Soccer City to the hotel we were staying in.Did any of the players seem very popular?

HA: Not to my noticing, but Ronaldo and Casillas and David Villa, Schneider, Messi, Rooney and Kaka but I’m not quite sure about it.

AA: At the beginning of the of the game between Spain and Netherlands, the teams lined up and when the commentator called on all the players names, Da-vid Villa and Fernando Torres seemed very popular because all the fans kept shouting and cheering for them.Was it a positive experience for you? For South Africa?

HA: It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever been to so far. Watching the games live in South Africa made the country of Africa realized more often and it was the perfect place for the world cup. It increased the

economy and the world began to realize what South Africa has to offer to the world from culture to sight-seeing to making the World cup a memorable experi-ence to everyone.

AA: I definitely think this experience is something I should be very proud of and I am extremely lucky to have witnessed the World Cup taking place for the first time on the African continent. Also, I think Africa should be proud of this achievement they managed to pull off and take pride in it.Which matches did you attend? Were you satisfied?

HA: The matches I attended were two quarter fi-nal games Spain and Portugal, Germany and Argen-tina and the semi-final between Holland and Uruguay. I was satisfied with what I’ve seen, I have never seen people so proud or so excited or creatively dressed for any soccer game in my life till this summer.

AA: I attended the Final game, yes I was happy to be there but I would have really liked a better game than what had happened. I also noticed that the time passed by extremely fast and I really hoped I could stay there for longer but I guess everything that is good has to come to an end. Anything else you would like to share?

AA: Yes, I did go to the World Cup, but I only at-tended the Final(Spain v Netherlands). My father, who is the CEO of MTN in Yemen(FIFA partner) had 24 tickets, and he had to give them to the VIPs in Ye-men. There was one extra ticket left and he gave it to me. As you might know ZiadLababdeh also came with me to the World Cup. MTN Yemen rented two private jets to carry the 24 people going to the World Cup, and we stayed at a very nice 5 star hotel. MTN Yemen guests stayed in South Africa for 3 days; Day 1: relax at hotel + dinner (we arrived late to Johannesburg) Day 2: breakfast, we spent the whole day in Soccer City (2 p.m. – 1 a.m.) Day 3: Safari outside of Johannesburg. We went back to Yemen the next morning.

INTERVIEWcontinued from Page 11

On the second of October, King’s Academy’s Girls’ and Boys’ Soccer teams made their debut of the year a slight success at home. The tournament was a continuation of the soccer tryouts to see the play-ers in a real-game situation.

The morning started with schools arriving from all around Amman. ABS, ACS, AA, MAS, and several others were participating in the tournament. Boys’ Varsity A started well with a crushing 3-0 victory over ACS, while the girls varsity tied 2-2 against ACS, who were dominating their head- to-head record with large numbers.

As the day passed Boys’ Varsity A were showing good performance with their clash with MAS, holding a 1-0 lead until the last 2 minutes, when former King’s Academy stu-dent Karim Sha’ban equalized King’s with a powerful shot to goalkeeper Talal Sisalem ’13. King’s couldn’t hold it off and ended with a loss in a last minute goal from a free kick. As for the girls, they continued their great performance with a 3-0 victory against IAA.

The heat started to get to the players as they showed fatigue in the last match. Boys varsity A had their most important match against ABS at the end of their day. They ended their day with a 0-3 loss to the un-defeated ABS in their head-to-head record with King’s. The girls had a slight defeat to ABS 0-1.

“There were many players on our team and we couldn’t maintain an

understanding on the field due to the many subs, but after the cut I’m sure we will get much better and finally beat ABS and many others to come” said defender Malik Al-Jabori ’11 af-ter the game. The girls, on the other hand, “had great communication and were able to understand each other on the field, and hope to improve throughout the season” commented goalkeeper Qxhna Titcomb ’11.

Season Opening TournamentsBoys’ and Girls’ Varisty Soccer Teams face off against competition from around Amman

By SuHaYb aL-JaWHaRI ’11STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF AHMAD AHMAD ‘12

Ahmad Ahmad ‘12supporting Spainat the finals ofthe World Cup inSouthAfrica.

Hashem Ashour ‘12, a member of the Boys’ Varsity A Soccer Team, kicks the ball past a player from the International Academy in Amman.

ROBERT BAHOU ‘11

In previous years at King’s, the co-curricular sched-ule has undergone massive changes to try and accom-modate the diverse interests of the student body. In the first and second years at Kings, students were obliged to stay in only one co-curricular which they did four times a week. In the third year, students were allowed to do two co-curriculars twice a week. This year, though, there’s a new system: students are obligated to do a major and a minor, and at least one physical activity within those two. With this new implemented system, students are allowed to balance their social lives more effectively and can show more interests in different ac-tivities. However, feedback from students hasn’t been as promising – people are complaining that they would rather have more student-run activities and more free-dom to run their own clubs. One senior commented that they “Find the major/minor co-curricular to be too rigid. The over-achievers in the student body are the ones who suffer most from this system.”

On the other hand, the new major-minor system has provided new activities for the student body which include rock climbing, rugby, and ultimate Frisbee. These activities were very popular last year in school and were finally made actual co-curriculars this year. Other changes include the new basketball schedule, which is now supposed to run from the second se-mester to the third. Despite the slight change in the co-curricular schedule, athletic teams are still able to practice and have been just as strong as they were last year. Hopefully, all these changes will help improve the social and physical life here at Kings.

A New Sports SystemBy ZaCK SaMaWI ‘11

SPORTS SUB-EDITOR