Did you know…that peeling an orange is an art?
Senior Amber Zheng finds the beautiful in the seemingly everyday task of peeling an orange.
European Culture vs. American Culture
by Anna Kleckerova
I would like to share my experience with you. I was born in the Czech Republic. That is in the center of Europe. But, I also spent one year in America, and I will continue probably my life here for the next several years. I’d like to compare the two cultures.
Let’s start with Europe because it is still closer to me. Countries in Europe are very old. There were many wars in Europe’s past, yet a lot of culture was saved. We can find a very old colosseum in Rome where gladiators were fighting for their lives. Venice is well know for her transportation through canals on boats. Paris has its Eiffel Tower and the most famous museum in this world, the Louvre. We can find any culture in this museum. It is too big to see all of it in one day, and it makes you want to go to France again and again. Also if you decide to take a tour through Europe, you hve to visit definitely Prague. This capital city also has really old culture, and it is in pristine condition. You can find here Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, the astronomical clock and so many others sights.
In summary, Europe has really old history, and there are so many different types of architecture such as gothic, renaissance, symbolism, romanticism, realism, baroque, rococo, secession, and others.
America, on the other han
d, isn’t as old as Europe, so it is not easy to find such deep culture here. Everyone knows of the Statue of Liberty that is in New York that Mr. Eiffel made for America. This country took a culture from other countries–like Asia, Africa and Europe. Immigrants brought their own ideas and cultures from their homelands. In America, there is no one culture; it is a mixture of many, many different cultures. American people are so proud of their country, and they show it on every corner with flags and the Pledge of Allegiance. Also, there are so many states in America and each of them has a different accent, dialect, food and culture.
While America doesn’t have as long and as rich a culture as Europe, you can find here beautiful architecture, national pride, and a diverse culture.
Answer the Question!
by Chloe Sweeney
Politicians tend to evade direct questions and instead hit their primary talking points–over and over. This was evident in last night’s Republican GOP Primary Debate.
Donald Trump, a billionaire real-estate mogul, was asked how he would handle Russia’s and Putin’s support of Bashar Hafez al-Assad in Syria. In his answer, . . . .
He said, he would get along quite well with Vladmir Putin.
Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey, was asked if it was worth shutting down the federal government in the effort to defund Planned Parenthood. . . .
He answered with, we need to put tax reform bills on President Obama’s desk.
Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin, was asked his opinion on raising the federal minimum wage. . . .
Mr. Walker responded with, we need to improve education.
John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, was asked why he chooses not to verbally attack Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton. . . .
He went off on his qualifications for the presidency.
What did you think of the debate? Leave a “direct” reply below.
The World According to Henry: The Artisanship of Japan
by Henry Huang
When people talk about the Japanese spirit, many people refer to Bushido (dignity, loyalty, and honor). To me, what represents the spirit of Japan is, in fact, the artisanship. The Japanese believe that they are supposed to do the best in their every pursuit: whether building a bridge or cooking street food. Today, our example of artisanship is found in a restaurant in Tokyo.
The restaurant is called Hirooichie. This restaurant was awarded a coveted Michelin Star–a universal recognition of culinary excellence. I was lucky enough to get a reservation during my trip to Japan. This restaurant is in a residential district in downtown Tokyo. When my friends and I walked into that restaurant, I realized the spirit of artisanship starts here.
In order to keep the quality of the dinner, the chef only serves 15 people per night. The meal was in fact, a show, a show that only has a chef and a zyoshou (a traditional Japanese waitress) on the stage. The chef, to me, is a representation of artisanship. He was working behind the counter so all the customers could see what he was preparing. Without great confidence in his skills, no chef would dare to cook under the watchful eye of his customers. What’s more, the restaurant was an Omatase, a restaurant without a menu. The chef has to satisfy instinctively the desires of his customers. All his tools were well organized, another symbol of excellent craftsmanship. The zyoshou was very friendly to us. We were the only foreigners in the restaurant. Even though there was a language barrier, the zyoshou tried her best to introduce the dishes. One of the details that I will never forget was how the zyo
shou constantly refilled my glass, like she could read my mind.
The moment the food was served, I could feel the artisanship of the establishment. When I looked at the chef, he had an extremely focused expression. He worked at a very mild and pleasant pace. At that moment, his seriousness was palpable. The chef works alone. There is no apprentice to assist him. He tried to ensure the satisfaction of every customer. The zyoshou was the epitome Japanese elegance (silently meeting everyone’s needs with a pleasing aesthetic). When she realized that we were Chinese, she made cards in Chinese to tell us what was in the dishes.
The food was ma
gnificent. All the food was made with simple ingredients; however, every bite appealed to every taste bud. The presentation of the dishes was glorious. Although simply decorated, every dish was so attractive that I almost didn’t want to take a bite. The simplistic style of cooking produced the ultimate enjoyment of taste. There are no words to describe the absolute ma
gnificence of my culinary experience. Hirooichie opened the door for me to observe the artisanship of Japan.
Trey’s Take on Technology
by Trey Lucatero
Have you gotten home late at night and struggled to wrangle your little charger into that tiny little socket at the base of your phone? You’re not the only one; millions suffer every year from this. Recently, Samsung has introduced a stock addition into the Samsung Galaxy S6 which allows for wireless charging. With the one-time purchase of $49.99, you can completely negate this nuisance. 
With this wireless charge, you can stumble home in the dark, drop your phone on the charger, and fall fast asleep–without having to realize fifteen minutes later when you’re contemplating the meaning of life that you forgot to plug your phone in. In Samsung’s new model, they have introduced many quality-of-life additions (e.g. an “edge” display, 
improved camera, and increase in size for visibility) to this phone, and I think this one takes the cup for the most innovative, helpful, and time-saving addition.
Jim’s Fun Camp: “You’ve Got Mail”
By Jim Wang
On a lighter note, to help us get through a long week, Jim translated a humorous Chinese story for us.
A couple was going on vacation. But, the wife was on a business trip, so the husband went to the destination first, and his wife would meet him the next day.
When the husband reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick email.
Unfortunately, when typing her address, he mistyped the email address and his email was directed instead to an elderly preacher’s wife whose husband had just passed away the day before. When the grieving widow checked her email, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint.
At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen:
Dearest Wife,
Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow.
Five Fashionable Fantastic Fingernails
By Ashley Zhou
Although the summer vacation is over, summer still continues at PVS. Walking around on our campus, you will see not only the beautiful sight of Palm Valley, but also bright colors on many girls’ nails. They stand out from the dark uniforms.
( Guess whose nails are these. Below are the nails of Ashley Zhou, Irene Guo, Ms. Lee, Karey Graves, Anna Kleckerova. Which nails belong to whose fingers?)
Utopia: from an Eagle Scout’s Point of View
By Amber Zheng
World Literature class last spring devised their own Utopias. Students drew their ideas from Sir Thomas More’s “Utopia”–agreeing or disagreeing or elaborating upon the model. Of course, “Utopia” translates into “No where.”
Utopia is broadly considered to be the ideally perfect society. However, it’s far from reality. David Kocen, last spring, expressed his own thoughts about Utopia. He believes that Utopia is an idea with flaws. From his perspective, Utopia is not going to work. The following are some excerpts from his World Literature essay.
“I do not condone the creation of a utopian society if it cannot be done without excessive bloodshed and hardship for the people. Since I believe that this is the only way to accomplish the creation of Utopia, we should instead focus our efforts on making what we already have better, instead of completely overhauling all of society.”
David asserts that it is necessary to get rid of people who don’t fit the idea of Utopia. Moreover, certain number of population needs to be removed in order to give all people in the society enough opportunities: “It is my personal belief that the only way to succeed in forming a Utopia is to get absolute support. This would mean exiling or killing those who do not support you.”
Unfortunately, the Utopian society still won’t work even if we remove those who are opposed to it, because: “Humans, by their very nature, tend to be more interested in accomplishing their own goals rather than bettering the whole. We are not to blame for this. It is simply evolution trying to be as efficient as possible in insuring the survival of humans. Sadly, evolution has only one tool and that is survival of the fittest. The fittest could help the week, but unless everyone else helps the weak as well, the fittest will be taken advantage of by those who seek only their own gains. It is sad but true……we are too unstable to create a truly utopian society without negative emotion. It just does not work.”
Having said that the Utopia itself will never be a success, David doesn’t think striving for it is a bad thing: “feelings and thoughts are what make us unique. Everyone responds to different things in their own ways. Without individuality and variability, life would be too bo
ring. What is the purpose of living for eighty something years if it is just false smiles and blissful repetition? …… A Utopia, in the common sense of the word, is just a nation filled with meaningless joy. That does not mean that we should not strive to m
ake the world a better place. One of our main purposes in this life is to create a better habitat for the children that we bring into the world. While complete success is impossible and meaningless, motivation for improvement keeps us going through life. We will never succeed in creating a complete Utopia, but we can strive for it. And, with each success, we will achieve a genuine smile on our faces. If we are lucky, we may even get some other people to smile with us.”
*Introductory graphic by Amelia Wang, for World Literature class.
Meet Our New International Students . . .
by Gaven Li
TODAY, . . . MEET NIKOLOZ (NICK) TSIKARISHVILI
We have many new international students this year in the Palm Valley Upper School. They come from Georgia, China, Germany, etc. Today, meet Nick from Georgia (and . . . not the Georgia next to Alabama).
Q: Tell us something about yourself, Nick.
A: Hi, my name is Nikoloz Tsikarishvili. I’m a junior, and I come from Georgia [the country off the Black Sea]; now I live in Palm Springs.
Q: So, what do you think about America?
A: I like it here, so far… I think it’s great, and the people are really nice here.
Q: What about Palm Valley? Is there any difference between Palm Valley and the school you went to before?
A: Yes! There are so many different classes, and….Wow, I don’t know. I mean, pretty much everything is different from my previous school.
Q: Okay. Did you join any team or club?
A: Yeah, I joined the football team.
Q: And how’s that going?
A: We haven’t played our first game yet. We are still preparing for it, and we practice very hard. I hope this season will be great for our team.
Q: Great. It’s not easy to get used to a brand new lifestyle, right? What do you do over the weekend?
A: Emmmmm… I do my homework, exercise a little, rest, and get ready for Monday.
Q: Cool! What’s your favorite class? And, the class you find the most difficult?
A: I think Math is really difficult, and AP biology is difficult too, but I like it–that’s my favorite class
Q: Do you have any trouble at school so far?
A: Oh yeah, I had trouble with my locker… I couldn’t open it. And, Christian helped me out.
Gaven: Alright, thanks Nick; let’s go to practice.
Nick: Okay.
Meet Our New Teachers . . .
by Chloe Sweeney
This year we have had an influx of new energetic teachers. These teachers come from all over the country to join the Palm Valley family. Their varied backgrounds are surprising and welcome here in the desert!
Let us introduce you to a few . . . .
Ms. Sweet, the new Spanish teacher, was born and raised in Rhode Island. In middle school, she and her
and her family moved to Mexico. She and her sister were both placed in a school where no one spoke a bit of English. This situation forced her to become fluent, and she still believes the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it. She returned to the states and attended Georgetown University in Washington D.C. At Georgetown, she majored in Global Health and studied other languages including Portuguese. Though her degree is in Global Health, she decided that she wanted a career that was more hands-on. After college, she got a job as a Spanish teacher for elementary kids in Rhode Island. She had always wanted to teach high school, so when she heard about the job at Palm Valley she decided to pack up and move across the country. She packed up her car and her puppy Logan and drove across country. She is getting settled at Palm Valley, and she is extremely excited to coach Cross Country for middle and lower schoolers.
Mr. Krause is the new AP World History and Geography teacher. Until now, he has lived his entire life in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up playing baseball and is a HUGE Cubs fan. He is really excit
ed to coach the Varsity Baseball Team this spring. He played baseball at Wheaton College where he double majored in secondary education and social sciences. He just graduated college this May, and while looking for a job he stumbled across Palm Valley. He came out for his interview and loved it. He was very excited to escape the Chicago traffic and Mid-West winters.
Ms. Lee is now teaching Geometry, Algebra II, and Pre-Calculus in the Upper School. Her previous job was at a public school in the Bronx, a rough neighborhood in New York. She is so grateful to be teaching at a school where the students know how to behave and have a desire to succeed in their studies. She was born in Korea and moved to New York when she was seven years old. She attended the City University of New York, where she majored in math for her bachelor degree and math education for her masters degree. Both of her parents were math teachers so she always told herself that she would never teach. When she was a senior in high school, 
her mom again mentioned teaching (and the summer breaks!). Ms. Lee started to consider a career in Education. When she went down to Baja California on a mission trip where she worked with local children, she was hooked. This experience helped her realize the value of education and inspired her to be a teacher. After many years in New York, Ms. Lee was very excited to leave the craziness of the city and move to the peaceful Coachella Valley.