the bird on fire

The World According to Henry: New York, New York

October 21, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org 3 Comments

–by Henry Huang

Blog Correspondent Henry Huang spent last summer on the East Coast. He attended summer school at Yale studying Political Science. While on the East Coast, Henry travelled to New York City. Thus, “The World According to Henry” continues its journey . . . .

New York–how should I start?

Artists, singers, writers portray the city as the top of the world. Yet, New York, to some others, is an empty dream. New York, to me, is the most interesting place on this earth, a mixture of heaven and hell.

There are copious reasons that a person can hate New York. The stinky subway system isn’t well designed. Everyone knows that someone must have peed in the subway station. The subway service, to be polite, is anti-humanity. There was only one uniformed person in the entire subway station even in Times Square. The signs in the station tell you to go to Uptown or Downtown. Even a New Yorker could get lost in the subway or not know the existence of a line. If you make it out of the Times Square subway station, a crowd is waiting for you in Times Square. It is always crowded, always full of over-priced souvenir shops,making it impossible to meet a friend or acquaintance there. There were even people, more than you can imagine, doing yoga on Broadway. Another infamous about NYC, New Yorkers have a “reputation” for being rude and arrogant. In at least one instance, a waiter in a cafe was not friendly. In all other cities, customers are like gods, but in New York, sometimes it feels the opposite. And, And, New Yorkers drive like crazy people. If you try jay-walking in NYC, you’ll come in contact with a taxi bumper. Walking in Manhattan’s streets is the same as walking through a battlefield. Everyone is walking as if they are on the way to a fight.

However, New York is still a heaven to many people. The forest of skyscrapers is just a miracle rising through the horizon. At the top of the Empire State Building, the Steel Babylon looks exactly like a jewel in the sun. Sometimes, people criticize New York as an illiterate city. Yet, the ceiling of the Grand Central Terminal was designed based on the Zodiac, everyone in the subways is carrying a book, the New York Public Library houses the Gutenberg Bible and other precious books and documents. The museums in New York are some of the best in the world. The Metropolitan Art Museum holds the largest art collection from ancient Greek to Modern Art, from East to West, from paintings to weapons. What’s more, there are not many cities on earth that can provide such a large public space like Central Park. The vast greenery is a great place for all ages to bike, swim, play baseball, picnic, watch Shakespeare. The street food in New York, whether kebabs or hot dogs, is always a surprise waiting for you. However, I found the most surprising thing in New York is New Yorkers are actually quite friendly (with that one exception in the cafe on Times Square). From a lady waiting for her train in a subway station to a guy who sells kebabs next to MetArt, everyone was willing to give me directions. The quick drivers and the fast-walking people might be crazy, but all those are a symbol of the liveliness of the city! Only in New York could there be so much potential and possibility.

Photos by Henry Huang

–Edited by Chloe Sweeney

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

October 19, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org 5 Comments

–by Zhenzhou Hu

“It was only that . . . light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order.”–“A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” Ernest Hemingway

As students enter our Blog Class, there is a daily battle: Lights on; Lights off. Amber and Trey like the dark and the calmness that descends with it. Chloe wants the classroom well lit with lots of light and all the productivity that comes with it. Zhenzhou Hu watched the daily ping ponging of “Lights on!” “Lights off!” and decided to follow up on the acrimonious issue. He asked fellow students and his teachers, “Which lighting do you prefer?” and “Which lighting is most conducive to learning?”

I once thought students always like to study in well lighted rooms, but then I realized students at Palm Valley are quite different. I interviewed several students and Math Teacher Ms. Emily McKee over the lighting they preferred.

Under what circumstances do you prefer darkness over light in your classrooms? And vice versa.
1. Chloe: “In the morning after cross country practice, I am feeling alert and energized. So I prefer a light classroom to start my day. By the time I reach math class, it catches up to me that I did not get a lot of sleep. I am tired so it is easier to focus in a darker environment. It is crucial that there is substantial natural light but fluorescent light is irritating.”
2. Ms. Mckee : “A dark classroom is only good if I need to use projection. Otherwise, I like a lighted classroom.”
3. Henry: “A light room is better. Because a lighted room gives a sense that the room will be bigger and not as crowded as dark room.”
4. Amber: “Every single circumstance is fine as long as the light is natural light instead of artificial light.”
5. Trey: “I always prefer dark because it is easier on my eyes.”

Which do you believe provides a better learning environment?
1. Chloe: “I think as long as a classroom is adequately lit in some fashion, it doesn’t really matter. It just needs to be light enough that you don’t fall asleep. Personally, I prefer natural light.”
2: Ms. McKee: “Definitely light room.”
3: Henry: “A lighted room makes the reading easier. I can read the book clearly. Since a light room psychologically enlarges the space, I feel more comfortable to do work in a lighted room.”
4. Amber: “Any environment without artificial light.”
5. Trey: “Dark room is a better environment for me to study . . . calmly.”

Hurricane Joaquin Slams South Carolina

October 16, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

–by Chloe Sweeney

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For days, we watched the news from South Carolina as the state’s inhabitants attempted to bail out from Hurricane Joaquin. Many of us had friends and family scurrying for dry land. Blog Editor Trey Lucatero heard from his father, Greenville, South Carolina resident. Mr. Lucatero, who was safely away from the eye of the storm, said, “We received 6 inches of rain; elsewhere it was up to 27 inches.” Former PVS teacher, Mr. Kevin Smith, was leading a retreat of 8th graders through the Carolinas and just missed the downpour.

After weeks of intense rain in South Carolina, with some areas receiving over 20” of rain, the sun finally came out. The relief from the downpour was short-lived as 13 dams collapsed and forced many communities to evacuate. The National Guard and local law enforcement have conducted over 600 rescues. More than 300 people were confined to live in shelters. The destruction of significant infrastructure left several communities without clean water, and 400,000 people were forced to boil their water. Along with the failed dams, a thirteen-mile stretch of Interstate 95 was still closed. South Carolina
Floodwaters break through a walkway in Columbia, S.C., Monday, Oct. 5, 2015. After a week of steady rain, the showers tapered off Monday and an inundated South Carolina turned to surveying a road system shredded by historic flooding. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) Governor Nikki Haley just hours ago extended South Carolina’s “state of emergency declaration.” Gov. Haley said (AP) the National Guard is still repairing 74 roads across the state as well as repairing drinking water systems. There were 17 reported deaths due to this hurricane. The rain may have stopped in South Carolina, but the tragic repercussions are still pouring in.

–Edited by Amber Zheng

Jim’s Funny Camp: Fishing for Trouble

October 16, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

–by Jim Wang

Jim brings us more humor from his travels around this funny funny world.One day, an intelligent doctor went fishing with a skillful fisherman on a fishing boat. On the boat, the doctor asked the fisherman, “Do you know Biology?”

One day, an intelligent doctor went fishing with a skillful fisherman on a fishing boat. On the boat, the doctor asked the fisherman, “Do you know Biology?”

The fisherman answered, “No.”

“Then a quarter of your life was wasted,” the doctor said.

After a while, the doctor asked, “How about Philosophy?”

The fisherman still answered, “No.”

“So, it’s another quarter of your life wasted.”

The doctor really felt sorry for the fisherman. Meanwhile a strong wind brought a powerful surge of water which shook the boat roughly. The doctor was terrified by what was happening. However, the fisherman asked the doctor calmly, ” Do you know how to Swim?”
The Doctor said, “No. ”

“Then your life will be OVER,” the fisherman answered.

Lord of the Flies: Two Continents on One Island

October 15, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

–by Chloe Sweeney

Ninth graders across the country and here at PVS are assigned to read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. If you haven’t read this iconic story in a while or at all, Chloe Sweeney introduces us to its main characters Ralph and Jack.

Fair-haired Ralph, athletic and disciplined, at the age of twelve is chosen to be chief over all the boys on the island. The idea of order and structure has been instilled in his mind from early childhood by his father, a British Naval Commander. “You remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished?…All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing” (Golding 50). From the start, Ralph places his responsibilities ah FullSizeRender-4 ead of more frivolous activities conducted by other boys. Ralph engages in hard work and commitment to complete tasks that will resemble the life he was accustomed to. But soon, Ralph could no longer resist the barbaric pull: “‘I hit him,’ said Ralph again, ‘and the spear stuck in a bit.’ He felt the need of witnesses…Ralph talked on excitedly. ‘I hit him all right. The spear stuck in. I wounded him!’ He sunned himself in their new respect and felt that hunting was good after all” (113). However, confident, independent Ralph is replaced by an insecure Ralph who searches for the validation of others. Hunting begins as a distracting and pointless sport, but Ralph begins to value the thrill of inflicting pain. “He discovered with a little fall of the heart that these were the conditions he took as normal now and that he did not mind” (110). As Ralph’s standards for himself slip, the glue binding the boys to the laws of civilization begins to melt away.
At home, Jack was the leader of a choir with voices like angels. This identity is soon squashed, as society fades from his conscious thought. In the beginning, Jack is a main supporter of order and structure. ”We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English, and the English are the best at everything. So we’ve got to do the right things” (42). He still holds on to the ideals put in place at home and has a desire to maintain his moral standards. However, as the story progresses, Jack becomes trapped in a bloodlust, losing sight of civilization. “[Jack] tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that which was swallowing him up. ‘I went on. I thought, by myself –’ The madness came into his eyes again. ‘I thought I might kill'” (51). The slaughter of pigs, then of people, is a fixation for Jack. His enthrallment with killing distracts him from tending the fire, causing a ship to pass unaware of the boys’ presence on the island.

“There was a ship. Out there. You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out!…You and your blood, Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home,” (70) screams Ralph. Jack’s incompetence costs the boys an early return home, and consequently the lives of Simon and Piggy.

The leadership styles of Ralph and Jack are revealed in their rise to power, methods of control, and priorities. Ralph was elected by the other boys’ votes.
The clamor changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by acclaim of Ralph himself…There was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch. The being that had blown that, had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees, was set apart.
”Him with the shell.”
“Ralph! Ralph!”
“Let him be chief with the trumpet-thing.” (22)

Jack was never elected, but instead he broke away from the group to start his own tribe. Ralph controls the boys by using methods to which they are already accustomed. “And another thing. We can’t have everybody talking at once. We’ll have to have ‘Hands up’ like at school…Then I’ll give them the conch…He can hold it when he’s speaking…And he won’t be interrupted. Except by me” (33). Ralph’s system gives everyone a chance to speak and present their ideas and concerns. Contrasting to Ralph’s democratic system, Jack governs as a dictator, using fear and violence to control people. “[Jack’s] going to beat Wilfred. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up” (159). While Ralph’s first priority is a signal fire, assigning boys to keep it burning, in an attempt to be rescued, Jack’s limited perception keeps him fixated on the present moment, focusing only on what is “fun.” Jack maintains order by promising protection and feasts, while Ralph demands responsibility and a focus on leaving their corrupted island.
So, look about your own desert island. Are you a Ralph or a Jack?

Strange Rules on Planes

October 14, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

–by Amber Zheng

The holidays are coming. You’re making your plane reservations to see your family across the country. Many people complain about the strange rules of airlines. Undeniably, a lot of rules on airplanes do seem ridiculous. However, every one of these absurd rules is designed with the intent to save lives. Today, we are going to explain reasons behind some of these rules.

The roof of this plane was ripped off at 23, 950 feet. Passengers survived . . . because they had their seat belts on. “Please move about the cabin with care.”

1. The flight attendant tells you: “All window shades have to be open on take-offs and landings.” You’ve been reading or sleeping and don’t want the blinding light of the sun coming up. Most airplane accidents happen on these two occasions–when taking off or landing. Open window shades make sure the lighting conditions inside the cabin are the same as the lighting conditions outside and give passengers visual access to the outside. If an emergency occurs, passengers are then adjusted to the lights outside and are aware of things that are happening outside so that the bailout can be more efficient. Moreover, rescuers are able to observe the situation inside through the windows so that they can conduct rescues better at accidents.

2. The loud speaker barks at you: “Luggage and other belongings have to be kept in designated places.” Your carry-on has to be stored in the overhead bin or tucked in to the seat in front of you. You want to get to your eyeglasses or gum or favorite book, and now it’s out of reach. Airlines tell us to tuck away carry-ons because doing so prevents luggage from flying crazily about the plane during emergencies. Flight attendants want to make sure nothing’s in the aisles so that people can move as quickly as possible at bailouts.

3. The airline safety video warns you, “Life jackets are not to be inflated before exiting the airplane.” You’re thinking, “Are you kidding me?! I don’t want to be flailing in the Atlantic Ocean trying to inflate a life jacket!” But, the Airlines tell us, if water enters the plane, inflated life jackets will keep people from diving down to escape from the plane. Besides, a person with an inflated life jacket on is very likely to block the emergency exit of the plane.

So, every strange rule . . . has its reason.

Immigration Wave in Europe

October 9, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

–by Anna Kleckerova, European Correspondent

The situation with immigrants is getting worse with every day. These people are coming from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, filling up all European countries. Many of them went to Greece first. They want to get to Germany, Austria and Great Britain because the economies are good and the migrants often speak the languages, but they are not always accepted. Germany is accepting many of them. The Germans are really trying to help them and show the whole world that they are a better country than what many remember from their past. Immigrants with valid ID cards have the greatest chance of getting accepted. Other countries usually don’t have much mercy for the immigrants and send them back to the country from which they came.

I want to show you how brutal ISIS is to get you to better understand how important it is to help the migrants. A life in Syria is horrible. ISIS totally took control of everything there. They are an extreme sect of Islam. News organizations report members of ISIS murder, arrest, rape, enslave, and terrorize people who believe in another religion or don’t keep to their rules, often using the Quran as justification.

Rashid Khalidi, a professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia University, disputes that the Quran offers any justification for [things such as] beheading. He cites the lines coming immediately after one of the two verses used to justify the act: “Therefore, when you meet the unbelievers, smite at their necks.” But the very next line, contained in Chapter 47, Verse 4: “At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind the captives firmly. Therefore is the time for either generosity or ransom.”

So basically, Khalidi said, there’s nothing about this passage that justifies the cutting off of heads.

“It just shows that they don’t know anything about Islam and they probably don’t know how to read this properly,” he said.—PBS NEWSHOUR

ISIS has been taking prisoners (soldiers, journalists) and cutting their heads off while they were recording the whole process. The Czech News reports many young Syrian men are coming to ISIS because it is an easy way to get women as slaves, and their violence is constantly increasing.
The European Union is trying to solve this huge problem. Countries that are members of this Union had a meeting in Brussels and were talking about this immigration crisis. Their final verdict was that European countries have to split 120,000 immigrants between each other. All European countries now must support the vote in Brussels. One of the theories is to provide an island for this mass of people and send them there. But Europe has to start doing something with this or it will have a horrible impact on the whole continent, and America should help, too, because Europe will never be able to accept so many new people who are coming there every single day.

*Anna Kleckerova was born and raised in the Czech Republic, most recently coming to us from Prague. She is now a senior at PVS.

Lost in Translation

October 7, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

–by Amber Zheng

Words get funny when people put them into translators. We see a lot of this kind of “funny” translation in restaurants.

This actually means very spicy pork.

This one is actually pepper and beef.

This should read Yunan-style pepper and chicken breasts.

Literally, it means homemade fried camel meat.

The right version should be: “sixi” steamed gluten.

Can you believe that the real name of this one is actually “Whatever”!? It doesn’t say anything about the ingredients.

It should simply read “German-style pork.”

The dish is a kind of vegetable stir fry, but the menu maker, clearly, couldn’t find the name of that vegetable on Google translator.

Da Luo Han

October 7, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

–by Zhenzhou Hu

“Da Luo Han” is my hometown festival that celebrates our ancester Zhe Hu who was an incorruptible and intelligent Northern Song Dynasty official. During this holiday, people will not only wear traditional costumes to dance and perform Kung fu, but they will also talk about folk literature and art. In this way, people can promote friendship with each other.

In ancient China, people hold flags similar to totems that serve as emblems of a village.

People of my town carry a sculpture of the ancient Northern Song Dynasty official Zhe Hu. 80% of the people in my town are named “Hu.”

Different tribes of my big village dance the ceremonial dances of their tribes. Many carry and move to a waist drum. Many of these dances are called “Waist Drum Dance.”

My little brother, Lai Hu, this year participated in the festival. He dressed in the costume of Zilong Zhao, a military general who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period. The costume is stylized after that found in the Beijing Opera.

Unlike my brother, I never performed. I was too shy—-Zhenzhou Hu.

Jim’s Funny Camp: If it Walks Like a Goose

October 2, 2015 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

On this Friday of Spirit Week, we bring you one of Jim’s many jokes collected in his travels.

–by Jim Wang

Franz Wilhelm was a short and ugly painter. When someone laughed at him, he would be outraged. Once, he was sitting in a restaurant, and a beautiful woman came in the restaurant and sat next to Franz. Meanwhile, she looked at Franz laughing. Franz’s face flushed like a red door, but he said nothing and instead took out his sketchbook and sketched while gazing at the woman’s eyes. The woman felt uncomfortable while Franz was sketching her, so she walked toward Franz and said, “Sir, I don’t allow you to draw me.”

“Oh, is this a woman?”

Franz handed the sketchbook to her, and the woman apologized to Franz. Franz was sketching a goose in his book. It seemed she didn’t know that goose means stupid woman in German.