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| E.I.C. Hits the Headlines! |
On Thursday 15th March, a group of students from the English International College, Marbella took part in “TES Newsday”, an international event organised by the Times Newspaper in London. Schools across the UK and international schools around the world were invited to produce a newspaper in just one day. Thousands of schools were involved, including schools from Europe, Sri Lanka, the Falkland Islands, UAE, Kuwait and Chile. A brave band of students at EIC spent a hectic and at times nail-biting day producing their newspaper, interviewing people, taking photographs, writing stories, organising the layout - all in less than 24 hours. In other words, they had to meet real deadlines for a real audience - as they would on a ‘real’ newspaper. |
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| EXCERPTS FROM E.I.C.EXPRESS | ||
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| The influence of music on the life of a sixteen year old. | In all seriousness I believe I would have a terrible life were it not for my treasured C.D collection. The quality of life for my Dad would probably improve considerably but that's another story. I listen to music all day everyday and have a really varied taste in the styles of music I will listen to. My first love in the music world has got to be that great vehicle of expression for the young, poor, black male living in a violent community. Yes my friends, Gangsta rap. You might say, 'If it's a vehicle of expression for the young black male, why are you listening to it, white boy?'. To this I reply, I listen to Gangsta rap because it is pure and raw and all emotions can be expressed within it. Unlike pop music which appears to be about three things; wanting love, having love, and inevitably, losing love. Yawn. My Dad despises rap music and I can understand why. I mean, he's perfectly correct, it is a lot of swearing put to a beat. But my Dad seems to have an uncanny ability to pick out the swear words and ignore the other words, so in my opinion, he isn't qualified to criticise. My love affair with rap began with The Fugees. The Score was the first rap disc I ever owned. The Fugees eclectic yet smooth style completely won me over and I was quite happy to listen to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until I was introduced to that legendary Gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur. |
Tupac was the personification of Gangsta rap. Niggaz with Attitude pioneered the Gangsta rap style but Tupac refined and perfected the medium by using fantastic rhyming patterns and sophisticated beats produced by Niggaz with Attitude member, Dr. Dre. His style and energy revolutionised rap and made it into the multi billion dollar industry it is today. I could sit here and write about my favourite rappers and why I like them, but this article is not about that. I hate the way that some people try to make us believe that because we listen to lyrics that portray violence, drug abuse, misogyny, and other negative things, we are so influenced by them that we are tempted to emulate what we hear through our sound systems. The men and women who rap about these things do indeed live this life and they do tell it like it is but just because they sing it, doesn't mean that all the teenagers who listen to it turn into pistol toting, woman hating, pot heads. I believe that rap music actually helps to vent anger, aggression, and pain safely. This style of music provides an outlet for these emotions and calms the listener during a time when they are distressed or angry. Heavy metal is my other love and this style of music gets some seriously bad press. A large proportion of the blame for the triggering of the Columbine massacre, |
when two crazed freaks went on a killing spree in an American high school, was laid at the feet of Marilyn Manson. I love Manson's music. I adore it. But I still admit that he's a freak. Everyone has the right to be different and just because Mr. Manson wears women's clothes, he shouldn't be blamed for the deaths of American school kids. In the words of the rapper Eminem, "And they blame it on Marilyn, and the heroin. Where were the parents at? Now look where it's at. Middle America, now it's a tragedy, now it's so sad to see." People with serious problems like those two boys in Columbine should have had help before anything happened. Marilyn Manson didn't make them want to kill anyone. He probably stopped them from doing it sooner by providing them with a release from their problems when they had no one else. I am an avid listener of rap and metal but I consider myself normal. I work two jobs, I am doing well in most of my G.C.S.E studies, I have many friends and I manage to stay pretty sane despite living on the Costa del Sol. People need to stop blaming music for the evils in the world and look at things like dysfunctional families and bullying in schools. Some kids have it tougher than we can imagine, and for many of these kids, music's the only escape… by Jim L. |
| CRINGE - by Tanya F. | ||
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· * Grab a paper bag ! · ** Change your name !! · *** Leave town !!! * It was the end of an important maths exam and I needed help so I called the teacher over and as soon as he bent down I sneezed right in his face !!!!!!! ** One day when I was off school, my school were told that there was an end of term disco. The next day when I came back, some girls who really hated me told me it was a fancy dress party and when I entered the hall everybody noticed me and burst out laughing !!!!!!!!! *** One day my boyfriend and I decided to go for a drink, we both ended up sharing a blue slush. My boyfriend said we looked like lady and the tramp, I laughed so much that blue slush came out of my nose !!!!!! *** It was my first week at a new school and the most popular girl had invited me round to her house, and I wanted to make a good impression so I bought some special chewing gum over that you can only buy in America. Later on she introduced me to her dad and to my horror, while I was saying hello, I spat my chewing gum at him !!!!!!! |
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| Confilct on the Coast | Coming to the coast in Spain isn’t half of what it’s worked up to be. The tourists, mainly the milk-bottle, white skinned English, expect to meet the stereotypical Mediterranean Spaniards, white teethed, dark skinned, polite, hospitable Spaniards. And although many Spaniards meet these standards, the English tourists, are surprised by what they find. For example, the English girls, who take advantage of the sun on their white un-tanned (likely to be burnt) skin by wearing short shorts and even shorter skirts, find that all Spanish men are extremely hospitable, and the builders even more so. It is impossible to walk 50 metres on any street, in daylight, on the coast without leering invitations, cat calls and pleasantries from any passing Spanish male. Any tourist who walks into a Spanish shop and speaks English can be subject to unpleasantness and being ignored for not speaking Spanish. Recently, I walked into a shop and asked in English if they had any candles. It took the attendant five minutes |
to put down the newspaper and attend me. Even then she said, sorry, I can't find any in Spanish. I then asked in Spanish if she was sure. She opened her eyes properly and looked me up and down. She then walked to the back of the shop and got me some. But who can blame them for being rude to the English? These same people who out number them 3 to 1 in the summer, and take their jobs. I recently heard a radio advert, in which an Englishman is calling an insurance company for a direct quote. The Spaniard on the other line didn't speak English, and was slow. The advert then says, "How many times has this happened to you?" Well of course this is going to happen. Where do these English people think they are, England? Of course they are going to speak Spanish. But what struck me most was the disrespect involved in this advert. Most Spaniards make the effort to speak English, and the adverts like this pop up, and they think 'why would I bother?' |
Some Englishmen make no effort to try and integrate themselves into Spanish culture, and claim that people are simply ignorant there, and that "No-one in this bloody country speaks English." But you know you have been accepted in this country when any Spaniard thinks you speak Spanish. This has yet to happen to me. If you look slightly English, they assume you can't speak Spanish and talk about you in front of you. This has happened to me. Two Spanish boys sat next to my table at a restaurant and for at least an hour and a half, I heard how they criticised my hair, my friend, my shoes, etc... Eventually, I turned round to them and in Spanish replied, "You don't look too good yourself!" They both turned red, and moved away to a different table in shame. But others take this advantage to come and talk to you, and others throw insults. It depends who they are. My final word: until you've been to Spain, you won't know what I'm on about." By Katherine A. |
| A morning in the life of a 13 year old girl | It is 20 past 7 in the morning and the loud ringing of the alarm clock on your phone is killing your ears. You wake up, brush your hands through your hair and turn a light on. You next look at the mess around your room and think – ‘I’ll tidy it all up later’. Lazily you walk towards the bathroom to have a shower, but the hot water won’t turn on yet. So you sit with a towel around you for about 10 minutes until it finally does. You come out of the shower after your mum has just had a massive go at you for spending too much time in it, and then comes the massive, well-rehearsed speech about how expensive it is to pay the gas bottles, blah, blah, blah. You're freezing cold, and dripping wet – but no – everyone else in your family has a heater in their room but you. |
By this time your mother is still having a go at you, so you slam your door and lock it. You pat your hair dry with a towel and just lie on your bed until your mum's 'speech' is over. You then brush your hair, and get dressed. To your horror the only pair of black tights you have are laddered big time down the side! So you have to wear no tights and freeze. Next you spray about 3 different types of deodorant on and loads of perfume until the smell is almost unbearable. You put on some earrings (making sure they're not the ones you wore yesterday), and apply a bit of foundation and mascara. You decide your 'diet' is over and think to yourself 'Hmmm… could do with some chocolate spread on toast.' |
So you walk into the kitchen and find your sister digging out the last bit of chocolate out of the pot with a spoon. So breakfast is out.
You look in the mirror, just to find that your blue mascara is smudged all around your eye. So you spend the next 10 minutes trying to remove it with some weird smelling eye–makeup remover, which leaves a red mark around your eye. It's 8:25 and you realise that your bed's still not made and your bag hasn't been packed. You quickly prepare your stuff, and apply another coat of mascara. You get in the car; it's already 8:30 and your mum's still deciding what to wear! You manage to get everyone in the car and arrive at school at 8:45, on the dot. by Oriane |