INTERNATIONAL WEEK My house is your house
International Week celebrates diversity, language, culture and the incredible benefits that spring from opening our hearts and minds to international experience.
Monday 7 August As is traditional, International Week started by giving thanks in Chapel. It was clear that although English is dominant, it is by no means the only language spoken at College. Songs in Latin and Te Reo were followed by the reading – Acts of the Apostles 2:1–4 – by Year 10 student Fiti Sa in Samoan. Year 11 students Daniel Kutovoy, Homare Nakajima and Matias Biraben-Clough read prayers of the faithful in Russian, Japanese and Spanish respectively. Year 13 students Josh Meads and Kelvin Gong led prayers in French and Mandarin, and Year 13 student Kevin Guttman read the Lord’s Prayer in German. In his address, Head of International and Year 13 student Vincent Li outlined some of the cultural expectations he lives with as the son of immigrant parents, finishing with what could be described as a prayer for better international relations: “From listening comes knowledge, from knowledge comes understanding, from understanding comes wisdom, from wisdom comes wellbeing.” At lunchtime, it was heads down and pens at the ready for the International Quiz. MC Vincent Li took participants on a global journey, testing their knowledge of history, geography, languages, politics and pop culture. It was a close run thing, with only one point separating winners “Nick
Crompton” (Year 10 students Harrison Lund, Tom Jones, Henry Mossman, William Koko and Nick Schneideman), from “Warren’s boys” (Year 13 students Jeremy Lidstone, Nick Stevens, Simon Brown and Hugo Beale).
Hugo Beale and Nick Stevens making the case against.
Very little was out of bounds.
Executive Principal Garth Wynne and Deputy Principal Rob Donaldson were likened to a couple of the Soviet Union’s more notorious leaders and the “bromance” between Putin and Trump was illustrated in unforgettable style. There was a fair amount of heckling and accusations of fake news from both sides. questionable Russian accent and a soupçon of sauciness throughout and the teachers harnessed the power of one of the biggest bands in the world, letting The Beatles make their case with “Back in the USSR”. Adjudicators Year 13 student Henry Seaton and Year 12 students Fawzan Sugarwala and Thomas Walker declared the staff team the winners, thereby giving Mr Wynne (aka Stalin) and Mr Donaldson (aka Lenin) a clear mandate to rule! Steve Everingham stayed in character, complete with a
Tuesday 8 August Assembly had a distinctly international flavour, featuring
“Conversations on Culture” – a video of some of our students discussing aspects of their own and Kiwi culture. Year 13 student Kaveni Balenacagi and friends sang a Fijian melody, and students from one of our Round Square partner schools in Denmark explained the Danish concept of “hygge” (enjoying life’s simple pleasures). At lunchtime, a vigorous, but not rigorous, debate on the motion “This House would re-establish the Soviet Union” kept a large audience entertained. Arguing for the idea were teachers Rob Donaldson, Callum Bell and Steve Everingham, with Year 12 student Wills Wynn Thomas, along with Year 13 students
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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