Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

Aster H’ng In true Dalat tradition, the way MEW has been scheduled for at least the past five years is to have a guest speaker come and do chapel-like sessions. But this year, MEW started off with a shout (literally). On Monday, February 20 th , MEW began with a spectacular worship night led by local artist, Josh Yeoh. Now, firstly, who is Josh Yeoh? Josh is the founder and director of the Penang House of Prayer. Josh has also written, produced, and released two worship albums so far. He travels globally to help others set up a House of Prayer in their regions, speaks at conferences, and tours for his albums. Now why did Josh Yeoh come to Dalat to lead a worship night? Well, it’s a rather miraculous story. A couple months back, Dalat’s spiritual life director, Mr. Ronzheimer, felt the prompting to have a worship night at Dalat during MEW to change things up a little. He recalled Mr. Allen, the Spanish teacher, telling him about this artist named Josh Yeoh and went to talk ...

Emmett Balzer Large, red circles of pure pain that last for weeks. Sweat that soaks every piece of clothing from the inside out. Dirt that clings to damp skin like a disease. And to think that people pay upwards of RM 60 for this “treatment” is preposterous. On 25 February 2017, thirty-eight seniors and three senior class sponsors dove into the jungle arena, armed with one-hundred paint pellets and no more than a mask for body armor. Divided into two teams—about twenty on a side—they fought for every inch as they relentlessly engaged each other. Rushing up behind cover, I led the right flank, pressing towards the enemy base. It would be a difficult task, for their base was on top of a large hill of tree roots—they had the high ground. While my team sat back and exchanged fire from long distance, a poor waste of ammunition, I pressed on, jumping from cover to cover, piles of tires and empty barrels. Lying flush against the tree roots and barrels, at least five “enemies” pelted ...

Kimberly Horton As the instructor rattled off instructions for the upcoming battle, both teams fidgeted on either side of the courtyard--some of nervousness, others of eager anticipation. A group of over thirty seniors of the Class of 2017 were listening to directions in preparation for a friendly game of all-out paintball annihilation. “... and to fire the gun, you pull the trigger like this.” Pop! A small cry rose from the back--every girl present whipped around to make some sort of sympathetic cooing noise at Baby Isaac, who whimpered at the sudden gunshot. Babies weren’t cut out for paintball, it seemed. As for the rest of the seniors present, paintball was assuredly the only thing on their minds. Many had played the game many times before; but others still had never shot any sort of gun, much less one of the paintball variety. When asked for their best paintball advice for a beginner, Alan Luchtenburg (12), Josiah Brake (12), and David Unruh (12) replied simul...

Keito Watanabe “Boom!” Gunshots were fired as students and teachers scurried throughout the arena and scoured spots to take cover. A moment of silence broke out before a barrage of yellow pellets flew across the map. The raging war between the eagles and the hawks was about to begin. On Saturday, 25 February, over half of the Class of 2017 and their sponsors gathered at the Penang War Museum, located at a spooky hill near the local airport. At noon, Class President Jarrod Chang (12) gathered the students and divided them into two teams: white and red. The instructor then gave them clear details on the usage of the paintball gun and the rules. The opposing group leaders, Jerald Lim (12) and Dominic Fitzgerald (12), decided the location of their base, and the troops put on their gear and stepped onto the field. Each team gathered at their base as the team leaders devised careful strategies to clear their main objective—stealing the flag from the opposing team. As soon as the refer...

  Woo Young Chung Tape on glasses, shirts tucked in, and pants worn high on the waist. Many students, determined to express their spirit for the school, dressed up as nerds. It was fascinating to see how students interpreted the stereotypical term of nerd in numerous ways, yet some components in what they wore were significantly similar. The past Student Council brought out the idea of ‘Spirit Week,’ with the prime purpose of allowing the student body to enjoy wearing outfits, other than the school uniform, with a specific theme and, at the same time, express their support and spirit for their school. This annual Spirit Week had a special twist and was different from any other one done in the past: ACSC was held here in Penang, Malaysia. The ACSC boys’ basketball tournament occurred over the past four days, creating an opportunity to display to other schools how passionate we are for the school. The basketball games were intense, and we could witness the gym being packed ...

Anson Chin “We lost our voices, but it was worth it, we lost our voices, but it was worth it…” The chant resonated throughout the stadium, along with the audience's applause, as the home team bowed in appreciation to the crowd after their loss to Morrison Academy which took them out of the 2017 Boys’ ACSC Basketball Competition. In every game that the Dalat Eagles played in, our group of boys was always the loudest in the gym, leading cheers they came up with to encourage and support the home team, and provide an amazing atmosphere to play in. A few examples of the chants that were heard include “Adrian Nonis is on fire, your defense is terrified!”, “He plays on the left, he plays on the right, Sam Huang, he will score all night.” and “Jeremy, Jeremy Jeremy, Jeremy Jeremy, Jeremy Jeremy Worten! Aaron, Aaron Aaron, Aaron Aaron, Aaron Aaron Worten,” when both the brothers were on the court together. These are only a few of the chants that the varsity football team came up wi...

Benjamin Mauger As ACSC boys basketball came to Penang, Mr. Edman set up a team to live stream every game for the parents back home. The tournament took place from Wednesday, February 15 to Saturday, February 18. A total of eighteen different people broadcasted the twenty-six games. Some of these games took place during school and some after the final bell. The team was willing to give up class time and free time to help broadcast. There are multiple jobs that we did. We had the overseer producer, the focused camera man, and the talkative announcer. The producer’s main job was to set everything up online and to make sure that everything was running smoothly. Gloria Kim liked producing the games because she felt like she was helping people around the world to witness what is going on in Dalat’s gym. The camera man’s job was to follow the action on the screen so that people back home would be able to see what was going on. We had the camera up in the stands for logistical purpos...

Sam Huang The Dalat boys’ basketball team had an exciting, yet heartbreaking week as they played in their first ever ACSC held on their home ground of Penang. The ACSC, Asia Christian Schools Conference, is the biggest tournament that Dalat varsity teams participate in. Dalat athletes train hard to compete against Gyeonggi Suwon International School  and Yongsan International School from Korea, Grace International School from Thailand, Faith Academy from the Philippines, Morrison Academy from Taiwan, International Christian School of Hong Kong, and St. Paul Christian School from Guam. The tournament kicked off with fireworks during the opening ceremony on Tuesday, February 14. Our Dalat boys felt confident they’d well in the tournament at first. However, on the next day, during their first game as the entire school cheered them on, it was inevitable that they felt the pressure and nervousness. In the end, they psyched themselves out. The boys got tense and played like a we...

Chloe Castro “Okay guys, there are eight weeks till JSB. So we need to work hard and make some progress,” preached Areeya Kunawaradisai, the vice president of the junior class’ ExCom. The beginning of second semester always holds many worries for juniors and seniors. Seniors look ahead to the uncertain future. Juniors look ahead to a couple of busy and tiring months in preparation for JSB. All eyes look ahead to the April 27 and wonder what it will hold. Every day from 3:10 to 4:30, the juniors work by making shakes and selling snacks to hungry customers. Some work with happy faces and enthused attitudes, while others serve with a more diffused and tired attitude. Every junior experiences good days and bad days. Sometimes it's hard to serve when you can't stop thinking about all the homework you have plus extracurricular activities before dinner. Sometimes it's difficult to be patient with fellow workers whom you don't get along with. Sometimes you just hate having...

Alan Luchtenburg             We’ve all heard stories about the Dalat Spartan students and teachers who went on to triumph over the Spartan Super event last spring. But little do people understand how much work goes into each participant's success on the course. Last year Keegan Oppenheim cleared the 13 KM, 20+ obstacle Spartan Super in an astonishing 1 hour, 46 minutes, and 22 seconds. This year, principle Brewster gathered a new group of students, teachers, and parents to participate in the Spartan Sprint which will be held next month in Kuala Lumpur. The Spartan Sprint is a 5KM race featuring 20+ obstacles. But training began in January so that these racers will cross the finish line of the race without falling over and dying. For the past few weeks, Mr. Brewster has been holding 2-hour Spartan training sessions every Saturday morning, beginning at 8 AM. Each training session features a mixture of running and lifting, i...

Kevin Kim What are the chances that there would be a planet that has the same conditions as Earth? Surely, in this expanding universe filled with thousands of galaxies that also harbor a myriad of planets and suns, there would be a similar planet like Earth; but, do they have the same exact conditions as Earth? Recently, during B-Block Senior Apologetics class, Mr. Brewster has shown the class a video called, The Privileged Planet . This documentary is about how finding a planet that sustains life like Earth is almost impossible because there are so many factors that need to be taken into consideration. For example, there is a certain distance away from the sun that is just right for life to exist on a planet. What the video astounded most people is that Earth happens to be placed where we are able to observe distant stars and galaxies; Earth is located perfectly in the Milky Way Galaxy as it isn’t too near to the core of the galaxy or too distant from the core of the galaxy. ...

David Unruh During CNY break, the clean air smelled of salt. The day was bright with no clouds in sight. All the boys gathered around the kayaks for one last inspection of the equipment and food. After prayer, and final goodbyes, the intrepid adventurers pushed the kayaks out onto the dancing waves for an unforgettable endeavor. The eleven boys had been planning this trip for a whole semester; with preparations involving food coordination, personnel coordination, and weather reading, Scott Poulter (the assistant dorm parent) was the backbone of the whole operation. He had agreed to chaperone the group of rowdy students. He also coordinated the use of the Boy Scout sleeping mats, tarps, and the first aid kit. Poulter, being an alumnus of Dalat, is a veteran rat island explorer and has valuable experience in survival on the island. When the boys arrived on the island, they were immediately thrust into survival mode as the crew was attacked by a vicious serpent. Josiah Brake ...

Darian Yeap A tradition that lasted for centuries has now become a five-year tradition of our own. Chinese New Year has been a significant tradition for all Chinese around the world, but a group of us from the class of 2017 has set aside a day for our own reunion. On the third day of CNY, an event has been hosted at Jarrod Chang’s (12) house since eighth grade. Now, we, the brothers of the class of 2017, have entered our senior year. This year, however, Jarrod’s brother, Jordan Chang (9), decided to bring along his friends to share the love. Freshman Grace Moon (9) was interviewed for a slim summary of the event and she screamed, "IT WAS FUNNNNN! FOOD, FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!" This year, we continued to make the best memories and hope these freshmen will resume this tradition of ours. We met up in the afternoon and went straight to the table to play some cards. We chatted and had fun together knowing that this is the last of our CNY together. Mrs. Chang prepared the st...

Khai Yi Khor             On Monday, January 30th, a group of friends, Wei Sing Goh (12), Jessica Ross (12), and I went to Gurney Plaza to watch Split . The actor, James McAvoy, was remarkably good in acting twenty-four characters who have different personalities. The cinema was full of laughter as Hedwig, one of the many characters, resembled Wei Sing in many ways. All in all, the movie was an emotional rollercoaster that made the audience gasp and tense up.             After the movie, we went cafe hopping in George Town. Famous for its live music at night, we went to Micke’s Place that is located on Love Lane. The ambiance was astounding, as it attracts some very talented musicians from the local and tourist pool. The live band was blasting out pop music that could be heard from afar. As Ross and Goh said, “I've never seen Penang more alive,” and “Although I’ve been liv...