townshend times,

townshend | times winter ‘04 - edition VIII

announcements

2


index

3

p.o2 -announcementsp.03 -indexp.04 -mr. stangs’ memoriesp.05 -project weekp.06 -pictures of the monthp.07 -MUN-tripp.08 -the rotarY BaLLp.09 -visionsp.10 -administrationp.11 +morep.12 -funnY lawsp.13 -matt’s doodlesp.14 -ski trip + l2 tripp.15 -impressump.16 -photostorY

index


mr. stangs’ memories

4

Memories

When I was asked to writesomething about my memories ofTownshend, I hope you will all excuse me ifI begin a bit melancholically.

One thing about our school is howquickly the faces and names of studentsand teachers seem to change. I remembergood colleagues, and students who maybewere only here for a year, in service or tosee what our school was about. It is achallenge for us to become friends, knowingthat parting could be another sorrow. But,what new face, mind and energy mightcome to breath in new light! I smile everytime I think of that Turkish guy who leftwith the name „Nejoe“.

The interesting nature of ourinternational school, is its international-ness. I remember hosting a group ofcolleagues to a day in Cesky Krumlov. Iwas amazed as we gathered at a table for amediaeval feast how many nationalities werepresented, and the number of languagesbeing spoken. At the time, it could be saidhunger knew no boundaries.

I was in awe, pretty much as I amevery day at the school with how manylanguages and accents on English we have.Here, students seem so confident, with asecond language, in a place far from home.Sure, some struggle over language. Andsome are entertained by how I struggle withtheirs! I think the best are learning tonguetwisters from each other. Students,sometimes tend to learn naughtier thingsfirst!

I think my best memories are ofcalm, warm days when we launchedrockets, and a few students became moviestars. Jana and Marek looked good onCzech TV. Then, there’s the day when Iblew the nose off the homemade rocket Ihad created! Was I embarrassed? Did Iquit? No, I fixed and launched, almostputting it into Dr. Zoelzer’s window! Alsotops would have to be last year’s calendarplay, when someone told me I might belucky to get five students and more thantwenty showed up. Too bad Tom

bungled all of his lines, but all the girlssaid he looked good in his toga.

I remember taking a physicsclass to the river to demonstrate howvectors worked and all my experimentsfailed. Then, I was saved by Janis, whohad been mischievously taking his notepaper and making a boat. The windblew it one way as the water wentanother. It ended up maneuvering justright, and we learned a lot about vectorsafterall. Of course, when the boyswanted to use it for target practice andthe fishermen got upset…

Believe it or not, I even enjoyedwhen I lived on Polni and studentskidnapped me late at night and mademe look at stars! Mean and nasty, howcold it was. I liked too how we got up tosee the eclipse at 3 in the morning. Iwon’t mention any names … about wholed the charge to the fridge for a littlesnack. (author’s note: I am notsuggesting such activity!) But hey, itwas one of those special moments andeverything was so well cleanedafterward that not even a mouse couldhave found a crumb. I was impressedthat everyone got into school the nextmorning, on time. Of course, somebodytold me how they woke up in the dorm,rolled over and saw the eclipse, andthen went back to sleep. I forgot tomention that for the rest of us, theastronomy guy got the times wrong andwe had to wait for almost two hours.Hence the need for food.

I will leave you with anotherspecial memory. That was when I cameinto assembly one day and announcedthat my daughter had been born thenight before and everyone cheered. Ifelt like I was home.

I wonder if someday she willhave memories of Townshend too. Staytuned…

Mr. Stang


project weeK

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Nomadic Cultures Week

The Nomadic Cultures Week displayedmany surprises such as a presentationwhich were portrayed by many studentsof the school and a few Youth Year ofService. Another groovy surprise also wasa Nomadic Tent which served either Teaor Coffee but from different cultures.„The organisers put a lot of effort into thewhole project which was really goodbecause I believe that the abolishment ofall sorts of prejudices should be takeninto action.“ comments one of thestudents.

The organisers wish to thankHideki,Manuel, Lenka and Matt who participatedin the week and not forgetting Kian andMiad who also organized and took part inmany events. Special thanks to Lenka forrepresenting her own culture andpreparing her whole presentation herselfand to Kian who helped with theestablishment of the Nomadic CulturesTent.

Report by Sara Dietmar and Matt Webb

Nomadic cultures are everywhere,spreading from Asia, Africa and evenAustralia. Nomadic cultures have spreadfar and wide to nearly every part of theglobe. Townshend International Schoolhad its very own Nomadic Culture Weekwhich began on the 1st of December tothe 5th of December. Students bydressing in the costumes of whicheverculture they represented such as theAustralian Aboriginals, Mongolians, NativeAmericans, Romas, Inuits, Bushmen,Travellers and Tuaregs.

The purpose of the Nomadic CulturesWeek was to stress the importance of theabolishment of all prejudices and to learnhow to respect and accept the manycultures that are within T.I.S.„I think our school is very muchinterested in putting aside prejudices.“says one of the organisers Sholeh Zölzer,„It’s also a great opportunity to see howdifferent their lifestyle is compared toours.“


pictures of the month

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townshend | times winter ‘04 - edition VIII 7

MUN trip

The brave seven (Mona, Niko, Dennis,Bayan, Marie, Lars, Ondrej)accompanied by a special counselor(Shadi) were the ones chosen toescape from the cold and enjoythemselves in the most entertainingways. Well, don’t think it was all fun n’joy, it had a downside too, we had towork really hard and risked our mostprecious lives in that dangerouscountry.

On Friday the 13th (howencouraging) we departed full ofexpectations and mixed feelings. Ourflight was the spookiest of all, throughthe very darkness of the night. Assoon as we arrived in Tel Aviv, wewere divided into separate groups andwere hosted by kind families.Everyone enjoyed their free time indifferent way, some played videogames, some thought it’d be good tospend the time in Israel watchingmovies and eating, others wentshopping, or cart racing. Some weretoo tired to do just anything, so theyslept and when we woke them theyasked where they are and whathappened…

Out of the five days we were inIsrael, four were the conference days.Some people were shy and hadproblems talking in the beginning, butsooner or later all of use gave highperformances and I think I can speakfor everyone, if I say we enjoyed theconference very much and had a lot offun. For those of you who still don’tknow what we were actually doingthere, we were participation in theModel United Nations conference. It isa kind of simulation of real UN, wheredudes pretend to be the delegates of acountry and discuss serious topics. Werepresented Germany. In the end ofthe conference we got some honorablementions, Niko (also known as Nike)for being one of the best delegates,Ondrej for being well prepared anddiplomatic, Lars for traveling far tothis conference. Some committeesdidn’t give awards, but I am convincedthat others in our team deservedawards as well.

Generally, our delegation was one of themost serious, smart and hardworking.Lars received a number of love notesfrom other delegates, which made MissKourosh slightly concerned, she said:„You guys have to protect Lars, I don’twant these girls to corrupt him“. Toolate, but anyway…

On Tuesday we finished early andthen went straight to Haifa. First, weexamined Mary’s parent’s place and thenwe registered at Baha’i World Center andvisited the shrines. The rest of theevening was spent with local hostingfamilies accompanied by the variety oftheir food. The next day (Wednesday, Ibelieve) we did some souvenir shoppingand visited the gardens in the Baha’iWorld Center, as well as the shrine ofBahá’u’lláh (I hope I got the spellingright) and almost missed the taxi back.Then we had a dinner at Mary’s place, forwhich we had to pay, by transportingsome books to the school library. Therest of the day we were watching somemovies, the most interesting was ananimated one, Discworld: Soul Music,which was a comedy of random stuff.There was this Reaper guy with a horsecalled Pinkie (how catchy).

The flight back was a little longer,but it was fine too. I would like to thankto Mona for her enthusiasm in trying torecord people’s voices; Dennis for hisattempts to corrupt Lars with his Germanjokes, for which he received a severelylowered grade in chemistry, and for hisjokes which put more than one of us tosleep; to Mary for revealing to us hermorning face; Lars for attempting to eata plastic cup in the airplane; to MissKourosh for telling off a number ofpeople in charge at the conference andtelling them how to do it; to everyone forasking the most common question:„Where’s Shadi?“. It wasn’t that bad,really, it’s just that she was quiteneeded. (I had to write this one toprotect my grades in Chemistry andComp Religion).

Written by: ahhhh, no, this time you’ll have toguess

Model-UN trip to Israel


the rotarY BaLL

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The Rotary Ball

Friday the 6thof February the annual ball was held by the Rotary club in Ceské Budéjovicé inthe Metropol Hall. The ball was a gathering of invited VIP guests, sponsors, and a lucky fewwho managed to buy tickets. The guests and sponsors included various professors anddoctors who helped participate in the planning and functioning of the event, for exampleour local doctor, Dr Reban. The ball started at around 8pm with usual speeches from the owners and some sponsorsof the Rotary club, followed by many dance performances. These performances were instyles of, Latin, Classic, Modern, and even some Dirty Dancing ;) . All of them wereexcellent, and very professionally done. There where three types of music, firstly a Symphony Orchestra was played until teno’clock then after dinner, the orchestra was replaced with a band. The band playedballroom music, but the later it got into the night, the more modern it became. Unfortunately this year, not all the people who signed up could get tickets, that was theonly downfall of the event, but apart from that it was excellent! Hopefully next year, ticketswill be easier to come by.

By Ramez Krishnan


visions

It has been said that: „at the outsetof every endeavour, … look to theend of it“. Therefore, where we wantto be in 5 years’ time (our vision),how are we going to get there? (ourstrategies), and what do we have todo in order to get there? (our plans)are the questions facing allenterprises, including us.

Townshend’s vision of „excellence inall things“ will remain unchanged:we are here to educate for characteras well as intellect, educate fordecency as well as literacy, andeducate for virtue as well asknowledge. This is achieved throughour enhancement, academic andresidential programmes which areconstantly evolving. The followingstory, told by Stanwood Cobb, setsthe context within which all ourendeavours are being pursued.

„The most important interview Ihad with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was inParis in the spring of 1913. I wasone of the staff of PorterSargent’s Travel School for Boys.On my first visit He inquiredabout the school and asked mewhat I taught. I told him that Itaught English, Latin, algebra,and geometry. He gazed intentlyat me with His luminous eyesand said, „Do you teach thespiritual things?“.

This question embarrassed me. Idid not know how to explain toHim that the necessity ofpreparing the boys for collegeentrance exams dominated thenature of the curriculum. So Isimply answered: „No, there isnot time for that.“

He made no comment on thisanswer. But He did not need to.Out of my own mouth I hadcondemned myself and moderneducation. No time for spiritualthings! That, of course, is justwhat is wrong with our modernmaterialistic „civilisation.“ It hasno time to give to spiritualthings.

But His question and His silentresponse indicated that from Hisviewpoint spiritual things shouldcome first. And why not? Thematerial world, as the expressionof man’s spirit, is subordinate tothe spiritual world. Therefore,education should begin with thatwhich is primary and causal; andnot with that which, as thecreation of man, is secondary tohis creative spirit and to theCreative Spirit of the cosmos“

The completion of the school buildingand the two houses of residence inJune 2001 have prepared the way forthe second phase of the constructionwork. It is planned to complete theother two houses when we have 150residential students. Theenhancement of the campussurroundings and the addition of thesport facilities are being pursued atpresent. As soon as we have adefinite plan in action we will let youknow.

The utilization of the seminarfacilities during the summer monthshas been a challenge for us over thepast two years. We are hopeful andconfident that this year’s summerprogramme for the youth of all ages:Transformation for Peace, for 12 -15years old; Baha’i History andTeachings, for 16 – 18; World PeaceProgramme, and the Unfoldment ofWorld Civilisation for 18+; and theArt and Science Workshop will fulfilthis goal.

Although Townshend InternationalSchool „has indeed made admirableadvances since its establishment in1992“, its progress over the next fiveyears will no doubt eclipse theseachievements. It is our vision andfirm conviction that within the nextfive years Townshend will beacknowledged as one of the mostoutstanding educational projects inthe world.

Dr. Lalui

Vision of the Future (for the next 5 years),A Personal Reflection


administration

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SUMMER ’04 PROGRAMME OVERVIEW03 – 10 JulyBahá’í History and Teachings, for youth (aged 16 – 18)

03 – 10 JulyCelebrate Diversity!, for all ages

03 – 17 JulyThe Unfoldment of Divine Civilization, for youth aged 18+

07 - 17 JulyArt & Science Workshop, in Czech Language

20 July -10 Aug.World Peace Programme 2004, A three year certificate course withProf. Bushrui and Jim Malarky.

10– 22 AugustTransformation for Peace, a three year certificate course for pre-youth (aged 12 – 15)

3 July – 27 AugustLandegg University Programme, hosted at Townshend

Space is available for all the programsFor more information or to register talk to Dr.Lalui or viewtownshend.cz

Hellos & Good-byesTaken from Ramona’s newsletter to the parents (February 2004)

Good-byes:• This winter we said ‘Good Bye’ to a number of people: Kian Kuchakpour returned to

Australia in the winter vacation. Kian served at Townshend as a Year-of-Serviceyouth, helping out at the Aiff Dormitory. He was (actually he still is) a kind, helpfuland loving friend to all who knew him. He is missed much by all and we wish him allthe best wherever he goes.

• In January our next Year-of-Service youth, Anis Sabeti retuned to the United States.Anis served in the Lwakila Dormitory, and although he missed his home a lot, heended up being a good friend to the students and a big help to the Dorm Parents.He hasn’t been gone that long, but I’m sure we will miss him too! And our goodwishes accompany him.

• Dear Mr. Glenn Taylor has left with his family for Australia, where he will be finishinghis post graduate studies. We are trying not to miss him, because he has promisedto be back here by next September. But Mr. Taylor was involved in so many differentthings, that some us just sigh and wish he would be coming back sooner!

Hellos:• Three new Year-of-Service youth arrived at Townshend in January: Shomais

Amedick from Namibia, Mona Vahdat from Australia, and Ramona Armangoo fromNew Zealand. Are we or are we not international!? Mona and Ramona are assistingin the Lwakila Dormitory and Shomais helps in the Elementary School. (Do you alsohave the feeling that there are just too many Mona’s and Ramona’s running about?)

• Also just arrived is a new staff member in the Elementary School, NassimMoghbelpour from Samoa, who seems to have already accepted the fact that someof the little people will only talk German to her!

• We also welcomed 2 new students: Farid from England and our first Ethiopian,Muena!

A BIG WELCOME TO THEM ALL!


&more

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Townshend Campus

If you had driven up here a few years ago, say in the spring of 1998, you would havefound a beautiful field completely yellow with dandelions. The land already belonged toTIS, but we used it for picnics and bonfires. There was no money to build! The land hadbeen bought from an old farmer who was very proud that one day a school would beerected on his lands. As soon as it had been made known that Townshend wasinterested in buying, other customers had shown up offering more money, twice andthree times the amount, but the dear old gentleman was adamant that Townshendshould build here.

Well, dreams come true if you hang on to them long enough! We hope that one day theother 2 dormitories will be finished. Maybe before that the road around the school willbe paved (great for skateboarding!) and the fence will be put up with beautiful gates.Some day when students enter the campus there will be a huge gym to their right. Thegym will have a stage and pull-out seats for the audience, basketball and volleyballcourts, a fitness center, and showers; also storage rooms and garages. But until all ofthis happens, maybe Dr. Lalui will allow us to build an adult playground between thetwo dormitories, where we bigger children can also use the swings and have fun!

Until then, lets…..just dream on!

Ramona Reyhani16 February 2004-02-16Very early in the morning!

townshend | times winter ‘04 - edition VIII12

funnY laws

Funny Laws

The following Laws are existing and are valid. In this issue we start with America’s 1st StateAlabama (alphabetically) and it’s laws. Stay tuned from more laws from America and all overthe world next issue.

Alabama (State of the US)

It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle.Dominoes may not be played on Sunday.It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death.Boogers may not be flicked into the wind.It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street if you have a lantern attached tothe front of your automobile.You must have windshield wipers on your car.You may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time.Masks may not be worn in public.Men may not spit in front of the opposite sex.Women are able to retain all property they owned prior to marriage in the case of divorce.However, this provision does not apply to men.Children of incestuous couples are deemed legitimate.Pool halls may not be operated between 11:30 PM and 6 AM.It is illegal to stake a horse on a highway.Hunting is not allowed on Sunday.Solitaire may not be played on Sundays.

City Laws (Alabama)

AnnistonYou may not wear blue jeans down Noble Street.

AuburnNo person may spit on the floor of a church.

HuntsvilleIf an animal control officer is in uniform, it signifies to the public that he is an animalcontrol officer.

Lee CountyIt is illegal to sell peanuts in Lee County after sundown on Wednesday.

MobileIt is illegal to howl at ladies within the city limits.It is unlawful to wear women’s pumps with sharp, high heels.

MontgomeryIt is considered an offense to open an umbrella on a street, for fear of spooking horses.(Repealed)

leander blumenthal


matts’s doodles

townshend | times winter ‘04 - edition VIII14

ski-trip + L2 trip

The Level One’s Skit trip ‘04

Level Two’s Excursion to the Prenatal Examination Center


impressum

impressum

townshend | times is:

Ramez KrishnanLeander Blumenthal

Ramon GebhardOndrej Nenadl

Karomatangi WebbMichael Hartl

Neysan Zölzer

special thanks to:

Ramona, Dr.Lalui, Mr.Stang, Aline + Kurosh.

townshend times,

Documents

edition viiiindex3p

edition viiimr

amevery day

best memories

new face

new light

asecond language

stangs memoriesp