up 2 date: december issue
DESCRIPTION
ÂTRANSCRIPT
UP2
DATE
THE IEGS NEWSPAPER
LUCIA 101
CHRISTMASTIPS FOR THEZODIAC SIGNS
JINGLE BELLS,DEADLINESTRESS
Feel a little out of placeduring the annual lucia
tradition?Become a pro on page
4!Feeling like stress is
coming in the way ofyour holiday cheer?
Turn to page 16!
ISSUE NO. 2
CONTENTS
DECEMBER 13TH SURVIVAL GUIDE
IHC DEBATE: PAGE 13
EDITOR'S NOTE
LUCIA 101 FORBEGINNERS
MEET THE (LUCIA) TEAM
HOROSCOPES
4
2
7
9
13
15
16
DEBATE IHC
POEM
ARTICLE: JINGLE BELLS,
DEADLINE STRESS
Not really sure what goes on during the Swede's favoritepyromania holiday? Worry not! Turn to page 4 to become alucia-pro!
P.S. Contact detailsare on the last
page!
EDITOR'S NOTE
Moira Conde & Niki Giarimi
E D I T O R S - I N -
C H I E F
Welcome! We hope you enjoy reading oursecond edition of Up 2 Date whether you areon the train home or all snuggled up in bed,every opportunity is a good one. We wouldalso like to take this time to wish you all a
happy holiday and that you get well restedfor the upcoming year!
Don’t forget that it is never too late to joinwith a picture, artwork, article (and more)and that feedback is always welcomed and
appreciated.
Moira & Niki
IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE LYRICS, DON’TWORRY, THE REST OF US DON’T EITHER
Christmas is a great occasion to dust of your “Old Swedish”
vocabulary by diving into Lucia songs. The theme song is
known to be Natten Går Tunga Fjätt (The Night Walks With
Heavy Feet), but the most important one to know is
gingerbread men song Vi Komma, Vi Komma, Från Pepparkaka
Land. Everybody loves the gingerbread men.
However, many of the songs don’t even originate from
Sweden, but have been adopted and translated from the Italian
tradition of celebrating St. Lucia. But stay calm, you won’t need
to learn Italian today.
Once upon a time, I was a Lucia noob. That means that the first 8 years ofmy life were spent without lussebullar, tinsel covered hair and “natten gårtunga fjät” (I will admit, it took me even longer to learn what that means).Nonetheless, amidst the confusion, curiosity and fire hazard, I learned athing or two, and it is for this purpose that I have constructed a Lucia 101for beginners. I call it the December 13th Survival Guide for theInexperienced.
Lucia 101FOR BEGINNERS
by Elisabeth Morell
part 1 of 2
SWEDE’S ARE ALLOWED TWO DAYS OF PYROMANIA AYEAR, ONE FOR LUCIA AND THE OTHER FOR MAY 1ST,DON’T QUESTION IT, JUST INDULGE.
YES, THE ROUND DARK CIRCLES ON THE YELLOWBUNS ARE RAISINS, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO TRUSTME ON THIS.
YOU MIGHT THINK YOU KNOW WHO LUCIA IS, BUTYOU DON’T, AND NEITHER DOES ANYONE ELSE.
In other words, don’t be alarmed when a train of boys and girls
with their heads on fire or holding live flames in their hands
march to the stage. Swede’s find it endearing and beautiful,
besides, what’s christmas without a little risk involved? The
candles symbolize light shining through the darkness, a
universal sign of hope. We just hope that the fire alarm doesn’t
go off.
After the singing and festivities comes the true meaning of
Lucia: Lussebullar! These gold mines of saffron infused breads
make everyone excited to fight the winter cold with a little
extra body insulation. Traditionally, they’re crafted in an ’S’
shaped form, but Swedish baked-goods is at its best when this
golden rolls of deliciousness morph into any imaginable shape.
The Raisins on on each side are the finishing touch. Topped off
with glögg, I guarantee you that they won’t disappoint.
To start, Lucia isn’t actually Swedish. As a matter of a fact, no
one really knows who she is. As mentioned earlier, the entirety
of Sweden’s Lucia festivity derives from Italy, where Lucia is a
saint in the Catholic church. Although her body is displayed in
Venice for everyone to see,
LUCIA MARKS THE LONGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR.
the story of her life and death exists mostly through legend.
Her mysterious death is represented through the red sash
around her waist, which symbolises her martyrdom and the
lights crowning her head is an image of the hope she spread
during her life. But, then again, who knows?
Traditionally, this is true, but the world has spun a few times
since then. Now, Winter Solstice(the longest night of the year)
is on December 21st. This is the day of the year when the hours
of sunlight is shortest and the night is longest. Imagine the
opposite of midsummer. If anything, this should explain why
we need all those candles! The bright side? The hours of
sunlight only goes up from here!
Now that you’re a Lucia pro, spread your knowledge andenjoy the festivities!
Do you have any pictures from this year's Luciaor from any other school event?
The yearbook club would love to have them!Email
if interested!
Meet the teamI met with part of the Luciatåg individually and was able askthem what Lucia meant for them. Here’s some short bio’s to getto know some of the people behind the show!
part 2 of 2
Lucia is one of Alva’s favoriteholidays since she gets tocombine three fantastic things:celebration, music and choir!Although it’s hard to choose, herfavourite Lucia song is “Så mörkär natten”. According to Alva,the only thing that could makethis Lucia celebration better is achristmas tree!
ALVA, SPA3D, TÄRNA
Lucia is a holiday that thisstjärngosse believes everyoneshould part-take in! Everything,from the beautiful songs to thedelicious fika, makes Lucia theperfect opportunity for fun, andthat’s exactly why we’re so gladto have Siri on the team!
SIRI, SPA2D, STJÄRNGOSSE
Alice’s Christmas would beincomplete without Lucia whichis why she’s onboard! Herfavorite part about Lucia iswatching the Luciatåg fill thedarkness with light as they comesinging and bearing candles. Shesays the next character to makethe team should be a wanderinglussebulle. We’re counting onseeing that next year!
ALICE, NS3A, TÄRNA
Emilia is seizing the day by embracing her last opportunityto be apart of the luciatåg! Withyears of experience built up frompreschool to present-day, she’s aLucia-pro, but has yet toexperience a wax filled hair-dofrom all the candles. Let’s hopeshe’s spared this year too!Emilia’s best advice to anyoneconsidering the Luciatåg lifewould be to just have FUN andembrace the tradition!
EMILIA, NS3A, TÄRNA
HOROSCOPESChristmas edition!
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Christmas shopping takes a lot of time. Try to not tostress it until the last second to head out and buy all thegifts at once. These last weeks before the holidaysmight be very busy for you, but if you sit down and makea timeplan for all your work, everything will be ok!
Your head might hurt from all the christmas songs you heareverywhere, but don’t forget that christmas is all about
giving and forgiving. Focus on looking past all the glitterydecorations and gingerbread scented candles, to see what
christmas is actually all about. Keeping your friends andfamily close.
The best thing to do at this time of year is to keep your feudsat bay. Even though some people tend to always get on yournerves. You don’t want your enemies to keep you fromhaving a relaxed break, don’t you? Sit down with a goodbook and make time for yourself for once.
By Anna Linder
Leo (July 23-August 22)
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Christmas is your holiday and you know it. Ugly christmassweaters, holiday specials and fairy lights everywhere. You’re in
your element! But remember to keep yourself grounded. Thereare still lots of things that has to be done before the big day.Don’t forget about your workload, because if you leave it be
now, it’s just going to pile up and stress you out later.
Instead of fighting your family and siblings over who gets toput the star on top of the christmas tree, you should try tofocus more on what’s going on around you. Like your friends,don’t forget them during the holiday. They’ll want to hang outwith you, but you need to calm down and pay more attentionto them.
Virgo (August 23-September 22)
You could be mistaken for one of Santa's little helpers at this time ofyear. You’re running around like crazy, trying to catch up on your
workload and social life as well as all that comes with christmas. Ifyou’re going to keep this speed up, you’ll collapse of exhaustion!
Slow down and enjoy the cozy atmosphere.
Libra (September 23-October 22)
Scorpio (October 23-November 21)
Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)
This is a good excuse for you to catch up with friends thatyou haven’t spoken with for a while. Friends that you’vewanted to talk to but haven’t really got the time and guts todo it. Ask them about their christmas plans. Don’t be afraidto ask them to come out with you for a cup of coffee or hotchocolate! They’re probably feeling the same way as you do.
Hiya there Mr. Grinch! No need to be sour. Christmas isn’t justabout cozy-ness and gift-wrapping. You can still go out and
have fun with your friends the way that you want to do it.Just staying home and being grumpy, and giving the
sparkling reindeer in your neighbor's yard the evil eye isn’tgoing to make anyone happier.
Sometimes your plans doesn’t always come out the way youwanted them to. But it’s ok! If you keep an open mind insteadof being fixated on only one outcome, things will be alright.Sure, it’s dark outside and life is hectic right now. But takesome deep breaths and ask for advice instead of closing inon yourself.
Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
There’s nothing wrong with catching up on some workduring the break. But you might want to focus on your
close ones as well. They only want you good. Be niceand spend time with your friends and family. Try to
keep your mind off distracting things like work, dramaand meaningless problems.
Pisces (February 19-March 20)
Aquarius (January 20-February 18)
New friends and exciting adventures are ahead of you! Butdon’t stress anything exactly right away. Things will comenaturally towards you in their own time. Remember tokeep all your doors open. Don’t miss a good opportunitywhen you see one. It’s time to make some risky decisions.
This is a good time of year to learn new things. Youcould learn a new recipe for a baked good, learn a new
instrument or maybe teach yourself how to do someorigami! The creativity in you is at its best right now
and you better take advantage of it.
WE WANT YOU!to contribute to Up 2 Date! Email us today - your
interests=your contributions
by Elisabeth Morell
n a fight for the 2015 IHC Debatetitle, King and Curie competedagainst one another in the finalsthis November. As one of themost intense IHC’s, it’s unfeasibleto even understand the nervesand stress building up in each ofthe debaters as they take theirfirst steps towards the podium.The silent audience awaits theirargument to be presented andthey’ve got one shot. With Curieon the proposition and King onthe opposition, Curie openedwith the argument “This housebelieves that autocracy isdoomed in the age of Facebook”.
An article on the how 's , when 's and who 's of this year 's Debate IHC .
I
U P 2 DA T E
Considering this IHC’s past,debating topics such aspornography and the meatindustry, even the existence ofGod, this motion, at first glance,was unexpectedly uncontroversial.The school visibly took a step backfrom major current news, such asISIS’s increasing global presence orthe obvious racial tensionsbuilding up in America. Instead,the school settled with discussingsocial media, a more cliche topic.
However, each team deliveredtheir positions with a high qualityof argument, working through andassessing the defining points ofthe motion. The result? Termssuch as autocracy and doomedbecame Curie’s
"Each teamdelivered theirpositions with ahigh quality ofargument"
debasement as King fiercelyobjected to the propositionsmotion, questioning theassumption of if autocracy hasever existed.
Additionally, King reminded theaudience of the apocalyptic-likecomparison of Facebook’s reigndooming human autocracy, aterm included in Curies motion byno fault of their own. Althoughthe debate was certainly notfocused around eschatology, therhetoric of King house certainlyhad me believing that Curie wasdiving down that path. After eachspeaker closed, the judgesassessed the debate and thetrophy went to King.
DECEMBERUP 2 DATE
INTER HOUSE COMPETITION:DEBATE
Photo by Emilia Ganslandt, NS3A
1
How genuine is my individuality?
9 | BOOK I S H MAGA Z I N E
”“
Although the debate initiallyrevolved around the topic ofsocial media, at its closing itbecame evident that pseudoindividuality was a core issue ofautocracy, revealing the truecomplexity of the motion. Whilethe proposition suggested thattools of mass communication,such as Facebook, wouldenhance your individuality, theopposition responded,
in essence, according the Marxisttheory: that individuality basedon such is misleadingly false.Unfortunately, this theory ofpseudo individuality was neverexplicitly touched on during thedebate, a topic which would haveadded a nuanced enhancementon King House’s argument.Nevertheless, the topic ofautocracy is without a doubtextraordinarily relevant, not onlyin the age of Facebook, but ofInstagram, Twitter and Tumblr.While it’s easy to point fingers atsocial media figures like EssenaO’neill, how often do you stopyourself and wonder: “howgenuine is my individuality?”.
Psst... follow thehouses on instagram!
@iegskinghouse
@thecuriehouse
@pavlovhouse
@russell_iegs
It’s been so long since I saw you last
Lives have past, fast and fleeting
leaving no survivors, but us.
Your face is the same, only covered
with time, age, experience and sagged skin.
It won’t be long until both our shadows fade,
two less on the earth.
The world was warmer before,
now it’s faded black and white
like you and me
So much has been built onto the
foundation of your person.
I suppose it’s the same with me
By Maja Erdenius
POEM:"MEMORIES"
UP 2 DATE / DECEMBER ISSUE
Illustration
by Kimberly
Carrera
JINGLE BELLS,DEADLINE STRESS
BY AMINA AL I ABDULCAD IR
You’re probably wondering how on Earth you’re going
to make time for the gym, hold a long enough
conversation with your little brother to know how his
school day went, yet have time to meet the
assignment deadlines and be in bed by 11pm. The
answer is simpler than we think. Instead of allowing
our energy to be absorbed by mundane things
throughout the day, we have to deliberately direct
that energy where we want, when we want it.
Our energy flows to where our focus is, no matter if it’s
on something big or small. The smaller things
throughout our days that might annoy us or demand
our attention, which whether we choose to accept it
or not, are, really, insignificant, are the reasons for why
we feel completely drained when we get home.
You know the good feeling of your day turning
completely around after a long, exhausting one,
because someone you missed called or you got good
news on a thing you’ve been fretting all month about.
That feeling is there because the good that happens
after such a long crappy day outweighs all the
negative little things that you’ve experienced. Those
miniscule events which we don’t see much
significance in, whether they are good or bad, are
what really matter in determining our general mood.
And with a sour mood, we are generally less
productive. So an assignment that would’ve normally
took us an hour now takes us two and a half,
postponing our dinner date with Bestie.
I’m sure we’ve all heard that perception equals reality.
What you think is what you project and what you get
back, so our thoughts and our mood are what
essentially decide how our day is going to look. Instead
of allowing tiresome trivial things to determine our
days, how about we decide to let what really matters
carve the way.
It’s simple. All we have to do is be aware of what
things eat away at our good energy and deliberately
chose to direct our attention away from them. Once
we do that, we can finally enjoy the things we really
want to enjoy. We’ll manage to finish our schoolwork
quicker and find more than enough time to annoy our
siblings, get in a good workout and spend dinner time
mentally present, not worrying about the presentation
we haven’t prepared for tomorrow.
Although cozy blankets, finally some quality time
with mum and an annual replay of The Grinch
should come to mind at this time of the year, all that
seems to occupy our thoughts are exams -
chemistry, maths and history all within the same
week! -, presentations - Heaven forbid we don’t have
a minimum of two the same day - and 11:59pm
deadlines. To say the least, it’s stressful. As is we
already struggle to balance our days. We bite our
nails thinking about assignments after school, pull
all-nighters to finish work and fall asleep in maths
class while trying to complete our English
homework. Our health and time with loved ones are
compromised. We sacrifice two for one… when we
really don’t have to.
PAGE 16 DECEMBER ISSUEUP 2 DATE
~~~~~~♡~~~~~~Do you agree with Amina? Why/why not? We would love to
hear your thoughts!
WE WISH YOUALL A HAPPYHOLIDAY ANDA GREAT NEWYEAR!
Advertise your club in Up 2 Date! Send an emailto
club!The IEGS Yearbook Club has been
restarted and we would love for youto join!
Send an email to:emilia.ganslandt.student.sodermalm
oranna.lindemalm.student.sodermalm
if you are interested!
PS. Even if you don't want to be partof the club we would love to see any
pictures you have from this schoolyear!
Contact detailsIf you wish to join Up 2
Date (the IEGSNewspaper Club), or
simply want to send in apiece of writing or a
picture, send an email tous!
moira.conde.student.sodermalm
niki.giarimi.student.sodermalm
ContributorsElisabeth Morell
Amina Ali Abdulcadir
Anna Linder
Maja Erdenius
Moira Conde
Niki Giarimi