I really enjoy singing karaoke with my friends in Japan because it’s everywhere. Before coming to Australia, I sang karaoke several times a week since karaoke isn’t as common and cheap like it is in Japan, and I knew I was going to miss singing karaoke alot.

What’s your favourite song?
I love Disney songs from movies like Tangled, Frozen, Little Mermaid. I also like to sing Katy Perry songs during karaoke. But my favourite Disney songs are Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid and Let It Go from Frozen.

Do you miss Japan?
The food is Australia is alright, since they have the basic Japanese food like miso soup. But I miss Japanese food too, since everything back home is miso-flavoured. And they don’t have it here in Australia, but I’m loving Australia so much!

What other talents do you have other than singing?
I enjoy learning languages, so I’ve learnt Japanese, English, French and a bit of Arabic.
I think Arabic language and its poetry is so beautiful, and I love the written language
of Arabic. I also love travelling, although it’s not exactly a talent. I’ve already visited
places like USA and Taiwan, and I wanted to travel to the Southern hemisphere, so
now I’m here in Australia. After learning Arabic, I really want to travel to the Middle
East, especially Egypt!

Final words?
I always wanted to be on such a page like the Humans of my university back in Japan,
but there are so many other people in my university who got interviewed instead. So I
was so happy that I’m going to be on Humans of IH. It’s like a dream come true!

The post Humans of IH: Mio appeared first on IH Globe.

It was an early morning yesterday

They were up before the dawn

And they really would have enjoyed some sleep

But the printing must go on

Like a brunch without hash browns

Like a breakfast without Globe

Some people enjoy and early read

And so the printing must go on

Now we’re gonna miss the Globe

It’s the undisputed truth

But Shixian’s got to go her own way

To keep her in her youth

Like a club without noodles

Like a week without memes

Just the thought of these sweet ladies

Makes me grateful for their being

And Globe will go on shining

Shining like brand new

We’ll always look behind us

And see the Globe anew

Goodbye Globe, it’s been nice

Hope you find your paradise

Showed us many points of view

Hope your dreams will all come true

Goodbye Holly, Goodbye Xian

I know we will meet soon again

Feel no sorrow, feel no shame

For fraternitas, we’ll be here again

The post Goodbye Stranger, Goodbye Globe appeared first on IH Globe.

We often forget how we can learn from people with disabilities…

I initially started volunteering casually with a special needs support group in Dubai called ‘SFS’ which organizes outings for children and adults with special needs as well their families. Then, in school, I met a family who were raising money for an art studio for adults with special needs through a charity concert. After performing at that concert, I visited the studio along with my parents. The art studio is located in a historical and culturally rich area of Dubai and is named ‘Mawaheb from Beautiful People’ with ‘Mawaheb’ meaning ‘talent’ in Arabic.

From there, my mother started regularly teaching yoga at the studio and I would volunteer whenever I had a day off school. After I graduated from high school, I had a 9-month gap before starting university and I genuinely had no idea what to do with my life, so I decided to start volunteering at the studio on a non-committal basis.

I absolutely fell in love with the studio, the people and the work I was assigned and so, the plan of casual twice a week volunteering turned into a full time internship. As cliché as it may sound, this experience truly changed me as a person and brought me closer to the simplicity of life. The purity and sheer love in the artists’ eyes and smiles inspired me to create a mini photography project detailing the lessons that I learnt on my journey at Mawaheb. The artwork created by Mawaheb’s artists is truly beyond anything I’ve seen before and contains so much raw emotion and integrity as it is a true reflection of them on a canvas.

Interacting with people with special needs be challenging but some of the most memorable moments come from seeing them work on their passions and showing the world how talented, smart and independent they are. A huge display of this was on a trip we took to Singapore upon invitation by Tanglin Trust School (TTS) to conduct painting workshops and educate the students on American Sign Language, anti-bullying, dance and the artists’ experience with their disabilities. It was a week-long trip with no parents and the artists were completely responsible for themselves. From seeing how the students at TTS responded and made friends with the artists (some of whom still remain in contact today) to seeing how much the artists enjoyed looking after themselves to the A+ banter made this trip the most memorable one of my life so far.

We often forget how we can learn from people with disabilities. People often adopt an approach whereby we feel like we’re above a person with special needs and they need us no matter what. However, we should see ourselves as equal to people with special needs and be open to the countless lessons that they have to teach us. They truly are the happiest people I’ve ever met and they make everyone around them happy with their positivity, joyfulness and unprejudiced nature.

There’s a huge gap in how adults with disabilities are treated. The artists at Mawaheb are all adults and as such, must be treated as adults but it’s often the case that they’re treated like children. This demonstrates a huge flaw in the access of equal opportunities for adults with disabilities. Oftentimes children with special needs are able to go to school but once they become adults, there is a limited amount of accessible resources for them to pursue their dreams and, as a result, many people stay at home instead of chasing their passions.

The post Humans of IH: Prarthana appeared first on IH Globe.

Two weeks ago the residents of Wadham 3 ventured down the deserted, “other” staircase, with no intentions of finding anything. There, at the bottom of the stairs, they found an emergency sign with no apparent purpose resting on the floor. It was retrieved by one of the residents who brought it back up to it’s new home on third floor. It was then placed outside the door of the floor tutor, serving as the catalyst for the events to come. This door belonged to Justin Smallwood, a tutor, but more importantly a victim. Over the following days the sign was moved around the floor to various positions by an unknown source, until it has found a permanent residence in the bathtub. While this may seem an isolated event, it was far from it, and so began the Buttergate Scandal.

What is Buttergate you may be asking? Well, even the residents of Wadham 3 don’t completely know. Last week a packet of high table butter was mysteriously placed on top of Smallwood’s handle. Smallwood, once again the victim, is then suspected to have moved the butter to the other resident’s door handles. The butter has now, and still continues to make its rounds around the door handles of Wadham 3. Has the victim become the perpetuator? Are all the resident’s involved in this conspiracy?  All that is known is that Nathanial Brady wants answers.

So do we Nathanial, so do we.

In a continuation of events, the name and poem signs that were placed on our doors by none other than our beloved O-weekers have been targeted. The signs have been moved around the floor to doors that do not associate with those names. This can only be described as the purest form of anarchy. How will we know which resident lives where? Will Hugo assume Carrie’s identity? It is yet to be seen.

Loaded glances and raised eyebrows have been noted amongst a few of the residents, perhaps a sign of more to come. Watch out, Wadham 3.

The post What’s Happening on Wadham 3 appeared first on IH Globe.

My second week into university life, I tried walking home alone and ended up at Queen’s. No joke you guys, I thought I’d be really smart and take a shortcut passing the other colleges (definitely not to catch a glimpse of attractive boys) alongside the sports fields. I ended up facing a huge fork in the road 15 minutes later, totally and utterly lost.

“Mira, how? It’s literally a straight road back home from university,” is something I have definitely heard so many times that I often repeat it to myself as I walk home. It used to be annoying, but now it just reminds me to walk straight and not get distracted because God forbid I twist slightly to my left and end up near Monash.

You never know with me, I often keep my friends on their toes.

Also, am I the only one who got confused by the Wadham layout? Perhaps, but I certainly hope not. The doorways at each end of the hallway are very deceiving! Kate and Jessica often had to redirect me to the correct door, but I can proudly say that as of two weeks ago I could confidently lead the way to the correct staircase.

Progress is key here, folks.

While I need a little nudge here and there from a friend to tell me how to get to Babel from the School of Design building, at least I remember which floor my French 3 class is on now!

To be fair (or more like in my defense), Google and Apple maps can be terribly deceiving. I can recount many a time where the little pulsing dot indicating my location has suddenly jumped across the page. Realising that you’ve been walking towards the opposite end of Royal Parade is not fun, especially when it’s about to pour.

I think it’s pretty clear to everyone reading this that I get lost very often, but I just want to let all the other (literally) lost souls out there that you’re not alone. Pop by Clunies 3rd for some strawberries, Digestive biscuits and coffee (bring your own tea, I’m afraid I don’t provide such a -how do I put this gently- blasphemous beverage) and we can exchange tragic stories and sorrowful tales about our missing 6th sense.

Do not fret, fellow travellers, for where we are lacking in our 6th sense (direction, not the paranormal), we have an excellent sense of humour and far more to contribute to conversations than most. Let others say what they may, but our hilarious and dramatic reenactments will be sorely missed if we were not unapologetically ourselves.

This is legit a picture of me realising that I’ve been walking in the opposite direction while running 7 minutes late for class. The location dot jumped across the page, I swear!

The post Comfort From An Unintentional Vagabond appeared first on IH Globe.

The Melbourne Comedy Festival in particular aims to showcase this weird, wonderful, and unique side of what theatre in Australia aims to be today. It displays comedy from all around the country, in all abstract and pure forms. But more importantly it displays people – their talent, ambitions, passion, and hard work. One show in particular catches IH’s eye, featuring no other than our own beloved ex IH’er, Louisa Wall. Known as the token tall red head and VCA student, Louisa worked damn hard in her three year run at IH, blessing us with iconic costumed appearances (never forget seaweed 2015), swift dance moves, and weekly shop visits – but behind the scenes, Lou has also always been crafting her art, working hard to pursue her career in acting.

The results are impressive, and the evidence is here in Melbourne. ‘A Dingo Ate My Baby’, Lou’s one-man show, has toured both the Adelaide Fringe & Melbourne Comedy Festivals, receiving nothing but incredible applause. How Lou does it, I don’t know – the show is essentially fifty minutes of perfected rapping, looped beats on repeat, copious clever symbolism, and insane amounts of energy – oh and get this, glitter gets thrown around everywhere and there’s a sneaky clarinet solo somewhere around the fifty-minute mark. With every minute, the audiences laugh gets harder and harder to contain, as Lou’s stand up comedy not only takes the piss out of every element of Aussie culture in the most nuanced and classy way possible, whilst teaching a valuable and relatable lesson in judgement, and how society perceives women and their duties in Australia today and how we can change it.

In between all the laughs, unexpected swearing, and jazzy box steps, Lou’s message shines through in a very personal and powerful way. The messages are so subtly woven into every joke and line, and the punchline is delivered with perfect passion and intensity every time. Ultimately, the moral of each story cuts deep and leaves the audience in awe, wanting to rewatch the whole show again, just to fully soak it all in. But most importantly, Lou’s show leaves you damn happy, and will guarantee many smiles and genuine laughs.

There is something so special about how powerful and perfect this one-man show is – it is a huge compliment to Louisa and to her many years of hard work and dedication, but all the best parts of her can’t help but shine through and make your day. So get around Lou while you can, because she is bound to be doing even bigger and better things as the months pass by – such creative lyrical genius is hard to catch, and she’s got it all. So stay tuned!

The post A Dingo Ate My Baby: A Play Review appeared first on IH Globe.

“It all started with Sam posting on facebook. 100 likes for me to go vegan for a week. I quickly rushed to take it down but ‘it’ had already gathered wide public attention. Originally, I did not want to partake in the challenge but after the encouragement of many of my friends and fellow IHers I decided to consider the idea. I decided to change the challenge to be vegetarian as it would have been easier on catercare and cheaper.”

“For me, this isn’t a health thing but a friendship bonding activity. We are all in this together and without them I would never do such a thing. Our friendship bond has grown and our waist size has shrunk through this adversity. However, I’m thankful that they also want me to learn to love vegetables and become more healthy as well.

My companions did not need to accompany me through this week, however, they understand I am VERY against veges and their support is something I treasure incredibly.”

“My hatred for vegetables has always been a part of me ever since I was small. There’s something about the texture and taste. The minute it touches my mouth I feel this rush of EHUEHEFHLKSDJKNS. When I eat it in my mouth, I just want to EUuuuUUUUH. My parents forced me to eat them when I was younger, and hoped that I would eventually grow out of my meat-love passion. However, I’m proud to say I still love meat just as much as I did before.”

“An important cute fact: I go to the toilet very regularly and have never had the risk of constipation. The toilet and all its business has never been a problem for me. I do think that this is due to the fact that I love fruits as well as celery and carrot fruit juice. Oh, yeah. Just thinking about celery and carrot juice makes me excited. It’s both cleansing for the soul and the bowels.”

Do you have anything to say to your friends and supporters through this time?

“Yeah. I won’t let you down.”

The post Humans of IH – Joshua appeared first on IH Globe.

The way you speak directly impacts the people around you and influence the culture of college whether you want it to or not.

“Lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex and transgender and gender diverse people are much more likely to experience depression and anxiety than the broader population. They are also at a greater risk of suicide and self-harm.” – beyondblue

If someone is questioning their sexuality or their gender identity, or hasn’t shared it publicly, it is the people around them and their attitudes that play a big part in determining their mental health.

You might not see the harm in calling your mate a ‘faggot’ for a joke, but sometimes that’s all it takes to keep someone in the closet, or the last straw before they decide life isn’t worth living.

You don’t get to decide if what you say hurts someone, and staying silent only makes you part of the problem. If you hear something that’s not okay, SAY SOMETHING, stand up for those people who don’t have a voice and be part of the solution.

Just in case you need a refresher;

• Gay is not a synonym for ‘bad’
• Calling someone a ‘retard’ shows you think disabled people are inferior
• Using ‘faggot’ in pretty much any context is not okay (and nah, don’t pretend you’re talking about sticks)
• Homo and dyke- also not okay

Pick up your game guys, it’s sad that I have to spell this out to a bunch of generally inclusive and friendly adults.

It might be time that people took another look at the core values of IH and assess if their actions truly value difference, and show their commitment to a caring community.

The post Are You Part Of The Problem? – Carrie CV appeared first on IH Globe.

Since last time round I reviewed a new-released movie, this time I reviewed a classic starring Humphrey Bogart.

Yes, its the 1942 “Casablanca”. Directed by Michael Curtiz, the movie tells a story about an American, Rick Blain (Bogart) living in Casablanca, Morocco. Suddenly, Ilsa, a former lover of Rick, comes back to Rick’s life and asks help from him so that she a
nd her fugitive husband, Laszlo can flee Morocco. However, circumstances gets more complicated once it is realized that Rick’s feeling for Ilsa has never really faded away.

So Normally before I watch a movie or a play or anything I tend to look at the ratings and then would try to find ways to tell myself not to get influenced by the mainstream ratings. (If a movie is more than a 70% in Metacritic I would find ways to make it look like its below 50%, while if it’s a 30%-rated movie I would look to see if it is decent). However, this movie’s rating is one of few that I think deserves the overwhelmingly good rating it has.

For a starter, the movie can be unappealing to people because it’s black and white and the set obviously looks something like it’s made up. However, when you at least give the movie 30 minutes, you soon realise that there is some sort of pull that makes the movie simply enjoyable to watch. By the end, that some sort of pull turns out to be the brilliance of Humphrey Bogart’s acting to depict Rick Blain.

Humphrey made Rick Blain the most elegant, charming person I’ve seen in any movie, which kind of made me want to be him (pshh). Also, probably a deeper reason, is that Rick’s emotions and reactions towards what he feels have also moved me (maybe to anyone who watched this too) into thinking deeper about how love can make you stronger and make you vulnerable at the same time. Humphrey’s chemistry with Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) also made the romance one of Hollywood’s classics as we could see how Ilsa just could not resist Rick (justifies how an ended relationship never really ends).

Another important aspect to why this movie is incredibly good is how the setting and atmosphere have played apart. The exotic and sometimes mysterious Casablanca, a city that had significant political conflict during World War 2 made the plot more sensible as the conflict in the movie itself depended on the city’s situation. However, it is wise to research a bit about World War 2 and Morocco before watching the movie because this way you would know the situation during the movie so you could feel how hard it was for Rick to come up with the decisions he had.  

Overall, this Hollywood classic is truly a must-watch for IHers especially who loves a little romance with a historic setting around it, because the brilliance of the actors and how efficient the production uses its scarce resources makes you appreciate more how classical movies are. I’d give this movie a solid 5/5 stars btw..

The post Casablanca – A Film Review appeared first on IH Globe.

As you are reading this with a plate of food in front of you, take a moment to consider the journey the food takes, from farm to factory to our kitchen and finally on the very plate you’re eating from. Sadly, one-third of the food produced do not end up in people’s stomach and is wasted instead. Food wastage occurs at many points along the production the line. While many of these are out of our immediate control, we can reduce consumer-end food wastage. When you discard edible food, so much more goes to waste. What is at stake is the water needed to grow the food and fuel for transporting the food. Food waste does not magically vanish. Another trip is needed to transport them away. What a waste of energy! Decomposing food gives off methane, a greenhouse gas.

What can you do?

• Take only what you need. When serving yourself, take only what you think you can finish. Often, we take more food than our appetite can handle. If unsure, just take less. Seconds (or even thirds) will always be waiting for you.

• Communicate clearly to serving staff. When being served, communicate clearly to the CaterCare staff how much you wish to eat. A simple ‘less’, ‘more’ or ‘half the amount’, will go a long way in reducing food wastage.

• Take leftovers from neighbouring tables at High Table and Community Dinners. Food safety guidelines dictates that any food that has left the kitchen must be discarded if not consumed. If you’re still hungry after your firsts, check if there are any leftovers at the tables near you before asking the kitchen.

Statistically speaking, young consumers aged 18 to 24 are one of the biggest wasters of food in Australia. Let’s do things differently and buck this trend at International House.

The post From Plate to Mouth – Bo Qing Ong appeared first on IH Globe.