How well do you know the Emerald Isle? Get all the answers right and you win a HUGE PRIZE on the bus to Lyon airport on Sunday!

IRELAND + Northern Ireland

A. Ireland is:

1. A country
2. An island
3. A region of Great Britain

B. The Irish name for the Republic of Ireland is:

1. Eire
2. Ulster
3. Jill

C. Northern Ireland is also called:

1. Eire
2. Names
3. Ulster

D. The capital of the Republic of Ireland is:

1. Dublin
2. Berlin
3. Londonderry

E. Which of these landscapes is Irish?

1. Cliffs of Mother                   
2. Cliffs of Moher
3. Cliffs of Mohair

F. Ireland’s total population is:

1. 5 million
2. 15 million
3. 50 million

G. What is the emblem of Ireland?

1. The shamrock
2. The ayresrock
3. The skyrock

H. The majority of the Irish population is:

1. Catholic
2. Atheist
3. Protestant

I. The climate of Ireland:

1. Oceanic
2. Irrelevant
3. Continental 

J. Who is the Patron Saint of Ireland?

1. Saint Patrick
2. Saint Brendan
3. Saint Seamus

K. Ireland has often been dominated by:

1. England
2. Scotland
3. Wales

L. In the 19^th century, the population declined because of:

1. Starvation
2. Emigration
3. Civil war

M. Which President of the USA had Irish origins?

1. Ronald Reagan
2. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
3. Bill Clinton

N. Ireland joined the UE in:

1. 1948
2. 1973
3. 1982

O. Which French President fled to Ireland?

1. François Mitterrand
2. Charles de Gaulle  
3. Jacques Chirac

P. Which writer was Irish?

1. Jonathan Swift
2. Oscar Wilde
3. Samuel Beckett

Q. Which of these groups are Irish?

1. Riverdance
2. Pogues
3. Dubliners

R. The rugby players of the Irish national team wear:

1. Black
2. Red
3. Green

S. What is “hurling”?

1. A ball game which uses a stick
2. The nickname of the National Theatre in Dublin
3. A street show using Guiness bottles

Unexpectedly delightful!

La Cantatrice chauve

La Compagnie de l'Imprévu theatre company came to Sainte Marie’s on 24^th of January last. The troop is made up of three women and three men.

In the morning, they played Antigone by Anouilh for the Secondes and the Terminales. The Premieres attended La Cantatrice chauve by Ionesco in the afternoon.

La Cantatrice chauve, written in 1950, is typical of the Theatre of the Absurd. It is about the lack of communication between people in a society where nothing makes any sense, and the nature of the human condition is basically tragic…

We were all very surprised by the eccentric style of acting but everybody enjoyed it. The actors wore bathrobes, ate whipped cream and marshmallows… It was disconcerting but also very funny!

After the play, the actors took time to answer our questions about the play itself and about their lives as artists. They are passionate about their work, and it was most interesting to listen to them.

St Patrick's Day at Sainte-Marie

What is St Patrick’s Day? It’s a religious holiday on 17^th March every year celebrating the patron saint of Ireland. It’s now an international party, particularly in the USA where there is a huge Irish community. People dress up in green and have parties in the streets, drink beer, and even go to church!

Our DNL team decided to organize a St Patrick’s Day at Sainte-Marie! The idea was to put on a pot-pourri of Irish plays, poems, dance and music in the Salle Polyvalente… Unfortunately, the day did not go as planned, for lack of rehearsals, but some of us did manage to have a good time anyway. Many teachers, plus the Headmaster and Head of the Collège, came along which was very nice of them.

The best moments were the poems and the pieces of flute music (thank you to the Music teacher!). The Irish dance did not “happen” at 1 o’clock as most of the boys chickened-out! There was a shy attempt at dancing again at tea time… It was fun even if rather short!

We made 200 muffins and managed to sell quite a few over two days. They were really delicious and we raised 50€ to buy a present for the school we will visit on our trip to Ireland (6^th to 11^th of April).

Even if not too many people took part, and it was not the success we were hoping for, at least some pupils were really motivated and full of energy... Let’s hope next year we will be better organized and there will be more enthusiasm! 

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For Sainte-Marie’s pupils, January was an important month for post-Bac orientation...

First, with the careers forum called “Meet your future job!” on the 10^th of January. Many representatives of firms came to our school to talk about their studies and their work experience… They were very friendly and helpful. There was a great atmosphere, and pupils were very receptive and interested in finding a job that they might like.

There were several job sectors represented: research and development, health, the arts, media, sport and tourism, law, education, social work, commerce and banking.

We, the budding reporters from The duck, spent some time in discussion with a TF1 correspondent. We learnt that you must be very motivated, love writing, enjoy meeting lots of people, and be prepared to travel. To become a journalist you have to go to journalist school. We still have some way to go before becoming star reporters!

The other job-related event was a visit to Info Sup, a regional exhibition on professions and post-Bac studies organized in Polydome in Clermont-Ferrand, from the 23^rd to the 25^th January.

A bus took us to Info Sup on Thursday 23^rd. All the pupils found it very interesting. All the study areas were on show. At first we were a little lost; so as not to waste time, we got ourselves organized: we worked out who we each wanted to talk to and where we had to go.

All the Auvergne universities were present of course to promote their courses, but also present were, among others, the important colleges in medicine and the arts. Even the Army was there trying to recruit future officers.

It was a great day. We found a lot of information which we will now study in greater detail…

So, how do YOU see your future!?

VIPs come to Sainte-Marie's!

Three rugbymen came to Sainte-Marie on Wednesday 29th January, invited by three pupils from 3G for their radio project in English class. Their names are Uwa, Edward and George.

Ed and George come from Leicester in England; they play for the Leicester Rugby Club.

Uwa comes from Fidji and he plays for the ASM. Sometimes, for matches, he plays with the pros.

But there are a difference between Ed and Geoge and Uwa: Ed and George play rugby more like a hobby but Uwa sees rugby as his job.

They are very kind and friendly with a lot of humour. Thanks a lot, guys, for coming to Sainte-Marie! Keep in touch!

Article by Eva Sciauvaud.

Cry Freedom!

Steve Biko

Last week, in English class, we watched a film called Cry Freedom. It’s an English film by Richard Attenborough set in Kenya and England. It is about the journalist Donald Woods’ investigation into Steve Biko’s murder.

Our teacher chose this film because of the death of Mandela (on the 5^th of December 2013). Steve Biko, like Mandela, fought against apartheid.

Biko was a Black South African and a leading figure of the anti-apartheid struggle. The story takes place in South Africa just before the Soweto massacre which was a youth protest against the teaching in the Afrikaans language.

The police killed many young people and extracts of a documentary of the massacre can be seen at the end of the film. Donald Woods is a white journalist who met Steve Biko. This meeting opened his eyes to the real situation of the Blacks living in violence, poverty and segregation. After the murder of Biko, Woods tried to publish the real causes of the murder but he was censored. He and his family had to leave the country to ensure their safety and to be able to publish his book.

We loved this film because it’s very realistic and pays tribute to the people who fought apartheid.