November`10 - 1 - Hi, friends! The good news is that TEEN SPIRIT is back! Most of you, who are studying at the school at present, have no idea what I am talking about. Well, this used to be the newspaper, issued by and for the English classes at Hristo Botev Secondary School a long time ago, at a time when some of you weren’t even born… It used to bring a lot of excitement and anticipation, a lot of creative ideas and fun for the editors, writers and readers. Then, at one point, the paper stopped coming out. The reasons, as usual, were financial (no money, no funny). But now things have changed and with the possibility of online publishing we are avoiding this awkward problem. The ambition of the publishers (10a at present) is to make at least four issues of the paper per school year. I hope you will all enjoy it and will contribute to it with ideas and creative writing. The first issue is a bit spooky- Halloween celebration! Enjoy it and look forward to the Christmas issue which follows. Special thanks to Mr. Yordan Yordanov for the invaluable help! We wouldn’t have managed without you. To all ex- editors and contributors: your efforts were not in vain! Nikolina Encheva

A young teacher in

our school Kremena

Todorova

1. What kind of person are you? I think I am level-headed and tolerant, but rather reserved. The thing I don’t like about myself is being a pessimist. 2. Why did you choose English? The main reasons were its beauty (I like the way it sounds) as well as its dominant role as a world language. And if I had the chance to choose a language to

study now, English would be my choice again. 3. How long have you been teaching in this school? I have been at this school for about 11 years – five of which as a student. 4. Do you think that students are “monsters”? I wouldn’t call them ‘monsters’, they are ordinary people with feelings, problems, dreams. Working with students can be great fun but the thing I don’t understand about some of them is the lack of motivation and ambition. 5. Which of your colleagues do you get on well with? Why only one? Can’t I get on well with all of them? My colleagues are great professionals who helped me a lot in my first years as a teacher (by the way they are still doing it). 6. Which was your favourite subject in school? English, of course. But the subject I liked least was PE - I can be rather lazy and inactive when it comes to sports. 7. In which university did you study in, and would you

recommend it to the students that are going to university next year? First I studied at the University of Varna and later I graduated from the University of Plovdiv. In my opinion they are good universities but my advice to students is to follow their dreams and study what they really want, not the thing other people advise them to. 8. Which is your favourite book and movie? Why do you like them? Although I read a lot, I don’t have a favourite book. The one that impressed me a lot was Jorge Bucay’s ‘Stories for Thought’ which deals with simple and yet profound aspects of life and enables us to meditate and reflect upon them. 9. Which is your favourite quote from a book? "Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing." Oscar Wilde. 10. Do you have a dream? Would you share it with us? Everyone has; otherwise it would be a waste of beautiful and perfect thoughts. But a person’s dreams are too personal to share with others.

I N S I D E :

Page 2: Halloween - this year`s party Page 5, 6: Students` Page 3: Origins of Halloween workshop Page 4: Halloween – fun facts , Page 7, 8: Fun pages superstitions and myths and poems + lyrics of Helloween’ “Halloween”

T E E N S P I R I T School

Hristo Botev Nova Zagora

November`10 - 2 -

Halloween This year’s Halloween party

Traditionally this year’s Halloween party was organized by 10a class. It took place in club Sindy and all English classes were invited. The basic theme was how people in other countries around the world celebrate Halloween. There were Romanians and their most scary figure Dracula, who appeared in the company of two witches, Mexicans who drank tequila in the graveyard, frightened to death by Cruella Devil and a Japanese couple who thought trick-or-treat part impolite. The games were typically Halloween’s. In the first game two competitors had to get sweets with their mouth and then to give them to their teammate, who had to toss the sweets in a bucket. The next game showed the bravery of two volunteers.

In two boxes there were human brain, fingers, spiders and snakes. The volunteers had to find out six eyes and it was a pretty curious moment when their hands touched the brain. Between the games there was a dance. It was a wonderful performance by the girls and it’s a pity that there was only one dance. The show continued with a game called ‘Make a mummy’. Eight people were divided into two groups and three of them had to wrap their friend like a mummy with toilet paper. It was very funny and exciting for us to watch and for the players too. This game is annually performed.

The last game was very attractive as two people had to catch an apple with their mouth without using their hands. It was very funny to watch how these two guys had trouble with one apple. Also a new tradition has been found. An overlord of the Pumpkin was chosen. Her mission now is to keep the pumpkin and next year to give it to another student from 9 a. Hoping the Overlord’s mission will be successful.

The best table – 11A Dancing girls 12 A

November`10 - 3 -

Origins of Halloween

Halloween is observed on October 31st and is one of the oldest holidays still celebrated today. Its origins are linked to the Ancient Celts’ harvest festival called Samhain. The Celts celebrated the end of the ‘brighter half’ of the year which represents summer and the beginning of the ‘darker half’ or winter. They believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits to pass through. Since not all spirits were thought friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure next year crops would be plentiful. This custom evolved into trick-or-treat.

Where do other customs come from?

Bonfires Before the real celebration of Samhain begins, the Celts used to bring wood to set fires on hilltop. Often they used to throw the bones of slaughtered cattle into flames. The word ‘bonfire’ is said to be derived from such ‘bone fires’.

Costumes Halloween costumes originated from Celts when they dressed up in elaborate animal skins and heads to disguise themselves as spirits and demons so that the real ones couldn’t recognize them as humans. Their ceremony consisted of dancing, telling stories and reading fortunes. Jack-O’-Lanterns

The traditions of carving Jack-O’-Lanterns are also linked to the Celts. A miserable man called Jack tricked the Devil. Unable to enter Heaven or Hell after his death, he was destined to roam the earth. Jack placed a piece of coal into a carved turnip and used it as a lantern to keep the evil spirits away. Today pumpkins are carved into Jack-O’-Lanterns because they are easier to cut.

November`10 - 4 -

Fun Facts Orange and black are Halloween colours because orange is associated

with the autumn harvest and black is associated with darkness and death. Halloween candy sales are average 2 billion dollars annually in the

United States. Pumpkins consist of 90% water and if you fill it with milk and then bake it,

you will have a pudding. The movie ‘Halloween’ was made in only 21 days in 1978 on a very limited

budget. Halloween is the eight largest card sending holiday. The first Halloween

greeting is dated back to early 1900. In the USA there are places named after Halloween theme such as

Frankenstein (Missouri), Scary (West Virginia), Skull Creek (Nebraska), Witch Hazel (Oregon) and so on.

Superstitions & Myths If a candle suddenly turns blue, there’s a ghost nearby. Never slam a door. You may hurt a ghost, who will haunt

you for the rest of your life. If you see your face in a mirror at night, an evil spirit

will steal your soul. If an owl looks in your window or if you see one in

daylight bad luck and death will overtake you. If you feel a chill up your spine, someone is walking on your future grave. A person born on Halloween can both see and talk with spirits. If you see a spider on Halloween, it could be the spirit of dead loved who

is watching you. If you hear footsteps behind you on Halloween, don’t look back, it could be

Death following you. A hat on a bed will bring bad luck.

If you catch a snail on Halloween night and lock it into a flat dish, in the morning you will see the first letter of your future sweetheart written in the snail’s slime.

Halloween Edibles

- Of all the candy sold annually, one quarter of it is sold during Halloween time (September – November 10) making it the sweetest holiday of the year. - Tootsie rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America - The number one candy of choice for Halloween is Snickers - There are an estimated 106 million potential treat-or-treat stops (i.e., housing units occupied year-round, per the U.S. Census)

November`10 - 5 -

Students’ Workshop

Drugs, Sex, Rock ‘n’ Roll… and then?

By Dimiter Tsanev 12a He sat silently on the floor staring at nothing in particular but yet not moving his eyes in the least. He felt there was something wrong, something missing and still didn’t realize what it was. After all he was a successful artist. He had the big house, expensive car and all the things that follow the well established rock star image but still…there was something missing. Of course when he was young those things were all that he ever dreamed of and of course he never even dared to think he would ever achieve so much… …And for a time it was good, he poured his soul into his music and lyrics and people liked that. As a matter of fact, he was so good that people never stopped liking his stuff and probably they would for a long time ahead but he felt there was something missing. Through the years of building up his career and image and climbing up the ladder of success he met some challenges and overcame them. He even overcame the producers trying to force him to make his music more suitable for the tastes of the mass audience. But then again there was something missing… He looked around the undeniably big, even enormous room and saw a TV, a shelf of books, a huge aquarium full of expensive exotic fish and generally so many things that it would take too long to enlist but the main thing was that the only living things in the house (except for him) were the fish, and no one could deny that they weren’t much of a company. There surely was something missing… …And as he was realizing what the missing piece was he felt the grief and desperation building up inside of him. Suddenly it became clear to him that he was alone. It wasn’t like he didn’t know that but it wasn’t much of a problem or at least he didn’t let it be… After a few hours of static thinking and a few tears that no one would ever know about he headed for the safe hidden behind one of the pictures on the wall. There he kept hidden his most valuable possessions…and a gun. The headlines in the next day’s newspapers were controversial but the main event was the tragic suicide of a famous rock star seemingly for no reason at all…

A nice way to wake up By Stanimira Georgieva 12a

Yesterday I got the weirdest call I have ever had. The phone woke me. It was seven o’clock. I was still feeling sleepy and at the beginning I could not understand a word of what was told me. The voice seemed very familiar but I could not recognize it at first. After a while I realized that it was John. He sounded very worried. When I was finally awake I started asking questions because he was talking really fast and I could not understand a thing. He said something about coming to visit me. I wanted to know when but he did not say anything. I asked him again. This time after a few seconds he said that he would be at my place in about ten minutes. Horrible thing to hear. I had not had a shower. I had not done my hair. I was not even dressed. Why on earth would he come to my place now, after all these years ? And why in the morning? Did he want to embarrass me? I did not know. I told him that he would probably have to wait a bit in front of the door because I was not dressed. He said that did not matter, he just wanted to see me. It was really strange. It sounded important. He sounded serious. I began to feel worried. I did not know what was happening. Why now? Why was it so important? We were talking rubbish while I was trying to put my clothes on. I was in a great hurry but I just made it. The moment the doorbell rang I was at the door. I opened it preparing to hug John but instead of him there was a man with flowers. That was a surprise! I smiled at the man and when John heard me say thank you to the flower boy he started laughing. I asked him why? When I received the answer I felt really stupid. How could I forget? It was the first of April. He pulled my leg with style. I thanked him for the wonderful wake up call. I asked him if he was really coming soon. The moment I asked him I saw him coming along the street. He surprised me for the second time. He was just amazing that day. That was the most amazing phone wake up I have ever had. Sometimes I wish he did it more often. Unfortunately I never received a second call like this. He hated to do the same thing twice. He always wanted to be original. And yet I will never forget it.

The way to success – achieving everything alone or

relying on someone else By Maria Alujeil

The way to success is very long and hard. However, if you are ambitious you will follow your dreams and will do anything to achieve your aims. Achieving everything on your own gives you the opportunity to prove your own qualities and skills while relying always on someone else can be a risk which can disappoint you. First, relying on yourself is better because in that way you can show your personal qualities and skills best. If you work hard and give the whole energy, you have to do what you want to succeed in, then when you achieve your aim you can say that all the difficulties you met were worth it. Learning from your own mistakes is the best way to success while following the steps of someone else won`t give you the same pleasure. Second, when you are used to receiving everything without effort you will never try to achieve anything on your own. And one day if there is nobody who can help you, you will feel helpless and won`t cope with life. Third, if you always rely on somebody to help you and follow his/her advice you won`t be always pleased with the result and will blame that person for your failure. However, this is not fair. So, if you want to succeed, you have to make your own mistakes and to follow your own rules. If you fail, you shouldn`t give up because the way to success is very hard but it is worth trying. In conclusion I want to state that I personally prefer achieving my goals alone because I want to live my life following my own rules, making my own mistakes and not always relying on someone to help me. Being independent is the most important thing.

Art and the young people By Dimana Zhelyazkova 12a

Some people are born talented, some develop a certain skill as they grow up and others don’t even try to find their talent. Sadly, nowadays it seems that more and more young people don’t care about their talents. It doesn’t matter whether they can sing, dance or draw. They are just not interested. Moreover, it seems that the majority of young people tend not to pay attention to art at all. Still, I believe that art is a major part of our lives.

I’ve seen really talented teenagers, who can draw as if they were professional

November`10 - 6 - artists. Some of them draw regularly. But others, I’m sorry to say it, believe that drawing is not worth the effort. These young people claim that being a painter is not a profitable enough profession to make them interested. And they not only waste their talent, but they also stop paying attention to art. Another form of art that teenagers tend not to be interested in is photography. Of course, every young person has a compact photo camera and he or she takes pictures all the time. The thing is that these pictures are not pieces of art; they are memories from parties, from walks, etc. Very few teenagers are actually interested in photography as a form of art. I don’t know even one person of my age, who wants at least to take some photography course or to try and create a beautiful photo of a fallen leaf, for example.

The only form of art, which attracts young people’s attention, is music. But I can assure you can that music is only a way of entertainment for teenagers, not an art. Furthermore, more and more people believe that they can sing, when they actually can’t, and with their attempts they ruin the art of music.

In conclusion, I can say that young people should pay more attention to art, because it is a source of enjoyment and can even calm one down.

The dolphins

By Spas Коstadinov 10а At last he managed to reach the shore and he knew he was safe. But a few hours ago he thought he would die in the sea. That morning was bright and sunny and George decided to go windsurfing. Something happened when he was away in the sea. The surfboard broke. The water wasn’t very cold and as he was a good swimmer he wasn’t worried he knew he would manage to get safe to the shore. Half an hour later he noticed a shark’s fin not far away from him, then another appeared. He was terrified. The sharks started moving in circles around him. George thought he was going to die in a few minutes. He felt sorry for his mother because his father and his grandfather had died in the sea. His grandfather had perished in a storm and his father went fishing and never came back. Then he noticed some dolphins coming rapidly towards him. The lovely animals were swimming fast, jumping in the air and he could see them smiling at him. Hope started growing in his soul.

Soon the dolphins come to him. Some of them started swimming around him. The others chased the sharks away. The dolphins swam with him almost to the shore, guarding him. George was sure that his dad and granddad had sent the lovely brave dolphins to help him.

If you do not want to be disappointed you should not

expect anything at all by Nikola Nikolov 12a

We live in a wretched world. A world of crime, cruelty, pornography and sadism. Almost everything is corrupted by the overwhelming selfishness and arrogance of humankind. Even the planet itself suffers from our stupidity. So, how can you count on someone or something? How can you hope for something good to happen when everything around you is falling apart? The answer is simple – you cannot. Even when everything seems to be okay, when your life is starting to get better, the fear of losing everything or realizing that you are living in a lie is always there. Fear and insecurity haunt us all our lives and there is almost nothing we can do about it. Everyone knows what disappointment is and how painful it can be. That is why we are afraid of it. That is why most of the people, driven by the fear and insecurity inside of them just leave every dream and expectation for future they ever had – because they do not want to be disappointed once again. But in order for the process to begin first you need to trigger it. And one of the most common is a feeling called regret which often leads to despair. And there are two particular words that describe that feeling most precisely – “what if”. “What if…” – a horrible combination of two words, so harmless by themselves. A mixture of words that can alter a person’s life in a way you cannot imagine. Two words that are expression of lost dreams and insecurity, words that can be so harmful and dangerous and yet so commonly used among us. „What if” is “the beginning of the end for all hope” as some say. As I said, a horrible combination of words, words that everyone has thought about, that everyone has said out loud at least once in their lives. And the moment they do it, every trace of positive thinking starts to fade away. And that is natural because we use these words to think about something that could have happened, something that we want so badly and yet we know that it will never come true and here comes disappointment. And the more disappointed we are, the fewer our

expectations become until the day they vanish. You can see (and some of you probably know) how exhausting and painful is the process of losing hope. That is why nowadays most people just give up on them the moment they find out the truth about this rotting world. In most cases it is better that way. Still there are people that fight for their dreams and refuse to give up, but still I have not met, seen or even heard about a person that has succeeded in his fight with despair and fulfilled all his dreams. The choice is yours, if you can handle disappointment then hold on to you dreams. But if you had enough of all that pain and if you want it to stop you’d better open your eyes and live for the moment. The future cannot be foreseen, the past cannot be edited, and it is the present that gives you the opportunity to take your destiny into your own hands.

The Truth about 2012 by Trayana Ivanova 10a

It was a warm summer`s evening and a light breeze was blowing across the bay. My boyfriend and I were walking on the beach watching the moon and the stars. Suddenly a light from the sky flashed and started slowly to come closer to the Earth. It became bigger and bigger and eventually we saw that it was something like a spaceship. It was going to land on the beach, so we hid in the bushes nearby so that we could see what exactly that “thing” was. It turned out that it really was a spaceship. When it landed a door opened and an alien came out. It shouted “Come out! We know where you are hiding. Do not make us come for you! “We were so scared we didn`t know what to do. We didn`t want to be killed by aliens. Then the alien repeated “ Come out!” And we did. It took us into its spaceship. I was really scared and as usual when I`m scared I started to talk too much and too fast “ Please don`t kill us.. I`ll do whatever you say ... Just please don`t kill us. Please … Please… Please … “Do not speak! “the alien answered. “ I will explain everything to you. You probably wonder how I know your language. Well, I know it because I invented it. I created this planet and everything that lives on it. You were my science project. I am a great scientist on my planet and I wanted to create creatures similar to us but I gave you very little brain and I left you to live on this beautiful green planet…At first you were doing well, then you discovered fire, electricity, technology and tons of other things and started to pollute and slowly destroy your beautiful planet. So I decided to end my project in 2012. Now you know the truth. Go and live your last years of life well. Farewell humans !!!

November`10 - 7 -

Fun Page Wordsearch

Find eight words connected to Halloween in the wordsearch grid below:

Halloween joke Two men were walking home after a Halloween party and decided to take a shortcut through the cemetery just for laughs. Right in the middle of the cemetery they were startled by a tap-tap-tapping noise coming from the misty shadows. Trembling with fear, they found an old man with a hammer and chisel, chipping away at one of the headstones. "Holy cow, Mister," one of them said after catching his breath, "You scared us half to death -- we thought you were a ghost! What are you doing working here so late at night?" "Those fools!" the old man grumbled. "They misspelled my name!"

DEVIL'S NIGHT Don't go out on Devil's Night. Stay in your bed and keep on the light. Little demons and ghouls have their fun all right, outside on the streets this Devil's Night. You don't want to know what mischief they cause. On Halloween Eve they run without pause, flying and laughing, and breaking the laws, you really don't want to see the mischief they've caused. Please heed my words, stay under the covers, and tell your friends and your sisters, and of course your brothers.

Stay in bed, don't even peek through the shutters, 'cause a goblin or ghost may spook you to stutters. Just wait until daybreak on Halloween Day, when you know all the ghouls and ghosts are away. They hate the daylight, "it's no fun," they say. So just please, please wait to Trick or Treat on Halloween Day.

IT'S HALLOWEEN It's Halloween! It's Halloween! The moon is full and bright And we shall see what can't be seen On any other night. Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls, Grinning goblins fighting duels, Werewolves rising from their tombs, Witches on their magic brooms. In masks and gowns we haunt the street And knock on doors for trick or treat. Tonight we are the king and queen, For oh tonight. It's Halloween!

s t k e w b u g c g r g h o s t a d f i n g e r r u h n c m n p y e r s g k o u v t r e a t q v h c d c k b f z b w i t c h e s

November`10 - 8 -

Helloween- Halloween- lyrics Masquerade, masquerade, Grab your mask and don't be late Get out get out well disguised Heat and fever in Ihe air tonight Meet the others at the store, Knock on other people's door Trick or treat they have the choice little ghost's are makin'lotsa noise But watch out . . beware - listen . . .take care In the streets on Halloween There's something going on No way to escape the power unknown In the streets on Halloween The spirits will arise Make your choice, it's hell or paradise Ah - it's Halloween Ah - it's Halloween..tonight! Someone's sitting in a field, Never giving yield Sltting there with gleaming eyes Waiting for big punpkin to arise Bad luck if you get a stone Like the good oId Charlie Brown

You think Linus could be right The kids will say it's just a stupid lie But watch out...beware – listen...take care In the streets on Halloween There's something going on No way to escape the power unknown In the streets on Halloween The spirits will arise Make your choice, it's hell or paradise Ah - it's Halloween Ah - it's Halloween..tonight! Listen now- we are calling you... And there's maglc in the air Magic in the air... on Halloween Black is the night full of fright You'II be missing the day What will be here very soon Changing your way A knock at your door Is it real or is it a dream On trembling legs you open the door

And you scream. . . . .on Halloween Darkness Where am I now Is there anybody out there What has happened Am I in heaven Or is it hell I can see a Light comin' It's comin' nearer It's shining It's shining so bright It's shining on me I am the one, doom 's in my hands Now make your choice, redeemed or enslaved I'll show you passion ang glory He Is the snake I'll give you power and abundance He's the corrupter of man Save me from the evil one Give me strength to carry on I will fight for all mankind's deliverance and peace of min

Crossword PUZZLE 1. A sudden,violent shaking of the Earth`s surface. 2. An organisation that gives money and helps people who are poor, sick or in difficulty. 3. The noun from solve 4. A great overflow of water onto a place that is

usually dry. 5. Bad weather conditions with strong wind and

often rain, lightning and thunder. 6. Woman whose husband has died and who has

not married again. 7. To receive money, goods or property from

someone who has died or moved on. 8. The noun from repeat. 9. To restore (esp. old buildings) to good

condition. If you solve the crossword puzzle correctly, you will get the name of a popular holiday Made by: Teodora Cholakova, Trayana Ivanova, Rositsa Georgieva, Maria Mitkova , Gloria Momchilova from 10

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