1- It is where the future expatriate employee visits the place in which it is employed to validate and sign the contract. It is also usually the trip in which parents will choose the school that their children will attend, the accommodation and so on.

2- These are usually pre-selected shaped containers often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth; it is decorated, and filled with candy and then broken as part of the celebration in which a child is given a baseball bat to break it open to let the other children run at its feet and get as much candy as possible.

3- Day of the dead, a two day holiday celebrated on the first and second of November that reunites the living and the dead. Families create “ofrendas” (offerings) to honour their deceased family members. It is a way to remember loved ones by sharing a meal with them as one would when they are alive. People paint their face as “calaveras” (skull drawn). The offerings include Tequila, Mezcal, pulque and Pan de Muertos (a specific type of bread). Families will also play games together, reminisce about their loved ones, and dance while the village band plays in their town.

4- Culture week, a week in which the school acknowledges culture by encouraging its community to offer activities, exhibitions and conferences about it.

5- The fifth of May, the day in which the commemoration of Mexico’s victory over the French empire in eighteen-sixty-two from the Battle of Puebla is celebrated with activities, music and lunches.

6- An academic dictation for one to improve one’s grammar and spelling.

7- Xochimilco means floating gardens as the Aztecs created Chinampas which were artificial agricultural plots rich in minerals and there they would plant thousands of flower fields. After the Spanish invasion, they dried up many of the canals in the centre of Mexico City in order to make room for modern roads. But the canals in Xochimilco remained. Today, Xochimilco is UNESCO World Heritage Site as it preserves this Aztecs technology.

8- They are what describes a traditional Mexican group consisting of four or more musicians that wear Charro suits (horseman type of uniform). They represent Mexican musical culture, they traditionally feature two violins, a guitar, a ‘guitarrón’ (large bass guitar) and a ’vihuela’ (a guitar-like spanish string instrument).

9- An ancient Mesoamerican city settled as early as four hundred B.C. which became the most powerful and influential city in the region as Aztecs found the city and built on it the spectacular pyramids. They named it Teotihuacán (meaning ‘the place where the gods were created’). There lie very important structures such as the Pyramid of the Sun (66 metres above ground level), the Pyramid of the Moon (43 metres metres above ground level), the Ciudadela (citycenter) and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent, one of the major deities of the ancient Mayan pantheon).

10- Black Berry Messenger, it was a proprietary mobile instant messenger and videotelephony application included on BlackBerry devices that allows messaging and voice calls between BlackBerry OS, iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile users first released fifteen years ago.

11- An active stratovolcano located in the states of Puebla, Morelos and Mexico and lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. It is the second highest peak in Mexico with five-thousand, four-hundred and twenty-six metres of altitude. Its name in Nahuatl (Ancient Aztec language) means ‘smoking mountain’. In Aztec mythology, the volcanoes were once humans who were deeply in love. The legend tells the story of two star-crossed lovers, the young brave warrior Popocateptl and the beautiful princess Iztaccihuatl. The father of Iztaccihuatl, a mighty ruler, placed a demanding condition upon Popocatepetl before he could take her his bride. His mandate required that Popocatepetl first engage in a battle against the tribe’s enemy and return victorious, the story goes on with Popocatepetl setting off for battle with Iztaccihuatl waiting for his return. Treacherously, a rival of Popocatepetl’s sends a false message back to the ruler that the warrior has been slain when in fact, Popocatepetl has won the battle and is ready to return to his beloved. However, the princess upon hearing the false news, falls ill of deep sorrow and dies of a broken heart. And when Popocatepetl returns triumphant to his people and discovers Iztaccihuatl’s death, his heartbreak is inconsolable; he therefore carries her body to the mountains whereupon he has a funeral pyre built for them both where he then dies grief-stricken next to her. The Gods touched by their love, turn them into mountains, so that they may rest together for eternity. On occasion, Popocatepetl will spew ash, reminding those watching that he is always in attendance.

12- A region in which, as part of their migration cycle, monarch butterflies fly around four-thousand and five-hundred km from Canada to the United States to spend the coldest months of the year in warmer lands. The monarch butterfly has the longest migration trajectory of any insect, and their journey is a wonder in itself. These beautiful creatures start their long flight in August and arrive during the first days of November to the tall trees they’ll call home until Spring. During the 4 to 5 months that the butterflies stay in Mexico, the forests become an orange wonderland. Pine and oak trees are completely covered with butterflies that tend to stay very close together. The butterflies migrate to this forest because it has all the elements they need to reproduce. There are clear streams running between the bushes, the temperature is cool but not too cold, and – most importantly – silence.

13- The ocean is the lifeblood of Earth, covering more than seventy percent of the planet’s surface, driving weather, regulating temperature, and ultimately supporting all living organisms. Throughout history, the ocean has been a vital source of sustenance, transport, commerce, growth, and inspiration; yet more than eighty percent of this vast, underwater realm remains unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored.

14- These are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous mammals sometimes also known as ‘sea cows’. They are found in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

15- It is a social event to mark a person’s departure; a farewell party. Usually an unforgettable night filled with a huge celebration followed by farewell cries.

16- Or alphasyllabary is a segmental writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as a unit; each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel notation is secondary. This contrasts to our full alphabet in which vowels have status equal to consonants.

17- Literally means two benches and refers to what it offers, a passenger vehicle. They are used both within towns and cities as well as for longer routes between towns and villages. Those within towns are converted from pick-up trucks and usually travel fixed routes for a set fare, but in some cases (as in Chiang Mai) they are used as shared taxis for passengers traveling in roughly the same direction for cheap fares.

18- Also known as ‘rickshaw’, it is a 3 wheeler vehicle which can carry about 2-3 passengers and can get you through short distances in cities. Being an indigenous mode of transport, the tuk-tuk is an attraction among tourists. More than 35,000 tuk-tuks run the streets of Thai cities (mainly Bangkok) and the fares vary from around 80-150 Baht.

19- These are the objectives that underpin Regents’ philosophy and framework of “Be ambitious Be Regents”, but they are mainly the “pillars” that a school must demonstrate and offer to its students through different areas of educational practice: I stands for Internationalism, D for Democracy, E for Environmentalism, A for Adventure, L for Leadership and S for Service).

In addition to the six IDEALS, students are expected to discover twelve route-markers or ’Round Square Discoveries’. This integral part of the Round Square Discovery Framework describes the attitudes, attributes, skills and values developed and explored by students on their Round Square learning journey.

20- This is a programme that takes several different forms:

• Community Service and partnerships
• The international exchange programme
• Global citizenship Award
• Outdoor education

21- These include four main school buildings, a four hundred meter all-weather running track, an air-conditioned double-size sports hall, an astroturf pitch, two outdoor swimming pools with audience seatings, a full-sized football pitch, a theatre (The Globe), two drama studios, two dance studios, two art studios, two music departments, three on-site kitchens, a café which we called The Tuckshop, and ICT rooms.

22- Regents International School is a partner of world-leading organisations: The Juilliard School, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), ISTA (International Schools Theatre Association), FOBISIA Sports and more.

23- There is Yellow House (the wind), Red House (the fire), Blue House (the water) and Green House (the earth, the best house of course).

24- These consisted in reuniting the whole of Secondary School’s student body, teachers, staff and principals to share news, announcements, have musical interventions, have public speakers and so on.

25- Outdoor Education is a week spent enriching and encouraging personal growth, perseverance in addition to individual and collective commitment to a common goal; one of life’s most powerful learning experiences each academic year.

26- Once each academic year, all students, from Early Primary up to our IB students, are excused from timetabled lessons for one week in order to take part in a series of activities designed with the six IDEALS in mind.

27- This is one of the largest and most extravagant contender on Pattaya’s transgender cabaret show scene.

28- A seasonal prevailing wind in the region of South-East Asia, blowing from the South-West between May and September bringing rain.

29- Also referred to as “Thai boxing”. It is the national sport and cultural martial art of Thailand. Muay Thai is referred to as “The Art of Eight Limbs” as fighters use eight body points of contact mimicking weapons of war. The hands become the sword and dagger; the shins and forearms are hardened in training to act as armour against blows, and the elbow to fall opponents like a heavy mace or hammer; the legs and knees become the axe and staff. The body operates as one unit. The knees and elbows constantly search and test for an opening while grappling and trying to spin an enemy to the ground for the kill.

30- An intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone.

31- A brief but intense infatuation for someone, especially someone unattainable.

32- Stands for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education. It is a two year programme leading to externally set, marked and certificated examinations from University of Cambridge which are globally recognised.

33- Brisbane, capital of Queensland, is a large city on the Brisbane River. Clustered in its South Bank cultural precinct are the Queensland Museum and Sciencentre, with noted interactive exhibitions. Another South Bank cultural institution is Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, among Australia’s major contemporary art museums. Looming over the city is Mt. Coot-tha, site of Brisbane Botanic Gardens.

34- The Gold Coast is a metropolitan region south of Brisbane on Australia’s east coast. It’s famed for its long sandy beaches, surfing spots and elaborate system of inland canals and waterways. It’s also home to theme parks such as Dreamworld, Sea World and Wet’n’Wild. Inland, hiking trails crisscross Lamington National Park’s mountain ridges and valleys, home to rare birds and rainforest.

35- Glass House Mountains is a hinterland town and locality of the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia, named after the famous Glass House Mountains of the area. Colloquially it is often known simply as "Glasshouse".

36- An Australian resort area on southern Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Known for its heavy surf, Sunshine Beach is backed by cafes and boutiques. A coastal trail runs north past the beaches of Noosa National Park, home to koalas around Tea Tree Bay. South of the Noosa Everglades, kayaks and sailboats dot the waters of Lake Cootharaba. Inland, Lake MacDonald has the Noosa Botanic Gardens, plus an amphitheatre.

37- An island off Australia’s eastern Queensland coast, is the world’s largest sand island, stretching over a hundred and twenty km. Panoramic viewpoints include Indian Head, a rocky outcrop on the island’s easternmost tip, and the Cathedrals, a cliff famous for sculpted ribbons of coloured sand. It’s a camping and ecotourism destination, with beaches and swimming sites at Lake McKenzie, Lake Wabby and other freshwater pools.

38- A seaside resort on Queensland’s Gold Coast in eastern Australia. It’s known for its high-rise skyline and Surfers Paradise Beach, which hosts a popular market several evenings a week. Along Cavill Avenue there are shops, cafes and lively nightclubs. The towering Q1 building, with its SkyPoint observation deck, offers panoramic ocean and city views.

39- A coastal town in the southeastern Australian state of New South Wales. It’s a popular holiday destination, known for its beaches, surfing and scuba diving sites. Cape Byron State Conservation Park is on a headland with a lighthouse. Between June and November, humpback whales can be spotted from headland viewpoints such as the Captain Cook Lookout.

40- Tokyo was formerly (until 1868) known as Edo, the name of the small fishing village that existed on the site for centuries. Edo’s development into a city did not occur until the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), when it became the capital of the Tokugawa shogunate. During this period, however, the imperial family remained in Kyōto, the ancient imperial capital. With the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ended the shogunate, the capital was moved to Edo, and the city was renamed Tokyo, meaning "eastern capital.” It is located at the head of Tokyo Bay on the Pacific coast of central Honshu. Tokyo is the focus of the vast Tokyo-Yokohama Metropolitan Area, often called Greater Tokyo. Today it is the largest metropolitan in the world.

41- The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma) as well as the prefecture of Yamanashi of the neighboring Chūbu region. In Japanese, it is referred to by various terms, one of the most common being Capital Region (首都圏, Shuto-ken).

42- The toilet lid automatically lifts itself up thanks to a movement detector and the seat warms or cools itself according to the room temperature. There is a control panel stuck on the wall or directly on the toilet which activates the cleansing options available. These are also adjustable to one’s taste (there are five different adjustable options).

43- The most active earthquake belt in the world; in which several continental and oceanic plates meet and cause the frictional shift which releases radiating waves of the strain energy from the gliding boundaries’ built fault line failure. If the earthquake occurs beneath or near the ocean, they may trigger a tsunami; which did occur in Japan on the Friday eleven of March in the year two thousand and eleven following the earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku with a magnitude nine.

44- High school. The traditional French lycée covers the last three years of secondary education. There are two main types of traditional lycée, the lycée général or lycée classique, and the lycée technique. In big towns and cities, there will be a mix of both types; in smaller towns, there may not be a lycée tehnique. The main function of the lycée is to prepare pupils to sit the baccalauréat (or bac) exam, the equivalent of British A levels. Classes in a traditional lycée cover the same range as in collège, with the addition of philosophy (for all) in the final year. The three classes (grades 10 to 12) are known as seconde, première and terminale. Unlike English "A levels" or Scottish "highers", the baccalaureate is a unitary exam, that pupils pass or fail. It is impossible to pass in one subject and fail in others. The only mark that counts is the final weighted average, which must be at last 10/20 for a pupil to pass. Pupils who achieve just under 10/20 are often passed by the exam board, whose decision is final. Pupils achieving betwen 8 and 10 can resit their baccalaureat as an oral exam a few weeks later. Those who get under 8/20 must retake their year, and try again.

The general Baccalaureate is organised in different "series". In their final year, all pupils specialise in function of the "series" they have chosen, of which currently there are three; the "L" series (literary studies), the "ES" series (economic et social studies), and the S" series (sciences). Each "series" includes different specialities.

45- Also known as ‘flower viewing’: It is during this period that the Japanese are at their most relaxed, and all public places take on a party-like atmosphere. Typical Hanami spots include city parks, landscape gardens, castle grounds and along riverbanks, and you’ll find all of these areas buzzing with people throughout the sakura season. The blossom usually only hangs around for a couple of weeks - sometimes less if there is heavy rain on the cards - so you only have a brief window in which to enjoy the trees in full bloom. So popular are these parties that some companies will pay a member of staff to sit in the park all day, saving a spot for the office hanami in the evening! Hanami can be conducted in the daytime sun or in the evening. Both are lovely, but we particularly enjoy the blossoms at dusk when lanterns hang in the trees, turning the canopy a glowing pink. You might also be lucky enough to spot a geisha or two entertaining clients under the trees!

In ancient Japan, cherry blossom had great importance because it announced the rice-planting season and was used to divine the year’s harvest. Its fleeting beauty, moreover, was celebrated as a metaphor for life itself - and it was praised in numerous poems of the era. Such was its significance that the Japanese believed the sakura trees contained spirits, and made offerings to them with rice wine.

46- Lake Baikal, Russian Ozero Baykal, also spelled Ozero Bajkal, lake located in the southern part of eastern Siberia within the republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk oblast (province) of Russia. It is the oldest existing freshwater lake on Earth (twenty million or more years old), as well as the deepest continental body of water, having a maximum depth of a thousand six-hundred and twenty metres. Its area is some thirty-one thousand and five-hundred square km, with a length of six hundred and thirty-six km and an average width of forty-eight km. It is also the world’s largest freshwater lake by volume, containing about one-fifth of the fresh water on Earth’s surface, some twenty-three thousand cubic km. Into Lake Baikal flow more than three-hundred and thirty rivers and streams, the largest of which include the Selenga, Barguzin, Upper (Verkhnyaya) Angara, Chikoy, and Uda.

47- Trichotillomania (pronounced trik-o-till-o-MAY-nee-uh), also referred to as “hair-pulling disorder,” is a mental disorder classified under Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders and involves recurrent, irresistible urges to pull hair from the scalp, eyebrows, eyelids, and other areas of the body, despite repeated attempts to stop or decrease hair pulling.

Hair pulling from the face can result in complete or partial removal of the eyebrows and eyelashes, while hair pulling from the scalp can result in varying degrees of patches of hair loss. The hair pulling and subsequent hair loss results in distress for the person, and can interfere with social and occupational functioning.

48- The TPE, translated into Personal Supervised Work, is one of the exams required to pass the French Baccalaureat (diploma of end of secondary studies). The TPE allows student to develop their skills on a project that they have chosen, helped by one of their teachers.

The project lasts a few months and at the end, the students (usually three on a project) present their work during thirty minutes in front of a jury. The topics of the project have to be coherent to the series in which the students are.

49- Hiroshima, located in the Hiroshimaken (prefecture), southwestern Honshu, Japan. On the six of August, nineteen forty-five; Hiroshima became the first city in the world to be struck by an atomic bomb. Hiroshima, whose name means “broad island,” is situated on the delta of the Ōta River, whose six channels divide it into several islets. It was founded as a castle town by the feudal lord Mōri Terumoto in the sixteenth century. From eighteen sixty-eight onward it was a military centre, which made it a potential target for Allied bombing during World War II. However, the city had not been attacked before the atomic bomb was dropped by a B-twenty-nine bomber of the U.S. Army Air Forces at about eight fifteen in the morning. Most of the city was destroyed, and estimates of the number of people killed outright or shortly after the blast have ranged upward from seventy-thousand. Deaths and illnesses from radiation injury continued to mount through the succeeding decades.

Today, Hiroshima has become a spiritual centre of the peace movement for the banning of nuclear weapons. In nineteen forty-seven the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (since nineteen seventy-five the Radiation Effects Research Foundation) began to conduct medical and biological research on the effects of radiation in Hiroshima. A number of public hospitals and private clinics give free treatment to victims of the atomic bombing. Hiroshima Castle, destroyed in the bombing, was restored in nineteen fifty-seven and is now housing a museum of the city’s history.

50- Mount Fuji, Japanese Fuji-san, also spelled Fujisan, also called Fujiyama or Fuji no Yama, is the highest mountain in Japan. It rises to three thousand and seventy-six metres near the Pacific Ocean coast in Yamanashi and Shizuoka ken (prefectures) of central Honshu, about a hundred km west of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area. It is a volcano that has been dormant since its last eruption, in seventeen-seven, but is still generally classified as active by geologists. The mountain is the major feature of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park (nineteen thirsty-six), and it is at the centre of a UNESCO World Heritage site designated in twenty-thirteen.

51- A tatami (畳) is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatami are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for training in a dojo and for competition. Tatami are covered with woven soft rush (藺草, igusa) straw. The core is traditionally made from rice straw, but contemporary tatami sometimes have compressed wood chip boards or polystyrene foam cores. The long sides are usually edged (縁, heri) with brocade or plain cloth, although some tatami have no edging.

52- Kyōto, city, seat of Kyōto fu (urban prefecture), west-central Honshu island, Japan. It is located some fifty km northeast of the industrial city of Ōsaka and about the same distance from Nara.

Kyōto fu is at the centre of Kinki chihō (region). The city is one of the centres (with nearby Ōsaka and Kōbe) of the Keihanshin Industrial Zone, the second largest urban and industrial agglomeration in Japan. The capital of Japan for more than a thousand years (from seven hundred and ninety-four to eighteen hundred and sixty-eight), Kyōto (literally, “Capital City”) has been called a variety of names through the centuries—Heian-kyō (“Capital of Peace and Tranquillity”), Miyako (“The Capital”), and Saikyō (“Western Capital”), its name after the Meiji Restoration (eighteen sixty-eight) when the imperial household moved to Tokyo. The contemporary phrase ‘sekai no Kyōto’ (“the world’s Kyōto”) reflects the reception of Japanese culture abroad and Kyōto’s own attempt to keep up with the times. Nevertheless, Kyōto is the centre of traditional Japanese culture and of Buddhism, as well as of fine textiles and other Japanese products. The deep feeling of the Japanese people for their culture and heritage is represented in their special relationship with Kyōto—all Japanese try to go there at least once in their lives, with almost a third of the country’s population visiting the city annually. Several of the historic temples and gardens of Kyōto were collectively added as a UNESCO World Heritage site in nineteen nighty-four. Area eight hundred and twenty-eight square km.

53- Studio Ghibli Inc. (Japanese: 株式会社スタジオジブリ) is a Japanese animation film studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo. The studio is best known for its animated feature films, and has also produced several short films, television commercials, and one television film. It was founded on June fifteen, nineteen eighty-five by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki. Its films were met with critical and commercial success in Japan. They are characterised by the recurrence of themes such as humanity’s relationship with nature and technology, the wholesomeness of natural and traditional patterns of living, the importance of art and craftsmanship, and the difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic in a violent world. The protagonists of his films are often strong girls or young women, and several of his films present morally ambiguous antagonists with redeeming qualities.

54- Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社, Fushimi Inari Taisha) is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at two-hundred and thirty-three meters and belongs to the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari’s messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds.

55- The Paris Institute of Political Studies (French: Institut d’études politiques de Paris, commonly referred to as Sciences Po Paris or just Sciences Po, is a higher education institution located in France, and member of the Conférence des Grandes écoles. It was founded in eighteen seventy-two to promote a new class of French politicians in the aftermath of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War.

Next Chapter: Epilogue