Saturday, 9 July 2011
- Global Summit .
The Global Summit , a UN general assembly re-enactment , was the final wrap up simulation , and the most satisfying for sure . As a part of the Health commission and having my sub-commissions proposal pass with a grand majority ( 9 votes for , 3 votes against) , it was so satisfying to be nominated to speak on behalf of the resolution during the simulation . I was given the choice between presenting the resolution to the delegates , or to speak on behalf of India as well as the Pandemics sub-commission in favour of the proposal , and I decided to support the resolution rather than present it . During the coalition meeting will all 12 countries and 308 scholars , myself and about 10 other people who were chosen to speak went and worked on our speeches in a different room . Even after studying global pandemics constantly for the previous 48 hours , the statistics i was researching blew me away . I ended up using : In the '90's , 50 million people died from the Spanish flu pandemic . If a similar scale pandemic were to hit the United States in modern times , 1 in every 6 Americans would die , and even more would be affected . Once i researched a little more into individual countries situations as a backup , i whipped up a speech in about 15 minutes , and revised it 132940 times . On Tuesday morning we had a speaker who was a business and economics professor come talk to us at the college campus , and i wasn’t highly impressed, though it seemed to catch the interest of many people at the conference so it was potentially just myself discovering my lack of interest in business itself. Some of the information about population growth and perspectives on world development were interesting , but other aspect of the presentation i found myself rather indifferent to . Later that evening we went to the United Nations headquarters to hear from a speaker there on UN involvement and processes worldwide . It was extremely interesting to hear her personal perspectives , as well as those she expressed on behalf of the UN as a collective . Many controversial questions were raised concerning the UN's involvement in the Rwanda genocide as well as issues between Greece and Macedonia . The debates over dinner that fallowed that night between citizens of those countries were heated , though surprisingly controlled . I like to believe that if the same problems were to arise earlier on in the conference , things would've gotten out of hand and nothing productive would've come as a result , but i could never know that for sure . The next day , we headed off to the UN once more for our global summit itself . Health was the 3rd commission to be represented , and i was shaking during the presentation of my resolution , but I was so proud of all the work I’d put into it with a few other people . After speaking in favour of it , which went remarkably well , no one stood up for speaking against the resolution , meaning no country was able to vote against it though they were still able to abstain . My resolution was 1 of the 6 that was passed , mine with no amendments made and 10 votes for , 2 abstaining. For me , that paid off for the whole conference , something as simple as that . The resolution for Human Rights concerning woman’s rights was an absolute gong show , presented in an incorrect format , with no implication methods or timelines , and raised major conflicts with varying religions . I believe we heard one statement supporting the resolution , and six speakers against . I believe there was one country who actually voted in favour of it , the rest against with one abstaining . The summit itself was an absolute success . The professionalism expressed throughout the entire group was extremely satisfying to see. Running off to Rockefeller for the 3rd time to change for the upcoming dinner cruise was satisfying and hectic and carefree , a perfect build up to a perfect night .
Monday, 4 July 2011
- Day Eight .
THE NIGHT :
Two hours of sleep is quite a lot of rest. Believe me, I was in the BEST mood today after sleeping . Last night, I spent the night in as little pyjamas as I could lying on my bed with no sheets , a water bottle , and my own tears . Since our glorious air conditioner is broken, our room was a good eight million degrees . It felt like I was trying to force myself to sleep in a hot yoga studio. After taking a cold shower at about one AM, I got back into bed and was still suffocating in the heat. Once it hit about 1:45 , I got into the shower AGAIN, with it on ice cold that it almost froze my skin. I lasted 50 seconds in there than ran out and hopped into bed, still wet from the shower. That had cooled me off enough to finally fall asleep at about 2:15 , to realize that breakfast was early the next morning and I had to be up by 5AM. Kill me now.
SOCIAL:
Today didn’t have too much of a political attachment aside from our Commission meetings. We got to explore NY and do so much in one day , so it was a huge event for me . We started off , bright and freaking early, on our way to Ellis Island. As I was leaving the dorms, I saw it was cloudy, decided it would pass , and I continued on to the bus in a tank top and a skirt with no umbrella. It’ll pass right ? Mmmmm , pass from cloudy skies to pouring rain. Well shit . We get off the bus and get into long processing line-ups waiting to go through security and so on, and Abi and Holly and I decide that the cute little Greek couple in front of us (still from the conference) needed some company, so we made our way under their umbrella . It was a great first introduction. Once we finally got on the fairy, it was about an hour after we’d gotten off the bus and I was just as keen for getting back on. I met up with my friend and spent all morning with them, touring Ellis Island and stuff. We found the walls where all the immigrants names were inscribed on and looked through them for our last names. I found a bunch of Walsh’s but the closest I could get to Meneghetti was Meneghezzi, which I figured was pretty close. After our half hour visit at Ellis Island (and the two hour processing and transportation process since we got off the bus) we headed back to go to Chinatown and Little Italy for lunch. Trillby, Holly, Abi and I found the funniest little Italian place in Little Italy and they were so classic NY Italian, it made me laugh so hard. They all ordered pizzas, and I ordered some chicken dish with artichokes and tomatoes and such. So their pizzas came like 10 minutes before we needed to leave for bus boarding, and I still hadn’t gotten my food. They had completely forgotten about my order so I chowed down on a slice of bread or two that they gave us when we sat down , and we left to get on the bus for BROADWAY. I cried when we drove up . And again during the show. And again laying in bed thinking about it. It was amazing . We saw Mary Poppins and I wanted that to be me sooo bad. But it was absolutely amazing . I felt as if I could die a complete person from then on. Once the production was over, we were free to explore Times Square for about two hours, including getting dinner, which I was dying for by that point. Everything was so overwhelming, I was left speechless. Holly and I split from the Australians for shopping and we did awesome by the end of it. Such a good experience all together, and we get to go back on Tuesday for 3 hours ! We came back and met with our commissions to brainstorm ideas for our proposals and made sure we fought for what we needed in our own respective countries. H1N1 and AIDS were the two biggest pandemics that we are dealing with modern day so we based a lot of our ideas off of that. By that point, I walked into our room right before the commission meeting started to grab a hoodie and drop off the dress I bought , and the air conditioner had been fixed and I began to cry . AGAIN . Not sleeping makes you too emotional. I was voted speaker for the health commission later on, even though I looked like a hot mess and had lost my voice so I sounded horrible, they seemed to want me representing. As soon as we were dismissed, I got the hell outta there and went straight back to my room. I hand washed a bunch of laundry in the sink, which was sooo necessary.
TOMORROW:
Guest speakers, Commission Meetings, BBQ cookout , Evening Social ! It’s going to be the 4th of July !
Two hours of sleep is quite a lot of rest. Believe me, I was in the BEST mood today after sleeping . Last night, I spent the night in as little pyjamas as I could lying on my bed with no sheets , a water bottle , and my own tears . Since our glorious air conditioner is broken, our room was a good eight million degrees . It felt like I was trying to force myself to sleep in a hot yoga studio. After taking a cold shower at about one AM, I got back into bed and was still suffocating in the heat. Once it hit about 1:45 , I got into the shower AGAIN, with it on ice cold that it almost froze my skin. I lasted 50 seconds in there than ran out and hopped into bed, still wet from the shower. That had cooled me off enough to finally fall asleep at about 2:15 , to realize that breakfast was early the next morning and I had to be up by 5AM. Kill me now.
SOCIAL:
Today didn’t have too much of a political attachment aside from our Commission meetings. We got to explore NY and do so much in one day , so it was a huge event for me . We started off , bright and freaking early, on our way to Ellis Island. As I was leaving the dorms, I saw it was cloudy, decided it would pass , and I continued on to the bus in a tank top and a skirt with no umbrella. It’ll pass right ? Mmmmm , pass from cloudy skies to pouring rain. Well shit . We get off the bus and get into long processing line-ups waiting to go through security and so on, and Abi and Holly and I decide that the cute little Greek couple in front of us (still from the conference) needed some company, so we made our way under their umbrella . It was a great first introduction. Once we finally got on the fairy, it was about an hour after we’d gotten off the bus and I was just as keen for getting back on. I met up with my friend and spent all morning with them, touring Ellis Island and stuff. We found the walls where all the immigrants names were inscribed on and looked through them for our last names. I found a bunch of Walsh’s but the closest I could get to Meneghetti was Meneghezzi, which I figured was pretty close. After our half hour visit at Ellis Island (and the two hour processing and transportation process since we got off the bus) we headed back to go to Chinatown and Little Italy for lunch. Trillby, Holly, Abi and I found the funniest little Italian place in Little Italy and they were so classic NY Italian, it made me laugh so hard. They all ordered pizzas, and I ordered some chicken dish with artichokes and tomatoes and such. So their pizzas came like 10 minutes before we needed to leave for bus boarding, and I still hadn’t gotten my food. They had completely forgotten about my order so I chowed down on a slice of bread or two that they gave us when we sat down , and we left to get on the bus for BROADWAY. I cried when we drove up . And again during the show. And again laying in bed thinking about it. It was amazing . We saw Mary Poppins and I wanted that to be me sooo bad. But it was absolutely amazing . I felt as if I could die a complete person from then on. Once the production was over, we were free to explore Times Square for about two hours, including getting dinner, which I was dying for by that point. Everything was so overwhelming, I was left speechless. Holly and I split from the Australians for shopping and we did awesome by the end of it. Such a good experience all together, and we get to go back on Tuesday for 3 hours ! We came back and met with our commissions to brainstorm ideas for our proposals and made sure we fought for what we needed in our own respective countries. H1N1 and AIDS were the two biggest pandemics that we are dealing with modern day so we based a lot of our ideas off of that. By that point, I walked into our room right before the commission meeting started to grab a hoodie and drop off the dress I bought , and the air conditioner had been fixed and I began to cry . AGAIN . Not sleeping makes you too emotional. I was voted speaker for the health commission later on, even though I looked like a hot mess and had lost my voice so I sounded horrible, they seemed to want me representing. As soon as we were dismissed, I got the hell outta there and went straight back to my room. I hand washed a bunch of laundry in the sink, which was sooo necessary.
TOMORROW:
Guest speakers, Commission Meetings, BBQ cookout , Evening Social ! It’s going to be the 4th of July !
Saturday, 2 July 2011
- Day Seven .
Today was a long day of travel. Bussing from Washington to New York, while stopping in Philadelphia in between seemed like such a long trip. The bus was pretty laid back. Casual chatting, lots of music and such.
Once we got to Philadelphia, they dropped us off at the worst place possible to eat. We were given two hours (our longest lunch yet) and dropped off in the middle of no where at a mall that didn’t even have commercial food stores. So my friends and I walked about 20 mins up the road to another small food-court type place where we got some cheap Asian food. We were rushed straight out of there because Milly, an Aussie, was petrified of the place and was too paranoid to sit still. So we left there in a hurry and headed back to what seemed to be considered a mall. After walking through the same series of shops 12 times that all sold the same t-shirt that said Philadelphia on it, Holly and I ended up sitting at a table waiting for time to pass to get back on the bus.
Abi and I slept pretty much the whole way from Philly to NY. Once we got here , I was ecstatic. The drive up to the campus of the Manhattan College was beautiful . We got there and we came in and dropped our bags off at the elevator and were told to walk up the stairs to our rooms. That’s all good though, because its not like my room was on the 11th floor or anything. Oh wait, it was. Trillby, another Aussie, and I decided it might be fun to run up 11 flights of stairs and by the time I got to the top, I could neither breathe or move. Bad idea. The food at the campus is decent, a salad bar and fresh fruit, ect, but the cooked food was bad. After an orientation of the campus, we were sent off to our LGM’s where we were assigned our role in the Global Summit simulation: Health Commission specializing in Global Pandemics.
After LGM, we headed off to an evening social in the courtyard of dancing, which was way too much fun.
Ive got a new roommate, Simone, from the other side of Australia (Melbourne). She’s sweet, and being with her at night is gonna make gaining the accent inevitable. But the dorms are disgusting. There is mould all through the bathroom, the hot water takes 10 mins to heat up, and worst, our air conditioner is broken and our window opens less than 2 inches. Tonight is going to kill me. How is a girl from freaking CANADA supposed to sleep in this heat ?!
Once we got to Philadelphia, they dropped us off at the worst place possible to eat. We were given two hours (our longest lunch yet) and dropped off in the middle of no where at a mall that didn’t even have commercial food stores. So my friends and I walked about 20 mins up the road to another small food-court type place where we got some cheap Asian food. We were rushed straight out of there because Milly, an Aussie, was petrified of the place and was too paranoid to sit still. So we left there in a hurry and headed back to what seemed to be considered a mall. After walking through the same series of shops 12 times that all sold the same t-shirt that said Philadelphia on it, Holly and I ended up sitting at a table waiting for time to pass to get back on the bus.
Abi and I slept pretty much the whole way from Philly to NY. Once we got here , I was ecstatic. The drive up to the campus of the Manhattan College was beautiful . We got there and we came in and dropped our bags off at the elevator and were told to walk up the stairs to our rooms. That’s all good though, because its not like my room was on the 11th floor or anything. Oh wait, it was. Trillby, another Aussie, and I decided it might be fun to run up 11 flights of stairs and by the time I got to the top, I could neither breathe or move. Bad idea. The food at the campus is decent, a salad bar and fresh fruit, ect, but the cooked food was bad. After an orientation of the campus, we were sent off to our LGM’s where we were assigned our role in the Global Summit simulation: Health Commission specializing in Global Pandemics.
After LGM, we headed off to an evening social in the courtyard of dancing, which was way too much fun.
Ive got a new roommate, Simone, from the other side of Australia (Melbourne). She’s sweet, and being with her at night is gonna make gaining the accent inevitable. But the dorms are disgusting. There is mould all through the bathroom, the hot water takes 10 mins to heat up, and worst, our air conditioner is broken and our window opens less than 2 inches. Tonight is going to kill me. How is a girl from freaking CANADA supposed to sleep in this heat ?!
- Day Six .
POLITICAL / SOCIAL :
The main thing today was the Holocaust Memorial Museum. After an hour long prep, we headed off to the museum. In comparison to the Hiroshima museum in Japan that was absolutely amazing, the holocaust museum met my standards for sure. The layout through 4 floors of the progression of Hitler’s rampage was effective and I found that the information was properly distributed and didn’t carry on for two long. With wicked mood lighting, dimmed and bronze, it allowed us to get into the story right from the beginning. Some of the artefacts they had were incredible because they told each story beside it. There was a bible they found in one of the camps that belonged to a man that was killed a week before the camp was liberated. They also had a bridged walkway where underneath the walkway stood about 100,000 pairs of shoes that people wore into the crematories on their way to their death. I’m pretty sure that hit hard with every single person that walked over it. At the end of the museum, there was a place where you could make a pledge on your effort to never let that happen again, and so Yael and I both wrote one and placed it into the box of thousands of pledges already made. “I pledge to never stay silent.”
After the Holocaust memorial museum, Abi, Holly, Monika, and I decided to head out and speed-explore the Smithsonian. We chose to hit up the Smithsonian National Museum first, to eat and see the exhibits. Time was limited because we had spent so much time in the Holocaust museum, so we only had 2 hours to explore all we had to explore. After getting food , we were able to get through all 4 stories of the Smithsonian National in 25 minutes, including pictures and reading information of the exhibits that interested us. I saw/got a picture with Michelle Obama’s inauguration dress, as well as Jacquie Kennedy’s. I just about died when I saw Dorthy’s shoes and I got the most stunning picture of them. There was a dumbo statue thingy too ! Ahhh , so Morgan . After that we went to The National Gallery of Art and saw some amazing collections. The gift shop in that place was like Christmas. So many amazing things. I bought two Andy Warhol pictures that say “The world fascinates me” and “You have to be willing to become happy about nothing”, and they’re going straight on my wall when I get home.
We headed over to The Fashion Center at Pentagon City to shop for a bit and get some food. The States version of “Edo” was so sub-par, though in comparison to hotel fried chicken, it was delicious. I bought myself another pair of knock-off Ray Bans though they’re not black, they’re tortoise shell, or whatever you call the speckly brown.
Back at the hotel, we were given 40 minutes to pack, which with formal clothes and my cleanliness habits, is SO not long enough, so I ended up having to finish packing after room check.
We began the cultural exchange at night, and since it was Canada Day, the Canadians (4 ppl) insisted on going that night rather than tomorrow. After presenting both sides of the country, from Toronto to Calgary, we proudly sang the national anthem in French and English. I brought my Olympic mittens to show to people, and Simon, one of the Australian boys told me he’s never put on mittens before , so I passed them around the room after laughing a little. Claire brought maple candies, and Holly brought Canada pins. I got 3 Keychains, 2 from South Africa, and 1 from Trinidad & Tobago. We’ll finish the rest of the presentations after we arrive in NEW YORK TOMORROW !
The main thing today was the Holocaust Memorial Museum. After an hour long prep, we headed off to the museum. In comparison to the Hiroshima museum in Japan that was absolutely amazing, the holocaust museum met my standards for sure. The layout through 4 floors of the progression of Hitler’s rampage was effective and I found that the information was properly distributed and didn’t carry on for two long. With wicked mood lighting, dimmed and bronze, it allowed us to get into the story right from the beginning. Some of the artefacts they had were incredible because they told each story beside it. There was a bible they found in one of the camps that belonged to a man that was killed a week before the camp was liberated. They also had a bridged walkway where underneath the walkway stood about 100,000 pairs of shoes that people wore into the crematories on their way to their death. I’m pretty sure that hit hard with every single person that walked over it. At the end of the museum, there was a place where you could make a pledge on your effort to never let that happen again, and so Yael and I both wrote one and placed it into the box of thousands of pledges already made. “I pledge to never stay silent.”
After the Holocaust memorial museum, Abi, Holly, Monika, and I decided to head out and speed-explore the Smithsonian. We chose to hit up the Smithsonian National Museum first, to eat and see the exhibits. Time was limited because we had spent so much time in the Holocaust museum, so we only had 2 hours to explore all we had to explore. After getting food , we were able to get through all 4 stories of the Smithsonian National in 25 minutes, including pictures and reading information of the exhibits that interested us. I saw/got a picture with Michelle Obama’s inauguration dress, as well as Jacquie Kennedy’s. I just about died when I saw Dorthy’s shoes and I got the most stunning picture of them. There was a dumbo statue thingy too ! Ahhh , so Morgan . After that we went to The National Gallery of Art and saw some amazing collections. The gift shop in that place was like Christmas. So many amazing things. I bought two Andy Warhol pictures that say “The world fascinates me” and “You have to be willing to become happy about nothing”, and they’re going straight on my wall when I get home.
We headed over to The Fashion Center at Pentagon City to shop for a bit and get some food. The States version of “Edo” was so sub-par, though in comparison to hotel fried chicken, it was delicious. I bought myself another pair of knock-off Ray Bans though they’re not black, they’re tortoise shell, or whatever you call the speckly brown.
Back at the hotel, we were given 40 minutes to pack, which with formal clothes and my cleanliness habits, is SO not long enough, so I ended up having to finish packing after room check.
We began the cultural exchange at night, and since it was Canada Day, the Canadians (4 ppl) insisted on going that night rather than tomorrow. After presenting both sides of the country, from Toronto to Calgary, we proudly sang the national anthem in French and English. I brought my Olympic mittens to show to people, and Simon, one of the Australian boys told me he’s never put on mittens before , so I passed them around the room after laughing a little. Claire brought maple candies, and Holly brought Canada pins. I got 3 Keychains, 2 from South Africa, and 1 from Trinidad & Tobago. We’ll finish the rest of the presentations after we arrive in NEW YORK TOMORROW !
Friday, 1 July 2011
- Day Five .
POLITICAL:
Starting off with a later morning when breakfast started at 8. Highlight of the day right there.
After an LGM briefing on the upcoming guest speaker, we headed down to the North Ballroom to hear from a panel of speakers on Women’s Rights. Brian Dixon, vice President for Media and Government Relations with Population Canada, as well as Zainab Al-Suwaij, the executive director of American Islamic Congress, were speaking on a panel moderated by Mike Doyle with McClatchy Newspapers. After speaking about their roles in standing up for woman’s rights, the floor was open for questions. Mike Doyle, while speaking in his segment, mentioned how contraception wasn’t being used in developing countries because of lack of access and only lack of access to it… apparently. And I don’t disagree, though during the questions period I had lined up to ask him his views on how religion plays a part in that concept in particular. I don’t know every religion that exists, but I know for one that the Catholic religion bans the use of contraceptives. Because there were so many speakers to answer each question, and people felt the need to ask the same question 14 times, they ran out of allowed time before I was able to ask because the topic wasn’t addressed in either of the same, repetitive 14 questions. In one answer, Mike Doyle replied that a fetus is not a life until it breathes, and I believe that statement turned many people off of listening to him in particular. Zainab on the other hand was an absolutely amazing woman. The accomplishments in her life are incredible, including the fact that she protested against Saddam Hussein, and for that, had to flee her country where she continued to speak up for women’s rights. A truly fascinating lecture all in all.
After lunch, we returned to write our proposals and opening statements for the Peace and Security simulation. I was to be the Foreign Minister in my group of 3, taking on the speaking role of the group, to be assisted by my Ambassador, and supported by the Information attaché. The Ambassadors left to write the opening statements while the rest of us remained indoors to write our proposal. After splitting into groups to write 3 rough drafts to later combine together, we realize that my group took the completely opposite stand on what should happen to Cyprus that would best benefit India. After about 20 minutes of debating, we ran out of time, had to vote, and we were out voted by one vote, therefore, I was stuck presenting a policy I a) didn’t believe in, and b) had no idea what was going on.
When we got to our simulation rooms, the Faculty Advisor for our group asked if anybody was interested in running for President, Vice-President, or Recorder. Knowing that I love stuff like that, I set up to campaign for recorder, to keep track of time, as well as draw a map connecting similar proposals as they were presented. After a 30 minute informal debate period was over, we were called back into session where the boy voted president got too nervous and started stuttering and asked me to step in to call upon groups and regulate the formal debate and amendment period before voting. The whole simulation ran smoothly, right up until the end where the voting passed the proposal made my the United Kingdom. Upset because their proposal was overthrown, France AND China both decided to use their power of veto in the security council to automatically make the proposal not pass. It was extremely rude because they were unable to justify it.
After the simulation, we had dinner and a Collage Admissions Seminar by Derek Dubose from George Mason University. His presentation was hilarious, informative, and nice to hear from a guy who is on the other side of the applications, choosing which ones to accept.
The GYLC Olympics were that night, where Abi and I had the time of our lives. I killed it in Taboo and Cherades, and we all killed it in all other activities. India is pretty much the best.
SOCIAL:
Thank goodness we didn’t leave the hotel all day, I think it was about time we all got a break from the busses and formal clothes 24/7. We were able to change into casual wear at dinner. The Australians make me laugh more and more everyday. I love Yael to death as well and we have a little inside competition going on which makes it that much more fun. Abi today pointed out that we only have 7 more days together, than we’re gonna have to say our goodbyes and I know for a fact that its gonna make me cry. Those girls are some of the nicest, down to earth , people ive ever met. The girl from South Africa, Katie, who I just call South Africa , is hilarious. She’s such a sweetheart and its so weird to think now that I was sooo scared of her only 3 days ago. She’s really down to earth and such a sweetheart, just a little/ a lot intimidating when you don’t know her. Abi was friends with her first and when she told me she isn’t scary, I thought the Australians were all crazy. Turns out she was right? Ahah , I love the friends I’ve made so far. I had a really nice long chat with someone from Denmark , learning about their education system and country and such , which was nice. Yael was pretending she was mad because she really wanted to get to know them. I’m most likely gonna introduce them tomorrow. Amelia, (Milly) , is hilarious. Such a ganga . She’s another one of the Australians along with Evelyn, who are both awesome. Guess where Zoe is from. Australia? No way ! Ahah , she’s obsessed with squirrels because she’s never seen one in person until yesterday, and she started chasing after it with her camera because she just “wanted to be friends.” I’m honestly having such a great time, meeting so many amazing people. Its still hard to believe its even happening and I’m scared its all gonna fly by before I realize it! Abi took some ridiculous photos of me at the Olympics and I’m horrified as I begin to get tagged in these photos that the Aussies will post on face book. I’m going to look like a hot mess. Now that my hair is finally getting used to the humidity (As much as expected), its starting to curl so beautifully. The girls want to kill me every time I say I’m going to straighten my hair tomorrow , but they don’t understand that my hair can only look like that for one day! And Emily, from Norway, what a ginga ganga . =D LOVE HER .
Starting off with a later morning when breakfast started at 8. Highlight of the day right there.
After an LGM briefing on the upcoming guest speaker, we headed down to the North Ballroom to hear from a panel of speakers on Women’s Rights. Brian Dixon, vice President for Media and Government Relations with Population Canada, as well as Zainab Al-Suwaij, the executive director of American Islamic Congress, were speaking on a panel moderated by Mike Doyle with McClatchy Newspapers. After speaking about their roles in standing up for woman’s rights, the floor was open for questions. Mike Doyle, while speaking in his segment, mentioned how contraception wasn’t being used in developing countries because of lack of access and only lack of access to it… apparently. And I don’t disagree, though during the questions period I had lined up to ask him his views on how religion plays a part in that concept in particular. I don’t know every religion that exists, but I know for one that the Catholic religion bans the use of contraceptives. Because there were so many speakers to answer each question, and people felt the need to ask the same question 14 times, they ran out of allowed time before I was able to ask because the topic wasn’t addressed in either of the same, repetitive 14 questions. In one answer, Mike Doyle replied that a fetus is not a life until it breathes, and I believe that statement turned many people off of listening to him in particular. Zainab on the other hand was an absolutely amazing woman. The accomplishments in her life are incredible, including the fact that she protested against Saddam Hussein, and for that, had to flee her country where she continued to speak up for women’s rights. A truly fascinating lecture all in all.
After lunch, we returned to write our proposals and opening statements for the Peace and Security simulation. I was to be the Foreign Minister in my group of 3, taking on the speaking role of the group, to be assisted by my Ambassador, and supported by the Information attaché. The Ambassadors left to write the opening statements while the rest of us remained indoors to write our proposal. After splitting into groups to write 3 rough drafts to later combine together, we realize that my group took the completely opposite stand on what should happen to Cyprus that would best benefit India. After about 20 minutes of debating, we ran out of time, had to vote, and we were out voted by one vote, therefore, I was stuck presenting a policy I a) didn’t believe in, and b) had no idea what was going on.
When we got to our simulation rooms, the Faculty Advisor for our group asked if anybody was interested in running for President, Vice-President, or Recorder. Knowing that I love stuff like that, I set up to campaign for recorder, to keep track of time, as well as draw a map connecting similar proposals as they were presented. After a 30 minute informal debate period was over, we were called back into session where the boy voted president got too nervous and started stuttering and asked me to step in to call upon groups and regulate the formal debate and amendment period before voting. The whole simulation ran smoothly, right up until the end where the voting passed the proposal made my the United Kingdom. Upset because their proposal was overthrown, France AND China both decided to use their power of veto in the security council to automatically make the proposal not pass. It was extremely rude because they were unable to justify it.
After the simulation, we had dinner and a Collage Admissions Seminar by Derek Dubose from George Mason University. His presentation was hilarious, informative, and nice to hear from a guy who is on the other side of the applications, choosing which ones to accept.
The GYLC Olympics were that night, where Abi and I had the time of our lives. I killed it in Taboo and Cherades, and we all killed it in all other activities. India is pretty much the best.
SOCIAL:
Thank goodness we didn’t leave the hotel all day, I think it was about time we all got a break from the busses and formal clothes 24/7. We were able to change into casual wear at dinner. The Australians make me laugh more and more everyday. I love Yael to death as well and we have a little inside competition going on which makes it that much more fun. Abi today pointed out that we only have 7 more days together, than we’re gonna have to say our goodbyes and I know for a fact that its gonna make me cry. Those girls are some of the nicest, down to earth , people ive ever met. The girl from South Africa, Katie, who I just call South Africa , is hilarious. She’s such a sweetheart and its so weird to think now that I was sooo scared of her only 3 days ago. She’s really down to earth and such a sweetheart, just a little/ a lot intimidating when you don’t know her. Abi was friends with her first and when she told me she isn’t scary, I thought the Australians were all crazy. Turns out she was right? Ahah , I love the friends I’ve made so far. I had a really nice long chat with someone from Denmark , learning about their education system and country and such , which was nice. Yael was pretending she was mad because she really wanted to get to know them. I’m most likely gonna introduce them tomorrow. Amelia, (Milly) , is hilarious. Such a ganga . She’s another one of the Australians along with Evelyn, who are both awesome. Guess where Zoe is from. Australia? No way ! Ahah , she’s obsessed with squirrels because she’s never seen one in person until yesterday, and she started chasing after it with her camera because she just “wanted to be friends.” I’m honestly having such a great time, meeting so many amazing people. Its still hard to believe its even happening and I’m scared its all gonna fly by before I realize it! Abi took some ridiculous photos of me at the Olympics and I’m horrified as I begin to get tagged in these photos that the Aussies will post on face book. I’m going to look like a hot mess. Now that my hair is finally getting used to the humidity (As much as expected), its starting to curl so beautifully. The girls want to kill me every time I say I’m going to straighten my hair tomorrow , but they don’t understand that my hair can only look like that for one day! And Emily, from Norway, what a ginga ganga . =D LOVE HER .
- Day Four .
POLITICAL:
Today was a huge day. Department of State, Dupont Circle, Swiss Embassy ? That’s like mom’s dream.
The Department of State was extremely interesting, though the monotone aspect of his presentation weren’t the most captivating. The security in that place was out of this world . Once I was able to look past the tone of his voice, the issues and solutions he was addressing were extremely interesting. Some people asked extremely controversial questions about foreign affairs and thought (as a US representative must), he avoided the answer at times. After the Q&A was over, he said he’d never had questions as well stated and well thought out as ours were. Though the presentations dragged on a bit, and lost some peoples interest, I was captivated the whole time. I was sitting beside a girl from South Africa that scares me, and it was so funny to see the reactions between her and other South Africans as soon as he started taking the credit for the transformation of South Africa in the ‘90’s.
Dupont Circle, amazing .
After lunch we went over to the Swiss Embassy and heard from a representative there. Switzerland is an absolutely beautiful country with so much going for it. If I wanted to be an engineer, that’d be my dream, to live on a beach with palm trees while seeing the snow-capped mountains from my beach chair, while being employed at one of the amazing companies that are in such need for engineers. Regardless, I’d love to visit there. From a political aspect, an industrial aspect, and any other aspect you can think of, the Swiss life is a good life.
Once we finished with the Embassy’s, we went to 4 memorials. The Lincoln Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, the National World War II Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans and Women’s Memorial. We started at the World War II Memorial, which was absolutely stunning. The Korean and Vietnam war memorials were a little bit heavy, but they were really nice. Some people were sketching names off of the wall of names, and at the base of the wall, there was a newspaper placed with a message to one of the guys who had passed with a basic “over-coffee conversation” about how things have been and such. I took a photo of it because I was almost in tears. The Lincoln memorial was huge! We didn’t have much time with it because we were running short , but it was nice as well. My camera had died by that point so I’m glad that some of the other girls got a bunch of pictures. I almost cried because the part in Forest Gump when he runs across the water to Jenny, that whole part was under construction, so it was all dried up and torn up! At least I got a picture of that?
After the memorials, we continued back to the hotel for dinner and a 3 hour LGM as preparation for tomorrow’s Peace and Security Simulation. It was long, but the topics were decent. The Peace and Security Simulation is a settlement of land between the Turkish and Greek people of Cyprus from the UN Security Council. We spent a lot of time figuring out what was in the best interest of India, which really didn’t matter because India just cares about the best interests of the U.S.
The evening social was decent, but still they cut it short! We ended up in bed early , but I’m not fully complaining. Sleep sounds so nice right now.
Today was a huge day. Department of State, Dupont Circle, Swiss Embassy ? That’s like mom’s dream.
The Department of State was extremely interesting, though the monotone aspect of his presentation weren’t the most captivating. The security in that place was out of this world . Once I was able to look past the tone of his voice, the issues and solutions he was addressing were extremely interesting. Some people asked extremely controversial questions about foreign affairs and thought (as a US representative must), he avoided the answer at times. After the Q&A was over, he said he’d never had questions as well stated and well thought out as ours were. Though the presentations dragged on a bit, and lost some peoples interest, I was captivated the whole time. I was sitting beside a girl from South Africa that scares me, and it was so funny to see the reactions between her and other South Africans as soon as he started taking the credit for the transformation of South Africa in the ‘90’s.
Dupont Circle, amazing .
After lunch we went over to the Swiss Embassy and heard from a representative there. Switzerland is an absolutely beautiful country with so much going for it. If I wanted to be an engineer, that’d be my dream, to live on a beach with palm trees while seeing the snow-capped mountains from my beach chair, while being employed at one of the amazing companies that are in such need for engineers. Regardless, I’d love to visit there. From a political aspect, an industrial aspect, and any other aspect you can think of, the Swiss life is a good life.
Once we finished with the Embassy’s, we went to 4 memorials. The Lincoln Memorial, The Korean War Veterans Memorial, the National World War II Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans and Women’s Memorial. We started at the World War II Memorial, which was absolutely stunning. The Korean and Vietnam war memorials were a little bit heavy, but they were really nice. Some people were sketching names off of the wall of names, and at the base of the wall, there was a newspaper placed with a message to one of the guys who had passed with a basic “over-coffee conversation” about how things have been and such. I took a photo of it because I was almost in tears. The Lincoln memorial was huge! We didn’t have much time with it because we were running short , but it was nice as well. My camera had died by that point so I’m glad that some of the other girls got a bunch of pictures. I almost cried because the part in Forest Gump when he runs across the water to Jenny, that whole part was under construction, so it was all dried up and torn up! At least I got a picture of that?
After the memorials, we continued back to the hotel for dinner and a 3 hour LGM as preparation for tomorrow’s Peace and Security Simulation. It was long, but the topics were decent. The Peace and Security Simulation is a settlement of land between the Turkish and Greek people of Cyprus from the UN Security Council. We spent a lot of time figuring out what was in the best interest of India, which really didn’t matter because India just cares about the best interests of the U.S.
The evening social was decent, but still they cut it short! We ended up in bed early , but I’m not fully complaining. Sleep sounds so nice right now.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
- Day Three .
POLITICAL:
The start of the day was incredibly interesting . We went to the world bank and heard from a phenomenal speaker, Ms. Angelica Silvero, who is the head of the speakers bureau. She had an amazing presentation of visuals , including a video to aid in 3 of the major millennium goals, decreasing maternal deaths during childbirth, decreasing infant death rates, as well as raising gender equality. From every standpoint possible, this campaign is fantastic.
Later, we had lunch in union station which was fun. Shopping, food, crazy antics.
After lunch we proceeded back to the hotel to hear another speaker though it wasn’t quite a “presentation” rather a town hall simulation. I chose to attend the “Feeding the World” presentation by Abby Flottemesh who is a development consultant for ICDF. It was interesting because we created more of a discussion between the scholars while being lead by the speaker, rather than just sitting and listening to a speaker. We discussed the problems with malnutrition and lack of food and we concentrated the issues down to 3 problems: distribution, production, and education. I didn’t understand the people who were debating counter-education, because if you simply educate the mass populations, that can created solutions for distribution, production, and create a long-term self-sustainable plan . I fought hard for that one, thank goodness it paid off . World hunger , solved.
In the evening, we had our politics of trade simulation concerning Boeing and Airbus airline controversy. I was representing the governor of Washington, fighting for allowance of subsidies to increase our economy. After the debate, the WTO left to discuss a solution when we were left to discuss a solution of our own. If we were unable to come to an agreement in 10 minutes, the WTO would return and their decision would stick. I was absolutely shocked when we were able to come to an agreement that satisfied both the European Union and The United States, and surprisingly, when the WTO returned, their solution was almost exact down to the percentage of subsidies allowed. Talk about young leaders at work, we’re solving major crisis here. Ahah
After dinner we had our evening social which was a trivia session, and it was absolutely painful. People were being awfully disrespectful, though it was our first minute to be able to sit down and talk to a friend or two in three days!
SOCIAL:
During the first speaker, Abi and I had to sit on the floor because they didn’t set up enough seats, which was horribly difficult when you’re wearing skirts and dresses, and you don’t even have something to lean your back against for an hour and a half.
At union station, I ate subway, which was pretty classic, but I was craving it INSANELY. You don’t even understand how angry I was when there was no sub-sauce. What is this country?! I helped the Norwegian girl, Emily, order her subway because she didn’t even know what half of the words meant. “Buffalo chicken” turns out to be quite the American word. After I ate, the Australians and I proceeded to grab some Haagen Daz from the food fair (which we definitely do NOT have in Canada, I wish !) and headed over to Victoria Secret. I’ve never seen so many kids so excited for something for so long! A good half hour in, they’re all still jumping at the sight of pretty panties, or a 3x pushup bra. Holly and I ended up leaving with Yale, one of the Australians, to grab a drink. On the way a local guy at the station seemed to enjoy to grab my bum as I walked onto the stairs. Horrifying!
Abi and I laughed about the Canadian accent for a good hour during the prep for the politics of trade about saying “out and about”, and “house”. So Abi, who was conveniently the head of the National Defence stands up during the simulation and says “How would you feel if you were out and about and you couldn’t be safe in your own house?!” , and everybody in the room just about died laughing. Afroza, one of the Canadians from Toronto cant even recognize our accent.
Sadly enough, I’m losing my accent and picking up on the Australian one! What else can you do when the only voices you hear for 16 hours a day are Australian! Turns out that the Australians are amazingly nice girls, and the South Africans are the only intimidating ones left.
ROOMMATES:
My second roommate showed up! Her name is Bontle, and I cant pronounce it for the life of me. Ironically, she’s from South Africa and she is the sweetest little thing. They’re not all scary ! Im glad she came because now Kristina talks as well, which is glorious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8xgF0JtVg
The start of the day was incredibly interesting . We went to the world bank and heard from a phenomenal speaker, Ms. Angelica Silvero, who is the head of the speakers bureau. She had an amazing presentation of visuals , including a video to aid in 3 of the major millennium goals, decreasing maternal deaths during childbirth, decreasing infant death rates, as well as raising gender equality. From every standpoint possible, this campaign is fantastic.
Later, we had lunch in union station which was fun. Shopping, food, crazy antics.
After lunch we proceeded back to the hotel to hear another speaker though it wasn’t quite a “presentation” rather a town hall simulation. I chose to attend the “Feeding the World” presentation by Abby Flottemesh who is a development consultant for ICDF. It was interesting because we created more of a discussion between the scholars while being lead by the speaker, rather than just sitting and listening to a speaker. We discussed the problems with malnutrition and lack of food and we concentrated the issues down to 3 problems: distribution, production, and education. I didn’t understand the people who were debating counter-education, because if you simply educate the mass populations, that can created solutions for distribution, production, and create a long-term self-sustainable plan . I fought hard for that one, thank goodness it paid off . World hunger , solved.
In the evening, we had our politics of trade simulation concerning Boeing and Airbus airline controversy. I was representing the governor of Washington, fighting for allowance of subsidies to increase our economy. After the debate, the WTO left to discuss a solution when we were left to discuss a solution of our own. If we were unable to come to an agreement in 10 minutes, the WTO would return and their decision would stick. I was absolutely shocked when we were able to come to an agreement that satisfied both the European Union and The United States, and surprisingly, when the WTO returned, their solution was almost exact down to the percentage of subsidies allowed. Talk about young leaders at work, we’re solving major crisis here. Ahah
After dinner we had our evening social which was a trivia session, and it was absolutely painful. People were being awfully disrespectful, though it was our first minute to be able to sit down and talk to a friend or two in three days!
SOCIAL:
During the first speaker, Abi and I had to sit on the floor because they didn’t set up enough seats, which was horribly difficult when you’re wearing skirts and dresses, and you don’t even have something to lean your back against for an hour and a half.
At union station, I ate subway, which was pretty classic, but I was craving it INSANELY. You don’t even understand how angry I was when there was no sub-sauce. What is this country?! I helped the Norwegian girl, Emily, order her subway because she didn’t even know what half of the words meant. “Buffalo chicken” turns out to be quite the American word. After I ate, the Australians and I proceeded to grab some Haagen Daz from the food fair (which we definitely do NOT have in Canada, I wish !) and headed over to Victoria Secret. I’ve never seen so many kids so excited for something for so long! A good half hour in, they’re all still jumping at the sight of pretty panties, or a 3x pushup bra. Holly and I ended up leaving with Yale, one of the Australians, to grab a drink. On the way a local guy at the station seemed to enjoy to grab my bum as I walked onto the stairs. Horrifying!
Abi and I laughed about the Canadian accent for a good hour during the prep for the politics of trade about saying “out and about”, and “house”. So Abi, who was conveniently the head of the National Defence stands up during the simulation and says “How would you feel if you were out and about and you couldn’t be safe in your own house?!” , and everybody in the room just about died laughing. Afroza, one of the Canadians from Toronto cant even recognize our accent.
Sadly enough, I’m losing my accent and picking up on the Australian one! What else can you do when the only voices you hear for 16 hours a day are Australian! Turns out that the Australians are amazingly nice girls, and the South Africans are the only intimidating ones left.
ROOMMATES:
My second roommate showed up! Her name is Bontle, and I cant pronounce it for the life of me. Ironically, she’s from South Africa and she is the sweetest little thing. They’re not all scary ! Im glad she came because now Kristina talks as well, which is glorious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8xgF0JtVg
Monday, 27 June 2011
- Day Two .
THE POLICAL :
The first half of the day was based on cross cultural communication. Spending the first two hours of the day in our LGM’s (leadership group meetings / country groups) , we began to look at the iceberg platform for discovering other cultures (its long and semi complicated symbolizing the surface of cultures vs. where cultures collide) . We headed out to Georgetown for lunch , where apparently “anybody who’s anybody lives . ” - My mom . I ate at a cute little place called “Five Guys Burgers and Fries”, where I got what was supposed to be a “little burger”, but it was larger than a BigMac … ?
After Georgetown and a bit of walking , we headed back to the hotel to hear a guest speaker , Dr. Gary Weaver from the American University , speaking on cross-cultural communication . He was hilarious , effective , and his speaking / presenting skills were phenomenal .
We touched on cultural norms , generalizations , and stereotypes . My lordy , Canada has some of the most stereotypes I’ve ever heard ! You know , when my polar bear is sick , I cant go to school cause I have nothing to ride there . It’s horribly sad having to stay in my igloo with a sick polar bear while my friends are all at school playing in the dark under a maple tree , eh ?
After Dr. Weaver spoke , we headed off to the Jefferson and Roosevelt memorials , which were absolutely incredible. Franklin Deleno Roosevelt’s memorial was split into 4 sections , each representing America and his influence during each of his terms that he served as president. The waterfalls of different dimensions , and the quotes engraved on the walls were incredible. The view that it was on was beautiful as well . The Thomas Jefferson memorial was of a different sort. Less informative, more on a larger scale . The pillars were huge , and the statue of him inside was exquisitely detailed. The stairs leading up to it were flawless, absolutely stunning, and by that point everyone of us was exhausted, so we sort of stationed ourselves there as the rest of the kids made their way through. At that point , I discovered the 1.5 cm opened blister on the back of my heel and wanted to die . I put a blister band-aid on it , but I was the world’s happiest person once we arrived back and I was able to slip on my Toms.
We had a second speaker , Jacqueline Mureketete , a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. She was 10 years old at the time , and by the age of 22 , she was speaking internationally against indifference and extremism .
Today was the first day I’ve noticed that I knew the curriculum in French and had to switch it to English, which confused most of the kids figuring I’ve been saying I speak English as my first language. It took me a decently long time to make the connection that the WTO (world trade organization) was the OMC (organisation mondiale de commerce). Mr. Juneau would be proud.
THE SOCIAL :
I didn’t see Becca much today, and my second roommate didn’t show up! Abby, one of the Australians who approached my yesterday, introduced me to most of the other Australian girls. They’re so funny. They all call me Miley Cyrus ‘cause apparently I sound and act identical to her … ? I spent most of the day with Abby and Emma , (Aussies) , and Emily , (Norwegian) , as well as Holly , who turns out to be from Toronto . They’re all in my LGM . Some of the other Australians are really nice , like Zoë and Simon and Yael .
Nic , (USA) , is helping me figure out what the “Canadian” accent is, and today it has blown my mind how significant it is. We pronounce EVERYTHING . Someone told me I have a pretty accent today , she was from South Africa , but I don’t believe her. They all sound so dainty , and to me , Canadians and Americans sound so butch . Lordy, my accent impersonations are getting to be FLAWLESS. I’ve pretty much got Australian down.
Im learning words like “sooky” which apparently is a mix between moody and sulking? Kind of like grumpy I guess. Its Aussie. Some of their words are ridiculous . At lunch today , one of the Australians told me that rootbeer tastes like “cinnamon and meat”, which I first heard as “cinnamon and mace” which I found funnier. The Australians laugh at everything , even if its not that funny . I was laughing in my head at how fascinated the exterior countries were with Mr. Sketch smelly markers. I explained the joys of Tim Hortons and the concept of a "timbit" , and everyone was so intregued. Its just a small donut?
I shared some of my Dora snacks with the other girls and they found it so cute that my grandma bought me them to take with me. They told me they were jealous .
TOMORROW:
World Bank , Town Hall , and a WTO Simulation , where I have to represent a governor from the United States. Oh , the scandals I could choose.
The first half of the day was based on cross cultural communication. Spending the first two hours of the day in our LGM’s (leadership group meetings / country groups) , we began to look at the iceberg platform for discovering other cultures (its long and semi complicated symbolizing the surface of cultures vs. where cultures collide) . We headed out to Georgetown for lunch , where apparently “anybody who’s anybody lives . ” - My mom . I ate at a cute little place called “Five Guys Burgers and Fries”, where I got what was supposed to be a “little burger”, but it was larger than a BigMac … ?
After Georgetown and a bit of walking , we headed back to the hotel to hear a guest speaker , Dr. Gary Weaver from the American University , speaking on cross-cultural communication . He was hilarious , effective , and his speaking / presenting skills were phenomenal .
We touched on cultural norms , generalizations , and stereotypes . My lordy , Canada has some of the most stereotypes I’ve ever heard ! You know , when my polar bear is sick , I cant go to school cause I have nothing to ride there . It’s horribly sad having to stay in my igloo with a sick polar bear while my friends are all at school playing in the dark under a maple tree , eh ?
After Dr. Weaver spoke , we headed off to the Jefferson and Roosevelt memorials , which were absolutely incredible. Franklin Deleno Roosevelt’s memorial was split into 4 sections , each representing America and his influence during each of his terms that he served as president. The waterfalls of different dimensions , and the quotes engraved on the walls were incredible. The view that it was on was beautiful as well . The Thomas Jefferson memorial was of a different sort. Less informative, more on a larger scale . The pillars were huge , and the statue of him inside was exquisitely detailed. The stairs leading up to it were flawless, absolutely stunning, and by that point everyone of us was exhausted, so we sort of stationed ourselves there as the rest of the kids made their way through. At that point , I discovered the 1.5 cm opened blister on the back of my heel and wanted to die . I put a blister band-aid on it , but I was the world’s happiest person once we arrived back and I was able to slip on my Toms.
We had a second speaker , Jacqueline Mureketete , a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. She was 10 years old at the time , and by the age of 22 , she was speaking internationally against indifference and extremism .
Today was the first day I’ve noticed that I knew the curriculum in French and had to switch it to English, which confused most of the kids figuring I’ve been saying I speak English as my first language. It took me a decently long time to make the connection that the WTO (world trade organization) was the OMC (organisation mondiale de commerce). Mr. Juneau would be proud.
THE SOCIAL :
I didn’t see Becca much today, and my second roommate didn’t show up! Abby, one of the Australians who approached my yesterday, introduced me to most of the other Australian girls. They’re so funny. They all call me Miley Cyrus ‘cause apparently I sound and act identical to her … ? I spent most of the day with Abby and Emma , (Aussies) , and Emily , (Norwegian) , as well as Holly , who turns out to be from Toronto . They’re all in my LGM . Some of the other Australians are really nice , like Zoë and Simon and Yael .
Nic , (USA) , is helping me figure out what the “Canadian” accent is, and today it has blown my mind how significant it is. We pronounce EVERYTHING . Someone told me I have a pretty accent today , she was from South Africa , but I don’t believe her. They all sound so dainty , and to me , Canadians and Americans sound so butch . Lordy, my accent impersonations are getting to be FLAWLESS. I’ve pretty much got Australian down.
Im learning words like “sooky” which apparently is a mix between moody and sulking? Kind of like grumpy I guess. Its Aussie. Some of their words are ridiculous . At lunch today , one of the Australians told me that rootbeer tastes like “cinnamon and meat”, which I first heard as “cinnamon and mace” which I found funnier. The Australians laugh at everything , even if its not that funny . I was laughing in my head at how fascinated the exterior countries were with Mr. Sketch smelly markers. I explained the joys of Tim Hortons and the concept of a "timbit" , and everyone was so intregued. Its just a small donut?
I shared some of my Dora snacks with the other girls and they found it so cute that my grandma bought me them to take with me. They told me they were jealous .
TOMORROW:
World Bank , Town Hall , and a WTO Simulation , where I have to represent a governor from the United States. Oh , the scandals I could choose.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
- Day One .
Lots of information came flying at us as soon as we arrived.
THE ROOMMATE(S?) :
Room 2624 , which you’d assume would be on level two? Nope , I got on the elevator , there’s no level two. It’s considered “M”, even though the main floor is on level one ? My roommate , Kristina from Macedonia , had arrived 3 hours earlier , unpacked , napped , showered , and eaten by the time I got there. I’m pretty sure she enjoyed having the room to herself because she seemed pretty unpleased when I walked in at 6:30pm . Apparently we’re supposed to have another girl with us from South Africa or something , but she may show up tomorrow cause she never turned up today.
THE FRIENDS :
Becca and Claire are two girls who live in Calgary as well, and so I stuck with them a lot of the time tonight . Claire is in my “country group” of India as well, so that’s nice. I met her at the airport before we even got here, so it was nice to know both of them by the time I got to the hotel. I also met a girl named Kim from Germany at the airport, and she’s a huge sweetheart .There’s also a kid from the US named Nic who’s pretty cool too , he’s in India with Claire and I .
THE INTIMIDATING:
There’s a group of 15 Australian kids who came from the same school in Sydney and they’re all friends so that’s a little intimidating figuring they’re all poised with their dainty little accents and their perfect little bodies, but a couple of them have come up to me and they seem pretty down-to-earth , thankfully. Apparently the customs guy made fun of one of the Australian girls, Abby, for flying 24 hours for a 12-day conference. He saw it as ridiculous apparently, haha . There’s a kid in my India group who attends a performing arts school in Australia, so I’m excited to get the chance to talk to him a little more about that. I’m curious what form of the arts he attends it for .
THE COUNTRY GROUP:
I’m hoping my country group loosens up a little, they’re so quiet , and I already have been the “awkward spotlight” too many times! I went to the bathroom at the start of country group meetings , and Claire didn’t save me a chair , so I walk in and its dead silent , and there’s no spots left and everyone is just staring at me for a good 30 seconds before Kimberly , our leader , came in and realized I needed a chair . My face was probably bright red , ‘cause you could probably have heard a pin drop and everyone was just staring. At least the Australian girls told me I looked good ?
TOMORROW:
Lunch at Georgetown , Presidents Memorials (Roosevelt, Jefferson)
THE ROOMMATE(S?) :
Room 2624 , which you’d assume would be on level two? Nope , I got on the elevator , there’s no level two. It’s considered “M”, even though the main floor is on level one ? My roommate , Kristina from Macedonia , had arrived 3 hours earlier , unpacked , napped , showered , and eaten by the time I got there. I’m pretty sure she enjoyed having the room to herself because she seemed pretty unpleased when I walked in at 6:30pm . Apparently we’re supposed to have another girl with us from South Africa or something , but she may show up tomorrow cause she never turned up today.
THE FRIENDS :
Becca and Claire are two girls who live in Calgary as well, and so I stuck with them a lot of the time tonight . Claire is in my “country group” of India as well, so that’s nice. I met her at the airport before we even got here, so it was nice to know both of them by the time I got to the hotel. I also met a girl named Kim from Germany at the airport, and she’s a huge sweetheart .There’s also a kid from the US named Nic who’s pretty cool too , he’s in India with Claire and I .
THE INTIMIDATING:
There’s a group of 15 Australian kids who came from the same school in Sydney and they’re all friends so that’s a little intimidating figuring they’re all poised with their dainty little accents and their perfect little bodies, but a couple of them have come up to me and they seem pretty down-to-earth , thankfully. Apparently the customs guy made fun of one of the Australian girls, Abby, for flying 24 hours for a 12-day conference. He saw it as ridiculous apparently, haha . There’s a kid in my India group who attends a performing arts school in Australia, so I’m excited to get the chance to talk to him a little more about that. I’m curious what form of the arts he attends it for .
THE COUNTRY GROUP:
I’m hoping my country group loosens up a little, they’re so quiet , and I already have been the “awkward spotlight” too many times! I went to the bathroom at the start of country group meetings , and Claire didn’t save me a chair , so I walk in and its dead silent , and there’s no spots left and everyone is just staring at me for a good 30 seconds before Kimberly , our leader , came in and realized I needed a chair . My face was probably bright red , ‘cause you could probably have heard a pin drop and everyone was just staring. At least the Australian girls told me I looked good ?
TOMORROW:
Lunch at Georgetown , Presidents Memorials (Roosevelt, Jefferson)
- Getting Here .
Off to Toronto to transfer flights and its already semi-interesting . I’ve never seen so many people on a flight sleeping with their mouths wide open. The walk to the bathroom was almost frightening. They‘re like zombies! It’s a pretty relaxed flight thus far. I got a thing of free Pringles because Air Canada lied about being able to use pre-paid Visa cards to pay for food on flights. The guy sitting beside me was super nice, though he pretty much told me that this conference will never benefit what I want to do with my life if I choose any program other than political sciences! He was still great company though really enjoyed to rub in the fact that I’m a dreamer and my “plans” wont ever fit reality… Thanks Moncton guy .
Toronto to Washington ! I completely forgot that at the Toronto airport, customs is on the boarding side of things, rather than landing! Talk about freaky. The guy hated me. I gave him my paper and all he said was “Not good enough”, and I wanted to start crying right then and there ! He wouldn’t even look at me and he said I wasn’t giving him enough information, so after he finally let me through, my brother and I were joking about what he could’ve thought I was actually doing. Running away to a Burlesque club? How’d he know! Anyways, after showing him my acceptance letter to GYLC, he finally let me through. He was not impressed. So on my way to Washington, freaked out about my plane delay because we took off about 15 minutes late. I hope they don’t leave without me?
BROTHERS !
Lordy, I’ve missed you on the long plane ride. I never realized how beneficial it actually was to be able to sleep with my legs up over your lap. I went to take a nap on my first flight and I had no room, and the guy beside me kept elbowing my ribcage as he typed on his freaky little tablet thing. I also miss watching overdramatic movies in sync. You guys are way better co-passengers. Flying alone has its downsides…
Toronto to Washington ! I completely forgot that at the Toronto airport, customs is on the boarding side of things, rather than landing! Talk about freaky. The guy hated me. I gave him my paper and all he said was “Not good enough”, and I wanted to start crying right then and there ! He wouldn’t even look at me and he said I wasn’t giving him enough information, so after he finally let me through, my brother and I were joking about what he could’ve thought I was actually doing. Running away to a Burlesque club? How’d he know! Anyways, after showing him my acceptance letter to GYLC, he finally let me through. He was not impressed. So on my way to Washington, freaked out about my plane delay because we took off about 15 minutes late. I hope they don’t leave without me?
BROTHERS !
Lordy, I’ve missed you on the long plane ride. I never realized how beneficial it actually was to be able to sleep with my legs up over your lap. I went to take a nap on my first flight and I had no room, and the guy beside me kept elbowing my ribcage as he typed on his freaky little tablet thing. I also miss watching overdramatic movies in sync. You guys are way better co-passengers. Flying alone has its downsides…
Saturday, 25 June 2011
- Eleven Hours To Go .
Only eleven hours from now , i'll be on a plane off to Washington, DC to start what could be the most incredible experience of my life? We'll see how it all goes . First time flying internationally alone ? Good freaking luck , Morgan .
Washington , Philadelphia, New York , get ready 'cause Meneghetti's comin' to town .
Washington , Philadelphia, New York , get ready 'cause Meneghetti's comin' to town .
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