Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Weekend 1.5
I wrote an article for the School's MUN newspaper from when I was the Admin for the General Assembly (see blog post below for explanation):
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The very serious and focused debate of the African delegates in the General Assemble stopped as everyone stopped and looked up at the window.
“Let me in!” mouthed a frantic and slightly wild-eyed student (who’s name shall not be disclosed for security reasons) from outside the classroom. He banged on the window again and one of the admins, who was sitting beside the window, swung it open wide. The next second the student had propelled himself through the window and landed on the desk. Unfortunately for him, he landed on a piece of paper, slide across the desk, and hit the floor, with a rather loud thud.
For a spilt second the room was silent – unsure of how to react to this completely barbaric intrusion of their civilized discussions.
But the silence was quickly filled with more yelling:
“I’ve got him” yelled one of the (slightly overzealous) members of the security.
The room barely had time to glance back at the window when a second person had flung themselves through the window and landed on the desk, barely missing the head of the Somali delegate. He, too, slid across the desk and practically landed on the un-named student. The security guard had grabbed the student and hauled him out of the room before anyone had drawn a breath.
There was another second of silence and then the debating begun where it had left off. It was just another day in AC, where nothing ridiculous ever happens.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The very serious and focused debate of the African delegates in the General Assemble stopped as everyone stopped and looked up at the window.
“Let me in!” mouthed a frantic and slightly wild-eyed student (who’s name shall not be disclosed for security reasons) from outside the classroom. He banged on the window again and one of the admins, who was sitting beside the window, swung it open wide. The next second the student had propelled himself through the window and landed on the desk. Unfortunately for him, he landed on a piece of paper, slide across the desk, and hit the floor, with a rather loud thud.
For a spilt second the room was silent – unsure of how to react to this completely barbaric intrusion of their civilized discussions.
But the silence was quickly filled with more yelling:
“I’ve got him” yelled one of the (slightly overzealous) members of the security.
The room barely had time to glance back at the window when a second person had flung themselves through the window and landed on the desk, barely missing the head of the Somali delegate. He, too, slid across the desk and practically landed on the un-named student. The security guard had grabbed the student and hauled him out of the room before anyone had drawn a breath.
There was another second of silence and then the debating begun where it had left off. It was just another day in AC, where nothing ridiculous ever happens.
Weekend Part 1
On Friday and Saturday (and part of Sunday) we had our annual Model United Nations conference.
This year was especially exciting because we had students from nearby schools come and participate in the conference.
Due to the fact that I had a lot of work to do for Monday (wait for part 2 to hear more about that), I didn’t plan on going to both days of the conference. Therefore I planned to be the ‘admin’ in one of the committees (this means that I would pass notes and communicate between the chair of the conference and the chairs of the committee etc.). However, my day did not go exactly as planned. I started out in the general assembly, but after one of the delegates was forcibly removed by some of the overzealous ‘security’, the chair of my committee requested that I go get him back. After finding him, I found out that the delegate of the United Kingdom for the Security Council hadn’t shown up and so they had taken our delegate to replace the missing one.
In the end I volunteered to become the delegate of the United Kingdom.
In the end, I had a fairly pleasant day. Unfortunately I hadn’t done any research and so I made up a lot of stuff, but as it turned out the topic was ‘cyber-terrorism’ and so lots of delegates had been unable to find their countries stance on the issue and were making it as they went too.
By the end of the day a few working papers had been written and were ready to be presented the next morning. However, just as we were about to leave, we were visited by the terrorists (who eluded capture by the security all weekend). They locked us in our room and refused to let us out until we passed a resolution meeting all of their demands. Although I thought it was funny, their demands were a bit on the impractical side instead of the amusing side (i.e. allow anyone to attend the Security council meetings, and for all governments to give up all of their government secrets), and so there wasn’t really any point in even pretending to write a resolution. In the end we sat around and told them that this was ridiculous while they sprayed us with water guns, and they eventually let us go to dinner.
Although I didn’t participate the second day (although I did attend a meeting with some of the terrorists and helped do a small amount of spying for them), I am glad that I was able to a little bit on the Friday.
Then on Saturday night we had a masquerade ball. I made a butterfly mask and borrowed some wings and danced the night away.
It was a great beginning of the weekend
This year was especially exciting because we had students from nearby schools come and participate in the conference.
Due to the fact that I had a lot of work to do for Monday (wait for part 2 to hear more about that), I didn’t plan on going to both days of the conference. Therefore I planned to be the ‘admin’ in one of the committees (this means that I would pass notes and communicate between the chair of the conference and the chairs of the committee etc.). However, my day did not go exactly as planned. I started out in the general assembly, but after one of the delegates was forcibly removed by some of the overzealous ‘security’, the chair of my committee requested that I go get him back. After finding him, I found out that the delegate of the United Kingdom for the Security Council hadn’t shown up and so they had taken our delegate to replace the missing one.
In the end I volunteered to become the delegate of the United Kingdom.
In the end, I had a fairly pleasant day. Unfortunately I hadn’t done any research and so I made up a lot of stuff, but as it turned out the topic was ‘cyber-terrorism’ and so lots of delegates had been unable to find their countries stance on the issue and were making it as they went too.
By the end of the day a few working papers had been written and were ready to be presented the next morning. However, just as we were about to leave, we were visited by the terrorists (who eluded capture by the security all weekend). They locked us in our room and refused to let us out until we passed a resolution meeting all of their demands. Although I thought it was funny, their demands were a bit on the impractical side instead of the amusing side (i.e. allow anyone to attend the Security council meetings, and for all governments to give up all of their government secrets), and so there wasn’t really any point in even pretending to write a resolution. In the end we sat around and told them that this was ridiculous while they sprayed us with water guns, and they eventually let us go to dinner.
Although I didn’t participate the second day (although I did attend a meeting with some of the terrorists and helped do a small amount of spying for them), I am glad that I was able to a little bit on the Friday.
Then on Saturday night we had a masquerade ball. I made a butterfly mask and borrowed some wings and danced the night away.
It was a great beginning of the weekend
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Surprise!
You know you have good friends when:
They surprise you with a birthday showering on your half birthday!
This past Thursday was my half-birthday, which is not something that I would normally celebrate or notice. However, because my birthday is in the summer, I have never celebrated it at school (I have never brought cupcakes for the class, or has the whole class sing for me, or {as is tradition at AC} been thrown ceremoniously into the shower)
However, I have some pretty amazing friends, and they didn't want me to miss out on this fabulous part of AC life.
And so, they began to scheme.
On Wednesday night (because it is a weird tradition to have the showering the day before some one's birthday... long story) I was sitting in Hannah's room chatting when her phone rang. She picked it up and then looked me and said "apparently Nora {who is my roommate} is having a mental breakdown". So I ran back to my house to see if she was okay.
When I arrived at my house I saw that Nora was sitting in the dayroom surrounded my a group of my friends. I ran inside and gave her a biiiig hug. She seemed to be fine.
I then looked around the room and realised that there were waaay more people than usual, which I though was strange. I began to think that it was someone's showering and started to rack my brains to remember who in my house had a birthday the next day.
Suddenly, people began to sing. I looked around trying to see who they were singing for, when I felt myself being picked up.
WHAT?!?
Turns out they were singing for me!!
They then carried me into the bathroom stuck me under the shower, and threw buckets of water on me (I would like to thank them for throwing water water and soap... not cold water and flour).
I have always wanted a surprise party and this was probably the best one I could have ever thought of. Despite the fact that I was freezing and soapy, I hugged everyone and stood beaming in the middle of my dayroom like an idiot.
I am so lucky to have such amazing (and stealthy) friends!
They surprise you with a birthday showering on your half birthday!
This past Thursday was my half-birthday, which is not something that I would normally celebrate or notice. However, because my birthday is in the summer, I have never celebrated it at school (I have never brought cupcakes for the class, or has the whole class sing for me, or {as is tradition at AC} been thrown ceremoniously into the shower)
However, I have some pretty amazing friends, and they didn't want me to miss out on this fabulous part of AC life.
And so, they began to scheme.
On Wednesday night (because it is a weird tradition to have the showering the day before some one's birthday... long story) I was sitting in Hannah's room chatting when her phone rang. She picked it up and then looked me and said "apparently Nora {who is my roommate} is having a mental breakdown". So I ran back to my house to see if she was okay.
When I arrived at my house I saw that Nora was sitting in the dayroom surrounded my a group of my friends. I ran inside and gave her a biiiig hug. She seemed to be fine.
I then looked around the room and realised that there were waaay more people than usual, which I though was strange. I began to think that it was someone's showering and started to rack my brains to remember who in my house had a birthday the next day.
Suddenly, people began to sing. I looked around trying to see who they were singing for, when I felt myself being picked up.
WHAT?!?
Turns out they were singing for me!!
They then carried me into the bathroom stuck me under the shower, and threw buckets of water on me (I would like to thank them for throwing water water and soap... not cold water and flour).
I have always wanted a surprise party and this was probably the best one I could have ever thought of. Despite the fact that I was freezing and soapy, I hugged everyone and stood beaming in the middle of my dayroom like an idiot.
I am so lucky to have such amazing (and stealthy) friends!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
UBC
This time of year universities are a particularly hot topic.
People who applied early to the US have already heard
And people in the UK are beginning to hear sporadically:
some are getting offers (grades they must meet in their exams to be accepted)
and
some are getting rejected.
I think all of the second years are a bit sick of the topic
and some people are getting very nervous because they haven't heard anything yet
but still
we still talk about it.
I, too, have been waiting.
I check my university accounts to see if anything has changed so often that it is a bit like a nervous tick.
I know I should probably chill out a little bit, but I am nervous that I have accidentally filled something out wrong and I am worried that my transcripts won't get there in time (which is actually justified because my transcripts for mcgill are due on the 21st and they should have arrived about 3 weeks ago... but they aren't there yet).
And yet, despite all of the chaos:
I got into UBC!!
and I quote:
"You were offered admission on January 12, 2011. A letter advising you of this decision, which includes registration information, has been mailed to you."
woooot!
to be perfectly honest, it is not my top choice (or even my second choice), but it feels good to know that I have gotten in somewhere (although I would like to know what I need in my final grades to stay accepted... or to know if it is an unconditional offer...)
University Here I Come!
People who applied early to the US have already heard
And people in the UK are beginning to hear sporadically:
some are getting offers (grades they must meet in their exams to be accepted)
and
some are getting rejected.
I think all of the second years are a bit sick of the topic
and some people are getting very nervous because they haven't heard anything yet
but still
we still talk about it.
I, too, have been waiting.
I check my university accounts to see if anything has changed so often that it is a bit like a nervous tick.
I know I should probably chill out a little bit, but I am nervous that I have accidentally filled something out wrong and I am worried that my transcripts won't get there in time (which is actually justified because my transcripts for mcgill are due on the 21st and they should have arrived about 3 weeks ago... but they aren't there yet).
And yet, despite all of the chaos:
I got into UBC!!
and I quote:
"You were offered admission on January 12, 2011. A letter advising you of this decision, which includes registration information, has been mailed to you."
woooot!
to be perfectly honest, it is not my top choice (or even my second choice), but it feels good to know that I have gotten in somewhere (although I would like to know what I need in my final grades to stay accepted... or to know if it is an unconditional offer...)
University Here I Come!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The same.
So far life has been racing past - just as if I never left.
I have deadlines already.
I have ridiculous university essays to write.
It is raining.
The sheep are hanging out in the field.
Everyone looks familiar (despite the multitude of hair cuts).
My room is cozy.
The food is the same.
The corridors are still echo-y.
My weekend is already full.
I feel at home.
(If you are interested in reading an article about the fashion show that was done at my school at the end of the last term, go here.)
I have deadlines already.
I have ridiculous university essays to write.
It is raining.
The sheep are hanging out in the field.
Everyone looks familiar (despite the multitude of hair cuts).
My room is cozy.
The food is the same.
The corridors are still echo-y.
My weekend is already full.
I feel at home.
(If you are interested in reading an article about the fashion show that was done at my school at the end of the last term, go here.)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
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