JHUMUNC
It's been a week since the MUN conference at Johns Hopkins, and I still am missing it like crazy, which is why I have to write about some notable moments before the details start slipping! I finally have time from the crapload of makeup work that I still have to finish to take a break and write this.
The whole thing was a total blast and the most fun I've had in a long time. The only not so great parts were barely sleeping and being so busy; I calculated the total amount of time spent in our committee rooms... 23 hours and 45 minutes during the three days that the conference was in session! Craziness. I thought I was going to die of boredom during the first committee session, but things picked up by the next day.
The first day wasn't too fabulous. We had to get up at 5 that Thursday morning, and then people missed a train. Then, when we arrived in Baltimore, our little group decided to go to the National Aquarium. It was going great until we went to the dolphin show. Geniuses like Matt and John thought it would be funny to sit in the splash zone, so by the time we walked out, everyone was completely soaked from head to foot, having being directly tsunamied by the dolphins four times. Being wet isn't that bad, except it was all salt water, which is all itchy and sticky. What sucked more was that there was no time before Opening Ceremonies to go back to the hotel and take a shower. =/
That night didn't go much better. Before we went to bed, Anju was messing with her cell phone, trying to set up the alarm, which didn't work... or so we thought, so we set the alarm on the bedstand clock. At about 1 AM, super loud music started blaring!!! I thought it was the clock's alarm, so I kept banging it and pushing all the buttons. The music stopped after a while... only to start again two hours later! That time, Liz actually figured out it was Anju's cell and got up to turn it off. Of course, Anju slept through the entire thing without waking up once. Then, in the morning, at the time when the alarm clock was supposed to go off, it never did because I had pushed all those buttons before. Needless to say, we overslept. On the following days, that stupid alarm clock never went off on time. I wonder if I broke it with all that banging...
After that first night, everything went perfectly. The committee sessions got a heck of a lot more interesting when Eli mentioned one time when our school was together that someone in his committee started writing UN pick-up lines. Lauren, my lovely partner representing Syria (I represented Luxembourg), and I decided to do the same favor for our SOCHUM committee, and we enlisted the help of amazing Tuua, who we met on the first day and represented Yemen. Our products included "We need you to open your ports so we can create some motion in the ocean," "Would you like to be our point of personal privilege," "Lux, Syria, and Yemen delegates seek zestful single male country for extended unmoderated caucus," and goofy stuff like that, hehe. Some of the notes we got back were hilarious, and we totally loved messing around with China, who had seemed like a hardcore guy but turned out to be really cool. Other cool people we met (and I should mention in case they are reading this right now ;-)) are Tuua's friend Joe (Belarus; and every private school girl's fantasy) and Kate (Argentina).
Because our group was late almost every day (alarm troubles and then there was a whole stolen money fiasco), Lauren and I were forced to sit in the first row several times, amidst all the intense people who were so serious about the conference. Everyone wanted to sit as far away from the front as possible because all the fun happened in the back, away from the chair. Because we were right there in the front and trying hard to contain ourselves due to the notes, we got directly yelled at, and I completely thought the chair kept giving me angry looks. Then, it turned out that he thought I looked exactly like his friend, which was why he kept staring at me, while I thought he was pissed off the whole time. He turned out to be really laid back after getting to know him when he sat at our table during the committee dinner. So on the last day, we decided to send some of our specialty notes to him. It was so great to see him moderating the session and then see his reaction after he read notes which included "Bang that gavel all night long." Good times. =D
A bunch of other stuff happened which I am too lazy to organize (i.e. the walk back from dinner spent harrassing Anju and the British-y guy with the funky eyebrows, scary hotel stories and elevator rides, the dance, five guys in two beds, and lotion-flavored Sweet Tarts), so I'll try to get pictures up sometime soon. I totally gave up on my digital camera and just bought a disposable so now I can actually scan pics! ^^
It was so hard coming back to Latham and going to school. I thought I was going to pass out on the first day, and even the teachers agreed with me. I still have a bunch of work to do, including a ton of government homework and studying for two huge tests. Blah.
At least I have only 19 days left to look forward to! OMG, things are now officially happening way too fast even though I still want March 30 to be here.
The whole thing was a total blast and the most fun I've had in a long time. The only not so great parts were barely sleeping and being so busy; I calculated the total amount of time spent in our committee rooms... 23 hours and 45 minutes during the three days that the conference was in session! Craziness. I thought I was going to die of boredom during the first committee session, but things picked up by the next day.
The first day wasn't too fabulous. We had to get up at 5 that Thursday morning, and then people missed a train. Then, when we arrived in Baltimore, our little group decided to go to the National Aquarium. It was going great until we went to the dolphin show. Geniuses like Matt and John thought it would be funny to sit in the splash zone, so by the time we walked out, everyone was completely soaked from head to foot, having being directly tsunamied by the dolphins four times. Being wet isn't that bad, except it was all salt water, which is all itchy and sticky. What sucked more was that there was no time before Opening Ceremonies to go back to the hotel and take a shower. =/
That night didn't go much better. Before we went to bed, Anju was messing with her cell phone, trying to set up the alarm, which didn't work... or so we thought, so we set the alarm on the bedstand clock. At about 1 AM, super loud music started blaring!!! I thought it was the clock's alarm, so I kept banging it and pushing all the buttons. The music stopped after a while... only to start again two hours later! That time, Liz actually figured out it was Anju's cell and got up to turn it off. Of course, Anju slept through the entire thing without waking up once. Then, in the morning, at the time when the alarm clock was supposed to go off, it never did because I had pushed all those buttons before. Needless to say, we overslept. On the following days, that stupid alarm clock never went off on time. I wonder if I broke it with all that banging...
After that first night, everything went perfectly. The committee sessions got a heck of a lot more interesting when Eli mentioned one time when our school was together that someone in his committee started writing UN pick-up lines. Lauren, my lovely partner representing Syria (I represented Luxembourg), and I decided to do the same favor for our SOCHUM committee, and we enlisted the help of amazing Tuua, who we met on the first day and represented Yemen. Our products included "We need you to open your ports so we can create some motion in the ocean," "Would you like to be our point of personal privilege," "Lux, Syria, and Yemen delegates seek zestful single male country for extended unmoderated caucus," and goofy stuff like that, hehe. Some of the notes we got back were hilarious, and we totally loved messing around with China, who had seemed like a hardcore guy but turned out to be really cool. Other cool people we met (and I should mention in case they are reading this right now ;-)) are Tuua's friend Joe (Belarus; and every private school girl's fantasy) and Kate (Argentina).
Because our group was late almost every day (alarm troubles and then there was a whole stolen money fiasco), Lauren and I were forced to sit in the first row several times, amidst all the intense people who were so serious about the conference. Everyone wanted to sit as far away from the front as possible because all the fun happened in the back, away from the chair. Because we were right there in the front and trying hard to contain ourselves due to the notes, we got directly yelled at, and I completely thought the chair kept giving me angry looks. Then, it turned out that he thought I looked exactly like his friend, which was why he kept staring at me, while I thought he was pissed off the whole time. He turned out to be really laid back after getting to know him when he sat at our table during the committee dinner. So on the last day, we decided to send some of our specialty notes to him. It was so great to see him moderating the session and then see his reaction after he read notes which included "Bang that gavel all night long." Good times. =D
A bunch of other stuff happened which I am too lazy to organize (i.e. the walk back from dinner spent harrassing Anju and the British-y guy with the funky eyebrows, scary hotel stories and elevator rides, the dance, five guys in two beds, and lotion-flavored Sweet Tarts), so I'll try to get pictures up sometime soon. I totally gave up on my digital camera and just bought a disposable so now I can actually scan pics! ^^
It was so hard coming back to Latham and going to school. I thought I was going to pass out on the first day, and even the teachers agreed with me. I still have a bunch of work to do, including a ton of government homework and studying for two huge tests. Blah.
At least I have only 19 days left to look forward to! OMG, things are now officially happening way too fast even though I still want March 30 to be here.