My time in China is over, and I am currently en route back to South Africa. Once again, I find myself in Dubai International Airport, with not much to do. I am already missing Beijing: what an amazing two weeks.
The “Training Camp” proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I spent four days with two groups of Chinese high schoolers (some were middle school age), teaching a course on Public Speaking and Debate in Model UN. I didn’t think I would enjoy teaching as much as I did. The classes were so much fun; I got to know each of the students well by asking them to make speeches about their favorite hobbies. I tried to balance the classes between lecturing about how to make a good speech/what makes Model UN speaking slightly different and making sure the students were having fun. At the end of every session, the students were asked to fill out evaluation forms; they definitely enjoyed the class. (Some of the reviews included: “Best facilitator ever!” “Amazing class, amazing teacher…” The review that touched me the most and made me realize that I was doing some really worthwhile read: “Thank you. I spoke without look at the paper all the time… Yes! I can! You give be the opportunity, and I have become brave. Thank you, please keep your style of teaching! Love you”)
Along with our daily classes, we (the facilitators) were also asked to lead two hour-long workshops, one on a topic relating to the UN, another on any topic we wanted. I led a workshop on Women’s Rights and the UN, and The World Cup: Say No to Racism, which I led with a student from UPenn.
The training session was lots of fun, and we were given quite a bit of free time, during which I explored the giant Grand Epoch City. I do wish it had been located in Beijing proper, I might have been able to get to know the city a little bit better. I also would have eaten something other than the daily mass-produced mediocre (occasionally above average) food provided to us by the hotel.
The night the Training Camp ended, all the facilitators went into Beijing for dinner and a night out on the town. At dinner, we met other university students who were coming to lead committees at the Model UN conference, but had not participated in the camp. They were too tired to come out with us afterward, so it was just the original group. Beijing nightlife was certainly different than anything I had ever experienced before – it was extremely fun. On our way back to GEC, we made a late stop at McDonald’s, which tastes exactly the same in China as it does in the United States. We spent the next day getting ready for conference: going over logistics, meeting our assistant directors, finding our committee rooms (which were spread out all over the convention center – I got lucky: my room, though much too small, was located in the hotel in which we stayed and that had all the meals), etc.
The conference flew by. My committee, the United Nation Commission on Narcotic Drugs (UNCND), was lots of fun, and was comprised of fifty extremely gifted students from six countries around the world: China, Japan, Singapore, USA, Switzerland and India. Most of the delegates were engaged from the start, and I was surprised by the amount of research and preparation many of them had devoted to the committee. After some debate at the beginning of the first session, the delegates chose to take on Topic A, Opium Production in Afghanistan. (I personally prefer Topic B, Cocaine Trafficking through West Africa, but only a couple of the delegates seemed enthusiastic about it.) Over the four days, the committee debated, wrote working papers, draft resolutions and ultimately passed a resolution with a host of solutions and recommendations to solve the problem.
I was able to entertain the committee by arranging for “expert speakers” to offer some information that I thought they were missing in their debates: Anne (from UPenn), who was not running a committee at the conference, posed as an American soldier stationed in Helmund province of Afghanistan, a friend from UChicago recorded a video posing as an Indian minister of finance, and two of the other directors came in to pose as a representative of the IMF and an envoy from North Korea. I could go on about how wonderful the committee was, but the unbiased Press Corps delegation from the BBC, who wrote an article about the committee, does it for me: “The atmosphere during the committee’s sessions has been a balance between a serious approach to the topic, and a light and open atmosphere which enables delegates to share their country’s views comfortably…. Whenever there was a pause in the discussion, such as during the numerous instances of roses being delivered to the clearly popular Director [that’s me], the delegates felt free to laugh at the chair’s jokes and be at ease; yet, the moment discussion was resumed decorum immediately returned and the proceedings continued.”
The evenings were just as fun as the committee sessions. The first night, not much was going on because everyone was so exhausted. “Global Village” was the main event of the second evening: essentially a World’s Fair where all the schools set up a booth representing either their home country or the country they represent at the conference. I had lots of fun exploring the Village, and got lots of free treats from many booths. The Indian delegations took a particular liking to me, and at the end of the evening I left with two new scarves, a collection of bindis, henna on my hands and some unidentified snacks. I ate lots, from delicious Swiss chocolate, to even the brave undertaking of chowing down a grilled cockroach from the Chinese table. When asked what the latter tasted like, I responded, “like dry, crunchy, gross dust.”
The following night was the Masquerade Ball, a big dance for all the delegates. The directors were encouraged to perform for the delegates, so the UPenn students and I choreographed a dance to the ever-popular Wannabe, by the Spice Girls. The dance went over extremely well – I definitely felt like a celebrity with all the pictures that were being taken. I stayed at the dance for quite some time, enjoying the dancing and music, and eventually left with a handful of other directors to the outdoor grill/bar area outside our hotel. That part of the evening proved to be extremely entertaining, and ended with my leading (standing atop a table) a giant sing-along of American classics for a huge group of directors, assistant directors and even delegates.
The last day of conference came much too quickly. My delegates passed their resolution with two hours to spare in the session, so we spent the rest of the time taking pictures and exchanging emails. After closing ceremonies, the directors returned to Beijing. We were supposed to stay in the hotel where we had stayed for two nights before leaving for Grand Epoch, but due to some miscommunication and disorganization among the WEMUN staff, we found ourselves in Beijing without hotel rooms. Eventually, after midnight, we were relocated to another hotel. A group of us that had planned to go to the Barça game were pretty annoyed. That night, I decided to extend my stay in Beijing by 24 hours; I just didn’t want to leave quite yet.
The next day consisted of sleeping in, hot-pot for lunch and a trip to Silk Market in the afternoon. This time, I didn’t buy anything that could serve as a display in Mom’s copyright infringement exhibit in her office, but did invest in a very cheap phone after having lost by beloved BlackBerry the day before. A group of us (myself, my friend Gideon, the UPenn kids, two Georgetown and on Harvard) found a small dumpling restaurant for dinner. At night, we went out on the town, and met up with many members of the WEMUN staff; the night was really a wonderful way to end my time in China.
My flight wasn’t until 11:55pm last night, so I had time to explore a little bit more during the day. After a sad goodbye with two UPenn students with whom I really got along with in the morning, I was invited out to lunch by one of Mom’s old students. The lunch was at a traditional Sichuan restaurant (Sichuan food is known for being the spiciest in China - I began to tear up after eating one of the dishes). After lunch, I went with Anne, Jocelyn (another UPenn) and Joyce to the Olympic Village, where we saw the famous Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. After a sad goodbye, the three of them left for dinner to celebrate Joyce’s birthday. I didn’t go because I was getting worried about catching my flight. Instead, I had arranged to meet with Gideon in front of the Cube. To my dismay, we couldn’t find each other, and after walking around the cube for an hour, I decided I had to go back to the hotel to get my things and head the airport. I was very disappointed to have missed Gideon; we won’t be seeing each other until April, as he is abroad in the Fall, and I will be away in the Winter.
On my way to the airport, I began to get very upset at the idea of leaving Beijing after such a wonderful experience. I had never imagined that the two weeks would have been so enriching and fun, and I am really hoping to return again next summer. The trip presented even more than just a wonderful two weeks: one of the advisers from a school in India, after encouragement from two of her students who were delegates in my committee, invited me to be a chair at her school’s UN conference in New Delhi this coming November. If all the details work out, I will be there!
(Pictures to come soon.)
