| Waaahh... I still can't believe I'm back in Cupertino ALREADY~~~ T.T I miss so many people in GYLC. You guys are the best.
When I first arrived, it took a lot of getting used to. Introducing yourself to random people and finding out that all of them spent hours getting to the conference. It was amazing. All over the world people came. It seems like a mini UN council consisting of teenagers took place.
When I arrived to the Mt. Vernon College, it was weird dragging your own suitcases all the way to the top of the hill. >.< tired~ Anyways, then we went to the orientation and registration stuff that took most of the day. After all the preliminaried are taken cared of. I went to my room. Finding out that four people share one bathroom and there were 3 of us in one room that would only fit 2. It was hilarious later to find out that one of the girl is supposed to be in another room yet she was able to unlock the door with her key. *isn't that weird? My room mates are the best. Neha from Pakistan and Emi from Texas ^.^ You guys are the greatest people in the world to have a late-night convo with. Several nights we would talk until 1a.m. or sometimes later. Despite meeting only for such a brief period of time. We were able to connect with each other. And I have to tell you guys. Pakistan is truely a great place. And Texas ROCKS~ y'all.
The second day was harder to bear. Waking up at 7 a.m. to prep for breakfast learning that in a few minutes there will be a meeting for briefing. It felt like school all over again except it starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 11 p.m. But we get to listen to several excellent speakers: Dr. Weaver, Ms. Singh, Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Brahman, Mr. Rutkowski, Mrs. Wakefield, Ms. Anderson, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Tilden, and Mr. Trengove. Truly they were great speeches. But considering the short amount of time that we were given, this is scary. And I mean it. They were truly inspiring and informational speech, but they can get long and beguiling. If it weren't for my seat buddies, I would've fallen asleep in all their speeches. No offense... it has something to do with the tone of the speaker ZZZzzz...
And also one of the most important components of the conference was LGM!!! There were so many, but South Africa was great. You guys rock. Especially Gary made it a little more fun than it sounded. The conference was so short yet there's so much memories. Every one made it more memorable and exciting. Just having the time to connect with all the people and exchange our cultures was great. Even though the time we spent was so short, I truly believe that there is a chance that most of us will be able to keep the friendship and expand on it. This is just the beginning of all our friendship. Hope to talk to you guys soon.
P.S. There are a lot more that went on in the conference, but I don't think it will be appropriate to talk of all of them in details. I think if I did that, it would take more than two pages to fill all that I have to say. But ehre goes a list of all the places we've been and all the events that happened.
Arrival at IAD international airport in DC and meeting tons of ppl, Orientation from Ms. Dunn and Joshua, LGMsss all yeah~, more LGMs all throughout the conference, went to white house *but only get to hang around the outside because it happens that President Bush was leaving the whitehouse so we had to leave "ASAP", lunch in Georgetown *get a taste of Mohamed's tardiness (just kidding), Dr. Gary Weaver, dinner in dorms *a torture it made any food taste good, Keynote speaker Benita Singh *awe-inspiring young lady, combat poverty, people starting to get sick... and some had to go home >< I missed you Anne ><, breakfast at 6:30, U.S. Department of State visit *took a long time to pass through the security, Mrs. Nancy Powell's speech, Du Pont Circle *amazing american who spoke perfect chinese and taiwanese, visit Chile Embassy *great guy who loves Chile and made us love it too, And can you believe this is only the evening of the third day 8 more days of event to go. More LGMS, Mrs. Brahman and Mr. Rutkowski's speech, Museums of Smithonian Institution and Capitol Hill *so many museums... didn't get to go to all of them and the lunch was expansive!!, Union Station *it's more like a mall than a train station, Simulation on Canada and Switzerland over salmons and btw it's pronounced as "samon" not "saLmon", Inter- American Deveopment Bank *teenagers alert! There's something that we can do in our community despite out young age!, diplomatic Reception at the French Embassy *Hob-nobbing as the people say... wasn't as fun as i thought didn't feel like hob-nobbing to people definition of hob-nobbing: suck up to people for your own benefit, Korean War Memorial *they look murderous at night; scared the h*ll out of me, Lincoln Memorial *amazing it was gargantuous, Vietnam Veteran Memorial *it was depressing... giant walls of names..., speech by Mrs. Wakefield, Ms. Anderson, Mr. Doyle *they knew so much, fashion centre at Pentagon City for Shopping~ *nice place a pity we didn't get to stay longer, Holocaust Museum... *a place that everyone should visit as well as a place that everyone would reserve to tears, FDR Memorial *he was awesome... every quote shook us of his insight, packing to go to New York, Philadelphia *Philly Cheese steak~ first ones to get a bite out of it; it really took a long time for them to make just one, arrice at Manhattan College and to find out how much the place s*cked, dinner was sort of a buffet thing but not any better than before *it takes a lifetime to get from the dorm to the dining hall; intended for people to get an excercise @.@, Global summit commission meeting *people it's hard to find common ground in this group ::truly backbreaking::, woke up at 6a.m. would you believe it o.o, another global summit *pretty organized I would say, Chinatown *so messy and smelly and crowded, Little Italy *didn't have time to stroll there; my loss, Prospect Park and Botanical Rose Garden *pretty~ except Esther, Olivia and I got lost in the park so we traveled the entire park's length and finally got rescued by other sightseers >< so embarrassing but great time we had right guys?, National delegation rally *Lion King theme song! Great voice Joe~ sad that we didn't expand on the educational value like the China group did (China's national anthem *I wouldn't even believed it until I heard it) first time -_- and the US group's dance was hard to understand for most ppl but for Americans hey~ we know what you are trying to do ^^, federal reserve Bank *wanted to go to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty but I got to touch the gold that was 80 ft below the ground floor. Rumor that Germany has the most gold in there, South Street Seaport *it rained.. ate lunch while drops of water constantly splashed on Maysha, Niki, Vanessa and unfortunately me too, Mason Tilden's speech *first word "take off your jackets guys" phenomenal guy I would say, more global summit meetings.. they can get interminable but time pass fairly fast, OH YEAH finally this is the 9th day... would you believe it 3 more days to go. Coalition building *bargaining with people and messing with other people's mind, Mr. Trengove from UN's speech at fashion institue? pretty weird eh? Time square for dinner *ate a cheeseburger and apple pie and rest of the time wandering with Lulu and Olivia, went to MTV store.. *pretty famous I presume? spent hella for a t-shirt..., went to Broadway to watch Phantom of the Opera~ nice opera ^^ it was great, last full day in GYLC... starting to feel sad, Global Summit in Conference Room #4 inside the United Nations *so organized James, Amy, and Sarun did a excellent job, lunch at Rockefeller center *um... i only remember the flags... I need to figure out what I was supposed to see there so little time to explore the place, aww... i feel sad now.. Farewell Dinner Cruise in the Bay... people dressed up pretty amazing and the dance was more like mobs... ~.~ hehe Lulu and Olivia looked like angels~ Nicole, Cheryl, and I looked like black devils~, got back at 1a.m. so tired, and I got the efes mad because I had to go upstairs to retrieve my shoes ><, last day and I woke up late... first time in the conference and it had to be the last day... didn't get to say goodbye to Yurika... which is extremely sad, after the commencement... people hugged each other to say good bye.. and would you believe it... I actually cried... T.T just thinking of it makes me sad, but all is well, we went to the airport and some of us get to see each other. we give apple pie treats ^^ *Esther and I, and it was sad watching Olivia on her way to Korea >< but hey~ we still talk right, "Olive"? hahahha lol~ oopsie~ part of my overflowing memory, anyways... the list goes on as all of us return to our home, but our friendship remains and hopefully in the future, our alumnis succeed and return to share their stories. Bon Voyage and Ciao to all~ My hands are killing me ^^ but I enjoyed it =D
List of people:
Anne: nice, smart, kind, and fun
Niki: inspiring, sunny smile, happy, cheerful
Vanessa: never talk to her in her face or she'll laugh to death ^^
Maysha: dependent, mature, and you are the best =P
Anne, Niki, Vanessa, and Maysha: proud South Africans
Olivia: greatest person ever, lovely smile, best companion, and I miss you already...
Esther: cute, out-going, loving personality, and energetic =)
Lulu: great person, definitely mature, and friendship yet to start eh?
Yurika: nice, funny!!, famous weird faces, and cute Japanese~
Cheryl & Nicole: twin power, always together, and talk to each other through psychis power!! got a taste of it when you guys went shopping...
Callisha: you are the funniest person to talk to ever, you made everything seem hilarious, "is nicole in her room" to "is there car in Peru" isn't that funny or what?
Neha: you told me so much and I enjoyed talking with you through the late nights
Emi: I love your name~ and I also cherished the time we had standing by the door talking ^.<
Russell: Nice guy, always there @.@?, hehe fun time we had
Muriel: talk a lot!!! which is good~ i think, i seriously need to consult you if I have any essay or research paper
South Africans: LGMs were super fun, amazing people we had, and it's a shame that my name got changed to "Pei" LOL~~~ anyways fun time together!!
Anyone that I've missed: you guys were great in making this conference this great. Wish all of you the best of luck in the future.
FAs~ you guys are the best and made it so enjoyable to all us young "scholars" still remember when the walkie-talkied exclaimed, "welcome young scholars to the blahblahblah" hehe~
Summer 2005~ great time and a lifetime experience with people from over 80 countries and cultures.
for photos check out http://profiles.yahoo.com/swtpoodle
BY THE WAY~~~ HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY REGAN!!! MISS YOU |
