This year I was a Model UN sponsor teacher at school. Our club has about 60 students, and we took 3 trips to other cities in China throughout the year. I was able to chaperone a trip to a city just south of us called Qin Dao (pronounced Ching Dow).
Our disgusting prize for "Best Club at Maple Leaf"
On a Wednesday afternoon we loaded our students up into the bus and headed towards the airport. After about 20 minutes of driving our bus got a flat tire, and it was quite the ordeal to communicate with our driver that if the new driver did not arrive soon we would miss our flight. We were able to (slowly) get a new vehicle, and it was the longest drive to the airport I have ever experienced. Although I was obviously grateful he kept the kids safe, we cut our airport arrival too close and the only reason we made it on the plane was the fact that our flight was 45 minutes late. After getting fifteen kids through airport security we loaded them onto a plane and took off for Qin Dao.
A shot of the General Assembly
The conference was held at the most fancy hotel I have ever stayed in and the kids were really excited about their large clean rooms, cozy beds and bathtubs. I was lucky enough to be the only female chaperone, so I got my own room!
The conference began early on Thursday morning and went until Saturday afternoon. The students spent their time making speeches, merging their resolutions with other "countries," and debating over their proposed ideas. There was about 350 students participating in the conference, and our students were divided between 5 different forums. Everything was done in English, and I was really impressed with how well they did and how confident they were speaking in front of such large audiences.
One of our students making a speech in the Human Rights Council
It was a great place to chaperone, because all the events were held in the hotel - and the conference organized all the transportation for us. Organizing a field trip is always a great task as a teacher, but being in China and not speaking the language makes it a hundred times more difficult. Communicating with our student's parents to get permission is even a challenge! However once we arrived at the event the students were very well behaved and it was easy to rotate from room to room, keeping track of the kids. They had a few events in the evening and it was fun to see our super studious students relax and just play camp games. They had a great time, got to meet a few new people, and take a break from tests and books.
My fancy hotel room
We arrived home late on Saturday evening. The kids were all exhausted, and I was pretty done in myself! It was a great trip, and I look forward to more trips with MUN in the future! Our next step is a Maple Leaf MUN conference we are putting on in May, that for some crazy reason I volunteered to direct. At least I have a great conference to model it after!
The very intense Security Council
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