Saturday - Amsterdam

Photos - Friday, final day of the conference

Saturday - our final day

Today we wrapped up our life-changing trip to the Netherlands. We woke-up early in The Hague and traveled to the train station to catch our train to Amsterdam.  We said our final goodbyes to a city where countless memories have occurred. We filled an entire car of the train 50% people and 50% luggage. 

We arrived in Amsterdam to clear skies. We saw the hustle and bustle of the legendary streets.  As we observed our surroundings we soon realized that we were not in The Hague anymore. Instead, we were in a beautiful city, which was once the wealthiest city in the world.

 We came to Amsterdam and checked into out rooms. The girls ended up getting a fabulous deluxe room. We then quickly put our stuff down and meet our tour guide, Gerk. He showed the true history of Amsterdam including the luxurious townhouses that belonged to the nobility in Amsterdam.  One of these houses happened to be the house of John Adams when he came to the Netherlands looking for sponsors for the American Revolution. We then visited Catholic quarters which were specifically built for women. We also stopped at the headquarters of the VOC (Dutch East India Company), the world’s first multinational corporation, and learned about its history.   We went to lunch and had pancakes, which were delicious!  We then ended our tour and went shopping.  We visited some souvenir shops and got stuff for all of our loved ones.

After coming back from shopping we went to the Anne Frank Museum. Anne Frank was a Jewish girl originally from Germany whose parents migrated to the Netherlands in 1933 in hopes of escaping Nazi persecution.  Anne died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during the Holocaust, She became a famous author when her father, the only surviving family member, published her diaries so the world could see what life was like for her while trying to hide from the Nazis after they invaded the Netherlands.  We visited her house where her family hid from German soldiers for 2 years.  It was a moving experience.

We then went to the dinner and got some words of wisdom from the seniors. All in all, this was a great ending to our trip. We have made life-long bonds with people all over the world; we have witnessed history, and have grown as people on this trip. The Netherlands has truly been a trip that we will never forget.

Ashlyn Coleman

Fridays events: the final day

The bitter sweet moment came the morning of the last day when all delegates realized their newly formed relationships and connections would soon come to an abrupt halt. It was sad to realize that these spectacular people from all around the world would no longer congregate into a room filled with chairs, a large viewing screen, multiple languages spoken and placards flying around.  To focus on the soon to be broken ties with friends and relationships you had fostered over the last 5 days would throw you into depression.   I, as well as my fellow class mates and delegates, focused on making the most of the remaining time. We talked more, laughed more, and proposed more questions to delegates about their resolutions and made it our job to have the best last conference ever.

This conference had a spectacular closing ceremony, where the heads delegates for each country marched between the isles of seats waving their flag as drummers and dancers followed them. The closing ceremony was very enjoyable and one of the best I have ever seen.  I am glad to have had that experience. In addition to the conference, the Bullis group took a side trip to the Peace Palace, where countries could show their decorum by resolving their conflicts in an organized and polite forum at the International Court of Justice.  We saw a copy of Andrew Carnegie’s check for $1.5 million dollars which helped fund the building of the Peace Palace in the early 20th century. 

Lastly, but certainly not least, was the dance party at the end of the night to reward all delegates for their hard work. The dance was certainly the tone changer for the conference where everything became informal. Delegates now became “official” friends, dress code changed from formal suit and tie to jeans and t-shirts and lastly topics of conversation changed from the coherence of a resolution to your Facebook name.  The dance to some may be seen as insignificant, but for me, it’s when the connections between the people you know from half way around the world become concrete. From the tears shed, to the numbers being exchanged, this night most definitely topped off all the rest as I think the bitter sweet taste of the conference will stay in the mouths of our delegation for quite some time.

Idrienne Walker

Photos - Thursday

Thursday's events as viewed by a member of the Economic and Social Council

Today we started the 4^th day of the conference. Thomas and I were in a small committee called ECOSOC. We discussed a wide variety of topics:  youth employment, new criteria to measure a country’s success, employing women to promote sustainable development, the international year of family farming, the millennium goals of eradication of poverty and hunger, getting people more involved in the UN, bio fuels and how they impact food security, universal access to innovative forms of energy, and sustainable economic growth for social development.

Our committee made each debate enjoyable and serious. The heads of our committee, called chairs, were from different parts of the world. During each debate we discussed a specific resolution and the students proposed a point of interest or a question to the person representing the resolution either in a positive or negative way. An example of point of interest that could be asked is, “Referring to clause nine, an area in the resolution, are subsidies in developing countries for infrastructure really necessary given the massive foreign direct investment by China and Asia at the moment?” After a student asked the speaker their question, the speaker would answer it not based on personal views, but on the views of their country or organization.

After the day ended we took a tram to the beach. It was very windy outside so after we took a quick picture in front of the ocean, we ran inside.  Then we went to a delicious Japanese restaurant.  We were given sheets of paper with the many foods we could order on it. All of us were confused because we did not understand the process of ordering our food. However, thankfully Thomas helped with the process as he spoke Chinese to the waitress so that we could understand how to order. Dinner was very good, and we then had ice cream.

All of us got onto the tram that night but then realized that we were going in the wrong direction, so we got off the bus and waited about 15 minutes for another bus to come. It was very cold outside and super windy. After we got on that bus we had to get off again to board a different bus. After we got off of the final bus we were not sure what direction we had to go, so we asked for directions and finally got back to our hotel. Now we are doing homework, and going to bed. We have a full day ahead of us tomorrow, which consists of the last day of the conference.

Sami Zimmerman