THIMUN 50th Anniversary Conference, 2018!! - Days 1 & 2

This year's trip to The Hague is particularly special, because it is the 50th anniversary of this amazing conference. Our very own MYMUN is a THIMUN-affiliate, and we are very pleased to be attending, as this is the 17th consecutive session Mont' Kiara International School has sent a delegation to this highly-esteemed international conference. M'KIS' MUN program has always enjoyed a strong reputation at this and the THIMUN-Singapore conferences, and our students are regularly selected for important student officer positions.

On Friday, our small group of two student officers (Stephanie Kannimmel & Jane Chea), and two delegates (Victor Skjoldby & Ryan Chua) met MUN Director, Ms Claudia Fidalgo, and Advisor, Ms Andi Januskiewicz, at the M'KIS breezeway at 8pm for a slow, rainy drive to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. We breezed through security, grabbed some snacks, and boarded our flight for take-off close to midnight. Everyone enjoyed some movies and got lots of sleep on the flight, allowing us to arrive in Amsterdam early Saturday morning feeling reasonably refreshed.

We were met by THIMUN Student Representatives, and they ushered us to our bus, where we enjoyed seeing some of the countryside at dawn on our way to our hotel in The Hague. Once in our hotel, we freshened up and prepared to take the train back to Amsterdam to spend a day seeing some sights. We enjoyed eating some Dutch fries with an assortment of sauces - a popular treat - and walked around the squares and canals, seeing the unique architecture of tall, narrow buildings and beautiful stone cathedrals that mark the area. Finally, chilly and tired, we all returned to the hotel to get some sleep.

On Sunday morning, Jane and Stephanie had to be up early and spent the day at the World Forum Conference Center (WFCC) attending training meetings in order to prepare to co-lead their respective committees as Deputy-Presidents. While they were busy, Victor and Ryan went out with Ms Fidalgo and Ms J to visit the WFCC to find out where their committees would be located, and then went to the beach. It was a cold, cloudy, windy day at the beach, but it was very beautiful, and there was a great indoor walk from the beach out toward the ocean with gorgeous views. In the evening, the team met up again in the hotel lobby and took the tram into the downtown area of The Hague for dinner at an Argentinian steakhouse. Finally, everyone returned to the hotel to prepare for the first official day of the conference.

This morning (Monday), Stephanie and Jane headed out early to prepare with their fellow officers, and were soon followed by Victor and Ryan as they headed to their committees, and Ms Fidalgo and Ms J, who headed off to the Director's Meeting. Everyone will be busy for the day until 3pm, when we will attend the Opening Ceremonies, which is always a very exciting event. This year, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who once attended THIMUN himself as a delegate, will be opening the conference!

Stay tuned for more later!
Ms J