Saturday January 30th, 2010
The Australian tour officially kicked of at James Madison University (JMU) in Virginia. We were greeted by students who had volunteered to host the Australian delegation and take us under their wing for the weekend.
A tour of the campus showcased the best JMU had to offer from historic buildings, beautiful grounds to start of the art sporting facilities. This was all capped off with a traditional dinner at D-Hall, the residents students’ dinning hall.
An intense session of going through the rules and regulations was a good way to launch into HNMUN. An experienced debating student from JMU ran a debating workshop with us to hone our skills and give useful tips and pointers for the conference.
Our heads filled with new experiences, 15 new names and pictures of snow and mountains it was truly a very rewarding day!
Sunday January 31st, 2010
Designated as a relaxed day to allow delegates to recover from jet lag and become more acquainted with each other today was spent enjoying virginia and taking part in some of the more ‘touristy’ aspects of being in the United States.
This included dining at IHOP (The International House if Pancakes) which I am assured is a quintessential dinning experience. No trip would be complete without a visit to Walmart, the perfect opportunity to stock up on snow gear and thermals!
Being caught in heavy snowfall, it was also the perfect opportunity to go sledding (which involves zooming down a hill on plastic trays) and an intense snowball fight ensured maximal bonding between members of the delegation!
In the evening we caught a JMU shuttle bus to Washington, DC to get started on the real work behind the tour!
