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2005年 02月 06日

Model UN Conference @ Montreal -Day 1-

1/27
So finally, I have some time to write about my trip to Montreal...Sorry for the late update...

From 1/27- 1/30, I went to Montreal to attend the Model United Conference held at McGill University which is one of the most prestigious universities in Canada. The reason I had the chance to attend such a conference is cuz I belonged to an organization called the International Affairs Society which I signed up for at the beginning of last semester. Apparently this organization was of big interest to me since the group attended Model UN conferences annually and published journals of their own called the Michigan Journal of International Affairs (you can check the website by googling it, it's pretty cool) so as an international relations major and a person interested in the roles of the United Nations in the international sphere, I decided to sign up for this organization. Moreover, Keisuke actually had attended one Model UN conference back in Japan so he told me stories about it which prompted me to also sign up to become a delegate at the the Model UN conference. Cost me about 400 bucks, but considering that we can stay at a very nice hotel, meet many new ppl, and learn a lot about UN, it seemed like a pretty nice deal for me.

Keisuke and I were assigned to represent the country of Bhutan in the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee (Third committee) in the General Assembly. So of course we had to do some kind of research before heading to the conference.

So anyways, here are the details of the trip:

We departed from Michigan at 7pm the day before the conference started (Wednesday). The trip was by bus, which took us about 15 hours total.... A long and tiring trip but it wasn't so bad as I was used to traveling by bus from all that Greyhound bus rides in the winter.

This day was almost a free day cuz the opening ceremony started late at night so we could just go out and explore the city of Montreal by ourselves. So after we arrived at the hotel where the conference would be held (it was a Sheraton Hotel), took a short rest and then I went over to China Town with Keisuke since he knew a place where we could have all-you-can-eat chinese for a reasonable price.

Montreal was, in short, a very beautiful city. Actually, I have been there before when I was a little kid but hadn't remembered that much about it, so it was like refreshing my memories. If you ignored the fact that it was much much colder than back in Michigan (sh*t...), it was really peaceful, clean, and the ppl were very friendly. I thought we had to try to speak French there, but most of the ppl we encountered in shops could speak English as well, so I didn't have much trouble getting around with ordering food and asking for directions.

Keisuke and I ended up finding the Chinese place and I ate so much that I felt really bad after the meal.... But the food was so nice since they had such a variety. I wish they had the same kind of place in Ann Arbor...

We also went to a museum too (Museum of Comtemporary Arts). I started to become sleepy, but I mosly enjoyed seeing all the exhibits.

After that, we headed to the hotel, took a nap and then changed in our suits to get ready for the opening ceremony. I was glad I brought a suit from Japan since I finally got to utilize it in some way.

The ceremony was really big. So many delegates were there to attend the conference, which I didn't expect. I found that ppl from Harvard, Princeton, Uni. of Toronto, Georgetown, were attending and got really excited...

After that, all the ppl from U of M gathered to head for drinks. Had some beer and chatted with the other ppl and that was about it for my first day. I was looking forward to the second day where I would attend the first committee session in the conference....

A look into Montreal:
Model UN Conference @ Montreal -Day 1-_b0019470_4213981.jpg



Model UN Conference @ Montreal -Day 1-_b0019470_4222866.jpg


# by kamakusa | 2005-02-06 04:08 | Travel
2005年 02月 02日

Where to for Spring Vacation?

2/1
とうとう二月になってしまいました。。。ただいま午前3時、今日のプレゼンの準備がようやく一通り終わりました(泣)。よく考えたらMontrealに向けて出発した日からまともに寝てない。。。

Montrealについては今時間が全然ないのでまた更新しますが、実は今2月下旬にやってくる春休みにどこに行こうかで結構迷っているのでそれについてちょっと。候補は以下の3箇所:

・トルコ(イスタンブル)→今のところ行きたい国の中でもトップに入るんですが、格安航空券が500ドル以下だったのでいけるかも、という希望が出てきました。

・メキシコ(メキシコシティー)→航空券が300ドル以下!安!!世界遺産一杯あるみたいなので遺跡系のものを見たいです。

・ロンドン→こちらも航空券が300ドル!安!!!てことでヨーロッパにも行きたいと考えている僕は惹かれています。でも物価高いし、ヨーロッパは大陸一周くらいしない限り1人旅するのには適してなさそうだからちょっと微妙かも。。。

あー今週辛いけど春休みのこと考えたらわくわくしてきた。

# by kamakusa | 2005-02-02 17:15 | Personal Thoughts
2005年 01月 26日

One day before Montreal...

1/23-25
ここ数日はとにかく勉強をがりがりしていたような気がします。。。Montrealに行くことで授業が何個か出れなくなってしまうので、事前に提出しておかなければいけない課題があったからです。。。

そして先日紹介したB-SchoolのCorporate Strategyという授業ではグループプロジェクトが課されていて、最近定期的にグループMeetingが開催されるようになりまして、今週はそれで結構時間をとられた。ちなみにオレのグループは化粧品産業の分析。。。おい、なんだよそれ。ヨビチ一切ありません。。。女性陣とLorealのなんちゃらコンテストに参加したことのあるケイスケとかにも頼りつつ頑張って行きたいと思います。あとマレーシアの友達でLoreal社員の人が二人いた♪今度メールしてみようかな。

今回のプロジェクトではグループ全体で産業全体の分析結果を伝える他に、グループ内の各個人が産業内の企業一つについて発表することにもなっています。オレはCover Girlというかなり有名(らしい?)P&Gのブランドを担当することになりました。え、企業じゃないんですけど。。。この前突っ込めばよかった。。。とりあえず誰か情報持っている人いたらヘルプ!!

てなわけで月曜は夕方から第二回目のグループMeetingがあったのですが、プロジェクトのAction Planなるものを作成するのに三時間もかかりました。。。非常に非生産的な議論が展開されていたのでストレスがたまりまくりました。うーん、今学期の小さな目標のうちの一つは英語でDebateがもっとうまくできるようになることです。


そしてそんなわけで時間はあっという間に過ぎ去ってしまい、とうとう明日からMontreal出発となってしまいました。。。今日は会議中に着るスーツの下に着るワイシャツを買いに奔走したり、とうとうやってきた第二回目のHaircutの予約をしたりで大忙しでした。それにBhutan情報ほとんど調べていないんですが。。。しかも宿題まだ全部終わってない(泣)今学期は意外と余裕だと思っていましたがここに来て相当久しぶりにてんぱってきた。。。ま、Mですからたぶん平気です(笑)

明日は起きて洗濯などして、髪を切りにいって、授業を一つ受けて、帰って荷詰めして、夜7時にバスでAnn Arbor出発です。

ではではいってきまーす。会議中は最低二回くらいは前で発言したいのう。え、Bhutanは無理だって??

# by kamakusa | 2005-01-26 16:15 | University Life
2005年 01月 24日

Yakiniku Party!!

1/22
Today, I went to play basketball at the NCRB with Eugene as I did last week. It was really early in the morning but it really helps me start off the day feeling energized after the pick-up games. The bad thing about today was that it was snowing badly like hell,,, and I had to make the long way to NCRB from Oxford. But Eugene and I decided to go anyways. Today, I played about 3 full court games and a 2on2 game. My shooting touch is coming back, and I feel much better moving around after working out with weight machines recently at the CCRB.

BTW, I think Japanese basketball players have a pretty good chance of making a bigger contribution in basketball in the US, as Tabuse has shown us. I think that Asian ppl have much more quickness and playing accuracy in athletics, so I think that will give Japanese players the advantage in competing against all the big and slow guys in the US. I recently read in a magazine that there are 2 Japanese high school ballers playing here in the US now, who are stars on their team. I think they were brothers. Cool, huh?

Anyways, after enjoying the b-ball games I headed back to my room and started doing some of my homework. The homework for my accounting is so much time consuming since I have to all these calculations and write these balance sheets and spreadsheets by hand... But I think it will help me apply my knowledge of accounting.

Then from around 5:30, we headed to Edem's house to join a yakiniku party (!!) that was going to be held in Anastacia's house. A guy named Todd was coming to the party as well and he drove Keisuke, Edem, and I down to his house. Todd and Anastacia were ppl keisuke and I met when we attended this Japanese cultural event early this semester.

Anyways, we had a really cool party! Todd prepared us Yakiniku on a Teppan, which I had been missing so badly... Man, the food was nice. The reason it is so hard to do yakiniku in the states is cuz the butchers here don't have a darn clue how to slice the meat thin so that we can use it in yakiniku or shabushabu. Ppl here just like the big chunks of meat... No wonder they're all so fat! haha.

Well, the party was not just yakiniku. Of course we had tons of drinking going on as well♪So I just loaded myself with wine, sake, and cocktails. Unusually, I didn't have any beer, but the cocktails Anastacia and Todd made me were awesome! I enjoyed Rum coke with lime, Jäger with Red Bull, and Guiness with Vanilla Rum and Irish Creme (man, I forgot the names of the drinks, darn...)

Today, I was cautious not to lose my memory as I did last time, and successfully ended up being in just the right state of being drunk. I felt really good and it was so fun talking with all the ppl at the party. Below are some pics I took there. Edem was messed up (he didn't eat any yakiniku cuz he said he doesn't like them, can u believe it!?), so we stayed over Anastacia's house. Man, I want to have that kind of party again!!
Yakiniku Party!!_b0019470_859453.jpg

Yakiniku Party!!_b0019470_9056.jpg


# by kamakusa | 2005-01-24 08:59 | University Life
2005年 01月 24日

Seeing off Maureen & Squash tennis

1/21
(Continued from yesterday's entry)
I woke up around 6:35 and left Oxford with Keisuke, Nok, and Jenny in Jenny's car to pick up Maureen and Mai at 6:40... I barely made it... So well, Jenny took all of us to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport and we finally had to say good-bye to Maureen... I'm going to miss Maureen, since we always had such a fun time hanging out with her in the group. She was such a nice person. I've never seen her make any complaints before. But actually I didn't feel so sad because I had the sense inside me that somehow, we would meet up again. I'm sure we will, either in Australia, Japan, or anywhere else.

Maureenが読んでくれることを期待して途中まで英語にしましたが日本語に切り替えます。てなわけでMaureenを朝超早くから見送ったのですが、寮に戻ってからは眠すぎて仮眠をとりました。でもすぐ後に、日本語を習っている外人と日本語で会話をするイベントにいく予定があったので二時間くらいしか寝れず。。。実はEdemに誘われて、ミシガンで日本語を教えている先生が定期的に主催しているConversation Tableに行くことになったんです。ケイスケも一緒に行くことになりました。

East Quad という寮の一室に集まって日本語を習っている外人とベラベラ話したわけなんですが、いつも英語で話しかけている外人に対して日本語を話している自分がいてちょっと不思議に感じました。でも結構楽しかったし、日本に興味のある外人と新しく知り合えるいい機会なのでこれからもこのイベントにはちょくちょく顔を出そうかと思います。先学期からやっていればよかった。。。

その後はカフェでたまっていた宿題にとりかかるものの、眠くて集中力が持たずに、寮に帰還。気分をリフレッシュするためにケイスケとCCRBに行ってスカッシュをしてきました。最近よく二人でやるんですよね。でも今日は何試合もやったのにことごとく負けまくって気分は逆にStressfulになってしまった 笑。

テニスとかバドミントンとかラケットを使う種目は基本的に好きじゃないのですがスカッシュはおもろい。もっとケイスケと試合をしてうまくなりたいと思います。

# by kamakusa | 2005-01-24 08:30 | University Life