Windmills and Weather

This is just a brief entry to inform everyone that the New Zealand Schools Delegation has now arrived at The Hague International Model United Nations!

After an early start in Geneva, we flew into Amsterdam yesterday to the best European weather we have had so far. After a bus ride to The Hague, we completed registration for the Conference, and the delegates spent the afternoon preparing opening speeches and reading over research. They were all rather surprised to be bombarded with eager lobbyists bearing signs and resolutions as soon as we sat down, but have already found themselves to be particularly well-prepared for the conference.

In the evening, the delegates were picked up by their host families, who all have sons and daughters studying at the British School in The Netherlands. The staff met with all the host parents before the delegates left, and all of us found them to be absolutely lovely and welcoming. All reports are very positive and the delegates are looking forward to getting to know their host families better over the next 5 days.

Day One of the Conference is essentially a day of initial meetings and informal lobbying. Delegates are spending the day attempting to get their names on speaking lists and putting forward their resolutions for debate. The official opening ceremony will be held this afternoon. It also happens to be Australia Day, so we aim to meet with the Australian Delegation this evening!

We will update in the next few days with photos from the conference and the progress of our delegates.

Until then,

Hannah, Kitaj, Jamie