In case you did not notice, Janice Mui is back.
Read about her adventures below!
This year, I had the privilege of attending the 11th Annual International Geography Olympiad (iGeo), held in Krakow, Poland between the 12th and 18th of August, as well as the iGeo post-trip around Poland (19th – 24th of August).
The point of the Olympiad is to not only determine the best young geographer in the world, but also to promote geography and foster links between young people around the world- and it most certainly achieved all of these aims!
Yes, there was the competition and the tests, held in three parts: Multimedia, Fieldwork and Written Response. There was sitting in a hall writing frantically for three hours without a break and tramping around a field counting roller-skaters and dog walkers. There were the Medal Ceremonies, where emotions ran high, the tension was palpable, and I made people pinch me/pull on my hair to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. (Gold medal, 3rd place in the world, 2nd place for Team Australia- that’s what dreams are made of, right?) But there were also the excursions- to places like Krakow’s Market Square, Slovakia (I kid you not- we rafted down a river which is half in Slovakia and half in Poland), and Auschwitz-Birkenau, as well as events like the Cultural Function, where every team presented a symbol of their country’s culture (such as the Eureka Flag for Team Australia, saunas for Team Finland, Tintin for Team Belgium, Haribo Gummy Bears for Team Germany, very stylish national costumes for Team Nigeria and 100% internet coverage for Team Estonia).
Finally, and most importantly, there was all the time that the 144 competitors, from 36 countries and regions, spent having fun, being a little silly and generally making friends. We took numerous crazy photos, including lots of selfies, played games of Mafia and Contact into the wee hours of the night, and, on the very last night of the post-trip, sang Call Me Maybe, Our Last Summer, the Kashubian alphabet and several drinking songs in various languages at the top of our lungs at 2 am in a hotel in Warsaw. Safe to say, we were all sad to part after what many of us (me included) have agreed were the best two weeks of our lives to date.
However, as all of us good geographers know, globalization has increased the links and interconnectedness between people all over the world. The internet enables us to connect instantly and easily with people thousands of kilometres away. In other words- it’s a small world, so I think it can be said that we all parted with the hope that our newfound friendships will endure.
After all, a shared love for geography is one strong basis for fellowship!
(Last night of the post-trip, approximately midnight)
(Team Australia, Team Belgium and our respective team leaders on a raft in a river, half in Slovakia, half in Poland)
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