Robert at the Global Young Leaders Conference '09

Last Day

2009-07-27T18:13:00.002+10:00

I am home and back in Australia and all is well. Sad to leave but good to be back. The flight was fine and long, very long. 23 hours all up including connection. They tried to make us watch 17 Again again on the flight but I fought back and refused- I did maths homework.

Also something strange to note is that, for me, the 26th of July was the day that never was. I skipped Sunday. Strange think flying through time zones.

I am hoping to update this blog for a little bit longer with other stories from my trip that didn't make the regular post but I don't know how frequently that will happen.

Day 13

2009-07-25T13:23:00.008+10:00

Today was the last full day of the conference for everybody who is left.

First up this morning we went to NBC studios in Rockefeller Centre. We were given a guided tour of the building and the sets. We visited the news room, the Saturday Night Live studio and their football show studio. It was an incredible building and it was very interesting to learn the history of the network.

I also got to see Katy Perry live in concert as part of the "Today Show" concerts. So technically I have now been on American TV as there were some large panning shots that covered the area where I was standing.

We went to John's Pizzeria for lunch. It was very nice and the restaurant itself was magnificent.

After lunch we visited Madam Tussuad's Wax museum. It was amazing. The figures are so life like and there were so many. I really enjoyed wandering amongst all the famous people.

The excitement didn't stop there with us next visiting the USS Intrepid; a decommissioned aircraft carrier that has been turned into a floating museum. We learnt the history of the ship from it's launch during the WWII to the present. I also got to go in a flight simulator which was lot of fun. But the highlight was sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge.

Dinner came after that. We ate at Garage Restaurant in Greenwich Village. We did a bit of exploring and then headed off to the Empire State Building. The view was spectacular from the top. I was in awe. The lifts were also super fast and travelled 80 floors in seconds.

That did eventually bring us to the end of the day. I now just have to pack and get ready to leave for Australia.

Day 12

2009-07-24T13:09:00.006+10:00

We found out today- Japan won the photo scavenging competition!!!

Most of the conference left this morning to return home. Only us 70 add-on scholars now remain. Before we left I gave out some stuff from Australia and I am pleased to say, that a Campbelltown City Council bucket hat is on its way to the country of Benin.

I was lucky enough to be one of the speakers at the conference's closing event today; ironically titled commencement. My speech went really well I think. I spoke about the different cultures at this conference and understanding them at a deeper level.

Once everybody who was leaving had left and the rest of us had finished crying, we visited Ground Zero and saw the work being done on building the new towers that are going to be built around the area where the other two were. This site did not quite have the impact on me that I thought it would. I expected it to be quiet and peaceful and hard hitting but it wasn't. There was all this noise of machinery and people and simply the hustle bustle of New York.
We then moved up to Wall Street and saw the outside of the Stock Exchange. While there we went to the site of George Washington's Inauguration. It was an impressive building- even though it was not the original building that was there.
After that we toured up to Central Park. We were set another photo challenge in the park and my friends and I set too it. But it poured rain. We were caught in the middle of central park with one umbrella and three raincoats between 7 people. Luckily I was one of the people who went and bought a rain coat against the advise of my friends, "oh come on you won't need it it won't rain." But on a positive we were the only ones that did it and the first ones to ever do it. So go us!

This was the last photo; us having a cup of tea at the tea party from Alice in Wonderland. It really started to rain after we took this and headed back to the other side of the park.
We had dinner at the Jekyll and Hide Club tonight which was incredible. It is a very impressive building. The whole thing was "spooktacular." There all different types of stereotypical objects from classic horror movies and one waitress dressed up as a mad scientist who put on a "It's alive!" shows for us.

After dinner we went shopping on 5th avenue which was rather disappointing. There wasn't much to do and buy except in The World of Disney which was a wonderful place.

We also popped into Georgio Armi. Ties: $150, simple baseball cap: $195, the most horrible green jacket you will ever see: $1500, umbrella: $450, leather brief case: anywhere between $3000 and $4000, asking for a discount because you're a South Sydney supporter and seeing the stunned look on people's faces: priceless

Today was perhaps the saddest day of the conference as today nearly everybody left in the morning.It was really emotional saying good bye to all my new international friends. It is amazing how after only 12 days we have gotten so close to all these people from around the world and how much we are going to miss them all.

Day 11

2009-07-24T13:00:00.002+10:00

Today was officially the last full day of the conference. Tomorrow is where just about everybody leaves- except the 80 or so scholars, myself included, who are staying for the add-on days; basically extra sightseeing.

We all went back to United Nations today for the Global Summit. The resolution where Japan would get a permanent seat on the Security Council failed, so we lost their. But on a positive note, the resolution about weapons of mass destruction also failed.

We then had lunch and wandered around Chinatown and Little Italy.

The day concluded with an evening cruise around the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty. It was a beautiful cruise with spectacular views. The organisers took photos of each country group as they entered the bus and had them for sale when we got back but they only printed about 10 for each group and I missed out as did many others. I am surprised there was not a riot.

It was rather sad though because so many of us are leaving now. Out of the 23 people in my Japan group, only 5 are staying for add-on. I really am going to miss all the people I have met here as they have had a huge impact on my life. They are such good people and the fun we have had together is unforgettable.

Only three days to go now...

Day 10

2009-07-22T13:52:00.005+10:00

Today we went to the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It was an impressive building. We were given a presentation by former assistant Secretary- General to Kofi Annan, Ms. Gillian Martin Sorenson. She was a very good speaker and told us about the role of the UN and more on how it works.

We were then given a tour of the facility which included us visiting the meeting place of the General Assembly. It is a huge chamber and looks spectacular.

The rest of the day was spent of campus preparing for our Global Summitt. We had a "Coalition Building" session where country groups went around to other country groups and tried to win votes. Some of the people are really stubborn and some say really stupid things. There is one motion about Weapons of Mass Destruction. Basically if you have them keep them, if not you can't make them. Japan (my group) is against this for a variety of reasons but mainly because countries with nukes will have power over countries without them, like us. So Micheal Hogan from L.A. (he is in a boyband- Highlandla) went to the USA to get them to agree to vote no. And after much heated argument, the America rep. said something along the lines of "we want to have power over smaller nations; we want to control them with our nukes..." So you can see what we're up against.

Although in a big victory, we got China to agree to the resolution about U.N. reform, in which Japan becomes a permanent member of the secruity council.

That was really all we did today. It was pouring rain as well today. Everybody got wet. The organisers had about 100 raincoats at the best to hand out and that was it. It was a nice change from the heat though.

Day 9

2009-07-21T22:32:00.007+10:00

Today was all at Manhattan College. We didn't leave the grounds- which really helped my wallet.

The day was mainly spent preparing for our Global Summitt, in which all the Country Groups will have a massive forum, based on the United Nations, at the United Nations. For this we split up into many different focus areas to come up with resolutions. I was in the political group. In each group we split up further into specific focus areas. I was in the U.N. reform sub group but then I got elected Deputy Chair of the political group so I couldn't continue in the resolution forming.

The final resolution that came from the group was one in which Japan, Germany, Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia are all added to permanent member status on the Secruity Council. And there are lots of other little things as part of that motion but that is the main thing. This a huge victory for my country group of Japan. Rebecca, the German girl I mentioned before, was able to negotiate her way into getting Japan in that resolution on her own, and I think that is amazing. Everybody here is amazing. All the people are so knowledgeable and able to work together so well- and have a lot of fun.

To break up the monotony of meetings today, there was a competition between each country group- a photo scavenger hunt. We had to find all these pictures of different things on campus, and be really creative to win. I believe we did really well. We took over 20 pictures as part of this competition and here are a few of my favourites.

No. 1- "Take a photo of any animal you can find"

I love this photo. You should of seen us trying to get it. We were standing there and someone yelled squirrel and I turned around and ran after it. This German guy, Yahn, from a rival group, and I were running all around this campus chasing this one creature with our cameras. It was so fun.

No. 2- “The stairs from the movie “A Beautiful Mind”

No. 3- “Happy people placing food trays in the right place”

No. 4- “Somewhere where a Florentine Literature Major may have slept had they gone to this college”

No. 5- “A creative still life statue”

Can anyone spot what we’re doing, or spelling?

No. 6- “A photo of someone in your group with a TV star”

There are another 16 pictures. You will notice that I am not in any of these photos and that is because I took them. I will be sure to update with the results of whether we won or not.

Day 8

2009-07-21T04:16:00.009+10:00

Today GYLC was set loose on Times Square!

But before that a group of us went to Ellis Island. It was an amazing place. We got some spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty. The boat ride was really nice. Not quite as good as the Manly Ferry though.

Ellis Island was the main place that all imigrants came too when entering the United States for many years. The old facility has been turned into a museum to tell the story of what immigrants went through when they arrived.

The we went to Times Square. It was amazing. The lights and advertising were overwhelming. All the shops everywhere and the people; the neon signs and the little stalls on the side of the road. The NYPD even had is own neon sign on its police station in the middle. I loved it there. We went and had lunch at TGI Fridays. That was very nice.

After that we went to a Broadway Show. We saw Mary Poppins! It was an incredible show. The sheer scale of the production was amazing. I loved the singing and the dancing and the sets were beyond description. The production values were high and the dancing was phenominal. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We saw it in the Amsterdamn theatre which was a beautiful theatre.

After that I went on a shopping spree. The best shop was M & M world. It was "wow" I couldn't believe it. It was three levels of M & Ms and merchandise. Music was pumping and the atmosphere was electric.

New York is such a contrast to D.C. Washington was quiet and not as hussle and bussle but in N.Y., it is all go all the time. People and cars are everywhere. The feeling is inexplicable. I am loving it here.

Day 7

2009-07-19T14:31:00.001+10:00

Sorry about the delay in postings but these last few days have been so hectic I haven’t had any time to write anything up.

Today we left Washington D.C. and headed to New York.

On the way we stopped off in Philadelphia. It was amazing to wander around this historic city. There were so many old buildings. I got to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the original seat of the Supreme Court and Benjamin Franklin’s Grave. I also had my first Philly Cheese steak. It was delicious.
We are now staying at Manhattan College in New York. It is a huge building. Everything is so spread out. It is nearly a 5 minute walk to dining hall- which is a real college cafeteria.

Day 6

2009-07-19T14:23:00.002+10:00

Today was our last full day in Washington D.C. Went spent the whole day in the hotel, mainly preparing for our Simulation. Basically a simulation is just a mock meeting of the United Nations Security Council, where we represent our assigned country group (I’m in Japan group- the best one) and then try and get a resolution passed that best suits us.

The debate was on the Spratly Islands; who and how much could have control. My group was able to get to about half the countries present to agree to our resolution, even China, the USA and the UK, and several others. But then when it came to voting, no one voted for it which was disappointing.

We had our cultural exchanges in the evening. They were very good. Each member of our group got up and spoke about their country and culture. It was very interesting and informative. The one country that struck me more than any other was Germany. Rebecca from Germany was not able to understand the concept of patriotism, or national pride because Germany doesn’t have any. She was able to understand what it was or felt like. This really impacted me. The only time she has seen national pride is during the soccer.

Another story like this that made me think was one from Salem, a boy from Benin. He talked about how he has to carry a gun with him for protection when he goes into certain parts of his area. He is only 16 or 17 years old. He talked about how people who steal anything are beaten to within an inch of their lives. All someone has to do is scream “thief” and point to another person and that person will be beaten.

There is also a girl here from England, Klaudia, who’s Grandmother housed escaped or hiding Jewish people in Poland during the Second World War.

I stuck the Australian flag up as part of my cultural exchange.

Day 5

2009-07-19T14:07:00.006+10:00

Today was amazing!

First of all we visited the Holocaust Museum. It was a very powerful experience to learn about the tremendous plight of the Jewish people under Nazi Germany. The story was brilliantly told throughout the museum. It had a variety of exhibitions laid out in chronological order. It even had an actual rail carriage that people were transported in to the camps. There videos showing the horrors that were committed by the Nazis. I was deeply moved by everything in the museum.

After that we were able to wander around the national mall. I walked from the Museum to Capitol Hill, then back to the Washington Monument, then on to the White House. Then I caught a taxi back to the building where we were getting picked up but I was on the wrong side so I had to walk around the block to our buses. I was really worn out from all the walking but it was really worth it. The Capitol was hugely impressive. It looks so beautiful. There were security guards patrolling the out of bounds areas with large machines guns.

The monument is huge, especially when you walk up and touch it. You can see all the different stage of development because each time they recommenced work, the bricks were a slightly different colour.

It was great to get up close to the White House but it is not how it is on TV. There are not people all around in huge groups and no cars everywhere. The north and south sides are closed off to the cars and you have to walk around different blocks to see the east and west sides, which you really can’t. The whole building is fenced off and you can’t get very close.

Through visiting all these sites, it is clearly evident that not everything on the Washington Mall is exactly lined up straight. The lines are slightly askew. And you will have to excuse the slightly sweaty photos of me. It was very hot and I had been walking a fair way. I was really lucky that there were refreshment shops in the mall, so I was able to buy more water to go with the water supplied by GYLC.

2009-07-19T14:05:00.002+10:00

Hello All!

Today we went to the US Department of State. I was really excited and so looking forward to this but when we got there, we got a briefing from a man in the Department of Agriculture. I had the understanding that we would be getting a security briefing but instead we were talked to about hunger and stopping it.

Then my bus went to the United Kingdom Embassy in Washington D.C. The presenters weren’t very engaging. They just sat down in front of everyone. But we did get into a very engaging discussion on Climate Change.

After that I went to the WWII memorial. It was wonderfully created. We then walked up to the Lincoln Memorial. It was amazing. I was in awe of the size and detail put into it. The statue is masterfully created and the view is spectacular. It was also different to what I expected, mainly due to the movie “Planet of the Apes.” Lincoln is set well back into the temple. It is not right outside. But I was still incredibly in awe.

The next stop was the Korean War Memorial. I was able to have a quick look around before the buses had to leave.

The day finished with another highly vocal trivia social.

Day 3

2009-07-15T21:13:00.002+10:00

We went to the world bank today. They presented to us on all their Millenium Development Goals. They spoke mainly about eliminating poverty.

Then we had lunch in Georgetown. The area was lovely.

In the afternoon we were back at the hotel and attended some presentations. Nothing too exciting.

The night was fun because we had a trivia social. The country groups are very passionate and we really got involved with cheering and chanting and it was a lot of fun.

Sorry about the shortness of this post but I have to get to breakfast. I haven't got enough time to post any pictures.

Day 2

2009-07-15T20:51:00.007+10:00

Today we had lunch at Union State. It is a huge train station and one of the most visited places in DC. Two Greeks, the Honduran and I decided to have the traditional American experience. We went to a diner. The hamburger actually tasted pretty good.

We then travelled on to the American University for a presentation on multiculturalism and cross-cultural leadership by Dr. Gary Wevear. His presentation was very interesting and entertaining. What he said about understanding culture was insightful and supported by evidence.

The next stop was the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. This is an amazing place.

The group then walked up to the Thomas Jefferson Memnorial. It was very impressive but we didn't have much to time to look at it as we rushed out.

Day 1 Complete post

2009-07-14T08:47:00.008+10:00

Sorry for the delay.

Day 1 was very good. After sitting around for a while watching a Honduran sleep, I met an Albanian. We decided to catch the Sheraton Shuttle to the local mall. We got to fashion square and everything was closed, probably because it was before 11am on a Sunday. We did get to have lunch. We ate at Subway and I ordered a small diet coke:

We got bored so we went to the metro. After 15 minutes of figuring out the ticket machines, we got on our train for a one minute trip. The metro system is very effective here. Trains run quickly and go very fast. This is the platform at Pentagon City.

We went to the Pentagon. Yes, it has its own train station. I was very surprised at how deserted it is. There is no visable movement, no cars and people bustling about. We walked around three sides of it and visited the memorial to those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks. There is still damage being repared. Then we walked back and caught the train to the hotel.

We weren't allowed to take photos. To prove that fact I have attached a photo below.

All the other attendees from around the world began to arrive. We had "getting to know you" activities and then got our room assignments. You will remember I was disapointed at having to pack up my room completely and drag all my luggage downstairs. Well, I was allocated the same room. So I had to haul all my luggage back up again. Below is a photo of the view from my hotel window at Sunrise.

Dinner was good but by the time I got their it was cold. T'was meatballs and spaghetti.

Day 1

2009-07-13T21:55:00.002+10:00

Hey All,

Sorry I cannot post anything at the moment, I am busy and running out of time before breakfast. I will do a proper post later about my trip yesterday to the Pentagon with an Albanian and a Honduran.

Later, but still early day 1

2009-07-12T23:17:00.002+10:00

Nothing new to report. A little boring at the moment. The time here is 9:19am, and I have to wait till 1pm to do anything. I also found out the room I was in last night will not be my room for the whole trip. So I had to pack up everything again.
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I noticed last night that D.C. has a lot of smog. There is this large haze across the horizon. It is especially evident at sunrise, when the different layers are different colours.

As I have been sitting here, I have been watching one of the screens. It is just one big commercial. They've spent 20 minutes discussing some mop. It is like one of those mid day product adds on Australia television, eg "Ab king pro," only 5 times as long.

More and more people are starting to arrive so I might go and mingle.

Early Day 1

2009-07-12T21:44:00.003+10:00

Woke up early this morning. Nothing much to do.

Went for breakfast. The Sheraton National Hotel does NOT serve toast! I found this bizarre but I have to remember that I am the US.

The view from the hotel is very good. I can see the Washington Monument, Congress and some strange sculpture thing.

Sunrise was absolutely stunning this morning. I took photos and they will be posted soon. My floor is very stuffy, as is my room. The ice machine in the middle of the floor can be heard all over the floor, which is very annoying. But all in all I am impressed so far.

Photos will follow shortly once I get it all sorted out at this end.

I have arrived!

2009-07-12T13:47:00.002+10:00

Hello Everybody!

I have arrived in the United States of America. I am currently sitting in the computer lounge of the Sheratin National Hotel in Washington D.C.

The flights all went well. The films left a little to be desired- I found myself watching "17 Again." Food was very good though.

Connecting flight was much the same. The views however of San Francisco were beautiful. Washington is good too. I can see the Washington Monument from my hotel room.

To finish this post, a special thanks to the staff of Campbelltown Library for their generosity and support.

Welcome/Thank you

2009-06-27T14:47:00.006+10:00

Hello Everybody!

Welcome to my blog. I've created this page so that I can upload photos and descriptions of what I am doing each day while I'm in America at the Global Young Leaders Conference. I will hopefully be posting something every day so please stay tuned!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who donated and supported me through out my preparation to attend this conference. Thank you all very much.