My brother’s sexy new PC came today. About time too.. I really felt bad for him yesterday. First it didn’t come, then the Raptors lost their game.. Hahaha.

But anyway, here it is. It’s not set up obviously cause he’s not home yet…

Of course I’m a little jealous. Who wouldn’t be of… 24-inch flat screen monitor. Quad Core Pentium Processor. 3 Gb RAM. 500gb (or maybe 1Tb, I forget) hard drive. TV tuner… etc etc. But eh.. That’s how it is at my house…

Computers here generally have 3-year lifespans. Which sometimes means theres 2-years waiting in between new ones being bought… We started in 2003 with my laptop (I don’t count the ones we bought before, cause they weren’t specifically just mine or just James’s). It was my “Grad Present”. James’ came in 2005 when he graduated (obviously… he’s 2 years younger than me). Next this current one I have I bought in 2006 (it’ll be 2-years old in August). So it just makes sense that James buys his next one now in 2008… Thing is, he did buy it a few months in advanced (usually we buy before the school year). But I think his laptop was starting to screw around on him… He got “blue screened” a few times I think.

Anyway. I just have to wait my turn. 2009 is when it’s gonna happen. Though following his example I think I’m gonna buy mine a little early too (I’m supposed to wait for my first “real” job).. But whatever. Maybe around this time next year I’ll have my own new PC (no more laptops for me once I finish with school).

When I first heard about the HWATTEOOP Training that I have to do at work, I freaked. I thought it had to do with health and safety training, which I always found annoying and stupid. Working for the city meant that I had to retake this training every year. Then on top of that, since I would normally get a second job on top of my city, I would then have to take it with *that* job. Bah. And of course they cover pretty much the same information.

So you can understand why I was really annoyed to find out I’d have to do it again. But I was wrong… I found out this training is actually the “How We Appear Through The Eyes Of Our Patrons” Training. Hahaha. Long name huh? Kind of… Dorky too.. But actually it’s really sweet.

So here’s how it is. This coming Saturday not only will I have the chance to watch a Toronto Symphony Orchestra Show and get a free pop. But I will be *paid* to do it! Hahahaha. Oh man have I mentioned that I love this job yet?

What would make this sweeter is if I was sitting at Mezzanine instead of like Balcony or something. Even the side of the mezzanine would be nice (as in over the stage, like where my cousin an I sat last time). But whatever. It’s a free show. So… Yeahyah…

The show itself is a “Casual Concert”, and is part of the Mozart series that they are doing. My problem: they’re mostly (if not, all) opera pieces. Ahh. Not that I don’t enjoy opera at all. But I really prefer just regular orchestra pieces. Haha. But then again. As I said before… It’s a free show right?

Anyway. I’m really looking forward to this…

So now that we had our topic, on to debate that one. As I mentioned already, I was pretty high up the Secondary Speakers List, which mean that I had the chance to make a speech. Staying close to my country’s foreign policy though, I yielded most of my time to Russia (this is what I think most likely would have happened). But nonetheless, I was able to kind of vindicate myself if in just a small way.

I was able to co-sponsor a resolution that we introduced to the general assembly. I don’t even remember much of what is said on it anymore. But this is where the fun really began. Man I really learned something about myself through the process of garnering support for this resolution. I realized that this is something that I could really do… As in… Career-wise, you know? Hahaha. Well. Unfortunately, with a vote of 44 for, 55 against, and 5 abstentions, the resolution failed. But oh well. As I said, I did learn quite a bit about politicking and lobbying.

Another great thing about the weekend were the new friends I made. First of all, from UofT. I’m really terrible at this. And I think my current friends are kind of to blame. Because we are so close, I don’t tend to seek out new friends. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-social, or a loner or anything like that. But basically, if I don’t regularly see people, I don’t normally seek out their friendship. This is very true at school for me, because I pretty much go to class. Then go home. I don’t really get involved. Now contrast that for example with work, where there are some people who I would generally count as friends. But anyway, honestly, in my 3 years of University, there really isn’t *anyone* from UofT that I have maintained regular contact with.

With Thomas and Andrea. Thomas had a really embarrasing moment during closing ceremonies, and it was partially my fault. But I made up for it with dinner.
With Ian. One of the coolest guys on the delagation!

With Yungie, who is part of the Membership Director of UNSOC (University of Toronto UN Society). The coolest Exec!
On top of that of course, I met a lot of people from schools like West Point, US Air Force Academy, MIT, Harvard, UC Berkley, etc. I really thought that was cool.

With Manny, from West Point. Cool guy.
With Nely, from Venezuela.
Anyway. I’ll end off with the lessons I learned about myself through this weekend.

First, despite years and years of experience in performing in front of audiences, I’m not a good public speaker. Yeah, I always thought that I would make a good public speaker because I don’t get nervous in front of people. Well I was wrong. I guess there’s just such a huge difference between playing the piano (something I’ve practiced for years and years) and public speaking (something I’ve barely done) – that simply not being nervous doesn’t help at all. Well of course it helps. I’m sure if I am able to practice public speaking some more, I could be more effective.

Second, what I did find I was really good at is lobbying and politicking. I dunno how to explain it exactly. I just.. liked it. I enjoyed going around pitching ideas, trying to get people to sign on to what we were doing. I also enjoyed strategizing, trying to figure out how to beat what other people were doing (haha).

Ahhh. Yeah. McMUN is deffinately one of those experiences that is going to stick with me. I’m starting to question my whole becoming a pilot a plan now, because of this. Ahh. We’ll see what happens. There’s an opportunity that has opened up to go to the Harvard Model UN Conference. But I dunno about that.. Too much time off work… plus I don’t really have money. But for sure I’ll be going to McMUN again next year. Then we’ll see if this actually is a potential career path for me.

So this was my first Model UN ever. And I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Mostly because I skipped a lot of the training sessions put on by my school. Hahaha. But even so, I felt really prepared and pretty confident given my previous experiences (in performance, etc).

The committee opened on Friday morning, and then we spent a couple of hours trying to decide the first topic that we are going to discuss. This is done through what they call the Primary Speaker’s List. Basically countries have themselves added to this list, and they get to make speeches (about 30 seconds to 1 minute each) to try to persuade everyone to choose the topic that they want to debate. This list can get really long… and pretty much if you’re like 10+ on the list, you’re pretty much not going to speak. But amazingly I was chosen 4th or 5th on the list. Haha. That’s really amazing given that I was representing Turkmenistan, a pretty small, insignificant country. Why I think I did get chosen is simple.. I was at the back, but within a clear view of the Chairperson.

Me and my buddies Zain (Cyprus), Darryl and Ben (Cape Verde). We’re all from the same school (UofT, duh) but we represented different countries.
I wasn’t really concerned about speaking, because I had already prepared a speech on the topic I wanted to talk about… That is Torture and the War on Terror. But there was a problem. I received a note from Russia (notes are passed around like crazy.. they have Pages whose job it is to just walk around to pick up and deliver notes). They asked me what I want to do first. I said what I did.. But then they said they wanted to discuss a different topic.. The Role of Oil in Conflict. Well… here’s the thing. Russia is the biggest ally of Turkmenistan, and pretty much I had to support them in what they wanted. So. I had to pretty much scrap my speech and talk about Oil.. Well by this time, like 3 people have already given they’re speech, it was getting close to my turn to speak. So I was kind of freaking out cause I hadn’t prepared a speech for oil. The thing though is that in between speeches, motions are being brought forward to set the topic. And every time that happens, there’s more speeches for and against the motion, then the actual vote happens… That’s why it takes so long even though there’s only been a few speeches. But anyway, it seemed to me like most people wanted to set the topic to Oil anyway, so I was kind of calmed by that fact too… I was basically hoping they would set the topic before I got the chance to speak.

But alas, that didn’t happen. And my turn came up. Well, pretty much because I was hoping that they would set the topic before I could speak, and I generally was unprepared to talk about that topic. Oh, and it was the first time that I’ve spoken to a group of people this big in.. well since Grade 8.. the speech pretty much sucked. Haha. What a way to start off the conference.

Some of my allies at committee. Goran (Chad), who’se from Concordia University on the far left. Then the two in uniform on the far right are Kristen and Manny (Russian Federation), who are from the US Military Academy (Westpoint). Darryl wasn’t an ally (In fact I think he voted against our resolution) but he was there cause it was his camera and he wanted a picture with the army guys (well.. guy and girl).
The stupid thing is… Soon after my speech (maybe 1 or 2 more people went), they finally did set the topic to Oil. Not that I said anything all inspiring, and persuaded people to go my way… But I think people just saw that it was the most popular topic, and they should just vote for it, otherwise we would end up debating about it forever (by this time a few hours have passed, and people were getting antsy).

Anyway. Once the topic was set, then we moved on to the Secondary Speaker’s List. Which is pretty much the same as the Primary, except now, we’re talking about a specific topic already, explaining our country’s position on the issue. Amazingly I made it pretty high up the list too. I was probably 10th or 11th on the list of 140+. Again, I think it’s just cause I was in the Chair’s line of sight…

But yeah, I’ll speak more about that later on cause I’m getting tired of typing.

STUPID STUPID STUPID! Argh how stupid was I, leaving my camera at home. Gharrrrr! I’m so annoyed at myself.

Anyway, to all who are wondering about the name of my post. I am currently in Montreal at the McGill (University) Model United Nations Assembly. Haha. Some cool stuff… Honestly I wasn’t sure what to expect, but once I really got into it, it’s actually kind of fun! I’m the Honourable Delagate from Turkmenistan. Haha. Don’t know where that is? Neither did I. Until I looked it up. Turkmenistan is just north of Afghanistan.

So yeah. Model UN is basically just that. Model UN.. Kind of a role playing thing where we need to research the foreign policy of the country we were assigned, and go through UN Committee sessions using this foreign policy. The session I am in is the Special Political and Decolonization Committee.. The topics we’re dealing with are 1. Torture and the War on Terror. 2. The role of Oil in Conflict. and 3. Internally Displaced People.

Uhmm.. I’ll expand more on this on a later post. Cause I’m really tired. Just got back from the Pub Crawl. No I’m not drunk! Haha. But my day did start with walking… to the grocery store.. and pretty much just kept on walking (during committee.. again, will expand on this more later).

So yeah. That’s it for now. Gonna go chill with some people.. Ahhhiyahhh. Stupid me. I want my camera!

It was one of those Sundays… Up at 6:30AM. At Church by 7:30AM. Then on the Bus for Hamilton at 2:00PM. Home by 10:30PM. But it was some great times. I was at Church at 7:30AM because I played. The service went until… oh 12:30PM as usual. Then we went to Wendy’s for lunch. We barely had time to eat, though cause at 2:00PM sharp, we left for Hamilton for Pastor John Mahaffey’s induction service at his new church, West Highland Baptist Church.

We had a great time there. The combined choir and orchestra of West Highland, and Morningstar Chrisitan Fellowship played some songs. It was really nice. Anyway. Here are some of my favourites from the day (both morning and evening services).

“Your Great Name We Praise” is a song that’s quickly become a favourite. I just love our intro for it, and generally how the song went. Oh and of course, wonderful lyrics too. Most Holy, most glorious, The Ancient of Days. Almighty, victorious, Your great name we praise!

“My Help with Total Praise” is one of my all time favourite songs to listen to and play. It’s freaking hard. But man when it all comes together like this, it’s just great. All of my help cometh from the Lord!

1. I Can Only Imagine – MercyMe
2. If You Know You’re Loved – Matt Redman
3. Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (Ukulele)
4. Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) – Chris Tomlin (Rhythm + Piano Solo)
5. God of Wonders – Third Day
6. You are Holy – Michael W. Smith
7. Wait for You – Eliott Yamin
8. Indescribable – Chris Tomlin

More to come of course!

I’m breathing easier once more because of some more grades that I got back. This time for Political Theory (POL200). The thing is, I actually wasn’t really all that concerned about the class, since I felt really confident during the tests. But I never got the tests back (because I skipped pretty much all of my tutorial sessions for the last half of last semester). Actually the second one, I wasn’t feeling as prepared for as the first one, but as it turns out, I got pretty good on both. I got 73 for both, which is just good enough to get me into the “B” category (“B” is split up into “B-” 70-72, “B” 73-76, and “B+” 77-79).

Anyway, what concerns me about that class is a recent revelation by the Prof that in the exam, there will be a “quotes” section, which means, we must identify quotes (who wrote them) and the meaning behind it. Now this really sucks for me cause up until now, I’ve pretty much treated this class as one of those where you skip lectures and tutorials.. read the text.. study hard for the quiz.. and still do good. Now don’t berate me for that. There’s alot of classes like those in Unviersity… Especially UofT. I’ve had at least one every year… In fact, in my first year, the class I did best in (in fact it’s the only class I have an “A” in) was my never-show-up-except-for-exams class. That’s just.. how it is.

Now what this means for me is that 1. I need to start going to lectures, which really annoys me, and 2. I need to get the notes from the lectures I missed, which annoys me even more. Bah! Stupid prof. Oh well.

Over all. The year is actually shaping up pretty well. I’m starting to feel better (not good) about my classes, and my chances of… well not screwing up my GPA too much.

Phew. Ok I have to head off to work. I’ve got lots to write about… Soon to come: McMUN, Manila Missions in March 2008, NaMUN, Summer Camps a la tGif, and finally, Manila Vacation in May/June 2008. Whopeee.

I remember trying out video blogging when I first opened my YouTube account (according to my profile that’s almost 2 years ago… March 6, 2006). Anyway, I remember I had to pretty much give up on it, mostly because of my technical limitations at the time… My old crappy camera from back then could only take like 15-20 seconds of video.

I wish I had that first video I made still.. But in my embarrasment over it, I deleted it from my YouTube account *and* my Blog. Haha. But anyway, I remember those days were pretty good.. before YouTube exploded, and people were watching stuff… just cause. I remember one person leaving me a nice comment, saying how amused he was (no, he wasn’t laughing at me.. like in a bad way) that I could only take 20 second snippets.

Yeah I think if I had started then and just kept going, I probably would have done better. Starting a video blog now is stupid hard… What with all the cute girls out there who blog about… well nothing at all… but still get all the hits.. just cause they’re cute. Hey believe me, I know… Cause I still watch their videos, even though I mostly think their videos are stupid… Now I have to resort to giving free piano lessons online to get video hits (I calculate each hit I get on my “Learn to play…” videos is a loss of at least $5 for me).. speaking of hits, I’m going to surpass 100,000 hits before the end of the month (yay!) and I’m gaining about… 1 or 2 subscribers per week. I’m hoping though that growth in subscribers and hits are exponential… you know, as you put up more videos *and* become more popular…

Anyway. My favourite of these… cute non-bloggers is redearth.. her name is Rachel aparently, and she’s just… cute hahaha. But then at least she has a story line of some sort in her videos.. Unlike my other favourite non-blogger, whose name I can never ever remember.. but yeah. she’s some japanese girl who.. basically stares into her webcam for 20 seconds or something… and gets 10,000 hits for it. Bah! But wait, I can’t complain. I’m one of those 10,000 hits. LOL!