Korea Chronicles

AUGUST 9, 2011

The delegates from Bangladesh arrived at Incheon on August 9, 2011. Farah Maliha was the first to arrive travelling on Malaysian Airlines followed by Md. Farhad Rahman, Shidhartho Goushami, and Tanzina Ahmed Choudhury who were travelling on Cathay Pacific. The Head of the UNYSAB Delegation Kanij Fatima Annie along with Adiba Nasser and Mohammad Mamun Mia reached by evening through China Eastern Airways and were later followed by three other Bangladeshi students from DU who arrived by the Singapore Airlines.

By late night, the whole Bangladeshi Delegation were present at the University of Incheon Dormitory and went for a good sleep in order to “Present and Vote” during the coming days.

August 10, 2011

The delegates gathered in the Songdo Convensia for registering themselves for the event. The registration procedures took the major portion of the day as delegates from all over the world were coming. This gave the chance to the delegates who had finished their registrations early in the morning to wander around and develop fellowships with other delegates.

The afternoon was an indication of what was going to happen in the following days as many delegates were setting up booths for showcasing their countries while the rest of them went for a free city tour around Incheon.

August 11, 2011

The morning made a glowing start as the delegates were given the freedom to express their own thoughts at the “Think Tank” Session. All delegates were provided with sets of questions that matched with their committee themes and were asked to choose one question each for discussing that during the “Think Tank” session. This session was indeed remarkable for the Bangladeshi Delegation as two among the delegates, Adiba Nasser and Tanzina Ahmed Choudhury took the initiative to speak from the grand podium and this was later followed by the International Herald Tribune taking interview of one of them, Tanzina Ahmed Choudhury, about her views on both Sustainable Development and the UN initiatives.

Later, in the afternoon, the occasion was graced by the presence of the UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon and the Under Secretary General of Communications and Public Information Mr. Kiyotaka Akasaka. The delegates got the chance to experience the breathtaking feeling of having the most important persons in the world moving around them and it was more pleasing when they got the chance to take pictures with His Excellency (though in groups) and afterwards, had the most luxurious dinner course arranged by the Mayor of Incheon, Mr. Song Young Gil, in honor of the Secretary General highlighting the event.

August 12-14, 2011

During these three days, the delegates were kept engaged in the discussions inside their committees and the meal times were the only time when the delegates could have a walk around and refresh. The Incheon City Mayor was never tired in his urge for keeping the delegates happy as he arranged for a Korean Fair that was set up exclusively for the delegates’ enjoyment and besides the permanent stalls of Self-pottery, Ornament-making, Photo-taking, Physical and Psychological Counseling etc, everyday there was an arrangement for displaying Korean performances ranging from Taekwondo to Magic Shows and from Dance Performances to the Showcases of Disciplinary Arts. In fact, the delegates had no time to be bored during the whole conference thanks to the excellent efforts made by the event managers.

August 14, 2011, Evening

For both the delegates and the UN staffs, this was indeed a moment of sorrow as everyone had to part from the persons with whom they had spent their last Hundred and twenty eventful hours but the hope of meeting yet again energized all of them over.

August 15, 2011

After the five-day long struggle, the UNYSAB-GMUNers thought of taking a break and started for Seoul through the subways. Seoul was indeed an interesting place for them as they could sense the feeling of traveling in a Western-city while still being in the Eastern Zone. The luxurious shopping streets along with the sizzling essence of Korean Traditional food had made their trip even more delightful. After making loads of shopping from the souvenir shops, the team returned to their premises with happy hearts and heavy shopping bags and decided to save some energy for the last day in Korea.

August 16, 2011

As almost all the shopping were over, the UNYSAB-GMUNers decided to take a look around and thus they ended up in front of the huge gate of the Seoul Park. The shuttle ride was not enough for them as they decided to go for a ride on the Cable-cars. The twenty minutes long Cable-car journey revealed many latent singing talents as some of the delegates were actually singing quite well during the ride.

As the rain deepened, the team made their way to the Coex Mall, one of the biggest shopping malls in Korea. After spending a few hours in the mall, the team went for dinner to a Dhakkarbi restaurant and tasted their last dinner in Korea at an exotic feel.

August 17, 2011

It was time for the delegates to return to their homeland. They approached the terminals of the Incheon International Airport at dawn, looked back to the fog behind, and bid goodbye to the country of experience with heavy hearts.

---Tanzina Ahmed Choudhury
UNYSAB-GMUNer’2011