Super Geography Deathmatch!

Connie and I have been battling each other in an all-out Geography learn-fest (I'm sure by this point we've established that I'm a huge nerd, so let's not beat around the bush anymore) - the score is currently 3-3 with the decider in Central America still to come. Dun Dun Duuunnn!

The game itself is actually pretty fun - check out http://www.urgames.com/games/geography-game-usa for the US state game, plus you can access the other games from the menu once that game is finished. Procrastination rules!

See if you can beat my high score of -860 on the Africa game...

8)

Home Sweet Home

Back home for a few weeks of Easter break after a sweet weekend in London (bit of a working holiday but never mind). Caught a bit of flu earlier in the week, which naturally is why I've been sleeping for 12 hours a day and taking up position on the sofa when conscious... But hey, a break is a break.

Don't know why I've only started to notice it now, but my home town seems very, very tiny now, which is naturally something that happens when you grow up and all, but I guess even in Manchester the buildings are usually a few stories tall. Seeing all this sky is kinda novel now...

BTW, if you're interested... I live here:

http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&db=pc&cidr_client=none&lang=&pc=IP164DG&
advanced=&client=public &addr2=&quicksearch=IP16+4DG&addr3=&addr1=

(All one address...)

Hello Goodbye, Hello Goodbye...

Yesterday was a big day - the day when Manchester's Executive Board for 2005-06 was elected. The quality of those who ran was amazing, everyone was brimming with ideas and passion for the coming year, and it was fantastic watching them all get up in front of everyone to share what they had to offer. I realised that my elections were 3 year ago... amazing how time goes by so quickly!

Manchester's Shiny new EB for 2005-06!

LCP: Vicky Barron
VPICX: Konstantin Wolff
VPOGX: Archie Robb
VPMD: Antonia Vaptzarova
VPE: Mike Dawson

Careers Day Organisers: Dani Keisner, Dmitri Dimitrisev & Rob Vickers

A few favourite quotes from the afternoon...

"If all else fails, 7pm in my room!" (Vicky on the possibility of not having an office next year)

"You may know me as the arrogant, German complaining person..." (Konstantin on his personality)

"AIESEC isn't a society, it's a cult" (Dmitri on our university relations)

"I've been told if I'm nervous I should imagine everyone in their underwear... Hello, ladies..." (Archie's opening gambit)

"What's been my greatest failure as LCP?"
"Wearing white socks with black shoes" (Vicky and Dmitri point out Dan's fashion faux pas during the Q&A)

But the night was also tinged with sadness, as many of us said goodbye to Diana. Diana came to Manchester from Columbia 2 years ago on a traineeship, and has been the life and soul of the party since. The latin nights held at her flat with her Mexican room-mate, Grecia, are truely the stuff of legends and times I still remember fondly. Good Luck, D!

8)

All-Nighters - Not Big, Not Clever

Well, the downside is I've been up for 34 hours straight - on the plus side, my dissertation is nearly done! Was going to get an earlyish night, but my flatmate just gave me a plastic bag full of DVDs, so I'm now in a kind of Kill Bill/Scary Movie 3/Vanilla Sky -a-thon...

Ooh, ooh, but tomorrow is the Manchester EB elections! Hurrah! Weird to think that my elelctions were 3 years ago... But life has a habit of moving on, I guess. It'll be cool to see the next generation, the organisation's new leaders, sunrise, sunset and so on... plus, spicy chicken and bottomless fro-yo for dinner! Wooo AIESEC!

A Flag, some Cookies and Beer Pong

Tonight was the LC Global Village held in our LC meeting, and fun was had by the bucketful! Another member, Antonia, and I were representing the US, so I cracked out the beer bong, picked up some Bud and cookies and nabbed some ping pong balls for good wholesome pong-related fun. Went down extremely well (even if American beer is weeeeak) and all who played came away laughing and more than a little tipsy. Mark, one of our experienced members and MCPe of @UK broke out the pictures from the IPM GV (very nice costumes, Rickesh and Carly!), so everyone was in the spirit once things got underway. Back at the makeshift beer pong table, LCP candidate Vicky beat MCPe Mark in a nail-biting finish, and the EB team of VPOGX Kathy and VPMD Mike came back from 8-4 down to beat the Member team of Dima and Alex in another crazily close finish. We finished off with some hot I Have Never action before a quick scramble to hide the evidence finished the meeting (well, we were in a classroom...).

Other favourite moments incldued the Ozrikan (Aussie/African) donkey, Kathy knocking over about 10 chairs in one go, Mark bonging some Indian beer (mmm, multicultural) and more Kathy madness when she threw the ping pong ball into the bong in celebration, only for me to blow it out, creating a lovely beer-fountain effect (should have thought that one through in retrospect...)

As Dana would say: Good times, good times...

Show Time!

OK, back after a bit of an absense... Been really busy this week with my Gilbert and Sullivan society putting on its annual show! Been a bit exhausting but really fun, the show seems to have gone down well with everyone who's been to see it and the cast, crew and orchestra have all really come together well since our dress rehersal on Monday.

Our first night was on Tuesday - pretty small audience (which is fairly standard for the first night), plus the female lead's skirt nearly fell off in one number (if not for a galant rescue from one of the altos), but other than that it was fun; second night also went well, with the added bonus of salsa dancing as the after-show social! Last night we went to a local bar for the grand society Boat Race (a stright drinking race for the uninitiated), with special rules:

Teams of 8: 1 cox, 2 anchors, 5 crew
cox drinks a shot
1st anchor drinks a pint
All 5 crew drink their pints
2nd anchor drinks 2 pints in a row
1st anchor drinks their second pint
cox downs another shot to finish

...Made all the more by the fact that THE CAST WON!! Hells yeah! I had to win a spot in the team in a drink-off, so victory was all the sweeter, made better still by a 2am curry with half the society. Tonight the audience was really fantastic, plus we went to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet afterwards, so I'm feeling pretty content and full right now (seriously, I just sneezed and rice came out my nose).

Tomorrow is the last night - it all goes so quickly! - with a matinee performance in the afternoon and the big final show in the evening, attended by many former members of the society. I've got a few AIESECers coming for the matinee and family in the evening audience, plus then the after-show party at the BBC building across the road, so it promises to be a lot of fun!

Wanna see more of what I do outside of AIESEC (and perhaps see photos of me dressed up as a pirate, amongst other things)? Check out www.mugss.org!