NAD

     If I have talked to you at all in the past month or so, there is a good possibility that I've mentioned NAD. Here at UWC we are all about sharing our cultures with each other, so each of the five regions puts together a cultural day. The five regions are North America (NAD- the "D" stands for "day"), the Caribbean and Latin America (CLAD), Europe (END), Africa (AND), and the Middle East, Asia, and Australia (MAAD). Over the course of the two years, each region is celebrated and the festivities include events throughout the week (movies, dances, for NAD this week showing the election), Global Issues (presentations and discussions about current issues in the region or/and on the global level), a dinner, a show, and a party. All of this is organized almost completely by the students from the respective region, with two faculty supervisors who basically make sure we don't kill each other or offend anyone, and the kitchen staff who makes sure we don't burn the castle down. Because, ya know, that would be bad. It's a LOT of work and a LOT of fun.
     I was really lucky, especially as a first year, to get to act as a general leader for the show. We've been working on NAD since September and, through all of the meetings, rehearsals, "disagreements", and sleepless nights, it's been tough. But I am so, so, so proud of all of our hard work because the entire week was incredible.
     We did a "walk-in" on Monday night where all of the students involved made an entrance into the dining hall during dinner. We had a guy dress up as an astronaut and walk in to the caf with an American flag and plant it like Neil Armstrong did on the moon. Canada followed carrying a flag on two hockey sticks. The Bahamas carried their flag on a fishing pole. (Yes, sometimes its fun to uphold stereotypes.) Then everyone else ran in and danced around for a while. It was fun!
     Tuesday we watched the elections, of course. You can go back to my last post and read all about that.
     Wednesday the movie Forrest Gump was shown in the IT Center.
     Thursday we held a "Dance Fun". I think I've already explained that, but as a quick recap its basically an event to teach everyone specific, usually cultural/popular dances. We taught Soulja Boy (more than just the one part everyone knows) and Cadillac Ranch, which is a Canadian line dance.
     Friday was Global Issues. We got to hear some students speak about their families' immigration stories. It was so cool- I'd had no idea that some of the students had such diverse backgrounds! Of the six students who spoke, they represented Ireland and the UK, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Colombia, and Mexico but were all representing the U.S. here at school. They also discussed the trends and general experiences of these nationalities' immigration to the U.S. and how their families' stories have influenced them. Seriously, I love this school.
     Saturday was the culmination of all of the hard work and included the dinner, the show, and the party. For the dinner, the food leaders organized a '50s diner theme and cooked (for >300 people, mind you) mac n cheese, rice and jambalaya, chili, corn chowder, corn bread, apple pie, pecan pie, and rootbeer floats. The dining hall was decorated like a diner, a couple waiters moved around on skates, everyone dressed up (which was awesome, you'd be surprised how well 200 kids in the middle of nowhere can throw together historically accurate outfits within half an hour), there were music and swing dance performances, and it was just SO FUN. They really pulled it off well.
     And the show? Well I am completely biased but, in my opinion as well as from a lot of audience members and teachers, it was the best NAD ever and one of the best cultural shows too. The show was recorded so I'm including the link if y'all wanna watch :) The streaming quality isn't the best but there's some really great skits in the show and I totally encourage you guys to watch some of it (it's a little long so you may not get through all of it in one sitting). There's humour, and talent, and thought-provoking stuff all combined and it just ended up so well. YAY!

https://new.livestream.com/uwc-usa

     After the show all of the students headed up to the student center. Guess what the party theme was? '50s Diner? No. Party in the USA? Nope. '80s?  Uh-uh. Carnival? Nah. Beach Party? Try again.
Out of guesses? That's ok, you'll never guess :)
PAINT PARTY.
Not even kidding. I have NO idea how administration allowed this, but they did. Now you're probably thinking "ha, jokes on them, must have been a disaster". Give us some credit, we're more than just a bunch of crazy- sleepdeprived- teenagers- who- have- been- cooped- up- for- weeks- working- on- a- show- and- just- need- to- let- out- a- little- stress- and- who- were- handed- bottles- of- paint- and- set- loose- on- each- other- in- a- castle- that- took- $10.5- million- to- restore.
Wait. No, that sounds about right.
But let me explain how we pulled it off- one part of the student center was completely sheathed in plastic. Like completely. There was only one way to get in or out, the paint was brought out in small quantities staggered, it was all water-based and watered down so that it dried fast and should come out of clothing (I haven't tried to wash my clothes yet...), and students weren't allowed to leave without toweling down. IT. WAS. A. BLAST. and the cleanup only took about 20 min. I know, surprise!
     So you have to admit, you wish you'd been here because NAD sounds like it was amazing. Well, what can I say, it kinda actually was :) Don't get me wrong, it really took a lot of work, a lot of time, and there was no dearth of stress, emotional breakdowns, or power struggles. But in the end, UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. And I think we not only showed this and pulled it off, but really rocked the whole thing :) NAD 2012!!