international travel adventures part 8 – world debating

So this morning came early… real early…

I had talked to Erik last night at the Global Village re: World Debating this morning and we planned to meet up at 8:30am this morning to go over all that he missed this far (ie. point structure, JCI debating expecations, etc).  Well I dragged myself over to the conference centre nice and early – and he no showed.  So disappointing… sent a few panicked texts, hoping that he would show up before World Debating started at 10:30am.  I headed over to the JCI Morning Show… fun times. It’s kinda like Regis & Kelly, but without the celebrities, and instead internationally renowned business people.  Patrick Knight from JCI USA hosts the Morning Show, and today the speaker was Wayne Clark.

Wayne Clark is an economics graduate who has spent 12 years building his career as an internal communications and employee engagement practitioner.  He has worked extensively internationally in the design and delivery of complex people engagement programmes for global organizations. He is the Managing Partner of the Best Companies Partnership who help to produce the Sunday Times “Best Companies To Work For” lists.

The Morning Show is always entertaining – lots of laughs and a dance party, BUT guess what? It was actually my first time attending!!  After Wayne spoke, an Ambassador from the UN Foundation spoke to Nothing But Nets and all the money JCI had raised to end malaria in Africa!

JCI Japan raised the most amount of money for Nothing But Nets!

JCI Japan was presented with an award for raising the most amount of money for Nothing But Nets! I rushed from the Morning Show to World Debating Championships to meet our missing debater, Erik.  No luck on that front he never showed up and I had to find a replacement debater at the last minute.  Thank you Hassan from JCI Calgary.  English Debating was supposed to run from 10:30am to 5pm and French Debating from 2pm to 5pm (we had a French team entered too – from JCI Quebec!).

So I was quite concerned at 10:30am… well we had Hassan, the newest member to enter the team – who was absolutely not up to speed on JCI Debating and it was time to get started! Well thank you Miss Jillian Walker, because when we drew #’s to see who would go first, I picked #7, which meant… Team Canada gets a “bye”!  Odd number of teams meant we got to skip the first round and head straight into semi-finals.

The bad: we don’t get to practice our debating skills.  The good: we get to fluff our way through the morning and hope for the best!  JCI Netherlands went against JCI Hong Kong – and newbie debater Winnie Leung from Hong Kong showed them who was boss! Then JCI Norway went against JCI Turkey – and JCI Norway reigned as the best.  JCI UK had a unfortunate morning when one of their teams didn’t show, so they were down to 1 and went head-to-head with JCI Australia.  A fairly even battle, but JCI Australia won.

Semi-Finals went as follows:

2010 World Debating Championships - English Teams

In Canada’s first debate against Australia the topic was “a farmer loves his tractor more than he loves his wife” and we had to argue AGAINST.  The only way to sum up this debate was BRUTAL, BRUTAL, BRUTAL.  The topic was brutal. Our argument was brutal. Everything was brutal. I admitted defeat in the middle of the debate, knowing that we did a poor job.

As soon as it was over, Per from JCI Norway came over and gave us some feedback on how to debate better next time.  The scoring came back and Australia 801, Canada EIGHT HUNDRED SEVENTEEN. What the?  Some how… from a scoring perspective, we did better than JCI Australia – Woohooooo!!!

Who were we to go up against next? ;) JCI Norway (and all that helpful information they just gave us)!  The topic: “media is concerned only with the truth” and we were again AGAINST.  The topic was strong, the argument was strong, and Team Canada was ready to kick some Norway…!!  We had a room full of delegates cheering Canada on and everyone was very impressed with my 2 minute closing statement! [Results are announced at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday night].

Team Canada vs. Team Norway

It was a very long day, with English debating lasting over 8 hours.  It was back to the room for a quick change then off to JCI Japan Night at the Kyocera Dome.  JCI Japan Night was comprised of various local Japan chapters setting up booths, offering an opportunity to learn about each city/chapter/etc.  By the time I got there, most of the festivities were ending and I met up with Marta who wanted to head into Shinsaibashi for karaoke – this girl, was exhausted. I skipped out – giving attention to my headache instead of my singing lessons. :)

Me at JCI Japan Night after playing golf to win a Happi Jacket!

JCI Japan Night!

international travel adventures part 7 – delegates day

Just because I am getting a little mixed up, I thought it would be important to clarify that today is Thursday, November 4th and we’re 2 days into the JCI World Congress!

Today is Delegates Day! Every conference (apparently – I don’t actually believe JS who told me this haha), they hold Delegates day where we get to go out and have a little bit of fun with fellow chapters.

I headed to the conference centre to have a World Debating meeting before meeting up with everyone to head to Universal Studios (yes the venue for our day!).  More to this in the next post, but JCI Canada has entered English debating (on the global level) and we’ve never debated before!  I had planned a meeting with Eric Brideau (Most Outstanding Debater for French Speaking 2009), so the he could explain to the English team exactly what we had to do.  One of our debaters, Erik, no-showed on this meeting – and that stressed me out immensely.  You have to have 3 per team, including a Captain (which was me).  I told myself that I’d give Erik a talking to when I saw him later tonight.

Anyways, we had an amazing day at Universal. I had lunch with a few of the Aussies (Peter and Noel) and Matt and Joie from JCI USA.  Then I separated and met up with my JCI best friend, Marta, and two of the JCI Poland delegates – Lukas and Grzegorz. We went on ride after ride (and I hate rides!) and enjoyed the park.  Please note – I screamed my lungs off and held Lukasz or Marta’s hand on every ride. Universal Studios Japan was much smaller than I remember Disneyland to be – but absolutely so much fun.

I will sum up the day in pictures:

Getting ready for the 3D Spiderman ride!

JCI delegates super excited for the Spiderman ride ;)

Super wet after some water ride!

Hello Kitty in the Magical Starlight Parade!

Love love love to Universal Studios Japan!

I’m likely going to make a slideshow of all the photos/video from Universal Studios – as there is a ridiculous amount of great ones.  From Universal Studios, we waited for the bus (and it was really really! cold) to take us to Global Village Night.  This is the 2nd year for this event – and boy, it’s a ton of fun.  Every country comes together to show off their country (to some degree) and share nation information with the delegates.  Some people have games, prizes, others have candy, and snacks.  The night concludes with a DJ and the biggest dance party of the week.

Maybe here’s a good time to note how many outfit changes are required in a day – A LOT. Today there was only 2, but usually 3 to 4 (if you’re a girl that is!).  Please note that wet water rides at Universal Studios ensured that all Global Village night photos were less than attractive. :)

Too much fun – Patrick, Marta, Me, and Grzegorz

Global Village Night at ZEPP Osaka.

I was back to the hotel a little before 2am… why? Because tomorrow I am competing in the World Debating Championships for English speaking and I need to have my a-game on!

international travel adventures part 6 – port of osaka

Well today I had my morning free…!! Why? Because I signed up for a JCI official course called “JCI Networking” (trainer: Patrick Knight) – and it wasn’t till the afternoon!  There is tons of training to do at JCI World Congress but they offer 2 different types… 1) regular training that you can just show up for (usually a few hours long), and 2) JCI “official” training (register in advance, get JCI credit for, typically 4 hours to 3 days long).  As JCI Calgary is providing funding for me to attend this congress – that comes with the responsibility to bring back knowledge to the chapter.  I signed up for JCI Networking because I was truly interested in the course but also because the knowledge gained would benefit our local chapter!

So back to…. a free morning…! I decided I would get back on the Osaka subway for another try and head out to the Tempozan area of Osaka.  The Tempozan has Osaka’s aquarium, ferris wheel, and piers etc.  Because I am a water baby by nature, I thought a breathtaking, sunny day on the ocean would do me just fine!  It was a fairly simple journey, just a few subway stops away (and only one station switch).  Travel always seems much easier when you don’t have bags with you!

The Port of Osaka was absolutely gorgeous – a completely different side of Japan then I had seem thus far.

 

Tempozan area of Osaka

As soon as I set my eyes on the ferris wheel, I KNEW that I had to go on it! For 1000yen (and about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to use the machine), I was up up and on my way to seeing the sights of Osaka from the sky.

And the beauty of Osaka commences now… love love love.

 

Beautiful view of Osaka

It probably took 20 minutes or so to make the loop around the ferris wheel – and I have a bazillion pictures of Osaka, the water, and the sunshine!  From a top the ferris wheel, I spotted the aquarium!!  Osaka has a world renowned aquarium, so I thought why not check it out. I completely forgot that it was a statutory holiday in Japan and there were a lot of children that needed to be occupied.  What did that mean? A very busy aquarium!

The aquarium was gorgeous as well.  You take an escalator from the 2nd floor to the 7th floor and then begin.  You go around and around each floor and take a ramp to the floor below.  I saw penguins – for the first time ever, I saw penguins! They had exhibits for the Aleutian Islands, the Great Barrier Reef, the Japan Forest, and so much more!

A few of my favourites:

 

Penguins!!

 

Jelly fish!

Me in a Mouth - Grrrr

From the aquarium, I went and visited the Tempozan shopping area, the piers, the pirate ship, and then back to the hotel I headed for an afternoon of training. I ended up covering a lot of ground in a few short hours – but that’s what happens when you’re motivated right?! ;)

I got back to the hotel for a quick change and then off to JCI Networking.  JCI Networking ran 2-6pm and went really well.  Marta and a few friends were in the class as well.  I was glad I registered for the class in advance because the waitlist was huge and the JCI trainers seemed all stressed trying to get everyone organized.  Like usual I offered up lots of examples and was an active participant.  In my opinion, four hours is way too long for this type of training – it could have easily been three hours.  The room was also 4000 degrees and yah it needs to be shorter!

JCI Networking is the JCI course on turning your personal contacts into lasting and productive connections and relationships. The course covers the principles and dynamics of networking, how to identify and use the opportunities when contacting people, what to do and say during any encounter with a potential connection and the follow up actions needed after meeting the person to keep adding value to the connection.

From JCI Networking, Marta and I headed straight to the TOYP Ceremony.  TOYP is the The Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World.  Each of the 10 nominees were selected from nations and then critiqued by headquarters.  We were here tonight to celebrate their achievements.

 

TOYP Ceremony

The 2010 nominees are: Emily Cummins (UK), Melanie Hennessy (Ireland), Dr. Gifty Immanuel (India), Maria Ingelsson (Sweden), Sabirul Islam (UK), Aki Nakaoka (Japan), Uyapo Ndadi (Botswana), Dr. Joseph Nkurunziza (Rwanda), Antti Pentikainen (Finland), and Dr. Mikko Wiren (Finland).

It is always a great ceremony.  Each person’s “story” was told through a video and then they came up to accept their award and give a speech.  Intermissions were filled with Japanese entertainment, dancing, etc.  After the TOYP ceremony ended, it was Asia-Pacific Nation Night at the Creative Centre.  We did a quick change into casual clothes and headed over to the buses to be shipped to our next location.  By the time I got there (a lot of people had skipped TOYP to get there early), the place was a down right disaster.  Messy messy and it seemed everyone had had quite the party.  Ended up spending a few hours chatting with Bridgette from Australia which was lovely.  JCI Australia and New Zealand had decided to head to a quaint Japanese bar they had found days earlier, so I headed there with them for the after after party.

A few hours and a lot of laughs with Peter and his new found friend, Yuki ;) … I was on my way back home for a night of good sleep before another big day tomorrow.

 

 

international travel adventures part 5 – congress begins

Well today is the first day of the 2010 World Congress.  After a few very rainy days in Tokyo it’s rather nice to enjoy the beautiful port city of Osaka.  I slept in this morning and then heading over to the Grand Cube to register for the congress and pick up all the things I would need for the week (itinerary of events, programs, lunch tickets, gala ticket, etc).

En route to the conference centre, I met up with some friends from JCI USA (Alisa Clum, Mike McCarty, and crew)… I didn’t really know where I was going as I was given a map in only Japanese characters so it was nice to see some friendly faces!

JCI WC Registration at Grand Cube, Osaka

I had booked a massage and reflexology at my hotel for the early afternoon – so a quick journey back to the hotel and off to the spa I went.  Fantastic would barely sum up the experience.  The lady spoke absolutely no English but (through hand motions) she explained to me that my legs were ridiculously tight and I (through English ha ha) explained to her that Tokyo and touring around had killed my body. :)

After a few hours at the spa, I headed to my room to get into semi-formal, as World Congress Opening Ceremonies were tonight!  The event was to be held at the Osaka-Jo (Osaka Castle), but the congress would transport us there from the conference centre. I met a wonderful girl named, Feven, from JCI Sweden on the walk to the buses and we became immediate friends.

The logistics of busing thousands of people to a second location is not so much fun.  Opening Ceremonies were started before we got there (Japan runs everything on time!), because the Prince of Japan was at the event – and he was on a schedule!!  Opening Ceremonies consists of speeches from JCI World President, JCI headquarters, and a presentation of all the National Presidents (or Chief Delegates) worldwide.  I was pleased to see that my Polish twin (yes, we met in Africa last year and became instant buddies), Marta Komosa, was on the stage representing Poland! So proud!

My Polish twin, Marta Komosa, on the stage at Opening Ceremonies (far left).

They had a few entertainment activities planned – crazy awesome tap dancers etc, and then we were off to JCI Japan’s Opening Night.  The event was held a short walk away from the Osaka castle, and the only downer – was that it was held outside (and it was freezing cold!!).  They had plenty of food, beverages, and entertainment – but again, it was cold.

JCI Japan Opening Night

I had an opportunity to reunite with my Aussie friends (shout out to Bridgette, Peter R., Mark, and Noel) and be my usual out of control self.  Marta and I had wanted to head out to a local Japanese pub after the event was over so we took a group of people through the streets of Osaka in search of a venue.  This was much harder than it seems… first of all nothing is in English (surprise, surprise)… secondly, the area of Osaka we were in was fairly quiet.  We found a nice little place and about 15 of us spent the next few hours catching up.

It didn’t end up being a late night… I walked back to the hotel with Tobias from JCI Sweden (another great friend I met in Africa last year).  We have a big day tomorrow – although today the congress officially “opened” … tomorrow is when the tradeshow opens, training begins, and networking is taken up 4000x notches.

I think today is November 2nd, but I could be wrong on that point. :)

 

 

 

international travel adventures part 1 – flying

There has been a lot of excitement building up to today…! Today I am en route to JCI World Congress in Osaka, Japan.  Weeeee!! There has been a lot of build up to today – in fact, I have been thinking about today for the past year.  Last year, I attended the JCI World Congress in Tunisia, Africa.  At the conference, I won the Most Outstanding First Timers Award – apparently I displayed superstar performance for the duration of the conference. :) With the award, I won my registration paid for the 2010 conference in Osaka.  The free registration coupled with funding from JCI Calgary made coming to another congress irresistible!

November 2009 - Awards Ceremony

A few weeks ago I booked the last few details and got all sorted to go – AND now… I am soo excited!! We have 9 members coming from JCI Calgary with a total of 23 members from JCI Canada. 12,000+ people are expected at the conference.  I will be gone for a total of 12 days, spending the majority of my time in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.

My “day” actually started on Thursday morning at 7am.  I had zero sleep last night as I had so much to do with uni, work, packing, and an early 5am departure to the Calgary airport.

 

12 days: 2 full suitcases, a laptop, and a purse

5:15am to 6:45am – This was definitely the most stressful part of my day… I arrived at the United check-in to be greeted by hundreds of people confused over baggage tags.  The staff were less than helpful while everyone scrambled.  Finally someone said “Anyone on the 7am to SFO”… well lookie, we all were!  We were rushed through baggage (without having our bags weighed please note!!) and into the US customs line.  It’s about 6:20am now and the line is 1.5 hours line.  They make us wait in it for 20 mins before pulling us out and moving us to the front of customs.  We get through customs to wait in the security line – of which, we wait, we wait, we wait, and finally at 6:50am, we arrive at our gate.  5 minutes before the plane pushes back.  They advise the whack of us that our bags might not meet us at our destination.

6:55am – My flight left Calgary for San Francisco – and I slept the entire flight… I was upgraded to an “Economy Plus” due to no availability in Economy… shame. :)

9:30am – I arrived in San Francisco for a three hour layover.  I had scheduled lots of time on my layover knowing that 1) I was flying United, and 2) I wanted my bags to arrive in Tokyo.  The morning was spent using Wi-Fi and working on homework.

12:15pm - I relocate over to my gate to wait for the boarding call… AND then…

12:29pm - I received an email from KPMG indicating that I had won their “What Makes a Top Employer” contest!!! As I’m trying not to shriek in the airport, I’m [kind of] delighted to hear that… [separate blog post to come on Top Employer results] ……………

12:30pm - We get the boarding call for the flight to Tokyo… AND we’re delayed! Typhoon Chaba is roaming on the east coast waters of Japan and for now we’re going no where.  We we’re supposed to depart at 1:10pm, and they have delayed us until at least 3:20pm.

It’s now 2:30pm and United has advise that we should be boarding soon.  I am giddy with excitement over winning the contest and completely distracted from working on my “Strategic Transformation” project for Policy & Strategy class.  Once I get on the plane, the journey to Narita Airport in Tokyo takes about 10 hours.  Erik is supposed to be meeting me around 4:30pm Japan Time… but uh now I’m behind.  Hopefully he waits for me!!

Tonight will be exhausting – but Erik & I plan to meet up with Marta for dinner.  Marta is from JCI Poland and an absolutely fabulous gal I met at JCI World Congress last year.  If all goes as planned, we’re all in Tokyo seeing the sights for the next few days, then will relocate to Osaka on Monday for the conference.

Today’s blog post was rather chronological, but I promise posts to come will be very exciting!

With love, XO.

PS – Eeeeeek I WON!!! :D