Thanksgiving

There are many holidays which are celebrated around the world such as: Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day and Halloween. There are also other holidays which are specific to certain countries, like Chinese New Year and the 4^th of July. One holiday which is especially centered around American culture is Thanksgiving. There are different forms of thanksgiving in different places, but the main thanksgiving takes place in the good ol’ U.S of A.

                The fourth Thursday of November is the time to loosen your belts and prepare for some serious consumption. Depending on how you were raised, food which is set out on the table may vary, but I’m pretty sure that most families eat the same traditional foods.

First, there is the turkey. Freshly roasted and covered in broth and gravy. The hot white meat is perfect for the (usually) cold fall weather.

Then there’s the stuffing. Personally I am not a huge fan of bread and assorted greens that have been shoved inside a bird and cooked, but it is a necessity when it comes to this meal.

Then, of course, there are the potatoes, my favorite part. I love the creamy mashed-ness of a potato and butter. The gravy from the turkey broth mixed in with the mashed potatoes is the perfect combination.

Cranberry sauce is another one of the traditional foods. It is usually the only noticeably sweet type of food on the plate, but the cool berry and the hot turkey are two opposite that really do attract.

Thanksgiving is a holiday where nobody gives presents, people just give thanks, and eat food….mostly just eat food.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

SAMUN

Every year hundreds of young teens get all dressed up and ready, not for a party, but for a fake UN conference. Some people might ask why in the world anyone would ever want to be in a Model United Nations (MUN) group, the answer is simple, it’s fun.

                There is indeed a work load. Each delegate (student) has to write a position paper familiarizing them with their issue. There are different committees such as: Alternative Energy, Good Governance and World Health and Food. Each committee has its own set of issues that pertain to the committee’s relevance. As I know from experience, position paper writing is not the funnest thing in the world. It involves loads of research and reading to figure out a certain countries opinion on, say, hydro technology. Once this is done, all delegates must write a resolution paper. Resolution papers say facts about the issue, and then ways in which your delegation will solve the issue while encouraging others to help with the issue as well.

                Resolutions are the main part of MUN.  At SAMUN (South American MUN) there are two whole days spent talking to other students (representing countries) in your committee, the whole purpose is to try and get all the countries and delegations in your committee to agree with the ways in which your own delegation hopes to resolve the crisis. This is all actually a bit boring, sometimes it is fun defending your own ideas, but it’s once you get into the actual big mock General Assemble (GA) where the fun starts happening.

In the GA all the resolutions are presented, and delegates are able to agree and disagree with the resolutions the same way people debate about other topics. During this time there are other students (Admin) who pass notes back and forth between delegates. The purpose of the notes is to discuss with other countries about the topic at hand, but what fun is that? Most students use the note passing system as a way to meet other delegates or just to chat with their friends.

                Though most people would say that they would never dream of joining MUN because of how boring it sounds, it was an experience. MUN is an Opportunity to meet other people, and practice yelling and debating in an intellectual way.

SAMUN and MUN are so different once you are in, than what they seem like as spectators on the outside.  Don’t judge them because they sound boring and sophisticated, they are so much more than that.