Day 2 (11/20/23):
When we woke up and went down for breakfast, the dining room seemed to be full. All other teams had arrived at the hotel. We were all getting used to the situation and was quite awkward with each other, only offering names, where we're from, and some small talks. We headed for the G20 Secretariat, where the international semifinals would be held on the third day, as well as the practice rounds planned for the second day. The teams all gave a short introduction one by one, and while listening to it, I had my first actual conversation with Team Indonesia, who was sitting right next to us. Everyone who went up spoke so well, although there were a few teams that stuck out a little more to be than the others. I wished I would be able to speak like them. I was a little nervous to go up at our turn, especially because we were one of the later teams that were called out and we had to wait quite some time for our turn to come, but surprisingly, I felt way more at ease when I started talking. For my first time talking in front of that many people outside of my school, I'd say I did alright.
Watching the practice rounds, which had fewer questions and therefore shorter than the actual quiz, getting an idea of what might come on the semifinals, and answering the questions as the rounds went on was more helpful and to my liking than I had thought it would be. We had three practice rounds in total with breaks in between, and we were at the third and final one. Being up on the large podium was nerve wrecking, but I was soon too focused on the questions for my mind to wander back to the number of people in the room. It felt better having my teammate up there with me, and by the time I realized, I was having fun.
During breaks was when I got to meet more of the other participants and converse with them. We left after lunch and took some rest in our rooms. I didn't think the practice rounds would take a toll on us, since we would all be sitting down, but as it turns out, not moving your physical body and thinking of answers to as many of the questions as we could figure out was a tiring process (don't get me wrong, it was still fascinating).
At 6:30pm, it was time for an Icebreaking Dinner event, taking place at the hotel gardens. This was when most of us got comfortable with each other, got to know a little more about each other and our countries, and made new friends. It was also the time where we had to pick up a card that would determine which of the semifinals and groups, we would be in. We were the third group in semifinals 2. After that, they also had a small birthday party for all those whose birthday was near or in the THINQ week. I was one of the 'birthday kids,' as I was turning 16 on the day of the semifinals. A birthday cake of considerable size was placed in front of us, and we cut the cake as the birthday song blasted out of a speaker. I didn't feel like eating much, as we would be having dinner soon, so we each had a small bite from the cake. After what felt like a long day, the cake was appetizing to me. Although I am not accustomed to the spices of Indian food and sometimes have trouble eating them, the dinner prepared for us was sumptuous. The curry was to die for, and while the song was too loud to be listening to when eating, the musicians did play (and sing) very well. With some friends I made during this time, I walked around the quieter section of garden, a little away from the event. I had a lot of fun, so even though I should have been going back to my room a little earlier to study for the semifinals (which was on the very next day), I stayed back for some more minutes. I had little to no idea who any of the participants were this morning, and by nighttime, I had made friends whom I could talk and laugh with.
(Teams in Semifinals 1: Indonesia, European Union 1, United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia, European Union 2, and South Africa)
(Teams in Semifinals 2: Italy, Bangladesh, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Mauritius, and Nigeria)
(Teams in Semifinals 3: Oman, Japan, Singapore, Germany, Australia, United States of America, and Netherlands)
The quiz was to be on various topics, such as 2023 current affairs, sports, entertainment, science, technology, world history, geography, and G20. Now that we understood the format of the quiz, we could be a little more ready. Studying for it and learning new facts was a difficult but compelling process, especially because I enjoyed biology and chemistry, as well as searching up about movies and books. Some of them were general knowledges that could be used for future reference, which made the whole 'learning' even more interesting. Even though I wasn't much of a person who particularly loved history and geography, more so because I don't take them as my school subjects, I got interested in the topics and was somewhat disappointed I didn't get a chance to realize how engaging they could be beforehand. I was glad I found out though- better late than never! Seeing that it was almost midnight, we turned in for the night, both apprehension and anticipation crawling into my mind at the same time. Either way, I was looking forward to the International Semifinals of the G20 THINQ!
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