TAIMUN XV

Taimun XV was a very fun and successful event, where students went to AST (American School in Taichng) for a Model United Nations conference. Students first arrived on Wednesday, the 19th of April, and went back on the 21st.

This year was the 15th anniversary of Taimun. Students from HAS arrived a bit late due to some bus problems. Despite this, they still managed to get into the opening ceremony without missing too much. This year, there was the keynote speaker, Rebecca Maxie, who is the Grassroots officer for the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign, which advocates for children in the developing world to have access to life-saving vaccines according to the Taimun website. Shot@Life is a United Nations Foundation founded by Ted Turner in 1998 and is a key partner in leading global vaccine efforts, a topic discussed a lot in MUN. The problem of vaccines was also an issue addressed by the WHO (World Health Organization) in Taimun XV. The opening ceremony took place at the Plaza International Hotel, in the ballroom.

The next morning, students took the bus at 8:10 to AST and went directly to their committees. There were a lot of committees, each in varying places in the school. Some students went to the gym, some went to the theater, and some went to classrooms and other places for the debates. For lunch, there were lunch boxes which students could choose from chicken, pork, vegetarian, or salmon. After the debating ended on the first day (the 20th), students took the bus back at around 5 o’clock.

The next day, after the debate, a lot of students donated money to Shot@Life after the chairs told everyone they’d do dares for each 1000 NTD that was donated. However, many did not keep their promises, and students went right back to the hotel, where the closing ceremony was delayed “due to weather problems”. Aside from the fruitful debates and hard work done during the conference, students also got to have a ton of free time around the hotel and other areas of the city!

After the opening ceremony, students of all schools had time to do what they pleased. Some sat beside the elevator in an attempt to get better wifi, to either fix their resolutions for lobbying the next day or to play video games. Some students went to restaurants around the hotel for dinner, and others, such as the students from our school, went to the famous Fengjia night market for dinner. At the night market, the students ate and shopped in all the different stores.

After the first official day of the conference, the students were brought back to the Plaza Hotel from AST for a dinner and dance. Some left right after the dinner, and the rest stayed and partied. Lights were flashing on and off, with a DJ playing tune after tune. In the middle of the ballroom was a group of high school students jumping up and down to the beat of the music. The dance lasted till 9 P.M, and students scattered back up to their rooms to chat and play games.

Not everyone walked away from this conference as main-submitters or as the best-dressed delegate in their committee, however, everyone walked away with a collective experience of chatting with their friends in old rooms that were in desperate need of soundproofing, and making late night runs to the 7-11 that was only two minutes away.

TAIMUN XV was not only a great academic activity but also a great bonding experience for all those who participated.