By: Myra S. and Chandana A., Grade 11
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The Model United Nations of Munich hosted by the European School was attended by 18 schools, with over 400 students in attendance. It was four days of writing resolutions, debating, lobbying and lots of fun.
The first day was messy. It began with everyone finding their footing and figuring out when and where to go. Mirroring the real United Nations Summits, the MUNoM (Model United Nations of Munich) was made up of different committees and assemblies. Each committee also had two chairs who controlled all the debates and decided the events of the day. Firstly, we started lobbying with our committee members to try and find other countries with similar views as us on the topics being discussed. Few of us had the opportunity to actually debate this day. Lobbying is mostly socializing and understanding country positions, which forces you to talk to other people, but it was, surprisingly, a blast, and we learned how to properly and formally communicate with others. Many new friendships were made this day, and some grew to become more than friends (wink wink).
Day two was filled with fruitful debates within the individual committees. With the help of our teachers Mr.McDermott and Ms.Uttley, we had been prepared and were experts on our own countries though we had to have equal if not more knowledge about the countries we were debating against if we were to have any hope of convincing them. We had allocated lobbying time daily, and after doing all we could to prepare ourself fully for the debate, most of us spent lobbying time chatting, getting to know each other better, exchanging gossip and planning our outfits for the official party the next day. Many delegates were also punished by the chairs for being late by writing love poems, dancing to songs, cat-walking, etc.
Day Three was the most rushed of the whole conference. Tensions grew as each committee desperately attempted to either pass or destroy resolutions. Due to the overflow of ideas, the debates were all heavily time constrained. Everyone was working their hardest, debating, understanding the formalities of the debate (Points of Information, etc.) and writing compromising amendments. The dedication we had, to reap the hard work we had sowed, was due to our motivation to create a better world, but mostly for the awards given in the committees. The different awards were Best Delegate, Loudest, Best Dressed, etc. Though it was a trying day, we were rushing in anticipation and excitement for the MUNoM party taking place at a club later that night. It was very fun, with the classic party songs playing on the dance floor and some overly friendly people in attendance.
While it certainly took a bit of getting used to, spontaneous debates were very interesting, especially when someone else was addressing the house (which means they were talking to everyone). Getting to pick apart their weak arguments piece by piece was truly a joy. Evil, but a joy. As each committee went through each of their three topics, everyone got a lot of practice in this. We discussed and debated important topics like the Israel Palestine Conflict. While not all of us found solace for our countries in our committees, our souls found redemption in the gossip box, where we could send notes containing gossip about everyone. Shipping, flirting, dissing ensued when we realized it was anonymous.
By the last day of the MUN, everyone was tired from the party that had carried late into the night and from the relentless debating the previous three days. So, naturally, chaos descended. The press released news that was much more mockery and gossipmongering of delegates than it was an update on the progress of all committees and Ecuador began voting on resolutions with a banana in place of a placard. In the end we passed resolutions that were comedically illogical and would never get passed in the real United Nations. While in the Security Council, Russia passed a resolution to annex the United States on a whim, in the General Assembly (GA), the United States and its allies impulsively decided to take over the Russian Federation. In ECOSOC, France amended to nuke the US and Ukraine. None of them even slightly concerned by the inevitable impending doom of the entire human race and the subsequent harm on the environment. Outrage ensued in the GA as the entire Russian delegation literally walked out.
Hilarity. Classy outfits. New friends. Bad Food after Day 1.
Lobbying. Lobbying. Then, when we were done with that, a bit more lobbying.
Debating. Researching. Chaos. Undisputable fun. An incomparable experience.
That was MUN for us. We loved it. We would do it again in a heartbeat.
If you liked this article, there are more to come after the 2023 MUN Hague.
Citations:
- MUNoM Press, Day 3: Flashing Cameras, Fancy Poses. pdfs-of-qr-codes.s3.amazonaws.com/a629bdbf4a5d6f0db8595192adbf7374.pdf. Accessed 19 Dec. 2022.