Surfing (17 hours Action) (Term 1 and 2)

This is yet another sport that I enjoy doing. It is out in the fresh air with the cleansing salt water that is goo for the skin in general. Anyway, surfing is a sport that involves having a large amount of stamina to continue to catch and ride waves. Sadly, surf in Brunei only comes in the months of November - February as this is the time of the monsoon season here in Borneo and as a result, our beaches are opened up to swell and we can then catch waves. The swells can sometimes reach up to a maximum of 8 or 9 feet with the correct conditions and tides. These waves can pose a challenge to catch as they require great precision and skill to ride them so that you do not wipe-out.

However, Brunei's surf is usually a "soft-wave" where the top of the wave rolls on itself instead of breaking cleanly and this makes them harder to catch, but that just means more exercise for us. With that said, the waves can still produce barrels (where you ride inside the wave as it is breaking) but these are easier to catch on a boogie-board instead of a regular surfboard. I am most proficient on a boogie board at the moment but when the next surf period comes around again, I hope to be able to use both boards with ease.

Qatar MUN Conference (20 hours Creative) (Term 2)

On the 27th of January until the 2nd of February, five of my friends, two teachers and I travelled to Dubai and then to Qatar to take part in an international Model United Nations, similar to that of ISB's BGIC. The main reason to participate in something like this is because while I enjoyed organising BGIC, I still wanted to debate and so, this was the perfect opportunity. While we did have a nice little holiday around Qatar, visiting its museums, universities, and seeing the amazing architecture of their buildings.

However, the scale of the debate was the highlight, and the topics that we debated on. I represented the country of Bulgaria and my committee was SPECPOL (special political). We debated the border issue of Pakistan and Afghanistan in addition to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Both of these topics required me to go away and research them beforehand and provided me with a greater knowledge of the world that I live in. I got a good kick out of debating with a high standard of intellect and was one of the highlights of the year's many events. I enjoy applying my knowledge of the situation to what I and other delegates think could be a possible solution, and working with them opened me up to the many different approaches possible and allowed me to question the validity of them (one delegate suggested re-instating the Taliban as a legitimate Government!).