As I was picked to be a delegate of the Regent's school to attend the international Roundsquare conference 2009, I was delighted and elated that I was able to go as a representative. It was my first experience to go to such conference and both excitement and fear accelerated my blood rushing through my whole body. I heard that the conference is one of the most exciting events that can happen throughout the year and many people I knew recommended to attend the conference if possible. Thus even before the conference, I was excited by the fact that I would as well be attending the Roundsquare conference.Before the actual conference, there were several preparations that had to be made. One was the performances for both the multicultural evening and the closing ceremony where we were asked to show a minor performance about the conference we're hosting in 2010. Thus during the Roundsquare meetings we have on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the steering committee got together to form a show. This started from the very start of Term 1, and until the 9th of October, every member contributed in making the best performance for the delegates that would be attending the Roundsquare conference and promote the conference we're hosting in our school in 2010. The closing ceremony performance was about 15 minutes long, where at first there was a video which mentioned the Koh phi phi project, a main key note speaker and our sub themes said by various students in our school. Then the next part was a traditional Thai dance which would give the delegates a taste of Thai culture. The multicultural evening performance was organised by Kun Anyanist where she taught us the lotus dance - a thai traditional dance.
The delegates going to India met 3 times a week during lunch times to practice the two dances which would be shown in the conference.
And on the assembly when we were finished with one dance, we performed the dance to the whole secondary to see their reaction and initiate motivation for the future 2010 conference. Not only that, but we also performed to the primary and both performances went better than the expectations and the delegates from our school were satisfied.
On the 9th of October, it was finally the day to go to India. We were told to assemble infront of the school at 5 o clock in the morning and most people didn't get much sleep, but this didn't stop the endless smile we had on our faces. Karina, Ingchuk, Eye, Valerie, Amit, Yeoi Shin, Claire and Me were the lucky delegates that were chosen to represent the school and we all were very excited.
There was the two delegates from Bangkok campus as well thus in total of 10 students, we were set off to the diverse and magnificent country - India.
The journey to our destination: Mayo college, was somewhat exhausting due to the long traveling we had to go through, but on the 10th when we first stepped foot in the school, we soon forgot about the exhaustion. The school was enormous and the buildings were very traditional and grandiose. Everyone aghast by how big the school was and how the campus was neatly arranged. The first day in the school was mainly time used to adapt to the environment and settle down. After there was an informal opening during the night and their performance, in the strict atmosphere, delivered the beauty of Indian traditional dancing. The ceremony was no just a mere performance, but it was a grand opening to the massive cultural experience we would be experiencing in India and in the school.
The following day consisted of barazza groups and key note speakers and the thought provoking ideas that were discussed made me realise that there are many issues around the world that have to be dealt and that I was a narrow minded person until now. There were 3 keynote speakers in the whole conference who shared their wisdom and all emphasised different aspects of IDEALS and how us students should react to the issues around the world. I found out that because there is a wide diversity of people and culture in India, the maintenance of democracy in the country is harder than in other countries. And to maintain such equality, the key note speakers emphasised that people should become more educated and to question the people who are governing the country.
One key note speaker highlighted the fact that people have the right to gain information thus it made me realise that many people in India are fighting for the the general rights the people have. Also, many people weren't aware of their basic rights thus they were alienated from the society and that there had to be measures to dissipate the knowledge about their rights.
Then we had service day, where we were assigned to different art departments and did various traditional art work. This was a very controversial matter because this didn't related to the concept of 'Service' and many people were reluctant to do anything for 3 hours. The time we
spent for the service day were used inefficiently and people were reluctant to do anything, however, this made me realilse that there were many people who truly liked to provide service and help those in agony. A few years back, I was a boy who didn't consider service an important component of my life and that I thought it to be something that wouldn't have much impact on me, but when I just sat in the classroom where I was meant to be doing service, an unknown anger aroused within me. I started to have confused questions and it felt unfair that only a certain number of people were able to go out of the school into the community to do actual service commitment. Thus, as I contributed in school activities, naturally the thought of 'service' has been embedded in my thoughts and now service has become part of my life and never have I ever felt so angered that I wasn't permitted provide help to other people.The following next day was Adventure Day and Me, Amit, Karina, Claire and Yeoi shin went to Jaipur to see the old port. The journey to Jaipur and back to the school took almost 7 hours and we stayed in Jaipur for about 3 hours where we took a look around the museum and got some time to relax. However, because of the stinging heat, we were forced to pack up and return to the school. Here also, some were confused about whether this trip to Jaipur satisfied the pillar 'Adventure' but the scenery we saw was spectacular. It was a reminder that India surely had priceless treasures in the country and that it would be a shame to miss it.
On the multicultural evening, because we were the only school from Thailand, we were noticed
by a lot of people. And the lotus dance we performed was presented with all enthusiasm and the dance was truly remarkable. Another remarkable aspect about the night was that I got to saw many different cultures from around the world: starting from the Kenyan tribal dance, Japanese dance to the Peruvian anaconda dance. All this effort put in made the night unforgettable and I enjoyed it ALOT!
The following day was consisted of different activities but compared to the days before, there wasn't much activities going on. It was more like a relieving day and to socialise more. Later during the day, we had a fun fete and this was great fun as well, where a lot of food and entertainment was around. I even got hena done on my arm and it was a new experience I had. Later there was a minor dance going on and many people were having lots of fun.
The next day was the last day and everyone was feeling somber. 
I didn't show my sadness but I couldn't help sighing most of the times and as the time got closer to the closing ceremony, I felt more anxious. This was the time where everything of our conference starts and there were high expectations from many people. I had changed into my costume once again and when it was my turn to shout out: "WE FALL TOGETHER", I exerted all my effort and tried to deliver the thought as clear as possible. After our traditional thai dance and when the ceremony had ended, I felt relieved. I felt all the pressure dissipating into the air and I realised it was an end as well as a start.
That night there was the disco where everyone got dressed up and we had a party with music on. I was the last night with everyone and by tomorrow, many people would be leaving the school to their respective countries. So I wanted to make the best out of it. After dinner, the disco had started and I met the people who I got friendly with and I dance, shouted and took pictures with many people I knew. They say time flies when your having fun and just as everyone was having fun, it was time for us to go. It was really unfortunate that the time we had was spectacular and it was a priceless memory I was lucky enough to acquire. However, when it was time to go, everyone was reluctant to leave and when it got near 12 was when people started to go apart.
The best thing about the conference was that I made so many friends during the 5 days and it I regret even sleeping whereas I could've talked to my roommates and had more time with them.
I can say that the best thing I've done in my life so far would be to attend this conference and with sincere heart I would miss everyone that came to the conference. The world is getting smaller and smaller as time progresses and when I grow older I would meet numerous more people, and I believe that there would be days that I would meet the people in the conference and with this hope I am able to treasure the wonderful memories I had in the conference. There was no 'bye' in the conference, but only 'see you again'...
