Daily Newsletter Issue 6 | Friday, 13 July 2012

Program for Friday , 13 July 2012

Jury Members and Observers

Student Competitors

07:00 - 08:00

Breakfast (Rainforest Café)

07:00 - 08:00

Breakfast (PGPR)

08:30 - 09:30 Checking Practical Scores (NIE Blk 5) 00:00 - 08:30 Bus departs (PGPR) 09:30 - 12:00 Coordinators’ Meeting (NIE Blk 5) 09:00 - 10:15 Visit to A*STAR 12:00 - 13:00 Lunch (Rainforest Café) 11:00 - 14:00 Visit to Underwater World Singapore and Lunch 00:00 - 13:30 Bus departs (NIE Blk 1) 15:00 - 18:00 Team-Building Activity: Kite-making Workshop,

and Marina Barrage Tour 14:00 - 16:30 Visit to Peranakan and National Museums 17:00 - 19:30 Visit to Marina Barrage and Dinner 18:00 - 19:30 Dinner 19:30 - 22:00

Special Activity: Night Kite-flying (Marina Barrage)

19:30 - 22:00 Special Activity: Night Kite-flying (Marina Barrage)

Today’s Weather Forecast Late morning and early afternoon thundery showers. 25 to 31 degrees Celsius. Humidity: 60%- 95%

Knowing me, knowing you…aha ah! Question: What food will you never eat and why? “Turtle eggs, we have to save them!! …” Gustavo Hernandez, Mexico

“ Insects – because they are ugly…” Bruno Hernández Cravero, Argentina

“Snails.. Disgusting…” Jiewon Kang, South Korea

“Crabs, I had hermit crabs as pets…” Jennifer Volaric, Australia

“Any non-vegetarian food because I don’t like the idea of killing an animal for food…” Apeksha Mittal, India

“I can think of circumstances when I could eat more or less any food, except Marmite…” Samuel Nilsson, Sweden

“Guts – they are awful…” Vladimir Milov, Bulgaria

“Live insects or larva…”Kedlian Veronika, Ukraine

“Fugu pufferfish, too dangerous…” Run Ze Cao, Canada

“My Sister’s cooking, because she is a very bad cook…” Maznah Almutairi, Kuwait

It was a tense morning as students braced themselves for their final IBO challenge – the Theoretical Tests. One of the sports halls in NIE had been converted to an examination hall to accommodate 234 competitors from 59 countries, all hopeful and eager to do their country proud. The papers would test students’ knowledge and accuracy, not to forget stamina; competitors had to complete two 3-hour long papers in total. Thankfully, students would not be in need of sustenance, as organizers had provided snacks and drinks for every candidate in the exam hall, including a substantial buffet spread for lunch.

The Final Gauntlet

Team guides marching off to the exam venue with their groups in tow; ready or not, here we go!

Playful Jer Jian “J J” Team Guide of Georgia relieves the tension with his antics; competitors can’t help but laugh out loud

PEACE! In a zen mood, Tomohiro Maeda and Natsumi Noda from Team Japan relax before entering the exam hall, while fellow member Kazuki Yoda chills out with a traditional Japanese fan.

We asked competitors to give us the first adjective that came to mind about how they felt after their final challenge:

Team Work - Team Estonia is a veteran at Olympiads - in combination, the team members have taken part in nearly 20 Olympiads so far! Despite their extensive experience, they humbly remarked they felt “horrible - even dreadful” after Paper 1.

Somber smiles from Team Turkey, even though they told us that they felt “super!” after Paper 1. The paper itself? “Not so super :(” According to the team, the ecology portion was particularly challenging.

Relaxing during lunch break, Team Belarus, who only got together two weeks before the IBO, reported that they were ““exhausted!”. Said Team member Katsiaryna Maskalenka, with a sigh of relief: “The paper was difficult, but we finished all the tasks”.

You can do it - Vietnam Guide Vanessa Lau hugs Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hong as fellow team members wait their turn. “I hugged every single one of them!”, asserted Vanessa.

Behind the scenes…

The Scientific Committee, assisted by the Marking and Statistical Analyses Committee members working long hours to

carefully mark answer scripts from all the tests.

Our ever-cheerful and hardworking Volunteers!

If you thought competitors looked happy after their Practical Tests, then you haven’t seen them this time! Jubilant teenagers flooded into the NIE triangle elated at having conquered their very last challenge. Hugs and high fives were aplenty as jury members congratulated their young charges on a job well done. Indeed, their tenacity and courage is admirable – this trip to Singapore is a first for many of these budding biologists, some of whom have never travelled outside of their home countries prior to the competition!

It’s Really Over! Jury Members and Observers visited the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), where several presentations on the research landscape and opportunities in Singapore were presented. “It was impressive, I have to say,” said Pinja Jaspers of Finland. “We have research institutes in Finland but not on this scale. We have added efforts for translational research (too), but not yet for commercialization or industrial collaboration efforts.”

Jury’s day out A*STAR

Underwater World Singapore What were participants’ favorite parts of Sentosa’s Underwater World? “The ray pool,” said Eva Deinum of the Netherlands. “And the underwater tunnels!” Dennis Kappei of Germany was called on to participate during one of the shows, and made friends with a lady seal! “You know sometimes when you see someone and make a connection?” he said laughingly. “She was winking at me, flirting with me!” So, did he get the seal’s number? “That’s not for the newsletter!”

Nurgeldi Bazarov from Team Turkmenistan eagerly chewing on a durian pancake, bought by Team Guide Xiang Xi as a reward after the end of a long day.

How are we going to ce lebrate?

An exuberant Team China chimes “Sleep!”, “Eat!” and “Shop!” in response. Team member Zhang Yihao isn’t just satisfied with plain eating. “I’m going to eat CHILLI CRABS!” he declares to the amusement of everyone.

A Durian Feast - Team Lithuania indulging in a local favorite. We asked team members if they liked it, to which Jurga Mituzaite had an honest reply: “Not really!”. Quipped Paulius Alaburda: “It tastes like sugared onions...with sweet cream!”. How about the smell? “As though someone had just sweated too much!” observed Paulius, who obviously didn’t mind since he was already on his second durian seed!

“Use my phone!” chirped Kuwait Team member Laila Buabbas, while fellow member Maznah Almutairi proclaimed: “SCREAM!” After a thoughtful pause, she added “I want to call my mother too!”. Laila then concluded with “We want to close our books!” to which everyone heartily agreed. Are you ready to

Transporting exam scripts

As a befitting end to the final segment of the IBO competition, competitors and jury members were treated to a fabulous Bhangra Extravaganza after a sumptuous, indian-themed buffet dinner complete with a live prata-making station. Described by organizer Pavan “The Multipurpose Hunk” Chopra as “Fun, laughter, action, energy, lots of dancing and the list goes on!”, IBO participants enjoyed a fantastic line-up of performances, from energetic hip hop to lively, traditional Bhangra dances from Punjab, India. Interactive segments saw students competitors, jury members and the Singapore organizing team dancing vigorously along with performers on stage, shaking it up and letting their hair loose! The DJ then put on a thumping track, the lights dimmed, and soon the floor was alive with a frenzied mob partying their hearts out!

Pavan “The Multipurpose Hunk” Chopra comparing

bicep size with Tim Coorens from Netherlands. Incidentally Pavan was also the emcee for

the IBO opening and closing ceremonies - talk about being

multi-talented!

Mop the floor! Wipe the windows!” urged a professional Bhangra performer on stage who was trying to teach the crowd a couple of dance steps. In high spirits, students and jury members alike gamely followed his actions to the tune of a catchy song.

Nicolas from Team Belgium and Richard from Team New Zealand sped onto the stage when Pavan called for volunteers to perform with the student hip hop dancers. Fellow students broke into wild catcalls as Nicolas and Richard grooved expertly to Justin Bieber!