Another busy day at MYC - visiting Aalto University, going on multiple tours, project work, and, last but not least, International Night, Part 2.

This event is a celebration of, well, different countries (surprise). At International Night, MY Campers got to learn a little bit about all of the other countries from which there are participants. The camp is so diverse that the event was divided into two nights with approximately two hours each night.

The many Brazilian campers talk about their country.

Some campers had speaking-based presentations. They gave facts, read stories, read poems, and often showed pictures in the backgroung to illustrate. Another common supplement to talking was video - sometimes a general overview of the country and sometimes a specific aspect of the country (for example, did you know that in Spain there is an event where people make human towers...with little kids on top? Me niether, until we saw a video of it).

Others went for songs, which also sometimes were supplements. Sometimes this even included singing along.

Dance was hugely popular at International Night. Some people dressed in traditional costume and performed; others invited everyone to join in dance. It was really fun to be able to get up and move even if I was confused and unsure of what to do at some times...I am somewhat uncoordinated when it comes to dancing.

Turkish dance!

Some countries passed out small gifts...yes, free stuff, often in the form of candy. I ate so much chocolate tonight (and yet this was also the first night that I was hungry for the 10:00 pm snack...), and it was all great! Postcards were also common gifts (my personal choice, which works well for the US).

In true American style, the USA group procrastinated on the presentation. We ended up deciding that it was to hard to do something (insert deep, unemotional voice here) very serious and partiotic, so we just did some jokes and talked about stereotypes. I have some personal issues with stereotypes because the way we think categorically tends to lead us to use stereotypes to put people in little boxes, but it was all done lightheartedly and we mentioned that many of the stereotypes are not true of everybody. :-P

To all future campers, some advice: Try not to procrastinate. I know it's hard. Many campers had exams right before the camp and had little free time, and every day of camp is packed practically from beginning to end, so there is not much time to work with the others from your country. We were not the only ones working at/right after dinner the day of the presentation. But really do try to take a little time before camp to communicate with the others from your country and decide what to do. This will enable you to bring any treats, clothes, or other special items from home for the presentation. Also, don't stress - as a camp guide told me and I discovered for myself today, you might be sort of worried or anxious before the presentaion but it turns out totally fine when you actually do it.


Tomorrow will be somewhat more relaxing for us campers - breakfast is an hour later since we are not leaving early for any tours/university visits, we have project work time in the morning, but then a bunch of non-academic activities after that, which should be tons of fun and a great way to relax after all of the project work we have been doing the past few days.

P.S. Coming soon: Pictures! My tablet unfortunately will not allow me to upload unless I download an app, which is not happening. When I get home I plan on adding some of my pictures to these posts to make them more colorful.