31st
International Chemistry Olympiad
- D.Chik 7A
Before I begin, I would like to thank the Headmaster's Council,
the Lottery Commission, Teresa & Andrew Chan and Mr CY Lam
for their generous financial assistance in funding for my trip to
Bangkok. I would also like to thank Dr Maclagan and Dr Woodgate
for giving up their invaluable time to teach us the chemistry we
needed to know.
The selection process for the NZ team to compete at the 31st
International Chemistry Olympiad began last year with a
preliminary exam which ruled out half of the applying candidates.
In the months that followed, a series of assignments and tests
were to be completed before I, along with 20 other odd students,
was selected to attend the "Olympiad Training Camp" in
the April holidays. The purpose of the training camp was to
select the 4 candidates for the NZ team. I was fortunate enough
to be selected as one of the four NZ representatives at the 31st
International Chemistry Olympiad that was to be held at Kasesart
University in Bangkok, Thailand
On 2nd July, the four members of NZ team (Richard Kramer, Tim
King, Stephen McCracken and I) as well as our two mentors, Dr
Maclagan and Dr Woodgate, departed for Bangkok. The total flight
time was 14 hours and we were completely exhausted by the end of
it all. The first thing that hit me as we left the airport was
the humidity and heat of Bangkok. It was difficult to adjust to
the intense heat, which made me dizzy at times. Luckily, and to
our delight, we were welcomed by the luxury of air conditioning
upon our arrival at the hotel.
On the following day, we met our guide, Mae, and began touring
around the commercial areas of the Bangkok. We visited one of the
many shopping malls that devoted themselves solely to the sale of
pirated CD's and computer software. These shopping malls were at
least 5 times larger than the St Lukes Shopping Centre in
Auckland. I, along with the rest of the NZ team, struggled hard
against the urge to seize such unbelievable bargains on computer
software but eventually gave in, leaving the shopping complex
with bags of software goods. In fact, we were so absorbed with
getting the best bargains available that we ended up with less
than an hour to report back to the hotel. With the heavily
congested traffic, it would have been an one and a half hour long
journey. However, our guide Mae came up with the ingenious idea
of calling her friend who drove an ambulance to pick us up! So 5
minutes later, we were in the ambulance speeding back to the
hotel. Cars and trucks on the road naturally gave way to us,
thinking that it was an emergency. We ended back in the hotel 30
minutes later.
The official opening ceremony was held on Monday. Princess
Chulabhorn, the Princess of Thailand, attended the ceremony and
officially opened the competition. Unfortunately, we were not
allowed to take photos of the Princess as it was considered to be
disrespectful. For the rest of the day, we toured around the
Kasesart University. Afterwards, we were separated from our
mentors who were leaving to prepare the practical exam for us
tomorrow. That night, all of us went to bed early as we had to
get up at 6:30 on the next day for the practical exam.
Tim, Stephen and Richard were panicking the next morning about
the 5 hour practical exam. I, however, wasn't as nervous because
practical work was my strongest suit. Well, at least that was
what I had thought before I attempted the practical exam. The
practical involved a titration as well as the isolation and
identification of a chemical compound. Like the majority of the
competitors, my practical exam turned out to be rather hopeless.
The hot weather didn't help either; the temperature was a record
35°C and the lack of air conditioners (for safety reasons) in
the laboratories meant we had to struggle hard to ignore the heat
let alone the stress and pressure. Some competitors couldn't
handle it and literally collapsed. The Norwegian competitor that
sat next to me had to leave after the 1st hour and then taken to
the hospital as he had collapsed from the heat as well as stress.
Another competitor who crumbled against the pressure was a girl
from the Greek team. She had a mental breakdown in the middle of
the practical and started screaming and crying. She had to take
some pills afterwards to calm herself down.
That evening our guide, Mae, took us ten pin bowling to help us
unleash our anger and frustration from the practical exam onto
the bowling alley. It worked for me. I had one strike during the
game: a personal best so far.
On Wednesday, we toured the Grand Palaces of Bangkok. One of the
Grand Palaces (The Cakri-Mahaprasad Hall) was not open to the
public and reserved for VIPs only. We were lucky enough to have a
guided tour within that particular palace. That, of course, made
us feel quite special. When we left the cool interior of the
palace, the heat wave hit us once again. It was unbearable.
Luckily, the Korean team brought along 100 paper fans (every team
brought souvenirs unique to their country to exchange with each
other) which, under the circumstances, disappeared in a flash. In
the afternoon we visited Safari World. It was basically an
amusement park and a zoo rolled into one. The most enjoyable
moment at Safari World was when it started to shower; the
refreshing and cool rain made the visit all worthwhile.
Thursday was the day we sat another 5-hour theoretical exam.
Fortunately, I found it much easier than the practical exam. And
no, nobody collapsed nor suffered mental breakdowns during that
particular exam. By the end of the fifth hour everyone was
relieved that the exams were finally over. We went ten pin
bowling afterwards, though this time, we played against the Dutch
and the Thai team. We beat the Dutch but were unable to secure a
victory against the sneaky Thais.
Over the next two days, we visited a few tourist attractions
outside the metropolitan area of Bangkok. We visited Ayutthaya,
the old capital of Bangkok. Many historical buildings still
existed in Ayutthaya including the ancient traditional temples.
We also visited the Sea Turtle Conservation Centre which, as its
name suggested, was a sanctuary for an endangered species of sea
turtle. Other such highlights were the aquarium of the Bangsai
Vocational Center. We also had the pleasure to have lunch with
the Governor of Ayutthaya.
Perhaps the most interesting cultural experience encountered
during the trip happened on Saturday night when we saw the movie
'Austin Powers - the Spy who Shagged Me'. Just before the movie
began, everyone in the cinema stood up. I, confused and oblivious
to the whole ordeal, followed. Afterwards, I asked Mae why we had
to stand up and she said that it was to pay respects to his
majesty, the King of Thailand. It was definitely an odd but
memorable experience.
Sunday marked the closing of the 31st International Chemistry
Olympiad. In the morning, we and the Dutch team managed some last
minute shopping at yet another local shopping mall before leaving
for the closing ceremony. The closing ceremony involved
deliverance of closing speeches by princess Chulabhorn and the
Thai organisers. That was then followed by the presentation of
medals and the announcement of next year's host country for the
Chemistry Olympiad, Denmark. I was lucky enough to receive a
bronze medal along with Tim and Richard from the NZ team. The
countries that performed the best were the Korean team and the
American team; both teams received 3 gold medals and 1 silver
medal. The Dux of the occasion was Timothy Jones of United
States, who apparently had made only one minor mistake in the
entire theoretical exam!
In the farewell function that followed, we were entertained by a
Jamaican band that literally 'rocked the house': the music was so
loud that the windowpanes and the floor started shaking from the
drumbeats! As we eventually left the building, a spectacular
display of fireworks signalled the end of the 31st International
Chemistry Olympiad. Late next morning, we left Bangkok taking
with us the fond memories of our newly-made friends and the
marvellous time we had together.
On a final note, I would like to once again thank everyone who
had made this trip possible. For those who would like to trial
for the Olympiad in the next year or so, give it all you've got:
it's worth the effort.