A second year Norwegian, Jacob Mørch, took these amazing photo of the inner court yard of the castle and I thought I should share :)

Cambridge Law Conference

Just got the schduele for the Law Conference that myself and my close friend Louis will be going on in less than a month!

Here goes:

Monday 19th March 2011

2-4 p.m. Delegates arrive in colleges

5-5.30 p.m. Official Welcome (meet at Porters

lodge at 4.30 for this)

6-6.45 p.m. Dinner in colleges

7-30 p.m. First Night Social Event

Tuesday 20th March 2011

8-9 a.m. Breakfast in Colleges

9.30-10 a.m. Introduction to Law

10-10.15 a.m. EU Law

10.25-10.45 a.m. Land Law

10.45-11 a.m. BREAK

11-11.20 a.m. Sentencing & the Penal System

11.20- 12.40 a.m. Legal Problems

12.40- 2 p.m. Lunch in Colleges

2-2.20 p.m. Intellectual Property

2.20-2.40 p.m. Roman Law

2.40-3.30 p.m. International Law Studio Session

3.30- 3.45 p.m. BREAK

3.45-5.30 p.m. City Law Firm Workshops / Tour of

Cambridge

6-6.45 p.m. Dinner in Colleges

8.30 p.m. Debate at Cambridge Union

Wednesday 21st March 2011

8-8.30 am Breakfast in colleges

9.30-10 am Constitutional Law

10-10.30 am Contract Law

10.30- 10.45 am BREAK (‘What about Law?’ on sale)

10.50-11.20 am Tort Law

11.20- 11.40 am Criminal Law

11.40- 12 noon Family Law

12-2pm Lunch in colleges

2-2.30 pm The Solicitor

2.30—3 pm The Barrister

3-3.30 pm An Alternative Perspective

4- 4.15 pm BREAK

4.15-6 pm Workshops/ Tour of Cambridge

6- 6.45 pm Dinner in colleges

8.30- 10.30 pm Mock Trial at Cambridge Union

Thursday 22nd March 2011

8- 8.30 am Breakfast in colleges

10-11 am Applying to Cambridge

11-12 noon Law: The Unofficial Version

We'll be staying in Pembroke College in the student dorms :) So excited!

Lambing!

It’s that time of year people J though I’m not in Estate Service who are in charge of this I went at 9:00pm last night with Heidi and Konan to check on the sheep (or as I called them, soon to be Mummy's!). Everyone in Estate are on shifts for the next two weeks at night to make sure they have hay, water and most importantly  that there are no complications with the births.
When I went there were no ewes being born at the moment so I just got to look at the cute little lambs baa-ing: triplets had been born only a few hours before. They only stay in the pens for 2 days with their mums, and then get moved to the fields.
During the day the farmer looks after them but at night about five students will check on them in shifts: 9, 1am and 5am to check. Heidi said last night there were twins and then a separate one as well, in the dining hall for breakfast it's quite clear who stayed up all night, or got a few hours of sleep. Even though I'm not sure it would suit me waking up at that time it's pretty cool that this school does such a thing :)

Today was my first service session! The second years are doing their Mock exams so this week the first years took over for them with the local school groups. I worked with Gerry, we did the ropes course as pirates and then at the we let the kids do zip-lining (to be honest I was a bit jealous of them as I've never gotten the chance to do it myself). Overall it was a good session, we got positive feedback from both the kids and our instructors.

One week and I'll be in Rome!
:)

Rather Cool

So last year in my IGCSE English Literature class we studied a poem by Ted Hughes called Full Moon and Little Frieda. Ted Hughes was married to Sylvia Plath, another poet. Their daughter, Frieda, found a ton of Sylvia's books in different languages the other day and has decided to donate them to Atlantic College. So we'll be getting the books that a famous poet read all those years ago. Pretty cool right?

*Also means I miss my Double Code of English this Friday... Not too shabby.

Going to London this weekend to see my lovely cousin Leah, will be refreshing to leave the bubble for a few days.

Love,
Abi

MUNK 2012 articles :)

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BwEz1UhvvlOIYjUyZGVmYzUtZmY3ZC00Mzg5LWIyZjktYTMzNmYzNGIxNzc4

Student Diary Blog

This week was my turn to write the Student Diary Blog for the official AC website. I wrote about my Thursday, and it's in more detail than most of my blog posts are, of a regular day for me with no special event going on.
It should be on this website soon:
http://www.atlanticcollege.org/student-diary-blogs/

But here is the early copy ;)

Abi Drummond, Cayman Islands

Thursday 2^nd February, 2012

7:14- first of the three alarms goes off, snooze from China.

7:20- second alarm, grumbling, shuffling, but yet again snooze from Canada/Columbia.

7:24- third and final alarm, slowly France and Cayman get up and start to prepare for what is to come…

And the day begins. AC-style.

Walking to breakfast by 7:45 has become a regular routine that it’s often not given much thought in my foggy waking mind. But today I took particular notice. The grass has become frozen and crunchy, the birds are making strange morning calls and the lanterns are still glowing, making minor impact but setting a perfect wintery atmosphere I’d never experienced before coming to good-ole Wales. From seven houses students join each other on main drive; the nationalities of the world making their way to the 12^th-century castle, or as we see it: breakfast.

I eat my muesli with two of the second-years from my house (Morgannwg) -Carys from London and Penelope from Quebec. We end up talking about our sleeping habits. It so happens that I managed a full nine hours last night, a great success in every AC student’s life. They look at me in admiration but also with a knowing smile as if they know what’s to come. Maybe they do…but for now I know that they’re jealous. Sleep is a precious commodity.

Today is my ‘Castle Day’. The amount of students around the world that get a chance to say this isn’t nearly enough. I’ve dubbed it this simply because I arrive for breakfast and then all of my codes are moving around the castle rooms until after lunch.

Geography- 8:00-8:50, in what used to be a castle bedroom. Beautiful carvings are engraved in the wood, with heavy doors, a chandelier and bathroom ensuite.  Lucky us. Tjekk, a teacher-in training from the Netherlands is taking our class today.

History- 8:55-10:25, Double-Code about the Great Depression led by Kate from Hungary. Up a spiral staircase into what must be the coldest part of the castle. Someone once whispered to me ‘the owners of the castle hundreds of years ago would never come up here, they’d freeze for sure’. It’s probably the coolest part though, so we deal. Today it’s discussion on the impacts of the Wall Street Crash and the countries affected by it, with representatives from a few: Japan, USA, Chile –we have our own personal comments on how our family felt. Typical UWC History class I’m sure.

Break- 10:25-10-45, by law you must drink hot chocolate. It’s practically in the handbook.

Environmental Systems and Societies- 10:45-11:35, argument breaks out whether it’s worth being sustainable by not eating meat. Is it more sustainable to eat fish than beef? It may sound simple, but any debate can become spontaneously heated when you get passionate teenagers together. Fierce.

Lunch- 11:40-12:30, ‘EARLY-early’ lunch is at 12, so I stop and check my e-mails in the library before going that way. It must be done a few times a day for this is how everyone communicates at AC, you miss something important- nine times out of ten you didn’t see the e-mail in time. Lunch is pretty standard, besides the nationalities. There’s USA, Amsterdam, Germany, Italy, Nicaragua, Canada/Columbia and Cayman sitting together. Rave, to put it mildly. Amsterdam bites Nicaragua’s finger in his attempt to feed her some fruit cake- typical.

English- 12:35-1:25, usually would be in the Languages department, but hey! It’s sunny! Doesn’t matter the temperature- let’s read Medea in the Beast Garden! And so we do. Sitting in a circle we read our characters out loud in the company of the stone beasts with the sun making its best efforts to warm our skin.

And the codes are done for the day. No activity or service till later. Walk back to the house with Avrah who grew up in Liverpool but has Indian parents. Study for a French vocab test; feel thirsty…to the dayroom for some green tea. Hour long conversation with Heidi from Norway thus commences- procrastination at its finest my friends.

Gym- 3:00-4:30, Try to make it to the gym every day to keep active, and often succeed. My goal is to be able to run the 10k on the treadmill by the time the lifeguards have to run it outside in just over a month. 7k today!

Mission Based Class- 5:00-6:00, one of the really unique AC things we get to do. This particular class is run by two second year Chinese girls Lin and Yuexin, and they’re teaching us about the political regimes in China for the last… four thousand years or so. However we got off topic today and spoke about China currently, and how their school systems are all about scores and examinations, what they think about the Communist Party and whether it would ever change. Ricardo from Brazil and I were exceptionally interested, spouting question after question. The things you learn everyday go undoubtedly far beyond the classroom.

Service- 7:00-9:00, I’m part of the best service. Obviously that’s Atlantic Outdoor Centre. Ironically tonight we’re doing what another service does- training for the NaRS pool lifeguard, so we can do swimming sessions with children groups when they come to visit. Various tows, pick-ups and getting the casualty out of the water are taught. My partner was Ine from Norway, such a gentle and sweet girl. Yesterday in service we were practicing different Initiative Games to play with children. From the human knot to logic puzzles, we do all of the games ourselves so that we know them perfectly when it comes time to lead sessions- which I will finally get the chance to this time next week. It’s going to be a ropes course with a visiting school group, along with Jack Chan from China and Sofie from Norway. I’m psyched; we’ll get together and plan our session this weekend.

Open House- 9:30, the most anticipated night of my week. We get to go into the houseparent’s house, for some coffee/tea (or as I like to do, a good cold glass of milk) and each week a different dorm gets together and bakes something. Can I just say that I have never had better apple cake in my life as Dorm 8 made for us. We all sit around the dining table and the couches and chat as a big family. Paula from Germany told me about her service session in Performing Arts, working with Jonathan, one of the kids with dementia. She inspires me.

Duty Dorm- 10:15, we go in a Rota of the 12 dorms of who has to tidy up the kitchen and take out the recycling. Fun times. Over our pajamas Chloe and I suit up as if we’re going on a trek across campus, when in reality it’s less than two minutes, running (with the occasional scream added in) holding the cardboard and plastic crates. To be honest, I find it quite adventurous.

Sleep- 11:15, ready for bed at long last. Not the earliest, not the latest. But it’s been another busy day and I’m ready to relax. Sigh.

 I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Human Rights Focus Week

(copied straight off the e-mail just to show how cool my school is briefly ;) )

HUMAN RIGHTS FOCUS WEEK

Today (Tuesday)

Silent Stories: If you see someone walking around with an orange jumpsuit or a cardboard sign, read “their” story

WORKSHOP: Right to assemble and protest (Albert + Chee + Ben) 18.30 – 19.30

Wednesday

WORKSHOP: Western violations of human rights in the Middle East (PK and Ameed)

Surprise, surprise

Thursday

WORKSHOP: Socioeconomic human rights (Erasmo + Sugar + Michael) 18.30 – 19.30

Surprise, surprise²

Friday

Sweatshop Simulation Check-In-3AM+ in the Library (more information to come)

Saturday

Movie screening 14.00 – 15.30 (more information to come)

Sunday

Movie marathon 13.00 – 19.00 (more information to come)

Love, Abi

AC MUN 2012

Dear Delegates,

It is our pleasure to welcome you to the Disarmament and International Security

Council (DISEC) of the 2012 Atlantic College Model United Nations (ACMUN).

DISEC, the first committee of the General Assembly, deals with disarmament and

related international security question. This year, DISEC will be focusing on two

pressing global security issues, the Iranian nuclear crisis and East Asian Security

Focusing on North Korea.

This was the committee that I signed up for. It was a great two days J in my committee there were these people:

1.    Abigail DRUMMOND Morgannwg Delegate DISEC China (Cayman Islands)

2.    Anantya SAHNEY Pentti Kouri Delegate DISEC Qatar (Russia)

3.    Andrew ROY Pentti Kouri Delegate DISEC Canada (New Zealand)

4.    Bernie ETIM Whitaker Delegate DISEC Chile

5.    Carol ALDRIDGE Whitaker Delegate DISEC Vietnam

6.    Cheryne JONAY Sunley Delegate DISEC Japan

7.    Diana REN JIE LIANG Adriatic Delegate DISEC France (Hong Kong)

8.    Elaine FUNG Pentti Kouri Delegate DISEC Germany

9.    Emma WOO Tice Delegate DISEC Costa Rica (Canada)

10. Harry NEUERT Powys Delegate DISEC Iran (USA)

11. Ilya ANDRUSHCHENKO Powys Delegate DISEC USA (Russia)

12. Jacob MOERCH Pentti Kouri Delegate DISEC North Korea  (Norway)

13. Julyen RENAUD Morgannwg Delegate DISEC Saudi Arabia (Canada)

14. Maxime SANDERS Sunley Delegate DISEC South Korea (Kenya)

15. Maya GAZIT Maastricht Delegate DISEC Russia (Israel)

16. Michael MANNING Tice Chair DISEC N/A  (USA)

17. Prabana MENDIS Sunley Delegate DISEC Pakistan

18. Ryan CHIN Gwynedd Delegate DISEC Israel (Singapore)

19. Shimon JINNAI Tice Delegate DISEC DR Congo

20. SINA HANZAEI Tice Delegate DISEC Zimbabwe (Iran)

21. Srabasti SARKER Tice Delegate DISEC Brazil

22. Tariq ABID Whitaker Delegate DISEC UK

23. Theo WILSON Sunley Chair DISEC N/A  (UK)

24. Xue Li CUI Gwynedd Delegate DISEC Afghanistan

25.   Zoey CHONG Pentti Kouri Delegate DISEC Cuba

Not sure where every person is from so I put in brackets the people that I did. We met for the opening ceremony at 2:00 on Friday in Bradenstoke. Everyone was suited up and looked very professional, joyous times. We had to go through security where they checked through our bags and pretended to check out bodies for weapons. As our opening speech happened we had a terrorist attack where they stole one of our Chairs, the security showing us a video of retrieving him. There we also people from others UWC’s Adriatic and Maastricht and the local Llantwit comprehensive.

We then split up into our various groups; mine was in the Economics room. The issue that we were discussing on the first day was of the Iran nuclear weapons. From my research China seemed to believe that Iran’s nuclear program was not an immediate threat as they didn’t believe that Iran had the technology to weaponise highly enriched uranium, or the facilities, equipment or technology that it required.

I wasn’t used to the protocol of ‘the chairs would smile upon…’, ‘the delegate of… has a point of information’…’moderated caucus has began’. It was also really funny that the issue we were talking about had a guy from Iran named Sina, who kept saying ‘the delegate of Zimbabwe would like to point out that Iran…’ having far superior knowledge than anyone else.

Friday night I went out for a dorm dinner for Ruyi’s birthday which was fantastic. We then went to Marcross where Chloe’s mum and brother Seb arrived a bit after we did, (now adopted as my little brother). I think everyone had such a great day- it must be one of my favourites.

As I ended up staying awake pretty late Friday night I forgot to set my alarm for Saturday morning for the start of the next MUN session. One of the best wake-ups in my life. You know how sometimes you hear a noise and it becomes part of your dream? Well all of a sudden in my dream there was a stampede, and I was in the jungle running away from the noise. Turns out it was people coming up the stairs. I open my eyes to see about a dozen of the DISEC committee, suited up, in my room. My first response: ‘Welcome to Dorm 12 everyone’ in an extremely sleepy voice. They had come to retrieve me. Bless their cotton socks. After a tiny bit of coaxing I agreed to get ready as soon as possible. So I went to the next session, half an hour late- but China was represented.

Went to the cottage that Chloe’s family was staying in for some lovely Gluten-free chocolate cake and then we went to Marcross for a superb dinner.

Now Sunday, probably should do some work? I suppose…

**Chloe got her test results back! She’s not gluten-free. But I swear for the rest of my life I’ll always be conscious if whether what I’m eating has gluten in it. As for the no meat, it’s all going well J One month down baby!