New York - Day 3

We got back to the hotel a little past midnight and headed to the bar for a birthday drink. I had one of their signature cocktails called The Producers. We got a great table right next to the window, and the bar was on the eight floor overlooking Times Square. Not many people get to celebrate their 21st birthday with such a great view. Then we went upstairs and went to sleep.

The next morning we got up early to take a tour of the Empire State Building. We walked down there in our suits because we wouldn't have time to change before going to the Czech Mission. We stood in various lines for about an hour before finally riding the elevator up to the 82nd floor. The observation deck was pretty nice, and we were able to see all of the city. It was a little hazy that morning, but the visibility was still around five miles. Weston and I both got some good pictures.

After returning to the hotel, we met all of the other WSU people and rode the subway up to the Czech Mission to the UN. The Czech ambassador greeted us and talked to us for about 40 minutes about the Czech Republic's role in the United Nations. It was very helpful information, a first-hand account of how international diplomacy really works. He was very nice, complimenting our position papers and taking questions.

For lunch a group of us tried to find a certain cafe that the returners had eaten at last year. We looked for a long time but couldn't find it. (Turns out that it had recently changed its name.) So instead we ate at an Irish pub. Pastrami on rye.

The next item on the agenda was going to the UN building for the conference's opening ceremonies. We had to wait outside for more than an hour, but we finally got in and were seated in the General Assembly room. It's quite an impressive place, especially considering all of the history that's been made there. The decor is very outdated, though. The UN building hasn't had a major renovation since it was built, so there were a lot of puke greens and browns that people used to think were pretty stylish. We listened to a few speeches, using the famous earphones, and then we left to walk back to the hotel.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat along the way (pizza), we all split up and went to our first committee meetings. I was the Czech representative to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The first thing each committee does is set the agenda. This orders the list of topics that the committee will discuss, and it is an important task because committees almost never make it through all of the topics. Surprisingly, there was consensus among the delegates in the UNHCR, and we were able to get started on the first topic rather quickly.

One of the big issues during the first night of the conference is setting the speaker's time. We entertained countless motions to change the speaker's time. Finally, everyone seemed to agree that one minute and thirty seconds was the right amount of time for each speech. Beyond that, we didn't accomplish much else on the first committee meeting.

For dessert that night, Weston and I went to a little cafe in Times Square and had brownies ala mode. They were very good, and we had a chance to watch some very drunk people falling off their barstools and smashing their drink glasses. Then we went to sleep.