Emile: First Impressions after the Opening Ceremony

After a long time spent traveling, we have officially spent one full day in China! We arrived at the hotel late last night for dinner and an introduction video recording session. This morning we set up our posters and walked through our opening ceremony introduction. I was impressed by how elaborate the event was set up and the value which the Chinese seemingly place on education. The front of the building had beautiful event-specific sculptures and artwork which I was not expecting.

The opening ceremony was a mix of entertainment and featured an introduction to each country. My classmates and I walked across the stage as they called the United States and for our “audience gesture” we took a selfie with the crowd. I was taken back by the great number of cameras and film at the event; typically, you’d only see so many cameras if you were at a sporting event in the United States. I was impressed by some of the few maker projects which I had the chance to look at, so I am really looking forward to talking to other students and learning about their projects tomorrow. I’m a bit nervous about the judging process tomorrow, but I am excited to share my research and begin meeting students from other countries. I’m all set to get some rest and prepare for the long day of presenting tomorrow.