| Country after
country
sent their
participants on stage for their
cultural items. Children
wearing bright coloured clothes came upon the stage to perform events exclusive to their culture.
It was indeed a night of amusement and beauty. After sometime it was my turn to go up to the stage...
The International Mathematics and Science Olympiad (IMSO) is a competition which improves not only the academic skills of students, but also aesthetic skills. The
Sri Lankan team to represent at the 8th IMSO held in Philippines in September 2011 was chosen by the Ministry of Education through five rounds of tests, for Grade Six and Seven students. I was lucky to be chosen among the 17 participants in the Mathematics section.
We left Sri Lanka from the Katunayake airport late at night on the 31st. The plane journey was quite exciting as it was the first time I was in a plane. In the
morning I could see the clouds below us.
It was a wonderful scene. When the plane was
landing it went through the clouds and when looked from inside the plane, it was like heaven in
fairy tales, with different shapes of milky white clouds floating all over the space.
We landed in Manila, the capital of Philippines. There was a ten
hour bus journey to our destination,
Naga City.
We arrived at the hotel Villa Caceres early in the morning.
The next day, the opening
ceremony of the IMSO was held. First the participants paraded through the streets of Naga City. Then the opening ceremony began with the national anthem of Philippines.
Then there was the first
examination paper. The next day there were two more papers.
That evening there was the
cultural show.
Sri Lanka performed three events of which I performed the ‘Sinharaja Wannama’ a
kandyan dance indigenous to
Sri Lanka. There was a good response to it and many foreigners took photos with me.
The next morning we went on a tour around Naga. First we went to two churches. Being a Buddhist, it was the first time I was in a church. Afterwards we went to a shop where pastries were made.
We watched how they were made while tasting some. We had lunch near a lake where we watched some water sports.
In the evening of the same day the prize giving was held. I had lost two marks for a bronze medal.
Sri Lanka had won two gold, seven
silver and two bronze medals from the Science category and seven bronze medals for the harder
subject Maths. The overall winner for Maths was from Singapore.
When we returned to Sri Lanka we were warmly welcomed. It was indeed a lifetime’s experience.
|
E-mail
