2009 Australian Chemistry Olympiad Team

Monday 27th July

6.30 am:  The taxi arrived to take us to Heathrow airport for our lunchtime flight to Australia.  It was a good time to reflect on the fabulous experience that we all had.

[Thank you to the Mentors who travelled with the team – Dustin Stuart, seek Sam Salman and Tristan Reekie.  Their commitment to the Chemistry Olympiad as well as their outstanding pedagogical practice helps attain the outstanding results that we regularly achieve overseas.  Thanks also to the rest of the highly talented Australian Chemistry Olympiad staff, ASI and our sponsors. ME]

Sunday 26th July

Our last day in Cambridge.  After a lazy morning we dressed up in our finest zucchini suits and wandered into the city to King’s College for the Closing Ceremony.  We met up with our four students and Pesh (our guide) for photographs outside the College before taking our seats inside for the Ceremony.  The King’s College Antechapel was stunning and such a beautiful venue for the Closing Ceremony.

The Closing Ceremony was short and sweet – a couple of speeches and then on with the business of presenting the medals.  No more British culture!

It was quite tense as the names were read out; certificates first, order followed by Honourable Mentions and then bronze, price silver and gold medals.  We were all extremely happy with the results:  Bill, more info Frankie and Jason (Silver) and Kelvin (Bronze).  Congratulations guys!

Then it was out onto the King’s College back lawns (yes we were allowed to walk on the lawn) for more photographs, a banquet and dancing.  Skippy made many appearances at the dinner but alas didn’t make it home as he was kidnapped (or was he roonapped!).

At the end of the night (early morning) many goodbyes were made as another Olympiad came to an end.

Saturday 25th July

Dustin and Sam were superb in arbitration and managed to “scab” marks for our students while still maintaining respect with the task authors.  With an early arbitration, information pills we had half a day free to wander Cambridge.  Sam and Dustin went punting, Tristan went to a Wedding in Oxford and Mark spent some quality time with the Danes sampling some red cordial.  Dustin and I then took Sam to the railway station for his trip to Heathrow and flight back to Perth.  We then sampled some more British fare – scones and cream at Aunties Tea Shop.

The beautiful grounds of Robinson College, Cambridge

The task authors relaxing in Robinson College

Friday 24th July
Friday was an intense work day dealing with the exam papers so nothing too exciting to say about that except that students need better handwriting.

Thursday 23rd July

Thursday saw us venture into London to take in the sights there. Sam, diabetes and pregnancy Dustin and Tristan got on the reject tour bus with the guide only talking about clothing shops down Oxford street. Tristan was just enjoying playing Monopoly with the streets they went past. It could have been worse, nurse we could have got on the Russian or Spanish speaking tour bus.

Lunch was held at the Royal Society but the less said about that the better. This is when we separated with Mark going to take in a show in the West End while Sam, read more Dustin and Tristan plus Nina from Switzerland did a walking tour of London. It was more like Tristan doing the walking tour as he hadn’t been there before while the others, who had seen it all before followed along politely. The sights we went past included Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby, the Houses of Parliament, London Eye and others. With our appetite nicely built up Sam suggested taking in second lunch (or in some instances first lunch) at a Persian restaurant. This gave us a nice relaxing time before the moment we had all been looking forward to, the return of the students.

We met the students at the Natural History Museum, a magnificent building with some fantastic exhibits, which we got to explore with pre-dinner mingling. We were also able to meet Queen Elizabeth II and have our picture taken with Her Majesty. We then filed into the dining hall for dinner, the highlight being the grand central table being reserved for the huge dinosaur skeleton though our table was placed suspiciously close to the rear end, though not as close as the English team’s table. During dinner we were entertained with magicians working the tables and to ensure our nerdiness was in tact we played two games of Periodic table bingo. We all then headed back to Cambridge.

Our team outside the Natural History Museum in London

Celebrating the end of both exams – Natural History Museum in London

Meeting Queen Elizabeth II at the Natural History Museum

Meeting Queen Elizabeth II at the Natural History Museum

Dinner at the Natural History Museum

Wednesday 22nd July
Wednesday was the day for the theory paper translation. We decided to take it a bit easier and start later than other countries. This may have been a mistake because many non English-speaking countries were finished before us which they took great pleasure in telling us. Though we maintain that they must have started the night before. Even so we still had some of the afternoon free so we went for a very long walk around Oxford and some of the outlying areas. That night after dinner was a chance to let our hair down with some Scottish dancing or Ceilidh. The band was able to take us through the steps required but even so the coordination of most was far below that of weak-field cobalt(III) complex!. Some people, pregnancy who won’t be named, even ended up on the floor. All in all a great night.

Tristan and Sam demonstrating the correct Waltz hold at the Ceilidh

Tuesday 21st July
The morning consisted a walking tour of Oxford to take in what it has to offer and learn those interesting local facts that places this old have built up over many years. Two things to conclude from this are that Oxford is quite pompous and that our guide had a love affair with C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll.

Lunch time brought the arrival of the theory paper but we instead opted to enjoy or lunch and then open the ominous brown envelope afterwards. After attempting the questions ourselves and discussing the options we met with the authors for some discussions on changes. After a hastily devoured dinner we began the second jury meeting. Settling down to what we thought was going to be a long night actually proceeded much faster than expected finishing by 11 pm with a paper we were happy with. We decided to mix things up a bit and spent the evening getting acquainted with the Spanish and South American team mentors. We then proceeded to bed to be ready for what was likely to be another gruelling day of exam translation.

Monday 20th July
We knew Monday was going to be a little easier for us because it was the day set aside for translation. Despite already being in English we took our responsibility seriously and spent many hours refining the exam to produce a very unique ‘Straylan’ version. In the company of the Norwegians, healing Swedes and Icelanders we proceeded to explore all that Oxford had to offer wile getting to know these other countries. Most people soon developed their own opinions on the 800 year old question, phthisiatrician which is better Oxford or Cambridge but the answer to that should never be put in writing for fear it would return to haunt you.

The evening brought a reception in the Natural History Museum allowing for mingling while surrounded by bones of many extinct animals. However the sustenance wasn’t quite enough for the appetites of some so in conjunction with some other countries we sampled another authentic University experience, that is, the late night fast food van. We went to bed early to enjoy a good night’s rest ready for the activities the day after.

Sunday 19th July
We awoke on Sunday with the knowledge that it was going to be a busy day. We dressed in our Sunday best and headed to the Corn Exchange for the opening ceremony, health system which as tradition dictates, requires a sampling of the culture of the host country. And in their words not mine, England doesn’t have any culture so what was presented to us instead was a Pantomime. The requirements of the audience was spelled out to us by the (Australian) stage manager and then we began the show “Jack and the DNA stalk” A standard Pantomime with all the required elements, a man dressed (badly) as a woman, a girl playing a boy falling in love with a girl and to people dressed up as an animal. The important difference was that every country that was competing had its name mentioned in the show. For those who liked puns it was a fantastic experience, for those that don’t, this show might not have been for you. Some countries were easier than others, “I ran all the way” (Iran) or “If I fall I’ll land on you” (Ireland) but others required some more work. “No, Bra’s ill. If she has her by Jan it will be soon enough” (Brazil and Azerbaijan) Not all of the puns can be written here but don’t worry, it was video taped so you may be lucky enough to experience the entire thing for yourself.

We then had lunch followed by the goodbyes as we were going our separate ways until Thursday. Mentors then went to check the labs and then get on the bus were we received the practical problems. The bus trip to Oxford flew by in a whirlwind of reading and discussing the proposed labs. On arrival we dumped our bags in the rooms and then proceeded to talk to the authors of the problems about changes that could be made. This was followed by dinner and then the 1st Jury session. It was obvious as soon as it begun that it was going to be a long night of discussion and changes. So despite finishing after midnight we produced a document of some great lab experiments.

Getting Skippy ready for the Opening Ceremony

Bill, Jason, Pesh (guide), Kelvin and Frankie outside the Corn Exchange

Jack and the DNA Stalk!

Can you name this structure? It’s in the grounds of St Catharine’s College Cambridge.

Saturday 18th July
With the arrival of Saturday it is now time for the Staff to take control of the blog as the students have now been removed from all forms of electronic contact. We woke on Saturday morning to eat and greet with other countries catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. But Cambridge awaited so after the students met their guide Pesh we all ventured to the heart of town to take part in the essential Cambridge tradition of punting. Students versus mentors added a little spice to the adventure which involved many trips to the shore line and other boats, eczema absolutely intentionally of course. With Dustin’s power strokes and Sam’s excellent steering the students didn’t stand much of a chance and were left behind.

We then had to register so this meant separating from the students for the day until we met up with them for the opening ceremony the next day. So with the collective sigh of relief that could probably be heard from Australia we set about getting to work without the students being around. We went to register ourselves but were told to head to another college to do so on the mistaken belief that we were students and not the mentors.

We then took the opportunity to catch up with Anthony another past student and mentor. We learnt all about his PhD but because we lacked pens and paper when we required a drawing we used what was at hand to draw a colour-coded image on a plastic bag using tomato sauce and mayonnaise.

We returned to college for dinner and then spent the evening investigating how other countries run their Olympiad program to see improvements that we might be able to implement.

Punting on the Cam with Kelvin driving

Punting on the Cam with Frankie driving

Mark relaxing while Sam punts

Dustin and Sam having an academic discussion

View from “The Anchor” along the River Cam