This is my 5th year coaching Math counts and it is always fun to take them to the competition. This year we took two 6th graders (a Japanese Girl, and a Korean Boy), three 7th graders (all Korean Girls), and three 8th graders (two Indian boys and an Indian Girl). We always joke about how all the Math Counts kids have dark hair. This year there were 55 kids at the competition and 24 were girls!!! My first year at the competition, there were 44 kids and 3 girls. Girl power!
There were 7 Schools - American schools in India in Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi. 2 American Schools from the UAE - Dubai and Abu Dhabi, 1 American school from Katmandu Nepal, and 1 from Cairo Egypt. I have worked with several of these coaches for years and it is a little sad that several of them are moving on this year.
We attended our first class on Thursday, then got on a plane bound for Dubai. We ran into the Chennai team who had a layover in Mumbai. I got to chat with Miss Kala - the coach from Chennai whom I adore. The kids all stay with host family - the boys stayed with one and the girls were split up among two houses. The coaches all stayed at a Holiday Inn - the nicest one I have ever seen. I got upgraded to a suite that was as big as my apartment. No kidding. Both of my bathrooms would fit into big hotel bathroom - with room left over. AND there was a half bath in there too. That extra space would make up my kitchen. The bedroom was as big as mine and the living room was the size of my living room and spare bedroom. HUGE.
All the coaches stayed in the hotel and they picked us up in a bus every morning to take us to the school. The school was huge too. Huge gyms, huge fields, huge classrooms. Mumbai is very short on space and I am always reminded of that when I see other schools. Driving through the city was surreal - big shiny skyscrapers. We saw the Burj Al Arab (most of you would know it as the sail boat shaped hotel) from a distance. We got to see the Burj Khalifa up close though.
On Friday we had the Sprint round. It is an individual test - 4o minutes for 30 questions no calculator. Then we do the Target round. 6 minutes for 2 questions and you get to use a calculator. there are 8 questions and they are hard! The kids get double the points for those questions. After lunch we do a field trip. This year we went to the Dubai mall. H U G E does not even dent the extent of this place. Biggest mall in the world. There is an amusement part in there and ice skating. (the indoor ski slope is in a different mall - Emirates mall) EVERY SINGLE WESTERN RESTAURANT AND STORE EVER MADE IS IN THIS MALL. I am not kidding. We spent 4 hours there. I only covered a small percentage of it. Jordan, the coach from Dubai, took us to the big fountain where we could get a great view of the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world) so we could take pictures.
Then we let the kids loose in groups of 4. The other coach and I took 4 of the girls to 5 guys burgers to have beef and shakes :) the other 4 apparently had amazing sushi. They talked about it a lot :) The kids that live in Egypt, Nepal, and India all bought things they can't get - chocolate for their families, coffee beans and other things their families asked them to get.
After the mall, we took them back to the school where they played basketball, soccer, table tennis, and watch a movie. One of our girls had not been feeling well but really wanted to go to the mall :) by the evening she had a fever and I told her host mom that I had talked to her father and got permission to give her meds and that she should go straight to sleep. The woman just said "Insha'Allah" Love host parents - they just take it in stride. Apparently this woman takes in kids all the time.
On Saturday we do the Team Round - groups of 4 students have 20 minutes to answer 10 questions. Then we have the Countdown Round with the buzzers. Kids get placed in the top 10 by their scores on the Sprint and Target rounds. We had a student get in the top ten but she was super nervous and got out in the first two questions so she came in 10th place. One of our teams took 2nd place overall.
We were back by Saturday night at midnight. We sent the kids off to be home with their parents and we got Sunday to recover and get ready for school.
There were 7 Schools - American schools in India in Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi. 2 American Schools from the UAE - Dubai and Abu Dhabi, 1 American school from Katmandu Nepal, and 1 from Cairo Egypt. I have worked with several of these coaches for years and it is a little sad that several of them are moving on this year.
We attended our first class on Thursday, then got on a plane bound for Dubai. We ran into the Chennai team who had a layover in Mumbai. I got to chat with Miss Kala - the coach from Chennai whom I adore. The kids all stay with host family - the boys stayed with one and the girls were split up among two houses. The coaches all stayed at a Holiday Inn - the nicest one I have ever seen. I got upgraded to a suite that was as big as my apartment. No kidding. Both of my bathrooms would fit into big hotel bathroom - with room left over. AND there was a half bath in there too. That extra space would make up my kitchen. The bedroom was as big as mine and the living room was the size of my living room and spare bedroom. HUGE.
All the coaches stayed in the hotel and they picked us up in a bus every morning to take us to the school. The school was huge too. Huge gyms, huge fields, huge classrooms. Mumbai is very short on space and I am always reminded of that when I see other schools. Driving through the city was surreal - big shiny skyscrapers. We saw the Burj Al Arab (most of you would know it as the sail boat shaped hotel) from a distance. We got to see the Burj Khalifa up close though.
On Friday we had the Sprint round. It is an individual test - 4o minutes for 30 questions no calculator. Then we do the Target round. 6 minutes for 2 questions and you get to use a calculator. there are 8 questions and they are hard! The kids get double the points for those questions. After lunch we do a field trip. This year we went to the Dubai mall. H U G E does not even dent the extent of this place. Biggest mall in the world. There is an amusement part in there and ice skating. (the indoor ski slope is in a different mall - Emirates mall) EVERY SINGLE WESTERN RESTAURANT AND STORE EVER MADE IS IN THIS MALL. I am not kidding. We spent 4 hours there. I only covered a small percentage of it. Jordan, the coach from Dubai, took us to the big fountain where we could get a great view of the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world) so we could take pictures.
 |
| Every mall should have a dinosaur in the middle |
 |
| BEEF |
 |
| multi story aquarium in the mall |
Then we let the kids loose in groups of 4. The other coach and I took 4 of the girls to 5 guys burgers to have beef and shakes :) the other 4 apparently had amazing sushi. They talked about it a lot :) The kids that live in Egypt, Nepal, and India all bought things they can't get - chocolate for their families, coffee beans and other things their families asked them to get.
After the mall, we took them back to the school where they played basketball, soccer, table tennis, and watch a movie. One of our girls had not been feeling well but really wanted to go to the mall :) by the evening she had a fever and I told her host mom that I had talked to her father and got permission to give her meds and that she should go straight to sleep. The woman just said "Insha'Allah" Love host parents - they just take it in stride. Apparently this woman takes in kids all the time.
On Saturday we do the Team Round - groups of 4 students have 20 minutes to answer 10 questions. Then we have the Countdown Round with the buzzers. Kids get placed in the top 10 by their scores on the Sprint and Target rounds. We had a student get in the top ten but she was super nervous and got out in the first two questions so she came in 10th place. One of our teams took 2nd place overall.
We were back by Saturday night at midnight. We sent the kids off to be home with their parents and we got Sunday to recover and get ready for school.
