Well we started the day off very well. EVERYONE made it to the airport on time...yes EVERYONE...and HE was the first student to show up!!! (No name used to protect HIS identity.) We are traveling with some very nice people, Mr. Doug, Dr. Raj, Ms. Kristy and super smart ...Mojan and Dileep. We are in awesome company!!
All went smoothly at the airport except that Chris "intrigued" the airport security with his carry-on bag. It was a small black suitcase with lab papers, wires, tape, and plastic...all carefully wrapped in bath towels. For some reason this got all THREE airport security personnel "concerned." After a short, pleasant discussion between the nice gentlemen, Chris and Mr. Doug we were on our way. (And to think we were concerned about getting Gabby's apple, bagel, and nuts past security!)
After getting through security I told Chris and Gabby I was going to BLOG about our experience. Both responded by laughing out loud then saying "Yea...right." They then said it will be interesting to see the comments...which I clarified that after teaching for 17 years I know better than to allow any of them to comment to my site! Anyway...I was thankful to them for showing me how to use my new phone.
Our flights went very well. Upon arriving to LA we got our luggage and made the shuttle to our hotel. As we travelled to the hotel we went past areas that looked like Miami then with in about 15 minutes into areas that looked like New York. We drove past a beautiful cathedral...it looked like something in Spain. Lots of variety and history here.
We checked into the hotel and proceeded to register/set-up at the convention center. We all received our paperwork and identification for our lanyards. Chris got a special ribbon on his lanyard...it said "ISEF ALUMNI" since this is his THIRD year. While at set-up Chris was greeted on a first name basis by a couple of the Judges. Must be nice...my lanyard just says "teacher." While at the convention center we also met up with another one of our students...Andrew...another great smart person! Later that day we went to the Marriot for a student social. This is where the kids "socialize" with students from all over the world. Adults are not allowed at the social...probably because I would be going around telling them to smile for the camera!
Convention center is beautiful and HUGE! One very cool thing I saw yesterday is that they have an
"e-lounge" with about 100 laptops set-up for people to use. (They are super pretty -that's important you know - almost tie-dye covers...by the way did you wash your shirts? I'm multitasking!) Well got to go...
