SEAYLP, Illinois!

HELLO EVERYONE!

Marina here, and I'm currently in Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois in the United States of America! For those of you who don't already know, I was selected as one of five participants from Malaysia to participate in the South East Asian Youth Leadership Program, or SEAYLP. SEAYLP is a program jointly organised and fully sponsored by the Northern Illinois University and the Department of State of USA. 


SO.. We arrived in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on the 27th, and took the bus to DeKalb, which is one of the major counties in Illinois and is not too far away from Chicago. This is an extremely intense program, so we've got numerous courses on Media Training, Journalism, Theatre and the Arts, Effective Public Speaking, Civil Society and even Water Testing at 5 rivers here in Illinois! We are going to get to go to the Mississippi River, the largest in the U.S., Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and so many others. We'll have so many exciting activities lined up, and I promise to keep you guys posted!


Today was our first real day of lectures and programs, so we had a session on Media Training and Journalism. We were each assigned a news report to do during this program, and mine will be on our trip to the beautiful historic town of Annapolis in Maryland, and our BOAT TRIP on the Chesapeake Bay! I am so excited; I simply cannot wait! We also had a course on civil society, exploring the importance and roles of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in policy-making and nation-building.


After all the lessons, we took a bus to Sycamore for the Pumpkins on Parade display and the Teen Carnival! The pumpkins were so adorable and some were really impressive. The carnival was fun, with all sorts of typical American fair food, like candied apples, cotton candies, cinnamon roasted nuts and root beer! I think I'm going to come back two jeans sizes bigger, oh NO! :/ haha.


The autumn colours here on campus are simply beautiful. I am just so in love with the panoramic tones of red, gold and brown! Of course, I have been taking (and posing for) many photos as the scenery here is just irresistible.


Oh, and it's cold.


Understatement of the century! It is FREEZING. Everyday, the weather has been simply freezing! The highest temperature we've been in is 12 degrees Celsius. TWELVE. And the lowest: negative four degrees. BRRRRRRR. I couldn't feel my fingers for the whole night at the teen carnival!


I'll keep you all updated, and I miss MGS! =) Love you all, byeee! Photos are on Facebook, by the way.


Love from Illinois,
Marina!