We returned from San Francisco on Saturday, tired but feeling very blessed and privileged to have been a part of ThinkQuest Live 2009. The journey was long and tiring but team spirits remained high the whole way there and back and the children were awesome. We didn’t have a moment’s problem with any of them. Enjoy the photos of our tour. I acknowledge that the team coach, Claire Dean contributed to the photos I have used in this blog post.

The children meet for the first time in Johannesburg.
After flying from Port Elizabeth and East London our first stop was the Emperors’ Palace where we were introduced to the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom. This interview was arranged by Sonja Balt of Oracle Education, South Africa. The children responded with confidence and charm when asked questions by the Deputy Minister. They were also interviewed by journalists from IT Web.
The interview was published here.
We then headed back to OR Tambo international airport to wait for our flight to Atlanta, Georgia. We had a five hour wait and we used the time to get to know one another better and the children spent the time playing cards on the carpet near our boarding gate.
The children playing cards whilst waiting to board our Delta Airlines flight.
The 16 hour flight to Atlanta was in darkness the whole way. In Atlanta we ran into problems when it took longer than anticipated to clear security and 14 of the 16 members of our party missed the connecting flight to San Francisco. We had to go on standby and finished up in two groups of seven. The last group arrived at 7:30 pm instead of around lunch time. Although we were all exhausted we realised we were blessed to have got the flights at all as there was another Oracle conference taking place (Open World) and flights were at a premium.
Our hotel was so comfortable and a great place to get our much needed rest.

The beautiful Sofitel at Redwood Shores.
And so to ThinkQuest Live held at the Oracle Conference City.

Who was there?
The first morning each team was introduced and their project showcased. Our children spoke about their project confidently. They were really getting into this public speaking thing and were quite happy with impromptu speaking. A far cry from their shyness at our project showcase at school in April. Wow!

Team showcasing their project.
Then came the fun bit of the day. We climbed into 6 coaches and went on a city wide tour. It was wonderful to see the Bay area, the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, the Presidio, Market Square, the famous streets and tram cars of San Francisco and the parks. What amazed me is that very few houses have gardens and doors open directly onto the street. We saw many people cycling and walking in the parks. The great thing is there are designated cycle paths – and no mini bus taxis!

The famous, or is it infamous, Alcatraz prison.
The Golden Gate bridge was a real highlight for me. From the time we started doing our project the bridge has been an icon of achieving our goal. To finally stand on the bridge was awesome.

Wow! What a bridge....
We also had the opportunity to spend time at Pier 39 or Market Square. We chose Pier 39 and enjoyed the fiesta of sights and sounds, including the noisy, smelly sea lions at the end of the pier.

Mrs Dean, Luzuko and Lithemba meet the sea lions.
Time flies when you’re having fun. The rest of the week was taken up with workshops – there was a choice of four and I chose Team Challenge. My two little boys and two of the East London team chose the same workshop. It was stimulating and great fun. Mike from Synergy is an experienced professional facilitator and he made sure we had a great time and learnt some interesting skills along the way.

The Team Challenge group negotiates the grid with much encouragement and directions from team members.
On Tuesday night we all donned our glad rags and went to a very smart Awards evening in the city. This event was attended by Oracle board members, staff and special guests. One of the children said, “It’s just like the Oscars!” and indeed it felt that way. Each team was called on to stand up and be acknowledged and in the case of first place winners we went up onto the stage. A truly humbling experience for our team to represent South Africa in that moment.

The Tour of a Lifetime enjoying the moment of a lifetime.
Of course what we were really looking forward to was receiving our winners’ laptops and what excitement when we discovered that we would be receiving Macbook Pro’s. A new learning curve for all of us but what a priviledge.

Oh wow! Macbooks.
And so home to South Africa with loads of unforgettable memories. What a tour, what a priviledge, what a team! God is good.
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