North East Asian Mathematics Competition, Tokyo – Japan
Wednesday 1st March to Sunday 5th March.
Last week 6 students from Year 10 and 11 travelled to Tokyo, Japan to participate in the North East Asian Mathematics Competition. We travelled to Japan slightly nervous knowing that some of the most mathematically gifted students from international schools from across Asia would be attending. However, our nerves very quickly turned to excitement as we landed into Narita airport. After we arrived we started to soak up the Japanese culture and we were lucky enough to eat some delicious Ramen noodles in Asakusa and visit the world famous Shibuya crossing. In the afternoon we travelled to Chiba to enrol in the competition.
The competition was attended by over 25 international schools from a huge range of countries including Japan, China, Korea, India and Bangladesh. We were the only team from Vietnam and so tactically we were hoping that all of the questions were going to be in Vietnamese! In our teams we competed in a wide range of rounds including an Individual Round, the Pass Back Round and our particular favourite event being the Energiser Round where maths is combined with running! Whilst there was a competitive nature to all of these events, the reality is all of the students were here to learn from each other, explore some rich maths questions, debate ideas and of course have some fun!
In addition to working within our own teams, we also had many opportunities to work alongside students from other schools in the “Buddy Rounds”. Our buddy team challenges involved many interesting activities, such as doing Maths by finding measurements in a National Park and even creating a device that allowed us to drop eggs safely from a height of 5 metres. We managed to make many friends and we will be sure to stay in touch with them in the future.
So how did we perform? We are still waiting for the final results but we should be extremely proud of how we did and more importantly did we have an amazing experience? Were we inspired? Did we develop our problem solving skills? Did we love Japan? Did we come back with enthusiasm and motivation towards Mathematics – YES! This experience has further motivated us to learn and attempt harder Maths questions. We were stunned by their extraordinary abilities in the code breaking round, and can’t wait to further improve ourselves against the top most academically abled students in Asia.
Next year the competition is very likely to be in Seoul. If you are student who is not too sure whether you would like to apply, go for it… you will have a fantastic time! The competition is an invaluable experience because not only you can challenge yourself with Maths, it also gives you a chance to immerse yourself in a new culture and the trip inspires you to work harder to be the best that you can be!
Vu Thi Linh and Vu Cong Hoang (Year 11)
