The View from Down Under
By: John Bernard Ong

Now that I live in New Zealand, I really miss a lot of the math activities usually done in the Philippines. I try to make up for it by reading various math books, but it just does not quite feel the same without the assistance of my former teachers, teammates, and friends. Everything has changed. I often remember our trips to different countries and wish that I could do them again.

The best trips that I had were the last two ones, where I went to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China. Before that, I was always the "young one", and I always looked up to my fellow contestants. But in my last two trips, it felt like I was equally as good as most of my fellow delegates, and we were even the ones being looked up to by others. Also, most of the contestants in my last two competitions were my close friends, as I already knew them when we were together during previous competitions. Thus, we didn't have to waste time trying to know each other and instead, we just started having a great time! Another benefit of being in a higher level was that our parents agreed to let us go on our own (or at least mine did). We did not need to be watched all the time, and we just did what we want (as long as we did not get into trouble). We slept late every night, and sometimes we practiced together. We even made a very WEIRD video of ourselves as ghosts and monsters! (I didn't really know I was part of it until I saw myself in the video...) We also went shopping. It was my very first time going out with my friends, and I had a fun time.

I REALLY MISS THE MTG!!!



John Bernard Ong is a grade school alumni of Grace Christian High School and is one of the MTG’s top performers for the year 2004. He has represented the country in international competitions. He is now studying high school in New Zealand. We wish you all the best, John Bernard!