Airplane, air marshall and forced relocation. Nerd(s) gone wild...

For two weeks in January 2008 I attended the National Youth Science Forum in Canberra, Australia. This was a two week program for nationally selected students to experience college life, engage in passionate discussions about global and national issues, explore different areas of the scientific domain through presentations and workshops with leading eminent Australian scientists, and of course, have fun.

Myself and eight other students from Perth, Western Australia had been selected for this fantastic program which required us to take a 5 hour plane trip to Sydney before spending another 4 hours on a bus to the capitol. Well, the trip there was relatively uneventful; apart from a few delays nothing of any major significance occurred and we all arrived safe and happy in Canberra. The next two weeks passed in a blur of labs, lecture halls, discos (yes discos), excursions and awesomeness and for the 150 students in attendance the last night topgether was spent in small groups, talking, playing intruments and just relaxing in the presence of the like minded individuals with whom we had all made such fast friendships.

One of the best things we learned whilst at NYSF was how to chant....properly, and boy did we excel. In a sense the NYSF was characterized by charmingly unique and bonding chants, so in the departure lounge of Sydney airport, already feeling the pangs of withdrawal, I decided (in collaboration with the other Perth students, that we would all sing THE NYSF chant just after takeoff.)

Alas, beware the two-faced joker.

Before take-off: Talking to the others, laying out the plan for the exact moment we would start singing; since we were all in the same row it wouldn't be difficult to give the go-signal.

During take-off: A nod here and there, eyes meeting in anticipation (turns out only I was excited, the rest were, well, let's just say they were not.)

After take-off: Looking around, meeting everyone's eyes. Plan is a go.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Michael: "WE ARE THE NYSF, NAD YOU KNOW WHAT WE GOT?!!"

...

Silence

-Michael (very embarrassed but decided quitting would be more embarrassing): "WE GOT TEAM THAT'S HOTTER THAN HOT!"

....

That cricket noise + very weird looks and snickers. Fun.

-Michael: "HOW HOT IS HOT? ENGINEERING, AND SCIENCE TOO."

....

This would be awkward.

-Michael: "OUR TEAM IS HOTTER THAN YOU!!!"

-------------------------------------------------------

Well, suffice it to say the air marshall came up, asked me to explain myself, mentioned that passengers in the back of the plane were very concerned about what was going on, and decided to sit next to me for the remainder of the trip, shunting my very good friend (he says with scorn) a few rows back.

Ok, so you learn. in those situations you just ahve to go with the very embarassing flow.

But wait. Does it get worse??

You tell me.

School the next week. I go the entire school assembly as per usual. Everything is normal. I get asked to stand by the headmaster. (In front of 1,500 students). the captain of the cricket team came up to the podium, explained they had apparently been coming back from a series of games in Sydney around the same time, (uh oh), and indeed had been on a very interesting flight.

I wondered where the 20 man team had been located on the flight. Perhaps they didn't know too much....

Later I would wonder how oblivious I could be to not notice 20 boys from my school (half of whom were in my grade), sitting in the row behind me.

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