NCV Mid Year O'Weekend

At the start of each semester the NCV community welcomes its new residents with an O’Week program. The aim of the O’Week program is to help students familiarize themselves with Sydney, the University, and, most importantly, the NCV community. For Semester Two we hold an abbreviated “O’Weekend” program, which in 2012 ran from Friday 13th July – Sunday 15th July. The program included a Pizza and Karaoke Night, a day trip to Circular Quay, our Annual Cultural Night and a Games Night.

Some of the wonderful food

The weekend kicked off with Pizza and Karaoke in the Main Common Room. Residents enjoyed mingling, music and pizza, before the karaoke machine fired up and residents sang their own versions of AC/DC, Kenny Rogers, Avril Lavigne and Vanilla Ice (to name a select few)! It was a fantastic start to O’Weekend as people got to know one another and shared their considerable (or in some cases questionable) musical talents.

Shot taken from a Sydney Ferry (TC)

Wangari in traditional Kenyan dress

The day trip took students through the CBD to the popular tourist destination and transport hub of Circular Quay. After a few snaps in front of the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, residents took a look around the Harbour, enjoyed a short walk and made new friends. Sydney has one of the world’s most recognizable harbours, and for many new residents they were seeing Sydney’s most famous attractions for the first time.

On Saturday night NCV hosted its Annual Cultural Night. This event provided students with the opportunity to showcase their various cultures through food, dress, national symbols, general info, and music. Countries represented at the 2012 Cultural Night were Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, Egypt, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Jamaica, The Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United States. The Cultural Night is a major highlight on the NCV calendar, and it is always fantastic to see people proudly representing their culture and history.

Sunday night saw O’Weekend draw to a close with some games in the Main Common Room. Between computer games, card games and board games there was something for everyone, not to mention some snacks and drinks as well. Monopoly was keenly contested, with one game continuing till well after midnight. With the end of that game the curtain came down on O’Weekend 2012, and rose on Semester Two!

NCV Mid Year O'Weekend