Culture night is in full swing and I am getting ready to go to sleep. It looks great over there, lots of fun, good dancing and music, and plenty of beer. But I spent most of tonight at what I believe to be the first American caucus meeting at WUDC in quite some time, if ever. I hope some WUDC historians are out there reading this and can set the record straight. We are very uncertain if Americans have ever met to discuss WUDC business at Worlds before Council before tonight. Representatives of APDA, NPDA, and the American BP circuit (not sure what to call it). We had representatives of both Zagreb and Berlin come and answer questions about each bid. They were amazingly thorough, patient, and handled questions really well.
I think it was great to have such a meeting and I hope it continues. Next year perhaps it can become a more formal part of the regular activities for Americans at Worlds. I know this is regular practice of many different countries – I wonder why we haven’t done it in a while. I think a large part of it is how new to WUDC most American participants are.
Today was a better day for me as I’m feeling more myself. Getting my voice back, which I didn’t hesitate to use in giving maybe too long of a critique at the end of round 6. All that fun part is over now, and tomorrow the rounds will be closed. I hope to take better notes this year and keep them all in one place so I can actually give some good critique at the New Years party or on New Year’s day when the debaters come asking for it.
Goodnight for now. In closing, please enjoy this clip showing the entry into the assembly hall where the draw is.
