The World’s workshop started yesterday and it appears that we have around 25-30 students involved. The first day wasn’t just housekeeping matters and such – we managed to get right into the material and had a very nice practice debate on the motion "This House would ban consumption of tobacco products." The round I saw was quite good even though it featured one team that was new to the format, and another that was totally new to debate.

I still haven’t quite recovered from the trip home as it was filled with delays, canceled flights and all that sort of frustration. Overnight in Paris promised to be fun, but Air France put me up in a terrible hotel that was at least 20 Euros and an hour away from the city. The next day arrival in Kennedy was delayed due to weather, and upon landing I entered a nightmare world of marooned passengers, nervous breakdowns and a line for Starbucks that would rival anything you might see in Moscow c. 1982.

So I finally got to Burlington around 2 in the morning, and then slept for a bit (after a very nice shower) only to find myself debating in the demo debate the next morning for the students. Ugh. I really really like coaching and teaching debate. As far as debating goes though, I’m not a fan of doing it myself. Oh well, now I’m sure it’s immortalized on Google video for your viewing pleasure.