Fabulous London & Debate

Darryl has been kind enough to write up some of our experiences in the past few days—he has a fancy iPhone that I’ve been drooling over. On our first full day in London I desperately needed to rest, having stayed awake the entire trip from the US. For some reason, I was completely unable to sleep on the flight. I decided to tackle the London tube system on February 1st, and successfully made it to The Globe and the Tate Modern. I was listening to Andrew Bird (fabulous musician) and waling around by myself—it was so beautiful. Here are some of my favorites from the Tate Modern: Malevich (Dynamic Suprematism) | Kandinsky (Swinging) | Jasper Johns (0-9) | Matisse (Snails) | Joan Miro (Woman and Bird in the Moonlight) | Jackson Pollack (Birth, Summertime, No. 93) | Bernard Frize (Splitz) | Paul Klee (Walpurgis Night) | Fiona Rae (Night Vision). I was so moved walking through the TM—I would try to describe the feeling to you, but I’m not sure I can do the experience justice.


When I returned to our hotel (Victoria neighborhood in London), I changed into a very ‘Ralph Loren’ outfit, that matched Darryl’s outfit quite well, and headed off to the English Speaking Union (ESU) in Green Park. Green Park is absolutely gorgeous, and one day I plan on buying a flat over there. Here’s to dreaming. We met up with Patrick and we left for a pub nearby so that he could explain British Parliamentary debate to us. I wrote down what he instructed us to do on a sticky note note, and consumed my pint as quickly as possible as we were running late to the tournament. We made our way to Inner Temple, which is an incredibly impressive area of London, full of barristers, and more importantly The Witness Box (a very cute pub). I honestly had difficulty adapting to BP debating the first day—I changed the way I was flowing (i.e., writing down my arguments), was trying to not be mesmerized by the British accents, and find a good balance between rhetoric and refutation. Ironically, I was told by some of our judges the first day that I was too rhetorical. In the U.S., I am better known for being a very aggressive refutation based debater. Alas, on day 2 of Inner Temple IV I was able to figure it out, and Darryl and I hit our stride (even though we stayed at the pub until 2 o’clock in the morning). In BP, there are four teams of two in a round, and each team is ranked 1-4 at the end. We managed to take straight 1’s that entire day. We broke to the semifinal round (a first for any American team at the Inner Temple IV), and I was the 16th speaker and Darryl was the 18th speaker overall in the tournament. One of our hosts from the ESU, Patrick, admitted he did not to expect us to do so well, so I reminded him that we are ‘All American’ bad asses. Darryl is working on a summary of Inner Temple on a round-by-round basis. I will say that I met some very interesting people and had some wonderful conversations. I am proud to say that in our semi-final round, Darryl and I won over a barrister who strikingly resembled my boss’s boss, Dana Hayter. We celebrated by visiting with some of Britain’s future barristers at the Shakespeare Pub and some other posh joint across the street (I didn’t catch the name).


Today I woke up with a bit of a headache, which I am blaming on the Guinness. After regaining my composure, I went to a small café to have a traditional English breakfast (or a heart stopper) and some tea. After that, I hopped on the tube at Victoria Station, and went to Oxford Circus to catch the Central tube. I got off near the British Museum, and navigated my over by finding tourists with maps that seemed to be pointing at the BM location. Darryl was not feeling well and had papers to grade, so I went on another adventure by myself. I’m starting to feel like such a Londoner, maybe not so much seeing as I am staying in pretty touristy and safe areas, but nonetheless I do love the city. I saw the China’s First Emperor The Terracotta Army display, and wandered through the free exhibits. I loved the Ancient Egypt exhibit, the Roman Empire Wolfson Gallery (with an adorable vase called the Portland Vase), and particularly the Asia display rooms (Chinese jade, India: Amaravati, and China, India, South and Southeast Asia)—particularly the stuff from the 18th century. After enjoying the museum, I decided to get back to our hotel.


Our itinerary for the rest of the trip is as follows: Ireland on Monday & Tuesday (we are planning on having some very serious discussions about debate, but not actually competing) | Tuesday (arrive back in London and find our hotel and a pub) | Wednesday (The Great Shakespeare Debate, and the UK-US Debate at the American School in London where we will be supporting the motion, “This house believes that the American century has ended”) | Thursday (Day in Oxford) | Friday (Travel to Cardiff) | Saturday (Cardiff IV) | Sunday (Day in Wales) | Monday (Day in Bristol or Exeter) | Tuesday through Thursday (Trip to Scotland) | Friday (Fly out of Gatwick at 12:00 PM). Of course, this itinerary is subject to change. I am very excited to be going to Ireland!!!!


On a final note, you’ll notice the template for this blog has changed. It was making Darryl sick to his stomach, so I relented and have chosen a more simple background.

The First Competition

After getting a briefing on British Parliamentary style from Patrick at the ESU, we headed to Inner Temple for our first round in the activity. Though we still haven't quite figured out what Inner Temple is (a society of barristers, perhaps?), we were suitably impressed with the grandeur of the hall in which the tournament was hosted. Stained glass set into high ceilings light up heralds of notable members in an imposing room filled with debaters in suits and ties. A little bit nicer than the digs we're used to.

If you're looking for our final result, you can skip to the end. For those of you curious about how it went down, read on.

Our first round started out well enough - we were the first prop in a round with teams from Royal Holloway, Cambridge, and LSE on a topic about providing developing countries with nuclear technology. As we tried tried to figure out what it is we were doing, we also somehow managed to come in third. Happy to get the point, we moved on to the second round where we promptly took the four. In fairness to us, the resolution called for the abolition of private health care in the uk - where the nhs provides universal care, for all you American readers. Apparently, this ridiculous idea isn't really a topic of discussion here, which is probably good since the nhs is overburdened as is. We were the second prop. Badness ensued.

The night finished out, or rather started, at a pub where two of our judges told us we were better than our records indicated. This helped a bit, but the drink tickets and the finger sandwiches helped a little bit more. We were starting to get the hang of the activity. Sure enough, the next morning saw us as the first prop on a resolution about digital file sharing - we were first prop and took the 1. The next two rounds brought closed adjudication, and we argued about citizen travel bans and the use of adultery in determining divorce settlements. Of course, we had no idea how these worked out for us and we wouldn't until the break was announced. We gathered for tea and the breaking teams were projected on a powerpoint. By this time, I'd already removed my tie and rolled up my shirtsleeves, convinced we would be watching the semifinals rather than competing in them. The first six teams appeared, and then...

7. ESU A

We woke up this morning and didn't drop a point - going straight firsts in our last three rounds. Our goals of a respectable showing having been met, we turned our sights to the next task: winning the semis.

Lucky for us, the Brits had to suffer their own version of an American debating an nhs topic- that the us government should pay reparations to the governments of Latin America whose democracies we subverted in the cold war. We were the second prop - a difficult spot on a tough resolution, but one that we had sympathy for.

It turns out that I'm writing this during the final round (though thankfully editing it on my computer later). We had a strong showing and surpassed our goals, but it still stings to watch finals and not be in it. Well, there's always Cardiff!

One Day Down

Our first day in the UK is now behind us. Though I’m likely posting this on our second day, it’s being written on our first night in London. Sitting in bed in the Days Inn Westminster off the Pimlico tube stop on the Victoria line, Meredith is asleep and I’m taking a break from grading papers to write this post.
Though Meredith’s flight from Portland to Minneapolis was a less than pleasant experience, thanks to the foul-smelling New Englander in the seat next to her, she survived the ordeal to meet up with me for our flight to London Gatwick. Scattered between catching up, grading papers, eating mediocre airplane food, and watching The Beach on our in-flight entertainment systems, I managed to catch a few hours of shut-eye, but Meredith was awake for nearly the whole thing. When we arrived at 9am, we were already looking forward to a nap.
After a bit of confusion, we met up with Patrick from the ESU at Victoria station. We braved the drizzling weather on the way to our hotel to drop off our bags, but we couldn’t yet check into our room. Having abandoned our luggage to the check room, we headed toward the ESU - a trip we’re sure to become quite familiar with. The weather took a turn for the worse, however, sending us Underground for the trip as we got drenched by the ever growing downpour. To quote Meredith, she looked like a “drowned rat.” I, of course, always look like a rat, so the change wasn’t as drastic on my part.
Walking into the ESU, we were struck by a grandeur and class that seems entirely impossible in America. Understated and very comfortable, the lobby of the Dartmouth House has a sign asking members not to use cell phones or laptop computers. Founded in 1918, the Union acquired the building not too long afterwards, and has its the offices across a courtyard in the back. Ascending the labyrinth of stairs, we found ourselves in a much more familiar environment - a debate office. Almanacs, computers, and messy desks occupied by the people who would be helping us out over the next two weeks.
I haven’t mentioned lunch yet, and if you’re wondering when we were going to eat, you know how I was feeling. When James, one of our email contacts at the ESU, suggested we head to the pub, we readily agreed. The Red Lion is a short walk from the Dartmouth House and everything I hoped for in an English pub. Dark wood, strange beers on tap, and a menu that quickly led all of us to ordering fish and chips - the seemingly safe call. And a good one, as it turned out, since we all inhaled our meals while discussing the etymology of “recent,” the history of Cardiff, and disgraced members of the US Congress.
After our meal, we finally had our chance at that nap. While my first hope was to spend the time grading papers, I found myself utterly incapable of forming thoughts into sentences. Seeing as my students seem to be capable of this, it seemed unfair to grade them while in this state, so I decided to - and did - fall asleep twenty seconds later. To say I woke up refreshed would be a lie that would put my country’s administration to shame, so I’ll be honest: after two hours of rest, I wanted nothing more than to get some more. Knowing that it would make the jet-lag far worse, however, I pulled myself groggily out of bed and onto the streets of London to head back to the ESU. By way of contrast, Meredith was fully awake and had all of her faculties about her. It was entirely thanks to her lucidity that we didn’t end up taking the tube in the wrong direction or walking accidentally into the Thames.
Upon our arrival, we learned that we really would be seeing “a good deal of the UK,” as vaguely promised in an earlier email. Starting tomorrow, we will be competing in the Inner Temple IV here in London, and will be sticking around the city until February 7 when we head to Oxford. From there, we head to Cardiff for the IV on February 9. Though our plans for the next few days are still being settled, we’re really not too concerned because we head to Scotland on the 12th. We leave on the 15th, and if the itinerary is any indication, we will have done a whole lot before then.

Arrived!

We just arrived in London and have dropped our bags off at the hotel, only to be whisked away to the ESU where we're starting to learn about all the crazy awesome things we're going to do. Yes, crazy awesome.

Anticipation

This time tomorrow, I'll be in the air on my way to the UK to start the tour. I'll be leaving behind the Seattle Sonics and their (just broken!) 14 game losing streak, and arriving back just in time for the NBA All Star Break and the release of the new Mountain Goats album. Oh, and that Super-Duper-Mega-Tuesday business. I'll be arriving as Man City is scheduled to take on cellar dwellers Derby and league leaders United and Arsenal, and an American hipster rock band (of whom I'm rather fond) tries to take over London. We'll also be walking into a broiling debate about new terror legislation - which should make us Americans feel right at home.

Of course I'm ecstatic about the debating, but for now I'm happy just to be heading across the pond.

The Day Before Our Departure

Darryl and I have discussed our hopes, fears and goals for the 2008 Tour of the UK and we are ready to take on the Brits. Last night we determined what we needed to coordinate to throw it down gangsta style at the Feb. 6th Hip Hop Debate Extravaganza. Indeed, we do have costumes planned out. I am hoping Darryl finishes his laundry, we have promised each other that we would do our best to maintain proper hygiene. We are anticipating tour details from the folks at the ESU and participating in some UK debate tournaments.

Now I should get to work!

Cheers,
Meredith