DECEMBER 2008 SENIOR DEBATE, LUXEMBOURG

Early morning we met in the entrance hall of Ruzyne airport and without much complication we boarded our flight to Brussels. In Brussels we transferred to a train which took us all the way to Luxembourg. The train ride was long and uneventful. By the time we arrived it was dark and we were very tired so we were very happy to meet our host families and Mr. Kilbride, a former PBS teacher and the organiser of the debate, at the train stations. We spent the evening settling in and getting acquainted with our host families.

The next day we woke up with the intention of spending the morning sightseeing in the town only to be thwarted by bad weather. In the afternoon, when the snow settled we were taken to the international bazaar and spent a pleasant afternoon eating various foreign dishes. The Czech table, much to our disappointment, was absent. After this we walked to a nearby café where we first got acquainted with the Slovenian debaters. In the café we were split into two even teams, in such a way that each team had at least one debater from Slovenia, one from Luxembourg and one from PBS. Then we were presented the motion. Much in the spirit of the international bazaar and our international schools the motion was “This house believes that there should be one common language for all the world’s people.” On proposition was one debater from Luxembourg, two debaters from Slovenia and one representative of our school, Wei. On the Opposition was one Slovenian, one debater from Luxembourg and Dimitrije and Dan from PBS. We spent our evening researching and planning our speeches.

The following morning we woke earlier than usual because we were going to our host school, the International school of Luxembourg. We were very impressed with their school and happy to meet some former teachers, Mr Hitchens and Miss Stubbs. The two teams then set to work on their speeches, each team in a separate room in the school. Both teams worked hard, taking a break for lunch and continued after it until school time ended. Most debaters continued their research deep into the night.

The following morning all the debaters dressed in their formal clothes and spent the rest of the morning in the school finalising and practicing their speeches. After lunch was the actual debate. The debate took place in the school’s spacious auditorium and was attended by a large number of students. The debate itself was accompanied with the usual intensity any international debate has. We were very impressed with the standard set by the debaters from Slovenia and Luxembourg, a standard which the debaters from PBS eagerly met. In the end the Opposition was voted as the victors by both the judges and the audience. Following this debate, both teams were relieved to spend the evening in a restaurant, which for many debaters was the last time they saw their counterparts from other schools. After this we spent our evenings packing our things and preparing for our early morning departure.

The next morning we were treated to a breakfast in the school and then made our way to the train station where we took a train to Brussels. We spent some of the afternoon in Brussels sight-seeing and then took our flight back to Prague.

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