Debate Competition at Anhui University
This past weekend, I traveled with the British Parliament English Debate Club to Anhui University. It took us 8 hours by train and taxi to get to this University; however, it was well worth the long ride. The university is very large and our team competed with 91 other teams from various universities in China and overall we received 40th place. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday consisted mostly of debating, but we still had plenty of free time to explore the city.
A long long long journey
Thursday morning around 7:30am, we set out for the train station. The train station is about 45 minutes from our school. I was not sure what to expect, but I was very surprised to find that the trains are actually quite comfortable. Perhaps it is even more comfortable than an airplane. There are bathrooms on the train that include soap and paper towels (WOW!) as well as western style toilets (THANK GOD). There also are attendants that act the same as a flight attendant would act. They offer to sell you drinks and food. We needed to switch trains in a city called Jinan. Here, I realized that the train stations are as big as or bigger than several airports in America. They are also quite beautiful and have several restaurants and stores. When we arrived to Heifeinan, Anhui Province, we took a taxi van to our hotel which was about 45 minutes away.
Thank God for Hotels with Western Style Toilets
Our hotel was extremely beautiful. I was VERY happy to have a somewhat comfortable bed and western style toilet and shower for the weekend. I have never felt so thankful for a bathroom.
Debate, Debate, Debate, Debate, Debate....
Friday afternoon into the night, the students had an orientation as well as a practice debate. The next two days they would compete in 5 different debates in 4 different positions: Opening Government, Opening Opposition, Closing Government, and Closing Opposition. I learned a lot about debate from watching the various debates. I was also extremely impressed with how well many of the students were able to debate and do so in English! The final round, Round 6, was for the 4 teams with the highest scores. This debate was held in a giant auditorium for all teams and observers to watch. Shortly after this final debate was the Closing Ceremony which included several awards and speeches. Debating was very tiring. Every day during lunch at the school cafeteria, the students would take a short nap....at the lunch table.
Anhui University
This university is very large and beautiful. There is a park right next to the campus entrance which has beautiful scenery. We took a walk through this park and saw several people flying kites and riding bikes. We also were able to attend a sports event, which was very exciting.
FREEDOM!
Each day, once all the debating was finished, we felt FREEDOM! Our hotel was conveniently located across the street from the mall. The mall was the main place of entertainment for us during our free time. We ate at several restaurants while here. One restaurant even had American-Style food! We were all very sad to have to leave this place because our university in Nanhai does not provide the same excitement.Throughout our time in Anhui, we were able to do many things such as attend a sports event, see Pikachu, do some shopping, try a lot of street foods, play in an Arcade, watch some street performances, and get our nails done J. Let’s just say, this experience was well worth the LONG train ride.
