Past three days

Unfortunately we did not break to the octo-finals. We fell just short. We went 3-3 with 9 ballots. The break point was 4 wins 11 ballots. We just found out about the last round today. (However, two USA teams made it to the finals so the USA wound up taking the tournament).

The cultural Expo was a great success; the shirts were very popular, as were the bags. Some people are wearing them around. A very moving point of the Expo was when one Turkish debater came up to our table, pointed at the Eminem album and told us he learned how to speak English from him. He also took one of the "I Heart Detroit" shirts (courtesy of Mrs. Ramocan), shouted loudly that he loved Detroit, put the shirt on and walked away.

Today we got paired with our mixed team. I am paired with a debater from Czech Republic and Uganda. 

-Nicholas Tolksdorf