Why Sleeping Was Troublesome & English Debate

Probably in a fitful rage of pro-environmentalism, the Chinese University of Hong Kong has installed timers on all the air conditioning switches in the dormitory rooms. In order to turn on my air conditioning and insulate myself from the 90-degree heat, I must put money on my student card and load hours onto the timer.

Last weekend, at around 12:30am, I noticed that I had only 01:30:00 of remaining air, sort of like Apollo 13. My student card was depleted, the office was closed, and after donning my robe and going downstairs, I found that the add-value machine wasn't working. Luckily for the environment, my A/C remained off that night, saving hundreds of watt-hours for Mother Nature!

Also, I went to the information session for the English Debate Team, where "silence ISN'T golden." Yes, that's their actual slogan. In order to whet the appetite of the audience members, they staged a mock debate on the following resolution: The House supports that schools should mandate compulsory drug tests for its students.

The English Debate Team takes itself a bit more seriously than WashU's team. For example, I had to fill out an information sheet detailing my past debate experience and personal information to "apply" for the team. Tomorrow, to try-out for the team, I will give a speech for a panel of judges and then debate with the collective panel on random topics.

Despite how seriously they take themselves, they are still inherently and noticeably disadvantaged by debating in a second language. None of the speakers in the mock debate were particularly charming or persuasive, and much of their language and speaking is over-formalized and forced.

I also wasn't impressed with the scope of the debate. One side argued that catching kids was the only way to bring the "terrible moral dilemma of drugs" to the surface, while the other side noted that the "terrible moral dilemma of drugs" needed to be solved at its roots: parents, teachers, and drug smugglers. They all agreed positive results should be promptly investigated by the police. Neither side parsed the term drugs into anything more specific, nor did they question relevant issues like privacy, the efficacy of the war on drugs, logistics of enforcement, or protectionism.

I look forward to wooing them with my first language tomorrow. And, my favorite picture of the week: