This morning, WUDC starting with round 1 – a tiny wee little bit late due to missing teams, but with goose bumbs on our arms when the first motion was announced (which read “Round 1: This house would create public housing for the poor in wealthy areas.” – see our Facebook page for all three motions of today.) On twitter, you could also feel the emotions:

Due to a delay of more than an hour, some debaters poured out their emotions on twitter, while other defended the tab team for doing a great job in a 100 rooms tournament. We then had a look into the tab room, where all CAs and DCAs were busy, trying to get rid of even the last adjudication conflict. But hey, the delay also let people look at Germany from a different point of view – may be the starting point for better intercultural understanding?

@fionabrittle: Punctuality of German trains: as expected. Punctuality of German debates: as feared. #debatersgonnadebate #WUDC

— Fiona Brittle (@FionaBrittle) 29. Dezember 2012

Debate is a great way to break stereotypes – liiike german punctuality for example.. #wudc

— Goran Jankuloski (@janql) 29. Dezember 2012

To keep debaters happy, from round 3 on debaters were waiting for the draw in the announcement auditoriums with a twitter wall in the front. There, spectators who are waiting for the live stream (check it out – two rooms each round) from all over the world can send greetings and messages to participants. This led one debater to write:

Mr Twitter, tear down this wall! #WUDC

— Thorne Godinho (@ThorneGo) 29. Dezember 2012

Hey the Berlin wall has already been turned down! Others used the opportunity to transfer some messages to all those without internet connection at Worlds:

Good luck to our former students participating in the Worlds University Debating Competition #WUDC

— KingEdwardVISchool (@KingEdVISchool) 29. Dezember 2012

Tweets are reaching us even through time and space – with greetings from the former USSR!

Good luck to all the Moscow and Novgorod teams from Russia, two Ukraininan, one Tajik and one Moldovan…Supporting former USSR 🙂 #wudc

— IDEA-Россия (Дебаты) (@idearussia) 29. Dezember 2012

The live stream we already mentioned seems to have distracted people from their work all over the world. They were eagerly waiting for the announcements from Florian Prischl, head of streaming (follow him here).

Concerning clichés, we also like this tweet – hey, we are not only punctual, but also very hygienic – so no worries on this front.

Didn’t even have time to make a toilet paper nest around the bowl when I peed #yolo #prepping #wudc #firstworldproblems #hiv

— Kelly K (@Calibate) 29. Dezember 2012

By closing this first Twitter review on WUDC Berlin 2013, we love to turn our appreciated readers’ attention to the WUDC volunteers: Running, smiling and all the time doing their best to make participants comfortable. Whenever in doubt about German hospitality, please remember those merrily working-their-asses-off guys. They even seem to have an aura of magic, or so they say on Twitter:

@flo_p are you secretly elves? #wudc

— John Harper (@Johnwbh) 26. Dezember 2012

@aalarasati the #wudc volunteers certainly know magic tricks to instantly help people in distress. #truestory

— Saad Bin Amjad (@saadbinamjad) 28. Dezember 2012

We think: Guys, you’re doing an amaaaaaaazing job!