Debate 27: Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN.

We were handed over at the local McDonalds to Seda a graduate student, who delivered one of the best opening lines of the tour – ‘Are you comfortable with a woman driving?’, which considering we were about to spent the next two hours in a car with her and neither of us can drive, was an intriguing question.

Seda is from Turkey and is studying psychology at Purdue Calumet, so having informed her that she was the best Turkish driver we had ever driven with – we both discovered this summer that Istanbul taxi cabs are lethal – we soon got down to a healthy discussion of Turkish politics, the PPK, Iraq and the EU. Before long the two hours were up, we had arrived in Hammond, Indiana and changed time zones - without leaving the state! After a brief stop at the university where we met our debating partners (Perdue doesn’t have a team so we were each paired with a undergraduate majoring in communications) we were dropped off at the hotel to be greeted in our room by a welcome basket full of goodies! That evening Michael (one of the debaters) took us for dinner at a Thai restaurant and we turned in for an early night as the debate was at 10am the next morning…

The debate was a feast of pomp and ceremony on a scale we had yet to see! Small American and British flags had been placed in the grass lining the route to the building the debate was taking place in were 250 people showed up at 10am. Flags adorned the stage, we were trumpeted in to the hall, national anthems were played and the moderator wore doctoral robes. But best of all Hammond’s Deputy Mayor read a declaration from the Major declaring this day in the history of Hammond ‘British Debate Day”. The debate itself was on unwarranted surveillance –, it was a good debate and although Alistair’s “You are free to do what you want including makes bomb, but when you do could you please let the government spy on you” line was ok, Alex eventually carried the slightly more sensible side of the motion. Many photographs and an autograph signing session followed the debate – then it was off to lunch at Cracker Barrel, another American institution.

For dinner that night we were taken to ‘House of Kobe’ a Japanese restaurant where they cook al the food in front of you with much ceremony. The next morning Seda drove us to the train station to take the train the 45 minutes into Chicago.