Newsletter #1

Fellow debaters!

With less than a month to go until the opening ceremony of WUDC 2016 we thought we should make sure we provide you with some extra information before you start packing your bags and heading our way.

So this is the first of three newsletters to bring you up to speed with the goings on in Thessaloniki.

what People usually get wrong1. The Weather:

Very often, the image of Greece that people have in their mind consists of small white houses, maybe with blue dome roofs on a hillside overlooking the sea, drenched in the glorious sun. Mind you, we know it is through no fault of your own. Our publicity campaigns project exactly that image. Which happens to be quite accurate from April to October. But not so much in December or January.

Thessaloniki is at approximately the same latitude as New York, USA or Beijing, China, none of which are particularly known for having warm winters. So, despite the very rare occasion when temperatures can go as high as 16-17C (60-63F) during the day, the average for December and January is between 1-11C (34-52F). Also note that humidity is usually pretty high (in the high seventies normally) and that Thessaloniki is well known in Greece for its bitterly cold northerly wind.

So be prepared and make sure you bring enough warm clothes to stay warm throughout your stay.

...Aaand speaking of clothes

2. The dress code:Besides clothing that is warm we also ask that you bring clothing that is appropriate. Of course there

are no requirements for the preliminary rounds. However, we do have a few black tie events in our schedule that you should make a note of. Both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies are formal / black tie events.

So let’s make sure that we can all be at our snazziest and show people that debaters have tons of style to go with their tons of brains.

One thing that is great about being in a city with as many students as Thessaloniki is that you can find things to do that are suited for a wide range of budgets.

Bottled water (from a kiosk or shop): price controlled at €0.50

0,5L of draught beer ranges from €2,5 to €6.

A glass of wine can be found for €2-€5.

Drinks usually range from €4 to €7 and cocktails from €6-€10.

In the little “tavernas” (traditional Greek restaurants) strewn all over the city you can get a decent meal and enough to drink for about €10 to €15/person.

Talking about the city

3. Indicative Prices:

Newsletter #1

Speaking of relatively cheap ways to have some fun

4. The excursions:We are planning with our transportation partners, a series of excursions in the areas surrounding

Thessaloniki. We are providing a total of 5 different destinations, all providing something different and a taste of Northern Greece different from what you’ll get in Thessaloniki. These are:

c) Mt Olympus and the surrounding villages: The Seat of the Gods in Ancient Greek mythology, and the highest, and maybe prettiest mountain in modern times. The villages at its feet are also very pretty, and very representative of Greek small mountain villages. Given that the trips take place on New Year’s Day you are very likely to run into some Greek New Year’s custom, most of which involve at least some eating and drinking, if they don’t involve around the premise. As a bonus to the trip, it also includes a visit to one of the best maintained castles from the era of Frankish occupation of parts of the then Byzantine and later Ottoman empires. It overlooks the road on the one side (built on the same track as those ancient paths once followed by the people) and the sea on the other. (€12)

d) Kastoria: One situated on a promontory on the western shore of Lake Orestiada, in a valley surrounded by limestone mountains. The town is known for its many Byzantine churches, Ottoman-era domestic architecture, fur clothing industry, and the products of the lake. It is also known for its very cold winters which allow it to boast the kind of scenery that it is normally hard to find in Greece. Eating trout by the lake in one of the many restaurants is something else the city is very well known for. (€14)

e) Metsovo: It is one of the most picturesque Greek mountain towns. After a long history of relative affluence it sports a multitude of monasteries and museums, especially its famous folklore museum. A mix of Greek and Vlach culture, it is renowned for its stone architecture and, as well, for its Protected Designation of Origin cheeses, metsovone and metsovela, for which we are willing to put our reputation on the line and vouch for. (€17)

a) Seli: Seli is a ski resort, quite close to Thessaloniki; only about an hour and a half away at an altitude of 1,500-1,900m. It has 11 ski lifts and a total of 19 different ski trails spanning a total of 15km. There is also a cross-country ski trail. Ticket prices range from €10 to €15. There is also a restaurant and a café if you get tired from skiing, snowboarding, snowball fighting or snowman building. Or sleighing.(€12)

b) Meteora: This unique geological formation’s name literally means levitating in the middle of the sky. You might have even noticed a common etymological root with meteorology. In Thessaly, which is known as the breadbasket of Greece given that it boasts the country’s largest plains, these rock formations taunt the flatness of the fields, rising, vertically, to an elevation of more than 300m. Their projection toward the skies made them an obvious place for the construction of monasteries, bringing the monks a bit closer to their God, and the difficulty of access made them an ideal setting for 1961’s James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. Avid gamers will also recognize them as the setting of CoD:MW3’s Sanctuary map. (€17)

Newsletter #1

As many of you will already know, WUDC includes two more competitions – Masters & Public Speaking. Masters is open to all adjudicators in WUDC, and Public Speaking is open to all debaters, adjudicators and observers, offering even more opportunities for fun and exciting speaches!

This year, Masters will be renamed to the Charles Kennedy Memorial Masters, to honour the memory and contribution of one of the founders of WUDC thirty six years ago in Glasgow. The late Charles Kennedy, who passed away earlier this year, went on to have a distinguished career in British politics, and remained a friend and supporter of our community.

We are very pleased and honoured to have three highly respected members of our community, and strong supporters of debating in Greece, joining us as the Chief Adjudicators of these competitions: Andy Hume and Helena Ivanov will be the CAs of Masters, and Michael Shapira will CA the Public Speaking Competition.

You can find more information on these competitions, and register online now through our website! Registration will remain open until the evening of 27 December, but we encourage you to register early to secure your slots.

http://thessaloniki2016.com/masters-public-speaking/

5. Charles Kennedy Memorial Masters & Public Speaking Competition

and two more things!We are happy to announce that this year we decided to expand on the concept of the Women’s

Night event. There are many more gender identities that our modern societies, unfortunately, discriminate against. Fortunately, slowly but surely, our minds are opening to recognize said discrimination and to make us want to do something about it. In this spirit, this year’s Women’s Night will be dubbed as Gender Inclusion, and it will be held in parnership with McKinsey and Company. The debate and panel will consist of people with various gender identities that will help inspire all to fight discrimination. It’s hard not to, once we realize that we are all just human beings.

Lastly, we would like to remind you all that during the entirety of the tournament we will be helping collect donations, both in money and in kind, to help all those people who are in search of a better home, and whose torturous journey fleeing persecution and war has brought to Greece. With their limited means the Greek people have been doing their utmost to help those less fortunate, and every extra morsel of assistance will help bring another smile to the faces of the refugees crossing Greece on their way to a brighter future in Europe. More than 700,000 people have already come through Greece and close to 10,000 more come every single day. This is quite a significant number for a country of a mere 11 million people. The response from many teams and institutions so far has been touching, to say the least, and we are really looking forward to helping you help our fellow men and women.

Keep up the good work!See you in 19 days!

Best,

The OrgCom!