Munich

So the great adventure begins, with our team touching down in Munich on Saturday evening. Thanks to the goodwill generated by last year's team, we were to be picked up and billetted by a member of the 2008 Munich team, Simone.

Our first little speedbump was how to identify ourselves to her in the crowded arrivals hall, since we had arrived early. Thanks to the ubiquity of both cellphones and american coffee stores, however, a quick text directed her to the airport Starbucks, where we lay in wait (in a jovial, excited sort of way, of course ...). Simone then proceeded to her abode to feed us up with Kaiserschmarnn and Obatzda, which for the uninitiated is mainly cheese and sugar - and was absolutlely fine by us!

Next day saw us moot before the Munich and Milan teams, the first time we had the chance to see what was in store for us at the competition proper. Suffice to say that ultimately there wasn't any time for nerves, as the proceedings promptly got underway, and we had no choice but to dive in. And thanks to the preparation we had done in Wellington before our departure, we acquitted ourselves reasonably well (ahem).

But the real value of this stage of our preparation soon became apparent, as both Munich and Milan teams showed us different ways of looking at the facts and legal arguments to those we had been advancing previously.

After the moot we all got exposed to another benefit of the pre-moot stage - the post-moot dinner, at the Ratskeller in the centre of Munich. Arjun and Catherine spoke a lot about the hospitality afforded them at last year's pre-moots, and its great to see that it wasn't just hyperbole!