Webheads & Friends at TESOL 2007

The dreams of wannabes sometimes come true!

2007-04-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hi my dear fellow WebHeads,

Just a few minutes ago I googled Moira's article by writing my full name, so I got lots of results, and found this link that could make you surprised Teaching English in Central Asia: The View From Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan . You can also download it as mp3, hopefully you will enjoy it.

I have been listening to VOA since 1997, and wanted to see its headquarters in DC. The dreams of wannabes sometimes come true!

As Nina L said: "if you "wanna" hard enough and are lucky too!"

Hugs!

Ibrahim

Some fun after Seattle

2007-04-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Hope you enjoy this puzzle :-)

click on the image!

hugs,

Daf

Favorite f2f Encounters

2007-04-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

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Rita´s photostory

2007-04-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

Rita, your photostory is so lovely that I decided to embed it here :-)

hugs,

Daf

TESOL Photostory

2007-04-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a photostory I made with photos from different albums... You'll probably see some of yours in it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEOGOSnpwk

Hugs all,

Rita

Still sleepless

2007-03-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

My dearest friends,

So many things have already been said about our Seattle-TESOL-Webheads get together, and they are still not enough to express what it meant to all of us. I have been back for a week, and I cannot stop thinking about each of the moments we shared. Too many emotions to be translated into words: meeting f2f for the first time, reuniting with others, getting flowers from Dennis, getting a quilt made by Leanne, hugging and kissing for real, laughing from morning to evening, well, we cannot forget that we also attended the convention ;-)

I think that Tere and I have not shared that while we were giving our EV presentation about BaW07 in the EV, we logged in to Yahoo Messenger and Dennis Oliver was there. Well, while we were talking with our audience, Dennis created a web page to welcome our participants. That is the image above. Dennis was not physically in Seattle , but indeed his soul was there with us all the time.

Leanne also surprised Tere and I after the official webheads dinner with a very special webheads quilt for each of us. Mine is already on the wall in my office, but before hanging it, I showed it to all my family, colleagues and friends. Leanne, you will be my companion while I work ;-)

Tons of hugs, abrazos, besitos and beijinhos :-)

Here are my pictures:

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While Tere and I were giving our presentation on BaW, in the EV, Chris took a picture with my camera, but.... he clicked on the movie button ;-) so here it is:

http://wia-in-seattle.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/Baw-pres1.MPG

(click on the link, and wait for the movie to download).

After I came back, I had to face the last week of the trimester, evaluations, meetings, administrative work, and my mind still in Seattle :-(

I will try to catch up during the Easter holiday, and my first task was to download the photos and write this message.

Still sleepless,

Daf

Back in Argentina

2007-03-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hi, so many new f2f friends and still virtual friends, in Seattle and everywhere else!!!

It's soooo very hard to concentrate back again on my daily routine... It's as if there's been a life BEFORE Seattle and another one AFTER Seattle. It's a thrilling sensation that keeps adding zest to every single day allowing me to indulge in loooooots of funny, cheerful, delightful memories...

Moira, Leanne and I travelled to Victoria Island on Saturday, spent one day there sightseeing and then visited Vancouver for two more days.
All pictures are eloquent enough, so here goes my contribution to the collection already shared by many other fortunate Webheads:

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A little of the EVO presentation

2007-03-31T12:08:00.001-07:00

Here's a video snippet taken by Branka Marceta from our EVO presentation in Seattle. Bee Dieu is speaking, and it's mostly Webheads at the table. (Isn't that Moira seated in the foreground? It was Wednesday morning, so sadly, there were only about 30-40 people present. Visit Webheads at WorldBridges to hear the full Web cast recording. Links to all the materials and slideshows, etc. are at our wiki, CALL IS Electronic Village Online Communities.

Photos from the EV

2007-03-29T12:44:00.001-07:00

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Teresa and Joao in Vancouver and Seattle

2007-03-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Did I hear someone say

"Look who's competing with Moira's glasses!!" ??!!

These were the most "in" glasses in Vancouver when Joao and I were there right before joining all the Webheads in Seattle on Monday, Mar 19. However, I must have misplaced them on the bus to Seattle - does that resemble a busy Bee always forgetting her glasses everywhere?! - and wasn't able to display the latest fashion in Canadian glasses when I joined you all. ;-)

This is just an appetizer! After all, weren't we always at pubs and restaurants?! More will follow tomorrow with a slideshow of our 3 unforgettable days in Vancouver, a city we fell in love with at first sight. And then there will be another slideshow of an unforgettable, memorable, exciting, fun, F.U.N. and intensely lived experience, full of adrenaline for all, in Seattle.

Beijinhos for now, Teresa

29Mar07
First course!! Joao and Teresa left their hearts in.... Vancouver!!!
Joao and I fell in love with this very beautiful city as we headed by cab at 2:30 am Friday, Mar 16, to the Metropolitan Hotel (recommended by Sharon Holdner and now by us) on Howe St. in the heart of the Financial District. We arrived with a seven hour delay after three flights and not the initial two. It was raining.

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30Mar07
Here's the promised podcast recorded at the "all girls" dinner at Cutters Bayhouse overlooking Elliot Bay. Instead of a drink at the bar I had a very warm and yummy "smoked salmon chowder" - original, isn't it? -, because I felt a cold coming. And I took an aspirin, just in case. Then I had the lovely "Mixed Greens with Maple Vinaigrette" under the Not So Big Salads. Yuuummy!!!! And the portion was just right. At about 22:30, I walked back to the Red Lion Hotel with Nina and had a lovely talk on the way. Wasn't it great, Nina?! :-)

1Apr07: Second course (this is a looong meal!)
Sightseeing in Seattle with Joao and... alone

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There's more to come...

2Apr07: Dessert, deliciously sweet...
The magic of the Webheads in Seattle!

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More of Webheads in Seattle

2007-03-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

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Unforgettable Sleepless Webheads in Seattle

2007-03-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

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It will never be possible to translate this confluence of very special souls into the same space! Certainly the concept of Communities of Practice expanded its meaning in our Sleepless Seattle encounters!

Amazing to meet you all face-to-face and keep talking to others online.

Thanks, guys!

I'll never be the same. It made me speechless after Seattle!

Beijos,
Carla

Home Again (Nina)

2007-03-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

I actually got home last night, but was (am) so tired and then so busy that I couldn't write a post. It was a long day: up at 4 a.m. for a 7:20 flight to Dallas/Fort Worth (not the most direct route to Maryland, admittedly), and did not get home until 9:30 p.m. (6:30 Seattle time, but still long). Up at 6 this morning to go to work. At least I only had to teach 2 hours--not 8, like Bee (how did you do it, Bee??)!

I've uploaded all 156 photos to my computer, but creating albums and posting them will take a while. I've just added a small slider to "The Last Dinner." More to follow.

Salam from Washington DC

2007-03-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hi from DC!

My trip and discovieries of America are continuing, and today I have arrived to Washington DC Whoopy. It was too difficult for me to leave my US host family who became so dear for me and did their best to make me feel comfortable and unforgetable trip. I wish to thank my host dad Ken and mom - Pam, as well as my host sister Abby for all the things that they did for me.

Last night we had Farewell Party and I and my host mom cooked Oshi Palov and could manage to cook it :) We had even Puppet Theater which was organized by my fellow TESOL participant from Uzbekistan. We had reallyt fun evening :) But today in the morning it was difficult to say "Bye" to my host family and Seattle. This rainy city is really beautiful and EverGreen!

So I won't forget Seattle and hope in the nearest future I will be able to come back and it is my DREAM ;)

Ibrahim-JOHN

Finally in Sao Paulo

2007-03-25T15:11:00.001-07:00

I suddenly realized that I left you all on Friday without having paid for my glass of wine. Sorry for that. Owe you one.

I went upstairs in to make my suitcase to find out that the lock was stuck and it wouldn't close. Fortunately there were two locks on the side, which held it all somewhat together and the check-in lady gave me some tape to reinforce it. The airport was crowded at 6 am already , with long slow queues everywhere. I said goodbye to Paola who continued in the taxi to another terminal and Daf who was headed to Atlanta. It took me quite some time to go past the whole security business. The plane took off at 8 am and after an hour of heavy turbulence and shakes we safely landed aT JFK at 3:30 pm, where I waited until 9 pm to get my connecting flight to Sao Paulo (used the business lounge again).

The flight home was uneventful but for a Korean guy who did not understand my request for moving to two empty seats so that I could have three in the middle and stretch down. He insisted on staying next to his wife who sat on the aisle next to him :-(

As we neared Brasilia, we noticed the plane was flying in circles and the pilot informed us we were going to Rio instead as the airport in Sao Paulo was closed and he needed more fuel. We waited in Rio for 2:30 hours for permission to take off to Sao Paulo until 10:30 am (we should have landed there at 8 am). We finally landed aT 11:30 (my son had almost given up on me) and as there were lots of planes arriving at the same time, I only managed to drive home at 2 pm., where I just had a shower and went straight to bed to wake up now at 8 pm with the telephone ringing. Tomorrow - 8 hours of classes at school!

However, in spite of all these delays, I do not regret a single moment of having participated at this conference. It was awesome meeting and being with all of you. We should plan to do this more often (without the conference bit...hehehe). Who knows we can get another WiA jamboree for the Braz-Tesol conference in Fortaleza next year?

My photos are on Flickr if you care to see
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bee/
and I would appreciate if you all could send me the address to yours. Or just tag them all with wia2007tesol and they will pop up in Technorati.

Late Night Laughs

2007-03-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

I'm back in sunny, snowy Montreal to catch up on the sleeplessness from Seattle. Here are some pics from late-night laughing webheads on our last night together. How nice to know as we each return home, that we're all still just a click away....Jane

Thank you

2007-03-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks from the fledgling webhead in the group. Meeting you all was a wonderful experience and really made an impact on me. There was a real sense of community that was otherwise difficult to find in such a large conference. Your warmth and enthusiasm inspire me to continue on the blogging path, and I hope to start work with wikis soon and to try to find out more about blikis.

The pace of the conference has finally caught up with me; I got home a little before midnight last night. Today I am definitely in slow mode.

Looking forward to meeting up with you again in the future, although it probably will not be NY next year. I'll be off to TESL Canada in the metropolis of Moncton, NB, in May, and two trips to the east coast within two months, will be a little tricky to pull off. So I'm looking forward to Denver!

Warm wishes to all of you from still snowy Edmonton,

Veronica

Last day

2007-03-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Good morning dear all!

Where are you? Today is my last day in Seattle. Tomorrow I will be in DC. Hopefully I will meet Nina there.

For now I wish to meet some other Webheads and have some more hugs on behalf of Hala. Where are you Daf and Tere?

After two hours I'll leave Convention Center:( Hopefully I will be able to come and meet some other fellow Webheads in NY-2008, especially Dennis and Hala

Ibrahim-John :)

The Last Dinner

2007-03-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Last night (Friday), most of the webheads got together for a fabulous dinner at Genghiz Khan (a Chinese restaurant on 1st Avenue), thanks to Veronica's husband, who ate here several years ago and pronounced it very good (it was). Veronica made us a reservation for 10, and we agreed to meet in the lobby of the Convention Center at 7; but only a few people showed up, Anna, Veronica, Bee. Wondering where everyone was, we left for the restaurant at 7:15. We found Chris waiting for us in solitary splendor. Gradually, however, people began showing up, and by the end there were of us, if I counted correctly. It was a lovely dinner, good food, great company as you know (considering how many of us had never met f2f before this week, it's astonishing how well we all get along). I will post a photo album when I get home, as will the others I am sure (and there will be lots of duplicate shots, so please bear with us!).

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After dinner, most of us headed back to the Red Lion's "Elephant and Castle" pub, where the fun continued until after midnight. Everyone was exhausted, but no one wanted to leave (except Bee, who had to leave for the airport at 5 a.m.--bon voyage, Bee, and put up a post to let us know you arrived home safe and sound). It got pretty crazy, as you will see from the pictures!

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Most of the webheads are leaving today. :-( But we are already talking about next year in New York. This is a potentially accessible convention for me, being only a 4-5-hour drive from Maryland, so I am hopeful that I will be able to be there!

As I write this it is 8:15, time to leave for my workshop (they are providing breakfast and lunch!!!). Hello to all the webheads out there--have a safe journey home!

Friday (Nina)

2007-03-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

Everybody is starting to look kind of glassy-eyed as the Convention approaches its end tomorrow. I have survived by avoiding my program book. For those of you who have never attended a TESOL Convention, this book is a couple cm. thick. At any given time slot between 7:30 a.m. and 7:45 pm, there may be 40 different possibilities: academic sessions, energy breaks, demonstrations, papers, panel discussions, spotlight sessions, colloquia, exhibitor sessions, poster sessions, workshops, "intersections" and more. (Don't forget the EV fairs, classics, and mini-workshops!) They take place in the Convention Center, the Hyatt, or the Sheraton. If I look at it, I immediately identify 5-10 different things that look interesting. Then I feel frustrated. I solved this dilemma by not opening the book. Instead, I focused on the EV and attended many EV Fair short presentations, 2 mini-workshops, a CALL for beginners session, and several classics. In 2003, I was too intimidated to even go into the EV, so I was making up for lost time, you might say. The EV had its own little program book which did not include papers and presentations given on CALL topics outside the EV, so I missed those, but I feel satisfied that I have learned a lot just doing what I was doing.

I did attend a discussion this morning on cultural problems which can arise between Western teachers and Arab students, since we have many students from Saudi Arabia and Qatar in our program; and I attended the first plenary session, where Betty Azar, the "grammar queen" gave a very nice talk (which will be available by eventcast in a couple of months, as will all the plenaries and a number of other sessions as well).

This afternoon the workshop which brought me to Seattle--the CEA accreditation workshop--began with a 3-hour session in the Hyatt, and it will continue tomorrow from 9-3. This is a more serious topic and one which will occupy my time and energy for the next 18 months.

I've also seen other friends here--I am constantly running into people from my own affiliate, WATESOL, and some who have moved to other areas but used to work with me at MEI. There are purported to be more than 9,000 attendees here, but it's a village--just a very large one.

It's about time to go meet the webheads for our Chinese dinner.

A few random pictures

2007-03-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

The Exhibit Hall, the lobby of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, and 5th Avenue in the rain (taken from the 14th floor of the Red Lion Hotel)

Thursday: Ladies' night at Cutter's

2007-03-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

Bee and Patricia, Jane and Erika,
Jane and Bee

Album to follow; Bubbleshare is not cooperating.

Hello all!

2007-03-22T23:07:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic dinner that was- and thank you so much for the pictures, Nina, and the flowers, Dennis! I am looking at one of the flowers now on my daughter's table as I write. I left the dinner on Wed. night to go find my lost credit card, but found it right where I'd dropped it...

I also wanted to invite everyone who is still around on Sat. to come to my presentation 10:30-11:15 CC313, Student weblogging for fluency, skills & integration or come read about it here...hope to see you then- it's a great conference, and I'm happy to meet everyone!!

-Tom Leverett

Lunch with Moira

2007-03-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

Hi Moira and other Webheads!

I am very happy to meet you in Seattle face to face and have lunch with you today. It was really amazing to see you.

Today I felt myself as one of the luckiest Webheads! Wish to see more webheads today and tomorrow.

So I will post photos later today when I get home. Using TESOL Internet Cafe

Ibrahim

Are you interested in Central Asia?

2007-03-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

Hi dear fellow Webheads!

You are invited by me and my friends from Central Asia

Are you interested in Central Asia!

March 22,2007
Dinner at 7:00
at:Moonlight Cafe
Vietnamese Food
1919 So. Jackson St. x 20nd
International District, Seattle

cost: $15 fixed menu and tea, soft drinks and beer available.

P.S. Sorry for this spam, my apologies

Important Message from Chris regarding Thu NIGHT

2007-03-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hi Webheads in Seattle,

We will be meeting at Pike Brewing Company at 9 p.m. Please forward this to anyone interest Seattle 2007 Webheads or friends of Webheads.

Pike Brewing Company
1415 1st Avenue
Phone numbers: (206) 622-3373 or 622-6044

This microbrewery is at Pioneer Square (the oldest part of Seattle).

Hope to see you there!

Chris

Big Real Hugs

2007-03-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I am here and discovering the US by getting lost at night, as it is my first visit to the US. So today I got up at 9:00 and came late.

Just Tere and Daf came to have big hug. So pictures will be later. I need to talk with Moira :)

~Ibrahim(John ;)

P.S. Dennis, on behalf of you I having real Big Hugs ;)

Ibrahimjon, where were you?

2007-03-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

Ibrahim, we miissed you at our webheads dinner last night. I know you were planning to be there--what happened?

Some of us are going to dinner (no reservation this time, just an informal get-together) tonight (Thursday). If you (or anyone reading this) can come, just meet us in the downstairs lobby of the Convention Center (Pike St. entrance) at 7 p.m.

Everyone: Have a great day at the convention! It's already almost 8 am and I am late!

Wednesday evening at Sazerac

2007-03-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

Dennis sent beautiful red tulips for everybody to the restaurant! Of course we would have preferred to have Dennis there with us, but the flowers were a wonderful way for Dennis to have a presence at our dinner at Sazerac. Leanne brought maple candies for everybody and beautiful webheads mini-quilts which she had created herself (did anyone else know that Leanne is a quilter???) for Daf and Teresa, to thank them for their support. The food was great and the company was fantastic. I met several webheads I had not so far interacted with online, including John Hibbs, Elizabeth Hanson-Smith, David Winet, and others (some of you will recognize their photos). Afterwards some of us continued the party at the Elephant & Castle, downstairs from the Red Lion. I went to bed exhausted at midnight (3 a.m. my time) but hardly slept at all because of the excitement of meeting so many good friends f2f.

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Nina's Wednesday album

2007-03-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

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I spent most of Wednesday at the Electronic Village, volunteering as a "greeter", attending several EV Fair and Classics sessions (details to be added later) and just hanging out. I finally met all of the webheads, and had lunch with Carla, Erika, and two CTJ friends of theirs, Conception (sp?) and Katie.

Get Closer to Us!

2007-03-22T01:47:00.000-07:00

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It's two in the morning, but we felt we owe this to each one of us who is close to us in thoughts, but physically around the globe!

Have fun!

Beijos,

Carla and Erika

Dennis - No Words to Thank You...

2007-03-22T01:03:00.000-07:00

Dear Dennis,

Only such a special person could have such a wonderful surprise for us during our get-together. The night was already so intense, everybody chatting and sharing. I couldn't even sit! I wanted to be everywhere talking to each one of those fantastic souls, I couldn't miss any moment. Just wanted to freeze it.The photos are the image that will always be in my mind. And to make the night even more perfect, those wonderful tulips just arrived. Magic moments deserve red tulips. Who sent them? You, my dear friend, Dennis. We'll never be able to express our thanks for such a sweet, thoughtful gift from Arizona! You were there all the time with us.

Thanks,

Carla and Erika

Nina Offline in Seattle

2007-03-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody (including all the webheads reading this from other places!),

I arrived in Seattle (where it alternates between raining and sunny every few minutes and is cold!) yesterday around lunchtime but had no luck finding any webheads. :-( Since I don't have a laptop, I also couldn't check out all the great posts that went up yesterday! Now I am in the hotel using my roommate's laptop and burning to meet all of you today. I'm in room 1415 at the Red Lion (206-971-8000). I plan to go to the EV today as soon as it opens.

Yesterday I wandered down to the Pike St. Market and had a good time exploring it. Took lots of pictures which for some reason I can't embed here, but the url for the bubbleshare album is http://www.bubbleshare.com/myalbum/139261.7b278a09693.

From 5-9 I attended a pre-convention institute on program planning and evaluation.

Here are the presenters: Eva Bowman, Deanna Hochstat, and Terry O'Donnell.

And below that is a picture of the participants working on a task:

It was a long day: I got up in Maryland yeterday morning at 3 a.m. to take the shuttle to the airport and by the time I got to bed it was after 10 pm (=after 1 am my time). But some of you are a lot more jetlagged than that, so I will stop whining!

Can't wait to see you!

From the Red Lion to the Wild Ginger

2007-03-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

Webhead encounters are happening all over town...Jane met Bee in her pajamas, then Daf and Teresa joined us, and the pajama-ed Bee took this pic in our hotel room
Tuesday night, Jane, Rita, Moira, Bee and Anna were in the Red Lion lobby waiting for a few other webheads

Then ten of us for the pre-Webhead official dinner at the Wild Ginger:

Jane, Anna, Leeanne, Joao, Teresa, Bee, Daf, Rita....and another view with David, Bee, Anna and Leeanne...Webheads rock!

Cat herder arrives to find cats scattered all over town

2007-03-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, Vance here, arrived safely in Seattle but unfortunately with an hour and a half delay in Dallas of all places (flights on time in Abu Dhabi and London) I arrived late and was just acting on the note given me at Green Tortoise that I should proceed to a certain bar and encountered Moira, Dave Winet, and Leanne just coming back. Rita got up from her computer for enthusiastic greetings but resumed contact, with Dennis Oliver she said, and so I came on line to see if I could find her there. Hope to see you all in the Skypecast tomorrow if not at breakfast beforehand.

Seattle Photos

2007-03-20T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hi dear all from Shoreline which is located not far from Seattle!

I wish to share some cool but not personal images taken by me in Seattle with some other fellow Webhead. If you wish to see some images that I took follow this link

Enjoy and keep commenting ;)

{{HUGS}}

Ibrahim

And here is my photo...

2007-03-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

Salom aleikum! Here is my picture with other TESOL participants from Central Asia. Central Asia - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzistan and some other --- stans :) . I hope you can recognize me(black jacket with white and red stripes), and if you do please approach without hesitation :) and don't stare at me in distance :))

Erika and Carla in Seattle

2007-03-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

On a rainy day, two smiley Brazilians! Erika and I finally met again. We chatted a lot, and as we walked to the Convention Center, we kept wondering if we could spot a Webhead, like if there were any special feature that would kind of beep when our sensors spotted one of these very special people. Well, of course, we stopped by at the Electronic Village, you know, just in case...Then, there was someone looking in the other direction. I felt it! I discretly checked her badge, and yes! Elizabeth Hanson-Smith. We introduced ourselves and she whooped, everybody stared at us, but we were so excited that nobody could interfere with that special moment. Fantastic! We met the first of many Webheads. We can't wait to see all those faces whose voices (and thumbnails!) are so familiar! Wait for more tomorrow. It will start off with Elizabeth's Colloquium with Dafne, Buthaina, Teresa, Bee, and Jane Petring, and will extend to the evening get-together.

Beijos from Seattle,
Carla

arrived safe and sound...

2007-03-19T23:31:00.000-07:00

Hello dear fellow Webheads!

I am in Seattle at last and arrived here on March 18th. Everyday I am having lessons and learning new things. Before arriving to Seattle I had to spend one day in NY due to bad weather.

I am lucky to have GREAT HOST FAMILY Whoopy!

I am going to register tomorrow afternoon at the TESOL Registration table at Convention Center around 3:30 t0 4:00.

Meet me there (I might be your guide to show Seattle, but I may get lost even with a map :))

~Ibrahim

Bring Your Umbrella!

2007-03-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

I've just checked the 5-day weather forecast weather forecast for Seattle. Highs to be in the mid-50s (13-17 degrees C.) through Wednesday, overnight lows in the low 40s (5-6 degrees C.), with a pretty good chance of rain every day. Well, it's Seattle, what do you expect?

Check Weather Underground/Seattle for updates.

I hope Bee is on her way there now, and not stuck in the airport in New York!

Ground transportation

2007-03-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

I've been investigating ways to get from the airport to downtown Seattle. I'm staying at the Red Lion, and it looks like the best deal is the Gray Line Airport Express, which costs $10.25 (round trip $17) and makes stops not only at the Red Lion but also at the Crowne Plaza, Hilton, Grand Hyatt, and several other downtown hotels (for a list see here; the Red Lion is not listed, but I called there today and was assured by the bellman that it is served by the Gray Line). A taxi costs around $33 one way.

There is also a public bus (Route #194 Express or #174) which costs $1.25 (off-peak) or $1.75 (peak). The bellman at the Red Lion told me the nearest stop is 4 blocks from the hotel, so depending on how much luggage you have and how easy it is to move, that is the cheapest option.

Some of the larger hotels may have courtesy shuttles, which are free. Check your hotel's website to see if they offer this service.

Food deals in Seattle

2007-03-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,

I have come across this wonderful information:

1. a coupon for a free 25$-dinner in Seattle:
http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/mccrmck/pc/200702/2/jmp/jmp.htm

2. three-course meals for 15 (lunch) and 25 (dinner)
http://www.nwsource.com/contests/restaurants/25for25_0307/

-list of restaurantes included (Sazerac is in the list)
-there are reviews for some of the restaurants (I have been tempted by the japanese Nishino)
-menus available
-map with restaurant location.

hugs,

Daf

Attending the convention and program

2007-03-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,

Since 1991, I attended TESOL Conventions almost every year. However, since 2002, due to different problems, I have not been able to attend; so, I am very happy to be able to be back to a TESOL Convention :-)
I am doubly happy because I am going to meet again with some webheads (Tere, Elizabeth, Vance, Christine), and I will be able to meet many others for the first time :-); and secondly, the convention is taking place in one of my favorite cities: Seattle (I have been there twice before).

Btw, this is a link to keep handy: the convention program:
http://www.eshow2000.com/tesol/2007/conference_program.cfm

I am arriving on Monday 19, at around 7 pm (to the airport), and I will be staying with Tere at the Red Lion Hotel.

Very much looking forward to seeing you there!!!!

hugs,

Daf

Counting Down

2007-03-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

In San Antonio I heard the first time the word "Webheads" and I remember the get-together of the Webheads there. Christine Ramazzani mentioned it. Here I am, eager to see some familiar faces and meet many others who I feel so close. How exciting is that? I'm sure it will be thrilling to be there with all of you!

Beijos and see you soon!

Carla

East meets West :)

2007-03-08T23:32:00.000-08:00

Salom from Tajikistan!

I am so happy to have a chance to attend TESOL this year, and to meet my fellow Webheads in Seattle. It is a great opportunity to meet you all in real life and have real hugs.

I wish to thank Nina for for creating this wonderful blog! I look forward to meeting all of you in Seattle! Currently I am getting ready, and hopefully be in Seattle on March 17. It is a little scary for me not to be lost.

See you and for now let's just have virtual Hug :)

Ibrahim ~ Tajikistan

DINNER ON MARCH 21

2007-03-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hi, all fortunate Webheads sharing a table on Wednesday, March 21 !

The table is booked for dinner, 7.30 pm.

Have a look at the map at http://www.sazeracrestaurant.com/sazvisit/index.html

As a well-known landmark, it's right in front of the Public Library in Seattle.

The exact address:

1101 Fourth Avenue at the corner of Spring Street, Seattle, WA 98101

Tel: 206.624.7755
Fax: 206.624.0050

We need to spend at least 400 dollars in all, which is no problem, I guess, if we are all turning up.

If you have any queries, please, leave them here.

My toast to a memorable meeting!

Rita

Looking for spring!

2007-03-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

I'm really looking forward to this conference, and this anticipation is heightened knowing that I will meet people face-to-face that I feel have I come to know through the B4B group. This will be my first TESOL conference--it's almost in my own backyard (relatively speaking, as it's only one time zone away), and I've always wanted to visit Seattle. I've driven through there on the freeway before--Washington State is beautiful, and the coastline is fantastic--but never before had a chance to see the city.

I expect to be overwhelmed by the number of people at this conference; my previous conference experiences have all been in Canada, and even the TESL Canada conferences are not that big.

It will also be my first conference in a long time where I'm not performing! I thought to absorb as much as possible this time around, and find my proverbial feet in this big organization. It will be a more relaxing experience not presenting anything. To start off the right way, I'm taking the tour of Seattle on the Wednesday.

I'm also looking forward to warmer weather and signs of spring.

Are you all staying in the downtown area in the conference hotels? I'm booked into the Crowne Plaza, and I'll arrive on the Tuesday afternoon.

We should have a countdown widget on the sidebar. So many sleeps till Seattle!

Seattle, Here We Come!

2007-03-05T08:11:00.000-08:00

For me, it is really a thrill to be able to attend a TESOL Convention. I have been to very few of them: a couple of days in New York, back in the 70s (I cannot remember anything about that one); and Baltimore in 2003 and ???. (I live an hour away from Baltimore.) In 2003, I was on the convention team--a really special privilege (My friend Karen Taylor and I coordinated the Energy Breaks. It was a great job because 98% of it was accomplished prior to the Convention, leaving us free to attend sessions and mingle once we got there.).

This year, I am being funded to attend the Convention in order to attend the CEA accreditation workshop, but what I am most excited about is meeting so many of my webhead friends f2f for the first time!

By the way, I've set the time zone for this blog at Pacific Standard Time (Seattle time). I am currently at PST +3 (GMT -5) and counting the days until we are all in the (same time) zone!

Getting ready for Seattle

2007-03-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

Go easy on me. I'll be 12 hours jetlagged. But looking forward to meeting many Webheads there, Vance