Still sleepless

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

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

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

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Teresa and Joao in Vancouver and Seattle

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

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Unforgettable Sleepless Webheads in Seattle

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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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

Bee and Patricia, Jane and Erika,
Jane and Bee

Album to follow; Bubbleshare is not cooperating.

Hello all!

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

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?

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