Conference

So the conference is over. The conference, that amazingly wonderfully sounding conference, that I arranged my trip around so that I could attend, is over.

Was it everything I thought of and more?

No.

I got my first taste of European pedagogical bureaucracy. 50 academics in a room arguing about the future of intercultural education in Europe. Since no one said anything important or Earth-shattering, I amused myself by drawing in my notebook.

Those involved, representing Scotland, Belgium and Romania, had been working together on Newtech, for three years.

Newtech is (in my opinion), a glorified penpal system for European school children, where they can discuss their schools, cities and culture with another foreign school. However, the Romanians and Scots were very excited about it.

There were speeches, more speeches, discussions, debates, analyses and more talking, from 9 am to 6 pm all weekend. No one could stay on topic. During a plenary session, what was supposed to have been feedback about the beta testing turned into the speakers' personal histories.

I felt so bad for the translators. We had three people translating from:
Romanian to English
Romanian to French
English to French
English to Romanian
French to English
French to Romanian

Bearing in mind that there were only three translators. You do the math.

The French translator was sick and we got serenaded with gags and pants and groans.

I stupidly decided to volunteer to do a powerpoint presentation for one of the feedback sessions. I wanted to go with the Scots but I was asked to stay with the Romanian/Belgian group. I had people speaking Romanian, French and English around me, and use a horrible translation to French as my basis. No one was making any sense. I heard someone speaking Romanian in the audience with a microphone. I was sitting beside the amplifier. I heard the French translation in my headset overtop of the Romanian in the audience, people talking in their seats, all the while trying to pick out what was important in between the "I am so great" and "This is my opinion of the school system in Europe" (none of which was valid). I seriously thought I was going to go insane. Is this what schitzophrenia feels like?

Strangely enough, the Belgians were often caught sneaking out of the presentations for coffee, cigarette breaks, etc. When asked why, they claimed that they couldn't work with the others as they had too different styles of communication and presentation.

This, from a conference on interculturality!

There was one good point though:
Actually testing out the software. I was with a Brit (a professor of sociology from Chichester University) and two Romanians. Our task was to form a partnership with another group (school) and share a bit of culture.

We were representing Koln. We made a boring profile and no one wanted to partner with us. So we deliberately decided to be silly and started all over.

We called our group "Sausages". We had to have a picture. So of course we selected the funniest one we could find.


We named all the students after meats (Bratwurst, Weiner, Soy Dog [he was a vegetarian], etc etc). We had so much fun. Our members were all professionals and academics, so I loved seeind them giggling about what sausage to name themselves after.

We eventually partnered ourselves with Ljubljana for a friendly discussion about sausages. Check out our friendship offer!

Luckily, all the food was free.

Experiences like this make me doubt the validity of governmental projects. This was sponsored through the Council of Europe. They have a set amount of money for projects no matter what the country. Obviously, money goes a lot further here. We were able to fly in 50 professional academics and guests from across Europe, put them up in a 3star hotel for three nights, provide unlimited beer and wine, three meals in fancy restaurants and provide inter-city transportation.

It almost seemed like they were finding ways *to* spend money. I understand that they get a set amount irregardless of where the project is based. However, I wish we could have used that money for supplied, or books, or for a rainy day fund for the institute.

It's like Canada, in a way. The government has to ask for a set amount of money. if they don't spend it, they can't get as much next year. So the government officials find outlandish ways of using their "expense accounts" to ensure equal or greater funding in the subsequent years.

Speaking of conferences, I was invited to participate in a day day conference on Caucasian and Balkan issues, to take place in Ankara, Turkey.