IATEFL Coneference - having a blast in Brighton.

 The IATEFL Conference in Brighton was a blast – intellectually, gastronomically and, on occasion, meteorologically. The sessions were many and varied, so sometimes it was hard to make a choice about which to attend. Here I am with Angeliki working on such choices!                                                      

  The first plenary session on Wednesday was very interesting, presented by free-lance writer and trainer, Zarina Subhan, entitled ‘Because You’re Worth It’. Essentially she was considering diversity, equity and inclusion and using the L’Oreal campaign slogan to grab our attention.

She questioned who decides our ‘worth’ and what criteria are in play to make such an evaluaton. She listed critical features such as :

our environment, the way we dress, the language we speak, the words we choose,

our tone of voice, our body language.

I found it quite disturbing to think how quickly and readily one makes assumptions about a stranger, using such superficial criteria. Good to revisit our tendencies and reconsider them.                                      

               

But it wasn’t all about mind-stretching – we filled out tums too. Here we are tucking into crab, mussels and haddock. Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside, as the old  music hall song goes.                                           

                              

 And for all holiday-makers : beware the plants that may be lurking in the background when you take some shots - they may inadvertently  become unusual headgear! 😊

                                                  

           

And in our quest to find interesting eating places, we happed upon the Bohemia in The Lanes. Interesting food, but best of all was in the Ladies Powder Room:  a large wall mirror onto/ into which were projected holograms of Hollywood divas – wonderful! Me and Marilyn, right ?!                                 

                                       

      Marina and I perambulating past Mock Tudor buildings. And walk we did! Can you believe that in four days we clocked up 51 kilometres, our leg muscle aches bearing witness to that?                                            

         

As with our conference program, there was a huge choice of restaurants, bars, etc., in fact Brighton is the city with the largest number of eating places in Britain! Spoiled for choice!

Another interesting fact about our host city – it boasts more than 6 miles of beach, rather pebbly, it must be said.                                               

And as Marina and I pose in front of the Pavilion, one final fact.  It is said that during WW2, Hitler gave the command that Brighton Pavilion should be spared from his bomber attacks as he had plans to have this as his private summer residence!           

                                            

Thank goodness things did not go according to his plans!