Toy Museum, Munich |
Sunday 27 October 2013
WCCE8 2013, Impressions IV
‘Hi, Susie, we met at the
conference for about two seconds!’
There were many
people at the WCCE8 2013 who I did not even meet for two seconds, who I would
have loved to have spent two hours with!
There were
people in Munich who I had not met for twenty years who I should at least have
had a chance to say Hello to, but without the networking system that had been
available pre-Hong Kong I did not know who I should look out for. I did not
recognize some and some probably did not recognize me, so we missed each other.
There were old
friends in Munich who I saw often during the three days, old friends who
attracted like magnets, but there were other old friends who I did not bump
into at all, some who I did not even know had attended the Congress until
afterwards.
Last night I
was about to sit down to post a plea here on my blog for someone to make
herself known to me for a second time –
Calling Krisztine, Krisztina,
Christine, Christina – someone tall, smiley, blond and very friendly!
At the Congress
I was in the foyer chatting to my bestest-friend and number one calming
influence, German conductor Raphaela Ross, when a tall, blond, energetic lady
shouted across the crowd –
‘Hello Susie, you do not know me, Krisztina (???), I
read your blog!’
It was such a
lovely experience and it made my day, it made my conductor friend Raphaela
smile too and say ‘Wow, what about that?’, but after that I never saw the tall,
blond lady again!
Neither of us
could remember the surname. I searched Congress sites and blogs, and Facebook
reports for pictures of a person called Krisztina, Christina, Christine. I was
not sure whether I was looking for an American or a Hungarian. The short
sentence that the lady had spoken in English was perfect and the accent was so
American that I could not be sure.
Was that person
who reads my blog you?
Before I posted
this I decided to take another look on Facebook for one more attempt at finding
out who it was. I had a hunch and had asked a few people to be my ‘friend’ on
Facebook during the week after the conference as part of my search. Once again
I thought I would search through the photos that were appearing on Facebook and
other Congress websites to see if I could spot a likeness, then I would post
the above posting.
And low and behold
I switched on Facebook and the first thing I noticed
were those little red symbols blinking at me from the top of the page. One
messages said –
‘Hi Susie,
We met at the Congress for about two
seconds. I told you
"hi” and "I'm reading your blog" but after that we didn't meet
again. I was just so busy with going to lectures and talking to old friends and
guess you were in the same shoes. Anyway I just wanted to say, it was nice to
meet you and I will keep reading your blog. Krisztina’
Cyberspace made it possible
I often wonder
why I am registered on Facebook. At the moment I do not really want to use my Facebook
page for my own personal writing but I registered because so many people use it
and I have always thought it to be a good place to be to be able to contact
people.
With there
being no delegates list from the Congress and no email addresses in the
Abstract Book, because of legal reasons, it is virtually impossible to know who
was at the Congress, apart from those people that you already knew.
There were 700
people at the Congress, I wish that I had been able to meet more than just a
handful of them.
Thanks to Facebook
and a bit of searching in Cyberspace I have been able to make contact with this
one person, who took that two-seconds opportunity in real-life to make herself
known to me and who I wish I had been able to speak to in person. It made my
day again when she wrote to say who she is, and a bit more –
‘Well, I’m glad I solved the
mystery. I was very happy to spot you because I wanted to let you know how much
I enjoy reading your blog. I too tried to find you later but
for some reason we didn’t cross each other’s way during the next days. Since I
don’t blog I always look out for those who take their time to share their
thoughts with us. It is nice to follow your work with the students and outside
the school.
Krisztina made my day a second time
Once again the
mystery lady put a smile on my face, as tired after a week at work, getting
ready to go to the theatre I received her message.
It is lovely to
put names and faces to the dots on the map at the top of my blog. It is also
really nice to get some feedback that motivates me to keep on writing. This
happens rarely.
There were a
couple of other people from America who I had wanted to meet but I do not know
what they look like so I missed them completely. There were probably several
other people who I would have gladly spent time meeting but there was just no
time.
There were also
many people who I know in Germany but only ever meet at Congresses or meetings
who I would gladly have spent some time with.
Having successfully
caught up with someone once I shall now try to find others through Cyberspace,
and maybe by the next WCCE we will know each other well enough to be attracted
like magnets just as happened between me and the few old friends I bumped into
often while on my way between presentations and workshops.
I did not
really get to talk to these friends, however, with the evenings booked with
entertainments and the days full with running here and there.
I was left at
the end of those busy days in Fürstenfeldbruck asking myself what exactly I had
taken away with me except an empty pocket, exhaustion, and several boxes of
unsold books.
One thing that
I have are the special moments like the one that prompted this posting, and
meetings and workshops like George McDowell’s that I have written about
already.
As I recollect
what I did in the bits-in-between times, the times between the commitments that
I had, I realise that I heard some really good presentations.
I will in the
course of the next few weeks write some more impressions and I will discuss these
bits-in-between times when I sat and listened to other people’s experiences and
views on conductive pedagogy, upbringing and lifestyles.
Saturday 26 October 2013
Conductive Education in Canada
Conductive Education
in Edmonton Canada
I
received this announcement during the week from a family in Edmonton and was
asked to pass it on to as many people as possible.
I am
sorry about the delay in posting it, I hope that some people will still be able
to make last minute arrangements to attend these sessions on Tuesday and
Wednesday in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to find out about Conductive Education.
As well as the info-sessions there is also a pre-school conductive group running
at the St Gabriel School until November 1st.
Demo and Talk Session
for families of children diagnosed
with neuro-motor disabilities
The Council of Edmonton for
Conductive Education and Beyond (CE2B)
Is pleased to let you know that we are working to bring
Conductive
Education to Edmonton!
We are currently running a one-month pilot project which will end
on November 1.
Members of our organization are always asked a lot of questions about
Conductive Education and that’s why we have organized two Conductive Education Demo and Talk Sessions
at St.
Gabriel School, 5540, 106 Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta.
Demo and Talk Session for Health Professionals
Tuesday, October 29th 10AM
to 12PM
Conductive Education Demo and Talk
Session for
families of children diagnosed with neuro-motor
disabilities
Wednesday,
October 30th 6PM
to 8PM
If you would like to attend a session or arrange a visit on another day more convenient for you, please
RSVP by Friday
October 25th, call or text Patrick
at 780 242 8269
The Conductive Education Preschool class is running
Monday
to Friday, 8.30 AM to 1.30 PM
St Gabriel
School 5540
106 Ave NW Edmonton, Alberta
Monday 21 October 2013
WCCE8 2013, Impressions III
One of the painting competition entries at WCCE8, 2013 |
The family full of
hope from Israel
I was
impressed at the 7th World Congress in Hong Kong by the group who
had travelled from Tsad Kadima in Israel, and I was impressed once more at WCCE8 in Munich.
In Hong
Kong I heard three of the group speak.
This
year in Munich I had written all their names in my proposed programme, the
programme that I wrote for myself a week before the Congress started. Having
first written in my own presentations and workshops, and then those of my
colleagues, there was still space for a few more and some of those spots were filled by Tsad Kadima.
The
overlap with my own commitments prevented me from catching all of the Israeli
team, but because there were delays in some rooms I could rush to catch the end
of at least one that I had feared I would miss entirely.
Why was I so keen to
hear them?
Hope, that’s
why, and unity. Both of these together give strength and a will to move onwards and upwards.
Togetherness
In Hong
Kong it was more than just the presentations, which included research projects
and studies, that had impressed me. It was the unity that this group showed when
they all sat together in the front row of the hall, or as near to the front as
they could get, when one of their group presented or when they listened to
someone they were all keen to hear.
They
all listened together. It was
possible to see them listening
together!
This
meant that they had something to discuss together
afterwards.
When
one of their colleagues spoke there they were, at the front, sitting
shoulder-to-shoulder and it looked as if they were beaming their positive
thoughts up on to the stage.
They were
there together and it was so obvious that together they were strong.
Know Hope
Rony
Schenker had a difficult job to do with her keynote presentation following on
directly after Melanie Brown, who got a well-deserved standing ovation.
Rony
had nothing to fear and she also gave a wonderful keynote speech titled – ‘Know
hope’.
I believe that hope is the foundation stone on which Tsad Kadima stands, that
it is from here that the spirit of their work has grown.
I took
the opportunity afterwards to speak to Rony. I wanted to tell her how the
unity, the togetherness, the hope, that something special that I observed, or
perhaps felt, radiating from the group of people from Tsad Kadima, is something
that I aspire to achieve with colleagues.
Rony
told me that it is to these attributes that the continuing development of their
conductive centre depends. It is how they survive.
I
wanted to tell her that the hope that they have given me while I have listened
and observed, and that sharing some of that spirit that they bring with
them to the congresses, are very valuable things that I had taken away and
treasured from Hong Kong and now also from Munich, where I was lucky to get an
even bigger dose.
I am
not sure that I expressed myself clearly in Munich so I have tried again to
express myself here. It is difficult but I hope that you understand.
Thank
you for talking about the importance of knowing hope and thank you for sharing
the spirit of hope with us all.
Notes
Rony Schenker, Jerusalem, Israel – Know hope – the psychological capital of Tsad Kadima
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