The last day – 19th April 2011

There’s a stale taste in my mouth, one that I had not much anticipated. I wake up with the sad realization that it was the last IATEFL day. With it came the fact that I’d be saying goodbye to my friends – new and old – and my main duty as Roving Reporter was coming to an end. However, everything had run so smoothly and the days had been so packed with activities, talks, writing and events that Tuesday caught me by surprise.

I can hardly believe I am already at home in Brazil and writing this ‘farewell post’ dreaming of the next conference in Glasgow in March 2012. Going to IATEFL was one of the most amazing experiences of my professional and personal life, for after 25 years teaching English as a foreign language, I was challenged by a task I’d never thought I’d perform one day. As a teacher, we act as directors or even producers of a play which comes to action everyday in our classrooms, but we are rarely actors. I was and actor at this conference, and performed my role of both delegate and reporter full of pride.

One of the best impressions I had was that absolutely everyone attending the conference was there with their body and soul, ready to share and eager to learn. The professionalism of the speakers was stunning and the heart the delegates put in it was moving. Watching an audience, you could clearly see they were absorbing what the speaker was saying word by word, and the fact we had to rush from one room to another in the labyrinthian Brighton Centre was not enough to stop us from reaching our destination: another interesting session.

The wide variety of topics offered was a cruelty imposed on the delegates – many times it was a difficult choice between 2 or 3 sessions, and even after careful planning some of us took last-minute decisions and changed our minds, going different directions but always bringing something valuable back – always a win-win situation.

I loved to walk around during breaks, just to watch people. Clothes deserve a special chapter in this event. I can’t say it was a fashion show, for it is not the appropriate definition, but I can say clothes caught my eye, whether in the discreet elegance of most, the casual attire of many or the self assuring traditional dress of some delegates. I remember being fascinated by the strong and feminine dress code of the African women and the delicate flying silks of the Indian ladies. As for people in general, there was the very serious lot, who only discussed EFL, and the not-that-serious, who besides discussing EFL made plans for the evening and discussed when they’d be able to squeeze a visit to the pub in the extremely busy timetable of the conference.

All in all, a memorable event in all aspects. The people I met, the talks I attended, the job I did, all that I learnt. I didn’t only learn about teaching EFL or ESL or ELT. It goes beyond letters or words. I experienced living a few days in an island of peace and understanding, where your race or colour or creed or nationality did not matter. Your words mattered. The experience mattered. The person mattered. The biggest lesson I take from these days spent in Brighton is one of generosity, because nothing means so much to people as acceptance, attention and friendship. And this I had at IATEFL.

That’s why I feel sad on my last day in Brighton. But, as the proverb goes, "the night is always darkest before the dawn", and 2012 is just around the corner. Glasgow, wait for me.