The Joy of Lex

It begins...

Last night was the opening gala, so we all got kitted out in our glad rags and went down to the Hotel Pupp. We were late wrapping up the paper, so we were late to the party -- arriving around midnight. We actually passed Dame Judi on her way out, but it was a little awkward as we were both wearing the same dress.

That's not true, of course. Dame Judi's was significantly nicer than the one I had on, but we did pass one another on the floor. Things were starting to wind down by the time we showed up and I don't think most of us planned to stay long, but a group of writers from the English and Czech sections sat down at a table outside, and a director I'd interviewed earlier in the day came over to join us, and he turned out to be pretty cool, and then it was 3:30 in the morning.

It was a group of six and included one American, two Brits, one Irishman, one Czech and a Canadian. Among that group, I think all six of us would have described ourselves as writers, and quite a few of us would have described ourselves as editors or current/former teachers. There was also a Fulbright scholar and a person who works for RFE, so I pretty much had all of my favorite topics covered.

Among other things, we discussed the following:
* methodology
* social media
* international communication
* film
* cross-cultural differences
* RFE and Smith-Mundt laws
* study abroad
* the Fulbright program
* international language lessons
* phrasal verbs (!!)

In other words, I totally geeked out. Not gonna lie, there was a lot of grammar talk going on.

I had a glass of wine when we got to the party, but stopped drinking soon after. Nonetheless, I allowed myself to succumb to peer pressure when the rest of the group wanted to hit up another bar after the party, which is how I ended up collapsing into bed after 5am, with sunlight streaming in my window. 

Needless to say, we've all been a little sluggish today... Even though I stopped after one wine, I struggled to drag myself out of bed at 9am, and was mortified when I got to the office to find that I was the last one in.

I'd planned to say more about some of the above topics --particularly those that relate to this blog's regular focus -- but it looks as if I'm going to have to run off and make an interview, so stay tuned for a follow-up on that topic.