Opening Ceremony

Hi folks!

The World CALL 2008 opening ceremony was so exciting! There we were, altogether, anxious of learning and sharing our CALL experiences. Mike Levy mentioned all scholarship awardees, country by country. Then, there was a very interesting plenary and the sessions started. All sessions are so interesting that it is difficult to pick up just one.

Here are some pictures:

Weather in Fukuoka august 7th

http://es.weather.yahoo.com/JAXX/JAXX0009/index_c.html

--
Nelba Quintana
http://nelbaq.googlepages.com/home

Posted by email from Webheads @ WorldCALL 2008's posterous

Be sure and tag your photos worldcall08 when uploading to the web :-))

Hi again everyone,

I've just uploaded photos taken by VanceStevens today at WorldCALL 2008 in Fukuoka, Japan and tagged themworldcall08. The url for photos with this tag is http://flickr.com/search/?q=worldcall08&m=text

If you upload photos from the conference to Flickr or other onlnesites, be sure and tag them worldcall08 and (if at Flickr) they will aggregate here.

Nite nite all, from dark and pleasantly cool Fukuoka Japan (yawn)

--
Vance Stevens
http://advanceducation.blogspot.com/

--
Vance Stevens
http://advanceducation.blogspot.com/

Posted by email from http://webheadatwc3.posterous.com/be-sure-and-tag-your-photos-wo

Flickr photos taggged worldcall08

Hi again everyone,

I've just uploaded photos taken by Vance Stevens today at WorldCALL 2008 in Fukuoka, Japan and tagged them worldcall08.  The url for photos with this tag is http://flickr.com/search/?q=worldcall08&m=text

If you upload photos from the conference to Flickr or other onlne sites, be sure and tag them worldcall08 and they will aggregate here.

Nite nite all, from dark and pleasantly cool Fukuoka Japan (yawn)

--
Vance Stevens
http://adVancEducation.blogspot.com

Posted by email from Webheads @ WorldCALL 2008's posterous

Penultimate update on Vance's WorldCALL session from Fukuoka

Hi folks, regarding my session tomorrow, details here: http://vancestevens.com/papers/index.html#next
and my preliminary announcement here: http://webheadatwc3.posterous.com/well-try-to-connect-via-wiziq

I'm now in Fukuoka but not yet at the site where the presentation will be.  We spent the day today in workshops at Fukuoka University, where the webheads ladies and I were twittering happily away, but unfortunately this is not where we will be Aug 6, the day of my presentation (tomorrow).

Of course I have asked the conference organizers if there is wireless access? (answer: I think so), is it robust (answer: depends on how well set up they are?) etc.  There is no way really to find out how a convention center has configured for laptops of presenters, esp if the presenters need access to the LAN well before their presentations, without going there and seeing what is up with the network.  And I can't do that till tomorrow.

So tomorrow I will go in as early as possible and start playing with the network.  I'll see what I can get working.  If I can Ustream I might do that, or if I WiZiQ seems ok I might try and record my presentation that way.  I might go with Elluminate (highly reliable) ... checking now it seems fine; last test from UAE on my new laptop there was a network problem. I'll just have to see what works and then announce to the onlne community in which venue the event will be.

Tomorrow Aug 6 I'll send mail to the webheads list and on twitter in advance of the event (or try to, assuming I can connect from the convention center) and I'll let you know what I will do.

In case you're available and want to join us, the event is Aug 6 from 17:25 to 18:10 Tokyo time, or Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 08:15 GMT http://tinyurl.com/6bjk7r;

I'm hoping we'll get something working

--
Vance Stevens
http://adVancEducation.blogspot.com

Posted by email from Webheads @ WorldCALL 2008's posterous

Fun in Tokyo

Nelba, Jennifer, Evelyn and Erika having fun in Tokyo.

I'm getting ready for breakfast, subways and workshops at Fukuoka University.
Let's have a great day together!!!

Nelba in Fukuoka

Hi, dear  Webheads. This is unbelievable, cannot sleep looking foward meeting friends here.

This post is just to check, posterous.Hugs, Nelba in kimono :-)

Posted by email from Webheads @ WorldCALL 2008's posterous

The Dream Came True!

Finally, after almost 24 hours trip, the dream came true! Accompanying Susan from Doha made the trip very comfortable and fun.I am not sure if my computer will let me finish this post. I am posting from my room, with a battery of 37% left. I have to buy a transformer tomorrow. Here is another photo.We didn't meet the rest of the Latin America girls. All sleeping. Thanks Nina for showing me and Susan around our rooms. You are our f2f and virtual master.Make sure I will not tell about the secret:-) Wait until I tell you what happened behind you girls!!!! Viki, the one met me and Susan at the airport, said we have to take the subway to Fukuoka University . Taxis are too expensive. We decided to meet at 7:00 am for breakfast and go together.
Be it a mass loss of webheads in Fukuoka

Webheads meeting webheads

Dear webheads, colleagues, friends around the world,

We are all have arrived to Fukuoka for now, but Vance will come from Seul tomorrow evening. These days are full of joy, happiness to meet so many webheads f2f, hug them and kiss in reality. But these days are very sad for all us because we have lost a wonderful member of our big and friendly family - Lee Baber. She will be always with us in our hearts and in our thoughts.

Below one of the meeting at the hotel in Fukuoka: Nina, Hala, Susan and Neny.

More will come soon.

Hugs to all of you from us.
Hala, Susan and Neny, Nina plus all the rest who walked around and got tired are slleping tight.
Tomorrow workshops.

Posted by email from http://webheadatwc3.posterous.com/webheads-meeting-webheads

Tokyo is an unforgettable city!

Hi friends!

I´m so glad to let you know that the crew is complete. Erika came yesterday afternoon. We picked her up at Central Tokyo Metro Station. We had a marvellous day yesterday. Mr. Manabe is a prince! He has been the best tour guide we would have ever imagined. We took thousands of beautiful and exciting pictures and videos but we haven´t had the time to upload them. We will tell the whole story soon. Now we are leaving to Fukuoka and all Webheads will all meet there. How exciting!!!!!!!!!

Love you all,

Nelba, Erika, Jennifer and Evelyn

We are in Tokyo, finally!!!

Hi dear all:

It's great to share this huge excitement we have. Nelba, Erika and I met at the airport yesterday morning and took the plane to Tokyo. How great moment we met face to face. Hugs, kisses, blesssings. Thanks God we are together. We miss Erika a lot. We are for waiting her. Our trip was long, tiring but exciting and fun. We had a great time together chatting, taking pictures, videos and crossing the whole planet. It took us 15 hours 15 minutes to get here, but it´s worth. Japan is amazing, gorgeous, exciting!!!!! Mr. manabe, a friend and former student of mine was waiting for us at the airport. Thanks God! We couldn't have ever been able to get his home by ourselves. We traveled 90 minutes by train, we changed trains twice and then we took a bus, and finally we walked for 7 or 10 minutes with our luggage. We were dead, breathless, ha ha ha , but happy!!! I've been taking many pictures and videos and you will soon see them.
We went to a Old Japan Festival last night. We are lucky, it is only once a year and we could go last evening. It was awesome!
We are in hurry now, We have our city tour today. We will meet Erika at a central Metro station. More pictures will be taken. I promise to share them as soon as possible.
Hugs,
Evelyn, Erika and Nelba.

Waiting to go to Tokyo

Hi friends

As you probably already know, I will only arrive in tokyo 24 hours later than I expected. I left my city yesterday at 6pm and flew to São Paulo (the biggest city in Brazil). I had to take another flight from São Paulo to Atlanta and meet Evelyn, Nelba and Jen, but it was canceled due to some problems with the aircraft. Delta staff sent me to a hotel near the airport. I was very upset, but I feel calmer now. I talked to mr Manabe on the phone and I felt relieved to undertand all his instructions to meet the group in Tokyo. Mr Manabe is a very kind Japanese man who is hosting the Latin Webheads in Tokyo. I mean very very very kind!!!

Evelyn, my son also cried at the airport and my heart was broken too. I talked to him on the phone last night and today via skype and he was already smiling and playing. Don't worry too much; kids adapt to different situations faster than adults do.

I am spending the day in São Paulo with some friends from Ilang. It is a company that creates online courses for schools and I have been working with them for a while, so it was a nice opportunity to visit their office.

Well, I can't wait to meet you!

Hugs
Erika Cruvinel

I'm in Atlanta now...

Hi dear friends,

I arrived in Atlanta at about 1:00 p.m. It was a very nice flight. It was faster than I had thought it would be. There was a lot of turbulance when landing, but it was fun. I had a great window view and I was enjoying trying to identify the different island on the way to Atlanta. It was beautiful and fun. I was also trying to learn some Japanese words during the trip, but my anxiety didn't allow me to. I had many things in my mind. I was especially thinking of my husband and my little daughter, Emily. She wanted to come with me, and started crying when I left them at the airport. I was pretending to be fine, but my heart was broken into pieces.

I'm staying at a small but comfortable hotel near the airport. It was supposed to have a Wireless Internet connection but it seems not to be working today. After my arrival, it started to rain cats and dogs. It's been a real storm, but the rained stopped a little, stilll thunders are around but everything seems to be calmed now.

I'm counting the hours to meet Nelba and Jen tomorrow. It's going to be exciting to travel together. Nevertheless, I'm a little sad because Erika's flight was cancelled at the very last minute. I am so dissappointed, but I promised her to prepare a special welcome reception for her on Sunday.

That's all for now. Missing you all. Thanks for all your lovely email messages.

Hugs,
Evelyn

The last attempt of testing Posterous's posibilities

This is the last attempt of testing how Autopost to Everywhere works from e-mail through Posterous.
The last minutes of getting things together before leaving. It sounds exciting and amazing. Can't wait to see all the webheads together. It should be a superb meeting with popular educators around the world, to learn from them and with them. Have a hope to get an access to the Internet (no other way) in Japan.
So, getting to work.
In my bag already: a camera(borrowed from a friend ;-) ) , an MP3 player, a voice recorder, badges for webheads, an umbrella from flaming sun (the worst thing for me - I might melt in Fukuoka), no lap top (somebody will bring), and some private things... and, of course, passport, electronic tickets for the flight to and fro.

You know, I am traveling the longest way: From home to Moscow by train (tomorrow), then from Moscow to Helsinki by plane, of course, then to Osaka and from Osaka to Fukuoka (Evelyn offered by boat, but I agreed to swim across the bay.) ;-)

We'll definitely post our impressions, pictures, and coverage of the WorldCALL Conference.

God bless you and us.

{{{{BIG HUG}}}}
Nina

Posted by email from Webheads @ WorldCALL 2008's posterous

Enjoy your trip with your e-friends

Dear Evelyn and all dear awardees,
I am posting this from my email account, just to test it and to wish you again a happy and safe long trip to Atlanta and then to Tokyo first.  I am sure you will  talk a lot during the long flight. I can imagine how  affecting meeting should it be. I had an experience of such feeling already. It was in 1999 when it happened first to travel to the USA. I met my cyber friend - Bertha Wise there. It was unforgettable reunion.
I ma looking forward to seeing you all soon. It will happen on August, 4. We all are supposed to arrive on this day.

God bless you and safe you all.

{{{{BIG HUG}}}}

Nina

The journey starts...

Hi everyone!

My journey to Japan starts in just a few hours. I'm happy, I'm nervous, my feelings are mixed at this moment. This is the first time I'm going to be so far from home. And it is the first time I'll be far from my husband and little daughter for so many days. I have a lot of butterflies in my stomach! Believe me! However, I trust God and ask him to take care of me, my family and all my friends who will also attend the WorldCALL 2008.

My flight leaves at 8:00 a.m. I'm going to stop in Atlanta (USA) first and stay there for one night. And, tomorrow, my friends Erika, Nelba, Jennifer and I will meet at the airport to go to Tokyo on the same plane . I'm so excited! We are finally going to meet face to face. I'm sure we will have enough time to talk, talk and talk. Well, just imagine 4 Latin American ladies traveling together for about 15 hours!!! It's going to be fun, definitively!
God bless you all!
Evelyn

Waiting for the most exciting adventure of my life!

Konnichiwa!

Only 24 hours left!!! Can you believe it? I'm ready to live one of the most interesting and exciting experiences of my life. I'm referring to my first trip to Japan. As you already know, I won a scholarship to attend the WorldCALL 2008 which will be held in Fukuoka - Japan from August 4 to 8, this year. How exciting it is! You can't imagine how happy I'm am.

I'm attending the conference with other 7 Webheads: Nina (Ukraine), Erika (Brazil), Nelba (Argentina), Neny (Indonesia), Hala (Sudan), Jennifer (Argentina), and Susan (Iran). We've been in touch since last March, when we got the great news. You may visit our Wiki and see how we have been preparing ourselves to this adventure.

In Tokyo, I'll be happy to meet my friend and former student Matsuro Manabe, who has been a great support to us. Then, in Fukuoka, we will be happy to meet f2f all Scholarship Awardees and our friends Tom Robb (Chair, WorldCALL 2008 Scholarship Committee), Claire Bradin Siskin and Vance Stevens (the main Webhead).

Through this blog I intend to share with you, day after day, my learning experiences, panel discussions, pictures, sounds, culture, and many interesting things about Japan. You can also follow us by Posterous or Twemes.

Thanks God for giving me this gift.

I'll miss you all.

Love,

Evelyn