Raining, yet again

I am a bit disappointed, I have to confess. I've been hoping that the rain would let up just long enough to be able to take some pictures, but really I have very few. Today I woke up to howling winds, which frankly had been doing so all night long. And it was accompanied by drenching rain, that just never quit. I had all these plans and none of them are coming true thanks to the weather.

But it is an interesting thing, rain in Holland. I am complaining a bit because I wanted to take pictures, but I love my little camera, and don't think it would function well in the wet. But the Hollanders are out in force. Today happens to be the only shopping Sunday in October, sot he streets were well crowded with people, french fries, umbrellas, lovers holding hands, parents guiding children, pastries, more umbrellas, students reading while walking (an interesting feat indeed), and yet again, more umbrellas.

Which all makes it sound as though I didn't go to school myself today. Our conference started at 8 a.m, breakfast meeting. A colleague of mine who excels in training methodology had called a cab to take us to the conference, and I was so grateful. I've been walking, and I've enjoyed that but today a cab was an extra special treat. It turned out that there was a problem with the room he had already set up (as in, someone else took it away from him) so he was a bit flustered with having to reset somewhere else. I stayed and helped him, and in the process I was able to get a glimpse of some of what he is doing. He is talented, no mistake about it, and he is passionate about it, which makes it all the better. And not only that, he has asked me to give an interactive presentation at his conference next October in London. I have to think about that, though I am terribly flattered. His rule however is that it needs to be dynamic and interactive, so I have to really analyze if there is anything I can do in that realm.

The session that I did attend this morning after helping him, was on essentials of participation. It was really a theory of change management and there were times when I was rather lost with it all. However, after the break we regrouped and ran it as a peer coaching or mentoring session. From that angle I could really see some benefit, and since I have been asked to mentor some colleagues when I get home, I think that there are things that I can use. It also makes me think more about my own life, and so I will use this method to analyse some decisions that I must make.

For lunch today, I had more cheese sandwiches and while it was tasty and all that, I confess I am getting tired of bread. The Dutch seem to eat a lot of it--bread and cheese for breakfast, bread and cheese for lunch, more bread for supper. I like bread well enough, but I have probably eaten more these last few days than all of last year. It isn't that there isn't other things available, for certainly they eat more than that. Rather it is that the venue we were at was a bit limited for weekend choices (and was much better during the week).

There was more networking and discussion in the afternoon but the most prevalent topic of conversation was 'how are you getting to Schiphol?'. Today apparently is a routine maintenance day for the rail system, but the day turned out not to be so routine after all, and there are many many many delays. I am grateful that I don't need to take a train until tomorrow, and then just to Amsterdam. I will take the long trip home the following day. I have a bit of freedom tomorrow morning, but I have discovered that the post office opens at 10, and I have decided to parcel post my books and supplies home. I can make most of them fit so that I just have carry on, but they are dreadfully heavy, and it seems silly, really, to fight that hard to get them there.

The problems with the train have also derailed some of our final plans for the day, as many people who were going to leave this evening have been worried over hte delays and have decided to head out now. It will mean some waiting at airports and train stations, but there it is.

So I'm by myself again. I'm not sure what I will do for supper tonight. I find that I am tired and a bit cold, and still fighting the chill I got on the way over here last week. I will probably finish packing, take a bath and call it a day.

This conference week has been very good for me. I've learned a great deal, been affirmed on some of my skills, and encouraged to do more. I have made friends from London and Dublin, and also here in Groningen. There was a young student named Hannah who wants to do her communication internship in Canada. She was delightful, and so I will try to find some information for her. She certainly was very helpful to me. At the conference, I saw some excellent facilitators do their thing, I learned a few new methods to try, and truthfully, I also saw some things that I want to ensure I don't do. I hope that I will be able to take the best of it all and begin to apply it to my own sessions. Some of them will be simple to implement and others will take a bit more creativity. But I have been well challenged, that is for sure.

And I am ready to go home. Tomorrow, I head to Amsterdam, and Tuesday it's back to Canada.