Apart from launching Just Right Advanced at the 2009 IATEFL conference, and doing an extra workshop on teacher observation at the request of the committee, Adrian Underhill and I were asked by the conference organisers to run an 'open mike' evening where people could come and sing songs from different countries.

Neither of us thought many people would turn up. After all, there were other temptations such as publishers' parties etc. But in the end we had a respectable crowd, and a host of singers and players. A man called Daniel played the Japanese flute and astounded us all with his grace and artistry. Steven offered a fantastic rendition of a Gerswhin prelude on the piano, Livia (from Hungary) used the same instrument to accompany herself in a Russian folk song; there were songs from China, Russia, Azherbijan, the USA, the UK, Estonia, Isreal (thanks Amos) and many more. It was a wonderful warm evening. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

The next day after taking a train back home I returned to the conference via a webcam and the OnSync software to join in a panel on technology in education. You can catch parts of the session at http://tinyurl.com/cvttdv - you'll have to paste this URL into your browser.

In fact you can watch many of the IATEFL sessions by clicking here to get to the online website. It's worth it! Enjoy.....