The end . . . and the beginning.

Hello faithful readers!

My planned travels have come to an end. The marathon weekend, in which I presented at three different state conferences, went better than I had hoped. Champaign, Illinois then Jamesburg, New Jersey and finally Baltimore, Maryland.

Champaign was a testament to how small the world can be – I had the good fortune to have two familiar faces in the workshop. One of the workshop interpreters was a MN interpreter. And one of the attendees was a gentleman that I had met in 2006 in Boston – at the NE first annual Immersion Institute. It was a small group but a strong percentage of the conference attendees. The discussion was challenging and engaging as always. The attendees had a lot of experiences to share and resources that they could offer their fellows. The drive was decent, if a little harrowing at some points – I really don’t like driving at night when I am not familiar with my surroundings. I used a GPS system for the first time and it was a complete godsend.

The drive into Chicago was a non-event, though parking at the airport was tricky. The flight to Baltimore had a moment where I really thought it was going to be the end. I don’t like to fly in the first place and the turbulence we hit was SCARY! It was so sudden that the flight attendents were in mid-service and had to sit down in the aisle – eek! I think the arms of my seat still have nailmarks in them. Thankfully we all survived and landed fine in Baltimore. I rented a Toyota Corolla – not a vehicle I would ever own. Ugh. The New Jersey Turnpike at night was not fun. The Crowne Plaza hotel was lovely and a welcome sight.

The attendees to the New Jersey workshop were wonderful – sassy and bright hardworking interpreters. The majority of them worked straight through the second break. I have never seen that before – either in workshops I have offered or attended myself. A pleasure to present for, would definitely do it again given the opportunity.

The drive back down to Baltimore was really good and really bad. I thought the turnpike was only bad because it was nighttime. HA! Its like the American Autobahn – geez! I am an aggressive driver for MN and those drivers made me look like Miz Daisy. Gorgeous bridges and amazing vistas – too bad I did not have time to actually look. I will be back, want to check out the Chesapeake Bay and get some of those crabcakes! The Four Points hotel in Baltimore was by far the most comfortable bed – seems a small thing, but getting a good nights sleep on this trip was a luxury I was not counting on.

The Baltimore workshop was a hoot – I laughed pretty hard at the stories. Rabbis and High School Reunions oh my! As always, great discussion. One of the things that came out of this workshop was the idea of talking with your district or your VRS employer or Agency about your options to protect yourself. What happens when the consumers are deliberately trying to make you uncomfortable? Some of the situations described could easily fall under the sexual harassment policies in any other workplace. Why do we as interpreters have to just accept this maltreatment? We don’t, but we need to have strategies in place BEFORE the incident so we have options to protect ourselves. Regarding VRS, regular call centers have some sort of script like “sir/madam, if you continue to use foul language, I will disconnect this call” – why should VRS be any different? I am not saying that the consumers should not be allowed to use profanity at all, but more so the interpreters should have some sort of recourse when they are being abused by the consumers. It does happen and we need to talk about it.

It was an almost melancholy flight/drive home. Its been a whirlwind year and I can honestly say I am sorry to see this part come to an end.

For every door that closes, another will open.

The next stage will be working on the research paper. I have 11 workshops worth of data to analyze and the strategies that arose from the workshops to write up. My plan is to compile all the information I have gathered to date, from my research, literary review, and the work from this year. The paper will be submitted to the Journal of Interpretation for 2009. My hope is that they will select my manuscript for publication. Then in the next year or two I plan to go on for my masters and continue the research in this topic.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this work and encouraged me – this could not have been possible without you.