We started the conference proper at the Expo Centro Congressi Terminal Napoli, Molo Angioino, Stazione Marittima. There was a short welcome session for new delegates before the opening address.
For the most part, most of the speakers spoke either in a foreign language or English in a heavy European accent, which was sometimes not decipherable. Fortunately, for some, the slides were in English.
There were only a few Asian delegates which basically consisted of a few from Japan, 1 from Taiwan, 1 from Hong Kong (the latter 2 presenting papers) and my colleague & me. So just imagine how out-of-place I felt. Well, maybe it was also partly due to the cost of coming to Europe, even though the conference fee wasn't that much.
Well, I admit that I felt a slight tinge of alienation/biasness from other participants. Maybe it's just the language barrier and not to mention wondering if most of them knew where Singapore is located.
I formed in my mind that we should have a similar conference for the Asian region, not to mention a similar association, especially since Asian music & its culture is very different and thus problems different. Got to research if 1 already exists though.
After the sessions, I felt like it's going to be a long week... 4 days more?!
10 years ago
No comments:
Post a Comment