2017 congress: photos & comments

Australia-New Zealand Congress/Summer school – Brisbane (06 – 15 January 2017)

The 2017 Congress and Summer school was held at International House, 1/5 Rock St, St Lucia QLD 4067.

Our special guest was JoMo, a singer from Occitania, France, well known in the Esperanto community for his energetic and toe-tapping songs.

The program included:

• Esperanto classes in two levels
• Famous Australian author Trevor Steele, on the history & culture of Esperanto
• Evening of theatre and music
• Banquet
• Excursions
• Lectures about Esperanto and other topics
• Annual General Meeting

Download full program (285 KB PDF)

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Comments (translated from Esperanto):

General comments

• I have to thank you for a very good conference. I can’t find anything to complain about.
• The Brisbane congress was very good and pleasant, and I have made some new friends.
• The conference was well organised, it had a relaxed atmosphere, and I was happy to sit and listen and soak up the language.
• Many thanks for the summer school! It was my first congress, and I enjoyed it very much.
• Thank you for the “familial” atmosphere and for the indulgence of the participants. They were very attentive to me – I spoke with almost everyone. I have participated in other national conferences, I have never found this atmosphere – keep it up.
• Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time and effort to entertain us, thank you!
• I very much enjoyed participating in this congress; truly everything (food, accommodation, lectures…) pleased me.
• The organisational abilities of the current re-elected board are outstanding, showing the value of friendly cooperative relations, especially, I think, through Skype.
• I like to have foreigners at our congress.
• Overall the atmosphere was excellent, and I, as an old person, enjoyed the presence of young people.
• The AEA congress/summer school in Brisbane was indeed an excellent program.
• Good organisation. There was no lack of chaos (but this was rare), but it was a lot of work for only a few people.
• It was my first congress and I enjoyed it a lot!
• It was good to meet new friends.
• The weather was hot and humid but the ambience was very pleasant.

Location/accommodation

• I am satisfied.
• Very beautiful, suitable location… despite the weather.
• Accommodation is good. I am glad the location was in nature (many trees, some birds and animals, and even mosquitoes).
• Accommodation was very good.
• Perfect, I like to be alone in the room with a partner close by.
• Good location – I like International House.

Food

• I got a little fat in this congress. The food is very, very good!
• Good food. (This is important.)
• Totally good.
• I was able to eat very good food; they paid attention to my allergy.
• I did not complain about the provision of food. Why? Because I liked it all.
• Food was good and cheap.
• Very tasty and there was enough of it.
• The food was delicious.
• I liked the food because it was varied and one could always eat vegetarian and even vegan, if desired.
• For the price – good.
• Food was better and not as boring as I expected.

Teaching

• I would prefer to have a class between beginners and intermediate.
• Hazel, the woman who taught us, is an excellent teacher – clear instructions and a good sense of humour.
• I am very grateful for the opportunity to study with a great teacher, Franciska.
• I had a good time learning in Hazel Green’s class. She is very kind and friendly, and we learned about many things. I am very pleased with what I’ve learned during a week and am very excited to continue to learn Esperanto.
• During courses and lectures it would be useful for me to see and hear a few words (to help my understanding).
• I very much liked to see the animated teaching method of Franciska through the window.

Historical presentations of Trevor Steele

• A very good idea that we prepared lectures about the history of Esperanto, ourselves. I understand the beginning of the Movement better.
• I participated in Trevor Steele’s course and it was very interesting, not only for foreigners but also for Australians.
• It was good to hear personal experience about Esperanto history.
• We all learned and enjoyed Trevor’s daily lectures.
• Trevor talks about history beautifully, easily understood.
• Trevor’s course is particularly suitable for contributing participants. Trevor himself, because of his extensive knowledge, could share with us in detail some very important events in the world.
• Trevor’s course and his students were both enjoyable and informative.
• Trevor’s wisdom was excellent for me.

Excursions

• Good choices for excursions, even for Queenslanders, because I don’t often have an opportunity to visit the botanic garden.
• Very enjoyable outing with beautiful and interesting sights.
• I think Lone Pine was very good for the foreigners but not for Australians. I highly enjoyed the botanical garden.
• One day more would have been better, because I want to discover Australia, but I saw kangaroos, koalas, etc.

Concerts with JoMo

• Dances with JoMo entertained me.
• JoMo was excellent. The location was excellent (on the Mall).
• It was a brilliant idea to bring JoMo.
• The singing/concert made me happy.
• Of course I very much enjoyed JoMo when he presented his concert.
• I very much enjoyed the music of JoMo – full of life!
• JoMo was spectacular! Excellent singer, who really energetically encouraged us.
• The wonderful, friendly participation of JoMo, which hopefully will help to attract new students of Esperanto, was very valuable.
• A high point of the congress was of course the concerts of JoMo.
• JoMo made good entertainment and did energetic work – congratulations to him for his contribution.

Lectures and other items

• Lectures were awesome; I learned quite a bit and particularly liked the lecture “Isms in art”.
• I enjoyed the games evening of course.
• I found the presentations informative and interesting because of the topics and the performances.
• It was good to have very different lectures.
• The lectures consisted of a mix of subjects, but also of course with a mixture of speaking abilities.
• I really enjoyed the lectures, especially those of Jonathan, Andrew, Terry and Erlangga.
• Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time and effort to entertain us.
• The diversity of the lectures really satisfied me.

Final comments and advice

• Thanks to the board, which did serious work. The idea to invite JoMo was very good.
• Thank you for the music and the songs, and for the organisation.
• Have a congress in another part of Australia to visit!
• I thank the board members for ten good days.
• It would be helpful if we used a whiteboard for messages to all.
• I heard about Esperanto a long time ago, but it was this congress which showed the way to Esperanto learning. I’m sure I’ll continue my passion for Esperanto. Thank you.
• Maybe you could have some kind of email group like Yahoo Groups for answers to questions from participants.
• Name badges should be in larger letters.
• If you have a choir, they have to learn new popular songs, or not sing in public.
• Come to the summer school in the future – be surprised!
• I think the best suggestion that I can make is that for I and many others to attend the 2018 congress.
• Keep using AEA funds to invite overseas experts to present, to enrich our country.
• I will promote your congress.
• I look forward to the upcoming congresses.
• For 2018, I suggest bringing 20 dancers from the Paris Lido, with feathers. It would be a nice effect on the Mall.