Spent much of the day rewriting the article I took the conference for possible publication in a journal. Even after my experience I'm still not convinced the *journal* will want it as untechnical as it is. But I'll play the game till the end and they reject me rather than just give up.

As part of the project I'm working on that took me abroad, I met a local imam today. In our brief chat during which I'm not entirely sure I explained what I was doing in a way that he comprehended, he did complain about the difficulties he has spiritually over the way women in the UK dress. (i.e. skimpily at this time of year).

He was rather surprised to find that actually I quite agreed with him.

(This wasn't to suggest I hasten to add that I don't think women should dress how they wish, just that I'm not entirely sure they understand just how it effects men in general. Or if they do fully get that, are being unkind in abusing the freedom in a way that would be completely unacceptable if the shoe were, as it were, on the other foot).

On leave all next week and most of next - don't expect any posts! :-)

Our new Head, (my boss promoted), has been meeting each member of staff for half an hour 'to get to know them'. Of course, as she's been doing my appraisals these last three years, my meeting was more a chat than anything more formal. But interesting to see how she's beginning to get her feet under the desk as it were. Certainly nothing immediately dramatic or worrisome which is probably a relief to most people. Although I took the opportunity to point out that under the previous Head we had something of a reputation for being, perhaps, overly cautious.

Bookgroup this month on The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad. Very 'bookgroup' type of book but spoiled the run of favorites. This wasn't widely loved.

Back at work again. More's the pity.

I think I could have stayed forever. Am I allowed to admit to having far too much fun for something that was ostensibly work? My boss has already taken me aside to make it clear that the outgoing Head was probably demob happy when he signed the ok - so I doubt I'll be doing anything of the sort again. Still, at least I enjoyed it while I could. Still can't quite believe I was able to go at all.

The travel worked out brilliantly. I also managed to survive the heat which on some days was roasting. And throughout was nice. (One rain shower in Prague but it gave my guide and I time in a pub to chat and find out that he'd managed to get a job already on the basis of some of the English I'd been teaching him!).

The conference went well:
- my paper seemed to go down ok even though it wasn't anywhere near as technical as almost everything else (but maybe as I went first they were still getting used to everything)
- I was told I'd represented my own Uni very well
- going first in my track I learned I was to be the 'chair' of the session and then had extra speakers slotted in so had to cut people short. Went ok after I got everyone to agree that it just had to be done
- scored bonus points for being able to thank each speaker in their own language (I lucked out really)
- interesting to note some very technical and incomprehensible papers, some presented in very accessible ways, the remainder somewhere in between
- had a couple of extracurricular tours and ended up 'leading' one of the tours when it turned out the guide didn't speak much English but had a script... great fun
- Uni conference suite very nice
- managed to visit the Uni library (just - it was only open once due to summer hours)

The tourist side went well as well:
- several marvellous days in beautiful Prague (and Kutna Hora) with two great guides
- discovering how good (and cheap) Czech (and other European trains) were
- trip to Auschwitz - not easy but worth doing when only two hours away
- returning from Poland revisited Cesky Tesin which I last passed through nearly quarter of a century ago
- finding the 1000+ words of Czech I'd made the effort to learn more than repaid the time and energy it took to batter them into my brain. Shame that will probably last about two minutes.

But the highlights were meeting up with the two friends I knew in the country and meeting their friends and so on. Visiting A's home village and feeling spoken too very clearly by God about his love across time and space (or at least geography) and language barriers.

I have a feeling it will be a while before I match that trip for fun and learning and interest and excitement. No wonder work seems rather, bleah as Snoopy says.