Thank you, Vishaka and Ronald! I think we're going to go. :-)
On 9/3/2024 12:16 AM, Ronald Koh wrote:
You do not need to be literate in Italian ti enjoyself. Many of the
attendees speak English. Most, if not all, classes are either
conducted in English or have someone doing real-time translations.
On Tue, 3 Sept 2024, 07:10 wanderer via Origami,
<origami@lists.digitalorigami.com> wrote:
Hi Mike, so wonderful to hear that you’ll be visiting CDO this
year - or rather, considering it. I went one year when it was held
at a hot springs place up north (I’m forgetting the name now,
sorry!) but we got there by train from Rome to Bologna (i think)
and then a cab ride (cause there had been some rail accident
then…). It was a lovely adventure and my very very limited broken
Italian in no way was an issue. Everywhere we went ppl were so
helpful and our hand signs and my Italian travel language book
guided us. Now of course Google translate etc is easily available
and communicating would be much easier. (I went to Turkey in April
2022 and Google translate was so great!)
But beyond that, the CDO folks and all the convention attendees
were so much fun and helpful and friendly that we didn’t feel like
we were left out or we didn’t understand something. There was
always someone willing to explain or translate. And a lot of
convention time is spent folding so that helps… as we share a
universal language.
My mum attended the CDO with us that year and i think she spent
time seeing the exhibit and meeting other non-folders… i believe
she enjoyed herself too. I don’t know if that town has a lot of
sight-seeing places but the hotel itself was a special one that
had hot springs below and so we all got to enjoy the spa at some
point!
I really hope you go. For me, not knowing a language is not a
deterrent. I just bumble along with the handful of words i know
and i try with Google translate now, and that makes the journey so
enjoyable. If somebody tried to speak my language, however broken,
I’d appreciate it too.
If i may add a little story from my trip. We took a train from
Rome to Bologna; it was a 4- or 5-hour journey and we were amongst
mainly Italians. I don’t think i saw too many foreigners on that
train. There was some confusion about seats and numbers when we
got on to the train, but a lovely family with two young boys
helped us… and they didn’t know English and we didn’t know
Italian. Once we were all settled in to our seats, my father and i
started folding… how else to help the time pass on a long train
journey?! At some point early on, the two young boys saw the
colorful paper and that we were folding and were curious and came
sat next to us. With gestures and in Italian (probably saying)
“hey can we learn and fold with you?” - there isn’t a more lovely
origami setup than that!!! “Of course! We can fold!” And so we
started folding and i taught them all the simple models i knew…
trying to speak math terms in Italian like for square or diagonal
- but mainly relying on origami’s silent but effective language of
just folding and showing! It’s been many years now since that
train journey and i don’t remember all the models we folded but
those 4- 5- hours just slipped by! At the end of it, i remember
telling the older brother that he now had a little paper treasure
with him but i kept using the wrong word for treasure… and they
kept looking at me confounded… i think i was saying tresor but the
word is tesoro. I was remembering the title of a museum exhibit in
Rome about “treasure of Vatican“ or something but that was also
spelled differently. In anycase, after wrangling with words,
finally the boy said “tesoro!!!” and he got it and his big smile
is a lovely memory from that afternoon on the train.
Please forgive any facts that i may have gotten wrong about place
names etc; that CDO convention was in 2013!!!
Mike, if you do decide to attend this year, I’m sure you’ll have a
wonderful time. All the models you fold and teach will be a
beautiful thing to share and i hope your wife will enjoy it all too!!!
(And did i mention that you’ll be in Italy, with delicious food to
savor each meal??? 😀 )
Best,
Vishakha
Pune, India
.
On Sep 2, 2024, at 22:47, Mike Naughton via Origami
<origami@lists.digitalorigami.com> wrote:
Hello,
I'm considering attending the CDO convention this year, but I
don't speak Italian. From what I read, the location, Tirrenia, has
a history of American presence dating back many years, so perhaps
only speaking English will not be a problem? Also, my wife will be
with me, and she is not a folder, so she will likely want to
wander and see the sights during the day.
I'm curious to hear about the experiences of others who may have
been to CDO conventions. Thank you in advance for sharing your
thoughts.
Mike Naughton
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