Report from Boston

It was a big year for SIUC, since the President of TESOL, Mark Algren, former Saluki and proud Saluki, extolled the virtues of SIUC in all his speeches; he handed over the reigns to a new president, but not without letting everyone know how proud he was to be a loyal Saluki alum.

The reunion was well-attended; it included Chip Bozek (from Japan), Margi Wald (from Berkeley CA), and Gary Linebaugh, Miho Hamamoto, Paul Angelis, Marilyn Rivers, Cheryl Ernst, Miranda Ma, and yours truly, all from SIUC. A good lunch and visit was had by all.

At TESOL but unable to attend the reunion, were Mark Algren (Univ. of Kansas), Kim Wilhelm (Macao), and Ditlev Larsen (Winona State Univ., MN); Colleen Brice was there, I heard, but I never saw her. All these people said: Please say hello to everyone! Loyal Salukis who miss us all!

Some people wrote with their regrets, but said hello anyway. These included Julie Bird (UAE), Lynne Davis (Carbondale), Keith Kennetz (UAE) and Nellie Corbit-Smith (Tennessee).

Two other letters deserve notice since they included reports. One was from Inju Moon, who is teaching freshman English in Jinju, Korea, and is coming to NYC and Raleigh, NC in June and July; she'd be interested in contacting anyone from her years at SIUC (2003-4), possibly through Facebook. Another was from Connie Wieck, who works with the Amity Foundation and is now posted in a rural village in China, about an hour from the Vietnam border. Her blog is here, and she'd love to stay in touch with everyone!

Next year in New Orleans!