International Federation of Hard of Hearing Congress 2008-- Part 1

This is just a quick recap of the IFHOH. (International Federation of Hard of Hearing) Congress in Vancouver, BC.

Since I hate driving in Vancouver, and didn't want to mess with long lines over the border crossing during TWO Independence Day holidays, I took the train. The IFHOH began a day after Canadian Independence Day and ended a day after US Independence Day. The train proved to be a perfect choice for my commute, as I enjoyed a relaxing ride sipping coffee while watching scenic beach views stream past the snack bar window. I had programmed my MP3 with soft rock and bought new noise reduction headphones just for this. Eventually the gentle swaying of the train along with warm coffee in my belly put me to sleep, and before long I had arrived at the train station in downtown Vancouver.

Two interesting things happened on my journey. First, I told the porter I couldn't hear well as I boarded the train. He smiled and made a concerted effort to talk directly to my face. For emphasis he pointed in hand gestures when indicating the way to my seat and where to put my suit case. He also clearly explained where the dining care and rest rooms were, again pointing while facing me to make sure I understood. I am not new to train travel and didn't need all the attention, but I appreciated his courtesy. Second, as I went through customs, I had to tell a border guard I couldn't hear well when she began grilling me on why I was visiting. Like the porter, she looked directly at me, enunciated clearly and talked slowly, then she actually SIGNED "thank you" as I walked away. That made my day. I had the feeling train staff and customs had been put on notice many deaf and hard-of-hearing would be traveling north from the states.

Canadian friend Lorne waited on the other side of customs to greet me when I walked through the gate. He grabbed my bag and off we went to the beautiful Wall Center in downtown Vancouver for registration. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures at the Convention, other than those of Kate with HER camera, who will be writing up her experience for a magazine-- but this picture was taken a week later at the SWC Philly Con where he attended, again with me. We took a quick lunch before returning to the train station to pick up Kate and Ann, who also came by train. While they settled in, Lorne and I hit the wine and cheese welcome party. We had hoped there would be enough food to call it a dinner, but we barely managed a few small slices of cheese before the food ran out. The room was crowded with people from all over the world. Later at opening ceremonies we learned over 27 different countries were represented. It was the largest recorded gathering of deaf/HH in Canada's history. People spoke in other languages and signed everywhere.

The opening ceremonies had CART in English (the official language of IFHOH) on three large screens. With the room filled to capacity, I ended up standing in the back straining to see. CHHA went all out welcoming everyone. They even had one CART devoted to Japanese, (or maybe Chinese-- I was never sure which.) Representatives from all 27 countries were called up, each waving their respective flags. Then the ceremony ended with a native drum march of Canada's "First Peoples." Hearing loss and deafness isn't confined to one nation or one race. We are a nation unto ourselves. During the next four days I would come to feel a bond with people from all over the globe as we examined each other's technological gadgets, and shared our concerns, hopes and dreams for a barrier-free world.

After the ceremony we rushed out to browse the vendor booths brimming with freebies. One woman from Sweden demonstrated a computer program she had developed for teaching lip-reading skills. While I found the concept fascinating, I already lip read quite well and wasn't interested in spending $110.00 on it-- though it was a very good piece of software and would be helpful to someone who has trouble lip-reading. Another booth featured little balls that you put on the feet of chairs called "hush-ups". They looked exactly like blue tennis balls, and Lorne joked he had a basket of old tennis balls somewhere he could put to better use. Many other booths were devoted to hearing aids, loops, phone systems, alarms and alerting devices, hearing dogs, medical ID bracelets, and basically anything you can think of relating to hearing loss.

We rushed through the exhibits as it became more crowded and noisy. I felt like I was on noise overload. We grabbed a cup of coffee and headed down to the beach within walking distance of the hotel. Noting the many coffee shops along the way, I made the remark that Vancouver is just like Seattle only full of Canadians. At the beach we walked around a bit more, socialized with other deaf/hh people and finally drove back to his house-- where I stayed. Lorne's wife Joanne and their little puppy, Hunter, greeted us at the door. Next, their earless cat, Tux, wandered into the room to see all the commotion. We went to bed early in order to get up for the Plenary Session next day.

Stay tuned for Day Two!