An early present

Well, here we are exactly one month before Christmas. And I have the feeling I have already received some great presents.

Let me digress for a moment. Bloggers are often lonely and insecure people. We write but aren't sure exactly who is reading, as I have mentioned before.

Occasionally, we receive feedback in the form of online comments or e-mails. But, for most of us, this doesn't happen as often as we would like.

So, I was delighted — and amazed — to find a teacher from eastern Europe recently who said she reads every one of my blog posts over breakfast with her coffee. She even knew my parrot economist Maynard and had watched his video.

I met the woman — who I will simply call "Dr I." so as not to embarass her — at last weekend's BESIG conference in Poznan, Poland. BESIG is the Business English Special Interest Group of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL).

At the conference, around 350 participants — teachers, trainers, authors and publishers — discussed the latest trends in Business English. The conference was kicked-off by Business English expert Vicki Hollett, as my colleague Deborah Capras discussed yesterday.

Poznan was an excellent choice for the conference. It is a city with a rich history of business and the area is the birthplace of Poland, the only country in the EU whose economy has grown in 2009.

The conference was held at the superb Poznan University of Economics, and at the opening ceremony, vice-rector Maciej Zukowski made clear the importance of foreign langauges for a country that earns 40 per cent of its gross domestic product from exports.

Being in Poland was a present in itself — my first visit after living 20 years in Germany. Another present was meeting so many inspiring and enthusiastic conference participants. And, I will admit it, it was a present to come across someone who reads my blog so enthusiastically.

"Do you know which of your posts I liked best?" Dr I. asked me. I thought for a moment immodestly: probably one of my incisive analyses of the world economy. Or one of my brilliant explanations of economics via our Economics for Amateurs series. (Yes, that was irony, something we Brits are famous for.)

Before I could think further, Dr I. smiled and disillusioned me. "It was the one about Ronnie O'Sullivan. My dad's a snooker fan." O'Sullivan is a snooker world champion who I failed to recognize on a plane and whom I asked probably the most embarrassing question of my life.

My feet are now firmly back down to earth. But many thanks to you, Dr I., for your great feedback. I hope you — and all the other participants — enjoyed the rest of the conference.