Out of my league

There I was...smack dab in the middle of a place that I quickly realized that I did not want to be. A few weeks ago Mar and I went to the almighty FOREIGN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION OF MISSOURI conference at Osage Beach, MO. The atmosphere was really pretty. The Lodge of the Four Seasons, where the conference was held, was on a high bluff over looking one of the Lake of the Ozark arms. The hotel itself was a little outdated, but it was still nice. Anyhow, back to being out of my league. I was feeling pretty confident about myself and the opportunity for me to learn some teaching tricks. However, as we pulled into the resort area I started seeing the people that would be at this conference with me. They immediately struck fear into my soft heart. All I saw were waves of old ladies in their dress suits made of what I like to call curtain material. You know like in the Sound of Music when what's her bucket makes new clothes for the children out of the curtains in her room. Their outfits were all flowery and basically said, "HEY, LOOK AT ME. I'M A TEACHER", which is all fine and dandy, but they were everywhere! I felt like I had to ask permission to go potty. What made it even worse is that my attire was a little more casual. I was sporting some faded blue jeans, a t-shirt, and my Huskers hat. I feared that they may not let me in, swat my hand with an old ruler, or even worse, make me write an essay on proper teacher conference etiquette. Not only were they adorned in their flowery garb, but they ALL toted the small luggage bags with wheels full of their teacher supplies I must assume. I had to scrounge around for a pen in the car! It was definitely an eye-opening experience. Turns out they did not tease me or burn me at the stake or anything, which is good, but I for one will not be attending another FLAM conference in the near future, atleast until I can bum one of Ken's polyester "old man" suits from him so that I can fit in.