The famous red phone box!

I breathed a sense of relief when the cabin crew announced we were about to land into Gatwick airport. After being boxed in for more than 7 hours and feeling claustrophobic, I couldn’t have been happier to hear the announcement. I took the first available flight from Kathmandu to Doha and onwards to Gatwick to make it to the annual WTW conference which I had already missed by a day. Better late than never, as they say, this trip was an experience and one to cherish.

Some hints of drizzle welcomed my arrival in London. I could sense the England winter. The cold weather though, wore off after getting a warm welcome by Alison. Straight from Gatwick airport it was to 95, Ditchling Road, Brighton…our head office where the conference was being held. Arriving Brighton was like stepping into history. Medieval yet modern and hip Brighton was calm, laid back and colourful.  Finally, into the office, there were oodles of hi s and hellos and handshakes followed – meeting everyone from WTW head office and program managers from Argentina and Ghana.   A few minutes after feeling a bit foreign in the room, i got myself acclimatized. The conference began with several meetings, brainstorming, exchanging ideas and views and presentation on different programs. Besides presenting Nepal to all the other staff it was good to know about other programs and how each program was so unique. The best part of the day for me however, was in the evening to be able to retire back to bed. I was sort of jet-lagged and tired; I had to hit the sack!

(more…)