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user1877
user1877

Having been to quite a few of them myself, I concur that it's not really for beginners. The level is high in many respects, both linguistically, culturally and socially. It's friendly and you'll be welcome, but you won't "get it". The UKs have developed into some kind of archaic tradition in their own right, I'd say. There are often four or more events taking place at the same time, and the venues are usually quite big, so finding what you want is not entirely easy, even for an old-timer.

The main reason from the beginning was the political aspect of making decisions by the "komitato", which structurally is a parallel to a parliament for a country. Komitatanoj (PMs) are spread all over and the UK (Universala Kongreso) is The Place for them to officially meet to discuss and decide.

Also from the get go, the UK was about tourism and culture, because in those days travel was slow and going abroad was a fad, so many (presumably mainly) men being komitatanoj, they wanted to bring their wives. And these had to have something to do during the komitato sessions.

It's still quite gruesome to be a komitatano, to hear them say it, because they are in meeting most of the time, while other kongresanoj are having fun. Or, not so fun, really. It's quite stressful at times, trying to decide between three really interesting lectures while someone from the other side of the globe wants you to come with them for a chat. And it's expensive.

Far better to attend some of the other events like JES in Germany or Poland, IJK (Internacia Junulara Kongreso) if you're younger than 30 yrs. There's more bang for the buck. Or any of hundreds of other events. There is always some kind of Esperanto event going on somewhere. Check out Eventa Servo

Having been to quite a few of them myself, I concur that it's not really for beginners. The level is high in many respects, both linguistically, culturally and socially. It's friendly and you'll be welcome, but you won't "get it". The UKs have developed into some kind of archaic tradition in their own right, I'd say. There are often four or more events taking place at the same time, and the venues are usually quite big, so finding what you want is not entirely easy, even for an old-timer.

The main reason from the beginning was the political aspect of making decisions by the "komitato", which structurally is a parallel to a parliament for a country. Komitatanoj (PMs) are spread all over and the UK (Universala Kongreso) is The Place for them to officially meet to discuss and decide.

Also from the get go, the UK was about tourism and culture, because in those days travel was slow and going abroad was a fad, so many (presumably mainly) men being komitatanoj, they wanted to bring their wives. And these had to have something to do during the komitato sessions.

It's still quite gruesome to be a komitatano, to hear them say it, because they are in meeting most of the time, while other kongresanoj are having fun. Or, not so fun, really. It's quite stressful at times, trying to decide between three really interesting lectures while someone from the other side of the globe wants you to come with them for a chat. And it's expensive.

Far better to attend some of the other events like JES in Germany or Poland, IJK (Internacia Junulara Kongreso) if you're younger than 30 yrs. There's more bang for the buck. Or any of hundreds of other events. There is always some kind of Esperanto event going on somewhere.

Having been to quite a few of them myself, I concur that it's not really for beginners. The level is high in many respects, both linguistically, culturally and socially. It's friendly and you'll be welcome, but you won't "get it". The UKs have developed into some kind of archaic tradition in their own right, I'd say. There are often four or more events taking place at the same time, and the venues are usually quite big, so finding what you want is not entirely easy, even for an old-timer.

The main reason from the beginning was the political aspect of making decisions by the "komitato", which structurally is a parallel to a parliament for a country. Komitatanoj (PMs) are spread all over and the UK (Universala Kongreso) is The Place for them to officially meet to discuss and decide.

Also from the get go, the UK was about tourism and culture, because in those days travel was slow and going abroad was a fad, so many (presumably mainly) men being komitatanoj, they wanted to bring their wives. And these had to have something to do during the komitato sessions.

It's still quite gruesome to be a komitatano, to hear them say it, because they are in meeting most of the time, while other kongresanoj are having fun. Or, not so fun, really. It's quite stressful at times, trying to decide between three really interesting lectures while someone from the other side of the globe wants you to come with them for a chat. And it's expensive.

Far better to attend some of the other events like JES in Germany or Poland, IJK (Internacia Junulara Kongreso) if you're younger than 30 yrs. There's more bang for the buck. Or any of hundreds of other events. There is always some kind of Esperanto event going on somewhere. Check out Eventa Servo

Source Link
user1877
user1877

Having been to quite a few of them myself, I concur that it's not really for beginners. The level is high in many respects, both linguistically, culturally and socially. It's friendly and you'll be welcome, but you won't "get it". The UKs have developed into some kind of archaic tradition in their own right, I'd say. There are often four or more events taking place at the same time, and the venues are usually quite big, so finding what you want is not entirely easy, even for an old-timer.

The main reason from the beginning was the political aspect of making decisions by the "komitato", which structurally is a parallel to a parliament for a country. Komitatanoj (PMs) are spread all over and the UK (Universala Kongreso) is The Place for them to officially meet to discuss and decide.

Also from the get go, the UK was about tourism and culture, because in those days travel was slow and going abroad was a fad, so many (presumably mainly) men being komitatanoj, they wanted to bring their wives. And these had to have something to do during the komitato sessions.

It's still quite gruesome to be a komitatano, to hear them say it, because they are in meeting most of the time, while other kongresanoj are having fun. Or, not so fun, really. It's quite stressful at times, trying to decide between three really interesting lectures while someone from the other side of the globe wants you to come with them for a chat. And it's expensive.

Far better to attend some of the other events like JES in Germany or Poland, IJK (Internacia Junulara Kongreso) if you're younger than 30 yrs. There's more bang for the buck. Or any of hundreds of other events. There is always some kind of Esperanto event going on somewhere.