My American Adventure: Workshop in Port Washington pt 1

I'm still buzzing from the Family Court and Dilemmas of Shared Parenting workshop I attended in Port Washington earlier today. Last week I was told I would be attending the workshop. I didn't know what to expect but I knew that I would benefit from it.
Port Washington is in Long Island and close to the sea. I was super excited, especially because the workshop was being held at a yacht club.

I still thought it would be a casual affair so I didn't dress smart. How wrong was I. Although most of the women were dressed casually in maxi dresses, simple blouse and trousers, the men wore shirts, trousers and some wore suit and tie. I didn't feel out of a place though, I am just glad I didn't opt to wear jeans. That would have been too casual!

I enjoyed my walk from the station to the venue. I was in awe with the shops, houses and streets around me. It reminded me of  Arnold and Beeston Town Centre in my home city Nottingham. The town centre has a similar layout.

The houses were big and the neighbourhoods were quiet. It definitely looked like an area for people with a lot of money. There were a lot of big cars like Cadillacs, Jeeps and Range Rovers and other nice cars. particularly liked the look of the condos that were by the sea!

I loved the yacht club. It was very fancy inside and I started to imagine the kind of people that are members of this club. There was a tennis court and a lovely balcony outside of the building. I didn't take pictures inside because it would have been bad etiquette. There is a time and place to take pictures and inside of the building and during the workshop just wasn't the place..

 I arrived a little late so everyone had already started eating but as it was a lunch buffet, I was told to just go and help myself. There were waiters around taking drink orders and clearing our tables. Watching them reminded of my waitressing days.

The food was really nice, I particularly liked the tuna salad and the chicken salad but it wasn't like the ones I'm used to - it was a posh version lol but I enjoyed it.
There was a mixture of people from different professions at the workshop, mostly legal practitioners, mental health professionals, psychologists, social workers, judges, attorneys and university professors - approximately 200 people attended.

The workshop was organized by a family law firm and conducted by a family court judge and a law professor.I learned so much from the both of them about new proposals from the courts, what the judge requires from those who are dealing with family court proceedings and building a case and how to help your client deal with the divorce proceedings and custody battle they are in, for the best interests of the child(ren).

I want to share with you some of the things that I learned from both a legal and moral aspect but I'll have to write a separate blog post for that so I don't make this one too long.