Travel Work :-)

Hello there,

if you've been following this blog for a while you know that i've been travelling quite a lot with my last job in the petroleum industry. Well, since a bit more than a year i have a new job where i can use my brain again. Good fun. More and more interesting the more i get into it. Mmmh, heuristics.

Anyways, right now i am on my first business travel with my current job. And it's wonderful. I am participating in a conference in Bonn, Germany. Not just any conference, but "the biggest of its kind outside of the US" as i've been told. Some numbers:

• 2500 participants, three days
  
• 2000 talks
• 45 sessions in parallel

There's more, but well here's official information. What can i say, it's wonderful. More than two thousand people, all working in my field, i.e. Operations Research. Gives you quite a boost in motivation. So many interesting sessions, it's hard to pick which ones to attend. I already listened to a nobel prize laureate and a guy who wrote a graphic novel called Logicomix. The latter one also talked about sex and optimization there (don't ask, no idea).

My own talk was also an interesting experience. I had about 20 to 30 people in the auditory. More than expected, considering the fact that it was in the first session on Monday morning, even before the official opening session. And i learned afterwards that this was quite good. I've been to other talks of people way more clever and well-known than myself and they only talked in rooms where not more than 15 people fit in. I guess it's because i'm working in aiport operations. Lots of airport talks here, a lot of work going on.
Just a great feeling that so many people all over Europe and the world work in the same field. I even attended a stream where the chair was one of the guys who wrote the 'airport bible'. Prestigious. Love this event.

Some words about the cultural programme: if you know me well, you might have a hard time believing that i skipped the welcome dinner at a traditional German beergarden. But yes, i didn't go there. But i did go to the concert of classical music on the next day in the Beethovenhalle. Fancy. And i was at the conference dinner which took place on a big boat on the river Rhine.

Speaking of Beethoven: he was born here in Bonn. So they are very proud of him, and for good reason, i guess. Lots of stuff called Beethoven-something. Coming from Vienna i just had to think of what my music teacher told me in high-school: "A genius can be born in the smallest, most remote hicksville, but where she/he dies is far more interesting" since that is a question of choice, i mean, where they move. Guess what we have in Vienna =)

And some words about Germans: it's almost too cliche how much they do follow rules. Like, waiting for the pedestrians' traffic light to turn green. Even if there is no car near and it takes the light forever to switch to green. But well, that's a good thing, i guess.
Speaking about traffic lights: creeping me out. I mean, that it switches from green light to red without any warning. I think it's a particular Austrian thing that there is some green blinking before that. But i found myself quite confused in the middle of the street: you don't look at the traffic light for a moment while walking and suddenly it's red and you have no idea if you should run or not. Well, i got to used to living in Austria again, i guess ;-)
One more traffic thing: even Mercedes cabs stop to let pedestrians cross the street here. Never happens in Vienna. I even more or less signaled the car that i don't want to cross but still it stopped without complaining and waited till i was at the other side of the street. Very brave.

So much from my first conference, yippiiieee, love it!

Keep on working in jobs that you enjoy, everyone,

Cheers
CGA