Last week, I went for a conference in Virginia Tech. It's situated in Blacksburg, a small town pretty much in the middle of nowhere. So it's a bit hard to get to there. I flew to Charlotte airport and drove 3 hours up to Blacksburg. I'd arrive pretty late, so I wanted to be inconspicuous on the road. My reserved ford focus was not available so they gave me a Mustang! I associate Mustangs with cheap show-offs and it certainly attracted attention. So just like that, my plan to be inconspicuous went up in flames. As I was driving, I felt like I was in 'no country for old men'. A bit scared. If it was a good drive then I'd be ok, but the stupid thing had no power (I thought it's supposed to be all about power). On the freeway it didn't seem to want to go over 70mph. And when climbing a hill, speed dropped fast - pushing the gas pedal lead to at least a 3 seconds delay, so just like in cycling I anticipate hills when driving this thing. And while descending, speed accumulated fast - dangerously. I was listening to the radio to keep myself from dozing off, but the stations were all country music (which I like but it does not wake me up) and at one point, the only station that was in reception was a religious station, where the songs had God, savior and Jesus in them and later the host was discussing the bible....I arrived at the hotel at around midnight and was exhausted. Spending a whole day travelling is so tiring and such a waste of time.
The next day I registered for the conference, they gave each of us a BPA free water bottle. This was to be used for water filling stations around campus, they had filtered water and had a digital count of how many plastic bottles have been saved from landfills by using them. I love this. Anyway, fast forward to my talk....
My talk was in the morning, in my session there were 4 speakers, I was the third. I arrived early to upload my talk onto the central computer with the help of a volunteer. After I was done setting up my presentation, the girl who was volunteering came back to ask me where I was from 'because you are so pretty'. I don't know if this is advantageous in the research industry, cos I think it just makes me look stupid. At the end of my talk, I was answering a question from an old professor, I'm pretty sure he just smirked at my answer. My talk went pretty good. There was some problems with displays due to transfer from mac to pc, I'll convert everything to pdf next time. I'm pretty surprised, because as I was waiting for my turn to talk, my heart was pounding, however as soon as I got up and began talking, I was completely at ease. This is certainly a good practice run for my upcoming more important talk.
During the conference, I tried to go to talks, but if I wasn't interested in the topic to begin with - it just gets so boring to the point where I had to catch myself from falling asleep. It's very one dimensional. I like poster sessions more, where there was a huge selection of topics and I can ask questions. I love asking questions. There was a guy who was presenting something that I used to work on, so I asked him a few questions. He was pretty rude and acted like my questions were rudimentary and trivial - actually I don't think he even took the time to listen to them. Later he found out that I was from Caltech - the change in expression was priceless and everything I say was now analyzed word by word and so meaningful.
I talked with some of the company representatives at the booths. The companies were DASF, Dew and P & F. They all don't do pharmaceutical research. Apparently from insider information, the big companies are all waiting for each other to make the first move and once they make a profit, the others would follow suit. There was a guy at DASF who worked in both Germany and US, I asked him what are the differences between working in these countries. He told me some differences but said that he was amazed people in both countries just love to work, they'd work over time just cos they love what they are doing! He was so excited when he said this. Perhaps it's just me, but the thought of working over hours does not turn me on the slightest.
I had a few hours to spare so I went for a hike to Cascade Falls. It's listed as a must visit for anyone in the Blacksburg area. The hike was indeed very beautiful, much better than what LA can offer and comparable to NZ. I went on the lower trail, jumping over rocks was fun. But soon, I got extremely bored, yet if I stop and look closely around me - nature is so fascinating in itself.
Then it was time for me to drive back to the airport. I drove through Blue Ridge Parkway, it was absolutely beautiful. As I was driving through this amazing landscape and listening to country music - I was sure that I'd miss America. One of the main reasons why I want to move to Germany is because people there are more straightforward and not fake. Yet, the small towns that I have been to, Portland Oregon and now Blacksburg Virginia, people are genuinely nice and there is no pretense. Also people are respectable towards others. For instance, while driving, they'd change lanes if they are holding up someone and while hiking, they'd make sure that they don't get into other people's way. Not like most people in LA, who feels that their presence needs to be felt by the entire universe. My previous judgement of America being fake was definitely too general. So now I'm actually at a toss up between whether moving to Germany or stay in the US. It's not a good feeling to have so many options, because I always doubt whether I'm making or have made the best decision. Anyway, we'll see how everything pans out.
The next day I registered for the conference, they gave each of us a BPA free water bottle. This was to be used for water filling stations around campus, they had filtered water and had a digital count of how many plastic bottles have been saved from landfills by using them. I love this. Anyway, fast forward to my talk....
My talk was in the morning, in my session there were 4 speakers, I was the third. I arrived early to upload my talk onto the central computer with the help of a volunteer. After I was done setting up my presentation, the girl who was volunteering came back to ask me where I was from 'because you are so pretty'. I don't know if this is advantageous in the research industry, cos I think it just makes me look stupid. At the end of my talk, I was answering a question from an old professor, I'm pretty sure he just smirked at my answer. My talk went pretty good. There was some problems with displays due to transfer from mac to pc, I'll convert everything to pdf next time. I'm pretty surprised, because as I was waiting for my turn to talk, my heart was pounding, however as soon as I got up and began talking, I was completely at ease. This is certainly a good practice run for my upcoming more important talk.
During the conference, I tried to go to talks, but if I wasn't interested in the topic to begin with - it just gets so boring to the point where I had to catch myself from falling asleep. It's very one dimensional. I like poster sessions more, where there was a huge selection of topics and I can ask questions. I love asking questions. There was a guy who was presenting something that I used to work on, so I asked him a few questions. He was pretty rude and acted like my questions were rudimentary and trivial - actually I don't think he even took the time to listen to them. Later he found out that I was from Caltech - the change in expression was priceless and everything I say was now analyzed word by word and so meaningful.
I talked with some of the company representatives at the booths. The companies were DASF, Dew and P & F. They all don't do pharmaceutical research. Apparently from insider information, the big companies are all waiting for each other to make the first move and once they make a profit, the others would follow suit. There was a guy at DASF who worked in both Germany and US, I asked him what are the differences between working in these countries. He told me some differences but said that he was amazed people in both countries just love to work, they'd work over time just cos they love what they are doing! He was so excited when he said this. Perhaps it's just me, but the thought of working over hours does not turn me on the slightest.
I had a few hours to spare so I went for a hike to Cascade Falls. It's listed as a must visit for anyone in the Blacksburg area. The hike was indeed very beautiful, much better than what LA can offer and comparable to NZ. I went on the lower trail, jumping over rocks was fun. But soon, I got extremely bored, yet if I stop and look closely around me - nature is so fascinating in itself.
Then it was time for me to drive back to the airport. I drove through Blue Ridge Parkway, it was absolutely beautiful. As I was driving through this amazing landscape and listening to country music - I was sure that I'd miss America. One of the main reasons why I want to move to Germany is because people there are more straightforward and not fake. Yet, the small towns that I have been to, Portland Oregon and now Blacksburg Virginia, people are genuinely nice and there is no pretense. Also people are respectable towards others. For instance, while driving, they'd change lanes if they are holding up someone and while hiking, they'd make sure that they don't get into other people's way. Not like most people in LA, who feels that their presence needs to be felt by the entire universe. My previous judgement of America being fake was definitely too general. So now I'm actually at a toss up between whether moving to Germany or stay in the US. It's not a good feeling to have so many options, because I always doubt whether I'm making or have made the best decision. Anyway, we'll see how everything pans out.
I forgot to mention that there are many tall, fit and manly guys in VT. It's so refreshing to see that there are NORMAL people out there - yep, I need to get out of here asap :)
