First few days in Sweden

Well, I'm here in Sweden and finally blogging. I arrived on Saturday around 5 p.m. after nice, uneventful flights. At the airport, I met up with two men who were also attending the ISCRAM conference, one of whom will be the program chair next year when Mark, my adviser, will be conference chair. We had originally planned to meet the conference planners and chairs for this year's conference for dinner, but we had arrived too late to get out there in time. And I was jetlagged and hoping to turn in early if possible. So the three of us checked into our separate hotels and then met at a particular tram stop to go for dinner. We walked to a pub that had a proper restaurant upstairs. The restaurant served several types of salads and some sides and sauces buffet style, and you chose which type of grilled meat you wanted from the menu, and the meat was brought out, and you could add salads and sides from the buffet. I ordered salmon, and it was amazing. I think that was probably the best salmon I've ever had.

After dinner I took the tram back to the hotel....where I dropped off to sleep only to wake at 3 a.m. and stay awake until time to leave for the PhD colloquium the next day. Blergh. That's a pattern I followed last night as well, so now it's Monday, and I've had about 8 hours of sleep total since Friday. I am far too old to be so sleep deprived. But I shouldn't complain b/c the conference has been fascinating and the people friendly and kind and interesting, and it's not a high-pressure situation to attend a conference versus something like conducting interviews or other research. So I can listen and think and take notes even in my sleep-deprived state. :-)

I have spent almost all my daylight hours at the conference, so I don't have pics or fascinating "experiencing Sweden" stories yet. If the pattern continues, that will be fine b/c Heidi and I can explore and experience the city when she gets here. (Wheeee!) But here are some quick thoughts on Sweden so far: it's clean and cold and everyone speaks English and it's easy to get around and the buildings are lovely and old-looking for the most part and food is delicious. How's that for quick impressions? :-) I've seen a little graffitti when walking the streets but not much, and the public spaces seem very clean with no litter or standing trash. The weather is much chillier than I expected. The temp forecasts were similar to Seattle, but the sky is clear here and there is a brisk breeze. It must be the breeze that makes such a difference. But my coat is plenty sufficient, and it's comfortable to walk around if I bring my coat. The sidewalks are old-looking cobblestone that is worn pretty smooth, and many of the buildings are multi-story and slightly ornate and old fashioned-looking. Really pretty. I'll try to get out and take some pics, but the conference schedule is pretty solid all day long until dinner and then with dinner activities as well, so we'll see. It may be that you are stuck with text-heavy entries until the conference is over, but--hey, then we'll all look forward to Heidi's arrival: me for the company, her for the adventure, you for the pics. It's a win, win, win.

My hotel is nice and clean; the room itself is very small but looks cool. It has 2 twin beds that are made up separately but are pushed close together. There is no closet or wardrobe but a little hanging area with some hangers and a padded ottoman/bench with a drawer in it. There is a flat screen TV on the wall, but I haven't turned it on, so I don't know what the English-language selections are. I would assume there are plenty... The bath is small but so bright and clean. There is a pedestal sink and a shower but no tub. The bathroom is all tiled and bright, and the bedroom is carpeted with clean-lined furniture and white comforters on the bed. Okay, now I'm blathering on. Time to get to the next conference session. More from me later!