Ode to Public Transportation
Actually, I think the title of this post should be "Ode to Public Transportation, Part 2" as I'm sure I've proclaimed my love for it here before.
Anyway.
I'm back from my conference in San Francisco and it was terrific. First of all, these annual conferences are actually reunions with the people I went to school with and worked with. It's just so great to see everyone again, catch up on how they're doing, talk about their research, and do things like crash publisher's parties (open bar!).
The conference was also great because I got to network a little. It's hard for me because I'm actually quite shy, but I made some friends at this conference. One was a super-friendly guy I was on a panel with and we had a lot of research in common. Another was a professor who blew me away with how she talked about teaching, so I went up after her talk and basically fangirled her. She was awesome.
I saw some great research and some great presentations. I also saw one batshit crazy lady whose presented research like a rabid dog snapping at the air around her. Now, academics aren't the most socially savvy of people, but we can respect good research. Her "research" was just as crazy as her presentation. I actually got angry at her lack of research. I wonder if she has tenure or if she's just a crazy person who wandered into the conference. Hmm...
I also got to have an informal interview with an employer. The conference set up an employment exchange for universities that are hiring and for people looking for jobs. I signed up for this interview and I think it went really well. It was supposed to be a 20 minute conversation where I talk about what I can bring to a department and the representative tells me about the job. I came early and since the person I met with didn't have another interview for a while, I stayed for almost 40 minutes talking about the position. It was great! I'm being cautiously optimistic about this, but she did say, "You'll be hearing from me." I think I made the short list for the phone interview, in any case. Yay!
But on to the title of this post. Since my hotel was 2 miles away from the hotel the conference was at, and since I'm broke, I learned the public transportation routes I needed to get around. Once I figured it out, I could just sit back and watch the city. It was so COOL! My bus, the 30 Stockton, took me through the heart of Chinatown. I got to see people doing Tai Chi in the park in the morning and the awesome colorful shops and grocers and restaurants. I also go to see how the city is set up on those steep hills. It was wonderful.
As much as public transportation can suck, I've always really liked it. I feel like I don't really get to know a city without it.
TLDR: I had a good trip.
Anyway.
I'm back from my conference in San Francisco and it was terrific. First of all, these annual conferences are actually reunions with the people I went to school with and worked with. It's just so great to see everyone again, catch up on how they're doing, talk about their research, and do things like crash publisher's parties (open bar!).
The conference was also great because I got to network a little. It's hard for me because I'm actually quite shy, but I made some friends at this conference. One was a super-friendly guy I was on a panel with and we had a lot of research in common. Another was a professor who blew me away with how she talked about teaching, so I went up after her talk and basically fangirled her. She was awesome.
I saw some great research and some great presentations. I also saw one batshit crazy lady whose presented research like a rabid dog snapping at the air around her. Now, academics aren't the most socially savvy of people, but we can respect good research. Her "research" was just as crazy as her presentation. I actually got angry at her lack of research. I wonder if she has tenure or if she's just a crazy person who wandered into the conference. Hmm...
I also got to have an informal interview with an employer. The conference set up an employment exchange for universities that are hiring and for people looking for jobs. I signed up for this interview and I think it went really well. It was supposed to be a 20 minute conversation where I talk about what I can bring to a department and the representative tells me about the job. I came early and since the person I met with didn't have another interview for a while, I stayed for almost 40 minutes talking about the position. It was great! I'm being cautiously optimistic about this, but she did say, "You'll be hearing from me." I think I made the short list for the phone interview, in any case. Yay!
But on to the title of this post. Since my hotel was 2 miles away from the hotel the conference was at, and since I'm broke, I learned the public transportation routes I needed to get around. Once I figured it out, I could just sit back and watch the city. It was so COOL! My bus, the 30 Stockton, took me through the heart of Chinatown. I got to see people doing Tai Chi in the park in the morning and the awesome colorful shops and grocers and restaurants. I also go to see how the city is set up on those steep hills. It was wonderful.
As much as public transportation can suck, I've always really liked it. I feel like I don't really get to know a city without it.
TLDR: I had a good trip.