Last week I had the opportunity to attend a software conference in Szeged, Hungary, and I think this was one of the best experiences I've had so far in my PhD. The combination of interesting people, good talks and a nice environment, was totally worth the effort it took us to get there!.
It's really interesting how you can find people so similar to you, I mean, not only in the topics you like, but also on the subtle things that define who you are. For example, one day I was having meal with a couple of friends, and at one point, one of them said that she considered herself to be sort of an antisocial (to be honest, that's common in our field). The thing is that she said it so casually, that some of the other guys were shocked by her affirmation. They couldn't believe that she could talk about it so openly, and without feeling like she needed to justify her nature, but not me!. It reminded me of a conversation I had with my brother some years ago, where I said the same exact thing, in the same exact tone, and caused almost the same reaction. I couldn't help but smile =):.
Little details like this, where you start recognizing little bits of yourself in the people around you, are really (really) interesting. Anyway, this was just an example, next time I'll talk about similar experiences, regarding Harry Potter, magic and saving the world!.
Alright, let's go outside,
and rise, rise, rise, to the meaning of life!.
