Conference Malaise


I want to care about the research, I really do.

I know, I really am not allowed to complain about my job, because I got to go to Prague, and for free. Prague is great. Prague looks like this.



I got conference burnout yesterday. It was day 2 of the conference. That can't be good.

I really, honestly and wholeheartedly, wish that I could watch these talks with rapt attention. I really try. But 2 minutes into each one, I fall asleep. To be totally honest, I care more about the color of my hair than about, say, the assimilation of latent heat into a forecast model. Is that awful? I just really don't care.

I also don't schmooze well. I suck at feigning interest in other peoples' research, and really, in my own research, and i lack the confidence to argue with anyone. I'm irreverent. I can't help but find a lot of this conference hilarious. Last week one of my friends from the outside world referred to me and my science peeps as "dweebs", and for some reason, that was just really funny to me. Now, every time someone here says something really pompous or academicky (especially if the person is French), I think "heh...you're a dweeeeeb", and then I laugh and laugh. On the inside.

Since I spend a lot of time here eating egg- or schnitzel-based foods (and don't intend to stop), and sitting in a lecture room (and don't entirely intend to stop), I decided I really needed a run last night. I was nervous about running at first because nobody seems to do that around here. When I lived in Indiana, people would yell at me randomly for walking (as opposed to driving) because nobody there did that. Well, the Praguers stared at me, but i like to think it was because i have wicked tattoos. The run was hard, given the pathetic way I lumbered uphill (cos we don't have hills where I'm from), but I got a great view of a beautiful city.


Posted: Wed - April 20, 2005 at 09:00 AM        

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