As you finally lift off the runway at Toronto International, I hope when looking down you don’t feel it is only soggy boxes, wet carpets and a few sticks of furniture you are leaving behind, but also have acquired some things which require neither packing or shipping, yet none the less will remain with you always.
Oh yes, I do hope you haven't had the word eh become part of your vernacular :-)
Oh yes, I forgot to make note that although you may not be going to be in Germany full time, you will be closer. This has it then, as you mentioned that you and Stefan may be seeing each other more on a regular basis . With this in mind I would like to offer Stefan a little piece of Canadiana from my era that might serve him well in regards to being a husband at most times :-)
New move, new phase, new life, new ideas, keep going, keep growing. All the best in your new home and new job. If you believe in what you do, this must be all worthwhile.
Best regards, Christine PS - It is worthwhile, you are still young. I am certain that you are converging closer and closer to what you are really looking for. Best of luck.
Allocate utter boredom during the flight so you will land with something interesting born in your head. Competent brains cannot tolerate silence. When nothing is incoming they sing to themselves.
8:00 PM, August 29, 2009
Anonymous Snowboarder said...
Bee - if it makes you feel at all better, my NY area condo suffered its third flooding this past winter. This time I was flooded when a pipe froze and burst in the adjoining condo and water flowed for three days before someone stopped it (nothing like being told this when 300 miles away). Long and short of it, the cleaners put in 5 of those hurrycane machines! The sound was so deafening I had to sleep elsewhere.
You must be very excited to be finally on your way to a new position much closer to home. Have a safe flight and hope your installation goes smoothly.
Bee, best of luck at your new job! I've very much enjoyed reading your blog about various physics related things and especially PI. I hope to study there as a graduate and I'm getting close to that goal. Too many of my professors work at PI in some aspect and even my future room mate does as well.
Enjoy your new job and I hope to read some great stories about being a professor!
I hope you'll not have such an horror story with the wet carpet in Stockholm.
Wish you all the best for Stockholm. Are you happy that you are back in Europe, because you are closer to Stefan ? What about the tickets ? They should be cheaper from Frankfurt to Stockholm instead of Frankfurt to Toronto ?
No, it doesn't make me feel better. It just makes me wonder once again why the plumbing in North America is so crappy. In any case, mostly I am presently curious to see what the future will bring. Best,
Yes, the flights are considerably less expensive FRA <-> ARN than FRA <-> YYZ. To some extend it's a relief to be back in Europe since it's much easier for me. I don't need a work permit, don't need a visa, can use my own drivers licence. On the other hand, I don't know much about Sweden, so I'll see how it goes and keep you in the loop :-)
As Bee has just confirmed it is less expensive to travel by air from Sweden to Germany then Canada. However, now that she will reside in a Nordic country I was envisioning a more historically traditional means of transport. As can be seen here there are times that it is necessary not to have all your oars in the water:-) In having worked and associated with people for many years from the area, I can assure you this is not just relevant to strictly sailing. With this in mind, I’m then certain Bee will be confronted by all sorts of interesting characters upon her arrival:-)
Just so I’m not taken wrongly, I have to say I hold a great affinity and respect for the Nordic peoples. My experience being many have an innate tenacity, audacity, and boldness about them that can be so extreme at times it appears to border on lunacy. Many also display great ingenuity, coupled with the capacity for introspection, to the point they can easily laugh at themselves. Come to think of it, these appear to be fine characteristics for a theoretical physicist to have. So when I said Bee would be exposed to many interesting characters, I meant that in a most positive way.
Best,
Phil
12:09 PM, August 30, 2009
My household is on the way to Sweden already and I'm sitting in an apartment empty besides the bed and the modem. Yesterday was my last day at PI. Laurent Freidel said the good-bye words at the weekly wine & cheese, and everybody politely clapped their hands, though most of the people present I didn't know. Some of them where students from the recently started PSI program. Laurent did quite a good job, though I always find it weird to hear my CV summarized in a few words. It keeps getting longer. My CV looks so neat, whenever I look at it I wonder where is all the sweat and pain. Can I put them in an additional section?
Since there is no direct flights from Toronto to Stockholm anyway, I will have a few days stopover in Germany which also allows me to pick up some stuff I deposited there earlier. Not to mention that I should say hello to my husband occasionally so he doesn't forget he's married. In Stockholm, am staying the first month in a guest apartment. Experience tells me the first weeks in a new country are very busy, filled with bureaucracy, disorganization and frustration. So expect blogging to be sparse.
Some of you might have followed it on my Twitter account, two weeks ago I had a water damage in my apartment. The water tank in the storage room which preheats the warm water leaked. This must have happened sometime in the evening after I went to bed. I got up the next morning early to make a phone call to Europe and noticed all the carpet was soaking wet. Since I didn't know how to turn off the water and it kept running I had to wake the building manager. He looked at the disaster, turned off the water and reappeared some hours later with a vacuum cleaner sucking out what must have been about 100 liters of water. Later that day a plumber exchanged the water tank. It took a full week for the carpet to dry. Luckily nothing was really damaged, just that I had my moving boxes on the floor at that time. They soaked up the water and basically dissolved. I had to replace several of them and repack which was very annoying.
Though it was clean water, it turned out to leave stains in the carpet. An insurance guy came to assess the damage, later a "carpet expert" came to figure out where the spots came from. He said that there was probably rust in the tank which would have accumulated under the carpet and they'd have to take out the carpet, clean the floor, shampoo the carpet, and dry it. I was hoping they could do that after I've left, but of course it's more important to be nice to the new tenant who'll be moving in Tuesday. So yesterday evening I came home to find an empty living room with a loose carpet and wind machine tucked under it, such that the carpet moves in constant waves. Quite a dynamical inner design. I think it has potential.
The rest of my story in Waterloo will consist of somebody picking up the bed, somebody else picking up the car, my landlord picking up the apartment and house keys, and somebody dropping me off at the airport. You'll hear from me once I'm back in Europe. Meanwhile, a nice weekend to all of you.
posted by Sabine Hossenfelder at 5:43 AM on Aug 29, 2009
"Interna"
15 Comments -
Hi Bee,
As you finally lift off the runway at Toronto International, I hope when looking down you don’t feel it is only soggy boxes, wet carpets and a few sticks of furniture you are leaving behind, but also have acquired some things which require neither packing or shipping, yet none the less will remain with you always.
Oh yes, I do hope you haven't had the word eh become part of your vernacular :-)
Best,
Phil
10:08 AM, August 29, 2009
Hi Bee & Stefan,
Oh yes, I forgot to make note that although you may not be going to be in Germany full time, you will be closer. This has it then, as you mentioned that you and Stefan may be seeing each other more on a regular basis . With this in mind I would like to offer Stefan a little piece of Canadiana from my era that might serve him well in regards to being a husband at most times :-)
Best,
Phil
11:00 AM, August 29, 2009
Farewell Sabine. From my perspective at least, Perimeter won't be the same without you. Best of luck in your new digs.
1:18 PM, August 29, 2009
Thanks, Garrett, that's very kind. PI is changing. It will be interesting to see how it develops.
6:05 PM, August 29, 2009
New move, new phase, new life, new ideas, keep going, keep growing. All the best in your new home and new job. If you believe in what you do, this must be all worthwhile.
Best regards,
Christine
PS - It is worthwhile, you are still young. I am certain that you are converging closer and closer to what you are really looking for. Best of luck.
6:36 PM, August 29, 2009
Allocate utter boredom during the flight so you will land with something interesting born in your head. Competent brains cannot tolerate silence. When nothing is incoming they sing to themselves.
8:00 PM, August 29, 2009
Bee - if it makes you feel at all better, my NY area condo suffered its third flooding this past winter. This time I was flooded when a pipe froze and burst in the adjoining condo and water flowed for three days before someone stopped it (nothing like being told this when 300 miles away). Long and short of it, the cleaners put in 5 of those hurrycane machines! The sound was so deafening I had to sleep elsewhere.
You must be very excited to be finally on your way to a new position much closer to home. Have a safe flight and hope your installation goes smoothly.
10:18 PM, August 29, 2009
Bee, best of luck at your new job! I've very much enjoyed reading your blog about various physics related things and especially PI. I hope to study there as a graduate and I'm getting close to that goal. Too many of my professors work at PI in some aspect and even my future room mate does as well.
Enjoy your new job and I hope to read some great stories about being a professor!
Cheers,
~ Luke
1:54 AM, August 30, 2009
Hi Phil,
... I would like to offer Stefan a little piece of Canadiana
I have to admit, I've never heard of the 5 Man Electrical Band before... I always can learn something new from this blog ;-)
Cheers, Stefan
3:58 AM, August 30, 2009
Hi Bee,
I hope you'll not have such an horror story with the wet carpet in Stockholm.
Wish you all the best for Stockholm. Are you happy that you are back in Europe, because you are closer to Stefan ? What about the tickets ? They should be cheaper from Frankfurt to Stockholm instead of Frankfurt to Toronto ?
Best
Kay
7:56 AM, August 30, 2009
Hi Snowboarder,
No, it doesn't make me feel better. It just makes me wonder once again why the plumbing in North America is so crappy. In any case, mostly I am presently curious to see what the future will bring. Best,
B.
10:24 AM, August 30, 2009
Hi Kay,
Yes, the flights are considerably less expensive FRA <-> ARN than FRA <-> YYZ. To some extend it's a relief to be back in Europe since it's much easier for me. I don't need a work permit, don't need a visa, can use my own drivers licence. On the other hand, I don't know much about Sweden, so I'll see how it goes and keep you in the loop :-)
Best,
B.
10:28 AM, August 30, 2009
This comment has been removed by the author.
10:52 AM, August 30, 2009
Hi Kay,
As Bee has just confirmed it is less expensive to travel by air from Sweden to Germany then Canada. However, now that she will reside in a Nordic country I was envisioning a more historically traditional means of transport. As can be seen here there are times that it is necessary not to have all your oars in the water:-) In having worked and associated with people for many years from the area, I can assure you this is not just relevant to strictly sailing. With this in mind, I’m then certain Bee will be confronted by all sorts of interesting characters upon her arrival:-)
Best,
Phil
10:58 AM, August 30, 2009
Hi Kay,
Just so I’m not taken wrongly, I have to say I hold a great affinity and respect for the Nordic peoples. My experience being many have an innate tenacity, audacity, and boldness about them that can be so extreme at times it appears to border on lunacy. Many also display great ingenuity, coupled with the capacity for introspection, to the point they can easily laugh at themselves. Come to think of it, these appear to be fine characteristics for a theoretical physicist to have. So when I said Bee would be exposed to many interesting characters, I meant that in a most positive way.
Best,
Phil
12:09 PM, August 30, 2009