Mmm, conference
Oct. 7th, 2005 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdh(This post might end suddenly- I'm stealing wireless internet on my laptop from the hotel [not my hotel, pshh. The hotel the conference is in. I'm sleeping in a hostel {and actually, so is one of the presenters here. I saw him this morning while half-asleep, and than ran into him again in the registration line, where I dignified myself by blurting out "Hey, you were at the hostel too!". But he was nice and introduced himself to me and we talked, so now I just have a weird story about staying down the hall from someone I originally thought was a crazy tourist, but is actually just a charmingly eccentric professor, of the sort that I think every university is required to have at least one of}, because I am so freaking broke, though luckily enough it is actually open tonight and not closed for a fundraiser like they told me on the phone, so I don't have to make desperate plans to very quickly make a friend and borrow their room] and I'm not sure how much battery I have left.)
I got here to Madison very late last night, after midnight. My plane was delayed about an hour and a half, which caused me to miss the bus I was supposed to take from Chicago to Madison, which meant I had to take the L clear from one side of the city to another to catch a different bus, which I also managed to miss by about five minutes, and then had to wait half an hour for the next one to show up. But I made it to my hostel, managing to negotiate two cities I've never been in before with nothing more than some hastily-scribbled Mapquest directions and a pamphlet, so it's all well that ends well. Also, I can now terrify my grandmother with stories of riding the L in the middle of the night by myself through Chicago, which is always a plus. (Randomly, I want a train/subway system for my city so badly. I'm sick of the stupid goddamn buses.)
The majority of the panels that are related to my topic (the Indus Civilization. I haven't been hiding it, I just figured no one would know/care) were today, so I've just sat through about seven hours of people lecturing. So far today, I've managed to find two of the professors I emailed last week, and have a meeting with one of them tomorrow. I'm also planning to stalk a third tomorrow, since she has to give a presentation so I'll be able to find her. A fourth isn't here, but I've talked to some of his students who are, and the fifth, I think, is going to have be the one I don't get lucky with. There's always one.
It's nerve-wracking to be here. I never like being around crowds when I'm by myself; there's only so long you can pretend to be fascinated by the newspaper/program/your notebook/random sheets of paper you've found before it becomes obvious that you don't have anyone to talk to. Also, I'm in jeans, because that's pretty much the only thing I own and anyway nearly every archaeologist I know never bother to dress up, but apparently that was a mistake. I'm surrounded by suits and skirts and nice clothes and saris and all kinds of grown-up outfits.
I think it's good that I came, though. If nothing else, at least now I'll know what I'm talking about a little more.
It's also really, really cold here. I expected it to be colder in Wisconsin than it was in Ohio, but since Ohio was in the 80s when I left, I figured cold here was going to be "hoodie weather", not "scarves and snowpants weather". I was wrong. Madison does seem like a nice enough town. It and the University is smaller than what I'm used to, but then, most places are. It's got some really nice sections of the city- there's a giant used bookstore across the street that I'll have to check out later, and an indie movie theatre, and all these cool little stores in a row down one street. I suppose I could go to school here, though it seems so strange to pick a place to be your home for 5+ years on the basis of one day. There so much finality to that decision. Also, cold. The cold does not inspire tender feelings in me.
I got here to Madison very late last night, after midnight. My plane was delayed about an hour and a half, which caused me to miss the bus I was supposed to take from Chicago to Madison, which meant I had to take the L clear from one side of the city to another to catch a different bus, which I also managed to miss by about five minutes, and then had to wait half an hour for the next one to show up. But I made it to my hostel, managing to negotiate two cities I've never been in before with nothing more than some hastily-scribbled Mapquest directions and a pamphlet, so it's all well that ends well. Also, I can now terrify my grandmother with stories of riding the L in the middle of the night by myself through Chicago, which is always a plus. (Randomly, I want a train/subway system for my city so badly. I'm sick of the stupid goddamn buses.)
The majority of the panels that are related to my topic (the Indus Civilization. I haven't been hiding it, I just figured no one would know/care) were today, so I've just sat through about seven hours of people lecturing. So far today, I've managed to find two of the professors I emailed last week, and have a meeting with one of them tomorrow. I'm also planning to stalk a third tomorrow, since she has to give a presentation so I'll be able to find her. A fourth isn't here, but I've talked to some of his students who are, and the fifth, I think, is going to have be the one I don't get lucky with. There's always one.
It's nerve-wracking to be here. I never like being around crowds when I'm by myself; there's only so long you can pretend to be fascinated by the newspaper/program/your notebook/random sheets of paper you've found before it becomes obvious that you don't have anyone to talk to. Also, I'm in jeans, because that's pretty much the only thing I own and anyway nearly every archaeologist I know never bother to dress up, but apparently that was a mistake. I'm surrounded by suits and skirts and nice clothes and saris and all kinds of grown-up outfits.
I think it's good that I came, though. If nothing else, at least now I'll know what I'm talking about a little more.
It's also really, really cold here. I expected it to be colder in Wisconsin than it was in Ohio, but since Ohio was in the 80s when I left, I figured cold here was going to be "hoodie weather", not "scarves and snowpants weather". I was wrong. Madison does seem like a nice enough town. It and the University is smaller than what I'm used to, but then, most places are. It's got some really nice sections of the city- there's a giant used bookstore across the street that I'll have to check out later, and an indie movie theatre, and all these cool little stores in a row down one street. I suppose I could go to school here, though it seems so strange to pick a place to be your home for 5+ years on the basis of one day. There so much finality to that decision. Also, cold. The cold does not inspire tender feelings in me.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-08 01:55 am (UTC)Subways are great--I've enjoyed them in Chicago, Atlanta, and Portland. Sadly, there are only busses for public transport where I'm at. Really, though, if this place gained another 5 to 10 million people it'd be big enough to actually need one, so wouldn't it be a good idea to get a head start on it?
I guess I'm weird for liking to travel by myself--the people watching is great, and if I screw up I don't have to worry about anyone recognising me later. Well, except for those random odd people that always seem to travel at the same time as me, or have a boy/girlfriend that goes to my university, or something to that effect. =P
Good luck!
no subject
Date: 2005-10-08 04:19 pm (UTC)The cold does not inspire tender feelings in me.
Truer words have never been spoken.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 02:50 am (UTC)I'm kinda convinced that I will never get to live in the south.
I adore subways, too. Like you, we just have a bus system, mainly because people have consistently voted down a tax to fund a new light rail system for years. People never think of my needs. Sure, it might cost them a little more, but I'd have better public transportation, and that's what's important! *grins*
I don't mind the travel so much as the being, if that makes any sense. I'm good with travel. It's the sitting around pretending I don't mind being constantly alone for days on end that grates on my nerves.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 02:52 am (UTC)Also, thanks!
Truer words have never been spoken.
Dude, for real.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 12:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 02:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-10 03:51 pm (UTC)Hee! I did that this summer, when I was away for such a long time. I went on a mission to all the local bookstores to find a copy of Neal Stephenson's latest novel; I figured I couldn't find anything better than a giant, 800-page hardcover. *grins*