About five months after the start of my PhD in Denmark, I got out of the country for my first university travel. And not just any travel, because we were headed for Boston, United States.
Together with some colleagues from Aarhus, I was attending a two-day workshop at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The aim was to exchange knowledge about exoplanet atmospheres and set up future collaborations. Naturally, the research group at MIT was a very strong one, so I was excited and a little nervous about the trip. It all worked out really well, and I had some very interesting discussions with a number of people.
The head of the group, Sara Seager, is the author of a book that was my first introduction to the field of exoplanets. It was great to meet her in person. Actually, we already 'met' her on the airplane to Boston: one of the in-flight entertainment videos was titled "Alien Worlds", and guess which scientist was interviewed for it? Exactly.
As we arrived on Saturday night (local time), we had a full Sunday to see a bit of the city. Boston turned out to be a quite enjoyable, and a long walk along the Freedom Trail took us for some sightseeing. After having been in Denmark for a while, the American friendliness takes a bit of getting used to, and our hotel had a fully automatic pancake machine (!), but other than that, the city seemed somewhat European. I certainly wouldn't mind to return here for a while!
But first, on the plane to Belgium! Another workshop awaits me there, but so do my parents and friends. I'm coming home!
Groetjes, kusjes en liefde,
Vincent
