My first international conference

Wrote this on the way back from the conference:

Just finished my first international conference. Felt really good about it as compared to my last conference in Germany in year 2007. 

A factor might be I am more confident with the research area. One extra year of learning does make a difference. I am more clear on the research direction. Know the existing problem and know the possible solutions and what are the probblems that are still currently without a solution.

I think another factor is the language. This conference is in English. I can understand the presentation better. The participants are from all over the world and not only Germans. I am able to strike conversation with people, make contacts, make jokes and laugh at jokes others made. It really feels different as compared to a pure German group. Apart from that I don't have to worry about the terms and grammar during the presentation. This is such a huge relief. 

Too bad I have to leave the conference earlier. During the short two days, I got to know in compact what other fellow colleagues in other universities, research centers and companies are doing. Got contacts with three other organizations that find my research topic interesting, got one institute in Asia who asked me to keep in contacct if I want to work in Asia later, and of course got to know a few PhD candidates that are also some times a little lost like me and they are really fun to talk to. 

It really feels good to be able to converse in English and not only that - I got to talk Cantonese to a delegate from University of Hong Kong. All this while I am having sore throat. I ate almost 3 rows of sorethroat tablets. Now is time to rest :)