We have arrived in Hawaii for two weeks of much needed vacation. We are on the island of Oahu (where Honolulu is); staying with our friends Eun and Steve (and their three wonderful children) for most of the time.

We had a little bit of a hectic flight getting here, with two short connections. United did not provide a meal on the 6 hour flight from LAX to Honolulu, and then they ran out of food for sale. Luckily Jill was able to buy the last two bags of mixed nuts or we would have been really hungry. Eun and three-year-old Kyrie picked us up, and Kyrie gave us each a lei. (I can see why the tradition of leis continues: they look and smell beautiful, and it is a very nice way to feel welcome.) We then went out for a tasty thai dinner in Kailua, made all the more delicious by the fact that Jill and I were famished.

From Eun and Steve's house it's about a 15-minute walk to the beach. And conveniently, the Kalapawai Market and Cafe (est. 1932) is en route. Our first morning we went for a run along the water, then got coffee at the cafe and walked along the beach, immediately starting one of our favorite island traditions. There is something magical and peaceful about walking along the ocean, listening to the waves crash. It makes me think that someday we might want to live near the sea.

We have also quickly adopted another tradition of walking into town and going to Lanikai Juice for smoothies and delicious frozen bowls of fruit. Yum!

June has been a busy month of travel for me. The first week of June I was off to Montreal for two overlapping conferences: the International Congress on Acoustics and the International Society for Behavioural Neuroscience (ISBN). When I first planned the trip, it seemed extremely convenient to have two conferences in the same city! By the time June came, I realized that I had two separate talks to prepare, and also that because the conferences overlapped I would be missing about half of the potential events. But, that was ok—I spent most of the week at ISBN, which was a much smaller conference, and offered more chance for talking and getting to know people. (Also, the food was better.)

I was really impressed with Montreal overall. It feels extremely european, and I very quickly lost count of the number of delicious-looking cafes and restaurants. I definitely want to go back!

This past week I was in Linköping, Sweden, at the Cognitive Hearing Science for Communication conference. This was a lot of fun as well (though meant putting together yet another talk). I knew several people at this conference from various places, and it was fun to have them all in one place. It was especially nice to spend some time with Art, my PhD advisor. We were staying in the same hotel and had breakfast together most mornings, and often had time to talk during the conference as well. Art really got me off to a great start and is a top-notch role model, not only as a scientist but as a human being. It was a treat to have a few days to talk.

The conference in Sweden was also very good about taking care of us: many coffee breaks during the day (with fruit, or cookies, or a snack), lunch provided, and dinner almost every night. As near as I can tell, Swedish food is not particularly vegan-friendly, and my self-dispensation during conferences was in full force. Everything was delicious though.

The second night of the conference we took a bus out to a small town of Vadstena (here). This was just before June 21st, when the celebration of Midsummer occurs (a big family holiday in Sweden). We were told a little bit about the history (which was hard to hear, and I forget), and danced a couple of big group folk dances. This was really just a prelude to the large, very medieval-feeling smorgasbord (yes, that is a real thing). Complete with an official toastmaster and custom Swedish drinking songs (some in Swedish, some in English).

10:30pm sunset

Oooh, brains

At this point I should probably add that my talks went fine and that a great deal of very important and interesting science was also discussed at both of these conferences. (Which is, in fact, very much true—but would not make for such an interesting story!)

For now, I'm glad to be home and not doing significant traveling until August. It might take me that long to recover...

Aloha!

Traveling man

Hopebench