International Conference for Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT 2004)

Posted by Stuart at 08:10 AM on August 24, 2004

As I have mentioned here a few times, I am working like a dog (and feeling like a lowdown soi dog) but it's all good, because I have an exciting week ahead of me (even though the week ahead has been part of the problem).

I'm not sure if I mentioned it here before, but this weekend, I am flying to Finland. I made it official yesterday by plunking down the 35,000 baht for the ticket. Ouch. Why Finland? To attend a geeky conference called the International Conference for Advanced Learning Technologies, or ICALT 2004 for short.

Leaving my classes for a week has caused an incredible amount of extra work for me. Once the trip was approved by my boss' boss' boss, I had to 1) send a letter to Personel to tell them I wouldn't be clocking in and out every day, 2) use the school website to reserve rooms for one class, 3) talk to the computer center to reserve the lab room for the other class, 4) write a letter to my boss to tell him my makeup class times, 5) fill out 2 separate forms for each of the 6 classes I will be cancelling/making up. (The amount of paperwork that is needed in this country amazes me sometimes.) All of those things are, of course, in addition to all the other things I have to do like booking a flight and finding hotels.

But now, everything is set (I think). Finland, here I come!

Europe Bound

Posted by Stuart at 04:43 PM on August 28, 2004

In a matter of hours I will be on a plane over... India? Russia? Who knows. I'm definitely excited for the trip and looking forward to attending an interesting conference. I don't know if I will be able to make updates to this website as I go, but I will defintely be keeping notes and I will fill in all the gaps when I return.

Morning Layover in Vienna

Posted by Stuart at 08:49 AM on August 29, 2004

There was no way I was going to spend my five hour layover in Vienna sitting in the airport. No offense to the airport, but once I found out that the city was only 15 minutes away by train, I practically sprinted to the station.

It took me a while to figure out the train system and the routes, but soon enough I found myself in centuries-old Vienna on a bright, cool Sunday morning. I spent the next 4 hours wandering the streets and marvelling at the architecture. I was all alone, sharing the streets with only a few pigeons and a random youth or two stumbling home from a night of partying.

The city was eerily quiet. It was so quiet, in fact, that every hour I could hear not only one church bell ringing the hours, but usually three or four different churches. To add to the ambiance, the sun was slowly rising and was casting a beautiful yellow glow on the surrounding history. It was a very special experience.

But, after 4 hours, I started to get hungry. Apparently Vienna has hundreds of cool little sidewalk cafes and apparently exacty zero of them are open on Sunday morning. I could only find one place in the entire city to eat -- and again I hate to admit it -- but my first meal in Austria was at McDonalds. Sigh.

Now, it's time to fly to Helsinki...

Helsinki Afternoon: Tex-Mex and Finn Beer

Posted by Stuart at 07:56 PM on August 29, 2004

Another layover in another city means that I can do some more exploring. This time, I have just flown to Helsinki and will take the train to Joensuu later tonight. But for now, I am free to see the sights.

Unfortunately, though (as I expected), there aren't very many sights to see. Let me just say that the highlight was going to a public swimming pool and swimming a few laps, and sitting in the sauna and steam rooms. It was very refreshing after so much walking in Vienna this morning plus 13 hours of flying time so far.

The other highlight was eating at a Tex-Mex restaurant. Yes, I know it sounds silly to fly to Finland for a burrito, but as soon as I saw the place, I couldn't resist. I washed it down with a Finn beer, if that makes it a little more authentic (or more wierd, take your pick).

So I left Bangkok last night, spent the morning in Vienna and now the afternoon in Helsinki. It's been quite a trip so far, but I won't arrive at my final destination until tomorrow morning when my train will arrive in Joensuu.