"so, you are involved in PhDschool?"

After a long scientific conversation with one of the hot shots..... "so, are you involved in the PhDschool at University X then" (and no, not as an organising person but as a PhD student). 

My response? "Well, I am a post doc at Fairly Big Institute and defended Y years back".

Next comment "oh, but you only look 18".

My slightly acidic response "I'm over 30".

And before someone says something, no I really don't think I look 18 and no, I don't find it charming or anything. I find it slightly condecending and if nothing else proves that someone wasn't really interesting in finding out what I was... although, I have to admit, I got a side comment "she really knows this stuff". 

(bitter thoughts about looking young and trying to hack it in this world we call science.... but the conference over all is quite nice.)

this vacation thing...

The main difference between my old country and US can't be more obvious than in summer time. No, I don't mean that it is triple digits Farenheit outside while it is barely above freezing back home. No, I mean "it's summer so how many weeks are you taking off?".

That would be the question back home. Most people get three weeks in a row for the summer - mostly either July or August. Here? Not so much. And I have realized that even if I am taking a looooong vacation (about 10 days I guess) I am stressing out since all people ask here is "wow, that is a Long vacation" ["your boss ok with that?]. (I am trying to look forward to vacation and not feel like a [bad post doc] flunkie. I'm working on it.) Funny is that when I then start to fret and talk to my old friends back home they go "really, That's all you are going to take?!?!?!" so I get some thinking about that too....

No wonder I am feeling in between two worlds. And for the record, I would love some kind of in between... not all vacation in July and definitely longer than 10 days. Hm, maybe in the future in a new job?

Now, time to finish the last experiments and that blasted poster... and then make a list of all things that need to go into that vacation bag soon enough!

keep up the good work

So the week ended better than it started. And I am counting down to vacation and conference. Just have a few* things to fix before that, a poster is one of them.... but if nothing else I have planned not to do too much at work but rather fix all these things I haven't done last week.

With that, I will go to bed early tonight and sleep to be happy and rise and shine tomorrow morning!

*few things = not more than usual but not less either ;)