The conference began the next day, and it was quite a good one. And I'm not just saying that because my talk went very well. Although that never hurts.
No, I'm saying that because these small, focused conferences are a great way to discover what the local research scene is doing while getting to listen to the big guns. And it is small enough that you at least recognize everyone by the end, even if you haven't been formally introduced.
Moreover, two of my good friends were there. Rudy Yoshida was a postdoc at Duke, and I was assigned as her mentor. Since she already had a research program going, that meant more showing her the ropes than doing research together. Now she's at Kentucky. I had seen her a few months back at SAMSI, but it's always good to see people again!
Also, Yuguo Chen was there. He was a grad student at Stanford while I was a postdoc there, and also was at Duke for the first few years as well. We've actually written papers together, so it was great seeing him again. He's at Urbana-Champaign now.
The first night of the conference we had the banquet, and it was at a great restaurant with an exquisite grotto. The food was an umpteen course meal, covering all the breadth of Japanese cuisine. Sushi, sashimi, tofu (which we made right at the table!) and more different foods than I can name were served. The sake was pretty good, too!
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