AVS meeting (San Jose, CA)

From Monday, Nov. 9, to Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, I was an attendee of the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Vacuum Society. This is a scientific conference, which was held in San Jose, California. As promised earlier on, I am presenting my new outfit. (Unfortunately the shirt is not the one I bought originally, but that is another story.) The meeting was held at the McEnery convention center in San Jose, and Xiaofeng (another postdoc from our research group) and I were staying at a nearby motel. Xiaofeng deserves all the fame for picking this place, which was clean, inexpensive, and within less than five minutes walking from the conference. (The bottom right picture shows our room seen from the parking lot.)
The talk went okay, and fortunately I could give it already on the first day, so the cabin fever did not rise to a point where it would simply kill me. Yet I was nervous, of course, as it was the first time ever for me to speak at such an event. Well, as it is customary at big conferences, the crowd picks their favorite speakers, so two talks before mine the room was completely packed; when the next talk started, the speaker thanked the previous one "for leaving me with some of her residual audience"; and when it was my turn I could have thanked my predecessor for leaving me with a residue of the former residual audience ... In other words, the room that could hold more than 100 people was half full at best, but it was not entirely empty either. I think I was able to convey my message, and I did not get laughed at. On the other hand, I guess my standards are a bit on the low side, as the person who attracted the really big audience was honored with the conference award for up-and-coming scientists that are 35 years old or younger. She actually got invited to speak there, while ordinary folks like me have to apply for a slot. (And yet I am glad that there are better scientists than me out there!)
Anyways, I took advantage of the opportunity of being in California, which is now the third State of the United States I have visited so far; the first and second being Illinois and Georgia, respectively. I walked around San Jose a bit, and one thing I liked better there than in Chicago is that the buttons for the pedestrian traffic lights indicate the direction of crossing the street. In Chicago there is often just one for both possible ways to cross a street at the corner of an intersection, so then the pedestrian lights will both be active when it is ther turn. However, occasionally there are two, and then it can be hard to find out which one is for which street.
Although Homa found it a bit strange to do such a thing, I went to see a movie on one night: "The Men Who Stare At Goats". In one word: hilarious! One might argue that the time out of town could be spent more efficiently to see more things, but I guess the point is that I felt a bit on vacation, and therefore I was a bit reluctant to be efficient. Plus, I am having a very nice memory now. The movie theater happened to be just two blocks from our motel, so I could not resist, as I also had not been to the movies for longer than I liked.
The weirdest thing, however, was the artificial snowman I discovered on Tuesday night. Well, while I was welcomed back by a chilly breeze in Chicago (currently below 50°F, or single digits in °C), it was constantly 60°F (15°C or more) in San Jose. Only for two days I was wearing a jacket, and I did feel a bit strange facing the snowman wearing no more than a sweater (and pants, of course ...). I caught myself thinking that it might be a bit early for displaying winter items, but then I realized that it was mid November, and it was just the mild Californian weather that was getting me confused.
The conference ended on Friday at noon, but I returned to Chicago only on Sunday. On the Saturday in between, I went to San Francisco, more specifically the Golden Gate Bridge, but about that I will tell you in a separate story.