Round and round

Spot the Eagle

If I would have to name one thing that really works better here in Twente than in York, it is the social dynamics of the research group. With hindsight I was lucky the first week to be invited to Ken Johnson's goodbye dinner: that is the only occasion so far where there has been any activity organised by and for members of York's Enterprise Systems group. This is in sharp contrast with the Formal Methods and Tools group at Twente, where there is a weekly Friday afternoon drink to start with, and regular other activities organised throughout the year - film nights, bowling, end-of-the-month dinners, and tonight the season's first ice skating event. I enjoy this sort of thing a lot, try to join whenever possible and have helped organise several of these happenings.

Where York boasts a horse racecourse, Twente has an full-sized (400m) indoor skating rink less than a kilometer from the university. (I will to a full comparison of the two locations one of these days: there are surprising similarities and amusing differences, this being one of the latter.) You can rent skates there, of various types, but the facility is really meant for speed skating so hockey or dance skates are not recommended. It really doesn't matter how good or bad you are: there are always plenty of absolute beginners, and if you stay on the outside then you can hold on to the air cushions and you are not in anyone's way. The inside is the fast track, where only those who fancy themselves good skaters dare to go. For one thing, you have to be wearing a head-to-toe shiny suit, preferably with some sponsor messages. For another, you have to be able and willing to pretty much stick your nose into the butt of the person in front of you, all while travelling at a speed of some 30 km/hour.

There were some six or seven PhD students tonight, including our newest group member Saeed Darabi with his wife; however, they were just there on inspection and could not be convinced to try and go onto the ice. (They promised to do so next time.) It is probably unnecessary to mention that we firmly stayed on the outside. Since I have to be fresh for the inquisition tomorrow, I did not stay long and avoided the karaoke that was planned afterwards. It was nice to regain my balance on the skates a bit, and also nice to be able to say goodbye to Florian Arnold, who has decided not to continue hs PhD and who will have left by the time my sabbatical is over.