Leaving for Eindhoven

it was hard to leave home, my mum dad and sister. Mum and dad took me to this resort for my last 3 days in Turkey, and we had so much time to talk and stay together. Itt s only 10 days in a year I see my dad, so I really wanted to spend quality time with him. The resort was so relaxing, some of the higlights: I rode on a JetSki it was so much fun, and adrenalin, I asked myself why I did not try doing it before. Second adrenalin source was parasailing. I m not very good at tolerating higher altitudes, especially when I m gliding/hanging in the air, connected with only two straps and a rope to the boat down there. My mum did this parasailing before couple fo times so seh was experienced, calming me down. We got on it together, and I got so excited when we got really high to air pressure dropped down, and I forgot about breathing because I was so strongly holding to the straps. Then, mum reminded me that i can release my energy by screaming, and I did. Eventually, I was glad to be on the land again. She wanted to do it again the next day but i said that was enough for me.

I took my flight to Istanbul which connected to Amsterdam, then took a train to Eindhoven, where the conference is held. between Amsterdam and Eindhoven there were so many farmlands, flat green empty spaces with cows and the smell of natural fertilizers. Netherlands was so nice and organized after the experiencing the non-stop chaos in Turkey, chaos in architecture, chaos in public transport and traffic, chaos in people's behaviors. Netherlands was so sophisticated and calm after all. I talked to cute guy on the train. I was talking about the sunshine and beaches in Australia and in return he asked me whether there is any culture in Australia with a smiling face (what a cynical question). I said, no not like in Europe, but it s got its own vibe.

I left the central station in Eindhoven, and it was almost 8 pm. it took me nearly 12 hours in total to travel from antalya to the hotel in Eindhoven. I asked the police how to get to the address and they suggested that I took a bus. But noone knew which bus to take, because everyone rides on bicycles. I took a cab and got into my room. The hotel is next to a pub, so the room was very noisy untill 2am all weekend. Then another bunch of people leave the clubs at 4am, so another wake up call for me. Meanwhile I attended a workshop first day and co-chaired another workshop second day. The Architecture Faculty is so stylish, a modern and smart building. The blinds roll down and up automatically by sensing the amount of sunlight coming into the rooms. The doors open themselves when necessary, and AC stops when it wants to stop and noone can do anything about it. The smart technologies / buildings can be annoying when we have little control over them.

Eindhoven has nice cafes and pubs and a lively young crowd on the streets spending hours at the cafes drinking the tasty beers and socializing.