PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: How to prepare for your first conference

This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands.

These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those of you interested in pursuing a research position in the Netherlands.

If these posts raise your interest in working as a researcher in the Netherlands, even better - and feel free to fire away any questions you might have on this topic!

Today's post is about preparing yourself to attend and (I am assuming) to present at your first academic conference. I'm assuming you have written your paper (if you haven't done so yet, check out how I write my conclusions), and your request has been approved - now, all that remains to be done, is to "just" go and attend the conference.

1. Request a travel budget

I think it's inherently wrong that we're so often tacitly assumed to be forking out (part of) the money ourselves to attend conferences. Asking an underpaid PhD student to pay a registration fee of 1000 USD at a conference is so far away from the gist of why we are practicing science and want to exchange our ideas. Most universities do have travel budgets you can apply to. Some of these additional scholarships are more unbiased, in other cases you might just need to write a letter to an Important Person and hope he reads this on a good day and helps you with the expenses. By all means, the system at Delft University of Technology is fair and straightforward: if you have the approval to travel, they take care of all your expenses (including the cost of food while you are away).

2. Book in advance

Many conferences have early-bird registration fees. Avoid additional costs by booking as early as possible (by the same token: apply for travel funding as early as possible). Similarly, your flight ticket and hotel registration may be cheaper when you book in advance - and you avoid the unpleasant situation of not finding spots on the flight or in the hotel of your choice anymore as the date of your conference approaches. Booking early is part of being well-prepared.

3. Study the conference schedule

Now that you know that you are going for sure, it is time to outline your itinerary for the days of the conference. Make sure you read all the information of the conference, and know where and when to register (pro tip: try to register as early as possible to avoid unpleasant surprises, such as a payment that did not go through and your registration that did not get processed).
Read the titles of all presentations to familiarize yourself with the topics, and mark which presentations you want to see. Note that sometimes presentations only are remotely related to the topic of the session, so don't let yourself be guided too much by the topic of the session. Plan to ask questions after the presentations as well.

4. Identify who to talk to

From the conference schedule, identify who is carrying out research related to yours, and make sure you attend these presentations. Try to talk with the presenter after his/her presentation, so you can introduce yourself to him/her. Also identify in the scientific committee if there are senior researchers you would like to talk to - often the members of the scientific committee will attend the conference as well.

5. Plan some downtime

Conferences are exhausting, so it is a good ideas, especially for your first conference, to identify when you could have a little bit of downtime. If your conference schedule is packed with dinners until midnight and sessions that start at 8 am, you will be running on -say- 6 hours of sleep, which for many of us is not enough. Factor in the fact that attending conference presentations is like a scaled-up version of attending lectures, and you know you need your full concentration to benefit from attending the sessions. Often as well, you will be jetlagged and tired from traveling to the conference, so that doesn't help either to keep your attention sharp. Don't neglect self-care when traveling.

6. Pack your clothes

When packing your bag, travel light - just take the clothes you are planning to wear for the days of the conference, a spare shirt in case you spill your coffee, workout clothes if you think you can squeeze in some exercise, and comfortable clothes for your flight. You can find an overview of what I typically take to a conference here. Keep in mind as well that sometimes you might be traveling to a warm destination, but the AC in the conference venue might be turned to arctic. Similarly, you might be heading to Snow Capital in January, and find that the heating is set to boil you alive. The solution: take some layers.

7. Explore the city

Plan in advance when you will have time to see something of the city, and what you are going to visit. Keep in mind that the conference is your main goal, but that the chance that you will return to the city of the conference in the next years might be small. A good strategy is to arrive early: you will have a day to see something of the city, register for the conference, and if your flight gets delayed you only miss out on the touristing part and will not have your attendance at the conference in peril.

8. Go with your presentation ready

You will not have time to make your presentation during the conference. Go well-prepared and have your presentation ready, and practiced. I typically make my presentation 2-3 weeks in advance so that I can send it to my co-authors for approval. I also (still, after all these years!) practice my presentation until I have a good feeling for the time I have available. Keep in mind as well that if, for example, your conference has 4 presentations per hour, you will not speak for 15 minutes. You'll need to calculate the time for getting introduced, sometimes the time for getting the computers up and running, and time for questions. For this case, prepare a presentation of 10-12 minutes. You don't want to be the person taking too much time (especially not before the coffee or lunch breaks, when everybody wants to go eat, drink something or just take a break). Many conferences will ask you to send/upload your presentation in advance. By all means, check in the speaker ready room if your presentation is in the system, and if everything comes on the screen as you intended it to (different versions of powerpoint sometimes move things around - correct that before you are up on the stage to present).
If you feel insecure about presenting your (early) work to some of the top researchers in your field, you can practice power-posing to boost your self-confidence.


9. Travel early

I once almost missed the first day of a conference because my first flight was delayed, I missed my connecting flight and then was put onto the waiting list. I was hoping so hard they'd find a spot for me, and just before the flight took off, I heard my name from the standby list as cleared to board. Since then, I've been traveling with a day of extra time for my long flights. I'd rather stay one night extra in the hotel, than miss the entire first day of a conference because of travel problems.

10. Have everything backed-up

Print out your boarding pass, hotel reservations and conference registration confirmation. Figure out how to get from the airport to the hotel to avoid having to pay for a cab. Print out your slides of the presentation to practice. Put all the emails about the conference, your paper, presentation and all relevant documents on a back-up for when you need them. I am not traveling with a laptop anymore, but use a Surface tablet (the device itself is so glitchy that I wouldn't recommend you getting it, but when it works, it is useful for my teaching and for having access to MS Office and the internet when traveling)

11. Plan you time before and after the conference

I once did the math to see how much time a conference really takes me - from the step of finding a suitable conference to present my work to the point of needing some extra time to recover after a conference.
Keep in mind as well that, after the conference, you don't just simply return to your office, park yourself in front of your computer and get going again. You'll need to file for reimbursement and do all the administration work. You will need to send a few emails to catch up with people you met during the conference. Your overflowing mailbox might take a day to get sorted out. You'll need to catch up in the lab to see how things are going. There'll be people who need to talk to you, mail you or phone you. You'll be tired and busy. Plan accordingly.

Ten things I miss about Europe

As a follow-up of the list of ten things I enjoy about Ecuador, I wanted to write the counterbalancing post about the things I miss about Europe. I've moved so many times by now that, even though I still consider Lier as my hometown, I both miss Belgium and The Netherlands at times.

Here's an overview of (not so) random elements that I miss about the low lands:

1. My friends and family
The most obvious choice in this list - even though I have a lovely family in law here in Ecuador, I miss my family and my friends a lot. There is Skype, but with 7 hours of difference, it is often difficult to find a time to talk.

2. Buckwheat
I've been searching high and low for buckwheat flour - to no avail. I took some bags from the US when I traveled for TRB, and that has been satisfying my need for buckwheat crepes so far.

3. Decent eye care
As much as I appreciate the local health care, I think the eye care is awful. I have been visiting every possible optician around here to get the eye contacts that I need, but no one seems to be able to help me. They promise to call back but don't, or they give me the most stupid answer: "Oh, we just change your correction down so that you can use these contacts that we sell.". Well, uhm, maybe then I don't see anything?

4. A culture of playing music
I'm missing the culture of choirs and orchestras of Europe, and I haven't really found many musicians to work with. I'm limited with most of my instruments still in Europe, but I thought I would at least find a choir or something to keep me entertained.

5. Sauna
Saunas are by far not as popular here as in Europe. The gym where I go has a steambath, and I seem to be the only person using it every once in a while.

6. Established academic practices
While I enjoy the opportunity to develop new things here, it is sometimes frustrating that there are no rules and guidelines in academia at all. It all just seems to depend on the mood and available time of other people. Academia consists mostly of university-level teaching here, and research seems to be very undervalued. Many professors are full-time professor, but at the same time running their own consultancy firms (leaving no time for research).

7. Cat supplies
Anything imported can be hard to find here because of the importation limits from the government. Since fruit and veggies are abundant here, it does not affect me very much - but it does affect Mr. Pasha, who refuses to eat Ecuadorian cat food, and for whom we always need to be on the look-out for imported cat food that won't make him sick. Cat candy does not exist, and cat litter that makes good clumps is hard to find as well.

8. Environmental consciousness
Finding thrash cans that are aimed at recycling waste are not always available. Every single thing (even the copies from copy center) goes into a plastic bag. You are a better person if you have a gas-guzzling SUV or jeep. There's still a lot of work to be done in those terms here.

9. Cultural diversity
Europe's larger cities are melting pots of different cultures. Quito has more and more expats, but 98% of society is deeply rooted in the local culture. Being different (as in: having different political opinions, eating differently such as eating plant-based, not being a roman catholic) is frowned upon.

10. Festivals
Nothings beats Europe's festivals. That relaxed atmosphere of brotherhood through music is one of the things I will indulge in once I am back "home".

Ten things I enjoy about Ecuador

As I've now been working and living in Ecuador for 8 months, and have not been writing that much about Ecuador itself, I thought it was time to correct that by making an overview of 10 things I enjoy about Ecuador.

Here's the list:

1. I found a job in the same institution as my husband
Main attraction of the country: being able to find jobs in the same country, same city and even same institution. So far so good, and the two-body problem is solved!

2. Hiking
In terms of the great outdoors, Ecuador is a perfect destination. I haven't even visited the coast, the jungle, the Galapagos or anything more than 3 hours of driving away from Quito, but I've been greatly enjoying the many options for hiking and exploring around the city.

3. All the fruits
Fruit here is extraordinary, and I did write about all the fruits earlier. I keep seeing fruits that I haven't tried yet. Bananas are dirt cheap. Raspberries, my all-time favorite food, are at 2,30 USD for a package.

4. Finding an exercise schedule that works
I joined a local gym (way overdue), and I'm settling in with a schedule of working and working out that leaves me happy and energized. It was awfully expensive (like, 3 times more expensive than a fancy gym in Europe!), but worth the investment.

5. Hanging out in Quito's historical center
Quito has the world's largest historical center (not always equally well-preserved, but there is progress and you see how the center is getting revived these days). I enjoy walking around, buying eastern spices from a small vegetarian store, and seeing the activities.

6. The mild weather
I barely ever need a jacket (only when it rains), and especially the months September through January were sunny and generally very pleasant. The last 2 months have brought more rain, but it doesn't get cold at all. Unfortunately, our house gets really humid, but that seems to be the result of poor construction more than anything else.

7. Good healthcare
I've been sick and hospitalized already here, but the healthcare seems to be quite decent. Since I, as a foreigner, am susceptible to stomach bugs, I'm glad that so far I've been getting good treatment that got me back on my feet after a couple of days every time I caught something.

8. Opportunities for developing big projects
I'm freshly graduated from my PhD and I get the chance to build up a structural concrete lab. In Europe and North America, the labs exist (or are being phased out bit by bit), but since Ecuador is experiencing an economic boom, there are excellent opportunities to get involved in projects like the development of a lab.

9. Friendly people
Generally, Ecuadorian people are open (and certainly more open than Belgians), so it's easy to feel welcome as a foreigner. I'm still struggling with the language, so that has been holding me back, but I slowly start to build up some social life here.

10. Being able to have the same standard of living as in Europe
There's only a limited number of things that I can't find or buy here, and, however annoying, I haven't felt too limited by living here. Generally, I can live a life that is at the same standard as in Europe, although at a higher cost (which is something I did not expect).

Silver Linings: the Fruits of Ecuador

One way in which I am enjoying life in Ecuador, is by trying out all the exotic and rare fruits this country has to offer. Generally, there are the exotic fruits from the coast, that grow in the hot and humid climate of Ecuador's coast, and then there are the fruits from the highlands, which are very difficult to find in Europe, because of the unique combination of altitude and year-round mild climate that is so typical for the Andean highlands.

Tropical fruits

I only have this one to share (and it's not a rare fruit at all):



When I ordered coconut water, I didn't expect them to come and drop a coconut with a straw on my table...

And then I discovered that passion fruit is yellow here instead of black (still tastes equally delicious):



Fruits from the highlands

By no means this list is complete, but so far I've tried the following oddities:



Ovos - they are something like a sweet olive. Weird, to say the least.



The chirimoya or custard apple - maybe we had one that was overly ripe, but this thing was revoltingly sweet.



The "pepino dulce" or melon pear tastes like a mixture of melon and cucumber. Odd, and not something I'd recommend.



The "guanabana" or soursop is a delcious fruit that is used for smoothies. It takes quite some time and effort to clean the fruit which contains big seeds, but the flavor of this fruit is amazing.



The "naranjilla" or lulo is family of the tomato (nightshade family), looks like a little orange and tastes like a slightly bitter mashup version of rhubarb and lime. Might sound odd, tastes pretty refreshingly.



"Tuna" is the local prickly pear - and it tastes just a little less sweet than figs.



Tha "babaco" is a large fruit, that is rather sour, and works very well in smoothies.



The "salak" has snake skin, looks like garlic with a pit on the inside, and tastes in between green apples and chestnut.

That's all the oddities I've been sampling so far - and I'll post more when I come across them! Check out my #weridfruitsfromEcuador series on Instagram as well :)

Comparing traveling by public transport to traveling by car from Belgium to the Netherlands

Proofreading a paper on the train

TU Delft has a large number of Belgian students, mostly in aerospace engineering. Like most Belgian students, they travel back home over the weekend.

Since the failure of the new highspeed line Fyra between Belgium and the Netherlands, getting a good train connection over the border has become rather difficult.

Last August, I traveled twice to Delft from my hometown Lier: once by train and once by car. For comparison, I have tracked how much time it took, how much it cost me, and my general experience.

Traveling from Lier to Delft by train

I only had to be in Delft at 10am, but because the train connection between Antwerp and The Hague only goes out every other hour, I had to travel an hour earlier than necessary. I left by car at 6:20 from my parents' house to go to the train station, took the 6:35 train out, changed in Antwerp and Rotterdam and then walked to the TU Delft campus. I reached my office at 08:55. On my way back, my train from Delft to Rotterdam was delayed, so that I would miss my connection to Antwerp and onwards to Lier. Luckily, I was 10 minutes earlier in the train station, and hopped onto an earlier train out to Rotterdam. Otherwise my ride home would have lasted much longer.
The price of going back and forth was 44 euro - rather expensive for a trainride.
The advantage of taking the train is that -at least on the long haul between Antwerp and Rotterdam- I can pull out some work and take some concentrated time for work. On the shorter hauls, I pulled out my Kindle and enjoyed reading.

Traveling from Lier to Delft by car

I left at 6:20 as well, to make the comparison. Because I didn't have a train to catch, I was a wee bit slower in the morning, and actually left ay 6:25. There was a major traffic jam between Dordrecht and Rotterdam because of an oil leakage on the road, resulting in two lanes being closed. I arrived at the office around 8:20am.

As I drive a (relatively) small car (known by the name of Baby Benz), I use 6 liter of Diesel per 100km. Diesel is at about 1,4 euro/l. Given that the distance is 130km, I end up with a total price for 2 x 130km of 22 euro. Only half of the price of going by train.

Certainly, I couldn't read nor work during the ride, but I saved about half of the cost of the trip, and it took me an hour less.

From an ecological point of view, I do gravitate towards preferring public transport. And I sincerely hope the train connection between Belgium and the Netherlands will improve very soon, with more frequent connections, and a direct connection to Schiphol airport, and that the ticket prices will be a little more competitive with the cost of driving.

Silver Linings: the Ecuador adventure

Today is the very day that I leave Europe and fly to Ecuador to become an assistant professor at Universidad San Francisco de Quito. It's not the most common choice for someone having received a PhD in Western Europe to move to a developing country. The main reasons for going there, though, were related to the possibility for both my husband and I to find academic jobs without having to live thousands of miles away from eachother - and it helps that he is originally from there.

Having lived in a number of countries prior to this adventure, I know that it doesn't really matter to me where I am. As long as I like what I do, get enough sleep, my veggies, music and some sports, my basic needs are covered.

But Ecuador is beautiful, and I will show you five of the things that I most looking forward to enjoy in my new environment.

1. The Andean highs

CC licensed image by Flickr userAinhoa Bilbao

Quito is located right in the middle of the Andes mountains, so hiking should be among my new hobbies.

2. Pacific ocean

CC licensed image by Flickr user Carlos Adampol

 Although I'll be 4 hours away from the beach, there should be an opportunity every now and then to go to the beach and warm my bones.

3. Visiting the Galapagos

CC licensed image by Flickr user Ndecam

 On a previous trip, I didn't get the chance to visit the Galapagos islands, and it's still very high on my wishlist.

4. Fruit overload
 

CC licensed image by Flickr user A.Davey

One of the things that struck me most of all during my previous visit to Ecuador, is the cornucopia of fruits. There's a juicer in our container - we'll be using it!

5. Roses
 

CC licensed image by Flickr user godutchbaby

Even though roses are associated with English gardens, the roses from Ecuador are famous worldwide (my wedding bouquet contained nothing but Ecuadorian roses).

Silver Linings: Resources for yoga on the go

When you are traveling for conferences, having a very busy time in the lab or simply don't feel like coming out of your house, a virtual yoga teacher can provide you with the stretches and relaxation your body is craving.

By all means, I'm not advocating for you to drop your regular yoga class and roll out your mat between your bed and desk for the rest of your days.
Practicing yoga in group and with a teacher who can correct your poses is still a superior way of learning.

Once you have some practice, however, you can use a virtual yoga studio to take your sun salutations anywhere.

Previously, we've looked at how a quick sequence of standing yoga postures can get your blood running again after sitting too long, or simply can give you a lovely break in between pomodoros.

This post gathers a number of resources for you, to practice wherever you have access to the internet, some time and some space.

1. YouTube
YouTube has a virtual endless number of yoga classes available.
The following YouTube channels offer a good number of enjoyable (short) yoga workouts:
Psychetruth (never mind all the conspiracy theory talking and the ugly fonts on their videos, the yoga by Jen Hilman is lovely)
Yogatic - or the YouTube channel of Eckhart Yoga by Esther Eckhart.
LiveStrong Woman has great, short instruction videos by the glorious Tara Stiles.
YogaDownload contains a few slideshow sequences that are clear and easy to follow.
Sarah Beth Yoga also contains good information on how to do certain poses.
Ali Kamenova - power yoga that leaves me dripping from top to toe
eFit30 - a fitness channel with also yoga videos
Yogea ArtFlow Yoga - offer, well, something called artflow yoga
HolmTVs channel - yoga sequences at the beach: pretty to see
YJ Mag short for yoga journal magazine
Danielle Walsh - besides some cheesy astrology stuff, she offers great yoga classes
Yogajan06 or in the flow yoga
BeFiT offers workout videos and some yoga videos

2. Dedicated online websites
My Yoga Online - offers a 10-day free trial of their service. This website is currently my go-to resource.
GaiamTV - not a free website, and I haven't tried it, but the reviews are positive.
Yogayak sells DVDs, and also offers some free yoga instruction classes.
MyFreeYoga has lots of resources, but runs horribly slow
YogaGlo - again, not something I've tried as it is a paid service, but the reviews are positive.
Do yoga with me offers free classes.
Eckhart yoga - again, a website with rave reviews, but I haven't tried their paid-for service

3. Smartphone apps
Yoga for Weight Loss - I have the free version of this app, and the breathe cues are very good
After trying out a number of iPhone apps for yoga, I realized I simply don't like trying to see what's going on on that tiny screen. Also, most apps might come free, but then require a payment to obtain a class.

4. DVDs
An option I haven't really explored yet, but why not browse your local library for a yoga DVD that you can borrow for the time of your conference, or in that extremely busy week?

Have you been taking your yoga along with you?

Silver Linings: Conferences, and Flying around the world

A few months ago, I did some crazy conference traveling: I flew from Amsterdam via Rome to Japan to attend ICCS 213. After that conference, I flew out of Japan via Minneapolis to Pittsburgh, to attend IBC 2013.
I shouldn't forget to mention that less than a week after touchdown in Amsterdam, I also had to defend my dissertation.

Traveling from one conference in Asia to another in the USA threw me from Central European Summer Time to GMT+9 in Tokyo, and then to Eastern Time zone in the USA (GMT-5). Of course, I also crossed the date line (although I have no memory of actually doing so, as I was asleep).

As you can imagine, by the time I arrived to Pittsburgh, I couldn't tell the difference between my toes and fingers, and felt as if my brain had stayed in Holland.

If you want my advice on this crazy conference traveling, I would say: don't do it.

If you must, try to find a day of rest somewhere during the trip to catch up on sleep.

In my case, I managed to put in 2 days of rest at the beginning of the Pittsburgh-leg of my trip. The first rest-day was literally that: I went to bed sometime between 9pm and 10pm, and only woke up the next day at 2pm (and that is because my husband walked in because he took half a day off from work). The next night, I had a head-splitting migraine, combined with being unable to breathe and having my limbs go numb.

Regardless of the fact that it was terribly exhausting, I did find a few ways to cope with the draining elements of travel, and enjoyed myself a lot.

Here's what I did:

1. Don't try to do everything
I needed time to prepare for my defense presentation, so I took time off from the conference, instead of working through the night on my presentations. It's OK to miss out on sections in conferences, as long as you "do your work" (the networking, the presenting, the learning, etc...).

2. Eat your veggies
If you do something as crazy as I did in terms of traveling, getting the right fuel is more important than ever. I went with green juices (from juice bars, or those Odwalla or Naked juices that are sold in virtually every gas station) to get some veggies. I ordered veggie sides to my meals, although I got some green beans that were swimming in butter at a certain point.

3. Exercise
Go for a run. Drop in on a local yoga class. Do push-ups. Pump some iron. Walk around a few blocks.
Whatever you need to work up a sweat, helps your body. If possible, work out outside, in the daylight, when you are jetlagged.

4. Bonus
Take this little piece of advise from my promotor: "Don't worry about the trip. You'll fall asleep somewhere, sometime, eventually."

Have you had a crazy conference-trip like this? How did you survive?

Silver Linings: Flowing through Conference Travel

Conference travel can be exhausting, and I for one always notice how tired I am after a conference because suddenly I need an alarm clock to wake up.

After preparing months for a conference, you shouldn't just shoo away from the place of action because you feel that it becomes taxing and overwhelming. Instead, try to support yourself as much as possible through these extra-busy days, so that you can benefit from it as much as possible.

Instead of wearing yourself out by placing extra stress on your body, make a few conscious choices that make you go those few extra miles before your gas tank runs dry:

1. Go well-prepared

Don't arrive to a foreign airport in a frenzy, trying to remember your hotel name and trying to figure out how to reach the hotel. Avoid late nights in your hotel room to finish up your presentation. Instead, just make sure you have all prep-work out of the way so that you can focus your concentration and energy on learning and networking.

2. Prioritize

Make a realistic schedule - you can't be sitting in lecture sessions from 8 am to 10 pm, meet people AND visit the exhibition. Before the start of the conference, take a few moments to list your priorities: Who do you want to meet? Which company should you visit on the exhibition? Which sessions should you attend? When should you hang out in the hotel lobby and catch up with your acquaintances.

3. Make a few conscious food choices

If possible, try to select a few extra nutritious meals from the buffet. Replace a coffee by a green juice or smoothie. Try to stock up on nutrients in a healthy way before you load up your plate at the dessert buffet. And then indulge in your favorite foods - a conference is not the place to put yourself on a strict diet. Just make sure you get what you need before you start with coffee, alcohol and sugar.

4. Exercise

Bring your sports clothes, and exercise! After sitting an entire day, the best treat you can give yourself is exercise: running in the city you are visiting, trying out the hotel gym or pool or practicing a yoga sequence in your room - just try to make time for movement, at least 15 minutes every day.

5. Find some quiet time to read or relax

If you feel that fatigue and overwhelm are starting to creep up, then try to withdraw from the noise and business for half an hour to read, sit in the sun, take a nap or whatever feels right for you at that moment. Taking this one small action might be just what you need to keep going again, and might work better than a double espresso.

What do you do to avoid crashing down with exhaustion by the end of a conference? Please share your tips in the comments below!

Manon's Tales from the Road

On a Saturday night in Fall, with a vague plan of catching up on blogging and delivering guest posts, I find myself completely sunk into the website of the Tractor Girl


As she is preparing the final part of her trip that so far has taken her to South Africa and the Cape, she shares on her website what it takes to prepare a trip to the South Pole. Here are the 3 most surprising parts I came across:


1. Eyes?
In the Arctic, wearing contact lenses is impossible, and special corrected sunglasses are very expensive. As a solution, Manon had her eyes corrected in South Africa – to be able to actually see on the South Pole. Unfortunately, due to a very rare complication, she barely could support light for a while and turned into a modern-age Dracula. It takes some to make it all the way down to the end of the world…

2. Don’t sweat
If you sweat, you die. The problem with sweating in the Arctic is that it will make you freeze to death. As a dancer, Manon’s body learnt to sweat to build up stamina, and in the tropics during her travels to cool down. During her preparation in North Canada, she ended up skiing in the ice cold weather with a tight leather jacket right on her skin, to prevent the sweat and moisture from getting into her clothes.



3. Training with tractor tires
In the YouTube clip here, you can see shots in which Manon is pulling tractor tires on the beach in South Africa… Pulling tractor tires over a sandy surface seems to be the ideal way to prepare for pulling stuff over the snow. The tractor turned out to be the right means of transportation all along for this trip!



This post originally appeared on the TEDx Delft website, and is now reblogged as some Sunday inspiration for you!

Lest we forget

November 11th marks the end of the first World War, and is a holiday in Belgium.

While other countries might celebrate Remembrance Day as a day of glorious victory, in Belgium, and especially in West-Flanders, stories about the horrors of the war, the gas, the trenches and the shell-shock capture most attention.


In Ieper (Ypres), every single day at 8pm, the war is remember by "the last post" at the Menin Gate.


 
My father was born and raised in Ieper, and often brought the complete demolition of his beloved hometown to my attention. This is all that was left of the city after the war:

For those of you that are interested, I highly recommend the "In Flanders Fields" museum. It's been a while since I visited, but while preparing for the commemoration years 2014 - 2018, the museum has been given a large update.

And if you wondered about the title of the museum, it's taken from the poem by John McCrae:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

Almost a hundred years later, and peace is still a faraway dream. Here's the map of the current armed conflicts in our world:

Keukenhof

Keukenhof might be one of the largest tourist attractions in the Netherlands.
Sure, it is packed with tourists.
Sure, it is overly busy.
Sure, it might be pricey.
But... it is stunning.

The Keukenhof features the outside tulip gardens. These are of the finest gardens I have ever visited, complete with entirely landscaped parts, large ponds, a windmill, garden inspiration side "cubicles" and all sorts of vendors. Some of these vendors sell all sorts of plants, while others sell ice cream, waffles or bread with sausage. I had some poffertjes (small pancakes) there are they were very tasty.

The main roads in the Keukenhof connect some pavilions which all have their own theme. The tulip pavilion is probably the most impressive, but the pavilion with the orchids and the one with gerberas are also breathtakingly beautiful.

If ever you visit the Netherlands in spring, you definitely should go to the Keukenhof. It's too pretty to miss out on it.

A few places worth visiting in Amsterdam

Last Saturday, I celebrated my previous roommate's birthday together with my current roommate in Amsterdam. I don't live in Amsterdam, I don't know the city at all. I've been to Amsterdam about 5 years ago during a summer camp, and I never really got the "feel" of the city. But my previous roommate knows the city, and she took us to a few wonderful places.

Lunch at a canal

We had lunch on a pontoon on one of the canals. Even though it is still winter, we could sit outside, out of the wind and in the sun.

Puccini bomboni

Chocolate approved by a Belgian! They sell really really great chocolate in their chocolaterie, as well as delicious pie in their neighboring coffee place.

Nieuwe Kerk

We spent the majority of our afternoon marveling over the gems of Islamic art from the Khalili collection which are currently on disply in the Nieuwe Kerk. If you like art and have some spare time, it's a must visit.