photos from bergen - my cousin lives in a pretty nice corner of the world.

and the trip is done! it was a blast and a nice mix of deep thinking, exploring, sightseeing, and getting to know family. but, as i’m waiting here in the helsinki airport, i am really really looking forward to getting home. i don’t know what it is - maybe the recent engagement - but i missed matt and benny so very much on this trip.

back to bergen. my cousin has her phd in middle germanic languages (so any germanic language spoken/written pre-13th century) which means she knows a ton of history and weird random stuff. she is in bergen because it has a really strong connection to the medieval era and the university has a pretty amazing department for what she does. it also makes her a very knowledgeable tour guide.

anyway, i had a thought on this trip. well, i had quite a few, but i’ll just share one. when i was very young, my family went on a trip to korea. i could not believe that the people working on the airplane were paid to travel. what?? it’s their job to fly around the world and ask me about my menu choices? they get to go to honolulu and seoul and get paid for it?? when we got home from that trip, i immediately started practicing on my family. “chicken or beef?” “chicken or beef?” “chicken or beef?” i wanted more than anything for travel to be a part of my profession. and i realized something - i was essentially in helsinki to have a 1.5 hour conversation about my paper and its relation to other papers. my cousin is living in bergen (and iceland before) essentially for her specialty in linguistic knowledge. lo and behold, we are in professions where travel is definitely incorporated.

and the coolest part? our currency is knowledge. papers can take you all over the world. thoughts (in the form of funding) can buy plane tickets and hotel rooms and adventures abroad. pretty neat. maybe i should have been practicing my public speaking and theory building skills rather than “chicken or beef”. plus there are way more vegetarians these days so i suppose it’s a good thing i figured out an alternative route.