Whenever people asked me what my summer plans were, I had the choice of what to tell them. If I wanted to make it sound really interesting, I'd say I was going to Oxford to do research. If I wanted to make it sound moderately interesting I'd say I was doing research at Miami University. If I wanted to go the boring route, I'd say I was going to Ohio. I could get away with all three statements without lying because I was going to Oxford, Ohio to do research at Miami University. (Research in math as part of the SUMSRI program.)
I arrived yesterday after a five-hour drive and one-hour timezone change. We were told that we should arrive that day, and everyone else in the program had a flight that landed some time between 10 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. The first scheduled activity is a dinner tonight (Sunday) at 6 pm. Until that point, we're mostly abandoned on our own.
I hadn't been planning on writing about this summer. Previous years and previous trips, I've had the double advantage of being somewhere interesting, and often doing things other people would find amusing. Intenionally mislead people to make my summer sound more fun is not a good sign for a blog. Nor, for most people, is a heavy focus on math.
So I hadn't been planning on keeping the blog updated this summer, but.... I have the time right now. And I'm not sure you realize how rare that is for the day after arrival. Usually I'm so busy running around and trying to get settled and trying to connect with the others I'm with and trying to write up the interesting parts of what I'm doing and that still ends up taking way too long. I have the time right now. Everything's unpacked and I've had conversations and done things with about half the people in the program, which is a pretty good start. It's amazing how much time there is when you're not rushed from activity to activity the first day or two. (That starts Monday.)
So I have the time, and I have a lovely dorm that I want to describe. I also have a blog dedicated to travels. Usually they're more exciting places like Morocco or Japan, but so it goes. How much time I'll have once I start classes and research and such remains to be determined. As does the question of whether or not I can write about my life this summer without losing the interest of everyone, or at least everyone who isn't a math major.
I guess we'll find out.
