Only a few more days before I go back to the States. I could write ‘before I go back home” but somehow that does not feel right (yet). The reason to come back for the holidays is to see people. That means I am sleeping in at least six different beds; visit friends in five different places; making more than a thousand kilometers in a week. But do not get the impression that I am complaining.

Of course not, I feel fortunate that I have so many people that I want to see. On the other hand it gives a feel of restlessness, the running around, seeing all these people in their nice and settled homes. Maybe it is time that I settle too. In a way it is kind of confronting that both my little brothers have three times as many bedrooms as me. Fortunately life in Boston comes with many challenges and experiences. I hope all of you have a great New Years Eve and of course all my best wishes for 2008!

After a painless flight I arrived on solid European grounds on Saturday morning. My mummie was waiting at the gate. That is really nice, knowing there is somebody waiting for you. A two hour car ride in company completely beats a solitary two and a half hour train trip.

As promised, there are dirty stories to tell from the Broad party. The location was the very stylish Royal Sonesta hotel, the food was incredible for carnivores and herbivores alike. A surprisingly funky band of 60-plus musicians kept a good dance floor going. I embarked on a serious hip shaking tour. At some point, Eric Lander, director of our Institute and scientist with a Wiki page (that means famous), got on the floor and some female postdocs embarrassed themselves trying to dance and flirt with him. The party finished around 22:00 or so, but of course we just got warmed up by then. So we went onwards to some kind of bar and in the end I was in my bed by five in the morning. Bars close at two o’clock and I leave it to the reader to guess what happened in between.
So, only a few hours of sleep that night and on Friday I flew back, meaning another strange night. This has screwed up my bioclock pretty badly. This morning I woke up at 5:45 or so (I went to bed at 2:30) and I have been awake since then. The question is when I am going to collapse. Hopefully after our xmas dinner this afternoon.

A few days to go before I fly home again. It will the 8th trans-atlantic flight of this year, with a transfer at Heathrow. Word has it that it will be very busy at Boston Logan Airport; so many people in Boston are from elsewhere. As always I look forward to going home and seeing many people. Although four trips to Europe seems (and is) a lot, it is pretty common to fly back that often. Most of my European friends do, at least. Due to the snow, many flights have been canceled in the last week. More snow is predicted on Thursday so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

The benefit of a science career is that it is sometimes possible to combine business and leisure; two of my trips this year have been paid for by somebody else than me. I recently got green lights to attend a computational biology conference in Singapore. This will be in March next year and is obviously something to look forward to - I love Asia.

It also makes an excellent opportunity to make a side trip to Irian Jaya, where my good friend and docter-of-the-world Remco is working. He has an interesting blog (in Dutch) that is certainly worth checking, including a cool photo-page.
As I will be gone for the enormous period of ten days, I am trying to round up work which of course means long hours. I have adapted a schedule to work late at night and start late in the morning - this way I have a lot of time by myself at night. I want to be finished before Thursdayevening, the evening of the annual Broad holiday party. I look forward to see people misbehave At least, that is what you always here from these xmas parties, right! Perhaps something for my next blog…

Did I report on heavy snow (and the consequences of it) in Montreal, now it is time to report some snow in Massachusetts. Today and tomorrow we are having a full blown snowstorm, with the expectation of 12 inches (30cm) of snow in the next ten hours.

I just got an email of the MIT office that said that all employees are urged to go home at 2pm. Mostly because if you are stuck with your car somewhere, the snow is coming down so heavily that you will be snowed in (and invisible) in an hour. I live close to work so I am going to stick around but everybody around me is making their way home now. As it is my first snowstorm I feel kind of excited about it. Hopefully I can take some nice pictures later today! I will probably have to skip my preliminary plan to go skiing in the weekend due to the conditions, unfortunately. As my knee and head are still kind of sore it is probably better anyway

Fridaymorning, I embarked on a the bus for a journey to the North. 7 Hours of riding through a Winter wonder land, passing the states New Hampshire and Vermont, crossing the border and onwards into Quebec for the final destination: Montreal. I have visited Montreal once before, about five years ago; it is quite different from other cities in North-America. People speak French, for one thing. The streets are less wide, the buildings seem better constructed. Montreal has a European feel to it.
I went to visit my friend Erik, the same friend that visited me a few weeks ago. It had snowed in Boston over the last two weeks, but the amount of snow seemed to increase linearly with going further north. About 40 cm of snow covered Montreal. Erik and I went about and strolled over Mount Royal, of which Montreal got its name. We walked around and I admired the city.

Due to the snow and the decreasing temperatures, the sidewalks were very slippery at some spots. On Saturday, we went to a club to dance and meet hot chicks. On our way back, right outside Erik’s building, I slipped over an icy patch and fell flat on my face.

I was actually out for a few moments and have hardly a memory of what happened - my first time ever to be unconscious! The result is shown in the picture and my knee is pretty blue too. My trousers have a big hole in them and I had a headache today. Montreal is great city, love it

I am in Montreal now and will write a new post on Monday!