One of the most rewarding aspects of being a graduate student is being sent halfway around the world to present your research and interact with other scientists at scientific meetings. The distance travelled is not important, but it is always nice to combine the professional experience with explorations of a new city, country, continent and culture. As I write this entry, I have just attended the European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna, Austria. Although Vienna is located far away from any ocean, what can go wrong when you have unlimited access to Wiener schnitzel, apple strudel and Mozart?

At the first conference I attended, I was scheduled to present my research as one of the last talks of the entire conference. An impressive crowd of about a dozen showed up, including the organizers and four fellow students from Hawaii! On my second appearance, I was scheduled to speak just before the legendary oceanographer Wally Broecker, and a steady flow of people filled the room until it was announced that Wally's talk was cancelled owing to illness, and the majority left. Luckily, I have not spoken to empty seats since then. Each conference has pushed me closer to graduation, articles have been solicited and published, collaborations initiated, postdoc positions offered and friends made all over the world. In addition, I have enjoyed apple strudel to the tunes of Mozart in the place where they were composed more than two centuries ago.