Menu ⇓

  1. This is the view from our hotel in Istanbul. Apparently it’s also the site for the 2016 world satellite dish counting championships.

  3. Lesson learned this evening: If a waiter offers you food, and there’s the tiniest, slightest sliver of a chance it might be off menu, ask how much it’s going to cost up front.

  4. Getting ready to leave Eskişehir @ Rixos Hotel. Thanks to everyone at ICWS and to all the wonderful people I met in Eskişehir for making this part of the trip such a great experience! Next stop: Istanbul.

  9. Being around people who speak many languages is so inspiring. Must resist the temptation to learn Spanish and French immediately, refocus energy into getting good at German first…

  10. Hey Stockholm @Arlanda, why do your airport customer surveys have a “What is your gender? (Do not ask the participant, just note down)” question with only “Male/Female” options? I know you want to break results down by background variables, but having your staff just make assumptions about people’s gender, without asking them, providing non-binary options, the option not to say, or even TELLING THEM IT’S BEING COLLECTED is straight-up rude. Not only that, but the results of the survey will reflect your staff’s biases, as you’re requiring them to make assumptions. Doing a better job is easy. Just explicitly ask people, providing Female/Male/Other/Prefer Not To Say options at the very least.

  11. Successfully re-booked! A member of security staff asked to see my hurdy gurdy purely out of curiosity, which is a first for me. Usually they either don’t care or require a swab and search.

  12. Currently stranded at Stockholm airport following a delayed flight causing me to miss the connection to Istanbul. Airport bureaucracy knows no bounds! Talked to 6 (all very friendly and helpful) different people at 4 different desks, accumulated several additional sheets of paper, called people in three different countries, and now I might be able to rebook a later flight (crosses fingers).

  15. Travelling around Europe always leaves me with intense motivation to learn languages. Currently riding the wave by getting back onto icelandiconline.is (low priority but I’m immersed every day) and starting German on Duolinguo (higher priority but no immersion at the moment).

  16. My 2hr Norwegian airlines connection from LGW to CPH showed a bunch of short films instead of a long movie. Amongst them was the single best piece of animation I’ve ever seen: Rabbit and Deer:

    Everything about this is perfectly executed — the story, the animation, the art styles. It almost makes me want to start animating again, except that it’d take years to make something half as good.

    Unfortunately, I didn’t hear the soundtrack on the plane because the armrest headphone jack didn’t work. At the time I was listening to “The Blackleg Miner” by Appletwig Songbook (here’s a different version), which created this bizzare mental association between an old miners song and this piece of animation.