Im in ur North Carolina, Participatin in ur Discussions

After one day of listening to people talk about science, freedom, and freedom to do science, I've come to a conclusion very quickly and have stuck by it: I should have had more sleep earlier. I haven't slept, or even seemed extremely tired, throughout these, but I would have preferred it if my brain was closer to 100% capacity for function throughout the talks. I have to say, to the world, that I found every single discussion I went to (1/4 of the total, as many as using each time slot permits) was full of interest in the topic from, often, most of the people in the room. I would put in my own two cents, and in return people were glad to share their knowledge on what was being discussed. There was also a healthy dose of general hilarity at a number of the rooms, and at one point it sounded as if a bunch of Vikings had walked into the hallway and started singing loudly, which lasted a few minutes. At the last session, I was given a concise overview of Serbian history, relating to politics, the state of the people, and the state of science as a whole in the country. Though this account may have had some bias because of the person delivering it, my knowledge of the world IQ may have gone up a point or two at the end of an hour.

On a side note, we were walking down the hallway to our room in the hotel when my dad pointed someone else out to me walking towards us:

(Dad): "Hey Sam, it's Michael."

(confused): "Oh. Hi Michael."

(Michael): "Hi guys!"

(still uncertain): "Hi."

(Dad): "It's Michael Nielsen."

(enlightened): "Oh. Oh! *facepalm*"