Last day of my second quinqennial leave at MSR Camb

Tomorrow is my last day here at MSR Camb.  I am grateful to MSR Camb for giving me the absolute freedom to talk to anyone, work on anything, and explore as much.  I chose Cambridge for many reasons: I   wouldn't have to drive, there should be lots of intellectually stimulating talks and events, I would have local friends from day one, etc. etc.  In the end it turned out to be a darn good choice!

I lived at 17 Portugal Street for the past six months, which meant I had Jesus Green only a few steps away, the ADC theatre 2 minutes away, the Castle pub 3, King's College Chapel 6, the Cambridge Arts Centre, Arts Picturehouse and the Fitzwilliam Museum in less than 10 minutes away. Everything within 10 minutes of walking, but for the lab once in West Cambridge now next to the train station, a good fast 20-minute walking away.

I kept in touch with family via almost daily Kakaotalk chats, friends via open walls and secret closed Facebook groups and shared info and jokes on Twitter.  I got to observe how I use all the smart devices for which purpose, what underlying infrastructure is coming up and how it will evolve, and what we want. And why we want it.  I leave Camb with more questions than when I arrived but with enthusiasm.  I met many interesting and inspiring people, and wanna come back many times to continue our conversations.

This six-month stay away from home and teaching gave me a breathing room to think about lots of things.  Now it's time to go back home and put new thoughts and inspirations to words and real work.

Camb, you've been a lovely host. Thank you!

잘 놀고 편히 쉬다 간다고는 얘기 못하겠지만, 즐겁게 있다가 갑니다.  내 머릿속에 영어를 쓰는 나라라는 범주에 미국과 같이 뭉뚱그려져 있던 나라가 명확하게 구별되는 존재로 각인되었습니다. 영국 맥주와 디저트가 그리울 것 같습니다.