Eric Liu: |
Summer 2000 photos (June 3 - 18) |
I spent 2 weeks in Ireland and had a really good time. The first week was spent being a participant and student volunteer at ICSE 2000 held in the University of Limerick (UL). The second week was spent on a cycling tour organized by the Irish Cycling Safaris.
The people I met really made my visit enjoyable. Everyone was really nice, friendly, and approachable. My first experience was with the other student volunteers (photo by Norah Power) at ICSE 2000. Most of them are recent computer engineering grads at UL and the lads were very helpful (especially Barry!) in showing me the way around campus, as well as patiently explaining language and cultural differenes. Towards the end of the conference, the volunteers were treated to dinner and drinks at Dolans. It was great since I got to witness fellow classmate Raymond in his drunken state. :-)
To avoid heavy traffic, our cycling tour took place mostly on back roads, which allowed us to see more of the country. We exchanged friendly waves and greetings with many local folks along the way.
Of course, there was also the people on the cycling trip. There was good mix of Canadians (including Raymond, Skylar, and Dr. "Grampa" Smith), Americans, British, and German -- 19 in all, plus the excellent guides. I think one makes friends with those who have approximately similar cycling speeds. :-) Anyway, they were a great bunch to be with, what with the singing, jokes, and stories which went on.
The first morning of the Clare and the Burren run was brutal, with light rain, strong winds, and seemingly-never-ending climbs... honestly, I thought I wasn't going to make it that morning! :-) But after lots more food and finally succumbing to learning to use the gears, I had a really good time on the tour! The scenery was absolutely wonderful (June is a great time to go), accomodations comfortable, food was good (especially when we all get different cakes and try out each other's!), and we even had a few days of sunshine! There was one "relaxation" day spent in Ballyvaughan, when we did some sea kayaking [more]. Anyway, the 234 km (146 miles) tour goes:
Probably the most humorous thing about the conference is finding an umbrella in our conference bag. What? You expect it to rain in Ireland? :-)
Oh yeah, check out all the nice monitors in the computer lab at U of L!
We had two informal research demonstration booths at the conference, so while we played student volunteers in the morning, Raymond and I had to help prepare and man the booth(s) in the afternoons (we worked really late one night too, but that's another story). I was also part of a paper accepted in the workshop which Paolo was also attending, which was great!
There was a reception and banquet held at the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park (basically like Calgary's Heritage Park, except there's a castle, and it's not about Canada :-) one night. After dinner, there was (not the real name, of course) "StreamDance" (a mini RiverDance) performed, which was quite entertaining.
Of course, what's a trip without problems? Due to an extremely tight connection going from Calgary to London and London to Shannon:
Then, on the way back, the plane from Toronto to Calgary had to turn around part-way due to an oil leak in the left engine. So, instead of making it back at 11:30pm, we got back at 2:30am. It's late, but at least we got home safe. :-) Didn't help that I had to show up at U of C right the next day, but hey...
PS. Thanks to Skylar and Dr. Smith for the contribution of their photos!
Eric Liu
Last modified: August 21, 2001
