The last ocean optics conference was cancelled due to the pandemic. Being four years since the previous on in Dubrovnik, the extended optics group decided to go to Vietnam in numbers. The delegation counted 7 traveling from Bergen on friday: Arne, Børge, Håkon, Elinor, Håvard, Camilla and Hongbo embarked on the four-flight journey to Quy Nhon, while Daniel chose a different route, planning to meet ut at the final destination. We were a bit nervous, as we only had 45 minutes in Copenhagen catching the long flight to Singapore. It did not start well. A reeboot of the SAS engine in Bergen delayed us by 45 minutes and on landing we had to accept defeat. Travel center next. Fortunately we all found new paths to our destination, but had to concede to a split-up of the party.
Børge and Camilla were re-routed via Bangkok, while the rest had to add a fifth flight to the travel plan, going via Brussels and Doha to Ho Chi Minh City. Fortunately for us, Håvard supplied us with sleeping pills to make the trip feel a bit shorter. To our pleasant surprise, everyone was finally united again in Quy Nhon, only about 6 hours behind schedule. Of course, none of the luggage made the trip with us – to Arne and Håkon’s amusement, as they were the only ones traveling with hand luggage only!
The sunday was all about relaxing and sightseeing the beautiful coastal city, and ordering food without any idea what we were actually ordering.
Monday morning at 9 am, we took a taxi to the conference venue. The scenic International Center for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE), a few km south of the city.
Håvard and Børge held their talks before lunch on monday, and did very well. Particularly Håvard, who was praised by several other attendees during the day both for his interesting results and his no-nonsense presentation.
Elinor had poster duty monday afternoon, and managed to keep her head level and form meaningful discussions with her peers in spite of the session being held in a basement with below-par acoustic properties. Combined with the heat generated by 100 people in a room already at 30 degrees we can only say well done!!
ecosens.no 