I’m back in the US for the first time since 2002. Before that, the last time was in 1978, when I had lived in Greenwich, Connecticut and gone to Kindergarten for two years. Everybody’s way fatter than I remember them. But very cheerful and friendly.

My first time in North Carolina: I’m at the Radisson Hotel (in Swedish I always call these things Hotell Rädisan, “Radish Hotel”) in Research Triangle Park after having travelled for about 20 hours. Lost my itinerary printout, ran around Newark airport like a headless chicken, was then put on a standby list despite checking in an hour an a half before my el-cheapo flight would take off, but did get on the flight, and here I am now. The receptionist has christened me “M. Rumdkisd”.

Bedtime: tomorrow’s the big Science Blogging Conference day! I look forward to having breakfast with Sciblings, people I’ve known for a year and will now encounter IRL for the first time.