Day one of my trip and I departed in the morning from Athens to Amsterdam. The flight was good and arrived in Amsterdam at 7.20.
I also had the chance to meet the girl sitting next to me, so we walked for a couple of hours downtown,
drinking a coffee at a beautiful cafe watching the river and then going back to the airport to catch my next flight. Amsterdam looks great, a very interesting city with way too many bicycles and a tram. I will have the chance to visit it again for more hours on my way back so I will write more then.


Next flight was from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. The boarding time was 2 hours (!?!) before the flight and they told me to be one hour before that at the airport, so my visit in the center of Amsterdam was short. However it is really easy to go there, since you just get the train from Schipol airport and in 15 minutes you are there.

While waiting for the departure, I had the time for a few morning beers which knocked me of for a large part of the 10 hour flight to Minneapolis. It is not such a bad idea drinking alcohol after all. It can help you avoid jet lag. I cannot even comment on the US officials at the security check before boarding. They were much more polite than in my last trip to the States, but the “a priori terrorist” attitude is still there. So, 10 hours later, a movie (Just My Luck) which I chose from the 40 (???) movies offered and some talking with Cat (a PhD chemistry student going to Salt Lake City) who was sitting next to me, I arrived in Minneapolis.
And then the adventure started… After going through the customs and immigration office I was informed that my flight was delayed for 2 hours due to the strong winds over Minnesota. At this point, my cellphone was not working due to some unknown roaming problem, so I paid 3$ for a 20 sec call to Canada to change my airport pickup time.
But 5 minutes later, the flight had disappeared from the boards. After the first sock that it was canceled, I learnt that it would be delayed for 2 more hours (departing on 1.30 in the night). This meant that I would have to wait in the airport for 10 hours…
By the time of departure, the 41 of us who would be on the flight were the only people in the airport.
We received a 13$ (
) coupon to cover eating expenses and a 10.000 miles bonus on the frequent flyer program or a 100$ voucher for NortWest flights.
I go for the miles since I don’t think I will be flying with NorthWest again.
Eventually we boarded on the plane and some time after 2.00 we were in the air. But as it appears, this was just the beggining of the adventure.
The time I am writing this lines, we have landed in Regina and are not allowed to exit the airplane, since it is 3.30 in the morning and the agent of the airline company is not here. The customs official eventualy showed up and is right outside the door, but he will not allow us to depart without the agent.
We have been sitting here for more than an hour. They keep giving us free snacks and drins to calm people off, but the situation here is crazy.
The bureocracy of the customs official is attacking the common sense.

Continuation :
Finally, they managed to get the agent at the airport and at 4.30 I arrived at the University of Regina and the 11th floor of the Norh Tower of residensies, 33 hours since I left Athens.
During my first day in Regina, I had the chance to meet 2 of the participants and we went for a long walk to the malls around the university, getting a few things we needed. Roaming is fixed now, my laptop enjoys a new power cable since the old one was almost destroyed and my stomach is still fighting with the McDonalds and Subways, which is pretty much all you can find in the airport and within a walking distance from the university. The accommodation here is simply great and the rooms are huge. However campus is quiet, since the semester is over for a few weeks now, and mostly middle school children are here on summer camps.

I’ll keep posting with more details from the workshop and hopefully more math!
Nikolas