Presentation Day

Hallå!
(That's hello in Swedish! Sounds kind of like "hah-low-a") 


So today was in fact the big day, and I think we did pretty well! Professor Lair of course rocked it as usual; I feel like I did alright but there's definitely room for improvement (as always). We did have quite a few questions and suggestions from the audience, but, in Lair's words, no one eviscerated us, so that was good! haha. It was super intimidating to be up there in front of a bunch of academics who make their living doing research, but at the same time really great experience for me. It was helpful to be able to observe Professor Lair and the other presenters ask and respond to questions and to get a feel for the way other conferences work. After seeing several other presentations I feel like our research fits in really well with the other topics in this conference and at the same time is something new that no on else is really looking at. I was actually surprised that there weren't any other studies on the minimum wage! In any case, it went well and I think it was well received. From observing other presentations I also feel like I've gotten some good ideas about how to and how not to give an effective presentation which is extremely helpful. 

Doing great work! 

After our presentation we took a break for coffee and delicious carrot cake! We also made a friend, a lovely economist from the University of Vermont with whom we chatted about academic things for a while and then she gave us some tips on what to see in the city on our day off. Before lunch I went to a session on gender bias in recruitment which was really interesting! The presentation that was most interesting to me was a comparative study of women in IT jobs in Germany and India, ask me when I get back and I can tell you more about it if you'd like.

After lunch I came back here to the hostel to do some work before the big gala dinner this evening. Professor Lair and I made plans to meet at the train station so we could head over together (the best laid plans...). Turns out we both had different meeting places in mind and I forgot to bring my directions to the place with me so the fancy dinner didn't happen unfortunately. But, I did go to another kebab place and had a fun interaction with the waiters there. I handed the dude my credit card and a copy of my passport and he looks up at me and goes "United States of America!" with this big goofy grin on his face and I said, "yep." Then he says, "91! Young!" with the same goofy grin. I laughed at this (attn.: Sarah & Brian). Finally he handed me back my card and ID and asked if I was working in "the Stockholm" to which I informed him no, just visiting. After getting my food I sort of wanted ketchup and although I knew it was kind of a long shot I got up to look at the counter to see if there were condiments. The waiter saw me and was like "what do you need? salt? salt? the salt is right here! salt!" So although I really didn't want any salt, I felt obligated to take a couple of packets haha. Despite that weirdness it was cool to sit in there and listen to everyone speaking Swedish around me and have no idea what was going on. It is a really neat language to listen to, to me it sounds like a combination of French and German and before you ask, no, they don't all sound like Beaker or Dr. Bunsen. 

So that was my day, now I'm back here at the hostel about to do some reading. Tomorrow we're going to explore the city for a bit which I'm really excited about! That means I'll have more cool pictures, which I hope you're excited about too! :) 

Goodnight everyone!