For the last two weeks, I have been in the US, first at the Ubuntu Developer Summit which Google was kind enough to host, then at the Canonical Allhands meeting in San Francisco proper. I was quite reluctant about going to the US due to the sheer amount of silly laws as well as their foreign policy. In the end, I decided to go.
The developer summit was good and the hosting was excellent. The food was top-notch and quite varied. However, it's good it was just one week so my clothes still fit. Meeting old friends and making new ones, as is usual for those summits. As usual, we didn't get to see much of the surrounding area (but then, neither Sunnyvale nor Mountain View are very exciting towns/areas, or at least didn't seem so to me).
The second week was at the Hilton on Fisherman's Wharf in downtown San Francisco. We worked long days here too, but I did at least manage one long trek through a fair bit of the city. San Francisco seems to be a very nice city -- it is clean, the drivers usually don't try to run you over even though you're a silly tourist and the people are friendly. Prices aren't too bad either.
I didn't get to really see the Golden gate bridge, nor did we go to Alcatraz, but I don't mind that much. I was also quite tired in the end and am now really, really looking forward to getting home to Karianne and our menagerie of pets.
Some observations from the two weeks:
- Showering is not optional when you interact with other people. Seriously, some people didn't just smell a bit, they stunk. Eww.
- US teambuilding practices and Canonical does not go well along. No, I don't want to get pumped using brainwash-like techniques, thankyouverymuch.
- The Ubuntu crowd is a fantastic gang to hang out with.
- Two weeks is a very long time to be away from Karianne.
