This week there’s a huge conference on petroleum technology
in Houston. I’m not attending, and I don’t want to. First, Houston is not my
favorite place to go. Second, the conference is too crowded (more than 50.000),
too much business and politics, and too little science.
I have, however, been to this conference once, some 10 years
ago. I was invited to give a presentation on some research we had done.
There was a somewhat complicating issue, because I brought
older boy with me on the trip to the US. Back then, he was a little boy, only 8
years old. He was going to visit a friend who lived in Colorado at that time (the
father of his friend was a professor on sabbatical).
Older boy looked forward to visit Denver (where we lived for
a while when I was a student).
But first we had to go to Houston.
Houston is a big city with high crime rates (in some areas).
It’s not a place where you want your kid to get lost. Also, he didn’t speak
English. In case he got lost, he wouldn’t be able to communicate with anyone.
This was a challenge when I was giving my talk at the
conference.
After some negotiations with the conference management, I
got a special permission to bring the boy with me to the technical-session’s
area. He was not allowed to visit the exhibition
halls, where lots of heavy-duty offshore equipment was shown.
I went to the speaker’s preparation room, to upload my
presentation and check that it was OK. I put the kid on a chair next to me,
with some candy and a Mountain Dew, to keep him quiet.
Then we went to the auditorium where my session took place.
When it was my turn to speak, I put the kid in a seat in the first row, right
in front of the podium. I gave him his Gameboy (a Nintendo device), and told
him to turn off the sound.
I gave my talk, presenting the mathematical model and application
examples. All the time, I kept an eye on the kid from the podium, while he was
sitting still playing a Pokemon game.
After my talk, we went straight to the George Bush airport
to get on the plane to Denver. Then we went up to the Rockies to enjoy some
slushy May skiing in Arapahoe Basin.
(For some reason, I've never used my camera when visiting Houston. I took the picture above by the I-70, west of Denver, where the highway starts climbing up the Rocky Mountain Foothills)
From the moment I had my kids I never took my eyes off them. Being a foreigner where I live, I was way too protective in some ways. But I think I did okay over all.
ReplyDeleteMaria
Depends on where you are. In big foreign cities, you have to be careful. In our hometown, I've never been worried about the kids. They've been walking to school alone since the age of 7. They know their way around, and crime rates are low.
DeleteHoustin IS a scary place. I agree with you. Hell, Amarillo is scary, and we don't have near the crime or population of Houston. Denver is GORGEOUS. I'm jealous that you got to live there. But how did you get your kid to sit still by giving him caffeine and sugar?!!
ReplyDeleteI must admit that Houston is not my favorite city. I like San Antonio and Austin and some of these Texas small towns like Fredericksburg (where the main street is still named Hauptstrasse, in German). I've never been to Amarillo, unfortunately.
DeleteOlder boy was (and still is) a nice and quiet guy. Apparently he gets his need for speed and adrenaline satisfied by freestyle skiing. He got used to drinking Mountain Dew when we lived in Denver. They don't sell it over here, so when we got back to the US, Mountain Dew was what he wanted >:)
Glad it worked out! I'm a bit frightened to travel certain places with my kids too.
ReplyDeleteSomewhat stressful, but it worked out in the end >:)
DeleteYou have a very good son. Candy and Mountain Dew? Wow. My kids would have been totally hyper.
ReplyDeleteHouston's not that far of a drive from me. I could have driven over to say hi.
I've driven from Houston to Austin once. I think it's about 7-8 years since my last visit to Austin. Nice city. I enjoyed the music bars on 6th street. I'll let you know in case I get the oportunity to visit Austin again >:)
DeleteWe go to some of the very interesting places. It will be good to write some books about them. I've just been back from Miami. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteYes, traveling is good for writing. It may provide the setting for a story, and experiences to spin stories around. Did you drive to the Florida Keys from Miami? Very nice trip all the way down to Key West and Hemingway's bars >:)
DeleteI guess it's all perception. I was born in Houston, lived there all my life until about 3 years ago when I moved about an hour out to a small town. Not because I thought Houston was a bad place to live but because I was tired of living in a city. growing up, we lived on the edge of town. back then Houston wasn't so big. but from my mid-20s, I lived in the inner city and I've never experienced the 'high crime'. I did have my bike stolen once. It has changed quite a lot in the last 15 - 20 years.
ReplyDeleteIt's a big difference between cities where you know your way around and cities where you don't. Our town is pretty safe, but they steal bikes here too >:)
DeleteSmart idea, a Gameboy. Good way to keep a child quiet and happy. I had a Gameboy once. It was extremely addictive, and kept me quiet and happy. :)
ReplyDeleteYou sound like a very careful and loving father. I'm glad everything worked out well - it's hard enough to be a speaker, much less watching a child at the same time - that's an admirable accomplishment. :)
Yes, seems like Gameboy and computer games can be addictive. Personally, I've never been interested in electronic games of any kind.
DeleteI lived in Houston for 2 years. I left as fast as I could, and haven't been back! :)
ReplyDeleteI could never live in Houston, mostly because of the climate. I'm a skiing addict and need to live in a place with cold and snowy winters >:)
ReplyDelete