A more-than-one-month visiting journey is reaching its end. Thought it’d be “just a vacation”, which became an even more productive study retreat with a proper work/life balance – something I always took as a luxury in Taiwan. Intimacies play an essential part in this process that has long been compromised by never-ending work back home.
Thought I’d let the emotions sink in and prepare for the end of “summer”, but suddenly they hit me quite hard when I was waiting for the last flight at the Istanbul Airport, reviewing the photos taken in the past few weeks.
The week in London and Manchester was amazing. We got to visit various stakeholders of LGBT health promotion, which goes far beyond the STI “problem”. Listening to the experiences of NGOs, charities, NHS, academics and researchers, I’ve come to appreciate more than before the intricacies of such work. Participating in a Formosa Salon event and a PAR-ish conference in Canterbury and walking in the London Pride again were a nice interlude to the trip.
The most memorable part should be the nearly one-month visiting scholarship at the ERCCT of the University of Tübingen. Meeting, chatting, and hanging out with old and new friends always feel nice, but honestly, I wasn’t expecting it to be so rewarding and inspiring. Difficult and small talks! And the Connectivity Workshop – what was that! I got to learn from the young minds who have so many interesting research ideas and insights, embodying the new generation of ways of asking questions and imagining the future. Our conversations never got old, “refreshing” my old eyes and brains.
I can’t thank everyone enough for their hospitality and generosity, and the good times are gratefully remembered. I’d say the trip has been a “recharging” and generative one, happening at the right time when I was about to (or actually already was) burnt out. Glad I made it happen, of course. I’m gonna do it again, and I’m going to encourage everyone around me to do it – a once-lost line of flight.
@İstanbul Airport
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