I really enjoyed my first days in Canberra. Canberra was hosting the Australasian Society for Immunology annual meeting, so I didn't just get to see my friends from Canberra, but also all the people I know who work in immunology around Australia, and even a fair few familiar faces from overseas. One of the hard things about being a scientist can be the transient nature of the work, we are always moving around after our PhD or post-doc to find the next position. Even if you are able to stay in one place, your friends graduate or get a new position and leave you behind. The flip side of this is that science leaves you with a large network of wonderful friends scattered around the globe. When we travel through Australia, North America and Europe there are dear friends to catch up with and show us around their new home, and when we have a large conference it is like a reunion.
