Yesterday would have been my flight back to Germany if I hadn’t extended it for a couple of weeks to be able to enjoy Hanami here in Aizu which is already about to start.

So instead of going back to Germany I got the chance to go to Tokyo to visit a Tech Talk at Google and learn lots about the plethora of projects they are working on and how they are operating.

The talks ranged from topics like YouTube and Google Maps to Chrome and Android. It was a very good experience and therefore it made me even happier that I extended my stay. Not only am I able to enjoy Hanami but I could make new contacts and soak up information which I would have missed totally otherwise.

But maybe I wouldn’t have been able to go back to Germany on Thursday anyway. Today I learned about a volcano in Island started to erupt and clouding the airspace over Europe. Thus thousands of flights were cancelled.

So I was three times lucky. Due to my extension I get to see Hanami in Aizu (1), could visit the Google offices (2) and maybe avoided a long stay at the airport forced upon me due to nature’s will (3).

Sascha