Situated in the far east of Canada, with just 4.5 hours time difference, St. John's is the closest you can get to Europe. It has approximately 200.000 inhabitants, which is comparable to Eindhoven. The list of similarities quickly end though, as St. John's is the largest city on the island Newfoundland (/Newfun(d)LANd/), which in turn is the size of Hungary.This fisherman's town proved to be a perfect spot to study oceanography. Teamed up with a Chinese PhD and a Russian professor, we study ocean flows using a rotating tank filled with water. Our last experiment revolved (pun intended) around finding small scale eddies under the influence of vertical column structures. With a large temperature difference, we were able to create columnar convection cells through heat loss through the surface. The theory is easy to learn, but much more fun to see with your own eyes. What I also wanted to see, was the beautiful nature here. Regarding animals, I've seen a small red fox up close and personal, a small weasel and far offshore some whales spouting. When it's spring, you should be able to see icebergs floating around. It makes it easy to see why the Titanic crashed not too far from here.Next to large cars, houses and roads, the sizes have another major advantage; large beers! Instead of drinking your beers one small glass after another, beer is served in pints. Even the special ones like India Pale Ale. As a member of the beer brewing committee, I approve. Cheers!