I wasn't expecting to.
I came here two years ago, only I showed up to the Institute for Advanced Study. To be honest, I wasn't impressed. Don't get me wrong, the academic records of the people there are staggering, but the place itself was kind of underwhelming. There was usually nobody in the common room, and when there was, they were usually reading quietly. And there were no blackboards! Most of all, the place cleared out by 5:00. Where did everyone go? Surely not to explore Princeton's nightlife.
This time, I showed up to Princeton itself (both the university and IAS are in the town of Princeton; within walking distance of each other on a day with pleasant weather). What a great place! I walked into Fine Hall, was welcomed by my collaborator Takashi Taniguchi, and soon ran into lots of other people I knew. The atmosphere was buzzing, with people talking excitedly about math problems and also about much else. I got to play Arul Shankar at chess (and I lost badly), and I was assured the common room is buzzing at midnight. After being there for a few days, I fully believe it.
I had some specific work in mind, and I've worked on that, but that hasn't been the interesting part. I've taken part in a normal of informal and semi-formal math discussions, and also attended a lecture by Peter Sarnak, which turned out to be two and a half hours long (no break) and staggeringly good. And I haven't even met with Manjul yet.
Beyond that, I even got invited to a graduate student party (I have an old friend from San Francisco here), and the grad students have quite a lively life here. The people were pretty awesome -- clever, energetic, and just downright fun. (And, needless to say, seriously smart.)
This place is awesome.
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