Meine Damen und Herren
It's been almost two weeks since I got to Germany. Here's what's happened.
Last Thursday I went to Halle to help out at our field site there. It was pretty exciting to go to east Germany although I hadn't really seen west Germany that much. Halle looked a lot like a mini-Prague, with older paint. While Halle is the birthplace of Handel and the location of the continent's only Beatle museum, there are few tourists and no one spoke English. I didn't speak in English for the two days I was there. I'll post some pictures when I finally get my computer hooked up to the internet.
Living at the MPIZed has been interesting. It's like a resort: there's a pool, tennis courts, a patio next to a pond, etc. I even have people hoover my room and give me clean sheets and towels. However everyone at the resort is a plant biologist. Even though we're in Germany, all the scientists and most of the staff speak in English. Unfortunately, the copiers are all in German, which makes life a bit difficult. I spend much of my time out in the field site, measuring and counting leaves or putting dead Arabidopsis in paper bags. Despite my religious devotion to hats and sunscreen, I'm getting a wicked farmer's tan. Tomorrow I will start my own project. The first step will be going through the 6000 or so plant-containing paper bags sent here from Valencia to pick out the ones whose seeds I want. Should be a party.
The city of Köln itself seems really nice. Today I went to the Ludwig Museum, which is devoted to modern and contemporary art. Some was nice and much was very strange. Then I walked along the Rhine a bit, through a flea market and then a park. It's funny, it feels really normal to be here. I say 'Tschüss' to the guards when I leave the MPIZed, get on the U-Bahn, wander around the streets of Köln, etc. Maybe my normal-meter's been reset with all the travel. I wonder if it will feel really strange to get back to the US, or whether it will be fine?
Last Thursday I went to Halle to help out at our field site there. It was pretty exciting to go to east Germany although I hadn't really seen west Germany that much. Halle looked a lot like a mini-Prague, with older paint. While Halle is the birthplace of Handel and the location of the continent's only Beatle museum, there are few tourists and no one spoke English. I didn't speak in English for the two days I was there. I'll post some pictures when I finally get my computer hooked up to the internet.
Living at the MPIZed has been interesting. It's like a resort: there's a pool, tennis courts, a patio next to a pond, etc. I even have people hoover my room and give me clean sheets and towels. However everyone at the resort is a plant biologist. Even though we're in Germany, all the scientists and most of the staff speak in English. Unfortunately, the copiers are all in German, which makes life a bit difficult. I spend much of my time out in the field site, measuring and counting leaves or putting dead Arabidopsis in paper bags. Despite my religious devotion to hats and sunscreen, I'm getting a wicked farmer's tan. Tomorrow I will start my own project. The first step will be going through the 6000 or so plant-containing paper bags sent here from Valencia to pick out the ones whose seeds I want. Should be a party.
The city of Köln itself seems really nice. Today I went to the Ludwig Museum, which is devoted to modern and contemporary art. Some was nice and much was very strange. Then I walked along the Rhine a bit, through a flea market and then a park. It's funny, it feels really normal to be here. I say 'Tschüss' to the guards when I leave the MPIZed, get on the U-Bahn, wander around the streets of Köln, etc. Maybe my normal-meter's been reset with all the travel. I wonder if it will feel really strange to get back to the US, or whether it will be fine?
posted by Em at 3:51 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Emily,
I enjoyed reading your blogs on Germany. I'm proud of you for negotiating the U bahns, being able to communicate in Deutch, and for learning to ride a bicycle, which was revealed by your Mom on the telephone a few days ago! I think that you definitely should add to your blog with a bicycle story.
Looking forward to this.............
Aunt Ellen
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