Germany is the land of "good beer, good cars and good porn"... and now Eurovision 2011!

Yesterday the weather was really nice and sunny. Here's a picture of the campus from the lounge in lab where I get internet connection. If you follow that rode in, my dorm is to the left. As you can see, there are forests on either side (quite scary at night because there are no lights and I get the feeling that something feral is bound to jump out).

The weather reports for today look bleak: lots and lots of wetness ("Welcome to Berlin summer: cool and wet").

On a happier note, I went out with people from the campus to an Irish pub last night to watch Eurovision, which is a song competition with all the European nations (plus Israel??). This has been a long tradition, however recently it has become more political and the music, as the people I was with put it, has become crappier (as in lots of heavy pop influence). Last night was the Eurovision finals with 25 countries being represented. We were cheering for Germany, Armenia, Denmark, and Romania (everyone was joking that it was too bad the US is not in Europe... I had to pick another country to cheer for). Of course, the songs from each nation had a very different influence although most of them sang in English. Some of the performances and wardrobes seemed to be stuck in 80s, while others were downright weird. However, the Armenian performance caught everyone's attention because the singer was very well-endowed on top (look up Eva Rivas and you'll see what I mean). The Armenian guy in our group really wanted Armenia to top Azerbaijan because of the conflict between the two countries (Nagorno-Karabakh War). The Azerbaijani singer decided to show off her legs so as the night went on, it was a close contest. However, in the end, Azerbaijan placed higher despite the fact that the Armenian was spilling out of her top, but more importantly, it was the 19-year old Lena who topped it all with her catchy lovesong! This means that next time this year, Berlin will be hosting Eurovision! That got everyone in the bar really excited. There was boisterous cheering and some middle-aged men shouting "I love you lena!!!" Germany won in football (soccer) as well! It was a really good night for Germany :)

LILY

Weekend in Buch

After work on Fridays, the students at the MDC put on a beer session so that people can drink and get to know each other. This time, they also had food (YES, no need to cook for myself)! As we sat around enjoying the meal and drinks, we chatted our experiences here in Berlin. There were people from a variety of backgrounds: Spanish, Canadian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and, of course, German. Apparently at the institute, Americans are somewhat of a rarity because Americans tend to stay in America where the research and science is good. (A girl from Colombia confirmed this: she was surprised that I was studying abroad to do science because to her, "don't Americans stay in America? that's where everyone else is trying to go for research").
This conversation took place later last night when we went out to Berlin last night with some people who lived in the dorms to sit and chat.

Today, I'm staying in Buch for most of the day because my friend tells me there is a Neo-Nazi demonstration during the day. It's nice out right now and everything is quiet and green here.

Note: the picture is of an indoor aquarium at one of the hotels in Berlin. It's just sitting in the lobby and there is an elevator going through the middle of it, just thought I'd post that randomly here because I really enjoyed looking at it :)

LILY

Ph. D Symposium!

Today was the Ph.D symposium for MDC/FMP. It was called "Life under (re)construction." First and foremost I would like to thank my ochem and genetics professors! Without you guys, I would not have understood a single thing everyone presented on. Some topics they mentioned included epigenetics (Yes, Dr. Ward!), chemical synthesis, RNA-binding proteins (Yay, work in Tucson lab), and parasitology (Emile, you would love it). The keynote speakers had very international backgrounds. Everyone has had an impressive post-doc experience somewhere out of their home country. My mentor tells me that going away for a post-doc really adds something to your resume, it makes it pop and gets you jobs if you want to go back home and get a nice little position.

The symposium plus poster session was eye-opening. It was international research, but it was very applicable and relevant to everything I have learned in classes and in the lab. In fact, some of the research is helpful for the lab project I left behind in Tucson (I took notes).

The picture is of my German PI and mentor giving their best poster session expressions :)

LILY

Diversity in Germany

We pride ourselves on diversity in Tucson; our culture is vibrant and rich because of the influences of multiple cultures. Here in Berlin, it is no different. There are multiple influences at work--it is most obvious through the different types of cuisines here. (It's not just beer, although I tasted my first last night, it was amber and "yeasty"). I only bring this up now because it has come up a lot, especially when I was hanging out with some new dorm friends last night.

Who knew I was going to be sitting with a bunch of Ph.D/masters students who were: Romanian, Russian, Czechoslovakian, and Ukrainian ex-disc jockey who does not want to serve the draft in his home country. These people were, of course, older and more worldly. They were much more aware of America than I was of their countries, and they laughed at some of the phrases I said, yet we were all brought together because of our interest in science. I asked the ex-DJ why he quit that lifestyle. He simply said: because I want to be a scientist! Hey, it gave him a reason to be here working instead of serving in the Ukrainian army. Then, we started talking about how many languages we knew. Among the four of us, we could speak at least 9 languages. We were a small melting pot, tucked away in the outskirts of Berlin :)

LILY

First Day of "Work"

So today was my first day of work!! Well, we took care of administrative paperwork (safety and the like), I searched the literature, attended a seminar(an American doctor who practices in Germany talked about medical studies--a total throwback to everything I learned in genetics last semester plus it was my first exposure to clinical lecture) and met with co-workers (there were at least 7 people I met and I have to admit, I did not catch all their names because the Germans say their names differently and when I see their name tag, my tendency is to butcher it by saying it in an Americanized way, which is no good and embarrassing for me).

More interestingly, I went grocery shopping now that the shops have opened. It was a different experience: my friend had to teach me everything. Things were in euros/kg which I was not used to and the best thing is the milk here is super pasteurized so it does not need to be refrigerated.

Tomorrow though I was promised that I would sit at the computer and learn data analysis!

Okay, I should head back to the dorm.

See you all tomorrow!

LILY

Brunch and Sightseeing

Hey guys! I went to a nice little brunch with my PI and his family and Nora, the post-doc who picked me up last night. The brunch showed me how relaxed and laid-back the European life is. Although when they work, they work hard but they also take holidays (like today) very seriously.

Nora then took me sightseeing. We hinted at the differences and similarities between our cultures. I have to get to bed because I have to get to work. I will elaborate more and post more pictures!

LILY

I (sort of) have a sense of direction!

I'm here! I'm in Berlin. Currently, I am most definitely jet-lagged, overwhelmed and running on 4 hours of sleep within the last 48 hours (if you know me, you know I complain about 7 hours of sleep/night not being enough). Multiple people have offered me coffee but I turn them down because I hate to see me on too much caffeine. Anyways, here are the highlights of my flight over:

-first flight was delayed for an hour, so I had to run to every single connecting flight after that, the one in atlanta, and JFK. In the process, I outran my way too large (47 lbs) checked-in luggage :( and it is currently in JFK and will make its way over by tomorrow I hope.
-the flights were hectic as well: 3 sappy movies were put on... greeeattt, a total of 3 puking, crying babies, 3 good samaritans who helped me put my luggage up and take it down + 1 loquacious American Mayo Clinic Counselor who was also on his first trip to Europe
-after getting off the flight an hour early, I waited around to find that my green suitcase was one step behind, then (since I had asked for contact information for the person who was going to pick me up but did not get one in time) I went to the information desk to have them page for a "Nora" who was to pick me up, luckily she showed up!

Nora and I talked about a range of topics while she took the suitcase because she insisted that she had come out of a "fresh" bed while I was jet-lagged and exhausted. Interestingly enough, I came on a long weekend, everyone is going on vacation because Monday is a holiday. This meant that all the stores were closed and I was going to starve :( Just kidding! Luckily, stores at the train station were open because they were for travel so I got a small amount of groceries to survive on until Tuesday. (When I grabbed the nutella, Nora laughed and said 'of course', she implied the American part.) She turned out to be well-traveled and very easy to talk to. She told me about Berlin and I told her about Tucson. We met up with Dr. Gotthardt, his wife and his adorable little baby (finally, a calm one who was clean!) We took an extensive walk around his neighborhood in central Berlin, he pointed out the landmarks: what stands of the wall that divided West and East, important churches, too much stuff to recollect right now... then we got lunch and ice cream!

So here is the closing of this tale for today, I am typing this in a kitchen at the lab building because my little guesthouse room has no internet, so I have to hunt for internet hotspots. From the people I briefly introduced myself to so far, I am the youngest student here (they are all post-docs or graduate students...) I also live far out in NE Berlin so I have to bus/train if I want to explore.

And the goal of the post, other than to tell you I got here, is ( I can't lie) to help me stay up until a decent Berlin time so I can wake up and be adjusted properly soon (my body is pretty confused).

Okay, nice rambling to ya!

By the way, no pictures because I didn't have my wits about to be all touristy take a million photos; I just barely had enough energy to be social and stay awake. Next time, next time.

LILY

Pre Trip Morning

Hey everyone!

I have come to the conclusion that this is the easiest to way keep all of you updated and keep a BRAVO journal without resorting to mass emails or fbook messages with 30 people tagged (how impersonal is that? haha). Clearly, this is much better (for me, at least), plus you will never feel obligated to read this if all I'm doing is rambling, which for the first few days, I will be, especially if I'm sleep-deprived and Europe-happy.

Yay! First real blog (minus the middle school/ high school blog fail). I will try and remember to bring everything for my camera so I can provide you with some visual stimulation.

Here's to a great summer to come, CHEERS!

See you on the other side.

LILY