New York City

Hey gals and guys. I still owe you the posing about my one-day trip to New York last Sunday. I appointed with a friend from Darmstadt and some of her friends to meet there and have a relaxed day. The plan was more like hanging out in nice places, chat and have some coffee and beer. :-) I guess there will be another time to go to NY for a proper sight seeing trip.

The trip there by bus was quite smooth and for $25 return you can't complain. The day started of quite grey and foggy (not as sunny and warm as in the forecast...). So after finally having found each other in Manhattan we got a coffee. It was really great to talk to friends and peers again. I mean my colleagues in the lab a very nice, but the are all much older than me and are married and have kids and so... In that way it was quite refreshing. :-)

We continued with a walk across the Brooklyn bridge, where you usually have a great view of Manhattan. Well not quite when its foggy... Anyway it was cool. After that we got a bit lost in the subway... erhmm... but we finally found the restaurant where another guy was already waiting for a long time... The place was called "Fette Sau" ("fat pig") :-) and they were supposed to sell German-style food. Not sure if it was very German, but the had big chunks of delicious meat. Yummy.

Finally the sun came out and we enjoyed the afternoon in a park and watch some guys playing soft ball. We ended the day in a great roof top bar close to the Empire State Building with an amazing view! Now it was really warm and sunny - awesome! Funny thing: They fired their electric heating device on full throttle. "Can you switch it off?" - "No its not possible." I guess electricity is still too cheap here...

Before I took my bus back to Philly I walked across Times Square (I guess you have to do that some time...). But I donno, all these people, touts, cars and flickering light were making me quite sick. I was glad when I left it behind me - heading for some smaller hidden squares in the neighbourhood. The ride back was fine and sharply on time - perfect!

Conclusion? I haven't seen much of NY, but it was a great day anyways! The highlight was definitely the view and atmosphere in the roof top bar. I'll come back to see Central Park, Ground Zero and other places!

Spring

Slowly you can see it, feel it, hear it... spring is approaching. This week we had some really nice and warm days here. Temperatures topping around 20 °C, a lot of sunshine and blue sky. Its amazing how quickly the students here change to summer attire. When I was still wearing my winter jacket they were out in shorts an T-shirt. Well, weather is a state of mind. :-D

Yesterday evening I set out with my camera to capture a bit of the early spring in the soft evening light. Unfortunately it was a bit hazy so the light wasn't perfect. Anyway the campus has some really beautiful spots and it will probably looking even nicer when the trees and shrubs get green. But well - see for yourself. I hope this time the images are sharper. I think last time I screwed something up with the resizing.

Philly Down Town

Hey, its already my second weekend in then land of opportunity. So it was about time to do some proper sight seeing. And thats what I did... on Saturday at about 9am I took light rail in the Eastern direction. After another short subway ride I had the whole day to explore Philadelphia. There is actually quite a lot to see. However, covering so many places on my feet was quite tough. At the end of the quite chilly day I felt rather sore...

I started on the Delaware river and than made my way through one of the oldest parts to the Independence National Historic Park. This was the place were the Declaration of Independence and the fist Constitution were signed. On top of that Philadelphia served for 10 years as capital of the newly formed United States. I had great tour through Independence Hall, the (reconstructed) building where theses documents were actually discussed and signed. Very interesting - you could almost feel the historic atmosphere there.

I continued through China town (less impressive) to the City hall, with the statue of William Penn on the roof top. What I really like about the city were the many pieces of (street) art that are displayed everywhere. Philly apparently has a very lively artist's community and you can see this when you walk around with open eyes.

My favorite place in this regard was definitely "Philadelphia's Magic Gardens", which feature a huge labyrinth designed by the local mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar. The dimensions were just huge! And every tiny corner is covered with a piece of tile, mirror, plates, bicycle wheels or whatever you could imaging. Everything adds up to a overall WOW-experience. I found it a bit hard to capture. I hope you get at least a rough impression of the genial piece of art.

The day ended with an 100% original Philly Cheesesteak at Jim's: "No trip to Philadelphia is complete without trying the cheesesteak, Philly's most famous homegrown food, a sandwich made of a fresh roll filled with grilled shaved beef and cheese (as well as onions, mushrooms, and other optional sides). " (wiki) It sounds kinda strange, and definitely looks so, but its actually quite tasty. And the place was super popular - I had to queue for about half an hour.

This was a full day of new experiences and a lot of walking. That's why I didn't have the energy to join on of the St. Paddie's day parties. But nonetheless, I enjoyed it and I will come back. I mean I still have to see the 'Rocky' stairs and statue at the Museum of Art! And Philly is a cool place with a special atmosphere you don't find in many big cities.

(Argh, including the images is quite a pain. I have to find a better solution for that.)

Villanova Campus

Today just a few word about the University and its campus. According to Wikipedia:

Named for Saint Thomas of Villanova, the school is the oldest Catholic university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.^[3]
Founded in 1842 by the Order of Saint Augustine, the university traces its roots to old Saint Augustine's Church, Philadelphia, which the Augustinian friars founded in 1796, and to its parish school, Saint Augustine's Academy, which was established in 1811.

The campus and the buildings do look quite impressive. Even the newly-built ones are made to fit into the general look and feel. There is plenty of space, nice greenery, squares and trees. I'm looking forward to wander trough the campus when spring really kicks in here.

The pictures show the university chapel, the monastery (!) and lastly Tolentine Hall (where my Prof's office is) and the CEER building (where my lab is). The pics were taken on that doomed morning... By that time everything looked still calm and pristine... well yeah. But I still like to see those places, when I go to lab everyday.

So long, tmr I'm up for some sight seeing in Philly down town. Be prepared for some more imagery.

It's got Electrolytes!

I already gave you a clue that the second day at university didn't pass that great. And it was for a very profane reason: Something upset my stomach and I felt terribly sick. :-(
It started already in the morning, but I waved it off and tried to ignore it. But it was getting worse and worse as noon was approaching. Finally, after my lunch (which was a cup of tea) I had to call god on the big white telephone... (guess you know what I mean...) Thanks to spring break, the campus clinic was closed, so my host drove my to a pharmacy close-by. If not for my terrible condition this would have been really hilarious.

Fist of all the stomach relieving stuff they gave me is some bright pink, slimy fluid. I guess you all watched the Ghost Busters movie one time. Remember the slime? That pink stuff? Yep, thats exactly the color and texture of this medicine. And it tastes like tooth paste. I mean what did the guys think, when they were designing this drug? Something like: "Okay when I feel really sick, I'm just craving for some pink, slimy, bubbling stuff to swallow." I donno, I'll probably never find out...

The next funny thing happened when I was asking for something to rehydrate me. I good ol' Germany (and even in Singapore) we have some soluble stuff you can drink. It doesn't taste great either, but I have the minerals you probably need. Guess what they were offering me in the pharmacy? Gatorade!!! And they were completely serious about it! I was just waiting for the sentence: "Its got electrolytes." (Have you watched Idiocracy? No? Its a must see!). Just too bad that I wasn't in the mood for laughing.

Well eventually we head back for university. I decided to stay for the afternoon meeting. Maybe it was a bad idea, cause I couldn't really concentrate and I was constantly fighting nausea. In the end I gracefully sustained it and my Prof even offered my a lift. First I declined, but in the end I was glad that he insisted. He even stopped at a super market and bought some soup, bread and fruits for me! I really have to thank him very much for that.

The end of this story? I somehow survived the night without throwing up again. Passed most of the next day in bed to recover. The day after (which is today) I was again alive and kicking - I could go back to work and finally present some ideas about my work. So it could have been worse.

At this point: Thank you for all the nice wishes you sent me. Feels much better when you know that somebody cares.

Arrival in Ardmore, PA

So this seems to be the first posting literally in years. I guess I have to go through the usual preliminaries first.

As I already hinted in my mail, I will be in the US for a bit more than 8 weeks. I was sent to Villanova University on a research assignment related to my PhD project. In fact my host, Prof. Amin, is our cooperation partner here in the US. He actually has the expertise, an experimental setup and many cooperations with industry and government. So I'm looking forward to a fruitful and interesting stay here.

The flight and arrival were fine and smooth. I am staying in a house in Ardmore (it seems that the name of the town changes ever mile here, but you can't tell the difference) with Zack, who is Villanova staff. He is a very friendly guy and he lets me stay in one of his rooms. The house is in one of these 100% stereotype American neighbourhoods. I almost felt like in one of the sitcoms like Alf or the Bundies. Everybody seems to have a small American-style house, surrounded by a small garden and has at least two big cars in front of the house. Quite funny is actually the electricity and telephony supply. Everything is connected through a big bunch of wires that run along some old, half-rotten, wooden poles. Quite like in China! :-) No wonder that the American power grid has the reputation of being unreliable...

I spent the weekend mainly with recovering from my jet-lag (it wasn't too bad) and getting familiar with the neighbourhood. I guess I walked further on that weekend than an average American in a whole year... :-)

The first day at University was fine. Everybody is very friendly and helpful there. I was given a small campus tour and I was equipped with everything I shall need for my stay. I got to know some of my colleagues already, who are mostly foreigners too. Most of them, however, have already finished their Phd degree. So Its gonna be challenging for me...

The second day at University was not as fine unfortunately. But this will have to wait for the next posting.

Back in Germany

Finally after 10 month adventure in South-East Asia I'm back in Good ol' Germany. The flight was uneventful and very smooth (Qatar Airways is great). They even allowed me in total 9kg overweight without charging me! Just the Deutsche Bahn was of course delayed, so that I missed my connecting train in Mannheim. I have to admit that it feels a bit strange to be back in Germany. On the one hand everything seems to have remained the same, but I guess due to the fact that I have changed it feels not quite familiar. I will see how I can adopt in the next days. At least the weather was very welcoming with around 30°C and sunshine. And eating real bread, sausage and cheese was definitely great! :-D

A big thanks to all my friends in Singapore and all over the World. You made the stay a very memorable one and I hope to keep in touch with all of you. If you ever want to visit Germany let me know and I try to meet up with you. As soon as I have an own room again (I'm staying in my parents' flat for now) there will always be a free mattress for you! Special thanks to Hari, Naren, Vijay, Arul, Devi, Deepthi, Safi and Klein. It was so cool that you were so spontaneous and you could meet up with me on my last day in Singapore. I appreciated it very much.

Only one issue left... There are still the trips to Vietnam, Borneo, India and Laos which are not yet reflected here. If I get enough votes in the comments I will write a short wrap-up with pictures for them. So its up to you! ;-)