With a Bang and a Whimper

I strolled to work last Monday with a comforting feeling of familiarity. Li buzzed the door open for me and I headed to Biohybrid Systems, stopping at Karin's room along the way to inquire about a spring-form (for my Abschiedskuchen). She greeted me and said I should speak with Yvonne, who scheduled an appointment later in the day to discuss my seminar. I then chatted with Erwin about his vacation and bragged to Christian about how I enjoyed a Zwetschkekuchen that weekend.


Within 15 minutes, I had spoken and exchanged smiles with half of the department. This subtle feat was perhaps the "X-factor" that made the summer so special. I had become a part of the community, not just at work, but also in the village. At the end of three months, I could recognize a friend in the Fußgängerzone or even Kirti, one of "those kids" always to be found at the soccer-cage.


It was a bittersweet moment to leave the Insitut for the last time. My colleagues gave me a special towel with Saarlandish dialect written on it (I will no longer trockne mich ab, sondern druggele mich ab) and an 1. FC Saarbrücken scarf (Auf geht's FC, Schwarz-Blau ale!). I will really miss those guys.

My last few days in Deutschland were spent blissfully on the Bodensee. Julius and I went on a 110 km bike tour from Friedrichshafen through Lindau (Bavaria), Bregens (Austria), and Romanshal (Switzerland), taking the ferry across the lake from Konstanz back home. I highly recommend anyone going on a bike-tour to take an in-shape buddy along - riding in the slip-stream is so refreshing! We stopped along the way for some swimming and getting lost.

It will take a while before I can decipher what this summer in Germany meant for me. I already know it has spurred on new hobbies (jogging, reading, casual drinking), introduced new career possibilities, and shown that while Germany is a country where I feel at home, I am capable of feeling home-sickness for the USA. The feeling of immense personal growth contradicts the feeling that time flew too fast.

So now I sit in Frankfurt, with a tear in my eye and a smile on my face, ready for an American reunification. Who knows what the future will bring - the way ahead is unknown, but ripe for discovery. One thing, however, is for sure:

I'll be back.

Day 100 in 'Schland - The Homestretch

My 100th day here has just begun. I'll kick it off by going back (a good soccer tactic) to last weekend when I visited the Verwandschaft in Ravensburg, home of the famous puzzle-maker and former home of my dad!

There's nothing like visiting relatives. I felt like the Kaiser being served self-pressed Spätzle and home-grown Apfelstrudel. It just keeps coming! My aunt would have been seriously depressed if I had turned down her offer for a bonus-scoop of ice cream.


But schwäbische Spezialitäten aside, I feel like I really connected with all of my relatives this summer. I grasped the importance and appreciation of my family this time around, which has been one of the many things the past few months have made tangible.

I went for a walk in the historic town for some much needed exercise. I didn't expect much to be going on - the renowned Rutenfest had taken place the weekend before. Climbing up a knoll to find a good view of the city, I started to hear the festive clang of drums. On top of the Berg was indeed a parade of townsfolk in traditional costume. Germany, you are quite the party-animal.

To blend in, I ordered a Maß, which is a liter of beer. I advise ordering such a beverage with extreme caution. It is quite dangerous...your wrist can be really sore after carrying that thing.

Knowing this, Germans train from a young age in preparation for their first Maße.


There are many pleasant memories behind me, and more to come. Work is tapering off and many colleagues are on vacation, leaving me time to assemble my cumulative test results. As it turns out, the pieces are falling into place and I am able to draw some nice conclusions. Still, there's a lot of work to be done - I guess I did have a productive summer at the Institut.

Coming up is a typical (read: kick-ass) German weekend in Saarbrücken. This consists of watching an 1. FC Saarbrücken soccer game, going to a Diskothek, and attending yet another Stadtfest in the city. The weekend after that will feature a Tour de Bodensee, the last adventure before my flight home.

100 days...what a freakin' long time.

Ich bin doch Schwerbehindert

It wasn't my first time on the ICE, so as I strolled to find a seat on Germany's fastest train I felt like quite the Europameister. All of the cabins in the car had at least one occupant...so I unsheathed my most charming smile and approached an elderly woman, sitting alone, with one of my well-rehearsed German phrases:

"Entschuldigung, sind diese Plätze frei?" (Excuse me, may I sit down?)

The woman lifted her eyes from her Zeitung and stared at me. After a short pause,

"Ja, wenn Sie schwerbehindert sind." (Yes, if you are retarded.)

I wish a third person was in the cabin to flash the retarded "awkward turtle" this situation so desperately deserved. Sure enough, the outside of the cabin was clearly denoted with several schwerbehindert markings which I hadn't noticed.

Sure, mistakes are bound to happen when you're thrust into a new environment. Mistakes like locking yourself out of the cell phone your cousin gave you and finding yourself on the wrong side of the tracks when trying a catch the U-bahn. Everything seems to confuse me, so the message is crystal clear: You are not immune to culture shock no matter how experienced you think you are. I just wish I didn't have to learn these lessons as if I was severely handicapped.

Blunderings aside, my first week in Germany was pretty memorable. My cousin Anne picked me up from the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof and I crashed at her apartment for a couple days. Notable undertakings included eating homemade Bavarian dumplings, swigging Apfelwein (made with happy apples :), and a 14-hour jet-coma, and my first ever foray into the German nightlife scene.

I also headed to the Lake of Constance, where I reunited with my old Gastfamilie, the Tillys. They are quite possibly the most hospitable people on Earth. Not only am I visiting them for a week, but also the appropriately-named foreign exchange student Germán from Mexico.

So far, I've played high level pick-up soccer (the average German's soccer skills are a notch higher than the average American's basketball skills), enjoyed my first Schnitzel, rode a bike alongside the beautiful Bodensee, and attended Gymnasium with Julius and Germán. Though I don't have any homework, the days still seem to pass at 100 mph because in this country, even the daily grind is exhilirating. Even the mundane "beer run" or making push-button coffee gets me excited.

Okay, you could argue that's because I normally don't drink coffee or go on beer runs...but that's the point! I have reassessed my stances on these topics since I'm in a different setting, and in this new cultural context, I've been letting myself go. (Don't laugh!...alright, fine, laugh.) I detect myself aligning with the German culture, though I stubbornly refuse to do the same back home. Buying some locally made wine and turning on the espresso machine are completely different than the fake ID alcohol purchases and $3 mochas you may find in the States.

Like the ringing in my ears from last Saturday's Diskothek, I suppose this novel sensation will too fade away given enough time. It will be interesting to see if this does occur, given that I am a true German addict (and a schwerbehindert one at that).



Myself, Julius, Maxi, Germán, and Sophie rocking out in the Tilly's sound-proof room.