I can't believe that more than 2 weeks have passed since my last blog post! Its been a busy few weeks--the weekend after my trip to Köln I spent in Jena and finally had time to explore the city!

On Saturday I spent the day with Grit, one of the grad students, walking around the city. We went to the Botanical Gardens (really beautiful) and to the Jenaer Paradies park. The park is a beautiful, popular greenspace next to the River Saale and only a 5 minute walk from downtown. That night I met Grit, her boyfriend and other friends at a pub downtown. I had a great time and we at the bar drinking and talking until 1:30 am!! Her friends were very nice and I finally had a chance to see the city and the pubs on a Sat night. The bad news was that I had plans to be up early on Sunday...

Sunday morning I met Kirsten and her family at her son's soccer game (at 9:30 in the morning). It was a great experience--the parents are so serious! I spent the day with her family--enjoying another fantastic German meal and then we visited the Dornburger Castles. This is a set of three castles which are famous for their rose gardens. It was a beautiful site!

The following week was very hectic! I gave a seminar on Wed to the Institute of Ecology and it went exceptionally well! I was glad that all of the hard work I put into my talk was successful. In between preparing the talk I was also preparing for an experiment--on Thursday I went to the uranium contaminated field site with Eva (another grad student) to collect samples. It was really interesting to see the site and I will post photos soon. Friday was spent setting up the experiment and I finished everything just in time to depart for a weekend in Berlin!

The Insitute for Ecology had a light trapping (on June 6th) for one of their practical courses. Basically they set up a sheet with a full spectrum light bulb (at night) and wait for all of the insects to arrive. It was really neat to see all of the insects and to visit the southern area of Jena.

Take a look at the other photos for the actual set-up complete with a Florida-style umbrella and more insects.

On June 7th we went to the field to collect contaminated sediment samples for a new set of experiments. We collected samples from the Gessenwald creak, downstream from the former Gessenheap (mound of earth resulting from strip mining activities). The area has been "remediated" although I believe there is quite a bit of residual contaminants in the subsurface. You will also notice a large "hill" in the background and that is a heap of mining wastes that has not been removed yet. I will add more information about the site and my work as soon as I can--please take a look at the other photos!

Here are a few random photos from the Lobeda area of Jena. Yes, those are sheep in a parking lot! (click on the photo below to be redirected to my Flickr site and more photos!)



The old building with the drab exterior is typical of the former GDR (East Germany). I find the remnants of the GDR and the changes since the reunification very interesting.

I took advantage of another holiday weekend and took to the train to Köln to visit my friend Elke. I left late in afternoon on Friday and arrived just before midnight. The train system in Germany is really fantastic but it is plagued by delays. I missed a connection due to a late arrival but still managed to find my way! The train stations for the large cities are really unique! I posted a few photos of them on my Flickr site--you can see that the city and the station name are in neon lights inside the station. When you arrive in Köln and exit the train station you are met by the Dom (cathedral)--talk about a shock! The Dom is gigantic! and quite beautiful! It was a neat way to start my trip in Köln. When I arrived at Elke's flat it was like going home after spending two weeks in a new place and with new people.

On Saturday we planned to go shopping and explore the downtown area of Köln. I was able to meet Elke's son Qobelo that morning--it was like meeting him for the first time since I haven't seen hime since he was 1 month old! He is a wonderful child and Elke is an amazing mom! She lives in the suburbs of Köln which is only a 10 minute walk across the Rhine River to the main downtown area of Köln. We spent most of the day walking around the pedestrian area and shoping and ended at the Dom where we had a coffee. After a long day of shopping it was time to give Qobs some proper play time so we headed over to the Rhinepark, which is a large playground and greenspace. That night we had a proper German meal and crashed from a long day of sightseeing.

On Sunday we had a very touristy day--we visited the chocolate museum and took a Rhine River cruise. The chocolate museum was really cool--it had sections with the history of chocolate and past advertisements and a fully functioning Lindt chocolatier production plant! We were able to watch the creation of chocolate bars and truffles right before our eyes! The Rhine River cruise was also great! (This area of the Rhine is not the famous "romantic" area with castles and fairytales--that is found further south). We were able to see the countryside around Köln and some of the smaller towns south of the city. We were really lucky with the weather--it was supposed to rain and be cold the entire weekend but the sun came out during the cruise and we were able to sit outside and enjoy the weather.

Monday was a nice relaxing day--we watched cartoons (in German) and Elke helped me learn a bit of German (I can now order a coffee and ask where the bathroom is--vital language skills). I left a bit early and managed to get home in 4 1/2 hours since the trains were running on time. It was such a good weekend! I really enjoyed spending time with Elke and Qobs! Qobs and I played Legos whenever we were at the flat and he would help his mom teach me German! It was quite funny to play Legos with him since he only speaks German and I only speak English--somehow we were able to have a good time and build cool Lego houses.

Please check out the photos on my Flickr site--just click on the photo above and you will automatically be redirected!

So...I've been in Jena a full week now! It is a great place and I am very content here. The people in the lab are so nice! I am having such a hard time communicating--when I go out to lunch with the group I feel like a little kid since I can't do anything on my own--I still need help ordering and the food choices are still unfamiliar. The food is GREAT though! I usually don't really know what I am eating but it tastes good!

Its been a long first week in the lab--I am still adjusting to the time change. I don't feel as jet-lagged but I don't have a set schedule yet so I am dragging through parts of the day. Yesterday I had a nice break from the grind--Kirsten took me to her son's soccer game so we left work a bit early. Her son is 7 yrs old and watching these little kids play soccer so intensely was amazing! They were really good! The atmosphere at the game was also very different from the US--the parents were intently watching the games and not chit-chatting. I guess that soccer at every level is a VERY serious matter!

This weekend is long weekend because of a holiday on Monday. I am going to Cologne to visit my friend Elke and I can't wait!! (I am a little nervous about the train but at least it will be an adventure!!) I think we will go shopping so I can pick up some cool German duds and get a few extra summer clothes--its still 80F here. I will post new photos as soon as I can!

Things here are great (except for that whole nein Deutsch thing, ugg)--Kirsten's group is really friendly! Many of them have offered to take me around the city or show me their hometowns--I feel very welcome here. The weekend was especially nice--I finally had time to explore/learn my way around the city and I no longer feel lost.

Friday we finished in the lab around 5 pm so I was able to leave and explore the downtown area for a few hours. I was able to locate the store "H&M" (Mia, you should be proud)--and this was not a tiny American H&M but a two-story clothing extravaganza! I actually managed not to buy something but I am considering stopping there on my way home tonight! Besides clothes, I found at least 5 different shoe stores, 3 or 4 flower shops and a whole bunch of funky junk stores. At the end of my wandering I found the market place in the center of the city where a spring festival was going on. What an experience! People everywhere, food carts, beer carts, wine carts and music! I managed to stumble through ordering a Radler (mixed beer) and enjoyed watching the sight.

On Saturday I walked around the downtown and went grocery shopping (--Mom, in a real Aldi's). In the evening I went to watch fireworks in the downtown area with Marco (PhD student of Kirsten) and his girlfriend Janine (PhD student in Berlin). It was great to see fireworks right downtown--they looked like they would hit the Jena Tower (the big round thing in all the photos)! The downtown was packed and people were dancing and hanging out until past midnight!

I think Jena is a great place! I like the fact that is is not a huge city--there is a lot to see but the forest is close-by. My apartment is nice--not too big/not too small--the worst part about it is that I don't have internet--I forgot what life is like without the net accessible at every hour of the day. I have internet access with my laptop in the lab now so it is easier to email, etc.--last week I was using a lab computer--the German keyboard made things interesting!

I almost forgot to mention--the weather here is crazy! Its been 25-30*C since I arrived! For the non-science geeks, today it was 29C which is 84F! I didn't pack the right clothes! According to climate predictions it was supposed to be around 19C this month and at the most 25C in June/July. Guess I will have to go shopping!

Miss you all!!!!

I spent a lot of time walking around Jena this weekend. All of these photos were taken within a 10 min walk of my apartment. As you can probably see it is a true city but completely surrounded by hills and forests! I really love it here!

This is the university Guesthouse that I am staying in during my trip to University of Jena. I have more photos of the inside of the apartment on my Flickr site (just click the photo and you are automatically redirected).

My host, Kirsten has been a fantastic! Yesterday I met everyone in her lab and they are all very nice. Friday I will start working with them in the lab and I am very excited!!

Today is actually a holiday--called Father's day and I have been invited to Kristen's house for the day. She and her family took me for a bike ride through the country and we stopped at a lake to have a beer--my first German beer!! It is traditional to have a mixed beer as a refreshment--this is beer mixed with lemonade and it is one of the best things I have ever tasted! As a part of father's day the men walk around the town and local fields pulling a cart of beer and jsut drink all day! It was quite a site--mind you most of the men we saw were not fathers but young drunk groups of men-boys! I must go now--Kirsten and her husband are serving me a traditional German lunch!