Beyond the basics of Berlin: we are settled in pretty well, I have figure out all the tricks to our apartment, where to get food, etc. So I decided that it was time to make an appointment with the Freie University sedimentology professor, Dr. Heubeck, to see if I can occupy my time with something relevant to the degree I just finished.
The university is a train ride, a train ride, and a bus from our apartment, which didn't take so long (maybe 40 minutes) assuming that you don't do what I did - get distracted by a store at the end of the second bus called Globetrekker. For those of you who go outside in America (other than just from your house to your car), its like an REI on steroids. I had to include this photo of their indoor canoe/kayak testing area. Yup, you can test out any floating device that they have around the edge.
They also have cool things like a cold room, where you can test out winter stuff and gear, a treadmill that inclines to 45 degrees to test out shoes, and various types of "terrain" for more shoe testing. Just in case you get sucked in, there's a coffee and snack bar and an extensive travel book section to keep you occupied for hours.
Another hidden gem which has quickly been a part of my life are these Organic ("Bio-" then insert whatever food is being sold) - in this case, juices. The regular apple juice and thicker, almost milkshake-like mango juice is probably about 75% of my liquid diet right now (the remainder being 10% coffee and 15% water), and I'm going through a half a bottle of each per day. They are so good!!!
The last hidden gem I'd like to mention is Germany's attitude towards open containers. You can walk around ANYWHERE with a beer - people on the train casually drink beers and have asked Brian for a bottle opener (which he has on his keychain). It seems that the only overtly "drunk" people are those coming or going from sporting events - easy to spot due to their brightly colored clothing and audible singing. The brown, green, and white containers shown in the photo are all over the place and are for recycling your empties. What a novel idea! PS. The "snow" on the ground is really cotton from the cottonwood trees - and has a personal vendetta for my sinuses!
Despite all these distractions.... I did manage to make it to the University after almost missing the bus twice, and had a great chat with Dr. Heubeck. I'm going to sit in on his Sedimentary Petrology class on Mondays, and help advance the SandWiki as I have time. I'm quite excited - and it looks like I'll get a lot of practice with a petrographic microscope!
No comments:
Post a Comment