Next five day forecast. It has been relentlessly rainy!
There were a couple hours of sun early this morning, so I went on a run towards the hills. It is kinda surreal running in Germany - because it seemed so impossible for so long but now it can easily happen.
I also went to get my residential permit today, and was very close to the city center with all of its old buildings; however, when I went back outside it started pouring so I had to rush back home. I still have not been able to explore downtown!
So far I have just been reading some background on the project, as well as learning a few things about my objective for the summer. While Manuel's focus has been on chemistry and the production of very thin ceramics, my goal will be to measure the ceramics' ferroelectric properties (which they hopefully have!) The lab is compromised mostly of chemists and material science specialists, so he thinks that my background in engineering will be better suited for the electric measurements that need to be taken.
View from my desk
Here I stand next to a RTA machine (rapid thermal annealing), looking as if I know how to use it.
The "Happy Bed Hostel" didn't equate to that happy of a stay. The hostel is split up into two buildings, and the one we were at didn't have wifi. However, the location was very near a multicultural festival that we went to for a night. There was a lot of cool music and food. Sorry, no pictures. There was an 'American Indian' performing music, but I am unsure of how authentic an Indian using electric mixers is.
I left at 7:00 Sunday morning from Berlin to Freiburg. The ICE (Intercity Express) trains are fast and efficient, but kinda expensive. I paid 70 Euro, and that was in advance and at the very early departure. The train ride was very comfortable and spacious. Unfortunately, my train was about 20 minutes late to Mannheim, so I missed my connection train (there was only 9 minutes between trains). I just got on the next one that went to Freiburg, and it worked out OK.
The weather thus far has been very disappointing for being in the "Sunniest City in Germany". I haven't seen much sun at all yet; it's been quite chilly, rainy, and windy. Unfortunately, this has limited how much of the city I have explored thus far, but has enabled me to catch up on some much needed rest.
The man in the white t-shirt next to me is Jörg, our teacher for most of the days. I enjoyed having him as my teacher, because he was very funny and down to earth.
It was a beautiful day outside, so we decided to have a picnic at the Tiergarten. It really is beautiful there, and it is so large for being right in the center of the city.
