First Research Day

First day with the research group. I still haven't gotten everyone's names. There are thirty or forty people in our group, and half of them are named Andreas.

I'm not kidding, not really. There are so many Andreas' {at least 3} that they introduce themselves to me as, "Andreas, but since there are so many of us here, you can call me ___."

I have yet to be assigned to a project, but I'm reading a paper by my professor and will probably be given more stuff to read tomorrow. I love everything we're doing, though! I'm discovering that what I loved about Raman spectroscopy was actually just a love of experimental physics. There is a rush of creating and accomplishing something that will have real-life results and application.

Already I have mentioned the open window policy here in Germany, yeah? Not only does my flat {yes, it has been so christened--I take my British when I can get it} have windows that open, so does my office. And we open windows. In the office!

When was the last time you encountered an office with big, open windows? The natural light is enough that we don't even use actual ceiling lights. The German summer breeze wafts in and is a fresh breath of relaxing. After all that rain and cold last week, we've hit the weather jackpot. It is what I describe as perfect. It is also what Andreas describes as perfect. Or he says it will be tomorrow. {If his name is Andreas. I'm playing the odds, here. He introduced himself to me on Friday, and I've forgotten what he said. Now that it's too late for me to ask without an insane amount of awkward...I wait for someone to address him most loudly.}

This evening some of us met up in the city for grocery shopping and ice cream/gelato {we call it gelato, though the direct translation here of eis is ice cream; I'm actually quite confused about this} at a cafe. We sat at an outdoor table on a cobblestone street at dusk. In Europe. After a day staring at a screen and trying to make sense of way too many big words...it was just about bliss.