Amerika wählt!

That was the TV announcement headline all night long (and morning). And wählen we did!

The perspective from Göttingen was perhaps a little less exciting than what I saw in Chicago on TV--no screaming masses or even horn-honks as are quite normal for the football (soccer) season (even late at night). I debated getting dressed and going into town around 4 AM, but then remembered that I have no bike now and buses don't run late, and it didn't really seem worth it since there probably wouldn't be many people up and about. And I was very comfortable reading and working at home.

So far I have yet to meet a single person who didn't seem excited that we've chosen a new direction. Not surprising as some 80% of Germans are pro-Obama. I actually don't know who the other 20% is, but I imagine some bit of that is from psycho-neo-Nazis in the hills somewhere. Fortuntely Germany has a lot fewer of those than the US (and Tennessee in particular).

The news coverage was rather complete, but I found it very funny to be watching German commentators who are clearly not used to American-style elections. Every 5 minutes or so there was a review of the Electoral College system and shocked faces discussing the long lines and historic-yet-pathetic voter turnout. (Germany has manditory voter registration and turnout is apparently usually in the 80-90% region. The thought of long lines and voting machines is also foreign and apparently un-democratic in my critical German friends' eyes. And German elections are on Sundays--FINALLY! so this is what people here do on Sundays!)

I'm going to have to rewatch the speeches sometime as they were voiced-over so loud that I basically couldn't hear the original English. It's very odd because the German was off by a few seconds and if I started to listen to it I couldn't easily go back to the English without missing some. So eventually I gave up and just listened to the German. And they talked during the Pledge and Anthem. Not amused here!

As an aside, German elections are very boring. I think people here must have been a little relieved to have some excitement. Germans don't actually get to vote for the Chancellor, but insead vote for Bundestag (Parliment) members and for a political party. The winners of votes go to Parliment as well as about as many party-chosen officials. The entire thing seems silly and complicated to me, but the Germans like it that way apparently. It also makes the system very un-popular in the sense that German politicians have no incentive to cater directly to the general population with populist promises. Very important when you remember what happened to the Weimar Republic in the 1930's.

Also, some phrases from the night:
"Wir wollen ein bißchen vorsichtig sein..." -- that is, Germans hate risk. They refused to call it at 4 when it was clear all Obama needed was CA and WA.
"Gänsehautmoment" -- goose-skin moment. This became very boring after about five uses.
Any state name, esp. New Jersey, prounounced by the German announcers.

HASY Labor

Currently on a crazy trip to Hamburg and the Deutsches-Elektronen Synchrotron (i.e. big X-ray machine) to collect some data. Basically we blast proteins with X-rays and watch as they bounce off. It is fun, but I don't think I'll be able to see much of Hamburg on this trip. Maybe on the way out I can stop in the city for an hour or two.

Part of the electron storage ring with adjoining nitrogen tanks. The entire ring is about 1 km (10 football fields--0.6 miles) in diameter. The one we use is about 1/10th the size though.

Part of the lab. I don't think I was supposed to take pictures here...

Compared to American synchrotrons this one seems a lot more klunky. But that may just be because it's about 10 years older.

I had to have a refresher in radiation saftey and all that jazz. Which is insane because 1) there is simply no way you can get anywhere near the X-rays themselves, and 2) you are surrounded by so much lead that you are probably receiving less than background amounts. But they insist.

Drachenfest auf der Wiese

The Göttinger Drachenfest was this weekend! Pictures say more than words:

There must have been a thousand or so kites out on the Drachenwiese (kite-flying meadow). It was quite a hike but I managed with my crutches and all.

The coolest was easily this huge yellow-orange one that looked like a spikey cubish thing.

Some people brought out their big wind sails too and one guy had a little bike-like vehicle hooked up to his kite lines and was racing across the field.

It was really a perfect fall day for all this.

A collection of large kites. The yellow-orange spikey one is there too!

Zufriedenheit

You know how you see something and you really really want it and you spare and save for it and then you get it and you find that you want something else?

Or you go on vacation for a week and by day two you wish you were back at home?

Maybe it is just that: Unzufriedenheit, that is, dissatisfaction or discontent. I think I just need to be more content with life as it is. Not that I'm not happy here! I just keep finding myself looking ahead 5-10 years and wondering where I'll be. I think it's easier than working on things that need to be done in the moment.

Always before tests I would think to myself: don't worry, in 2-3 hours it will all be over, and I can celebrate--or at least relax. I think it's OK in that sense, but life isn't a test. You can't spend your days dreaming about what will be someday or else you'll get there and find that you were too busy dreaming about it to make anything of life.


I've been thinking a lot about whether I made the right choice in choosing Boston instead of SF/Palo Alto. But I guess the real answer is to stop worrying about it and enjoy what I have right now.

Finanzkrise gelöscht!

Finally! An answer as to why the money I'm making here is dropping in value like a rock!

Apparently people have been freaking out so much that the United States seems like a safe place for money--despite that this mess is all our fault anyway. I find the entire sitution hilarious. Europe is so dysfunctional.


(Actually, I'm not making that much anyway. This is just even more of a reason for me to enjoy myself and spend the money here instead of trying to take it back.)