| all along the watchtower |
[Aug. 22nd, 2007|01:51 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Gillian Grassie - Sweet Metallic | ] |
This was originally dated for the 14th but I posted it to the wrong place. Here it is in the right place. These were my views after the OChem Summer School.
This weekend we attended a seminar thing in a castle in southern Denmark whose name I cannot spell let alone pronounce. Needless to say, it was a place where dreams came true - the castle, that is. I felt that the seminar left something to be desired. There was a coach named Niko who did not seem entirely within his element while we were there. He was coaching us on the ins and outs of becoming a personal leader. Normally I would not have a problem with this concept except that he was speaking to an entire group of PhD students - likely some of the hardest working and most driven people in the world. It appears to me to be an impossible thing to be a PhD student and not be a personal leader. I'm not really sure what I was supposed to get out of this but I don't think I got it. Alas.
The best part was the people. I even made some friends. It was totally grand. After dinner there was much merriment and conversation about interesting and pertinent topics that concern ourselves, research, and the world at large. Twas a fantastic time.
A lot of last week was spent in tireless search of good images on the AFM. Unfortunately, I have none to show as of yet. Josh certainly did get a very nice piece of lattice about 4 microns square. I was there for it - it was sexy. That is all for now. |
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| I couldn't resist |
[Aug. 10th, 2007|03:00 pm] |
I am not addicting to blogging....I just could not resist relaying our dinner extravaganze for Andy's last supper....
so last night we left earlier from work to go out to a nice dinner for andy's last supper. he wanted seafood.
i found three restaurants from one of the people we work with. so we set out to go to the first one. we rode our bikes part way, parked them, climbed this bridge, walked around the bay, saw three rests. that were all closed, walked
some more, more closed rest., asked some guy with a boil on his neck where an open rest. would be, finally we found an open place. by this time i am fuming and hungry (anyone who has been with me for a week or more knows how i get when i haven't eaten...everyone here realized it last night). so we roll up to this rest and this is how it goes:
us: "six please."
evil waitress: (after looking us up and down, turning to go somewhere and coming right back) "do you have a reservation" (of course we dont have a freaking researvation we have been walking the street for an hour).
us: "no reservations, sorry but we'll sit anywhere" (there are two tables full, all the rest of the fifty tables in
the rest are empty)
ew: "oh im sorry all the seats outside are reserved"
us: "ok we'll sit inside"
and here's the kicker:
EVIL waitress: "im sorry there's a party tomorrow and we have to keep the inside reserved until then".
STINE: "i am going to walk away before i do something awful" (about face and down the stairs )
so...defeated we walk all the way down the harbor, cross some railroad tracks, jump a fence and make it
downtown. we ended up at a really nice place. dinner was almost $40 but well worth it. i had haddock and some other dannish white fish with parsnips and radishes and unlimited potatoes and bread and pesto and hummus. i also shared dessert with elizabeth (homemade honey ice cream with brownies and fresh berries).
It's the weekend!
P.S. I swear I'm not addicted to blogging..... |
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| for those keeping track |
[Aug. 9th, 2007|08:58 am] |
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I thought I would update so people who check this blog everyday wouldn't feel slighted (you know who you are) ;) We have been in lab every day this week. Although nothing seems to be going easily, we have kept chugging along. Today we gave presentations to the other members of CDNA. It was pretty cool to hear what they're doing. I felt kinda lame presenting since I only worked on my project for two months (some people have worked for four years) but someone actually came up to me after the presentation and asked me about it!!!! I made this really cool animation in powerpoint and it took me about two hours. Luckily it worked and it awed them all! hahaha not so much. oh! today i found cool water in the physics building AND they had YELLOW cheese at lunch. WOOHOO!!! Tonight we're going out for Andy's last supper (no pun intended). I have to admit I will miss having Andy around. He reminds me of Bimberly and it's easy to not act my age around him (I am NOT a grown up). Anyway, I have been informed that my return to the USA is in the single digits now but I REFUSE to countdown. Eat some ice for me America...
~STINE
P.S. KRO=tavern in Danish
P.P.S. For the OChem Summerschool on sunday we are supposed to bring a personal item that means a lot to us....what should I bring? I have somewhat of a limited supply here. The most important thing to me right now is the internet. and skype. and my webcam. and my microphone not breaking everyday.... |
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| Word of the Day |
[Aug. 6th, 2007|07:33 pm] |
babanga nuts
(AKA: baba ganoush)
Sorry for the delay (my typical greeting...)
I started this post some days back but didn't manage to post it to the "community" properly. It was meant to be a test, but many posts have succeeded now before it. At least the main (minor) point of the post has not been touched on yet.
A new exclamation was coined on the first full day in Arhus when we were at lunch just after the bike rental adventure. It resulted from a strange Danish spelling of a classic Mediterranean egg plant dish. So now when there is something exciting to note, one might call out "Babanga Nuts!" to imply amusement or emotion.
Okay. Now i will check to see if this one actually gets posted before babbling on too long.
Cheers.
(If this works, it's on the third try... ya'll in that younger generation can just do this stuff with ease...) |
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| Laundry Mat |
[Aug. 6th, 2007|04:09 pm] |
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Today we went back to work after an exciting weekend. This weekend I went to Copenhagen. I took the train from the station and rode 3 hours through the countryside and under water to reach my destination. Copenhagen is very different than Arhus. Copenhagen is much larger in population and has a bustling big downtown. I have family in Copenhagen who took me around to see the sites. I walked up a tower, and was able to look down on the whole city. There are many distinctive buildings including an old stock exchange, town hall, and parliament. Additionally, we drove 20-40 minutes outside of Copenhagen to see Elsinore, Hamlet’s castle. Now, I am sitting in an Arhus laundry mat. It is very mesmerizing watching the laundry spin around and around. We purchased laundry detergent from the local grocery store (OMO) and fabric softener (Dun-let). Tomorrow we will be back to work on the AFM hoping to image 2x2 formations and learn SAX. |
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| Denmark - Day 7 |
[Aug. 6th, 2007|01:11 am] |
I got up earlier than anyone else (around 11am) and took a short stroll to the park at the end of the street. I ran a loop around the park (it was a big park - maybe a 2.5 mile loop), and stopped at the beach when I was done. The beach was small, but the Danes seemed to love the lukewarm weather and sand. I got home and everyone else was slowly waking. We went to the store to buy supplies for dinner, then we went off in search of lunch and a laundromat.
We found the laundry right after lunch, in no time, but it took us a little while to determine the exact method of washing clothes. You would think laundry is like using the restroom, universal, the same in every country. Wrong. They centrifuge their laundry in a whole seperate machine before drying. Apparently for efficiency, but still unusual to us (this function is usually built right in to the spin cycle). After slowly figuring out how to buy detergent, program the washers and dryers, and work the centrifuge we agreed to come back with our laundry and do it again some other time. We then rode to lab for a bit to process our reactions. Here is a picture of everyone climbing the stairs.
After school we rode back to the guest house, prepared and ate chicken salad, then milled around. We didn't finish eating until around 11pm. We got a late start on the day though. |
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| Denmark - Day 7 |
[Aug. 6th, 2007|01:11 am] |
I got up earlier than anyone else (around 11am) and took a short stroll to the park at the end of the street. I ran a loop around the park (it was a big park - maybe a 2.5 mile loop), and stopped at the beach when I was done. The beach was small, but the Danes seemed to love the lukewarm weather and sand. I got home and everyone else was slowly waking. We went to the store to buy supplies for dinner, then we went off in search of lunch and a laundromat.
We found the laundry right after lunch, in no time, but it took us a little while to determine the exact method of washing clothes. You would think laundry is like using the restroom, universal, the same in every country. Wrong. They centrifuge their laundry in a whole seperate machine before drying. Apparently for efficiency, but still unusual to us. After slowly figuring out how to buy detergent, program the washers and dryers, and work the centrifuge we agreed to come back with our laundry and do it again some other time. We then rode to lab for a bit to process our reactions. Here is a picture of everyone climbing the stairs.
After school we rode back to the guest house, prepared and ate chicken salad, then milled around. We didn't finish eating until around 11pm. We got a late start on the day though. |
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| Let your honesty shine |
[Aug. 6th, 2007|12:15 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Great Northern - The Middle | ] |
Ah, the sun has gone down on yet another day in Denmark. While today was rather low key, yesterday was exactly the opposite. Let me enlighten you.
Yesterday, we canoed for something like 19-25km down the longest river in Denmark; the name of which escapes me now. Four of the University students accompanied us on this trek: Anna, Jacob, Neils, and Thomas. The entire journey down the river to Jacob's house took about 3.5h of semi-intense paddling and only two main potty/rest breaks. Once down the river and back onto dry land, we walked to Jacob's house which only took about 10mins. There we set up the grills, took a tour of the house, and generally socialized for about an hour until the real cooking began. The food consisted of pork loin, chicken, steaks, salmon, a great salad, and freshly baked break courtesy of Jacob's mad cooking/baking skills - he really is a man of many talents. After the feast, we sat around the dinner table and talked for 4-5h. I frequently took breaks to kick the soccer ball around the yard because my poor behind could no longer stand the firmness of the chair a few hours into the conversation. Around midnight, it was time to board the train back to Arhus.
Following the fairly uneventful trip back, we decided that it was still early in the evening and went to scope out the social scene with Neils and Thomas at the helm. At our first stop, the name of which I never learned, the melodious notes of Nirvana christened our entrance. After Nirvana, Gun's and Roses came on - it was a rather impressive musical selection. I met two lovely ladies, both named Anna, from Sweden and Latvia respectively. After a short conversation and a rather intoxicated individual trying to buy me beer, I was invited to a discoteck/dance club and jumped on the offer.
That club was one of the best times I have had in Denmark to date. The music was great and thumping, the people were cool and well-dressed, and the atmosphere was very relaxed. I was dancing with a group of people mainly consisting of 2 Michaels, Laura, Shelly, and some other gentleman whose name I never caught. It was really the most fun in the world and I can't wait to go back. I finally returned to the guesthouse around 5am ready for some well-deserved rest.
Today was slight less hectic. After waking up late and being lazy for a bit, Kristine, Josh, Andy and I went to get dinner for the group. We then biked to get a lunch of fantastic sandwiches and salads - they were really great and we will be going back. We then tried to sort out the laundry situation and realized that laundromats in Denmark are not at all like those in the U.S. Fortunately, a kind Dane was there to sort it out for us. On the way back to the guesthouse, we stopped by the lab to check on the experiments we began during out time in lab on Friday.
Around 9pm, we started preparing a fantastic dinner of salad with sauteed potatoes and chicken or tuna depending on who was eating what. It was quite healthy and wondrous. It has certainly put me in the mood for sleep so I am going to succumb to this urge. |
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| Aros and Dinner |
[Aug. 3rd, 2007|08:26 pm] |
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We went to an art museum yesterday, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum. ARoS is one of the largest art museums in northern Europe, 10 stories tall with a total of 17,000m² of floor space. They don't allow cameras inside, however I do have one image to show. It is an EXTREMELY lifelike fiberglass sculpture of a boy, but if standing up the boy would be over 40 feet tall.
After the museum we returned to the guest house and made a spaghetti feast, complete with garlic bread and vegetables.
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| Background |
[Aug. 3rd, 2007|06:57 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  hungry | ] |
So, here is a small bit of background from my point of view. I feel that it will differ from the others in the group but, seeing as no one has posted it yet, I felt it was necessary to update.
The plane rides...oh the plane rides.
After meeting at RDU and finally working our way through the line (which happened to get shorter as we got closer), we went to our terminal and things were going smoothly; or so we thought. The plane took a VERY long time to land at Dullus which made us rather late for our connection to Frankfurt. This seemed as though it would not cause too many problems until we looked at the departure boards and our flight was not listed. After a mad dash of epic proportions across the airport, nearly arriving at "a correct" gate, we finally saw a board with our flight listed....across the airport. We then hauled it over there and took a Star Wars-esque shuttle to the gate only to learn that one of our team was to take the flight to Frankfurt at the first gate we had almost reached. He then scampered to the other terminal to find that they had already boarded and had to return to the gate where the remainder of the group was stationed. His ticket was changed and we boarded just after the last call was sounded.
The voyage across the atlantic was somewhat uneventful in terms of horrendous happenings. The entirety of our coalition was sequestered to the back of the aircraft; deservedly so. I sat in the very back row of the plane next to Kristine in the same row as a woman who was praying during the entire flight. This woman was AWESOME. We do not know her faith but it was apparent that it was very strong. It was decided that her connection to her higher power would single-handedly keep the plane in the air.
Landing in Frankfurt did not cause a great deal of detriment to anyone in the party as far as I know. After a brisk walk through the airport to the connection to Copenhagen, we boarded the plane and were off. I passed out for almost the entire 1h10 flight so I have little to know recollection of how it went.
Upon arrival in Copenhagen, we moved through a very new-age/art nouveau series of passages and exchanged a bit of money for 5.3 Crowns for 1 U.S. Dollar. until we finally reached out gate on the other side of the world. It turns out that you have to check in and get your luggage tags checked at this airport but they don't use the common European system.....so this part was interesting. We got our belongings checked in in just enough time to board the plane *which had about 15 passengers - 6 of them were our group* and were off on our 20min flight to Aarhus. Technically, Aarhus is spelled with a circle over the first A, like the A in Angstrom, and is written as Arhus but I am far too lazy to type that correctly.
Following this tiny flight we met Kurt (in whose lab we are working) and prepared to ride the taxi to the University guesthouse when tragedy struck. This part of the tale is not mine to tell but know that it involved murder, mystery, and lost baggage. After an egregious number of hours aboard planes, we were finally done traveling.
Our first afternoon/night is Aarhus was rather uneventful since we were all so incredibly jet lagged. Across the street is a shopping center with food and whatnot so we went there to procure a few necessities and began to settle into our new habitat.
That was the first day - all 24+ hours of it. Since Denmark is 6 hours ahead of the U.S., this was a rather long day. Well, I am certain that other people will hop on the blogging train and put more thoughts and ideas here soon. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 3rd, 2007|03:13 pm] |
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Hello fans and readers alike!
Denmark has been awesome so far. Today we are working in the labs. This morning we learned how to operate the AFM's. Now we are preparing for annealing. For the past few days we have been touring Aarhus to learn a little more about the culture. Wednesday included a tour of Den Gamble By (a collection of old houses from across Denmark). Yesterday was the art museum, ARoS. This museum was really cool. On the bottom floor, there was a maze of rooms all with black walls. Each room had a different artists "work" in it. These works of art were very different than traditional paitings. For instance, one room had a television with a movie playing. This movie consisted of people beating and stripping a guy down and putting an ET mask on his head. Behind the television was an ET figuring. Trippy right?! So the museum was followed by shopping and our first dinner in the house. The house is really neat and a great place to meet people - there's always someone coming or going. So, that's it for me. Maybe someone else will add things later!
~Kristine P.S. August 9 any blizzards purchased in north america will benefit the Children's Miracle Network. I like heath =) |
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| This is the first! |
[Jul. 31st, 2007|05:26 am] |
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This is the very first entry to this blog idea. The weather is rather blustery outside but overall, it looks very welcoming. I am going to make sure that this thing works now! |
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