Don't worry, this is an actual email this time. ^^ Although I must say that since I keep in touch with everybody at diff. rates, some of the things I might say in this email will be a repeat. Es tut mir leid (I'm sorry). [Yes, I'm going to make this educational. YAY for deutsch]
… And it’s rather long. Think of it as a collection of little Karen (hee hee) emails as you’ve all been wondering why I’ve been MIA these past week(s) (hehe…it has been three wks so now so I can say that.)
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So refresher:
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Duration in Germany: April 29 - December 29 (8 months)
Purpose:
I'm doing an international co-op with a pharmaceutical/biotech company, Roche (http://www.roche.com/index.
I work in the lab (so it's undergrad research all over again, except now the protocols are in German (no kidding), and well ... life is just tough after that). I’m glad I have some experience in this area though. Really glad. Cooping experience hasn’t been that helpful so far.)
My project is basically working on a way to purify/increase the batch size/yield of apolipoprotein A-1 (apo A1), which is the main component (70%) of HDL (high density lipid). And just different aspects of that. HDL is the good cholesterol that takes lipids away from your peripheral tissue and carries it to your liver to be disposed in the form of bile. We're hoping to increase the HDL in your body to get rid of fat and help people with CAD (coronary artery disease)…and people who just don’t exercise. JK. But I like it a lot, it's neat. :)
I can talk more later if you want to know.
Address (until end of October):
Karen Shih
Sankt-Klara-Strasse 29
No. E. 09
82377 Penzberg, Germany
Penzberg is a small town south of Munich.
[Yes, in Germany, the zip code comes first. And I have the right address this time, yeah yeah]
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/
Phone:
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Common Questions:
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Am I learning German?
Yes, so besides my handy Rick Steves' German phrase bk, I'm taking classes. I have this advanced class “downtown.” The beginning class started earlier, in February, so this is the only one left. I go to on Mon [Montag] and Wed [Mittwoch] from 6-7:30. It's in the middle of town (~25 min. walk), as with everything else (supermarket, etc.)
Oh, I cough at “downtown” because it’s so small (~11,000 inhabitants I believe) that everything you need is off of this one street, Bahnhofstrasse. Which basically means train street.
[If you think about it, the train system, Bahn, or in Germany, DB or Deutsche Bahn. Also, I live on St. Klara Strasse, so Strasse is street. A lot of things make sense in German! Or are connected.]
Later on I'm also going to take 1-1 lessons at work. I’m signed up for 20 lessons, each 45 min. I don't know when those start, we only just finished filling out the paperwork last week. [Actually, I just finished applying for my visa/work permit today. (since I’m staying more than 6 months.) I'm going to have to go back sometime this week to get my visa, but hopefully by then all the paperwork will be done for real].
I really want to maximize my exposure to German so I'm taking the advanced classes for now even though I don't understand that much and the teacher doesn't know that many English words. She's not a professinoal teacher or anything, but if you think about it, her job is pretty difficult. A friend of mine in the class, Simonette, only knows French and a bit of German. I only know English, Chinese, and a bit of Spanish. Not sure about the other two people in the class... So I don’t blame her too much except well, really, English?
Anyway, hopefully (the plan!) I'll be able to catch up with my 1-1 lessons, so that I'll be able to understand the advanced class. And come back knowing German. (!)
I should probably watch German TV or something, but I only want to if I have subtitles or something. I mean captions. Actually German captions and English subtitles would be great. They should invent that.
I’m starting to make a list of things I want to invent. [Hi Mu!] I’m thinking about specialized keyboards (I can give a good 5 min. rant – justified! – about the difficulty typing on a German keyboard.) Oh, and since I work in the lab and have to wear steel-toed shoes [Hi Brad!] I was thinking about steel-toed dance shoes for the guys! [Hi Justin!] Awesome huh?
But yeah, my keyboard… Something with german letters, and maybe even some Spanish ones too, idk… and maybe Chinese characters except I don’t really know my bo po mo (or whatever…) so I guess it doesn’t help much. Yeah, I get some pretty creative ideas sometimes. There was something else too, I forgot, it was on my way to work. Oh wait, it was the keyboard. Heh.
… I get off subject pretty easily. Good thing I write in small paragraphs and bold words huh?
Do I miss you?
Of course. :) But actually more than you all know. Little things remind me of you all. So yes, of course. [As can be see with the shoutouts, and those embedded in the email as well.] As they say in the song, Here (In Your Arms) by hellogoodbye, "Hello, I've missed you quite terribly."
How do you contact me?
Hrm, I'd say the best way is still to email me (lilkarenn@gmail.com). Hee, I can still check gmail at work (they haven't blocked that site) but not my gatech webmail (retarded!) As is pandora. (BOO!) but luckily not youtube except I don’t really go on youtube (except once, to look at that chopping vid you sent Sonica). hmm... yep. I’d much rather have Pandora. Although the German radio plays America music (It’s hip!), I’d prefer Pandora.
Besides that, I go on gmail chat often so you can always talk to me there (lilkarenn). No, I'm not really on facebook (or the chat) anymore. Nor AIM/Trillian.
I do have Skype though (s/n: lilkarenn). Usually I only get on if I'm expecting a call. So let me know.
When you are in Europe feel free to give me a call. I bought a pre-paid cell phone that will cost me 15 cents/min for every call I make. When you call me I believe you are the one being charged so prank call at your own risk. Hehe.
And as always, letters are welcome. Now that's the really slow way Graydon. ^^
Am I still playing ultimate? swing dancing? etc.?
No and no. I wouldn't mind tossing the disc around with people here except I haven’t really had a chance. I went swimming in the lake yesterday and I think next time we do this they talked about bringing a ball (in my mind I substituted it with disc…heh.) Or idk...I hear there's a picnic at work at the end of May with a big ol' fussbol (soccer) game. I'm hoping to bring along my disc there and maybe toss around. ^^
As for swing, I looked for a dance class but it had already started and you needed a partner to sign up. Plus it was rather far away. It was basically a 2 hr dance class each wk and you learned a diff. type of dance (including foxtrot, Vietnemese waltz, disco, ..) and I wasn't too interested.
I saw another dance class while I was at the kino (movie theatre) on Saturday except it was coupes only and it looked like … weird waltzing. :Shrug: I talked to my friend Holger and he said he paid 90 euros for a 3 hr lesson which…did not sound appealing to me. Let’s say I’m happy just watching swing vids. J Besides, only 7.5 more months.
Ok that is a long time. Yeah…
… But of course I miss swing and ultimate. Of course. :(
That being said/though, I'm hoping to keep busy learning German (!) and traveling (!). :)
Are you writing in a blog, taking pics, etc. / keeping up the memories?
So I have the best travel journal EVER.
[…]
Ever ever ever. Haha. For those I’ve already told, you can skip it because nothing really new here. Let me begin.
So I went to staples and got some regular computer paper and had that bound into a notebook [Hi Bisca!] And then that notebook is now my travel journal.
But there is so (!) much more.
So in it I can write what I want (I have neat handwriting, hey, asian) and not worry about going past lines. So it’s pretty plain paper and not ugly lined or anything. Although I must say I am very satisfied with Staples college ruled paper. [Hi Simona!]
Since it's blank paper, I can also doodle some. I'm not a great doodler, but I do enjoy ambigrams sometimes. I’ve also been sketching maps of where I live. And whatnot…
Also, since it's blank, i printed out some 4 x 6 pics, and then whenever i take pics, i mark out a space where i want in my travel journal. I also write the title of the pic and where i'm storing them on my laptop so that when i get back to the US, i can print out the pictures and post it RIGHT where it happened! (i have a sep. folder on my laptop labebled print me pics). BRILLIANT IDEA #24523
But wait, there’s more!
So I have lots of different, specialty pages.
One page I rate diff. kinds of shokolade (chocolate). One of the pick-me-ups I allow myself (kind of as a prize/reward for going out in Germany everytime when I could stay inside my little American flat lawl) is that I always buy a diff. type of shokolade. Then I write some description of it, tape the label in my book, oh idk, and i rate it out of 10. haha. For future ref? I used to write down the price and the store but now i'm too lazy.
I also started writing down my notes from german class in it so it really is everything I’ve done in Germany! They're in a diff. color (red) so they stick out which is nice when I look back. Everything else is written in blue/black ink.
Oh! And i just started sticking a page of typical “german” things. So my coworker (and boss, and …) laughed when she saw this, but i taped in a piece of toilet paper. (I guess I can see why…) It's just..the shape is really interesting (!). I mean, otherwise, why else would I do that? Don’t judge, listen. It's a lot smaller, or i guess, the width is shorter and the length is longer. It's a lot cuter and it fits in the palm of my hand perfectly and then some. I like it!
And others…
Culture Shocks? Complaints
So drucken (umlaut over u) means push and ziehen means pull. But so many of thee doors have a handle when all you have to do it pull and I got tricked…so….many…times…so so many times. I complained about it to a lot of people because it’s just plain mean to trick new people. But then I learned how to read the signs (which is why I sometimes paused in front of the doors) so now I am fine with it. But I just don’t understand, it feels like everything else in Germany is so well planned!
Heh… and my German culture shock book had this funny page. It went something like how Germans don’t trust Americans or Asians (OW! Double whammy) because they tend to beat around the bush and try not to hurt the other person’s feelings. But Germans like it straight. Keep that in mind. ^^
Haha I showed the book to some of my German friends and they all laughed at the cover [Culture Shock! Germany. A Guide to cultural tips and etiquette.] I think they all really want to read it, and to be honest, I kind of wand them to as well…I mean when else, right?
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Typical Day
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So far my workdays have been like this, work 8 hours a day, so usually from 9am to 5pm. It is more like working only 7 hours because we get 30 min. for lunch, and then we take two 15 min breaks, or coffee breaks. Those are usually at 9am (i sometimes skip those because i just get in to work, the other people in the lab get in anywhere from 7 to 8, or 8:30), and again at 2pm. I eat lunch at 11am.
I like it better this way, because then at most, I only work 2 or 3 hours at a time and then I get a tiny break to look forward to.
Boy, they really like their coffee breaks. Nothing really gets in the way of that.
[And then a few pages later in my German book they mentioned how Germans like their coffee break. So +1 pt German culture book. It’s how Germans like a schedule and for everything to be planned, so they plan for their coffee break and they’ll be upset at you if you mess it up. I’m not saying that extreme, but they do work their times around their coffee break, which is to be expected. It’s just coffee breaks weren’t a scheduled meeting when I worked at CIBA, and you didn’t share it with everybody else.]
I eat lunch in the cafeteria and the meals are REALLY good there. They're also very cheap, so far they have been costing me around 1.50 to 2 dollars (USD). I haven’t eaten so richly (or cheaply, hee he….. he) since middle/high school. Very good deal! So I like to think that I get my meat/vegetables/fruits there.
Then when I go home, I usually just eat some form of pasta.
So because there aren't any plastic grocery bags in Germany (very environmentally-conscious, so many different trash cans/bag everywhere), and since I don't have a car or bike here (I don't think I am going to buy one, I don't mind walking), then I can usually only buy what I can carry. So far, that means just enough for 2-3 days of cooking. Well, in the beginning when I didn’t have anything. Now it’s more of 1-2 days. It’s a nice break walking around outside…unless it’s raining and I really need to buy things. Then it’s just..well…yeah. I guess it’s fun the first couple min. I’m still in the “everything is an adventure” stage of my trip here so I don’t mind so far.
So let's see, i work everyday from 9-5. on mondays and wednesdays i have german learning class from 6-7:30. because it takes about 25+ minutes to walk there, i usually leave work around 5 or 5:30ish and start to walk there. that way i can take my time and enjoy the scenery. So on those days i am a bit tired. L
Actually, especially Wednesdays because afterwards a lot of the interns/masters/postdocs meet at a restaurant [we change every week] and just hang out until 11 or so. Some of them live in the boardinghaus [for Roche interns only] so I’ve gotten to know them better. They’re the same ones I went to the movies and lake with. J
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Shoutouts:
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Katy (and Tuesday Letter girls/fan of Twilight):
So I went to my Simonette's apartment, and guess who I saw out on the porch reading New Moon (2nd bk)... the dad of the family she's staying with. I KNOW. So the Mom was outside reading the 1st book (she went from 4th backwards) and the dad went from 1st onwards. Supposedly it's very popular over here as well.
That's not all, I told him I was surprised he was reading it since most of the guys I know in the US who went to go see the movie were kind of dragged by their girlfriends, and just looked sad in general. Well, supposedly it's very popular with the boys over here. (hahahaa). So their 11 year old son reads the Twilight series (he's on the 3rd book - I find it adorable the whole family is reading the book) and he wants to be like a vampire, cold and strong, etc.
And Katy, the dad was rooting for Jacob and then he and I started arguing about Jacob/Edward. I'd say discuss but it was more debating.
Katy, it made me think of you and miss talking to you. :) I'm actually borrowing the 4th book from them, haha. Except I have to hurry up and finish reading it because their son wants it back once he finishes the 3rd book. Maybe in a couple weeks, hah.
Christina, I don't know if I ever told you, but I thought the trailer you made was good. The 007 car scenes were incorporated very smoothly. Good music too.
Helen:
I like going to the bakeries/pastry shops here. I think of you whenever I eat something good (I am eating it for you, hah).
Eddie, Shune, Colin, and other ultimate folks:
You've seen the fields outside my apartment. I wish you guys were here so I coud toss with you. I only brought one disc (gah, should have brought more so I could practice hucking...) I tried doing that last week, just ran after the disc everytime I threw it. Kind of slow, but not like I have anything better to do. And then I get to think about my throw while I pick it up. I think I increased 2.5+ yds just by facing exactly 180 degrees before I started.
Just wow!
http://picasaweb.google.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/
Shune:
So I got a real kick out of this. Remember the 1st and 2nd prize beauty contest you won in Monopoly. Well apparently the german word, schön (pronounced shune), means beautiful.
Yeah..perhaps that prize was well chosen. ^^ Germans like to use this word a lot, so I hear your name every so often and I think, if they only knew the Shune that I knew (blup blup). ^^
Gabe:
I think you would enjoy riding your bike around here. Everybody does. It's really great actually seeing so many people ride their bike and not driving their cars around, especially since it's such a short commute to work. It's 10-15 min. for me walking, so it'd be less than 2-3 min. on a bike.
And everyone does it. I was talking to some friends and they're taking a trip to go mountain biking and whatnot. They mentioned 4000 or some insane figure that would involve ~8 hrs riding I believe. They needed to train for it (they're going in a couple of weeks.)
The view is amazing, I can see the mtns (Bavarian alps), and I pass by these fields and a tiny lake. You'd like it.
Mu:
I saw some pinecones on my way to work. There are so many forests here, very beautiful (Picassa proof). Anyway, i thought these would add nicely to your collection. Even though they're a bit small, they can be the newborn baby twins or something.^^ But then they got squished by a bike (probably) when I checked the next day so no souvenir for you.
http://picasaweb.google.com/
Eddie:
Remember the woodsy desktop picture you had freshman year (yes, not sophmore ^^). There are so many places here that look just like it. I'm trying to take some pictures but you might have to wait a bit longer. You would love the nature scenes here Eddie....you should come visit. :)
Berger:
I see youuuuuuuuuuuu….
http://picasaweb.google.com/
Brad:
Quadruplet whammy! Look at all that green space… and then some architectury pics.
I found even though you’re not really into that kind of stuff anymore.
I don’t have the time nor patience to show you all the pictures where I just owned you, so you’ll just have to go to the photo album yourself.
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Farewell
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That's all folks!
I miss you all terribly.
Karen
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