4. The weekly rhythm

It didn't take long before my life in Jülich got a definite rhythm. During the week I got up at 6:30, so that I could get to the Research Center shortly before 8 am. Sometimes Anja and I rode our bicycles together, but mostly we met first in the coffee room, or somewhere else in the Research Center. Almost always we worked for an hour before breakfast; then we ate muesli together, and drank black tea and coffee. This meal also served as our informal meeting time, where everyone could ask questions. After that, Anja gave me directions for the day or the week—what I should work on in lab.

Science was something we had in common—something I found wonderful and interesting. Although our studies had taken place on different continents, I was happily surprised to see how useful everything I had learned in Morris was. I had to learn new terms, but I knew almost all of the concepts already, or had seen them before. The work in an active laboratory is a little different than in a lab where university students learn. Everything was done very practically—easily, quickly, and with great care—if also not always healthily, because of the organic chemicals. But safety was naturally very important, and everyone followed the listed rules.

Although Anja owned a car, we mostly rode our bicycles through the fields between our apartments and the Research Center, and all over in Jülich—luckily there were many quiet and wonderful bicycle paths. Everything that I bought at the grocery store I had to carry back home by bicycle, which would not have been a problem, but it rained almost every day during the seven weeks. The weather was almost always dry in the morning, but wet in the afternoon. We worked from 8 in the morning until about 5 or 6 in the evening, although I often stayed there until 7, so that I could call my family and my boyfriend.

Friday was always hard for me, because I missed my boyfriend and family so much, but I also had a lot of fun with writing and reading. For the first time I had not brought enough to do, and so my mother sent me some books and movies. Sometimes I drove with some people—to Cologne, or to a bar—but I was also satisfied to stay alone with my thoughts and my computer. Anja seemed to be exactly the way I was; she lived alone and socialized with the others only infrequently. And so the weeks went; sometimes fast, mostly slow—until I finally flew back to Minnesota.

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