Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Dear readers of my blog,
I would like to wish all of you a (belated) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope your celebrations were joyful, and you were having a good time amongst your dear ones. Well, as things are the way they are this year, I was not able to reunite with my own family, but at least I could watch them celebrate via Skype. (What an ingenious invention, by the way!) Later on Christmas eve I had the pleasure and honor to be with the family of my landlords. More precisely, I was invited to celebrate with the family of the sister of the mother of my landlord family, and those of my landlords' family who were not sick ... fortunately I have been spared by this virus so far. I also spent Christmas day with them. Quite an experience for me, as the ceremony with my parents is very different.
Yesterday I went downtown to do some (window and real) shopping. I took a picture on the way: the building that disappears in the fog/clouds in the center of the photo in the upper left is the Hancock Tower. It is the fourth-tallest building in Chicago, after the Sears Tower, the Trump Tower (which has topped out this year), and the Aon Center, respectively. I will take a picture from up there another time!
I had been to the Water Tower Place before to buy presents for my Christmas hosts. This mall is located in a building that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It used to be home to the fire brigade of Chicago, but is now an eight-floor shopping mall. It is quite small by comparison, yet pretty nice inside, and you can find high quality prducts (mostly fashion) inside. You may deduce the level of poshness from the fact that the next McDonald's is several blocks away ... I could not resist and bought a Chicago Bulls hat (by the way, I was at the United Center when the Bulls defeated Utah Jazz!), two warm sweatshirts (with hoods) and some more items. At the floor that is second to the top there is a small shop called Auntie Anne's (upper right photo), which sells soft pretzels ("Brezeln"). Actually the dough is not 100% as it is in Germany, and they sell it in varieties that you don't get over there, but it was a very tasty experience nevertheless! I went for a garlic pretzel (for $2.99!), which was in fact so garlicky that I am now afraid I will never ever date anyone again for the rest of my life ... but sooo good! I also had a "traditional lemonade", which I also liked. Still, I normally don't bother having breakfast even when I work, so a little pretzel didn't fill my tummy for a long time. So I went to the said McDonald's on the way back to the L. As you can see (lower left photo), the service time is very fast! And I finally stuffed myself ... On the way home I felt quite warm. This was confirmed by the thermometer at Oak Park station, which displayed +50°F (some +10°C, lower right photo). According to my Firefox plugin we had even some +15°C (some 60°F) earlier on today. That is really impressive, as we had -1°F (some -20°C) just a week ago. I kid you not, we have temperature fluctuations of 35°C in one week! That is the full temperature span between the average summer and winter temperatures in Germany ... Speaking of the weather, I would like to share with you a really cool song about a guy who is fed up with the rain in Berlin, and has a leave for an indefinite time. It is something I can relate to ... My sister and her boyfriend gave me the album as a Christmas present.
Closing the circle on this topic I would like to say that I am well aware of the fact that it does not comply with political correctness in the US to wish Merry Christmas - instead one should say Happy Holidays, as there is also Hanukah, the jewish Festival of Lights at around the same time. Jewish people believe that Jesus is not the promised Messiah, and hence Christmas as the celebration of His advent makes no sense for them. Anyways, I am a very secular person, and hence Happy Holidays is probably what comes the closest to what this time of the year means to me: being reunited with the family, and wishing well for mankind.
Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to everyone! Be it a healthy and happy time for all of you!

Daily Routine ... Interruped

I told you my days are becoming a routine more and more. The two top pictures (again) show you the house I am living in. They are just two days apart, marking the transition from fall to winter. I might have mentioned on an earlier occasion, but winter is to be taken serious here. And traditionally January is the coldest month of the year. Obviously the best is still to come. - I don't mean it sarcastically, it is an interesting experience for a change, yet I am not sure if I could stand it a lifetime long.
The next two images are related to my daily train ride. On the left one there is the train I've just missed ... that occurred quite a few times. I approach the L from my street (S Wesley Ave), and at the end of the street I can overlook quite a bit of the tracks and also the Eisenhower Expressway (see earlier entries on the "Ike"). Often I see the train arriving just when I arrive at the tracks, but I have to walk two blocks to the bridge across the tracks and the expressway, where the entrance to the station is. That means if I see the train I will have to wait for the next one ... That is exactly what I did, when I took the right picture, out of the train, just at the next station in the direction to "downtown and O'Hare", as it is announced. I took this one, because it reminds me of an article I had read recently. It is about the experiences of a German living in a suburb of an American city. He says that the suburbs are built so fast that infrastructure is often neglected in those areas. In addition the houses are all the same model, because variety would just cost time. The latter statement seems to hold true for the area depicted. I guess this is a valid indicator for the "sprawl" phenomenon.
The next two photos respectively show the skyline (Sears Tower), cloaked in heavy fog, and the door to my office, which I share with Thomas and Xioafeng. Thomas is really Toma, which is the transliteration of the French pronunciation of this name. While he is from Japan, his father liked to give him a French name. I must admit I have never heard of something like this. Anyways, Toma is a very hard-working person, yet also a very pleasant presence, and I am a bit sad that he will return home for good on Monday. Xiaofeng, by the way, is the senior postdoc of Dr. Trenary's group, and he is from China. - I am wondering if I will ever be as motivated as Mickey.
The bottom left photo is an inscription in the concrete pavement that someone seems to have left behind during the recent campaigning time. Remember president-elect Obama is a Chicagoan, and both the City of Chicago and the state of Illinois are strongholds of the Democrats.
So much for the daily routine; now I have to come to the part where it was interrupted. The last photo depicts the sitting governor of Illinois, Milorad "Rod" Blagojevic. Now guess what - he has been arrested for abusing the powers of his office. Among others he is charged for trying to sell (!) the vacated seat in the US Senate formerly occupied by Obama. Also, it seems he has tried to blackmail a children's hospital (!!!) to get some $50,000 for himself in exchange for providing financial support from his office. - Man, I really have to get my proper Chicago outfit! (The "Chicago Outfit" was the gang of Al Capone.)
PS: If you are no native speaker of English, you might want to click on the word "blag" (as short for Blagojevic) for LEO's translation to German. It's too good to be true!

More Recurring Sights

As I have been in Chicago for six weeks (as of yesterday), my life is growing into a routine more and more. Hence, the title I choosed seemed most proximate to me for this entry. More and more sights are becoming familiar, and I would like to share them with you. On the top left you see the house of my landlords. My two flatmates and I occupy the basement, with a separate entrance to the right of the front patio. The center left picture shows you one of the squirrels I sometimes encounter on the way to the L. Actually squirrels have a special meaning for me: when I was about to leave Kaiserslautern, where I obtained the degree of Diplomchemiker (i.e., the German equivalent of an M.Sc. in Chemistry), I told my mom that the only potential disadvantage of Berlin is that I would not have the chance to see cute squirrels in such an urban area. It turned out, however, that my office at the Fritz Haber Institute was facing a vast garden area with quite many a squirrel around. Very entertaining and very helpful in the art of procratination! Now, after leavin Berlin for good, I still encounter some squirrels on the way to work. I am aware of the fact that they have the potential of becoming a scourge, as they are quite smart and adoptive to urban lifestyle, just like rats. Yet I still consider seeing them as an enlightment. But I assume soon enough the squirrels will begin their hibernation and be seen only now and then for a while ... actually for quite a while! As you will see from the top right picture, the temperature has dropped dramatically! While we were enjoying mid-seventies (almost 20°C) on the day of the election, Chicago has been recently infested by the winter. And a winter here is a real one! Temperatures considered extreme in Germany (i.e., occuring only every fifteen years or so) are seen here on a regular basis. Today it was as cold as -14°C! That was quite some experience when I was waiting at the L station in Chinatown for the arrival of my friend and former colleague Junling, and his wife, Guifang. Junling was a collaborator of mine in Berlin, and by coincidence he is also in Chicago (he is actually at Northwestern University, on the Evanston campus, which is slightly outside the strict city limits of Chicago). He has been here for about 1.5 years, which means he was a bit faster with finishing his doctorate ... Recently his wife has come here also. They had been a couple before Junling had come to Berlin (where he stayed for two years), and they got married right after he got back. After his departure for Chicago they had been separated for another one year. Still they seem happier than ever together, which gives me hope that "long distance relationships" are not alsways doomed to fail ... But I meant to tell you about our afternoon in Chinatown, depicted in the three remaining photos. I was of course very happy to meet Junling again, and also to finally get introduced to his wife, who is a bit shy, but obviously a very gentle person. We then had lunch together in a very nice Chinese restaurant. We feasted on beef, duck, fish and beans for about two hours. (I was thinking I had decent skills with the chopsticks, but still people felt like they should provide me with tips and suggestions. But I managed to eat myself full.) Then we left that place for a short walk, inlcuding some sightseeing, but it was really cold and going home soon appeared as an attractive choice. But I have fallen for the area already, and once the weather becomes milder again, I will return there for more sightseeing. I plan on posting the best pictures here of course.
Since I have not posted anything for a few weeks, I would like to add my experience of the recent Thanksgiving holidays. Thanksgiving is always on the last thursday in November, which happened to be 11/27 this year. The tradition goes back to the earliest colonialization in the New World, when the settlers could not grow the local crops in the first place, but finally succeeded after some assistance by the natives. As you all certainly know, the principal dish is Turkey, a bird unbeknownst to the colonialists, and hence named after the islamic country Turkey, as it was custom in the occident in those days for anything unfamiliar. Now, that day I had the pleasure of being invited not only once, but twice, for a Thanksgiving meal. I spent a few hours in the afternoon with my landlords and their host of guests (get it?), but certainly long enough to get my share of the turkey and the side dishes, including my new favorite, sweet potatoes. Later I was invited for dinner at the house of my boss, Mike. So I had more Turkey and more sweet potatoes, and now even a share of the dessert, pumpkin pie and apple pie, à la mode (i.e., with ice cream). I also learned that apple pie is a genuine American dish, as can be derived from the expression, "as American as apple pie" (which I learned from Mike that night). - Yet I hope I will never be called "as German as brat". All in all I had two very enjoyable Thanksgivings on one day, which allowed me to gain insight into the American way of Life ... even though Mike and his family do not seem to cling to that canon very strictly. Most members of his family appear to be quite fluent in Japanese, as Mike returns to Japan on a regular basis, in order to maintain a fruitful collaboration with the very renowned RIKEN institute in Tokyo. His family often joins him; in fact, they will be there for Christmas.
That is it for today. The posts might become less frequent from now on, as my occupation here is growing into a real work. But I will try to be as good as possible, as I have learned that I have more readers than the few people who dare to leave a comment. The latter is still more than welcome, but if you would just like to catch up with my most recent undertakings, then you are also wholeheartily invited to do so!

Für Elise

This entry is for Elyse, a friend of Heather's, who in turn is a colleague and very good friend of mine from Berlin (currently). Now, as it is easy to guess, the title of this post means "for Elise" in English. It is also the name of a piece of music by Beethoven. (Read the Wikipedia article on this topic. I actually find it informative.) Now, although the name of Heather's friend is spelled differently, this was too obvious to miss. In fact, it is so obvious that Elyse might think it's rather corny. I've decided to put here anyways, because there is a associativity to my name - "Alexander the Great" - which would have, in my humble opinion, about the same level of corniness. Yet there are worse things than being called by this name, and thus I assume Elyse won't mind it either, as neither is the connection so bad in her case. (Did you mind after all?)
After this rather cumbersome introduction you might wonder why I dedicate this entry to a friend of a friend of mine, whom I haven't even met a single time. Well, although Elyse and I are nothing but somebody else's tale to each other, she did not hesitate to visit my blog and even leave several comments. Thank you for that! I encourage you to continue, and all other readers be hereby prompted to follow your fine example. After all, this is what will encourage me to keep on writing ...
Well, here is one more for you, Elyse: I took it from your comments on the Owl's Nest, as well as on the Lyon's Den, that you are susceptible to subtleties. In particular I remember what you wrote on Caravaggio's Cupid. In fact I am still wondering what you mean, although the (self-proclaimed) "Aryans" would fit the description of "those who trusted their love of the strength of their leadership", and the Jews "those who feared it". Please correct me if I'm wrong. ... The story I was actually going to tell here is about something different. It is about an article I just stumbled upon in the online edition of the Chicago Tribune. It is about Catherine Vogt, a 14-year old girl, who happens to live in the same suburb of Chicago as I do. But what really impressed me was the experiment she has carried out. While you might want to read the full article, I will briefly summarize it here. She has created two T-shirts, one saying "McCain girl" (in red), and the other one "Obama girl" (in blue). First she wore the red shirt in school. For a full appreciation of this experiment you must know that Oak Park is strongly backing Obama (although I have seen several "McCain - Palin" signs in the front yards in my street.) Obviously she did not fit in at all with everyone else, and it turned out to be a really bad experience for her. She was even told to go die, and that she should be "crucifixed". I kid you not! (Catherine even had the courage to tell the latter person that he obviously meant "crucified".) The next day, however, when she was wearing the blue shirt, her apparent change of mind was much appraised by her fellow students (although some called her a flip-flopper). The bottom line of this experiment is that Obama has vowed to promote tolerance in the US, yet some of his supporters seem to be in need of a lesson or two what this actually means. Quite disturbing - and sad, as this incident will ultimately cast a shadow on Obama's idealistic approach. (At least I assume him to be an idealist, which is why he meets my approval.)
But not enough of disturbing stories, unfortunately. Yesterday I read another article, but this time at SPIEGEL ONLINE. It is about many school kids going on strike for one day, as they are unsatisfied by their schooling conditions. As a matter of fact, great many a thing can be deplored when it comes to the German system of education, most of them being directly related to a dire lack of respective funding. No doubt there is a good reason to go on strike, and march on the streets and protest for better learning conditions. However, a fraction of teenage students in Berlin, stirred up and led by some extreme-left individuals grew into an angry mob and stormed the main building of the Humboldt university in downtown Berlin. To those of you who are not familiar with the location: it is actually right across the street from where the Nazis burned all the books they considered "un-German". A memorial with an empty shelf can still be visited there. The reason why I tell you this is the following: after entering the said building, the angry teenage mob had nothing better to do than to destroy everything that came into their sight. Reportedly bathroom tissue was spread everywhere and even set on fire! If this does not leave you speechless, then what do you say on the following: the lobby of the building is currently hosting an exhibition on the victims of the Nazi terror, and even this exhibition was not spared from being devastated. There are two ironic points to that. First, the mob seems to think of itself as left-wing, yet they devastated a memorial exhibition on Jewish victims. Think of all the applause they will get from the fascist extreme-right, who is actually their sworn enemy ... Second, the event was later praised in some internet forum as the right way to fight the "knowledge elites". I really don't get it! People protest for better learning conditions, and some airhead connotates it to a fight against the knowledge elites? By the way, I have seen a few universities from inside - the overwhelming majority of them is in dire needs of refurbishments, so I really wonder how you could feel elitist while marveling at crumbling wall surfaces. Just one more example: my former alma mater, TU Kaiserslautern, decided a few years ago to run only one elevator per building and cease operation of all others - because they could not afford the power. I guess those Berlin rioters would even be able to see this as further further narrowing down their promotion prospects.
... It just occurred to me: while still working with Heather, I fell for a song called "America", by the British band Razorlight. It appealed to me because of the pre-chorus line, "All my life I'm watching America". In fact, I would agree that I fit this description pretty well. As I am sure it holds true as well for many of my fellow Germans, I am watching "America" (i.e., the U.S.), because everything is bigger there (at least in my imagination) . That is the ultimate reason why I have eventually come overseas. The song continues, "All my life there's panic in America". Thus far the latter line would have reminded me of, say, the mediocre Bush administration, recently maybe the financial crisis; but now? Panic in America? Check out the Berlin riots, and think again!
Oops, I actually intended to write just a few lines tonight. I better head to hit the sack for a change, it's a school night!

Obama Rally

I was there! I was there at Grant Park in Chicago, when Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. It was only after my arrival to the US that I learned about the rally on the election night, so there was no way for me to obtain a ticket for the official event. However, there were big screens installed in the accessible area of the park, showing the latest polls on CNN. I arrived rather late, but just in time to witness the announcement that Virginia, a hardboiled GOP supporter for the past 40 years, was taken by Obama. And it took maybe only some 15 minutes more to declare Obama the president-elect. (If I could only reach that level of punctuality more often ...) Of course people were very excited! Next, John McCain publicly conceded the victory to Barack Obama. At the beginning of his speech, he got a lot of "boo"s from the crowd around me, but he did manage to convince the majority that he is fair and can show greatness in the moment of his defeat. In fact, he got applauded at to a fair extent at the end of his speech. German (online) newspapers would later state that he showed "dignity", which I agree on. - Nevertheless, being a true European, I preferred of course Obama to win. Which he did. And that permitted him to deliver an even better speech. The keywords "responsability" and "maturity" were particularly appealing to me. Today I read a description of Obama as "brain-driven" (as opposed to "gut-driven", maybe?). I assume that is why I am so impressed by him: he is not visibly fazed by the Herculeic task ahead of him, and one has to have very sober mindset to be this cool. Given the incumbent is just the opposite, change really has happened last night in the US. As if this was not historical enough, Obama is of course, "by the way", also going to be the first African American president.

Recurring Sights

Now that I have been here for exactly one week I thought it is time for another post in this blog of mine. To the left you see some impressions I've gotten so far. Science and Engineering South (SES) is the building that is home to all the science departments of UIC. As you can tell from the name, it is south ... of the "Ike", which is an Expressway from downtown Chicago (where all the really tall buildings are) to the western suburbs (where I live right now). This road is several lines wide, yet always busy. It is named after former president Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower, whose paternal ancestors, according to Wikipedia, originated from Karlsbrunn / Saarland (Germany). Well, they won't name a road after ALL people from that area, will they? It should be mentioned also that President Eisenhower signed the bill for the construction of the US Interstate system, while I am more of an "L" person, you know ... Speaking of which, I take the blue line of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) from Oak Park to UIC-Halsted. Check out the CTA "L" network here. The "L" ride takes me 18 min, which is quite convenient. I live only 5 min walking from Oak Park station, while SES is about 10 min walking from UIC-Halsted station. The latter is still right next to the end of the campus. In total I do not spend any more time on commuting to work and back than in Berlin. Oak Park, by the way, is located in Cook County, just outside the municipality of Chicago. Both the "Ike" and the blue line are dead straight east-west connections, with the trains running in between the two parts of the Expressway (eastbound and westbound) for a good deal of my daily ride.
I recently learned that Oak Park and the adjacent River Forest have a joint High School, which produced an impressive number of famous alumni - first and foremost, Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was born here and returned later, after fighting in World War I. His mansion is still here, so I will see it some day soon and provide you with a picture. Other sort-of-known alumni include Dan Castellaneta (the American voice of Homer Simpson), Ludacris (hip hop artist), as well as Ray Kroc. The latter has erroneously been called the "founder" of McDonald's; he acually bought it from brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald, but it was him who made it then go worldwide. So it is some sort of closing the circle: American soldiers like Hemingway paved the way for the success of American brands in Germany, which made me buy and devour tons of junk food, and I recently brought the resulting belly over here, to Oak Park ... just kidding! Right next to Oak Park station there is a Fifth Third Bank building, which shows time and temperature. Now, as a European, I am used to °C (and K, of course), but in the US people use °F. The picture shows that it was in the mid fifties that day, which is rather mild. Earlier this week, there were low thirties in the morning, which felt like freezing ... and yet on the night of Halloween, we were even in the mid sixties, where you almost need no jacket.
Speaking of Halloween, it is as big as you know it from the movies. In my neighborhood a decent number of front yards were decorated with great many scary creatures and items. People had even shut down the street in their block for an outdoor celebration, including some barbecue. And of course you could see costumes everywhere ... in that sense, it comes quite close to German carnival.
Today I also went to work for a few hours. Jing and I tried out some of the geeky science stuff, which I am actually here for; with limited success. We did get it to work, but we are aiming at some specific things, which will require some modifications of the experimental setup. I will keep you posted.
Thanks for staying with me to the end of this entry. I shall be pleased if you come back regularly and check for new ones!

Big City Lights

Here we go ... I have arrived save and sound in the "Windy City", where I have met nothing but friendly people so far. Everyone has been very helpful and assisting in getting me started (or just giving me directions to my new work place). I hope I will have the chance to return the favor - but it seems more likely that I will pass it on to future generations of collaborators. (That seems still fair enough to me :-) .) Now, many of you will know that Chicago is dubbed the "Windy City", and several sources of information independently declare that this is an allusion to the windy speeches of politicians that were given here, rather that a description of actual meteorological circumstances. Well, you know, it was a rather stormy day today, so if it is true that the nickname refers indeed to the speeches, they must have been really blatant lies! (VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: no judgement of mine whatsoever on current presidential candidates from Illinois be inferred!) ...
You may or may not know that I hit the age of 30 already a while ago and that this should urge me well to get a "real job" asap, now that I have finally graduated. Actually, why would I linger in academia at all for another 1+ year? I do speak English well enough for German industry (no intentions of showing off, just explaining myself ... okay, showing of a little bit :-) ), there are younger people competing with me for the same entry level jobs, and there is even an ongoing debate whether the US still got the lead. The answer is simple: look at the image on this post, which I took tonight on the way home. I will see this skyline every morning and every night. After Berlin, what could be the next step? Ramble on I must - this is what I got out of it! I'm loving it!

A primer ...

This is it. It is the first post on this blog. I hope that it will find its audience ... First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alex, and I recently graduated from TU Berlin (Germany), where I obtained the German equivalent of a PhD. If you wonder why I start this blog with an ending (of my doctoral research), it is quite simple: I will continue doing research - in the beautiful city of Chicago (Illinois, USA), where I will join the Department of Chemistry at UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago), about which I will tell in this blog. I am very excited about going abroad - it is actually the first time I go beyond the shores of the Old World (a.k.a. Europe). I am sure it will broaden my horizons and teach me something about the Amercian Way of Life. While venturing out, I will report my experiences in this blog. Feel free to check it out regularly ... If you wonder why I called it "The Owl's Nest" - it refers to my last name ("Uhl", a dialect form of the German word for owl), and it adopts the style of "The Lyon's Den", which is the blog of my friends Heather and Jon. I hope you enjoy reading my posts, and you are encouraged to leave behind comments.

Bye for now ... Alex