A visit from Michigan

Last Sunday I enjoyed a visit from Troy, MI. That's right, even though it is still my first trip outside the borders of Good Old Europe, I am having friends in the US, which don't live in Chicago. The ones I am talking about here I met in Berlin. Stefan used to be a PhD student colleague at the Fritz Haber Institute. Since he is married to an American (Liz), he has made his way to the US even before me. Lucky him was offered a position at a company called RHK, which manufactures scanning tunneling microscopes. Since Stefan actually built his own machine as part of his research, for which RHK electronics were used, he is very familiar with this equipment. When he attended a scientific meeting in Berlin, the people from RHK approached him with a job offer, which he eventually accepted. I am very happy for him and his family, because it seems that they are enjoying themselves very much in Michigan. Stefan and I are really good friends, and so I was very pleased when he announced that his wife, his two sons Max(imilian) and Alex(ander) (guess why I call them the "X-men" ...), and himself would be in town for the weekend. And despite their tight schedule they made it happen to meet me on the way home. Yay! While Liz was watching over the little ones, Stefan and I had a really good chat, just like back home. Of course it was all too short, but I enjoyed their visit very much, and I am planning (among other things) to repay the favor before going back to Germany for good. - As you may have noticed, Stefan and Liz named their (second) son Alexander, just like me. While they probably didn't name him after me, they didn't have any objections that I am their son's namesake, which makes me proud, you bet!

Scientists actually

Quite a while ago I have been requested to post some information about my coworkers, Jing and Homa. As you have probably already guessed by now, these are the two charming ladies on the picture. Jing (to the left) is from China, and Homa is an Iranian. While Chinese PhD students are quite common in the US, Iranians are certainly not. I have to admit that when I first met Homa I was very surprised that Iranians are actually allowed to enter the United States, given the long-term bad relationship between these two countries. Fortunately my idea was wrong, because it has turned out that graduates from Tehran university are highly skilled. According to Homa her domestic school should be ranked among the best universities on this planet. While there may (or may not) be a good deal of patriotism in her statement, I must admit that she had undergone a very solid training before joining forces with me. - Now, it would be unfair to praise one student and to leave the other one completely out. Jing has recently been working on a new sample holder for our microscope. This will allow us to do experiments at low temperature (i.e., when the sample is cooled by liquid nitrogen to -196°C or -321°F). Hopefully this will increase our resolution dramatically. (It's the little thing that Homa is holding in her hand, by the way - but no closer looks allowed, as it is top secret!) Jing deserves a strong commendation for her efforts. As you can see, I am very much blessed by being allowed to collaborate with these girls. Even more so, as they are both good company. - You may ask what my job is, if the girls are so talented. Well, that's an easy one: I'm the photographer ...