Blackout!

The night I came back from Wisconsin I had the unpleasant surprise of finding that the electricity in the entire neighborhood was killed! Well, I have been in power outages before, so I assumed the power would come back shortly. Ha! After spending the entire night in complete and utter darkness I learned from my landlady that the authorities say it would take "several days" to fix the problem. I don't quite understand why it has to be so slow. Clearly, in a gritted city like Chicago (and its suburb Oak Park, my current home), a power outage in a well-defined area indicates a problem in the feed into that area. That junction should be quickly found, shouldn't it? We have been without power now for more than 24 hours, and a remedy is not in sight. For some reason the German saying, "sich schwarz ärgern" comes to my mind, meaning "to turn black in anger". No light, no cooking, no fridge/freezer, no laundry, no TV, no internet (I"m so desperate that I am writing this in the lab at 8 pm on a Saturday) - even our water is heated electrically! So in order to kill some time I decided to go and see a movie, but there was none I would have liked. Remember, I couldn't check the shows online, so I only found out in front of the theater, which is 40 min walking from my home. And then, on the way home, disappointment was joined by humiliation, because the storm that had killed our power decided to return and make me soaking wet. I''l keep you posted.
Update: After a total of about 25 hours the power finally came back.

Wisconsin

Like any other scientist, I have to attend conferences once in a while. After going to San Jose last November, I had now the chance to bring up my state count to five. I currently live in Illinois, I went to Georgia to meet my friends Heather and Jon, I went to California for another conference, and finally I spent the New Year's Eve and Day 2010 in Michigan. (I didn't write about the last one, but it was very nice!) The Physical Electronics Conference 2010 was held in Milwaukee, WI, so there was not much traveling needed. My colleague Jun (who later made the second place in the poster presentations) drove us about 100 miles north, always following more or less the lakeside. The first night there was just a welcome reception. Fortunately I had the opening slot for the entire conference, so soon enough I could get over with my talk (which went okay, should anyone care). Then I could relax (and wear more comfortable clothes, even though I enjoyed being able to show off my posh outfit another time) and follow the other presentations without worries. Fortunately the first World Cup matches of each day finished just in time for the first session of the day, so I could even watch Germany-Serbia live! Unfortunately the game was just the worst case scenario for Germany - after about half an hour they had to play with one man down, due to a red card, then one minute later Germany scored the only goal of the game, and to conclude a truly abysmal experience, after about one hour Germany missed a penalty kick. Then I was ready to go home to Chicago!

Sports

Sports are important in the United States. They are also important in Europe, including Germany. However, the kinds of sports people consider important on their respective side of the Atlantic Ocean are different. Americans' top four are: American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey. Europeans favor soccer, soccer, soccer, soccer. That said, I must confess I am double lucky! First, on Wednesday the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961. (Alas, the drought is naught!) Second, the FIFA World Cup 2010 has kicked off today.
Yet, while I enjoy living in the city of the new NHL champion, I am by no means a die-hard ice hockey fan. I did buy a hat a while ago (see photo), but merely to show my affection for my current home town. I also have various other merchandise items from the Chicago Bulls (basketball), the Chicago Cubs (baseball), the Chicago Bears (American fottball), and even the Chicago Fire (soccer). In fact, I learned about the Hawks' successful season only when they entered the Final Four, because then the city-wide hype got so large it reached even me. Still: yay for the Hawks! Good job, guys!
However, now it is soccer time! Unfortunately, the time difference between Chicago and South Africa, the host nation, is not exactly in favor of my plans on following the matches. Kick offs are 1:30 pm, 4 pm and 8:30 pm local time, which is 6:30 am, 9 am and 1:30 pm in Chicago. I am willing to get up for the first match, but if I watch the second one at home, I won't be able to start working before noon, which is unacceptable. Hence, forget about the third match, too. That wouldn't be so bad, if there were matches at 6:30 am every day. That slot won't be used anymore before we are even half way through. And that's when the play-offs start, when it actually becomes really interesting!
You know, Germany needs any supporter they can get. Across the world Germany still has a bad reputation for historic reasons. It is because back in the 1930s the government turned the entire population into haters ... and I now found evidence how it was done: they had Hass avocados! If you are no speaker of German: Hass means hate. As you can see with your own eyes, both the Anglophonic and Francophonic world have seized this infamous fruit and are dealing it out recklessly to anyone. (Even to me, for that matter!) What's even worse: they are luring people into eating it by advertising how "mild" this guacamole were!
Anyways, enjoy the World Cup, everyone! No hating! May the best team win! As for Dr. Feltes, it will be South Africa, as it is where she will start a new job next month.