A Vigorous Cycle

... no, not a vicious one!

Last week has seen the conclusion of even two cycles. One is tied to the immediate predecessor of this post, and the other one goes much further back than even the beginning of this blog. In fact, it gies back to the beginning of the period of my life that came before the one this blog originally intended to cover. - But let's do things in the chronological order, shall we?

Last week I went to Berlin, for the second time this year. The first time was in February, following the invitation of my good friends Emily and Helge who were celebrating their house warming party. (I am still quite jealous that they actually built a house in Berlin!) This time the occasion was equally important: a PhD defense! My good friend Stefan finally nailed down his dissertation and aced his exam. As you may have guessed by now, this is the occasion that goes back a long time. By chance Stefan and I started our PhD projects on the exact same day: June 1, 2004.

I remember after having been offered a position as a graduate student at the CP department of the FHI Berlin I was negotiating a little bit which project I was actually going to work on. It turned out that my favorite (the one I had actually applied for) had already been taken. Two others involved building an instrument, and yet another one involved the investigation of chemically (in this case: catalytically) relevant materials. Being a chemist by training, I did not feel capable of building an instrument, and so Stefan ended up taking one of those projects. In retrospect I think we can all live very well with how it was decided.

The first day at work in Berlin I arrived at the institute, but I had no key (actually a keycard) to open the door. Likewise, there was this guy who appeared to be another newbie and couldn't get in by himself just yet. So I walked up to him, thinking, "Oh no, another new guy, and we will have to stand in front of the door for a while and have one of these awkward conversations between strangers ..." The awkward moment did not last very long, as the door is opened often by people walking in and out. And over the years Stefan and I have become very close friends, and there is not even the least bit of awkwardness left when we talk, which is why I can humorously share this incident with you.

However, you may have by now cried out that Stefan took so much longer to graduate than, say, myself, who was already a bit beyond the average (by half a year). How come? It is, in fact, because Stefan is such a skilled instrument designer - and also a bit because of his personal situation. At some point he was experiencing problems with the machine he had built, more precisely so with the electronics that were purchased from a commercial supplier. A representative of that company was going to be at a scientific meeting in Berlin around that time, so Stefan went there to meet him and discuss the issue. He apparently made such a profound impression by revealing in-depth knowledge of the functionality of their product that they actually invited him for a job interview - in the US! His wife, a US American herself, was quite eager to return to the states, so as soon as the interview produced a job offer, it was a done deal! Unfortunately, the thesis was only half written by that time. And so Stefan had to manage his time between insane hours at work, his duties as a father of two and a husband, and that little thing back home in Europe that still needed a quick finish. To cut a long stroy short, it was an intense labor, but in the end he delivered! And frankly, it was one of the best PhD exam performances I have ever seen! Just being in the audience and watch him ace it like that was worth more than the cost of the trip! (And I was feeling a little ashamed that I was lightyears from being even remotely close, despite my much easier conditions.)

See below for a few pictures of how Stefan finally became Dr. Ulrich, and how he vigorously completed his graduate cycle  ...

minutes to go - nervousness at a peak

minutes after - Nervousness? What nervousness?

a long-expected party

dinner, later that night

Ul(l)rich - always a hit!

the two towers

By the way, after Stefan had left Berlin (the day after his exam), I reunited with another colleague from our graduate time, Jan. We hadn't seen one another ever since my own departure from the FHI, so it was no wonder we talked the night away, and finally parted ways at 3 am the next morning. (I am sure he got less sleep than me, being a father of two now.)

Only in Berlin ... would you find an H&M bag locked to a Karstadt department store.

Jan (to the right) and I, in a bar called the "living room"

But I have mentioned another cycle that came to a conclusion. Well, that one isn't really a cycle, rather than a continuation of my recent exploring the most influential dynasty Germany has had in its past as a monarchy: the Hohenzollern family. While I recently visited their home castle near my own current residence, I seized the day last week and traveled from Berlin to Potsdam, the location of Sans-Souci (French for "without sorrow", a very appropriate name for the time after a PhD defense ...). This place used to be the residence of the Hohenzollern while they reigned over Prussia and later all of Germany. Its splendor was copied from the French royal residence, Versailles - at the time French was considered the language of the educated people, and hence the Prussians had to have a castle with a French name. The castle garden that connects all buildings of the Sans-Souci compound is huge - it takes almost 30 min to walk across it. It features the old castle, the new palace (originally a mere guest house), the orangery, the Chinese house, and the Roman bath, besides trees on end!

My trip to Sans-Souci is documented by the photos below ...

the communs

the actual new palace

a tree cut to size at the new palace

Alleys are common in the gardens.

rear of the new palace

pavilion somewhere in the gardens - two more are flanking the old palace

remarkable tree in the castle gardens

The gardens are very colorful in the fall!

Roman bath

Chinese house (named for its interior design and Chinese porcellain stored there)

old palace with terrace garden

looking down the terraces

one of the pavilions flanking the old castle

In order to "conclude" this cycle I might have had to visit the Berlin cathedral (again), where most of the Hohenzollern are buried in the crypt underneath the building ... However, instead of more lingering in the past with the dead, I embraced the living and followed a renewed invitation at Emily's and Helge's house. We had a very delicious raclette dinner and an enjoyable conversation, but as with all things also that night came to an end at some point. So the other guest (and her lovely dog) and I, who had for the most part the same way home traveled together and almost made it back without any noteworthy hickup. But Berlin wouldn't be Berlin if we could just get away like that, right? So when we were only a few city light rail stops from our destination, we had to make another connection and wait for the next train to arrive. We didn't believe our ears when it was announced at the station that this train was delayed by 60 minutes! Just to make myself clear: it was in the middle of the night (past 2 am), it was freezing, and we were just told that we should wait for at least one hour, while this actually meant that maybe there wouldn't be any train at all for the rest of that night in our direction. Heavily displeased, my companion and I used a taxi cab to reach the next light rail station, as there was a small chance that another train would take me all the way to Potsdam - and she could walk. But no train for me at that station, so we decided to take a night bus. However, the night busses in Berlin run just once per hour, so we agreed to walk in the direction of the line to keep us warm, and hop on the bus on a later station. That finally worked, and thanks to the end of daylight savings which occurred just that night I got almost four hours of sleep ... You may wonder why I chose to stay the night in Potsdam, rather than somewhere much more central in Berlin (e.g., just remain at the hotel that Stefan had picked). Well, that's because of my geeky plan to spend at least one night in each of the capitals of the states of the Federal Republic of Germany. (Having checked Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg, off my list, I got 9 down, 7 more to go.) It does sound like a stupid idea, but I would like to think that by following a motto of this kind, I will get to travel to many interesting locations and even to some that aren't in the spotlight like others. Either way, I did experience a story in Potsdam that I felt like sharing here, and so it is making sense at least to me to further pursue this plan. (Next up might be Wiesbaden, the capital of Hesse, a less prestigious destination, but described as beautiful by someone who is originally from the area. Wiesbaden is neighbored by Frankfurt, home of the largest airport in Germany, so whenever I will fly out of Frankfurt the next time, I will want to spend the night before in Wiesbaden!)

Despite the ordeal with the Berlin / Potsdam public transportation, I could sleep for a bit, and then I got my flight from Berlin to Stuttgart in time. In Stuttgart I was surprised that everything was covered in white. Berlin was apparently to warm for the snow, but southern Germany had had a decent share of it. Have a look yourself!

snow in Stuttgart!

And finally, another cycle was completed: against all odds I ran into a former girlfriend of mine who now lives in Berlin. She used to live in Saarbrücken, where I was born, and I am currently living in Baden-Württemberg, where she is from. About when I left Berlin, she moved there. I was pleased how well we are still getting along, after all these years!

Katja and I, a chance encounter in Berlin