Amy & Adam's European Highlights

Yesterday was an unusually good day. To start, I've befriended another fabulous person. Her name is Chiara and she's the spouse of Max, a postdoc researcher at Max Planck. Interestingly, Max got his PhD in cognitive psychology at Brown and Chiara is currently finishing up her dissertation in Italian Studies. We met over coffee yesterday morning and I'm convinced if she didn't have an appointment, we could have stayed in the cafe all day. Max and Chiara are from Italy, east of Venice. Amazingly, when Chiara moved to Providence she knew no English. I can only imagine how much more isolating and challenging that experience would have been compared to my experience of moving to a German university town when I speak no German. Oh, we native English speakers are too lucky! Tonight, we are going over to Max and Chiara's apartment for a "Brown" dinner. Apparently there are two other Brown graduates working at Max Plank. I can't help but think how lucky we are that Peter did a stint over here. He introduced us to this wonderful scientific community that has become both an important social outlet and a way to make some Euros! Who doesn’t want to be a guinea pig in the name of Science?

I finally connected with the people who run the advising program at the German-American Institute (D.A.I.). I met with one of the women yesterday and she seemed genuinely pleased that I wanted to help. She immediately put me to work proof-reading a grant proposal. I was there during “drop-in” hours, where German students come for advice and assistance about studying or working in the U.S. or Canada. A woman came in looking for ways to improve her English so she can pass the TOFEL and the Director suggested that I assist her. I was able to extract more information about what she was looking for but I of course didn’t know of a specific six-month program in Canada that would fit what she was seeking. We talked for about fifteen minutes and scheduled a follow-up meeting next week. I am now scheduled to work every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. On Thursdays, the Institute offers seminars and presentations of which I will join and eventually lead. I am ecstatic that I can be useful, learn new information, and gain some valuable experience in return. Also, although this is a volunteer position, meeting people here could potentially connect me with folks who may wish to pay me for my services.

The other fabulous aspect of yesterday was joining the D.A.I’s library. They have a commendable collection of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, CDs and DVDs in English! I can safely say that I’ve never been so excited to be in a library in my life. Yes, living abroad on a tight budget without a real job, cell phone, television or commitment means I have more free time than at any other point in my life. (I should mention that my stress level is zero). This also means that I value books more than ever before.

I am slowly working on learning German with the help of wonderful Rose, Adam, and the Rosetta Stone. I do feel as if I’m learning and able to understand bits and pieces of conversations around me. With context clues, I can conduct most simple transactions. There is still a considerable disconnect, however, between what I feel I know working by myself with what comes out of my mouth when placed in a real situation. My brain’s instinct is to put little “filler” words of French in between German words. I have signed up for the German course which will meet every morning Monday-Friday, beginning on November 12. Undoubtedly this class will be a valuable experience.

I’m sorry that I don’t have any new pictures to post. We’ve been in the midst of a gray, cold spell so I haven’t been very inspired by our surroundings. And, we haven’t gone on any field trips this past week. I promise to have some pictures up early next week as we are headed to Berlin for the weekend to visit Chris, Adam’s friend from graduate school. We are really looking forward to seeing him, being in a city, and having the opportunity to play tourist.

Happy Halloween to everyone! Adam and I are missing dressing up this year so we'd love to see photos of people who have.