EMBL Lab Day -- and Terminator

This week has been pretty great. Last Thursday was the EMBL “lab day,” where members of all of EMBL’s different outstations come to Heidelberg to meet, have graduation for students who have completed the program, and generally party it up. We went to talks all morning about next-gen sequencing and the work that’s being done at EMBL, then afternoon consisted of free food, socializing, the poster competition (which our lab didn’t win, somehow!), and a concert by EMBLers who play instruments. After a nice BBQ dinner, there was live music and free drinks. And that was day one.

The next day was the 10^th anniversary of the founding of EMBLEM, which I’m told basically brings EMBL ideas to the business world. After work, Andreas, Adrian, Adrian’s wife Katrina, and I attended the fancy (free!) Mediterranean dinner. The food was fantastic (and free!), and I probably ate twice the capacity of my stomach. After dinner, the party began with a pretty good band, a magician, a fire show, drinks (free!), and dancing. I hung out with Andreas’s friend Tanmay and a few other grad students. Did I mention it was all free?

Then on Saturday I went out with a bunch of grad students and postdocs: Andreas (Austria), Tanmay (India/UK), Rob (UK), Norm (Ireland), Vinnie (Switzerland), Eric (Switzerland), a girl whose name I didn’t catch (Hungary), and another guy (Iran). We talked politics, Germany, science, and Norm’s impressive facial hair. Thank goodness Andreas has a car and lives very close to me because the buses and trams stop running at midnight. (Or, at least he has a car for now. The car is about as old as I am, and the brakes were not sounding good. I think he said he took it into the shop today.)

We had another visit from the postdoc candidate I mentioned before. Jan is making the final decision about whether to offer her a position or not, so we had another round of talking to her about her research and answering her questions. Obviously, I can’t actually be of any real help, but we chatted for a few minutes while she was waiting to see Jan.

Then on Tuesday, I went to see Terminator Salvation with the other members of the lab in one of the local theaters. I give it mostly positive reviews, and the dubbing wasn't even noticeable.

And for those of you who are saying, “A movie? In German? I thought you couldn’t speak German,” I can’t. But you would be surprised at how much you can glean from a movie by just paying attention and picking out a few phrases here and there. I admit, the language would have been a bit of a problem for a character-driven, brooding, thoughtful snore-fest, but seriously folks, it’s Terminator. This movie is about killer robots from the future, and it contained no less than two nuclear blasts. I did all right with the plot.

After the movie, I went out with the lab and Marcus (a fellow EMBLer) for a soda at a really old student pub in the center of town. Over the years people have carved their names into the tables so much that the surface is really a solid wall of names. It’s pretty neat. We talked about the movie and retro geeky things, like the Commodore 64 and D&D. Yeah, I hang out with cool people.

Finally, can someone who has seen Transformers 2 tell me if (1) it has cool special effects (2) if Princeton gets blown up at all? K thanks.

***TERMINATOR SPOILER ALERT***

Really, John Connor? If you’re fighting a war against machines, the second a half-man half-machine shows up in your base, you kill it. I don’t care if it’s a nice robot or if some woman on your team thinks it’s hot, get rid of it. Immediately. I’m really glad it worked out for you in the end (Sappy heart transplant? Really?), but, honestly, even letting it get to that stage was just sloppy.

Tour und TV

This weekend was spent doing more in Heidelerg. On Saturday I took an English tour of the Old Town. My tourmates were a couple from Alabama and their children, two English women. The tour was supposed to last an hour and a half, but it took three. The tour guide was fantastic, and we were allowed to go to a few places normal groups wouldn't have seen since we had such a small group, especially after the dad and kids dropped out after an hour.

We saw all of the usual sights in Heidelberg, such as the old bridge, the churches, the famous pubs, and the student jail, along with some really neat lesser-known things, like the Alta Aula (Old Auditorium) of Heidelberg University. Both Kirchoff and Bunsen worked here, so the university has some pretty solid history -- it's no Princeton, but, hey, not too shabby. Plus, it's much older than Princeton. Like, 250 years older. Impressive.

The student jail was also very interesting. It was the small prison where they kept unruly students way back when, but it was an honor rather than a punishment. Our tour guide told us when the police came, it was an easy experience:

Police: "We're here to arrest you."

Student: "This is a rather inconvenient time; I'm off to the opera."

Police: "Ok, when may we arrest you?"

Student: "How's next Saturday?"

Police: "That should be fine."

In the jail, they covered the walls and ceiling with graffiti, drank heavily, and partied all the time. It was so much of an un-punishment that the spikes on the gate point *outward* -- to keep people from getting in.

On Sunday, I took a cruise on an entirely solar-powered boat a short distance down the Neckar river. It was a really cool piece of technology -- it stores all of the power it generates in batteries so it can operate at night or on cloudy days too. I also went to the top of a church steeple and took a bajillion pictures, and I got a few random people to take pictures of me. Sketchy, but it worked. Pictures are, as always, here.

I tried to watch TV last night for the first time here, but it didn’t work out so well. First, I tried to watch CSI dubbed in German. It was vaguely amusing, but I don’t follow the show enough to enjoy it without understanding the dialogue. I then stumbled upon MTV, spoken in English with German subtitles. The show was “Rock of Love 2,” which I gathered is sort of like “The Bachelor,” but without the thin pretensions of decency. (I’ve never seen “The Bachelor,” but I can imagine.) I was originally attracted to the show by the fact that I could understand what they were saying, but I was quickly repulsed by the fact that I could understand what they were saying. Here’s a bit of dialogue to give you some idea of what this show is all about:

Fully-Tattooed-Arm Girl: “Why are you calling me a stripper?”
Vapid Too-Much-Makeup Girl: “It’s your profession!”
Fully-Tattooed-Arm Girl: “Yeah, but you keep repeating it.”
Vapid Too-Much-Makeup Girl: “I give up.”

Me too, Vapid Too-Much-Makeup Girl. Me too. I went back to reading a Nature paper. I love science.

Christina turned me on to MIT's Open CourseWare, so I've been watching some biology lectures over dinner. It's a pretty cool concept: you're able to download all of the lectures and course materials from some selected classes for free, so you can essentially take the class at no cost. MIT's approach is also very slick and easy to use. I would recommend it.

Ganz Heidelberg auf einen Blick

It's been a long time since my last update, but it's not my fault, I swear! I had to fight with the hotel for awhile to get a new unlimited internet account after my first one mysteriously broke. I had been using free 24-hour accounts, but I finally got a new unlimited one yesterday! Unfortunately, it was on a holiday, so they decided to do maintenance on the EMBL network's connection to the internet. So I had no net access at all yesterday. Hopefully, this is all sorted out by now, so it shouldn't be an issue any longer... then again, now that I say that...

On Wednesday morning, I went to get a visa so I can actually work here. I had set up an appointment with the semi-fluent-in-English agent on Monday, so I went down to the Ausländerabteilung (Alien's Office of the Heidelberg Government). The office is located near Bismarkplatz, which is basically the center of town, so it was very easy to get to. The agent was very nice, and I pulled out whatever German I could in an attempt to seem respectable. Luckily, I had all of my documents in order so it was a fairly smooth process. (Though she did want a full letter from my HMO saying I was covered, which I managed to talk my way out of...) Since I did some paperwork before I came, I was able to get the visa that day, which was really nice. Unfortunately, I was not able to talk my way out of the €50 fee, which EMBL had said I might not have to pay. Whatever. I have a visa.

(Also, you should see my visa picture. You can't smile, so I look rather angry.)

On Monday, we had a first year master's student named Gavin arrive from our collaborating lab at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI). Gavin is from Vancouver and goes to UBC, but he is working at EBI this summer much like I am at EMBL. He's here for the week to pick Jan's brain (at EBI's expense!) for ideas relating to his thesis. He's really friendly, and it's nice to talk to someone who has an American/Canadian accent for a change.

Yesterday (Thursday) was a holiday here, so Gavin and I saw Heidelberg. We started out with Heidelberg's most famous attraction, the Schloß (castle). It's perched on the hillside overlooking the oldest part of Heidelberg, and it's actually quite massive. We had a great time touring with our rented audio guides (in English, of course). Pictures, as always, are on my Picasa album.

Next up was shopping for souveniers in the local market, then lunch at a local restaurant. I practiced my German with the waitstaff, and I got through the whole meal without saying a word of English to our server. I'm getting good enough at German to fool the locals into actually thinking I can speak the language. Of course, I then have to backpedal with a few well placed phrases, like "Wie bitte?" ("Pardon?") or "Sprechen Sie langsam, bitte" ("Please speak slower"). Still, I count this as progress.

Finally, we hiked back up to the hotel. It took us a good two hours and a little bit of getting lost, but it was fun. I'll have to do some hiking around here.

Faul Sonntag

I was planning on seeing Heidelberg and its famous castle today, but the weather conspired to keep me indoors. Instead, I'll learn some German, read a few science papers and A Prayer for Owen Meany, and watch a movie.

Zeugen Jehovas

Last night, I went out with Andreas and a few other PhD students. I met Peter, one EMBLer from Switzerland, who told me all about the Swiss system of government. Apparently, the country is run partly by a seven-member executive council, and the citizenry can force a country-wide referendum on any law that the parliament passes by gathering enough signatures. Interesting system.

After, Andreas, Peter and I went to a student party thrown by the politics department of one of the local universities. It was like an American party in that there was dancing, but unlike an American party in that the music was good and the guys danced as poorly as I do. They played all English music, including "Feel Good Inc." I met a crazy German guy who stands probably 4' 5" but could talk his way into anything... including the party, without paying the one Euro entrance fee. Impressive.

Today, I was eating lunch in my room (PB&J... hadn't been shopping yet...) when someone knocked on my door. I was surprised that anyone knew I was even there, but I looked through the peephole and it's an elderly woman and a girl about my age. Ok. Maybe some EMBL business?

Not quite. I opened the door and the girl starts speaking rapid French at me. I just kind of stared and looked confused. The elderly woman suddenly realizes I have no idea what's going on. "Oh, you speak English. We saw your last name and assumed you were French." (I guess they read it off the buzzer.) So she continues in English, and she asks if I have a Bible with me.

I was bothered by *French* Jehovah's Witnesses. It was awesome.

With my afternoon, I went out shopping and got a backpackfull of food. My favorite purchase? Garlic salt. Life is complete. I also tried to buy a prepaid cell phone -- they call it a 'Handy' here -- but I needed my passport to buy it, so I'll have to go back. Until then, I'll just have to entertain myself by chuckling silently anytime anyone says the word 'Handy.'

Fotos...

Pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/jrvalcourt/Germany2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCP3eq9mszqv4KA# as I think to upload them.

EMBL, Abendbrot, und Heidelberg

What a quick few days! I started work on Tuesday and met the lab. There are three other lab members: Jan, the group leader; Adrian, the lab technician from Austria; and Andreas, the computational guy, also from Austria. Everyone has been really friendly, and they're making me feel like a part of the lab right off the bat. For instance, just yesterday a potential postdoc candidate came in and I attended her presentation. After, Adrian and Andreas talked with her about their research and sort of did an informal interview. Jan had me do the same -- though obviously much shorter and not interviewey -- and he even called me in to his office to ask my opinion on her candidacy. This was obviously kind of for show, but it still was pretty cool.

As for what I'm doing, it's a but hard to explain, but I'll give it a shot. I'm looking at certain structural variations (basically large insertions, deletions, or inversions in the code of your DNA, abbreviated as "SV") in the human genome. Now, there are certain spots in the genome where more of these events are observed than in the rest of the genome, so we call them hotspots. Likewise, coldspots are where few of these SVs are observed. I'm basically picking a few SVs and trying to (1) confirm that the SV exists using PCR (if you don't know what that is, don't worry), then (2) determine why the hotspot or coldspot is like that. Is it because these SVs happen more or less often in these places? Is it because these SVs are removed from some places but not others? Is it a selection process, where individuals who have SVs in certain locations don't survive, so we just don't observe them in those places because we get our DNA samples from adults? All are possibilities.

Anyway, back to everyday life. On Tuesday I went shopping for groceries at Famila Center, basically one of the Wal-Marts of Germany. It was exciting to figure out the bus system to get there, and buying all of my food in German was actually pretty easy. It's hard to disguise food too much. Since German food stores don't supply bags, I brought my backpack. I looked kind of sketchy, but it worked, and it was fun.

Last night, the lab took me out for dinner in Heidelberg. I had Flammkuchen, which I think means something like "flame cake." It looks a bit like pizza. It's made with a very thin, crispy dough covered in sour cream and toppings (mine, the "Traditional," had bacon and onions). After dinner, we crossed the Neckar river into Neuenheim ("new town," which is the nicer and more expensive part of Heidelberg) where we had eis (ice cream, in kind of a gelatto style). I had Himbeere (raspberry) and weiße Schokolade (white chocolate).

So life is settling down into a rhythm here, and it's been a great experience so far. More updates when I can...

P.S. Thanks to everyone who wrote to tell me that the rice in salt thing is not just German. Clearly, I just don't know American culture either.

Zweiter Tag

I woke up this morning at 3 AM. And 4 AM. And finally 5 AM, when I just decided I was up for the day. It was hard going to bed at what was until very recently 4:00 in the afternoon and sleeping until what my body still thinks is 11 PM. Oh well. Such is jetlag.

The hotel had what would be a very generous continental buffet by American standards; it even included some eggs and bacon. While I was eating, I noticed a few odd things:

1. They put a few grains of rice in the salt shakers... presumably to give it a satisfying shaking sound? (If that was the intention, it worked.) Maybe this also happens in the states and I've just never noticed before, but it struck me as odd.
2. The radio was playing Enrique Iglesias's "Do You Know," in English. Really, Germany? Really? You had to pick that particular bit of Americana? Actually, it seems that much of the popular culture here is imported; they watch American movies and TV shows dubbed in German. As my driver put it, "American film, good. Deutchland, eh. Turkey, ewww."
3. The buffet had tons of bread options, with open face cold cut sandwiches as a prominent breakfast option. Everyone knows German sausages, but I hearby nominate German bread to share the title of best local food.

Then I packed up my backapck with water and energy bars and went exploring. It's a holiday here in Germany (the day after Pentecost), so no stores were open. It seemed like a waste to go into town today if I couldn't buy food, so I walked around the town where the guesthouse is (Eichwald/Boxberg). I also made the 20 minute hike up to the EMBL campus, but nothing was really open yet, so I didn't find much.

Then the afternoon was spent reading Dune, falling asleep (oops), sorting through all of the papers I've amassed, and unpacking.

Tomorrow is my first day at the lab! Getting excited...