"In fact, you have become..."

Hello everyone.

I am sorry about the delayed update and that I won't be able to give a very thorough description of my experience in Heidelberg from this past weekend. On the bright side of things, the reason I am so busy is because I am visiting Paris this weekend! I will be traveling with the same two companions from Cologne and Ireland, Peter and Adam. I've received a lot of good advice from friends who have visited there, but I still have much preparation to go!

On Thursday morning, I met at the Darmstadt train station with five of the six other North American students who are working in the city through the RISE program. The ride to Heidelberg took about an hour, and I had a good time catching up with everyone. [To give you a mental picture of Heidelberg (real pictures will follow), Heidelberg is bisected by the east-west flowing Neckar River and is set between hills on the north and south banks. The oldest part of the town is south of the river and Heidelberg Castle stands on the southern hills.]

When we arrived at the Heidelberg Youth Hostel, we checked into our various rooms and enjoyed some coffee and cake as we waited for the official activities to begin. We were welcomed and introduced by the RISE time at a lecture hall the Institute of Zoology at the University of Heidelberg. This took about two and a half hours and was admittedly very boring. I was concerned that the whole weekend would be like that, but luckily it was not. When that had finished, we returned to the hostel for a tasty dinner.

After dinner, we had the option of attending meetings concerning graduate and PhD studies in Germany, but as those didn't apply to everyone, a group of about fifteen of us decided to head to the "Old Town" of Heidelberg. We had been walking around aimlessly for a little while when ten of the fifteen decided to hit the bars for the remainder of the evening. The other five of us decided to check out the castle as the view at dark was said to be breathtaking - I was not disappointed. The castle, which was huge, was basically completely empty except for the five of us, two police officers, and two very romantic couples, so we took our time exploring the grounds and enjoying the view of the city and surrounding area. We even found a way into the walls of the castle! As a side note, it appears that the musical artist Ben Folds had been in town for a concert earlier that night. It's too bad I missed him.

After breakfast the next morning, the RISE participants visited places of industry in the Heidelberg area. I visited a chemical company named BASF, which calls itself "The Chemical Company", and for good reason. The company's facilities in Heidelberg cover dozens of square kilometers, and the yearly revenue for the company is in the hundred of billions of Euros. We were given presentations on the various areas of research the company is pursuing and were given tours of the BASF Visitor's Center, a biotechnology laboratory, and a product fermentation laboratory. While the work BASF that I was shown didn't directly coincide with my possible fields, I still had a very interesting day and learned some things that wouldn't have otherwise. When the tours were finished, the groups of RISE participants returned to the hostel separately and then went out to dinner together. Once again, I was given a feast. After dinner, a similar group to the one from the night before decided once again to experience the night scene of Heidelberg. This time I decided to accompany them, and we visited a few places in the "Old Town" before heading back to the hostel.

On Saturday, the following morning, most of the RISE participants would check out of the hostel. I along with some others, however, had opted to stay for an additional day. Personally, I sought a day to myself in Heidelberg without time frames or a group to limit my exploration. After breakfast we were "debriefed" and all together traveled as a group to the "Old Town" for a formal guided tour of the city. Since the tour only lasted two hours, we were only able to see many of the historical locations briefly, but it was still an interesting experience. We were able to visit the castle once again, and the view was equally beautiful during the day. When the tour had finished shortly after midday, people began to split ways and I set off to to find a Catholic church and to explore on my own. I set off for the wooded hills north of the river, and chanced across an old watch tower and a ruined monastery. After a few hours of aimlessly hiking, I decided to head back to the hostel as it was getting close to evening and I was hungry and exhausted. I found an Italian restaurant close to the hostel and returned to my room for the evening, content to finish To Kill a Mockingbird and prepare for an early morning on Sunday.

The next morning I packed my things, ate some breakfast, and checked out of my room. I visited the Heidelberg Zoo for the first time and returned to the castle once again, this time to check out the Apothecary Museum which was really interesting. After some final exploring of the "Old Town" I headed to the train station and back to Darmstadt, where the crowds of Heinerfest, Darmstadt's biggest street festival, enjoyed the food, drink, fellowship, and fun. I was pretty exhausted by this point (I had basically been walking for a few days straight), and since the Heinerfest would continue the following day, I decided to head home and return on Monday. As it turned out, much of the department where I am working went to Heinerfest on Monday afternoon, and I accepted their invitation for me to join them. Since I was better rested and with company, I had a really nice time. Time and time again my coworkers have been very generous with their inclusion of me in their activities, whether it be with soccer or with celebration. I am certain that part of the reason why my summer has been so pleasant is because of their kindness.

Alright! Things are going to be moving very quickly for the next few weeks. I will be in Paris this weekend, Latvia next weekend (after my work is finished for the summer), and Munich (with Mom and Dad) for the following week. After that, it is really up in the air. I can't wait to see how this goes!