My North Sea Pictures!

The pictures from our day on the North Sea just arrived! Hildegard sent me 5 pictures of me kite-flying, as well as two of the Winter in Hamburg and a postcard. The envelope's return address read:

Hildegard Winter-Otte
Currently on a park bench
In Central Park
In New York City

Hahaha
Ich liebe es!




I remember laughing and smiling so hard and long that my face started to hurt. It was a great, great day.















Hildegard standing on a frozen river in Hamburg. The same one I rode my bike along every day




I am saying "der Tanz des Drachens" or "the dance of the kite" repeatedly. Please forgive me my giggle ;) Oh by the way, that's Jogi. (said Yogi) Hildegard's son, 23.

A war with the unforgiving To Do

I'm a list maker. I've lessened the habit a bit over the past year, but the title is still pretty fitting. I list make most when I'm bored, like in class, in the car... when movement is restricted but the mind is free to wander. Yes, I'm a girl with a big to do list, chalk full of various items I consider needing to be done. The problem? I'm only a list maker, not a list do-er. Unlike my roommate Elizabeth, who finds motivation and excitement in checking things off an accomplished list, mine tend to fall to the side or remain forgotten as soon as written as the top note of the sticky pad, waiting to be torn off to make room for the next new list.

I have big aspirations, and small. Serious and whimsical. I want to live abroad, read Moby Dick, play the guitar and run a marathon. I want to actually study before the final hours before the exam, and take the time given to me to prepare. The main item on the docket presently is that dang MCAT. It stares at me, taunts me. I know I need to study. I'm even pretty confident that if I DID ever get around to studying, I might even do fairly well. And yet, I don't crack a book. Even after 7 days of absolute Spring Break nothingness, I haven't studied a minute. I know I will be frustrated, aggravated! when the exam rolls around and I don't do as well as I feel I could for lack of preparation. I know this, so to counter it, I do, in fact, plan to study, prepare, review, and dedicate to it the serious effort and attention it demands... I've put it on my to do list.

Now as a result of my persistent list-making and associated chronic inability to carry them out, I constantly feel pressed for time, stressed and hurried when in truth, the hours I spend dwelling on how much I have to do, would be plenty enough time to actually accomplish the tasks at hand. I guess recognizing the fact is the first step to following through with it, right? Right. Now, about that MCAT...

Greetings from outer space

...Or greetings at least from Germany.

Hildegard sent me an e-mail the other day. I lived with her during my 8 week stay in Hamburg last Summer. She wrote to say she's coming to the USA and that news in itself made my week. It will be her first time and she was headed for NYC. We haven't written more than twice each since I returned at the end of July, but I have a feeling keeping in touch with her that way is more than sufficient. It works for us, and when I go back in Summer 2011, she told me there would always be a place for me there, and I'm confident there will be. She's even (supposedly) holding onto a pair of shoes I forgot. We'll see if those old things are still around in 18 more months. Whether they are or aren't, you can bet I'll be seeing her again.

She also requested my mailing address. She's going to send me photos we took the second to last day I was there from when she took me to the North Sea. It was one of the best days of my life, and maybe that will help you imagine just how excited I am for those pictures. In return, I've decided to send her something as well. Hildegard teaches music and art and so I've decided to send her a drawing. I've just started working on a black and white sketch of the room I had in Hamburg, with the French doors swung open, looking out onto the flower covered balcony, the wooden table and chairs, the iron fence, and the tree filled sunny courtyard. It was one of the most romantic views you may ever see and I'm attempting to capture it on paper. Daunting, to say the least, but I'm picking at it a bit each day, trying to catch the detail and the charm.

How I spend my days

On a day to day basis my life is busy, but seemingly a bit static. I'm in 15 hours, all of them science except a German Literature course. My classes are only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Monday, Wednesday, Friday I work. I have two "jobs". First, I am an undergraduate teaching assistant and I teach 3 laboratories this semester to students who are not Biology majors. This is my third semester doing this and I LOVE it. I love my students, I love teaching, and I love biology. Perfect, perfect, perfect.

My second "job" really isn't a job. I'm a research assistant in a genetics lab here on campus. I have a project that I work on under the guidance of a Professor. I absolutely love that lab, and I'll probably mention it often. I love it because of the opportunities it gives me. Possibly going on to graduate school means being in a lab is a MUST. Also, IF I could get my name onto a published paper, that's what the whole song and dance is essentially about. My lab might be publishing soon, but I'm not sure if I'll be on this paper or not. I've only been with them since August. Right now I don't spend enough time in the lab, but my project is just beginning to take off, so once it does I'll hopefully have more and more to keep me occupied. I don't get paid hourly for my work here, or actually I don't have any income from the lab directly at all. I applied for two scholarships/grants and was fortunate to receive both of them. One is an Undergraduate Research Award given by KU, allotting me money in the Spring to conduct my research. The second is actually an NIH (National Institute of Health) Grant, which is pretty exciting. It will cover research in both this Spring and Summer. Together the awards sum to $8,000. This is serious cash meaning they expect serious work. And I'm looking forward to it. This Summer I'll be working in the laboratory full time, hopefully conducting "very important scientific research".

Outside of classes and work I'm generally "free" in the evenings and ALL WEEKEND. However, most of this time is spent thinking about studying. Not actually studying, just intending to and consistently finding something else to do. On a regular basis, that something else is running. Last year I got it in my head I wanted to start running after a friend of mine had me run with her in a long distance relay (more on that some other time). After the relay, I went on to run a half marathon here in Lawrence. This year I'm hoping to take it up a notch and kick out a full marathon. I've been training since December. Last week I knocked out an 18 mile run, but it was all inside on a tread mill.... that's not quite the same as the hilly streets of Lawrence! With the weather improving, I hope to get out and about very soon.

In other small areas of my day to day:
Yes, of course I attend KU basketball and watch all games. Normally, actually, I get my long treadmill runs out of the way right in front of the TV. I run and KU bball wins. Perfect. I took part in the camping groups, camping in the field house before the games. Recently also I arranged an intramural basketball team with friends and hope to have a soccer team in the Spring.