A Tough Transition

For some reason, I thought I would be living/working in Düsseldorf. Apparantly not. Apparently, Jülich and Düsseldorf are two very distinct locations. As in, a 30-min drive or a 2-hr train ride. I have been living in Jülich now for a little over a week, and I must say I definitely still miss Berlin! Compared to Berlin, even Düsseldorf, a relatively big city (the capital of the North-Rhine Westphalia German “state”), doesn’t look like much of a city. And then Jülich, is…well, not really a city at all but rather a town. According to my dad, Jülich is the oldest town in Germany; that’s pretty neat, I guess.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot to do in Jülich. (I have noticed there are a lot of slugs and snails here, though!) I oftentimes find myself comparing Jülich to Berlin–which is probably the reason why I have had difficulty adjusting. In Berlin, I had the S-Bahn and U-Bahn system pretty much figured out and felt confident riding the trains to school, to home, and to other places. Here in Jülich, I ride my bike to work and to go grocery shopping. The first few days, I really hated biking to work; I am not much used to biking for transportational purposes—at home I bike for fun and exercise. But once I got the hang of riding with my backpack on, and once I got a [temporary] bike that wasn’t too tall for me (thanks to my friend here!), I have found that the biking isn’t as bad as it was initially.

I think one of the main annoyances is that to get to I Düsseldorf, the closest thing to a city, it is a hasslesome 2-hr train trip. Even though you can drive between Jülich and Düsseldorf in about a half hour, because the train lines run in a rather inefficient path, the connections expand the journey out to 2 hours. =( I went to Düsseldorf this past weekend, and it was so much fun—almost like Berlin—but it was also quite exhausting with the traveling and “excursion”-like feel of the whole trip. Just walking around the city and seeing the bakeries and shops like in Berlin made me happier. I never realized before coming to Germany, but I think I am more of a city person than not! I’d like to go into Düsseldorf more often, but I’m starting to think I may not go as often as I’d like, as it really is rather taxing in terms of both effort and money.

It was a nice weekend in Düsseldorf, with it being “Japan-Tag” (Japan Day) on Saturday and all. The majority of the day was dedicated to displaying the Japanese culture through various performances and costumes—both traditional kimono-style (some really beautiful ones) and the more pop-culture anime characters. (It reminded me of when we went to Leipzig earlier during the language course, and it happened to be Gothic Day, so we saw scores of Leipzigers dressed in smoking black Gothic attire.) At the end of the day, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra performed a short program (which was amazing!), and then there were magnificent fireworks to close off the festival. Overall, it was definitely a more exciting and enjoyable weekend than it would have been in Jülich!

I miss Berlin and city living a lot and have found the transition rather difficult, but I have decided to try focusing on the good things (even if scarce sometimes) that I notice each day, instead of dwelling on the complaints (which is what I have been doing for the past week or so). I enjoy my work in the lab; it feels good to be back doing lab work after taking a whole semester away from lab courses in school. The Jülich Forschungszentrum is top notch, and all the equipment is very new, as the whole building is relatively recent. The group I work in, the Institute for Bioorganic Chemistry (IBOC), does some really cool research, and the PI is a genuinely nice guy. Although my first week in lab (last week) was a bit slow because I had to become acquainted with the IBOC’s system of doing things, I think things are starting to pick up now. I’ve learned some new procedures and enhanced my understanding of other ones that I’ve learned in class. Today, I ran my first actual column! =D My project is quite inspiring, as it is a synthesis of a natural product that targets and destroys cancer cells. Synthesis projects are cool–which is why I chose this one! 

As in Berlin, I wish I knew more German before coming here. Though people in the lab are nice, they usually prefer to speak amongst themselves in German, and if there is not another RISE student nearby, I usually just sit quietly because I find it too intimidating to practice my fledgling German skills in front of so many natives. I feel somewhat rude just speaking to them in English, so I often end up just not talking to anyone. It’s a rather sad feeling, and I know it’s sort of my problem for being too intimidated or shy, but it’s also difficult. I think now I can identify more with new immigrants to the U.S. who may speak very broken or accented English and who may be less talkative because they worry their accent will be made fun of. So many times here in Germany, I have overheard natives breeze into a shop and ask their questions to store owners and receive their answers with ease, and I always wish so much that I could do the same. I think they are so lucky to be able to speak German and make themselves understood here because I usually either get lucky (i.e. an easy question and understandable answer) or have to just forego asking something because it’s too complicated for me to construct, and I want to avoid the struggle of hassling someone else’s day with my primitive German. And then I wonder if that’s what it feels like to the new immigrants to the States as well. Maybe.

Though there are many things I miss about Berlin and its rich cultural environment, I will try to think of at least one good thing that happens each day in Jülich. Today, I went to the cafeteria for lunch. The food, as usual, was delicious, but in addition, there was a bakery sale of a huge variety of lovely-looking German pasteries! (apparently, this only happens once a month or so there) Although the Berliner donut I bought today could not compare to the one in Berlin, it was still a delicious treat (I also got an Apfel Berliner–Apple Berliner–and a Donauwelle, a chocolate & vanilla cake with cherries, topped with a layer of German buttercream and chocolate lining–possibly the most delicious cake I have ever tasted!!).

On a random note, I will just say, Americans, please appreciate your washers and dryers, and make sure to give each one a hug or pat on the back each day!!

Anyways, hopefully by the next time I write, I will have more positive things to say about life in Jülich (there is a quaint little market square in the mornings that I may check out on Saturday if I do not end up going to Düsseldorf), and I am quite curious: by the time I write my last post on this site, will I be lamenting the end of my stay in this small town? Maybe! We shall see!

About the Pictures: A comparison between a Bahnhof (trains station) in Berlin and in Jülich; one of the nicer costumes I saw at the Japan festival; a sign at the entrance to my lab.