The first week

Hallo alle! It’s hard to believe that a whole week has passed now since I arrived in Heidelberg, but indeed, I got through the first week of my internship. For those of you that are curious about the specifics, I am currently participating in the German American Exchange Service’s RISE program (Research In Science and Engineering). I was fortunate enough to get placed with a medical student here who is working on a project called “Development of a Decision Support System for Minimally Invasive Surgery with a Special Focus on the Retroperitoneum”. What does that mean in simpler terms? After a week of essentially just getting familiar with the German-version of the anatomy of the abdominal space, I’m just as confused as you are, but it’s pretty much an attempt to create a computer program that would assist surgeons as they are removing a kidney, or doing something else in the retroperitoneum (basically the area between your stomach and spine). Then, minimally invasive surgery, or laparoscopic surgery, is just like regular surgery, only with much smaller incisions. The surgeon uses a television monitor to see what he/she is doing with elongated surgical instruments that go through these incisions. It’s definitely been interesting so far, but I already miss the interactions with patients that brought me so much gratification in Berlin. I’ll definitely keep an open mind during my time here, but at the moment, my first week has revealed to me that the clinical side of healthcare really appeals to me more than research.   

Even though I had to start this past Monday, the day after I arrived, Ascension Thursday is actually a holiday down here in southern Catholic Germany, so I used the opportunity to explore the city a bit! After attending Mass at the Jesuit Church, a beautiful Baroque church that was spared with the rest of Heidelberg’s Altstadt (old city) from bombing by the Allies in WWII, I decided to head straight for the Schloss (castle), which might be Heidelberg’s biggest tourist attraction. After tackling a mountain of stairs to get to it, I could definitely see why. Onlookers are rewarded by a spectacular view of the city below cut down the middle by the Neckar River. I even managed to locate the fraternity where I live, but more on that later. Once I had finished enjoying the beautiful panorama, I decided to move on up to two other vantage points further up the mountain. The first called Molkenkur I found without too much trouble, but it wasn’t all that spectacular. I had very high expectations for Königstuhl, however, which in English translates to the “King’s Throne”. What better view could there be than that? Unfortunately, I ended up going the wrong way and ended up somewhere else, but fortunately, I ended up somewhere else! It was the Heidelberg Arboretum! I looked at the map though and when I realized the sheer size of the park, I decided it was time to call it quits and make my way down the mountain. About an hour later, I collapsed on the chair in my room, exhausted yet satisfied.      

I’ll end a little bit about the Corps Rhenania, the fraternity where I live. I never saw myself living in a fraternity, but this is where my supervisor found me a room, so hey, here I am. It’s been a nice experience so far. After seven months in Germany, I have learned that it’s really no use to try to become best friends with the other students that live here, since realistically they have no interest in being my best friend. They already have their own groups of friends and furthermore, Germans tend to be much more reserved than Americans. Something that is refreshing about German culture, however, is that on the rare occasion that a German does strike up a conversation with you, it is out of a legitimate interest and not some selfish idea of how you might be useful to them in the future. My strategy then has just been to spend a couple hours hanging out with the other students here and there without trying to be overly friendly or appear desperate. And who knows, maybe I will make a German friend or two here in Heidelberg before the summer is over.        

All right, I’m off to watch the Champions’ League final between Chelsea and Bayern with another RISE scholar who is arriving today! Right, forget to mention that there will be other Americans doing similar internships in Heidelberg- should create plenty of opportunities to have fun this summer in Europe! Danke fürs Lesen und bis nächstes Mal!