Already November!

I was able to make a new friend in my apartment building named Lara. She is from Cologne, Germany and is also new to Zuerich. We went for coffee at a local cafe and talked about our respective jobs. She's in business and we were discussing the fact that many careers here in Zuerich are still male dominated and it can be difficult to break the glass ceiling even in a progressive city. I also feel similarly about science in some regards as some PIs prefer to take male students rather than female due to the perceived potential for females to take more time off to have a family (men don't have to come to work pregnant when they want to have families). I do know some pretty progressive scientists, though, and I think that soon enough this will be less of a factor in education because of the growing number of women entering the sciences.

The weather here has been beautiful, even when it is a bit rainy. It has been unusually warm for this time of year according to some of my labmates. It seems normal to me since I am used to Georgia's very mild winters. I have found a little time on the weekends to explore, but Zuerich is a very expensive place to live so this has limited my ability to travel much due to the cost of train tickets. I plan to visit Basel when my parents come to visit near Thanksgiving because I haven't been there yet and I'm sure it has some amazing museums. It is also conveniently located in the corner of Switzerland between France and Germany and is only about an hour from Zuerich by train. I am excited to see it. I wish that I could go see the glaciers here in the Alps, but my time here has been going by very quickly, so I do know if I will be able to fit it into my schedule.

I have not learned much about NMR experiments themselves, but I have learned a great deal about the preparation of solid state samples, so I hope to use this when I get home to my own lab. I have made a few friends here in other labs as well. Italians mostly, but they seem to be a fun and spirited installation here in Zuerich. The city is starting to be decorated for the holidays and I am looking forward to the Christmas storefronts and lights in the Bahnhoffstrasse. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures soon. I will most likely put them into a public access gallery so that you all can see some of my adventures!