GeRMaNy ImMeRsioN TrIp- ReFleCtiOns

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

The trip to Germany was in all senses an intellectually uplifting and emotionally stimulating experience. By the trip's virtue as a machinary of immersion, our beings were cast into the academic and social arena that defines life in Germany.

Academically, as I have mentioned before, the immersion was in all regards a Physics Pilgrimage. It is but one regard to go through modules of Physics and understand the very intricacies of nature at a very systematic and textual level. But, the regard evolves when one is shown the metamorphosis of the field- that not all has been done; that there is room for research and improvement; that (barring ethical considerations) a world of our fantasies may be materialized from our very research and consequent knowledge. Cumulatively, one can very well appreciate the motives behind that which physicists do via their relentless initiatives. Having an overlying objective, which in no regards may be considered a mere facade, the potential 'hindrances' involved within the field (such as impossible mathematics) are rendered but a mere hurdle to the ultimate goal.

But of course, a holistic experience cannot forsake social desires and considerations. The Germans are very friendly and hospitable. From basic etiquette such as greeting your peers, to guiding people who are lost, I never witnessed a single German who was reluctant or irritated. Service at the restaurants was reasonably good. Ice-cream was awesome. Architectural splendor rendered even the smallest alley majestic in its own right. Beer gardens adorned the entire city as places of social activity, of meeting, of pleasure. Beer abundant. Greenery Lush.

However, an experience is also a function of those whom you share it with. The people who went with me were my family for the few weeks that we were there. We laughed together, played together, studied together and predominantly, walked for hours on together. Looking back, at least half the memories were shaped by these very people. Thank you guys, for making the trip memorable. :)

What more can I say about an awesome experience at a truly awesome place. This one is for the most significant of my memory books.

...aNgeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe...

GoTTiNgeN, GermAnY- DaY 19, 20 and 21

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

Last Sunday, our hectic schedule finally allowed for a free day. It was a day of sports, walking, soccer, chilling and inductively bonding. We rose at 4am to hike up a nearby hill, toward a castle from which we could observe the rising sun. Initially, the trail was dark and we had to use torches. The cold showed no mercy but was secondary once our bodies were warmed up from the hiking. After the usually hearty breakfast, some of us hit the games room where we played table tennis, fussball, keglig (bowling), darts and even chess. Closer to lunch we decided to take the arduous task of walking from Maria Springs to Gottingen town upon ourselves. I must say it was an achievement to walk for 2 hours in the cold, chilly wind. I finally got to try Macdonald's in Germany. The wrap was awesome tasting, not to mention filling, by my standards. After our stint in Gottingen town, we headed back to Maria Springs where we spent the rest of the time watching soccer. A relaxing day indeed.

On Monday, we were invited to the PHYWE Company that produces many of the apparatuses that we utilize in the physics labs in NUS. After being shown some of the experimental set-ups and the corresponding apparatuses, we were given a tour of the factory which enabled us to witness and appretiate the entire, somewhat seamless production process. After the factory tour, it was time for some last minute shopping at Gottingen town. The day ended with an intensive game of win, lose or draw which was hilarious as usual.

Day 21, otherwise known as our last day in Germany involved hours of sitting down. We sat for approximately 4 hours on the train that brought us from Gottingen to Munich. We took a train from Munich that brought us to the airport within 40 minutes. The plane ride then took a good 12 hours. It was hilarious how some of the girls like Sinyi and Yoke Leng got all jittery whenever the plane entered a turbulent phase. Gwen even went to puke. How’s that for a memorable plane ride. Back to my dear, sunny Singapore... :)

…aNgeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe…

GoTTinGeN-GeRMaNy- DaY 16, 17, 18

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

Gottingen is known as 'The University Town'. Students everywhere, high-tech facilities and anything else you could think of as a necessity of the blossoming physicist, you can find it here. Then, the idea that Gottingen boasts 44 nobel prize winners poses no surprise. After an opening address by the Dean of the faculty of physics, we were given a guided tour around the city. We were brought through its development from the medieval era to present day. As is the case with many medieval European structures, this city most certainly manifests its fair share of splendid buildings of intricate craftsmanship. After the opening speech, we were given a talk on Ion-Beam Mixing- Namely an in-depth analysis of the processes which take place when one attempts to mix two or more elements together. Not a simple process when one has to utilize ideas such as Rutherford Back Scattering and Mossbauer Spectroscopy to account for certain phenomena such as electrostatic interactions and transitions. The day ended with us visiting the main shopping street of Gottingen- where we had dinner.

The hotel that we presently reside at has a Keglig alley. Similar to bowling, but uniquely different- many of us are addicted to this awesome German game. Even Prof. Thomas showed us his skills.

Friday was a full-fledged lecture day. We admittedly did learn a lot. The first lecture was on high energy physics with reference to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN- The idea that proton-proton collision at a certain energy threshold will advent the presence of new phenomena, provide some insights to the evolution of material right after the postulated 'big bang' as well as lead to the discovery of the Higgs Boson reigns hopeful. The second lecture on the mass of the neutrino was equally interesting. I had always thought that the neutrino is a massless particle which is, in fact, is not the case at all. However, presently, we are not able to determine the absolute mass of the neutrino on a scale that starts from zero. Nonetheless, we are able to construct a range between which we expect the mass of the neutrino to be. The lecture thereafter was on robotics. It was quite cool, as we got to see a robot in action. The thing to note here is that people want to build robots that don't merely act upon human instructions, but robots that are able to think for themselves and act upon their own judgment- Robots that are able to learn. For the last part of the day we visited Gottingen University's resident nuclear tandem accelerator. The evening was spent in Gottingen town again, where after having dinner and some beer, some of us walked around the town that was having some cultural event. Soon enough myself, Zhang Jiang, Chang Jian, Chang, Guo Chuan and Gwen were all in the singing and music mood. We sang and played music all the way to the train station.

Today (Saturday), we were given a tour of the nearby castles and ruins by the two Professors escorting us on our trip. In the evening, Chang, Zhang Jiang, Chang Jian, Myself, Gwen, Yoke Ling, Yarong and Pei Shan played win, lose or draw in the hotel's seminar room. The guys won the 'boys versus girls' match... :)

That's all for now... :)

...aNgeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe...

MuNicH/ GoTTiNgEn- DaY 12, 13, 14, 15

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

On Sunday, we visited the Residenz palace in Munich. As is the case with all castle-like structures, this palace was beautifully ornamented with various chambers that remain but depictions of the functions which they used to serve. The palace was disastrously destroyed during World War II- Thankfully, the Bavarian authorities managed to restore it to its former magnificent state. The second part of the day involved us taking an amazing boat ride across a huge lake to a very interesting and inspiring museum. We had lunch on board the boat. The chilly wind across the deck contributed to the memorable experience. The 'Buchhiem Museum' as it is called, houses art from the private collection of one man. A man who visioned that anyone and everyone can do art: That art may be found in the most remote of places. Thus, one can imagine the diversity and non-conventional outlook of his collection.

Monday meant lecture day once again. We had, first, an interesting lecture on Astronomy and Astrophysics. There seems to be a greater emphasis upon Astrophysics and Biophysics within the Physics community in Germany. Zhang Jiang and I often joke that there are only two types of people of work in Germany. First, the shopkeepers and second, the Physicists. Germany is 'the place' for physics. The Astrophysics lecture covered topics related to the big bang and the universe- for example, the theory behind why one may deduce that the universe is in fact expanding. The second lecture covered the arena of biophysics where we learnt about the mechanisms of thermodynamical heat gradients, how they affect cell mechanics and the underlying idea of DNA origami. The last lecture on elementary particle physics made the development, construction and usage of the ATLAS detector clear to us. To think that once the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is in operation at its full power, we'll be able to observe particle creation beyond the energy threshold rendered by the limitations of other present day colliders. At the same time, we'll have a high-tech detector at our disposal to make observations and consequent deductions. Monday evening was spent with Prof Englert. We had the opportunity to dine and make merry at an awesome, underground restaurant. What rendered this place special was that there was a live JAZZ band performance. The instrument players were awesome- Alto-Sax, Tenor Sax, Baritone Sax, Tuba, Piano, Trumpet, Drums and Bass.

On Tuesday, we had the amazing opportunity of visiting the German Aerospace Center where we saw first hand how weather observations and predictions are made based on ideas such as the composition of particular and specific atoms or molecules in the air. The lecture was marked with a tour of the aircraft used for such a purpose. At the hanger we saw aircraft such as the 'Falcon' and the G550. Following the hanger visit, we were brought to the German Space Operations Center. There, we were shown the various rooms and consoles that the people on earth use to conduct space operations- Space operations such as the processing of data received from satellites as well as communication with astronauts.

By the way Tuesday was our last day in good old Munich. Hence, we were treated to a farewell dinner. Finally got to try great German Sausages. It was a jovial event which was concluded with the presentation of momentos. I believe everyone is most definitely going to miss Eyleen and Max, our student guides, to a very large extent. They were very sincere in their daily dealings with us. From ensuring that we were on time for all lectures and events to translating the menu for us at almost every meal, they meticulously took care of everything. Thank you guys! :)

On Wednesday, we took the speedy train from Munich all the way to Gottingen, our dwelling for the next 6 days or so. After a four hour long journey where we played card games on the train, we were greeted at the station by Prof. Thomas. We're living at a place called Maria Springs. It's seriously awesome. Serene, tranquil, lusciously green, surrounded by hills and mountains, what more can I say? :) The only comical part is that there is an entire clan of very old people living on the premises of the cottage as well. By old I mean really, really old. On the first day, we were flanked by them from all sides. It was like a scene from some horror movie. Hahs. Wednesday concluded with us heading to the Institute of Astrophysics to star-gaze through a telescope. We actually saw a breath-taking close up of the moon, the planets Saturn and Venus as well as a system of binary stars. I managed to get pictures of all of them.

This sure is a long post. Shall stop here for now.

...aNgeLs BrouGhT mE HeRe...

MuNicH DaY 11- DaChaU & tHe CoNceNtRaTioN CamP

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

On Saturday, we went to the nearby town of Dachau. Escorted by an old lady guide, we surveyed the various structures, buildings and lanes within the city that emanate an aura of the ages- about 1200 years to be precise. A small, historic town. I guess at first look, Dachau would appear peaceful, serene and even insignificant compared to the big cities. However, this town has a dark past. A past that it is not proud of. A past arising from the governance of Hitler in Germany.

We visited what is known as a concentration camp. Shall not go into the long elaborate details, but here's a summary all the same- Hitler had the idea of confining all his political opponents so that they would not oppose him when he reigned dominant. A concentration camp was set up to house these 'outlaws'. As time went by, people who committed crimes were also admitted into such concentration camps. Hitler had ideas of a superior and contrastingly inferior race. Soon enough, homosexuals, Gypsies and most prominently, Jews, were admitted into camp.

The conditions in which the people lived are beyond comprehension. Many died of diseases, many died of torture, many died of hunger, many died of pain. Many were 'gased' to death in gas chambers and subsequently cremated in a facility on the camp itself. The Holocaust. The concentration camp inflicted a damp, dull feeling within the most of us. To think that the ground upon which we tread was the same ground where millions had died before their time. The statue erected by the survivors of the atrocious period said it all: Never Again- Meaning to say, the world can never let such an era dawn upon its being ever again.

On a higher note, the second part of the day allowed us further immersion into the German culture. We went to Eyleen's house and the her grandmother's house to experience the living conditions of present day Germans. After the visit, we headed down to her church for a campfire. It was great fun. All of us huddled around the fire and sang camp-fire songs. Guo Chuan even serenated everyone with his exceptional guitar playing skills.

Here are some pictures:

...AnGeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe...

MuNicH Day 6-10- FuN-nAnZa

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...


Guess I've vividly, though not exhaustively, described the lesson structure of such an immersion programme in the previous post. However, as 'immersion' implies, the trip is not all about studies. What differentiates such trips from normal tours is that you get to mingle with the locals. To experience their culture and ways.

German beer is but of course known to anyone and everyone. Beer is a way of life here, to the extent that areas termed as beer gardens can be found all over town. Beer gardens are places that emanate a consistently festive aura, where people make merry, exchange conversations and just relax. One can fathom, how easy it is to immerse oneself in the German culture with the beer garden serving as an opportunistic avenue. On Tuesday night, we had the opportunity of having such a beer garden experience with Prof Englert. It was awesome. the Germans like to have what they call 'Pretzels' together with their beer. Huge twines of bread, sometimes somewhat salty.

On Wednesday, we went to the Allianz Arena. This is a majesticly standing soccer-dedicated stadium. We went through a guided tour that made clear the various considerations and consequent ideas that went into the development of the stadium. From acoustics to carpet grass, everything was given due care and concern. What draws people from all over the world to the Allianz Arena is the Arena's ability to change the colour of its outer-walls that are made of some type of thin durable plastics. There are three colours to observe- Red, Blue and Green- Colours that render the stadium a sparkling jewel embedded upon open fields. We were able to see the stadium's lights on Thursday. Other than the Allianz arena, we visited the Oplympiad tower, one of the tallest stuctures in Munich. Standing close to 200m (186m) high in the sky, the view was simply breathtaking. A side trip to the English Gardens that is of humongous proportions accentuated the sight-seeing experience.

Another way in which we had the opportunity of immersing ourselves in the German culture was through the faculty. The physics faculty of at least a thousand people, had a chill-out session. There was good food- beer, burgers, ice-cream. There was good music- a live band. And of course, there was great, great company- my Singaporean friends.

On Friday, we all headed down to a huge beer garden to watch the opening match of the World Cup- South Africa vs Mexico. The soccer fervor at the beer garden was ecstatic. The Germans simply love their soccer vis-a-vis their beer. We brought our own food to the beer garden, as is the culture here and had a 'group meal'. Another effective way to socialize.

Shall talk about Saturday and Sunday in the next post because I must do the visit to the concentration camp some justice. Till then, here are some pictures.... :)

...aNgeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe...

A pHySiCs PiLGriMaGe- MuNicH Day 6,7,8,9,10

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

Lessons began proper this week. The schedule for a normal day involved us leaving the hostel at about half past nine to head to the lecture venue that may be at diverse locations due to the scattered location of the University buildings. By scattered, I literally mean a difference of half an hour or more.

In Singapore, the acquisition of knowledge is gauged by one's ability to effectively reign supreme in the exams. Consequently, one starts to drift from the initial notion of knowledge acquisition, that was to elicit knowledge that is interesting and hopefully useful to society, to a state that necessitates the acquisition of knowledge for the mere purpose of doing well doing exams. Contrastingly, I would sum up this physics immersion programme as a 'physics pilgrimage'. A programme that is effectively able to not merely impart essential knowledge upon our beings, but able to provide purpose and direction to that which we do. To witness latest breakthroughs and research methodologies.

On Monday, we went through lectures on Quantum physics. Quantum physics is that which differentiates physicists from engineers to the greatest degree due to its sometimes, abstract, intangible and even incomprehensible nature. The lecture revolved around what is known as Quantum cryptography. The usage of such a technique to send securely encoded messages over large distances. Thereafter, we attended a collaquium. I seriously have never attended any lecture with such a large number of old people. People who are probably experts in a particular field in physics. The interesting thing here was that many of these old physicists looked like Einstein- messy hair, wrinkled forehead- Ingredients to smartness or sheer coincidence? :)

Tuesday and Wednesday brought us through the developments in biophysics. Nano-structures that may empower revolutionary changes in the medical arena, in the future- ideas and valid experiments that involve concepts of DNA Origami and Cell biophysics. Notice here how, physicists appear to form the basis of change even in developments that involve the field of medicine.

Thursday and Friday were the most exciting- The whole reason why I came for the Germany Immersion programme. We visited one fully operational nuclear reactor. However, this nuclear reactor is not one that allows one to harness energy, but one that propagates the generation of neutrons needed for experiments and daily applications such as neutron imaging, analogous to X-ray imaging. We then, visited a particle accelerator- a Tandem accelerator to be exact. Thursday ended with a lecture that revolved around ideas involving lasers. Imagine, we are on our way in developing a laser which is as powerful as the sun's energy channeled to the single beam via the usage of a magnifying glass as big as the earth on a surface of 1 millimeter squared. We'll be able to do this if such research reigns successful. Its hard to fathom the power involved. Of course, the lasers will then be put into practical applications in various fields. On Friday, we attended a special type of lecture on electromagnetism. Not only did the lecturer teach, as in a conventional lecture setting- He performed various experiments in front of the class. Interesting indeed.

I daresay, I attended one of the best lectures ever thereafter- A lecture on Astrophysics and Cosmology. The very interesting lecture was able to effectively put across ideas behind concepts such as the composition of the universe- eg. Dark matter. Concepts such as geometry, the metamorphosis of the time-space fabric and general relativity.

Everything was not physics though. Shall continue in the next post. Gotta leave now. Chaozz... :)

...aNgeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe...

Day 5 In MuNicH- MuSeUm ToUr, WeLCoMe dInNeR AnD BirTHdAy...

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

Sunday was a long and eventful day. We visited two major museums of Munich. The first was an arts museum (Neue Pinakothek). A museum that contained art pieces from world renowned artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso. We were escorted by a very interesting guide who was able to articulate the history and interpretation/ significance of the multitude of pictures that adorned the various walls and rooms, divided by specific categories- aimed at eliciting and even triggering certain ideas or chains of thought. The second museum was in all aspects huge beyond comprehension- The Science Museum (Deutsches). Not only is this museum able to bring one though a transitional and evolutionary journey over time and space (as is the case for most museums), its' content stretches laterally in a way that somewhat exhaustively covers various scientific fields. We spent a good 4 hours exploring the various chasms that housed a multitude of gizmos and gadgets.

After the museum, we headed over to one of the towers at the city centre that was open to the public. The view that greeted our eyes after climbing what seemed like an endless flight of stairs, was spectacular.

But of course, the highlight of the day was the welcome dinner at a restaurant near the University. We were greeted by the Dean of the Faculty, Prof and various other people. It was comical, the way the Dean attempted to translate the menu that was in nothing but the German language, to us. After much explanation and contemplation, we ordered. I must add that the servings of food were humongous. Seriously, one could feel full just via eating the salad. Dinner was awesome. Our German friends surprised Yoke Ling with a birthday cake (one that they baked themselves). So, we all had delicious chocolate cake for dessert. Of course, no German meal is complete without German beer and everyone at the table had their share of it.

Here are some pictures:

...AnGeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe...

MuNicH DaY 4- CaStLe oF KiNg LuDWiG tHe SeConD

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

My tenses might appear a little connfusing. I usually blog about the events of the day before on the morning of the day after, during breakfast. So now, I'm blogging about the events that unfolded yesterday.

There was no school yesrterday. It was Saturday my amigoes. Consequently, we went sight-seeing. We visited the Castle of King Ludwig the second. For anyone who has seen the Castle, they'll know instanteneously that the castle bears an utmost resemblance to the castle of Disneyland. The amazing fact: The Castle of Disneyland was modelled after this castle. The landscape surrounding the castle was breathtakingly scenic. Imagine a fantasy castle nestled on the top of a majestic mountain.

Prior to the Castle we went to the Wies Church. Legend has it that one of the statues in the Church, that was then a small chapel, started to 'tear' in the 18th century. People from all over the world came over to witness the phenomena. Since then, the chapel that was developed into a full-fledged church has been termed as a site of pilgrimage. People from eveywhere still frequent it.

Some pictures of the day :

...AnGeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe...

MuNicH DaY 3- LuDWiG-MaXiMiLiAnS UniVerSiTy

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

Imagine this: Every morning you wake up, get ready and head to the subway for school. As the escalator to the surface brings you higher, a building of splendid architecture greets your eyes. Breathtaking from every angle, majestic in every light. You walk further down the lane and reach a great fountain surrounded by greek, medieval-like buildings. You skirt the fountain and enter a great hall with spiral stairs, each side of the stairs adorned by the statue of a man looking down upon the school in pompous stature. As you walk up the stairs of the grand hall, multiple alleys lined with pillars that emanate an aura of the ages line the very pathways that have been set. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Ludwig Maximiliians University.

Lessons started today. Following the Dean's address, we were given a tour of the faculty of Physics as well as the school. After the opening address, it was time for lunch. The cool thing about lunch here is that they have something to the effect of a kopitiam (A Mensa)- That is you pay using a card topped up with money. After lunch we went though a first substansive lecture. It was on Bose-Einstein Condensation and how they use it in everyday experiments such as examining lattice structures. The lecture though a little dry was substantiated by a lab visit which was way cool. I don't recall having seen so many gizmos on a single table-top before.

The 'academic' day concluded with the lab visit. It was time for shopping and dinner! What made things better today was that the weather was awesome. The sun was out, and there was no rain. So we travelled the streets which we couldn't travel through the day before, due to the rain. The ice-cream here is fantastic. Not caring about the cold weather, I had three different types of ice-cream. Sadly, our attempts to try the beer at the beer garden failed today- crazily crowded. Oh wells, another day then... :)

....AnGeLs BrOuGht Me Here...

MuNiCh, GeRmAnY DaY 1 & 2

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

Prior to the flight, I met up with some friends, in the midst of packing. Had dinner with Dean and a final prayer with Ranald, that really made my day.

The 12 hour long flight to Germany was quite painful. Imagine having to sit in an enclosed place, with little room to move about for 12 hours. Total claustrophobia! The in-flight entertainment featured movies that I had already watched and there were no games. Luckily, I was armed with my Men's Health magazine and Archie's comic books. Not that I really did need them, with Gwen sitting beside me. Anyone who knows Gwen, knows that she's the epitome of all that can be classified as 'cartoon'.

From the airport in Munich, we took a train ride down to Euro Youth Hostel. We were supposed to attend some city familiarisation tour on the first day. As luck would have it, it rained the entire day- from the moment we stepped upon Munich to the moment we slipped into our beds. However, that did not stop us from finding adventure in the area. The tour still took place, but was highly comical. All of us were walking behind the tour guide with our umbrellas erect and ponchos on. Did I mention that the temperature in Germany yesterday was about 10 degree celcius? So you can imagine how many were shivering and freezing in the cold, cold rain and gusty wind.

It's 8am now. I'm currently at the breakfast table in my hotel, having breakfast on my own. Reflection time :) I woke my whole level up this morning with loud vomiting noises. Felt queasy and had the sudden urge to vomit. The headache is not making things easy either. I guess I haven't fully recovered since Singapore. Hope for the best.

Will be going to the University of Ludwig, Munich in abit. The students have prepared some programme for us. Cool! Always good to interact with people, though I hope no one catches my virus.

Some pics:

...AnGeLs BroUgHt Me HeRe...

My GeRmaNy StoRy

...Lo aNd BeHoLd...

Deciding not to go for the student exchange programme, I find myself going to Germany today for an immersion programme. Though it seems like a brief period, I figure that there would be loads to learn about alongside the multitude of experiences that would hopefully render the trip full-flegedly memorable. I'm going with 4 girls from my year, the rest are juniors.

I'll keep this blog updated on a daily basis if time permits.

Time to start my mission then.. :)

...AnGeLs BrOuGhT mE HeRe....