W Warszawy - Ost Blog
[Summer 2006] Prelude
[Jun 26th Berlin-Lichtenberg] Night Train to Poland
Ukrainia! Boarding the 10 to 10 night train to Kiew that goes via Warsaw. Robust conductors, a few hugging couples, lots of short-haired men that look like they could disassemble an entire offshore platform with their bare hands. Three wagons of the Polish train company, that will be cleaved from the rest in Warsaw.
Inside the German history phantom lurks for me: An elderly Polish woman, a Jewish girl from New York tailchasing her family history, and a Swede who wants to go for Auschwitz. After the humiliating 2:0 defeat in the WC quarterfinals i decide to avoid the football topic. I speak my first words of Polish outside the classroom. "Going to Poland by train" carries unpleasant connotations. I feel nevertheless well.
There is little space in the compartment containing six stacked beds, and the ceiling hanging low. In Frankfurt, the train gets searched for half an hour. From my bed, I can identify the place only by the German trashcans on the station.
[Jun 27th, 5:30] Warszawa Centralna
My contact Staszek had warned me of the station by night. And of the taxi drivers. Arriving, i find not much special for a big city station. Lost souls, nomads, leaves in the wind. The soviet architects who designed the building deserve a long vacation in Novosibirsk, though.
I make my way along underground Kebab shops to the surface. I realize i took too much luggage (including all my schoolbooks). Outside, the sun is rising. Having tons of time, i decide to walk towards the light, the city centre. Like Euglena.
[Jun 27th, 8:30] Rother, well done
The sun has been burning on me for two hours. Temperature 25 degrees and counting. Warsaw is still in the CET time zone, but 600km to the east. So everything begins earlier, like sweating. I pour my water bottle as additional life support and hurry up. After 12 kilometers i have seen the old town, some parks, lots of statues of famous Polish people, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The rest of the city center starts buzzing with life.
[Jun 27th, 9:00] IIMCB
After almost getting lost on the last few meters, i arrive at the International Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology. The reception welcomes me warmly with tea and cookies. Dorota from the international affairs dept. starts doing paperwork with me. She is doing this for the other two foreign scientists in the institute. The rest of her time she assists scientists in grant writing. Wish this would be the rule in Germany. Dorotas office is 30 sqm big and cools down to arctic temperatures.
I drop by my future colleagues in the bioinformatics department later. They sit with five people in a 20 sqm office. Their equipment is very nice, though. I will leave tonight at 23:30. I will be back for sure.
[Thu, Sep 21st; 0:30] Cum Magma - getting enlarged
This evening i managed to pull the plug on almost four years of brain baggage. Spent a week and the entire day planning and organizing the big D.fence of my thesis. Felt sorry enough for Master Froemmel who popped up just in time, coming from the train station. Which was where he jumped right afterwards to spend the birthday of his wife in Goettingen.
Got the big show going. I tried to make it special by including a few gadgets: A 1 sqm painting of a flavodoxin. A balloon sculpture about protein packing. Suffered from justified but really tough questions from all my referees. Was relieved by my family and a great number of colleagues being there.
Everything went well. The president of the PhD commission (whom i barely knew) said congratulations, you made it. Lots of shake-hands and farewells and good lucks in Warszawa. Opened the first bottle of uncooled Rotkaeppchen, launching a semiballistic missile. After 10 minutes, i had a terrible headache.
As i knew from several occasions, there is no immediate reward linked to finishing such an effort. No sudden rush of endorphine. No crowds of cheering girls. No wave of sympathy, but admiration which feels colder. Just the adrenaline slowly wearing off, leaving you with a slight discomfort of success producing loneliness.
I made myself comfortable, anyway. Had some non-alcoholics. Watched Houllebeq's "Elementarteilchen" with a few good people. Enjoyed some curious gazes on my way home. Stopped in the "Ess-Bahn", the only place for souls washed ashore in Lankwitz at night.
There is a load of serious real-world issues i need to engage in: Get rid of my flat. Get a place to stay in Poland. Make sure i sign a contract next week. Do some good research. Tomorrow.
Tonight, i am a free man.