Bonjour from International Space University!

Elizabeth's journal about her experience at International Space University in Strasbourg, France. Read on to find out what she did...

Monday, July 17, 2006

City Life

We're back to the grindstone. We had lectures on space medicine, space mission informatics, and the brain in space today. I met with my business and management (BM) team over lunch before we were supposed to have our BM department activity this afternoon. We were supposed to visit an incubator of enterprises today, but the company was not ready, which meant we had free time to work on our projects. Our group worked for a couple of hours before splitting off to do some individual work.

It worked out really well that we had the free time today because I was able to get a bicycle. The tram that we usually take to campus is under construction as of today, so our options are to ride the bus or a bike. I've been planning to get a bike all along, but this was a great incentive. I rode the bus this morning. It takes a good bit longer, and it's hotter. I was able to get back to the city center around 4:00, which also meant that the shops were still open. Today was the first day I've had the opportunity to just wander around the city center while people are around and everything was open. I took advantage of it. I was able to do a little bit of shopping and a lot of walking around before coming back to the dorm to get some more work done.

We had a BM Department dinner tonight at the Creperie across the street from the dorms. I sat across from Jorge and Jesus from Spain and had a great time getting to know them better. There are a lot of differences in our cultures, but there are also a lot of similarities. It's fun to learn about them.

After the dinner I met with one of the members of my Nanotechnology team to finish a presentation for tomorrow. There were supposed to be 4 of us meeting, but one of the greatest joys of working in a team is that you can almost never get everyone together at the same time. The biggest problem about this is that the other two did research on a completely different topic, so we cannot complete the presentation without them. Hopefully they have their information together and we'll be able to combine it in the morning. Have I ever mentioned that I really dislike last minute work and disorganization? I think those things are the highest contributors to stress in my life. I'm sure it will all work out in the end, but it would be nice not to have to worry about it.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, Sweetie!

Well, life-in-the-fastlane seems to have slowed to a pedal for you! I am so happy for you that you've had such exciting experiences there this week. I can barely stand all the shopping you're doing without me, however! I hope things get back on track with your team project and that the organization of time and resources comes together.

I went to the website for Hueber photography and what I saw there was rather impressive. His work is fun and creative and very artistic. Glad you made another new friend.

The temp here is 105 degrees today! I don't think anyone's air conditioning is keeping up very well. Don't you miss the south? Don't answer that! Just remember that we miss you.

I gave a devotional for the general UMW meeting at the church this morning and used the book you gave me for my birthday (The Importance of Being Foolish) as a reference (and promoted it as a really good read!). A bit paraphrased, but the general theme was about missions and listening for Jesus' instructions to us as individuals as we choose how/where we get involved. Go and make disciples. The book pointed out that "your whole life will be evaluated by whether or not you responded to Jesus." Pretty high-impact statement, huh?

Dad is helping me construct a fountain (small one!) for the patio. I'm lovin' it! Could probably use an engineering consult, though. Still PFY...
Love,
MOM

4:08 PM  

Post a Comment

<< ISU Home