An "individual" number - 08-05-13

B123456, N00123456789, H654321, ... I'm a badge number, I'm an application registration number, I'm a visa number - how multifaceted I can be! I haven't been aware of my multiple existences in the kosmos of codes before I started the visa application process. But about six and more numbers are quite modest, I forgot, there are many more, like the SSN (social security number) which is hopefully just needed if I wanted to get a bank account, so I think I'll withstand it.

Nevertheless, it was a great feeling to come to the US. Nearly nobody knew me and I could start a second life starting from anonymity.

That's what I thought and what I see.
But somewhere there's the CV of my application, the data of all my finger tips, the data of all my visits to the US, of my intentions during this internship... Of course there's a lot of information which has been collected since my birth. However, I have never faced a so uncovered contrast of this "nice-new-world-feeling" to "we-exactly-know-who-and-how-you-are-observation" .

A Start: The First 24 Hours - 08-03-13

My Supervisor welcomed me and I've already met a part of the team I will work in. I'm glad everybody's nice and the "how're ye?" isn't directly followed by an "oh, that's great" (some people in the town just asked you and didn't wait for your answer because it was evident that you were well, of course).

Thus, we finished the first grocery shopping trips (buying everything you need, like an XXL-sized bottle of milk, drinking water to get the chlorine balance alright and chocolate cookies) and got my bike, rented by a colleague, fixed at a bike shop. Additionally it would have benn useful to get an US phone number, but the price levels differ slightly from the ones I am used to (at least around 25$/month).

Today I learned a lot of stuff again: A Grap & Go Breakfast consists of muffins, coffee, chocolate bars, fruit and an Oatmeal To Go which you have to microwave for 10 seconds. (Apparently you can do everything just with a microwave - even produce a thunderstorm, but that's another story ;-))

I went jogging to find out where to go biking and  had to accept the successful surprise of my bike chain's break after 500m. It'll need another cure... now it's just standing in my room at a wall which has been made for bicycles, of course - there is just no cage around here.

A Train To The Suburb - 08-03-13

There are many adventures in Chicago and one of them is to get away from the other ones by train. My advisor had warned me that the public transportation system might not be the most elaborate one, but still everything worked out well and I caught a train to the suburb of Chicago, Lemont. However, when the train brought up to speed, water suddenly began pouring down the door like a water fall - it had accumulated on the roof of the two-storied wagon and searched for the fastest way down.

A Walk through Chicago - 08-01-13

As we went throught Chicago, "searching" something to eat, unfortunately ;-) a chocolate shop jumped out of the street (not any shop at all - Hershey's is probably the most famous chocolate label in the US):

Hershey's at 822 N Michigan Ave

 There was no chance we could just pass by. After leaving this wonderful shop offering everything you need to survive we got into a canyon in downton (the streets are indeed famous for their canyon-effect):

Some interesting firefighters overtook us:

And, then, finally on our last day in Chicago the weather turned sunny and we stretched on the beach. The only problem of slight luxury we had to face was a skyscraper providing us shadow during our intended sun bath.

A Brief Look at Chicago's Food - 02-08-13

 Skimming through the Chicago guidebooks it became obvious that we have to see this and that and the other half of your time must be spend tasting the delicacies:

• The Deep Dish Pizza: Similar to quiche (I should be banned into a pizza oven for this association), mainly pizza with a thick crust and any content.
• The Chicago-HotDog: HotDog filled with mustard, relish, onion, sport peppers, tomato, picle and celery salt. Actually every store insists upon an own recipe.
• The Cicago-Cheesecake: Very creamy and after scarfing it you can't stand up any more.

A Jetlag's Effect - 07-28-13

I couldn't believe it, but it's possible to buy heartless cookies without their soul:

And that's just the beginning (not the jetlag's one, but of a dietary illusion): There's even 0% milk (no worry, I didn't buy it!) and an extra label for the hotdogs containing less than 400kcal. Maybe there've been four out of twelve which were categorized as a "better" class.
Oh, you've tried one of the others? If you have not instantly dropped dead (what a surprise!) you should visit one of the fitness centers here around. I haven't seen a city center with so many (unfortunately sparely visited) gyms yet!
But I should get my biases cleaned up - the gyms often open 24/7 so why don't lose some pounds just after midnight?!

A Physicist's Arriving - 07-28-13

I don't want to call it boring, but we slipped through the passport check and the baggage claim within an hour (even if it is rumoured that you need three hours since Boston). Still there was enough time to have a little chat with the controlling officer who asked where I was going to work and if I belonged to this "physicist kind of people". I answered and had to smile; his response was a knowing "Aaaah!".