clinging and movin on.

i like being in lab. definitely not inhaling the solvents or let it cling onto you like a wet shower curtain on hot and humid days but i find it somehow satisfying when the end product of that darned column chromatography has been isolated be it viscous amber oils or yellow crystalline solids. i guess its seeing something tangible that matters, especially when we didnt even know if something will have worked or not in the first place. not to mention the little tips and tricks for manipulating those little crystals and droplets we call substrates into our desired vessels that have been primed for reaction. and i like learning by asking, where i dont have to google for my own answers but try to work them out but if not, ask and i would receive (hard soft acids and bases o_O). call me lazy but i think that definitely beats an entire day in the library, knee-deep in the literature and not having any remotely human contact (not that there isnt IM or Facebook just that a day could easily become weeks in the library with such fatal distractions).

that being said, i have only once encountered a reaction that didnt work and the thing is i hadnt planned it. suffice to say, i havent really experienced the frustration of things not working, which is purportedly common in the field. so im still really undecided on where to bring this, but at the moment, i will just enjoy being in a German lab (americans work 24/7, nicht so gut) and the many grillen and weltmeister viewing that have happened or are going to come.

3 wks in deutschland. i still feel uncomfortable with most groups here, german, american, exchange or otherwise. i dunno why i always feel this way but perhaps it's just me. and i still dun get what my supervisor is trying to get me to do, other than perform reactions for him ie extra manpower. kinda sucks. nehmind, ask on monday. at least i have fri off and today to watch amateur soccer. 3.5 day wks rock!