Relaxed Day

Today I needed to stuff again for the week. Sundays all the grocery stores are closed. In fact almost everything is closed on Sunday. I went to the neighborhood Coop grocery and it was nice to find so many fresh choices. I took a picture of my groceries for the week because I thought it is intersting to see how the products are different.  Those blackberries taste as good as they look. 

I went back to UZH today to work some and took some more pictures of the pretty duck pond.  Also, just so you believe me, I took a picture of the cafeteria sign, it really is called Mensa. Mensa in German means "dining hall, canteen, refectory".

Working at UZH

The UZH campus is beautiful.  The buildings have large windows and lots of natural light.  Everything is new and clean.  The office I am currently sharing with the post doc, Michal Chodkiewicz in the Sinergia project, who is writing the ZODS (Zürich Oak Ridge Disorder Simulation) software is large and has plenty of natural light which I really prefer. The first picture below was taken from the door of the office to show the window and the layout of the office.  The second is taken from the other side of the office and shows the white board where I was working out my two dimensional disorder simulation for a hexagonal lattice for the 2-D code I am writing.

We go for lunch in the Mensa cafeteria which serves hot lunches daily. They usually have three menu choices, one is always vegetarian. The other collaborators Hans-Beat Bürgi (University of Bern) and Thomas Weber (ETH) visit a couple of times a week to have discussions about our work. These discussions are educational and enjoyable. We skyped with ORNL yesterday and spoke with my advisor Robert Harrison and Vickie Lynch. It is interesting to work with so many experts in different areas and a privilege to learn from them all.

Downtown

I went to downtown Zürich to buy my groceries, there were some things I needed that were not carried in the smaller neighborhood grocery stores. So I took the tram down to the four floor Migros to buy a towel and other various and sundry items. It is organized very well. The first floor is groceries and then each floor specializes in different things like kitchen or harware but each its own area with its own checkout. There were other stores within almost like a mall but all for Migros. The fresh fruit and meat is especially good. I bought a personal sized box of berries: blackberries, strawberries and raspberries. They were all delicious but you had to eat them right away because they were so fresh they would be rotten in a couple of days. Across from Migros is USB bank so I included a picture because what is more secure than a Swiss bank?

Transportation

The transportation system here is amazing.  The trams (picture shown) run like clockwork. This is impressive. They have a countdown to the minute of when the next tram will arrive and it is almost always there exactly on time. If it is more then exactly one or two minutes late you can see those waiting get visibly upset.  The Swiss culture is very concerned with precision especially when it comes to time. Swiss watches are the best after all. The trams and buses are extremely clean and wonderful to ride. They have large windows and you can watch the pretty scenery go by as you ride to your destination. Most people plant flowers in window boxes. This makes the buildings look cheery. The picture of the tram is the one I just missed coming down the pathway from UZH. This is not a big concern since the next one will be there in about ten minutes.

July 25 First Day in Zürich

I arrived in Zürich, Switzerland on Sunday July 24,2011 to gray skies and a temperature of about 59 degrees Fahrenheit.  Monday proved to be  gorgeous and sunny but still with temperatures in high the 60s /low 70s. Above is a picture of the UZH where I am working on theoretical chemistry/crystallography modeling disordered crystal structures. The campus is gorgeous and surrounded by biking and walking trails and a pretty duck pond.  I have an apartment nearby that I share with two roommates, who are synthetic chemistry PhD students at UZH. One is from Venezuela and the other is Swiss.  They are very kind and welcoming.  It is great to meet other chemists.