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Institution
Medizinische
Hochschule Hannover
Host
Institution(s)
University
of California, Los Angeles, Depatrment of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology;
Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging
Mentor: Harley Kornblum, MD, PhD
For the last couple of months, I have been working on a project which involves the utilization of microPET, a high resolution positron emission tomograph designed and developed at the Crump Institute, to monitor the recovery of brain metabolism after neurotransplantation. My work is comprised of a variety of laboratory, surgical, and radiological work including tissue-culture, cell-transplantation, and microPET imaging.
As this was my first transatlantic trip, almost everything I saw and experienced here in California was new and very exciting to me. So, the old fashioned term of "the New World" became current again - at least for me. It wasn't only the new culture, the many different faces of the 8.5-mil. metropolis, Los Angeles, with its typical characteristics, the show-biz and the motion picture industry, which impressed me so much, but "the Golden State" itself with its huge and beautiful national monuments, breathtaking geological formations and natural wonders.
Finding a place to live in L.A. turned out to be quite difficult because of the fact that the new semester had just begun when I arrived in "la-la-land." So, I had to compete with thousands of (mostly very wealthy) students, all looking for a place to stay. During the first days my whole lab was analyzing newspaper ads, making phone calls and appointments for me which was a big help and a nice "welcome-to-Los-Angeles." It was one of the most positive experiences I had here in the States.
I was invited to a private Halloween party where all the guests had to take part in a costume contest. Everyone had to vote for different categories by writing the name of the person with the best costume on a piece of paper. Well, the jury didn't have it easy counting the votes - there were several ones for "Kopan", for "coppan", "coupein", "koban", "viko" (my nickname), "vico", "vicko" and "vee-ko"... (After the contest I received a huge envelope, containing all the votes with the different versions of my name ). I still have no idea, whether I finally won "the scariest" and "the most original costume" titles by accident (because of my name), or because of my costume itself...
Try to find a place to live far in advance, before you arrive in the States! If you like to check out several places and see the room or apartment before moving in, you might have to spend the first week driving around the city. Living in L.A. you will have to have a car if you want to go around and see as much as possible. And at last but not least, try to have a good sense of humor!