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Institution
Universität Rostock
Host
Institution
University of California, San Diego
Mentors: Tarek Hassanein, M.D., Chief of Clinical Hepatology,
Division of Gastroenterology; Steven Rossi, Ph.D., Department of Anesthesiology;
Lee Hagey, Ph.D., Division of Gastroenterology; Alan Hofmann, Ph.D., Division
of Gastroenterology
E-Mail
nina.zeh@web.de
see Abstract
After a great week of introduction in Maine, I became one of the many unfortunate people who found themselves stuck elsewhere due to the events that took place on September 11. I have never felt so lost before. The airport was evacuated and I was unable to find anyone who could offer any means of help. Eventually I found two girls who provided me with a place to stay, allowing me to survive such a frightful week. After I arrived in San Diego, my stay turned out to be better each day. It was an outstanding experience being able to work with people from multiple departments while perform-ing various duties. My work included being in the lab, joining rounds with other labs, and participating in the rounds and Grand Rounds of the Hillcrest Medical Center. I even went to the Research Division of the San Diego Zoo to learn something about anesthesia in wild life. It is true: it never rains in California. There are a huge variety of outdoor activities offered in "Sun" Diego. Within two hours you can either go to the desert or skiing in the mountains. Furthermore, you will find remarkable cultural diversity. It is sometimes more important to speak Spanish than English. For me, the most surprising fact was that there were many more differences between Europe and the US than I thought before. I was faced with more rules and with less freedom.
Even though I had a nice place to stay and really helpful people around me from the start, it was pretty difficult to get settled here. Buying a car that actually ran, taking the necessary tests at the DMV, finding the appropriate insurance, and getting a Social Security number, were all things that sometimes turned out to be much more of a difficult challenge than expected.
The week after September 11, I was stuck in a motel room with two American girls twenty miles away from Washington, D.C. Because of the tragedy we didn't have much to laugh about, but sometimes we had a nice time together, mostly due to my language difficulties. I remember once when Heidi, which, by the way, is a common name for Americans, told me about freckles. I had no idea what she meant by that, so she explained it to me and I thought she was talking about spots. When she mentioned that she liked her friend's freckles so much, I got really confused and slightly embarrassed. It took us a while to solve the problem and we had a great laugh.
- Try to find a place to live before arriving in San Diego. It would be even better if you could get an apartment together with a roommate. This is a great way to learn more about the cultural habits and all the multiple differences there might be.
- You will need a car in San Diego, as there exists no efficient public transportation system. Also see www.roommatesservice.com, www.sdreader.com, www.autotrader.com, www.ucsd.edu, This can make things much easier in the beginning.
- Avoid the DMV as much as you can. It is really an annoying place. However, if you have to take the written test for the California driver's license, read the handbook first!
- Be careful with cactuses in the Joshua Tree National Park. They will jump on you!
- Don't walk across the street without a pedestrian light in Pacific Beach at night. You might get a ticket for it.
- Don't forget, by getting stuck in the lab, that you have this unique opportunity to visit other BMEP students spread all over the US. Take this chance to see as much of this huge country as you can.
