Home Institution
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Host Institution
Massachusetts General Hospital
Cardiovascular Research Center, Boston, MA
Mentor:
E-Mail: katja.lichopoj@gmx.de
see Abstract
Having six months of research ahead of me, I thought I would have plenty of time to perform my research project in Boston. With this in mind and with the summer coming up, I believed that I should have more than enough time not only for research, but also to experience the Bostonian culture and the surrounding area, but - as have many others - I experienced that six months of research are a very short amount of time. Looking back, I had never experienced time passing by that quickly before.
Arriving in Boston, it did not even take a week until I was already fully involved with my research work. Soon I had to write a very detailed research proposal and present it to the group as this is the common procedure for every new project.
I quickly noticed that people in research are very diligent - finishing work at a certain time of the day simply did not exist, nor did weekends.
Boston is supposed to be the most European city in the U.S. I could not really find out what is so European about it – except for the fact that it has a little bit of history. Maybe it is because people think that there are lots of Europeans studying and working in Boston (which there really are!), but I would rather define it as very international. This is what makes this place so interesting. It naturally attracts people from all over the world because of its great and well-known schools (e.g. Harvard, MIT) and the remarkable potential in research. It simply seems to be the place where all the knowledge comes together and can be shared among like-minded people.
During my stay in Boston, the soccer world championship was going on. I did not expect to experience much of it at all, as soccer is not the most popular sport in the U.S. Therefore, I was surprised to see how many people kept track of the events going on back in Germany. Throughout the city you could see people with painted faces, dressed in their national jerseys. I would not have believed it possible to find that many places where you could watch every single game on big screens.
Of course, the highlight was to watch the final in the North End (mostly Italian quarter) and celebrate the Italian team with thousands of others. Although I was far away from Germany, I could feel a whiff of the world championship’s atmosphere swashing across the ocean right to Boston.
Even though I had the busiest and most exhausting time of my life, it was a great experience. Therefore, I would kindly like to thank the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds for their generous support which made my stay in Boston possible.
I think one of the difficulties I encountered was the communication with the Chinese colleagues. Having people from different countries talking to each other in a language foreign to all of them, sometimes seemed to be an obstacle and source of misunderstandings. Fortunately, after a while both sides adapted to each other and communication became a whole lot easier.
Another difficulty, which I learned to cope with during my stay, was taking full responsibility for my research project. Since I had not had any research experience before, I thought to I would get a lot of suggestions and help on my project, but, due to the fact that my research project was not directly related to the ongoing research there, I had to become acquainted with most of the methods by myself, which took a lot more time than I had scheduled before. Also, I thought it to be quite tough to decide on the experimental setups and finding solutions for the problems that appeared.
Furthermore, I think the biggest challenge in research is to stay motivated. One meets so much disappointment when experiments simply do not work out or the data obtained is far less than ideal, and if this condition persists for a fairly long time, it takes quite an effort not to lose sight and give up. Fortunately, it somehow happens that you achieve some success whenever you come close to that point, and this confirms again that it was good not to have given up earlier.
Being within a stone’s throw of New York City, a friend and I decided to spend a few days in the metropolis. When we were searching for options on how to get there, someone told us about busses leaving from Boston every hour, taking us directly to Chinatown in the heart of Manhattan. With $15 per person one-way, the “Chinatown bus” seemed to be the best choice.
We bought the tickets, jumped on the bus and headed for NYC. On our way the bus stopped at a take-out buffet place where most people got off the bus in order to get food or use the bathroom. When we returned from the restaurant – within 10 minutes after arrival – the bus was gone! There was no sign of it and nobody knew where it went nor if it would return. Most had left all their belongings on the bus, one even his children. After 5 minutes of great tumult, the bus returned. The bus driver could not understand our concerns at all, since he had simply driven to a gas station to get gas.
- When you want to find a place to stay in Boston, search for rooms at www.craigslist.org. I would further recommend to either rent a room for a couple of weeks or a month in Boston before you leave Germany or – if you have the chance – stay with a friend for a few nights and take the apartment search from there. It is really important to have a look at the place and people you are going to stay with before you move in! And do not sign a lease – there are plenty of rooms you can rent without being obliged to anything.
- Even though Boston is a very expensive place to live at, there are some ways to keep your stay affordable: First of all, use public transportation. This is the cheapest and most convenient way to get around town. Even though the “T” only runs until shortly past midnight, it is better to take it than to pay for an expensive cab ride home (unless you can walk to your place). Since clubs and bars close at 1 or 2 AM anyway, most people leave around the same time to catch the last subway home – so you will not be the only one ;-) Secondly, get rewards/savings cards for the grocery shops near your apartment. Usually there are articles of different brands on sale each week and you get the discount only if you have one of these cards. In that way it is easy to save quite a lot of money on groceries.
- Boston is nicest during summer time. So whenever you have the chance, plan your visit between April and October. There are plenty of free events throughout the summer you should not miss out on!
