I've been betrayed by the one I love

It was a sad day, this past Sunday.  After all we'd been through together, and the fond feelings I had developed, the devotion, and, dare I say the love...  I was betrayed.

I got food poisoning from a Bratwurst.

OK, technically it wasn't a Bratwurst, it was a Geflügelwurst (turkey sausage).  But that doesn't make it ok!

All day on Sunday, and much of Monday was spent hunched over.  I'm not going to go into anymore detail because this is a family blog.  But you can use your imagination.

Anyway, it was the perfect end to the perfect week, let me tell you.  I spent all of last week in the town of Lugano in Switzerland.  I know it sounds exciting and glamorous, but I'm sorry to say, it was not.  I'm sure that Lugano is a lovely place, but I didn't see much of it.  I spent the entire week in a classroom, from 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning until 6:30 or 7:00 at night.  I did have a chance to wander around the lake a little bit, and it was beautiful, but I wish I had been able to go up in some of the cable cars or something.

Of course, this was not a leisure trip, it was business.  And business we did.  The workshops were focused on qualitative comparative data analysis, and organizational theory.  The data analysis workshop was instantly helpful, as I could see very real ways that the strategies we learned could be applied to my research project.  It was a LOT of new information, and a bit overwhelming at times, but in a good way.  The organizational theory workshop was also overwhelming, but unfortunately I was never able to grasp concrete ways that I could use these theories.  To be perfectly honest, I felt like I was in over my head.  I was the only master student there; everyone else either had a PhD, was working on a PhD, or taught PhDs.  I'm not trying to sell myself short; I don't think I'm stupid, but I'm a beginner.  So much of the conversations were beyond me, so I didn't feel like I had much to contribute.  But I am optimistic that someday I'll understand what they were all talking about, and when that day comes I'll have a lot of notes and articles and drawings of chickens to reference.  (When I'm bored I draw chickens.)

(I never said I was good at drawing chickens.)

Anyway, I left Lugano on Friday evening, knowing I had a very long night ahead of me.  It was 4 hours to Basel, and then another 9 to Kassel on an overnight train.  I was excited at the prospect of sleeping in an olde fashioned sleeper car, in a compartment with 6 bunks.  I was lucky to be on the bottom level, so I didn't have to climb any rickety ladders, and I thought I might actually get some sleep.  Silly me.  The man in the bunk above me snored like an 18 wheeler, so no one else was able to sleep at all.  I tried kicking his bunk, to shake him enough to stop the snoring.  I even woke him up at one point and asked him not to sleep on his back, because he was snoring so loud.  He said, "I'll try. SSZZNNNNNRRRKKKK."  I spent most of the night staring into the darkness, close to crying from sleep-deprived frustration.  

(Cabin shown actual size.)

In any case, I survived, and I have never been so happy to be back in Kassel.  The sun seemed to shine a bit more, people were friendlier, and my bed was the sweetest sight I have ever seen.  

I will update soon with some reflections from my time in the US, even though I'm not sure if any of you actually care about that.  Maybe you do.  Maybe I'll make up some stuff to make it more exciting.  

Until then, stay away from the Geflügelwurst.