30 Juni - Day 5 of Masters Class

When the alarm went off, I nearly leapt out of bed thinking I overslept after only drifting in and out of sleep for a couple hours. For some reason, I wasn't too exhausted though.

We had another day of lectures that were even harder to pay attention to. Somehow, I made it through. The day ended earlier today since we were going to go on a dinner boat cruise. Skylar had been looking forward to this one all week. We took a chartered bus to Monnikendam and walked through this old village. We stopped and everyone (except Skylar and I) tried fresh herring which was raw and covered in onions. Bleck!

 
After a few more minutes of walking we found the boat. It was a nice little family owned private sail boat. The people that ran it were husband and wife and even had her mother and their four month old daughter aboard. They even asked us to assist them raising the sails. There were about 30 of us crowded on this boat, but we all found somewhere to sit and we just lazed around under the sun. It was a perfect day for a boat ride; absolutely gorgeous! Skylar even got to steer!

They put out cheese, bread, wine, and beer to snack on while we sailed out. We sailed through this inlet of Amsterdam where they built a dike to stop the incoming water from the sea so that it wouldn't harm the businesses there and turn it completely rural. After about 50 years of the water being completely separate from the sea, it turned from brackish to entirely fresh water. Kind of amazing. It was enormous and certainly felt like the sea, but it wasn't.

Apparently packing the guitar was not a joke and we all sang camp songs, like This Land is Your Land while Thomas played the guitar. It was corny, but cute. The Masters group wanted each of the schools to put together a little show for everyone to represent their programs and where they are from like a song or something. The group from Amsterdam sung a song from a dutch TV show about a boy who misses everyone because he loves them so much (like they love us). The Germans sang a drinking song of some sort. The Austrians sang a couple songs too. The Americans were actually three schools, but three of the guys got together and took it upon themselves to make a rap. It was all pretty funny.

We docked when it was time for dinner. They grilled some vegetables especially for me, Skylar, and the other vegetarian on the boat, but forgot to separate it or label it as special for the vegetarians, so everyone ate it. She kindly made us more after announcing that everyone was not supposed to eat that. The vegetables and all the sides were all really good. Then they served a wonderful fruit salad for dessert.  

Meanwhile we had our closing ceremonies where each school gave their students a certificate for completion of the Masters class and presents to the hosts here in Amsterdam for the amazing job they did in organizing everything.

Being out in the sun all day can be completely draining, but the day wasn't over yet. We had to finish up our presentations for tomorrow and then everyone was going out. Shanne offered to stay with Skylar, insisting that she didn't want to go out. It was really sweet of her to do such a thing. So on my second wind, I went out again. We went to a couple different bars and ended up in a dance club. By the end of the night, I was nearly tipping over. I think we got back at about 3am and I immediately passed out.

29 Juni - Day 4 of Masters Class

Today we were to tour the Amsterdam Medical Center. Although it turned out we actually went to watch more lectures. I think my brain has decided to go into sleep mode due to processing overload. The information is really interesting and I want to pay attention... but I seem to just space out.  We went to lunch in the cafeteria there and then went for more lectures up in the ICU. Then we had group time to finish up our presentation, but didn't have enough time. After that, we had a photo session of the group.

From the AMC, we took a train towards town. We went to a flea market and did a little shopping. Then we went on to the Anne Frank Huis. It was hot as heck outside and even hotter inside with all the people. The line was down the street with people waiting to go in. Luckily we had a group reservation and bypassed the line. I went there the last time I was in Amsterdam as well and it still made me cry. There's entries of her diary, displays of the house, stories of her experience and about what was going on, and some of the rooms displayed just as they had been. It is a pretty incredible place. Sad, but incredible.

Skylar has taken to this guy, Jaime and followed him just about everywhere. Jaime seemed pretty cool with it though. He's fun and energetic and plays video games, so of course Skylar adored him.

From there we walked to a spanish restaurant for a tapas dinner. I guess Americans are just air conditioning spoiled because this place was crazy hot too. The food was delicious though. It was buffet style, but more elegantly done. First we had the cold tapas and then the hot, all while drinking pitchers of Sangria. 

Finally we headed back to the Hostel and worked a little more on our presentations. Everyone was going out and I wanted to go as well, so I asked Melani (who was sharing the room with me) if she planned on going out tonight and if she was going to be in the room anyway, would she mind keeping an eye on Skylar after I got him to sleep. Usually I am not that bold and I don't know what got into me, but she said of course. We just went over to Leidseplein and hung out for a few hours. It was nice to get out... it's been a while since I have gone out without Skylar, who says things like, "You're having another beer?! You had one last week!" Anyway, it was nice. I was out pretty late though just chatting with people and when I got back I had trouble falling asleep. Sleep is overrated when you're in Amsterdam.

28 Juni - Day 3 of Masters Class

I've been sleeping really well here. Maybe it is the fact that I have been going to bed at midnight and waking up at six, but it feels great. Maybe it is just something comfortable about this place :) 

This morning was more student presentations and then a lecture from a University of Amsterdam professor. He spoke a lot about the lack of interoperability between systems based on the descriptors used to classify diagnoses. It was quite interesting.

We ate lunch very quickly and then got into our groups for the papers we were assigned to discuss. I am pretty sure they assigned us papers that were flawed in some way and we are meant to dissect them. We didn't get as far as we wanted to, but we'll have more time tomorrow to finish up. We'll need to present the summary and limitations to the rest of the group on Wednesday.

Immediately after that, we walked to the tram and took it towards the Red Light District for a pancake dinner. First we stopped for drinks along the canal. We saw a car come up out of the ground.. it was some sort of elevator out of an underground parking garage... weird. I had a nice time talking to the some of the other students. This one guy, Jaime, was telling me how refreshing it was to have Skylar around and what a great kid he is. I agreed that he is a pretty awesome kid... most of the time. Then we moved on to Zeedijk, the pancake place; I must say this place did not hold a candle to the place we went the other day. I hate to complain, but it was undercooked and bland in comparison. Skylar wanted another one because they are big(about the size of a small pizza), but completely flat and not really filling. After dinner, the group went on a tour of the Red Light District. Skylar and I opted out and walked back to the Hostel, while walking through the flower market and stopping in shops along the way for souvenirs. We both got hats that say Amsterdam and the cashier said we looked like twins. Then she asked our ages and couldn't believe he was my son.

While looking for places to go this afternoon while the group went on the tour, I found some really amazing looking zoos, a science museum, and even a climbing gym that was reconstructed out of a church. Unfortunately, they all closed at about 17:00. So, it got me thinking about staying an extra day or two. I mean even though this trip has been a lot of fun, it is been lectures and presentations for what will be eight days, it would be nice to have some straight up fun time afterward. 

27 Juni - Day 2 of Masters Class

Lectures began bright and early this morning. Each of the participating Universities gave a talk about their programs, their research and their schools. The University of Amsterdam and the University of Leipzig sound very interesting. Both have strong PhD research and are in fantastic locations. Leipzig is in Austria and I want to see if we can make a site visit at least. After lunch, student project presentations started. With my research being in flux right now, I had nothing to present, so I didn't. Some of the students are MS and some are PhD, so the projects varied in complexity. All of them were quite interesting and making me think more and more about what direction I want my research to go in. 

Skylar's patience was waring thin... or maybe mine was.. but we made it through. He had his games to play and a new book to read. He also brought a stack of movies to watch, so it's not that different from an afternoon at home. I know we don't do many of those, but still. For the most part he has been very well behaved and only occasionally whiny. Since the lectures and presentations are in the Hostel, he can stay up in the room, but he seems to rather be with me. Go figure. 

We had a quick break and then walked to the canal for a boat tour. Skylar of course wanted to sit outside in the back of the boat so we missed the tour speech, but it was beautiful and interesting just looking at the architecture and all the bridges. Skylar thought all the boat houses were so cool, he says he wants to move here... or maybe Venice.  There were people just hanging out and cruising around the canals on paddle boats, row boats, cruise boats, and even some canoe type things. Many people were hanging out along the edges or in boats that probably were just stationary. The house boats looked very stationary... some even looked like structures built on top of what used to be a boat. We even saw some brave souls swimming. The canals of Amsterdam are about as clean as the Hudson River... I'm surprised there limbs didn't just dissolve into the water.

We went back to the hostel and hung out a bit before dinner. Then we all had a lovely Indian dinner again with vegetarian options. We hung out a bit more and then Skylar, Shann, and I walked through the park and toward the bug I AMsterdam letters in city center. We played on the big swing and climbed the letters. At nearly 23:00 again, we realized how late it was and headed back to the Hostel.

26 Juni - Day 1 of Masters Class

After hardly any sleep, I wandered down to take a shower in the closet. The bathroom and the shower are in two separate closets downstairs from our room. For the bathroom, it isn't so bad, but the shower is literally a closet... you walk in and there is enough room to turn in a circle and that's it.  You can't even bring your clothes or towel in with you because they will get wet.  Which means, I had to leave it them on the floor outside the door and hope nobody wanted to play a mean trick on me.

So then off to the AMC for a day of student presentations... most importantly... my presentation (most important to me anyway). I completely zoned out during everyone else's presentations, but at least I didn't fall asleep. I was too busy concentrating on my heart beat that seemed to be loud enough for everyone to hear and swallowing it back into my chest. Mine was almost last though, so everyone was pretty much zoned out by then. Finally it was my turn and I think I finished it in about three minutes. Everyone just stared at me blankly and I got no questions.  I was either very thorough, everyone was sleeping, or with the language barrier and the speed of my talk, no one understood a word I said.

After a quick lunch, we said our goodbyes and thank yous and got on our way to the next hostel for the Masters class part of our trip. We had to take the metro to the tram and then a walk through the park. Of course I went the wrong way with the giant suitcase first, but we made it. The hostel is right in Vondel Park, which happens to be where we spent most of the time we were in Amsterdam the last time I was here. It's a beautiful park. We checked in and went up to our room, which is much nicer than the last. For one thing, the bathroom and shower are in the room. There are three bunk beds and Skylar and I chose the one by the window. Shortly after, our other two roommates came in and agreed to stay in the room with Skylar even though he is a boy. Shann is a MS student from the University of Minnesota as well and a single mom, so we connected right away. The other girl, Melani is from Austria and is very sweet too.

Then we had a meet and greet reception in the hostel's bar. It was really nice with an open bar and some appetizers. I talked to a lot of other students from other schools in the US and in Germany and Austria. It is interesting to find out what people are studying and why and what their experiences in research have been. This group is much more diverse than the last and seems to be much more professional and organized. After an hour or so, we went upstairs for a fish and chips dinner and they even had a vegetarian version of the fish. It was a bit odd, but not bad. I am always so excited for veggie options so I don't have to just eat fries. 

Next we all went outside to the park and sat in a big circle. We played this game where you talk to the person on your left for five minutes and then have to tell the rest of the group about the person you just met and got to know. It was silly, but fun. The social organizer was taking everyone out on the town to a party, so Skylar and I decided to go to a nearby cafe and get internet. Shann and Melani joined us so we could quickly connect with friends back home. We didn't stay long though because it was late and we were all pretty tired.  Not to mention it was nearly 23:00 and still light out. Finally we went back to the hostel and went to bed.

25 Juni - Loooong day

Lectures are from 08:00 - 17:30 and then group work until 18:30 today.  Even I won't bore you with all the details. There were many breaks though which was nice, but all that was offered was coffee, so I started to shake by the end of the day. We had a photo session and when I tried to hide in the back, they moved me up the very front. They also provided us with lunch from the chaotic cafeteria.

My part of the group work was to prepare and present the similarities and differences between the five laboratory systems in the different countries. People already say I speak too fast to understand and when you add in nerves, even English speakers have trouble understanding me, so I'm a little nervous. I've always found it easier to present to strangers than peers though, so I feel somewhat OK. We all made a table of all the similarities and differences and when I got back to the Hostel, I put it on slides to present.

For Skylar's patient and mostly good behavior, I promised him dinner at the Pancake Bakery.It was pretty amazing of him to sit in a lecture hall for an entire day, so he deserved a treat. He invited a few of the other students and after a short time walked over there. I had been there the last time I was in Amsterdam and it was awesome, so got the directions from the Hostel to the Pancake Bakery before we even left Germany because I knew we would go there. The streets in Amsterdam with all the canals are a bit confusing, but we finally found it. It was well worth it.

As we were walking home at 22:00, it began to get a little dark (not much, but enough) and the red lights began to come on making us walk a little faster. Once back at the Hostel I continued working on my presentation and and went to bed some where around 00:00. Shortly after I laid down, the other students came back and I couldn't fall asleep. I may have drifted off a bit, but then was awake again at 04:00. The hardest part about sleeping here is getting used to sleeping when it is so light outside. I tossed and turned for an hour or so and then just got up and ready to go.

24 Juni - Day 1 of Amsterdam

Left at 04:00 and had to change trains four times. I only messed up once getting on the wrong train and luckily realized it right away so we got off at the next stop. We were able to catch a train going back right away and still make the correct connection. We arrived at 12:00.  Right outside of the hotel, we ran into some of the other students. I recognized one of them from the bike tour and Nora's boyfriend, Bjorn. Since we couldn't check in until 14:00, we waited for the rest of the group and then went in search of cheap food. I should've known better than to try the pizza that I thought for sure was for display purposes only, but no, he plopped the plastic looking thing in the oven. It tasted almost as good as it looked with cheeze wiz on top. 

After we ate, we went to check in.  Now Amsterdam has very old buildings and this Hostel was interestingly designed. The front desk is up the first flight of steep and narrow stairs and then the room was up a two more flights of narrow winding stairs around a few corners, through a few doors, and up another even more narrow, steep, and windy set of stairs. Have I mentioned my 200 pound suitcase? I only had the huge ones I brought, so I packed it full of both mine and Skylar's attire for the 8 days of our stay. Bjorn and another of the boys took pity on me and kindly helped me lug it up to our room.  We are staying with two of the girls and two of the boys in the room.

Right after we were checked in, we all headed off to the subway system at the Central Station and took it to the Amsterdam Medical Center for the first series of lectures.  The lectures are about Integration in Hospital Management Systems and the schools participating are from Germany, Austria, Sweden, and the Netherlands. After the lectures, we all got together for group work. Groups were divided by main departments in the hospital.  Since I worked in a lab for three years, I joined that group. However, I hadn't worked with any of the groups before this conference, so I didn't have much to offer. It was just interesting to listen to the way things are done in other countries.

English is the common language, so at least I can follow along at the conference. Half these kids are in BS programs and probably barely twenty years old. In Germany and I think most European countries you go to school right away or you don't go, so there are no other 'alternative' students. I wonder if is is just uncommon or simply too difficult with the rigid structure of the programs. The kids are all really nice though and do their best to include me.

Dinner was provided to us with a nice catereing of what seemed like a type of Indian food, which of course I love. We didn't get back to the Hostel until after 9pm.  Having only three hours of sleep the night before, I was exhausted!  All the other students went out to the wonderful coffee shops of Amsterdam, but Skylar and I of course stayed home and went to bed.

Skylar finished his book already and his computer game won't work through the firewall, so tomorrow should be interesting.

23 Juni - Packing

I finally finished the formatting edits on the book chapter and sent it off to Wendelin. Hopefully that is done.  I like to write, but I hate to edit... I could never be an administrative assistant. While at the office I prepared some outlines for my presentation and researched system integration for hospitals in the US. I printed out some reading materials on biomedical information for the train ride and saved a few more on interoperability on my computer.  Some of this stuff rings some bells, but a lot of it I haven't really studied in years.  I just want to be able to hold my own. I will be the only one from the US at the SIMS class and am a little worried about being the odd man out. All the other students have been working in groups for the past few weeks on projects and I won't know anyone or much of anything. I feel a little more comfortable with the Masters class because I know what to expect and all the people will be placed in groups upon arrival and will work together for the duration.  Lucky for me the central language is English :)

I went home early to start the laundry and because I had to meet with Skylar's teacher. She is concerned about how unsociable he has been and how he seems so unmotivated to learn German or interact with the other children. He doesn't understand why they fawn all over him. I guess I don't either exactly. The teacher explained that many of the parents were brought up being taught how incredible America was and even mentioned it as the 'promise land' and all that, so many of them have such high regard for America and pass it on to their children.  They also learn English and are excited to speak to an English speaker. Skylar is so skeptical of this behavior, it's like he feels they must be making fun of him because they are always talking about him and want to be near him. He just doesn't understand how they could think he is so interesting. She did say he has improved the past couple days since I talked to her on the phone on Friday and made this appointment, I have tried to talk to Skylar about having an open mind and trying to make the best of it. I also made him leave his book at home, which means he has to interact so that he won't get bored.  She showed me a book presentation he made that was really quite good. She said she was impressed at how well he wrote and that he seemed to have fun doing it. I talked with him this afternoon and told him some of what she told me about why they all want to be his friend and he seemed to grasp it a little better... still thinks it's strange, but maybe accepts it a bit.

After the meeting, I stopped at the bank to sort out what is wrong with my card and to hopefully get online banking.  The guy there was very unsure about his English, but I kept assuring him that it was very good. He kept apologizing and I felt like if anyone should be apologizing it should be me for being in their country and not speaking the language.  Anyway, he got it fixed and my bank card works and I got paid. Hurrah! 

For the remainder of the day, I did laundry and packed.  I had to iron many of my nicer clothes because they have been stuffed in boxes since I got here.  We don't have to dress up, but at least be casual-professional. The only thing I'll need to do in the morning is pack my shower stuff and I'm good to go. The taxi is picking us up at 4am and taking us to the train. We had to be there by 13:00 to check in and that is the only train that could get us there. Problem is, the buses around here stop at midnight and start again at 5am and I didn't think I could balance the suitcase on the bike basket, so Nora called us a taxi. She also baked a cake and gave us some for the train ride. She is so nice.

Since I need to get up in 3 hours, maybe I should get to bed :)

22 Juni - Autsch

I finally got responses from my advisers and they all say something different. That's what happens when you have four advisers that don't even know each other.  My economics professor who is my adviser said he thinks any comparison I do of costs and outcomes would be useful. Not much help other than a thumbs up. My other adviser (the one who sent me here) is worried about my project being too broad.  She will be in Amsterdam to discuss it further. Then there is my adviser here, Diana, that has been so helpful and sweet with everything but doesn't have much input about my project.  She talked to Wendelin about it and he said that he doesn't think doing a system comparison will turn up anything new and is afraid that much of the information I need on costs will be unavailable.  Seems to me, it would have been nice to mention this in our discussions before I got here and not spring this completely different project on me.  Anything I do will be a learning experience and I have to keep that in mind and not to get too worked up about it all.

We got caught in the rain again on the way to the train station for Capoeira.  Nothing like sitting on the train soaking wet for an hour.

Capoeira was tough today.  The instructor visiting from Brazil has quite a different teaching style than the regular instructors.  First we did some extensive stretching and as always when someone encounters my flexibility, they like to see how far I can go.  I'm not double jointed or a contortionist or anything, but it still amazes some people.  Sometimes I worry that even though I don't feel any pain, something is one day just going to snap out of place and not go back where it's supposed to.  He twisted me up like a pretzel.  Then, since I was the only one who could bend back from standing into a bridge (like a walkover with out the kickover), he made me do it ten times... up and down... for his amusement I think. He was practically holding me up by the ninth bend.  Then we did animal walks like the tiger holding ourselves just and inch from the ground, a scorpion with one leg up in the air like the tail, a crab, and even a crocodile. We practiced some acrobatics and when he spotted me for a back flip, he practically threw me across the room. We did a bunch of kicks and blocks with au-oo's (cartwheels) in between until we were all dripping pools of mush.

I made Skylar guard the changing room this time and Ricki made all the guys get out completely :)

Somehow we made the earlier train and were back in Heilbronn before dark and in bed at a decent hour.

21 Juni - Nutella and climbing

So, I have become slightly addicted to Nutella and rather than keep eating it directly out of the container, I decided to look up some Nutella recipes.  This morning I prepared stuffed French Toast with Nutella and cream cheese.  Talk about rich and heavy! It was good, but I think I prefer my French Toast lightly dusted with powdered sugar and Nutella by the spoonful :)

My bank is annoying the heck out of me.  They sent me the new pin now, but it still won't work. They have a separate machine that you can put the card in and it spits out your balance without requiring a pin, so I used that just to make sure there was money in there and there was, so I don't know what the problem it.  Guess it's back to the bank with the friendly only-speaks-English-when-she-wants-to girl.

Then Michele picked us up for a fun day in the sun.  We went climbing and it was such a gorgeous day.  I felt really good about my climbing and climbed enough to make my forearms hurt like heck. Ahhh... such a good hurt.  

Luckily we found a bank that accepted VISA and I got some cash for ice cream. We went to this fantastic little place in town again. I told Michele I can either buy his ice cream or give him the money for gas because he is so kind for picking us up and driving us out there.  He has a GPS (he calls it a navy) so I asked him what accent it was talking in and he said Italian.  I wondered because in the US, it seems they always talk with a British accent... so in the UK, do they speak with an American accent? Maybe Italian ones speak with a Spanish accent.. just checking :)

It starting storming and pouring after we got home.  So we just relaxed to the sweet smell of rain and sound of thunder.

20 Juni - Ah, to be 10 again!

As expected we slept in this morning and lazed about most of the day.  I did a little cleaning and organizing, but that's about it.  About mid-afternoon, I got a bit antsy for something to do, so I made kartoffelpuffers (such a great name), aka latkas, aka potato pancakes.  They were greasy and yummy :)

Then we wandered down to a nearby park that has this cool rope apparatus.  We played there for a while and of course took some pictures.

19 Juni - Eis

It was pouring this morning, and I didn't feel like getting drenched on my way to the office, so I stayed home to research and read. Mostly doing a bunch of formatting edits on that chapter section I wrote.  The guy who requested it was very pleased and as soon as it all matches up in the correct format he can submit it.  The book is supposed to be published at the end of the year.  

Skylar had a pretty rough day at school and is just hating it more and more.  He even reads during class now, so I have to make sure he leaves his book at home from now on. Not that I don't think it's great that he loves to read, but I don't want him to get out of everything by just wanting to read. I tried calling the headmaster to see about putting him in the 4th grade class, but she didn't call me back. He was supposed to have some kind of sleep over at school, but he didn't want to go, so I didn't make him. I am going to talk to his teacher on Tuesday. 

During August there is a two week day camp that is very close to where we live so I went and signed Skylar up for that.  The guy I talked to, Tobias, was very nice and spoke English pretty well. He asked where I was from because I had such a nice accent.  I told him America and he was surprised because he said most people from America sound... 'bright'... he couldn't think of the English word for it.  I don't think he was saying I didn't sound bright. Anyway it looks like fun and I really hope Skylar likes it.

It started pouring again, but we were supposed to meet Nora and her boyfriend Bjorn at what she calls the best ice cream place in Heilbronn.  We were soaking wet when we got there, but nothing could keep us from ice cream.  They even bought it for us because I helped write that letter for Bjorn's scholarship application. It was very generous and next time it will be on us.  

Then we hopped the train off to Stuttgart for Capoeira.  It was awesome as always and there was an instructor visiting from Brazil and some students from another school in Tubinger who were very impressive. I don't know if the instructor was testing my German knowledge or just didn't feel like doing the translation so I was a little more confused than usual and feeling very self-conscious.  At the end of every class we sit in a traditional circle called a Roda where two people enter the circle to play and the rest of the people play instruments or clap and sing. These people were awesome and doing all kinds of flips and kicks.  The visiting instructor seemed to throw some mix of Jiujitsu in it and kept trying to take the others down.  Neat stuff. We stayed a little longer and hung out and chatted for awhile after class.  I may even go to visit their school for another Roda session when I feel a little more confident about what I'm doing.  

Then we went out for pizza and more ice cream... you can just never have too much ice cream :) We got back so late, tomorrow might be pretty uneventful after sleeping in.

18 Juni - More research frustrations

I met with Wendelin today and we discussed my thoughts on the project and I told him how it wasn't what I expected to be doing while I was here.  Besides retinopathy does not seem to have choices of treatment, it has treatments that are given depending on the nature of the illness, i.e blood in the retina or edema, so it doesn't seem worthwhile to do a cost analysis on.  He seemed a little upset, but he said he was willing to change or modify my project if I presented him with a strong research question and how I hoped to accomplish it.  I emailed my advisers back home to get suggestions or input from them, but it is summer, so I haven't heard anything back.

I had lunch with Diana and another of the faculty in the mensa today.  I got some weird thing that pretty much amounted to overcooked noodles in tomato soup.  We talked a bit about the Amsterdam trip and it appears for the SIM part, I will be mostly observing, so nothing is expected of me; that's a relief.  

The international office emailed me and told me there was a misunderstanding on how much I was supposed to be paid between them and the finance department.  So they will pay me the missed amount along with July's payment.  Good thing I'm rich and don't need to be paid for 3 months *note: sarcasm.

This afternoon, we went to a bike store in town to see about getting Skylar a different bike. There was a decent used one there, but it was just a bit too big for him.  He needs a new bike anyway, so I told him I would consider getting him a new bike if I could find out how much it would cost to bring on the plane or ship.  

17 Juni - Spätzle

I went to the international office first thing this morning and showed them my bank statement inquiring why I only got a fifth of what I should have gotten for my stipend. Lots of German conversations later, they told me they don't know what happened and are worried that they mixed up my account with another student's. I bet that student was happy. They said they would get it figured out and pay me the correct amount as soon as possible.

I got our train tickets for Amsterdam next week.  We leave at 04:00 on Wednesday, June 24th and return at 18:00 on Wednesday, July 1st.  All of which is packed with a schedule of presentations, classes, group work, assignments, receptions, tours, and 'social time'.  I decided not to stay an extra day because rooms are too expensive and from the sounds of it we'll be doing lots of touristy things with the group.

For lunch, I finally ventured to the mensa with my new mensa card.  I was instantly hit with high school flashbacks, but I was hungry.  I got spätzle mit kase. Spätzle is kind of like a spaghetti noodle chopped into 1 inch pieces, but much chewier and kase is cheese, so I guess it was like the German version of macaroni and cheese.  

We actually didn't have any plans for this evening, so we just stayed home and chilled.  I tried to get Skylar to go the park, but he was content with the down time.  I don't do so well with down time... I get bored.  I'll guess it was nice just to read for awhile though.  

16 Juni - Research frustrations

Today involved mostly reading.  Reading about retinopathy, laser coagulation, alternative therapies, and so on.  I read until my eyes were burning and information started leaking out of my ears.  My project seems to have taken this drastic change of direction that has nothing to do with my original study interests.  I am not sure what to do about that though.  I really wanted to do a comparison of sorts so that part of my research is done in the US, but this new project is entirely Germany related.. even doing the same project in the US wouldn't really make any sense for a comparison.  I know I have to ensure there is a significant informatics portion of my project and a comparison might have trouble covering that.  It seems just as sensible though to do a comparison of costs related to a disease or treatment of disease based on the structure of the systems.  The US has ridiculously high medical cost expenditure and so much of it is due to the fragmented care.  Germany has introduced legislature to improve disease management as part of their nationalized system to bring down costs and improve research with accessibility and collection of data.  Anyway, I meet with Wendelin tomorrow and maybe I can discuss this further with him.

Nora called the bank for me and got my bank card straightened out.  Seems the letter they sent was returned, so they will send it again.  She also reviewed my bank statement with me and confirmed that only a fraction of the amount from my stipend was paid to me.  So tomorrow, I will return to the International office and inquire why I was paid so little.  Nora is also helping me figure out summer plans for Skylar.  She called a day camp that is close by that looks quite fun.

Then I was to meet Michele at the Kletterarena, but Skylar didn't want to go.  At first I thought about just not going because I drag him with me everywhere and we did get to bed late the night before, so I couldn't blame him for being tired.  However, I didn't want to stand Michele up in case he didn't have anyone else to climb with.  So I let Skylar stay at the flat while I went to the gym and promised to be home by dark.  I was a little late getting there, but I am glad I went. Michele was bouldering because he didn't know anyone else there to climb with, so I felt terrible about even being late, but of course he said it was no problem. Climbing always helps get out frustrations, so I felt better.  Slipped a few times and got a little shaken up, but I need that so I can get ok with the thought of falling and stop using so much energy in fear.  Stayed for a couple hours and returned by 21:00 (before dark) as promised.

15 Juni - So much for modesty

The weekend didn't seem quite long enough to recover from sore limbs this time, but oh-well. Went to the office and carved out a good bit of my project.  Diana stopped by and we went over some of the details for Amsterdam.  There are many aspects that still need to be resolved, but I guess I just have to hope for the best that it will all work out in the end.  She finally gave me the schedule for the Strategic Information Management Systems classes and it looks pretty intensive. I need to do quite a but of preparation and studying so I don't get lost in the assignments.  Not sure yet if I will be doing a presentation there.  I also need to prepare a 20 minute presentation on the Accessibility to Biomedical Information for the Masters class and possibly present on my program.  The trip seems to be here all of a sudden (leave next Wednesday) and so much still has to be done.  Trying to decide if I want to stay and extra day or two with Skylar to do some sight seeing.  NIN is playing the following weekend there :(

Since my bank card won't work, I needed to go in and talk to the teller to either get a new card or have the pin reset.  I went to the same bank where I set up the account and talked to the same girl who set up my appointment who suddenly forgot how to speak English.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the 20 minutes that I had been waiting and  the half dozen people waiting behind me.  I know I can't get mad for them not speaking English, but I can get frustrated when they pretend they don't for their convenience, right? I just said fine and left. Nora said she will help me get it straightened out. Don't know what I'd do without her.

This afternoon we took our sore limbs to Stuttgart for some Capoeira play time.  My legs felt like jello not even half way through.  The studio is pretty new.. barely open 2 months so they are still setting up space and stuff.  Right now the dressing room is a curtained area in one corner of the room.  I am the only girl aside from one of the instructors, so I announce when I am going to change.  On Mondays the juijitsu group (also all guys) meets right after Capeiora. I'm sure you can see where this is going... one of the guys opened the curtain and stood there gaping long enough for the rest of the guys to turn and wonder why I was yelling "close the curtain" until another guy repeated it in German.  I finished changing and still blushing like mad sat out there to put my shoes on while he apologized and Predo promised to get the other changing room set up asap.  Nothing they haven't seen before, I guess.

Note to self: don't put a hot pizza sideways in a bike basket.  We are always starving after class and have time between trains to eat, but haven't quite figured out the best way to do it. The food at the station is ok, but I am getting sick of falafel and cabbage.  Thought we'd get a pizza to go and eat it while we waited for the train, but that meant getting it from the pizza place to the train station on a bike. A new plan is needed :)

14 Juni - No climbing

Today we were going to go climbing with Michele and his friends, but I didn't get his text that he would pick us up at about 9 or 10 until 10.  Besides, Skylar's ankle was pretty sore and he was not in any mood for climbing.  I was feeling pretty sore myself and of course had a ton of laundry to do.  I am sad to miss such a beautiful day for climbing, but I am sure there will be other days and other opportunities.

Nora's boyfriend is trying to get a scholarship to go to Sweden for his thesis project and needed to write a letter in English, so I helped her with that today.  I would say reading and understanding a foreign language is much easier than speaking and writing in one.  There are so many little differences in sentence structure.

Tonight I am going to bed early so I can get up and get to the office at a reasonable hour.

13 Juni - Pobrecito

We woke up bright and early to go on a 50K bike tour today from Öhringen to Heilbronn with the Medical Informatics department faculty and students.  We met at the University and rode to the train station.  On the way, Nora told me of a leopard that this hotel we were passing keeps.  Guess the wildlife laws must not be as strict here because it sure didn't look like he had anything close to a natural habitat to live in.  Once we arrived at the station, a couple people drove a truck with all the bikes in it and the rest of us too the train to Öhringen.   From there we began our ride through the beautiful countryside of Germany and along the river.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but it was kind of difficult to do that while biking, so the pictures are when we stopped for a short break here and there.

We stopped for lunch at an ice cream place to refuel after about 20K.  Have I mentioned how incredibly awesome the ice cream is around here?  I think they use more milk and cream where Americans use more water.  If I knew how to make the stuff, I would open a place in MN with real Italian pizza and ice cream.

We rode mostly along bike paths with a few roads to cross here and there.  Some of the path was through fields, some in parks, and some along the river bank.  Skylar had another spill on his bike and got pretty bruised and scratched up.  He said his tire slipped on the gravel and the bike came out from under him.  I was about 2 bikes behind him and all I saw was him hit the ground.  He was mostly just shaken up and maybe a little embarrassed.  His ankle got the worst of it and got a little swollen.  He lost some skin on his shoulder and elbow and some various other scrapes.  I told the group we would take it slow for a while and ride in the back of the pack.  He was pretty bummed for a bit, but lightened up as the day went by.  Pobrecito (I know, wrong language)... I just felt so bad for him.  I told him if his ankle hurt too bad we could jump on a train at any time, but he was keen to keep on going.   Along the river we passed a man feeding this beautiful swan.  I saw Skylar staring, so I asked if he was looking at the swan.. he said, "What swan?  Why is that man in his underwear?"  A little further down we saw another old man in his underwear and after inquiring later to Nora, apparently that is normal. In the afternoon we went to a BBQ and brought some veggie burgers.  They also had some vegetarian pastas and Nora brought some cheese (German Feta) and some garlic herb butter for us.  Someone made grilled tomatoes with butter on them.  There was also quite the variety of Fleish on the grill but saving a space for the "veggie garten".  Even though many of the German university students do speak English, they apparently are a little uncomfortable using it in conversation with me.  Nora said it may be because they are afraid they will say something wrong.  When they were talking, Nora kept trying to translate what was being said and it was very nice of her, but I felt pretty silly.  Skylar did his normal routine of running around and playing with sticks amazing everyone with his boundless energy. After a while we left to go to the International Festival, but I didn't have any cash on me so we had to go to the bank.  Unfortunately the bank that I normally go to stopped taking VISA (maestro is what is commonly used here).  After trying about 4 other banks we finally found one in town that would work, but Skylar decided he was too tired to go to the festival.  So, we went home to rest and get up to watch the fireworks later on. At nearly 23:00, we watched the fireworks and then came back home to fall asleep to the music from the festival.

12 Juni - Uncoordinated

Now that I have begun working on my actual project and have a general idea of what I need to accomplish, the first thing I needed to do was set up a project plan and gantt chart.  It helps me work in a timely fashion when I have a schedule to follow and set of tasks to complete.  So today I did that and constructed the outline of my project.

Skylar gets home at 14:00 on Fridays, so after a late lunch, we headed off to Stuttgart for Capoeira.  Sometimes I wonder how I can know how to do something and tell my body to do it, but I end up just flailing around or doing the complete opposite.  Something as simple as a shoulder roll can be difficult because I am so used to going over my spine to stay linear that my brain can't comprehend why it is going to the side.  I can do a front handspring, but not a cartwheel spring which only involves a simple twist.  I know much of it is muscle memory, but it is very annoying.

Part of Capoeira is singing and playing instruments... apparently I can't clap my hands to a certain beat and sing.

Later that night, I fell asleep to the sound of fireworks and music from an International Festival in town.

11 Juni - Corpus Christi... again

OK, so the last one was actually Whitmonday (the 7th Monday from Easter), not Corpus Christi... where are all the good Catholics that read this to correct me... oh yeah, never mind :)

Anyway, so today was yet another day off.  Made pancakes for breakfast and watched the weather with high hopes to go outside climbing.  Michele from the Kletterarena (rock climbing gym), invited us climbing in Hessigheim.  He kindly offered to pick us up and use all his gear.  It stormed in the morning, but sometimes the weather is strange here where it can go from beautiful to storming and back within a few hours, so I was hoping the rain would pass over and be clear for the day.  We decided to chance it and hope for the best.

As soon as we arrived it started pouring, but after a few moments it stopped and we headed down the trails to the bluff.  The climbing area is over the river Neckar, overlooking beautiful vineyards and the rock is in the canyon area.  The weather held for quite a while with just a few drops here and there.  It wasn't until early evening when the wind got too strong that we had to head out.  It may not have been the perfect climbing conditions but it was incredible to get out there and climb.  It felt great.

Follow up with delicious ice cream made for a wonderful day.

10 Juni - One month and counting

Today it has been officially one month since I left the states.  Four months left... is that a lot or not enough?  I feel like I still want to see so many things and go so many places, but don't know if I'll have the time or money to do it.  On the other hand though, I really miss my friends back home.

I got an email about my packing list for Amsterdam; to bring running shoes, good shoes, towels, a raining coat, and a guitar.  What a list! That trip is coming up in just a couple weeks and I am both excited and nervous for it.  I have to give a talk on Biomedical technology and accessibility to who knows how many people.  There are four participating Universities including faculty and students.  

This afternoon, I met with Wendelin and began a project plan.  I will be doing a cost analysis study on laser coagulation of retinopathy patients who have diabetes.  Sounds exciting, I know.  As we were discussing alternatives, I suggested a vasectomy... doh!  Not a vasectomy... a vitrectomy... big difference!  Way to get off to a good start and show him how smart I am.  The project is very fascinating and will be a great learning experience so I am excited to begin.  

I know I talk about food in nearly every post, but tonight I made a veggie mac and cheese bake with gouda cheese and it was actually good.  For some reason I always though gouda was gross and came in those little wax circles, but it is what seems to be the most common type of cheese here (aside from brie), so I gave it shot and it turned out great.

I can't wait for tomorrow!

9 Juni - Hurray for food

Today, I had a whole lot of nothing to do at the office since I finished my write-up and am just reading up on project possibilities.  

I have been waiting for my school registration to come in the mail so that I could get a mensa card or was hoping that my student id would be my mensa card, but it turns out all I had to do this whole time was buy one from the cashier in the cafeteria.  My office mate always invites me to lunch, but I always decline because I didn't have one of these cards and they don't take cash.  So after Nora told me this, I tried to buy one and the cashier who speaks no English, but she had no idea what I wanted and gave me one but said I had to give it back... I was so confused.  Kindly, Nora met up with me at the University and took me to the cafeteria to buy a mensa card and showed me how to put money on it.  So now, I can finally enjoy the food offerings in the cafeteria.  Amazingly, they usually have at least two vegetarian options.  Also, I love German Jogurt!  The stuff is like pudding but healthy.  There is something about the dairy products here that make everything taste so good.

Then tonight we went climbing again.  Skylar and I belayed each other on a few climbs and we did some bouldering.  Then when he was tuckered out, he sat on the couch with his book while I climbed with Michele and his friend Thomas for a while. This time, I felt much more comfortable about my lead climbing (which really isn't saying much).  The climbs are 60m high though so it is even more nerve wracking.  I noticed it starting to get dark and didn't want to bike through the not so nice part of Heilbronn at night, so Skylar and I left in the pouring rain to get home.  We managed not to get lost there or back though which made the trip much better.

8 Juni - Done

Today I put the finishing touches on my addition to the book chapter.  I met with Wendelin and he said it was excellent.  Seems strange to have someone write about a literally foreign concept to be published in a book, but I must say I have a very good understanding of how the system works now, which was the original intention as frustrating as it may have been.  In a way, I think it may be a good thing to have the system analyzed by an outsider because there are many facets that Germans might just assume is the norm.  He is sending it off to the guy who requested it for a final review.  Felt good to be done with it though.

Skylar is still adjusting to school here.  He says the kids either love him or hate him.  Often he just reads during recess.  I love that he likes reading so much, but wish he would play more too. At home he is such a social kid, that the difference here worries me.  He whips through books faster than I can order them from Amazon.  I hope to get him involved in a Verein which is like a club or a group, but nothing seems to strike his fancy.  I'm looking into a gymnastics club though.  We'll get it figured out eventually.

Tonight we made pizza with Nora.  It was really good, although a bit messy :)  Then she and I just chatted for a few hours over milk.  I really am lucky that I found a place for so little money in such a nice area with such a great flat mate.  She has been so helpful from translating things for me to answering all my silly questions.  

7 Juni - Typical Sunday

As is becoming the usual for us, we stayed in and rested our weary limbs today except for the stair climbing to do laundry.  

It poured most of the day anyway, so even a bike ride or frisbee game was out.  

6 Juni - Castle Illumination

Today we went to watch the infamous castle illumination in Heidelberg in remembrance of when in 1689 and 1693, the troops of the Sun King of France blazed the castle and the town, and left behind them the ruin.

After wandering around town a bit, we hiked up to the 500 steps to the castle to wander the grounds.

Then we walked down to the old bridge and took more pictures.  Skylar takes pictures of nearly everything these days.  I have been trying to get him to start a blog even if it is just of his favorite pictures, but mostly he just likes to take them.

In the marketsqaure there were all kinds of arts and crafts being sold, music being played, and different foods to try.  The illumination of the castle began at nightfall when a red light bathed the castle in what looked like flames.  Followed by a spectacular show of fireworks.

After the show, there was more music and festivities with masses of people milling about.  Cars and bikes were trying to weave their way through the crowds of people in the streets.  We were also on our bikes and got yelled at by a police officer because Skylar's light was not working (might have broke from the accident last week).  He kept yelling at Skylar in German and Skylar kept trying to continue.  When I got up to them I asked him to repeat in English and he practically bit my head off and said we had to walk the bikes.  

Finally making it back to the train station after midnight, we missed the last direct train back to Heilbronn and had to take a roundabout way to Karlsruhe and then to Heibronn.  I have to give Skylar credit though, he may be high energy, but there are not many kids who could have withstood such a day, sat on the train for 2 hours, and then still biked home at 2am with not so much as complaint.

5 Juni - Modesty

Bright and early, we went to the office and got some work done.  The place is still so quiet with everyone on holiday.  Once I put all the pieces of my write up together it was much longer than I thought, so on Monday, I may actually need to trim it down before meeting with Wendelin. One thing I don't usually have a problem with is writing :)

This afternoon we ventured over to the climbing gym that is here in Heilbronn.  Before we had gone to the one in Heidelberg and haven't been very impressed.  The one in Stuttgart is awesome with it's outside walls and everything but is kind of far to go to on a regular basis. This gym is about a 7km ride to the edge of town near somewhat of a warehouse area.  The gym is amazing though!  There are 3 bouldering areas; one on the first floor that is pretty standard, one upstairs that is like a giant rock with rouets up and around it, and one huge area along the upstairs back wall.  There are top ropes and lead climbs on both floors and the climbs on the first floor are nearly twice as high as the ones at Vertical Endeavors.  There is also some fun balance stuff like the that twisty ladder and another twisty contraption that is very unnerving.  Most of the climbs are lead climbs and all of them after a certain point of difficulty are.  

The guy that was showing us around reviewed our belaying skills and was kind of weirded out at the way we belay.  Where we slide the top hand down from above the belay device, they do it from below (I realize that may not make sense, but I can't think how to explain it).  He told us why it was safer his way and I tried it, but muscle memory is hard to break, so he said it was fine if it worked and it seemed to.  He introduced me to another climber, Michaela (sp?) that was there by himself so we could climb together. Michaela is here from the Alps in Italy working on his PhD at the aerospace university.  Turns out he was an exchange student in Duluth when he was in high school.  He is really nice and very good climber, so top ropes probably wasn't what he was looking for.  I haven't done any lead climbing in months, but I located the easiest ones in there and did my best... back clipping my first clip for old times sake :)  One thing I really liked, that gave me a much stronger sense of security was that the clips were just a tad closer together than the clips at VE. I know out in Red Wing or wherever the clips are farther away, but there are varying degrees of the learning experience that help.  Michaela and I exchanged email addresses because I can never remember my phone number so we can get together and climb again.  

Back to the locker room that dances circles around what VE calls a locker room, I changed and was just getting ready to leave when this woman walks out of the sauna... yep there is a sauna... buck naked and then yells something back into the room where she just came from where a man answered her back.  Then she starts talking to me still with nothing covering her and I know I was looking at my feet and probably completely red as I explain I can't speak German. She asked me why I wasn't trying the sauna and I said I was in a hurry to get home before dark because we biked there, still looking anywhere but at her.  So there is this coed naked sauna at the gym... ok... I can just imagine the climbing group back home getting together to relax after climbing like that... scary. 

On to the bike ride home with map in hand trying to navigate the directions backwards and trying to avoid the highway this time.  Not a good idea... we took a wrong turn and ended up in another town, I think Neckersulm.  Skylar gets onto me to ask directions or ask people this and that and it drives me crazy because I stubbornly like to figure things out myself even if it takes twice as long.  So there is this man walking his dog and I finally give in and ask him where we are on the map.  I know the words was (where) and hier (here) so I thought I could at least get him to point on the map. I don't know what he was trying to tell me, but he motions for us to come with him, so we do.  Back at his house he pulls out a bigger map and I again just try to get him to tell us where we were, but he just doesn't seem to understand and wants to know where we are trying to get to.  I told him once we were in town we could get home from there.  So instead of giving directions, he puts the bikes in his car and takes us downtown.  We had gone quite a ways in the opposite direction of home and it was dark. Already feeling like this was a stupid move, I just wanted him to drop us in town and not where we live, which I finally got him to do, but was far more difficult than it should have been.  I know he was just being nice and I don't know if this is more common here, but I was a nervous wreck getting into car with a stranger having Skylar with me.  Luckily everything turned out fine.

Back in town we found one of the few places still open and got some yummy korean food for dinner.  Again they gave us cordials after dinner... must be just what they do here.

4 Juni - Customs

I ordered some books from the US Amazon a few weeks ago and yesterday got that notice in the mail about a package to come pick up at customs.  Such a strange place... it was past town, past all this construction, down this road that looked like a shipping yard.  I showed the person at the desk the letter I got and he brings out the package in this giant white poofy bag and asks me what is inside.  I told him books.  So he goes ahead and opens it and looks at each book... holds Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies, up to the other person and they said something in German and giggled.   Then seals the box back up and puts it back in the bag and seals that up with duct tape too.  I told him he could keep the bag and he said no, that I had to take it.   I asked if I had to come there every time I got a package from the US and he said yes.  Just weird.

In other news... I found a health food store in town and they sell cheddar cheese!

Tonight we reorganized the room so that Skylar's stuff is on his side of the room next to his side of the bed and mine on mine.  Soon we'll be putting a line of tape down the middle :)

3 Juni - Mail

Today, we got up and went to my office to keep me from getting too distracted and I set to work.  Skylar brought his computer and played video games while I worked.  That really is turning out to be a good investment.  Sometimes I worry that he plays too much, but he is so active as well that I don't worry that much.  I got a good chunk of work done and at least feel like I accomplished something.  It still needs a lot of work and I have more questions, but hopefully some of it is solid.

I got mail today that looks important, but I have no idea what it is.  I think it is about the books I ordered from the US version of Amazon and having to pick them up at the post office from the snippets of the document that I put in babelfish to translate.  I'll confirm with Nora when I see her or just show up at the address on the document when they open tomorrow.

This afternoon I can relax with my new knitting project while doing laundry.  One thing I definitely don't miss is sharing the washing machine and waiting for someone to get their clothes out so I can use it.  I'm sure I'm guilty of it too though.

Pfannkuchen may look like tortillas, but they are actually some sort of pancake.  Tonight's dinner was an interesting dish of cheesy pancakes with rice and beans.  With the sour cream it tastes kind of like a blintz. 

2 Juni - Coffee and sunshine

Fire - by Skylar

By next Monday I need to have an almost finished product for Wendelin.  Every time I think I have found useful information, I find another source that says how it isn't the case anymore and due to the reform act of so and so, it is like this now... until the next reform act and I can't seem to compile the latest policies based of the latest reforms.  

I tried to work from home today because Skylar has no school and Betreuung is not offered this week, but it is just hard to get motivated to work when laying in bed.  I haven't drank coffee for about 2 years now, but for some reason the way they make it here is tempting.  It's not that much different and maybe I'm just making excuses, but I tried a caffeine fix anyway.  All it did was make me feel ill and dizzy though.  So I tried to go outside for some vitamin D... but all that vitamin D was keeping me from being able to see my screen very well.  

We decided to head to town to run some errands.  I finally found a yarn store through a blog about knitting adventures in Europe and they had a entry about Germany.  Seems I'm not the only one who had difficulty locating a yarn store around here.  I even learned the word Stricken (knitting) so I could ask about it, but had no luck thus far.  I didn't think to pack a supply of yarn.  It has become such a soothing low intensity hobby for me though that I was beginning to miss it. 

The woman at the yarn store kept talking to me even though I told her I couldn't speak German and she responded that she couldn't speak English.  I would take this to mean that I would just have to figure things out out on my own, but she insisted on being helpful.  At one point she took half the yarn out of my arms and started talking and gesturing back and forth.  I just said ok and took my yarn back and she shook her head and walked off.  I'm not sure if I insulted her or what.

1 Juni - Corpus Christi

I have no idea what this holiday is, but everything is closed again.  Everything except the Capeiora studio that is :)  We headed off to Stuttgart early and took our time wandering about.  Now that we knew where we were going, we brought our bikes.  Fellbach is where the actual studio is and there are bike paths from the station all the way to the studio.  

Capieora was fun and exhausting as usual.  As a runner, I thought my legs were supposed to be strong, but nothing compares to this... I think it is all the lunging and jumping.  By the end of class, I am lucky to be kicking at ankle level.  Coordination still fails me anyway.  Skylar has that camera going 90% of the time and I am pretty sure we will 'accidentally' leave it at home next time.  Next time won't be for 10 more days though because the instructors are going on vacation.  Interesting how everyone takes vacation at the same time, like from this date to the this date is national vacation week.

That bike path that I mentioned is situated between the sidewalk and where the cars park.  So while riding home, some idiot opened their passenger side door right into Skylar as he was riding by.  Scared us both to death!  He toppled over and I flung my bike aside as I went over to him.  A bunch of people chattering in German were all around us and poor Skylar was just shaking.  His injuries weren't that bad, but he definitely got some bruising and scrapes.  Someone offered us some water and betadine to wash it out with.  He also got a little lump on his head.  The man that opened the door apologized and I refrained from yelling at him and just gave him a head nod with a look that I was not happy.  I know it was not his fault, nor Skylar's, but I was still mad.  Skylar's bike got a little banged up too and now his bell doesn't work very well.  He decided not to bike for the rest of the way because his leg hurt and I think he was pretty shaken up.  Handled it all like a rock star though.  He didn't cry and barely whined at all.  Once we got home we washed everything out and nothing looks very bad... just some nasty bruises.