In the summer of 2005, we founded the German Student Association (GSAM) at the University of Minnesota. This took up the tradition of the German Stammtisch in Minneapolis, a group of german-o-phil friends who met regularly to chat, eat and drink. By officially registering this group, we were hoping to reach out to all the German and German speaking students at the UofM, and thus to get more people involved. So - if you would like to speak some German and to have some fun, come to our next meeting, look at our website, and sign up on our mailinglist!

Apart from that, here are some links to great places where I have spent time:

Reinbek, my home town, and small neighbor to beautiful Hamburg, the "gate to the world" in the north of Germany.

Wewoka, Oklahoma. After spending a year there as exchange student, some saw me coming back to the US to work for NASA. Well, seems as if they were not so far off...

University of Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany. THE place to study aerospace engineering in Germany :-). Besides, of course also the home of Daimler Chrysler, Bosch and Porsche... And, not so well known to most, the secret location of Commandcenter Bebelstrasse and headquarters of the Allmandboys.

SupAero in Toulouse, France. Not only THE place to study aerospace engineering in France, but probably in all of Europe. Do I have to mention the sun, the savoir vivre, the historic centre ville, or things like foie gras, Cassoulet, and the grand crus from St. Emilion (granted, a little further away...)?

The Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana. Quasi the European Cape Canaveral, but at only 5 degree latitude. The iles du salut make Papillon come alive, and in the jungles of the back country you can experience some real adventures, and meet some strange critters. And if you're lucky, you might just see a 50m, 750t Ariane 5 lift off. (Don't have time for jungle expeditions? Watch a launch online here)

Space Robotics at the University of Toronto, Canada. What shall I say? This is, in a way, the reason why I am in Minneapolis now. And what a time it was... Seeing moose in Algonquin Park, "braving the Bruce", getting introduced to the wonders of baseball by my labmates, visiting Montreal and Quebec City, and, finally, this magic train ride west, all the way to Vancouver, passing through the Rockies, and spending time on the Icefield Parkway. And all this to teach a group of robots how to optimally find their way from A to B...

Finally, I'm not here on my own - my wife is also working on her PhD here in Minnesota. Not that grad school will necessarily prepare us for life, but it does help to finally understand all these weird science jokes...

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