Travels begin again

Oh my, I haven't posted in quite some time. I've haven't had the heart to post to my blog since I passed my prelim...but its not because I haven't traveled. In fact, I've traveled a great deal. From a spring conference in New Orleans to a grand American Road Trip along I-70 to a summer conference in Vegas. (BTW: a rather exciting event occurred on the road trip to Seattle. Check out my Picture website for details.) I've earned over 10000 frequent flier miles this alone, which brings me halfway towards my goal of elite status on a major airline. My next three flights will be on different carriers so it doesn't look like I reach that goal this year.

I should explain why I'm resurrecting my blog. After returning from my CESRI travels in Central Europe, I decided that I wasn't content to study in the corn fields of Champaign anymore so I spent two weeks preparing an application for the Fulbright program. If you aren't familiar with the Fulbright program, I will give you a short summary (and of course a link to the Wikipedia article).

The program was created in 1946 by an act of Congress. Named after US Senator J William Fulbright, the program seeks to forge ties between nations through intellectual and cultural exchange. Every year the US government send students and faculty overseas to study the culture of their host country while also acting as an intellectual ambassador for the United States of America. (Note: the program also brings foreign students and faculty to study and teach at American Universities). This year, nearly 7000 people worldwide were selected as Fulbright Scholars. In mid-April, I found out that I was one of those people!

I was awarded a 9 month student fellowship and 6 week language training to Germany. I will be returning to work with the Frenking Group at Phillips-Universitat in Marburg, Germany. I leave for Germany in less than 7 weeks. In the meantime, I'll try to keep you posted on all important travel items, including the mounds of paperwork to fill out.

I am deeply honored and incredibly excited to receive the Fulbright this year. I hope to learn a lot of German and a little bit of chemistry along the way. Auf Wiedersehen!