Meeting the Locals

Instead of working at the university today, I had the opportunity to visit (with my pseudo adviser, since my real adviser is absent this week) a small forklift manufacturing company. The project he's consulting with looks at the oscillations of the forklift under load (as in over a ton) at various extended heights (up to 13 meters. That's really really tall in feet)

It was a really big forklift, in a really big room

As a EECS major, I found this fascinating. It had everything shiny - awesome sensors, clean control code, colorful diagrams (they even meant something!), and an impressive looking system. I guess you had to be there to truly appreciate it, since whenever I tried to explain it, people for some reason got this dazed and bored look.

It's a looooong way down

Though that might have had more to do with the thinking required on a weekend. Trying to avoid getting lost in a forrest, we opted this weekend to go with a native Stuttgartian into the city. (Though it might not have been as pretty, we didn't get lost and got to see a lot more of the city's culture)

We started at a nice restaurant, but that was really only to eat dinner. Our first "official" stop of the evening was (for me).. a bookstore! We couldn't stay long though- our host for the night was beginning to think we were nerds or something (he had no idea what he was getting into), and a few really wanted beers.

In search of drinks, we ended up at sky beach. It's this 'sandy' (it's really, really fake looking white/blue sand) area on top of a building. Despite being basically nothing like a beach, it was a good place to relax, watch the sun set and wait for the clubs/bars to open.

At this point, the group split. Some people decided since they had to get up 'early' (7:30 isn't thaaaat early.... well maybe it kinda is, but who cares?) so they were going to leave. Or they had to check email. (lame) So it was just the host, one other research intern and me left.

Since it was still a bit too early to go anywhere, we spent time walking around the older parts of Stuttgart until we got hungry again- since we were loosely in the area, we got Döner. Döner is turkish. and amazing. It's probably the one food I'll actually miss when I go back to MIT.

Having finally wasted enough time, we made our way back to a bar where most of the international students hang out. From what I saw tonight, it looked more like it was where basically everyone hangs out. There was no room inside, or by the door outside. People spilled around the pub in a giant mob at least 3-4 times wider than the building itself.

It was a nice night out though, and since everyone was just standing around outside, it was really easy to get to know people. This was good since we got to meet our host's friends and sing a few people happy birthday as they turned a year older at midnight. It was also a bit unfortunate as one guy really wanted to buy one of the group's jackets. (He was fairly persistent. It was almost amusing if it wasn't so bizarre)

I think I've finally experienced Stuttgart like a local. Now all I need to do is magically convince myself to get up tomorrow like a local and not be late.