In This Post I… Study and Visit My Lab

Monday

On Monday, my day was fairly routine. I stopped by the University Housing office to return my signed housing contract, then headed to the library to complete some work. It was my first time biking to the University, and while the first two-thirds of the trip were easy and straightforward, the last third had many turns and hills. I’m hoping that with time, I’ll either find a better route or get accustomed to the hills!

I had some required reading for my upcoming course on animal handling and surgery techniques, as well as papers to review in preparation for my research project. I spent some time walking around the University, trying to locate a suitable library for studying. The campus is much larger than Columbia’s, and the buildings are labeled with numbers rather than names.

AU has libraries for each faculty (department), so I was hoping to find the Health Sciences Library. However, I stumbled upon the main library first and decided to set up there for the day.

The library is organized so that different floors can be used for different types of study. The basement and ground floor have group study spaces where open conversation is allowed. The next two floors are designated for quiet study only.

After finishing my work, I biked back to my house. Thankfully, the return route has plenty of downhill stretches, making it much easier! Back home, I went grocery shopping with my roommates – finally stocking up on peanut butter and my favorite Danish chocolate cookies – and then we had a house meeting.

I saw Marni again and also met his wife, Maja. They’re both incredibly sweet and easygoing. They went over the house rules and showed us the cleaning products. Since Denmark has hard water, the kitchen and bathroom must be cleaned weekly to prevent limescale buildup. Afterward, we took a group photo, and Mari invited us to go sailing over the weekend. Although the summer hasn’t been particularly warm, the weather should be nice for sailing this weekend!

Tuesday

Tuesday was much more exciting! In the morning, I had breakfast with my roommates. I’ve decided that although they’re much younger than me, it’s nice to have people around the house.

Then, I biked to my lab! The building is on the main campus, so I again had to take the hilly route. I made it to campus alright but got a bit lost looking for the lab building. When I finally located it, I had to walk all the way around to find the entrance!

My PI (Primary Investigator, or head of the research lab), Dr. Matchkov, is away at a conference in Brazil this week, so I met two of the PhD students in the lab to set up my access card and email address. When I get my work computer, the keyboard has the Danish alphabet! This means that the english letters are shifted to the left and smaller… something to get used to!

I met Christina and Lisa at the building entrance since I didn’t yet have access. They’re very friendly and have both been in Dr. Matchkov’s lab for over a year, so they really know their way around! They introduced me to Inge, the department secretary, who set me up with a special access key and email, as well as a PIN in case I need to access the building on nights or weekends.

Christina and Lisa then took me to my next stop: a free coffee machine! So far, it’s my favorite place in the building. We all filled up our coffee mugs before heading up to the fourth floor, where the lab is located. As we went, I noticed that nearly every door and access point requires a key swipe!

They showed me around the rest of the lab, introducing me to the other researchers and lab techs, as well as the various equipment rooms. The building is very new, so the lab is beautiful and spacious! There’s a small kitchen on the fourth floor where people gather for coffee at 10 AM and lunch at noon, as well as several meeting spaces. On the 5th floor, there’s a store where researchers can pick up supplies for their projects and studies. I got to see the “laser” I’ll be using to mimic a stroke in mice, as well as the lab space for mouse surgery! I also discovered that Lisa likes Pride and Prejudice, and she gave me a P&P sticker for my work computer!

I also met a few of the professors in the department. Everyone is very informal and uses first names only here, which is a bit jarring for me! After I kept referring to my PI as Dr. Matchkov, I was politely reminded to call him Vladimir – oops! The people I met also wanted to know what city I’m from in Wisconsin, to which I replied, “Oh, it’s very small, I’m not sure you’ll know it…” and then they said, “Milwaukee?”

This happened twice.

However, they were familiar with Minneapolis and St. Paul, so I used those cities as reference points. One professor also informed me that “the Midwest is the part of the country that Donald Trump uses to deny climate change!” LOL.

Later, I joined Lisa and Nadia, a postdoctoral student, for lunch. We decided to go to a Kantin (canteen) on campus. Unlike having a few dining halls for all students on campus like American universities do, AU has individual canteens for each school. We went to the Chemistry Canteen (I’ve been informed by reliable sources that the Math Canteen smells), and the food selection was pretty good! It’s buffet-style with multiple entrée options, and I had the chance to get one of my favorite Danish foods: nye kartofler (new potatoes). They’re young potatoes that are boiled and covered in butter, garlic, and herbs.

After finishing my tasks for the day, I headed out to meet Carissa for some shopping. We met at Strøget, which is the main shopping street found in several large Danish cities. We made purchases at Normal and Matas, which are similar to Ulta and Sephora in America.

We browsed a few stores and then decided to get a drink at one of the street cafes. There, we finalized our travel plans to Copenhagen on Thursday for the Fulbright orientation program. We have to leave very early in the morning, so we checked that the bus operates that early in the city and also discussed what we’re packing.

Later, I biked home and enjoyed a relaxing night before heading to bed early, excited to be back in the lab early tomorrow!

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Image Descriptions

1: My Lab

2: Sitting in the Library!

3: Back Left to Right: Matthieu, Marnie, Maja, Jordan, Pietro
Front Left to Right: Stella, Caitlin, Emma, Jess, Me!

4: The Inside of my Lab Building, Skou Bygningen

5: Also the Inside of my Lab Building

6: View from Stroget