School

This is a general post on school.

I really love a lot of things about German social programs and attitudes towards education.  For example, for university students in Germany, all of the food sold by cafeterias is subsidized by the government. 

NOTE: the food sold on Auburn's campus actually has a premium added to it, which causes droves of students to go across the street to the fast food restaurants. It doesn't make sense to me that the school is trying to make money off of food and it seems like it creates terrible eating habits.

The understanding here is that students aren't making a lot of money and need help.  The cafeteria sells lunch 5 days a week at 1.90 Euro a plate (+.60 for a Salad and Yoghurt).  The cheapest thing you could get at a fast food restaurant or Imbiss is usually 3.00-5.00 Euro here.

Long story short: I've been really enjoying the cafeteria.

The other day, we had spare ribs:

The wind lab is trying to make a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine.  I have been working on generating the CAD for the rotor-blades.  The design the teacher came up with is quite complex, and is difficult to construct while maintaining the correct airfoil cross section at every point along the blade.  Here is the common blade ours is based off of:

This is roughly the shape a rope would make if you spun it in a circle with the ends fixed.  It is significant because it means the blade theoretically would be mainly in tension as it spins, which lowers the strength requirement, thus saving weight. Theoretically.  But we also added some rotation so that the wing performs better in low speed... it is easier to see than explain:

This model is going to be 3d printed at 1:10 scale so the professor has a display item at an upcoming conference.  Here is the printer being calibrated:

Other than working in the lab, school is going alright. It is extremely difficult to focus for so many hours in a language I hardly understand- but it is getting easier. Funny story:

I'm sitting in a class about power plants, so the word Waerm (heat) is used a lot.  The teacher is eccentric (I'm noticing a pattern) and speaks with a lot of inflection.  I am struggling to track everything that is happening.  Here is how my brain is working:

....there is something about coal and steam and ... did I hear the word doctor? no... oh okay so heat transfer he understands well and ... did he say woman doctor? no... okay yea the heat thing again and ... brother? why is he saying 'Warmer Bruder' ... I think that is slang... okay now he is definitely talking about doctors for females and his wife.  Yes, he is addressing the girls in the front row, the guys look uncomfortable... back to the brother... I think he is telling us about his gay brother... what the hell is going on? Is my German this bad? I swear this is not power plant engineering...

At this point I lean over and write on my neighbor's paper "Warmer Bruder = Gay Brother? und... Gibt's etwas mit Gynocologists (is there something with ____)?"   The dude realizes instantly how confused I must be and erupts into laughter.  He admits that yes, we are talking about this, but the even he has no idea why.

And that is what it is like to be a foreigner in school- total complete confusion that even 100% effort cannot abate.

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And then one day I found out that Word has a function where it gives you statistics about your writing style and level: