Vacation in France & Home Office

From the end of September, I spent two weeks of vacation in France with family. We stayed in the French Alps in the area close to “Gap”. We explored different vallies, hiked around them, and spent very good time there. The best part was that I was able to see beautiful mountains everyday from the moment I woke up from the bed, without the need to go somewhere far. I think overall it had a “calming effect” to my mind, by which I felt more and more peaceful inside of me. Also, in most areas where we hiked, there was not so much human touch, and sometimes I could feel the wild nature, harsh but beautiful at the same time. Another thing that I was impressed is the diversity of landscapes. Only by driving a few hours, we could see entirely different nature.

Another thing that I really enjoyed is food and drinks, which of course cannot be missed in France. I really like the culture of having aperitif with a pleasant cold drink and slowly move to a meal. Also, wine and food together really boosted the tastes of each other. In France, I think eating and drinking are more part of experience, which one has to appreciate the moment. Now back in Germany, we brought quite some amount of nice food and drink back. I hope we enjoy them for the next coming months.

Though the vacation was over, I stayed one more week in the same area. Because I was close to Grenoble, I intentionally planned to visit Spintec right after the vacation. I thank Mairbek Chshiev for hosting my visit. As I already knew, Spintec was a very large research team, whose research topics range from very fundamental aspects of magnetism to device applications in spintronics. There are divisions which are strategically structured, but I had an impression that everyone kind of works with everyone, as they want. This is what I really liked. During the visit, I gave two lectures with my research topic, orbitronics. I also had discussion with many researchers during the visit on many topics, like career, strategy as well as our scientific interests. Without a doubt, what I enjoyed the most is scientific discussion. I like to discuss not just “ideas” which may seem pretty but also “messy details”. This is what makes science more attractive; The idea doesn’t always work as we think! Good to remember always…