Day 2 at Uni

Today was scarier, if that's possible. As soon as Guido got in, we spent several hours straight sitting side-by-side, reading through various correspondences between the quantum physicists--in German--and then trying to discuss the contents. I was totally faking it. I mean, quantum is hard enough as it is, but my German is definitely not on par with Captain Fluent my colleague. I probably understood about 73% of what we were reading. Then, I had to learn how to use Latex while he sat there and dictated our notes for the afternoon--which I then had to code in to Latex in front of him. I suck at this.

Again, Guido is a great guy. He's just...well, he expects a great deal of me, and so do I. And right now I'm not living up to it. I just tend to lose my confidence entirely in situations like these. When I left at the end of the day he said he'll have to re-read my Heisenberg translation, because it's been a long time and because he wants to evaluate how good my translation was.

I about "weed" my pants right then and there. But Don had helped me polish up the translation, and he's ueber fluent. And he had said at the time I'd done an excellent job. So why the heck am I so nervous?

Lord, beer me strength.

But speaking of "weeing", I asked Jody last night about the two-button thing on toilets. We were right--the one is for a half-flush option, to conserve water. Brilliant, I say.

On the train ride home I decided to take a breather, and instead of frantically trying to learn German even better (which I'll do tonight), I just popped in my iPod buds and listened to my new favorite song-- "Love to a Monster" by Okkervil River. And then I looked up, out the window--and there it was. Sydney Harbour, all glistening and laid out before me. The opera house was so white with the deep blue of the harbour. It was dotted with many tiny sailboats, and the water was buttressed by verdant hills, covered in red-roofed houses. Incredibly beautiful. I mean I'd seen a thousand pictures, but wow.

I'll have a bite to eat, and then back to work for another few hours. This will be a trying month. I hope I do have time to explore the city at some point...