I'm pretty fond of Germany in general. Especially after speaking with Germans about the differences between their country and mine. I know everyone hates the whole "enlightened student abroad" thing, but there's a lot I like about Germany. Something about it that suits my personality. 

Believe me, I'll always enjoy driving my CRV, shopping on Sundays, and having 24/7 access to supermarkets. But I'll miss Hamburg's abundant bike paths, the metro announcer voice, the cool weather, the harbor, lakes, and canals, and (most importantly) the 19-cent yogurts. I'd trade America's high fructose corn syrup subsidy for Germany's dairy product subsidy any day of the week.

And of course the inexpensive beer and wine! Natuerlich.

Anja's project is progressing very nicely. Together we're measuring the potential for cross ventilation in typical Macedonian architecture. To achieve this, we're replicating the narrow streets of Thessaloniki, Greece at the 1:100 scale in one of Hamburg University's massive wind tunnels.

Wind tunnels are supposed to be old news by now, but no can seem to build a computer large enough to satisfactorily reproduce the nuances of airflow across cities. So for now, scientists will continue to build awesome miniature cities, throw them in front of giant fans, and see what happens.

Anja's chosen a particular building of interest, which we've had crafted from metal at 1:100 and loaded with pressure sensors. We will position the building in the center of a mini Thessaloniki and blow some air over it. Then we'll rotate the city, shift its streets, and reorganize its buildings (a la Inception) to see how ventilation in the central building is affected.

Speaking of miature cities: Hamburg is home to the famous Miniature Wunderland, visited by the likes of Kirsten Dunst. Apparently dual US-Deutschland citizen, Kirsten, once spotted little naked figurines having sex in tiny the bushes at Miniature Wunderland. Fun fact.