2008-06-30 (Lindau Day 2)

30th June 2008 marked the beginning of the series of morning lectures and afternoon discussions that lasted for four consecutive days. The morning lectures were scheduled to start at 9 am, but since my breakfast was only available after 8 am and I would not want to miss it, I decided to take the 8.30 am bus. (With punctuality promised, this was the first time in my life that I could really plan my bus trip.)

After I walked into the breakfast dining room, I browsed through the food options that were available for me. Let’s see... Breads, more breads, corn flakes and cereals with milk, fruits salads, mayonnaise, yogurt dressing, more dressings (I do not really know the name), hams, meats (I had no idea what the meats were,  maybe pork or turkey?), etc. At first, I thought the meats were raw because they were so cold and so pink! After having our breakfast, my roommate and I took the 8.30 am bus and it was crowded by fellow attendees.

Nobel Laureates’ lectures series.

The committee had done a great job here in taking care our personal needs, as the hall offered place to hang the jackets, umbrellas or even bags. As expected, the hall was crowded and soon the lecture series spun-off with the first presenter, Prof. Dr. Theodor W. Hänsch. I had a hard time trying to comprehend the lectures because it was deep and yet diverse. However, Prof. Dr. Ivar Giaever gave me the first impact as his lecture was more like story-telling and he presented it in a humorous way.

Hospitality (and my roommate).

After the first three lectures, they provided us a coffee break. We took the opportunity to get a close-up with one of the Nobel Laureates, Prof. Dr. Theodor W. Hänsch! It was not only us, but many participants ‘rushed’ to the Laureates and asked for their signatures and photos, as if they were celebrities.
 

Who is the Nobel Laureate?

I must not forget to mention the drinks here. Besides coffee and tea were provided free for us, there was also free water too. Here is the catch; there were two types of water, still and mineral water. Still water is the usual water we drink in Malaysia but the mineral water is carbonated! Yes, tasteless and gassy, yuck!

(Side note: Later, a German participant told me that it was actually the mineral water in Germany was carbonated naturally, so it is sort of a local drink for them, but nowadays the carbonated drink was mostly artificial as the natural reserves was excessively exploited.)

The lecture continued after the break, Prof. Dr. Klaus von Klitzing started with his presentation of “Carbon Electronics”. He spoke very fast and still very energetic even at his age. After another two presentations, we had our lunch break at 12.15pm at the tent. It was buffet style and the menu changed every day. Although I could see the committee put effort in making the cuisine international but it was not successful. The meals did not really cater the needs of vegetarians and Muslims, and the worst part was the queue was long. (Sorry, no picture of the food, too hungry.)

V for von Klitzing.

We were supposed to follow a guided city tour around the isle of Lindau, but we missed it because we had an exclusive interview with Prof. Dr. Ivar Giaever and personal interview conducted by Mrs. Zubaidah. Mrs. Zubaidah, a Malaysian freelance Science writer staying in Germany, arranged this unique experience for the Malaysia delegates and surprisingly the Laureate agreed without any hesitation. It was very beneficial for me since I was a given a chance to ask any question. “Be skeptical, competitive.” “Hard work and failure is inevitable.” These were his piece of advice.

Ivar Giaever.

Later in the afternoon, I attended my very first scientific discussion with Nobel Laureates. I attended both Prof. Dr. Giaever and Prof Dr. Klitzing. The crowd in the Prof. Dr. Giaever’s session was too many; I did not really have the chance to ask a question. So I moved to the Prof. Dr. Klitzing’s room. Although the discussion was dominated by a few people with many questions, but the other participants were not afraid to voice out their doubts and opinions. I was very anxious but I finally managed to ask Prof Dr. Klitzing a question: “Do you expect a Noble Prize when you are doing your research?” He answered that he only knew what he was doing was interesting physics and fundamental research.

City Hall, one of the scientific discussion venue.

The get-together dinner with Countess Bettina Bernadotte was mind-refreshing after the heavy academic lectures and discussions in the day. The sitting arrangement was done in such a way that at most one Nobel Laureate was sitting at one long table. The participants could choose the seat and had a dinner-chat with them. Our (Malaysian delegates) table did not have a Nobel Laureate, but we got to meet another Singapore delegate, who was just sitting next to me. I must stress here that the food serving arrangement was very bad. After the long queue, most of the food was taken and we still had not eaten anything yet. The highlight of the night was a traditional dance, which the gentlemen gave a flower to the ladies and they dance with their partner! I did not have the chance because 2/3 was guys and 1/3 was ladies, you do the math. Even the Nobel Laureates had fun.

Queuing up to dance?

(Side note: Someone accidentally poured the red wine on me, so my name tag stinks until now. I want to keep the tag as it was precious memory though.)

The day ended with another exclusive interview with Prof. Dr. Peter Grünberg (2007 prize winner) and thanks again to Mrs. Zubaidah. I must say the Laureates we met today were very friendly and really changed my initial perception.

Peter Grünberg.

The sunset is infinitely good.