It’s no surprise that residents of the Cosmo House are an international bunch. The majority are either exchange students or international students completing their studies in the U.S. Naturally, they travel home when they get a chance. But what I realized recently is that Cosmo residents don’t just travel home. You can find them all over the world, no matter where they’re from!
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| Zhong-Ning, Ana, and Gabi at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies | Zhong-Ning took this photo of Ana and Gabi when he was visiting them in Romania; This is in front of Peles Castle, a German-style castle built by Romanian King Carol I in the Carpathian Mountains in the late nineteenth century |
Former housemate Zhong-Ning may win the award for being the most traveled “Cosmonaut.” You may have read his article in past issues of the Cosmo newsletter about Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Dubai, and Tokyo. Of course, he also visited his parents in China. Even though he graduated, got a “real” job, and no longer lives at Cosmo House, his travels have not ended. See his article titled “Romania, the BEST Country in the World,” about his trip to visit Ana and Gabi in Romania this winter. Where are you planning to go next, Zhong-Ning?
Stephen, from Ghana, also doesn’t stay at home much. As well as completing undergraduate and graduate work in Pennsylvania and Atlanta, he spent time last summer conducting research in Uganda and returned to visit Ghana in February. He also seems to be gone most weekends, which he claims is always for conferences. He certainly wins the award for the most conference travel. How can his department afford him?!
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| Stephen delivering a lecture to medical staff of TAS0-Uganda (The AIDS Support Organization), Summer 2007 | Stephen took this picture of Kampala, Uganda. |
Christina, from Korea, is close to beating Zhong-Ning in terms of international travel. And even more impressive, she’s still an undergraduate. While raised in Korea, Christina lived in Canada when she was ten and went to high school in New Zealand and the United States. She has also been to Japan, Indonesia, Australia, France, and Germany. Last summer she went to Italy, Austria, and Croatia, and she liked it so much that she went back over winter break, visiting Venice, Zagreb, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Cesky (Czech Republic). I’m impressed! Most Koreans wouldn’t even want to go to Eastern Europe. Of course, they don’t know what they’re missing!
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| Courageous Christina visiting Cesky (Czech Republic) over winter break | Inaki and Daniela in front of Schloss Neuschwanstein in the Bavarian Alps | Daniela, two penguins, and a llama at the beach in Argentina |
Of course, love can lead one to do all sorts of crazy things. Daniela, from Bavaria, visited Inaki’s family in Argentina this winter, even giving in, so I hear, and eating meat occasionally. (She never admitted to liking it, but I wonder…) This was of course only after Inaki visited Daniela’s family in Munich. He swears that it was just coincidence that it happened to be Oktoberfest at the time.
Our most recent arrival at the house—although we’ve hardly gotten to know her, since she spends all her time in the lab—is a sweet Polish grad student from Krakow. With her amazing work ethic, we would think that maybe Ewelina doesn’t take the time to travel. But that’s wrong, too. She is completing her degree in Chemistry in Berlin!
Ana and Gabi, from Romania, are the quietest and seemingly most sedentary of all Cosmo residents. Ana’s lived in the house, after all, since 2000. But impressions are deceiving. They are moving to France for a post-doc at the end of this year. Ana insists that wasn’t her first choice of location, but I suspect she’s saying that so that the rest of don’t feel so bad. It would certainly be my first choice! I hear rumors that a whole bunch of housemates and alumni are planning a reunion in Romania this June at their wedding. Congratulations, Gabi and Ana!
And those who are here for shorter periods—as exchange students or visiting researchers—still manage somehow to see more of the U.S. in a year than most Americans do in a lifetime. Markus and Niels, both from Germany, have made a point to experience that all-American pastime: the road trip.
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| Ingo, Markus, Sophie and Friederike at Death Valley National Park | Driving through Giant Sequoia National Monument is nothing like Champaign-Urbana! | Niels at Yosemite National Park |
Here’s Markus’s “short” summary of his travels:
In October, we drove to Niagara Falls and Toronto for a long weekend (might have been Labor Day). In November, I flew into Miami, met with Ingo who had attended a workshop there, and we spent three days driving through Florida, including the keys and Disney World. From there, we drove to South Carolina and Georgia and eventually spent a few days with my aunt and uncle's family in Tennessee before flying back from Atlanta. And for Spring Break, we flew into Oakland, stayed in San Francisco for two days, rented a car there on the third day, drove south to Yosemite National Park, Giant Sequoia National Park and King's Canyon, to Hollywood, from there proceeded to Death Valley, a short stop at Joshua Tree National Park, through Las Vegas, to southern Utah. There we went to Bryce Canyon, south to Arizona, to see the northern part of the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and then the southern part of the Grand Canyon. We then returned to Las Vegas, where we stayed another day and flew back on Saturday.
It makes me tired just reading about it… and that’s the short version!
Davide (Italy), likewise visited Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Phoenix, New York, and Boston, since he’s been at U. of I., taking excellent pictures everywhere he went. (See his photos at http://flickr.com/photos/davidemotta.) And this kind of traveling doesn’t necessarily stop when the Ph.D. program starts. Since September, Lev (our Russian-Israeli housemate, who, ironically, has never actually been to Russia), has visited Dallas, New Orleans, Panama City (Florida), and New York. And this is while taking improv lessons each weekend in Chicago! Ask him about his trip home to Israel for a “nose job.” Ingmar (Netherlands) also seems to be traveling all the time. I’ve given up trying to catch him at home long enough to figure up where he’s off to next.
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| Davide, who never takes pictures of himself when he travels, takes great pictures of what he sees; This is from Boston in January | Ground Zero from the World Financial Center, New York City, New York, U.S.A., the 25th of December 2007 (Photo by Davide Motta) | Lev learning to ice skate in Chicago |
And let’s not forget past housemates and club members. Rahul, from India, has a postdoc in Canada. Heejung, from Korea, lives with her husband in Germany. Laura (Venezuela) married Ivan and now lives in Croatia. Her brother Andrés is in Zambia. Felix, who has dual citizenship of Germany and Canada, is in Colombia. Klaus (Germany), last I heard, was living in Denmark. And these are just the ones I know personally. Although I’ve never met her, I understand that Karin from Austria now lives in Australia. And Joe Savitzky, a club member in 1951, lives in Israel. I can’t even begin to think of how many more I’m missing!
I thought my trip to Ecuador was pretty impressive, but five days in Latin America is nothing compared to the traveling many Cosmo housemates and alumni do regularly. There must be something in the water at 307 E. John in Champaign.