{"id":4515,"date":"2021-04-15T15:45:06","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T15:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4515"},"modified":"2021-04-15T15:45:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T15:45:06","slug":"bubers-basque-story-part-47","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/04\/15\/bubers-basque-story-part-47\/","title":{"rendered":"Buber’s Basque Story: Part 47"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you have comments or questions, or have simply been enjoying the story and want to say hello, please drop me a note!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as Maite crossed the threshold of the doors, a young woman was there in the lobby to greet her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0
\u201cAre you Maite?\u201d asked the woman. Her blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a white lab coat that covered her clothes. Her blue eyes were framed by small circular lenses. Safety goggles were perched on top of her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d replied Maite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buber’s Basque Story is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWelcome to the physics department. I\u2019m Amy. I\u2019ve been asked to show you around the department. Please forgive my appearance. I got in early to get some experiments done since I knew I\u2019d be showing you around most of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m so sorry, I certainly didn\u2019t mean to inconvenience anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, no worries at all,\u201d said Amy as she led Maite through one of the doors on the side of the lobby. \u201cOthers did the same for me when I first visited and it\u2019s only right that I continue the tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they walked, Amy pointed out a small conference room. \u201cThis is where you will be giving your talk,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd,\u201d she added as they continued down the hallway, \u201cthis is where I sit. I share this office with a few other students. If you like, you can stash your bag in here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s alright,\u201d replied Maite. \u201cI\u2019d rather keep it with me, in case I need my computer or my notebook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSounds good.\u201d They continued on. \u201cHere,\u201d said Amy as she pushed open a door, \u201cis the department office. The secretaries will be able to help you with any reimbursements for your expenses and whatnot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite waived and said hello to the two women who sat behind desks covered in papers as Amy shepherded her past them. \u201cAnd here is the department chair. He\u2019ll be your first appointment. Oh, I almost forgot to give you this.\u201d Amy handed her a piece of paper with times and names. \u201cHere is your schedule. Your talk is right after your meeting with the chair. After that, I\u2019ll take you to tour some of the labs and then we\u2019ll grab lunch with some of the other students. In the afternoon, you have meetings with some of the other professors. Sound good?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerfect, thank you so much Amy,\u201d replied Maite as Amy knocked on the door. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They heard a muffled voice from the other side. \u201cCome in!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy pushed open the door. \u201cGood morning professor. This is Maite.\u201d

\u201cExcellent,\u201d said the man as he stood up from behind his desk and crossed over to shake Maite\u2019s hand. \u201cThanks Amy, I\u2019ll take her to the seminar when it\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy nodded. \u201cSee you soon, Maite,\u201d she said as she closed the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the day was a blur. Maite\u2019s talk, on the electronic properties of quantum materials, was well attended and engaging. She was constantly interrupted with questions, but she felt she defended herself well and that she had answers to most of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afterwards, the department chair had complimented her on her talk. \u201cExcellent talk, and great work, Maite. I\u2019ve got to dash back to the office, but I hope to talk to you again before the end of your visit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy then led her to various labs, showing her the equipment they had for interrogating the properties of quantum materials. There were the standard structural probes of transmission electron microscopy, but also more exotic tools including various laser spectroscopy systems and microwave amplifiers. Maite could barely keep all of the information in her head and was glad when it was time for lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy and a few other students took Maite to the campus food court. She was able to ask the other students about living and working in Berkeley. The students came from all over the world and had very different views of both the campus and the city, with some loving the eclectic nature of Berkeley the city and others bemoaning the over-population. However, they were all universal in their love of the department and the science they were able to perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After lunch, Maite then met with a few of the other professors in the department, those that she felt she had some connection to in terms of research interests. They each explained their research history and the opportunities for students in their respective groups. Maite was again starting to feel overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information that was being funneled to her when, before she knew it, the day was over. She was both exhausted by the long day and excited by all of the amazing possibilities a place like Berkeley offered. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have comments or questions, or have simply been enjoying the story and want to say hello, please drop me a note! As soon as Maite crossed the threshold of the doors, a young woman was there in the lobby to greet her. \u00a0\u201cAre you Maite?\u201d asked the woman. Her blond hair was pulled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Artboard-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1aP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4516,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4515\/revisions\/4516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}