I am here to work after all. So, I thought I’d provide an explanation of what I’m doing on this highly enjoyable “business trip.” Given the number of blank stares I’ve received when using the phrase image analysis, I think it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

The beautiful picture you see above is a microscopic image of sludge flocs. What’s a sludge floc? It is several hundreds of bacteria who have glued themselves together with proteins and starches. I have carefully cultured these sludge flocs in the lab in an attempt to understand bacterial psychology. Why have they chosen this particular recipe of proteins and starches for their glue? Why do they grow in flocs of that shape and size? Why do they grow as flocs at all, can’t they fend for themselves?

Of course I can’t ask my bacteria these questions (although I do talk to them from time to time) so I have to find some tools to study their habits. Throughout their life in my biological reactors, I’ve taken many thousands of microscopic images of my sludge flocs to observe changes in their size and shape. I don’t want to manually summarize how my flocs have changed, I'd rather have my computer do the work for me. Viola, image analysis! I've traveled to France to learn how to program a sort of AI software for my images.

First, I enhance the contrast of my image to make the sludge flocs stand out from the background.
(1) Enhanced contrast.

Then, I convert this enhanced picture into a binary image where all the visual information is represented as zeros and ones. At every pixel, the computer asks Is this a sludge floc? If the answer is yes, the pixel is labeled with a 1; if no, zero.

(2) Binary Image

Once I have a good binary image, I can do things like separating filamentous organisms and filling in the holes to get a solid representation of my flocs.

(3) Floc structure characterization

Now the fun begins. I, rather the computer, can quantify the shape and size of the flocs in each image. For instance, the total number of pixels in each floc is one measure of size. Depending on the shape of the flocs, any number of diameters could be measured. The number of filamentous organisms and their total length can be measured, etc.

If you’ve read this far, you probably now know more than you really wanted about image analysis of sludge flocs. But, I find the sludge flocs used for biological wastewater treatment infinitely fascinating. Hence the reason why I’m getting my PhD is this area. Little did my father know how much influence he could have over my career path. Or maybe that was his plan all along? He did take my girl scout troop on a tour of the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

One of my pets in the lab.

A little flea market that made me happy on Sunday morning.

Weekend #1 in Nancy
I rented a bike to get around town during my stay. As a biking novice, I decided to get used to riding on the road in traffic during the weeknd when the traffic is much lighter...definetely a good decision. I'm feeling pretty confident after spending the weekend biking almost everywhere in town.

I don't, however, feel confident in my ability to speak french to university maintenance men. On Saturday, after a wonderful day spent exploring the city in the crisp fall weather, I returned to my room to relax before going back out for dinner. I soon discovered that every single electrical outlet in my room had stopped working. Great, I don't know the word for outlet or plug or electric and they aren't in my French 101 book or dictionary. After waiting for two hours for the front desk to open, I go there to explain my problem. With some difficulty, I convinced the clerk that I could NOT live without electrical outlets until monday and I then proceed to wait an additional two hours for university maintence men to arrive. I am reminded of several David Sedaris short stories as I attempt to communicate with them. They are trying to tell me that I should switch rooms for the weekend because they don't know how to fix the problem but are using fast, complicated french which I can't comprehend. They don't seem to understand "Parlez lentement" and "S'il vous plait, choisissez des mots facile" (translated "speak slowly" and "please chose easy words"). Finally I caught a student walking by who spoke english and she translated. Needless to say, I was pretty stressed out. Especially since I don't have phone or internet in my room, I felt pretty disconnected.

But, this morning, flea market to the rescue! There was a flea market in the "old town" outside the Porte de la Craffe. I found some great vintage postcards and everyone was very nice and friendly and I feeling much better now. The Lorrain region is rich with flea markets which means I can keep myself busy every weekend traveling to littles towns going to flea markets.

Glen: You can have your man purse if you move to Europe (at least London, Paris, or Nancy). I see them everywhere on seemingly heterosexual men. Or maybe its just a matter of time before the man purse makes its way to states...

Me celebrating the weekend on Place Stanislas.

One week down, three to go
I have successfully completed my first week (okay, four days) of work here in Nancy. I've negotiated the post office, the laundromat, the bank to get change for the laundromat and the supermarket all with my very rudimentary french. And, I bought a very nice new mechanical pencil at the paperie. However, I hope no one asks me what I did last weekend beause I only know how to converse in the present tense. I am living in a dorm with the undergraduates, which is strange and kinda fun. It makes me feel like a freshman again...except most of my classmates don't speak english.

I found the best route to work in the morning that brings me past a very nice arc that reminds me how lucky I am to be in France for a month, all expenses paid. I've gone into the same bar for the last three mornings to get cappucino. European coffee does not suit my well-developed american coffee tastes - its WAY too strong and bitter. So, I settle for the watered down, froufy version. I chose this place because the owners ugly black pug sits in the door watching the traffic and the dog made me smile.

After work, I had a beer (or two) at a cafe on Place Stanislas to celebrate the weekend. I must admit that I'm feeling more relaxed then I have in quite a long time. I think France agrees with me.


The Porte de la Craffe. The office where I work is just on the other side.

Days 10 and 11
After breakfast, we went to the Bunker museum. During WWII, Emden was a strategic target because there was a submarine manufacturing facility on the harbor there. Thus, Emden was bombed heavily and most of the buildings in the downtown date to after the war. The town built more than 30 concrete bunkers to protect the people during the air raids and these big grey structures now populate the city having been recommisioned for other uses, including this museum.

We then had a big family lunch with Kim’s grandfather, whose birthday was the following week. It was an interesting visit for me because although Kim and his brother speak English very well, his mother speaks just a little English and his father, grandfather and sister don’t speak English at all. But, it was fun to watch them conversing in German and guess what they were talking when I’d hear a familiar word like Schuetzenfest. The best was watching their facial expressions while Kim tried to explain the concept of a demolition derby. I don’t think they quite understood why we Americans would enjoy such a thing.

Kim and I took a long bike ride to the coast and rode along the dike in the evening. There was a nice paved bike path on the crest. As the dike is among the tallest structures in the area, the bike path there offers nice views of all the towns looking one way and views of the North Sea on the other. Despite the fact that I don’t remember the last time I rode a bike, I managed not to injure myself and actually enjoyed the trip. Just to finish my impression of rural Germany, we stopped at the dairy farm on our way home to get fresh milk (basically directly from the cow).

An example of a bunker with a new use

a German water tower

just a cool pic of a wind turbine
A pimped east German car

By the way, my address at the dorm where I'm staying is:

Menniti Adrienne
2 Rue Ludovic Beauchet
54000 Nancy France

and the phone number to the office where I work is:

(33) 03 83 17 51 78

I do have a birthday coming up.........

Day 9
After saying goodbye to Jeff, I got on a train to Emden, Germany to visit a friend of mine. I have shared an office with Kim for the past three years and he is in my research group. It was serendipity that Kim was visiting his parents while I’m in France so I couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit him there. He had a very busy tourist itinerary planned so we started right away – but not before some tea and cakes with his family.

The first evening we had four destinations. Kim and his brother Lutz proved to be excellent tour guides providing a wealth of information about the history of the area. The first stop was an old castle – which was really more like an 800 year mansion. Next we visited Greetsiel, which translates to something like “great lock” and so the town has a lock and two very quaint 19^th century windmills. It definitely felt like an old-world German village. After Greetsiel, we drove to the coast to see two light houses and the North Sea where we watched a very impressive sunset over the Netherlands. Finally we went to get a closer look at the modern windmills that dominate the landscape of this pastoral German area.

The region is extremely flat (more so than Champaign county believe it or not) and the wind from the sea is essentially constant making it the perfect area for a wind farm. Cattle farms are as abundant as corn and soy bean fields in Illinois and seeing these green pastures and picture perfect Holstein herds against the sleek, modern wind turbines was my favorite part of the landscape…and these turbines are huge and impressive. They also make the best sound as the rotate in the wind.

We then went home for a delicious homemade German dinner and back out to Schuetzenfest – the equivalent of a county fair without the demolition derby. The Schuetzen are a traditional German shooting club and each little village has its own chapter complete with unique military style uniforms. There is even a Schuetzen princess and a parade where each Schuetzen chapter shows off its marching band. We went to the parade in the next day. We ended the night with a beer at a bar in downtown Emden. Like I said, Kim had a busy tourist itinerary for my 2 day visit.

By the way, the man in this picture is a Schuetzen who I harassed at the fair. I'm sure he's wondering why this funny American wants his picture.

Days 6, 7 and 8
We made it to Nancy, the town I’ll be living in for the next month. We had a slight hitch the first day – the hotel was awful. To give you an indication, the ceiling above the bed was a mirror and I didn’t want to sleep under the sheets. Not only was the hotel gross but they were jackammering the street outside until past midnight so we didn’t sleep well at all. But, at least the road construction gave us a good excuse to check out two nights early and move to much nicer hotel. I will do more research before accepting a hotel recommendation in the future.

Once we moved to a better hotel, my impression of the city improved immensely. It will be a great place to work for a month. Our second day, we wandered the old part of Nancy to get a feel for the town. It is somehow quaint and cosmopolitan at the same time. There is a lot of high end boutique shopping and a nice mall but we also found a street market and many flower shops. The best part is the Place Stanislas, a lovely square with fountains, majestic old buildings and ornate guilded ironwork. We had a nice diner at a restaurant with outdoor seating on the square.

Today, a student I am working with, Denis, helped me get situated to live here for the next month. We got my living allowance and checked into my room at the residence hall, went shopping and visited the laboratory where I’ll be working. My dorm room is very clean and much nicer than American dorm rooms. We went shopping at the French equivalent of a Meijer, which was fun. One strange thing, there was no peanut butter at the supermarket. Denis said the French don’t eat peanut butter – only nutella. We also had our first taste of French food today for lunch: fried ground beef on a toasted bagette with blue cheese, lettuce and tomato. Basically a French hamburger but it was good. Although, the best food we’ve had were crepes from a street stand near out hotel in Paris. Jeff liked his with just sugar but for me, the warm crepe with melty nutella was heaven. Tonight, we are going to eat a fancy French dinner for our last meal together for a month.
Place Stanislas at night.
The office where I'll work. UIUC environmental grad students, aren't you jealous of the windows?
The residence hall where I'll live.

Day 5
Our last day in Paris. We started by heading to Notre Dame (Speaking of - Jeff says GO BLUE! This weekend Brad). The cathedral is amazing especially the stained glass which was as good or maybe better than anything we saw in Italy. But I wanted to hike the 500 or so steps to see the gargoyles and the bell. The trek was definitely not worth it for the city view but the gargoyles were the best part of the church for me. I think Jeff could have skipped those steps and been happy. He is convinced he's lost weight on this vacation we did so much walking and stair climbing.

After lunch and another nap, we decided to go back to the Eiffel Tower to get a few more pictures in the day time. We then rode the metro to the Latin Quarter for diner. We walked back to our hotel in St. Germain des Pres through the Latin Quarter taking in the atmosphere. It was a relaxing and romantic goodbye to Paris.
Napoleon is burried here.
The mini cooper just fits into the European cityscape.
The Paris metro - it was so hot, even when the weather was nice, its no wonder the body odor stereotype exists.

Day 4
We started the day at a Paris flea market on the outskirts of town. This flea market was quite disappointing, especially compared to the Portobello Road market in London. It was just like any American flea market except the vendors sold Parisienne junk to us in french, we did at least get a good deal on some t-shirts for my brothers - a menniti family vacation tradition.

After lunch and a nap, we went to the Louvre. As neither Jeff nor I are educated in art history, the entrance fee is wasted on us. So, we enjoyed the architecture of the building and the Tuileries Garden just beyond. We continued on along Champs-Elysees for a nice walk and more window shopping. We finished the evening with another sunset and view of Paris from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. The best thing about the Arc, however, was not the view of the city but watching the traffic. According to the tour book, this is Europe's most chaotic traffic circle. I most enjoyed watching the scooters and motorcycles weave in and out of traffic. After this trip, I'm convinced I will one day own a Vespa.

Day 3
Another travel day today - we rode the Eurostar back to Paris. We'll miss hearing the British accent. English just sounds more interesting with that accent. But, as we rode the Metro in Paris with everyone around us speaking French, I realized that having a language barrier adds another layer of interest to the experience. France feels much more like a foreign country than the UK - although the lack of advertising for American movies, theatre and music helps.

After we checked into the hotel, we went straight to the Eiffel Tower only to find a huge crowd (duh!) and the summit closed. So, we went to the Montparnasse Tower instead. What a good decision...There were maybe 20 people up there and we got a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower. Finally, the city view I was looking for and Paris did not disappoint. We watched the sunset over the city then watched the Eiffel Tower light up as it got dark. I can't think of a better way to spend our first day in Paris.

we like our self portraits...its kinda our thing

Day 2
After sleeping in well past 9:00, we went to Notting Hill to do some window shopping. With all the upscale home good stores, it was like wandering through a magazine. We then made our way to the Portobello Road antique and flea market. It was very crowded but lots of fun. I found many amazing antique insect and botanical prints searching for the design of my next tattoo (sorry Mom). But, since none of the prints had tattoo potential, I settled on vintage postcards as a souvenir instead.

In the afternoon, we took a break from the city to visit Kew Gardens. Visiting gardens may be my favorite vacation activity. I’ve dragged Jeff, usually willingly, to every garden in every city we’ve visited. He agrees, this is the best one we’ve been too. This huge garden has three greenhouses, two 19th century and one modern. For me, conservatories are the pinnacle of public gardens because they’re gardens housed in beautiful structures. Kew Gardens also has a 10-story pagoda that promised views of the city. (My second favorite vacation activity is hunting for the best city view.) I was again a little disappointed with the view of London but I got a nice picture of one of the greenhouses.

We ended our day at Piccadilly Circus, the Times Square of London. We had Ben and Jerry’s ice cream while watching a band of Harry Krishna’s parading around, dancing and chanting and adding drunk vacationers as they went. It was people watching at its very best.

By the way, I changed the setting on my blog so anyone can post - even if you don't have a blog on the host website. So, please feel free to comment.

2 hours to Chicago + 2 hours at O'hare + 8 hours on a plane + 4 hours at the train station in Paris + 3.5 hours on a train = we finally made it London!

Our first stop was to ride the London Eye to watch the sun set over the city. You get a good view of Big Ben from up there with Buckingham Palace in the distance but the city isn't as picturesque as some. In fact, the best London view we saw all night was from Buckingham Place looking back at Big Ben. The clock face was lit up and the full moon hung just over the tower.

Two random stories from our first day:

(1) Jeff wore his Michigan hat today. He got a "Go Blue" from a young french woman on the train from the airport to the train station in Paris. That pretty much made his day.

(2) We were walking along the Thames River on our way to the London Eye when Jeff spotted Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, World Series of Poker Champion. We stalked him for while arguing whether that was actually the guy from TV or just a British look alike. Finally Jeff just asked him to confirm his identity, which he did, but we didn't get picture :(

À bientôt! We're off to France. Jeff returns September 16 and I'll be back October 16.