A Grueling and Watery Thursday

Yesterday was the longest and most grueling day of my graduate student life. And I know that it is just the beginning because I will be going to those Thursday classes in the next three months.

The Institute where we hold our classes. Located at the foot of the forest.

A small-scale wastewater treatment plant is also housed here.

Now that the Summer Semester 2011 at the Universität Stuttgart is in full swing, I need to attend the lectures and seminars of my chosen specialization and some related electives. Thursday is "Büsnau Day" because we hold our classes for the modules in "Urban Drainage and Design of Wastewater Treatment Plants" and "Water Quality and Treatment" at the university's Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management in Stuttgart-Büsnau, a good 3.7 kilometers away from the Universität Stuttgart campus in Vaihingen. Yes, everything has got to do with water: from clean water to the dirty one.

From 10:00 AM until 7:00 PM, we had to sit and listen to the lectures of our professors. Although there were fifteen-minute breaks in between and a forty-five minute lunch, you could easily doze off to lalaland. With the lights in the lecture hall dimmed, cool spring breeze entering the room from the outside and the absence of an automated coffee machine where you can buy coffee from - these are just perfect sleeping conditions. 

Yesterday was a really long one for me. Although I was able to endure it, it was just too much information to take in in one day. And just thinking about having to go back there next week makes me want to skip it altogether. Toinks!