Departing Thoughts from Visiting Instructors from Across the Sea
From Chris Seifert
The past year has given me many invaluable experiences professionally as well as personally. I have enjoyed working here tremendously and would strongly recommend to anybody back home to do the same.
What do I take away with me?
- I learned that most things over here are on a completely different scale. Our first car for example had 17-cup holders for seven passengers, that is 2.43-cup holders per passenger. I read that according to latest statistics every year more than 400,000 Americans suffer injuries involving beds, mattresses or pillows – by the time you’ve read this e-mail four more Americans will somehow manage to be wounded by their bedding. Another amazing statistic is that the US has more lawyers than the rest of the world put together and they all need work.
- Very soon I found out that we speak different languages, I initially thought that my problems communicating with the locals were due to my German accent – this misconception only lasted until I watched the first English TV series with American subtitles.
- I also found out the difference between baseball and cricket. Both are games of great skill involving balls and bats, but with the crucial difference that baseball is exciting and when you go home at the end of the day you know who won.
- Another nice thing about living in America is that I can eat beef here without having to wonder if I rise from the table I will stumble sideways into the wall.
- I have been amazed that nobody seems to walk anywhere, that strange people will offer you a lift when they see you walking along the street. People seem so attached to the idea of convenience that they will put up with almost any inconvenience to achieve it, for example waiting for a parking slot as close to a shop as possible, when in the same time they could have done all their shopping.
- Compared to us Europeans the American attitude to life is remarkably upbeat and lacking in negativity. Nothing is more outstanding than the friendliness of the people and I am not talking “have a nice day”. When we arrived in our street, people received us, as if the one thing that had kept them from total happiness up to that point was our absence in their lives.
Thanks to all of you, this has been a fantastic year for me.
From Leon Visser:
Our time in Ann Arbor has come to an end, much too soon as far as we’re concerned. I’d like to express my sincerest thanks to everyone here at the U of M who has helped make our stay so thoroughly enjoyable. I have learned a great deal and seen some amazing things, and I hope that some of you may have picked up some useful scraps from me.
It has also been a privilege to be in your country during this momentous period in your history and to witness first hand the way people responded in a time of crisis. We will always have fond memories of Ann Arbor.
As has become tradition, let me share with you some of the things I have learned in Ann Arbor:
- There is only one way, and that’s the Michigan way
- There is no such thing as “unfit for anesthesia”
- There is no airway that cannot be secured with a toxic dose of lidocaine, heavy sedation and manual restraint
- Subtlety is mostly wasted (with some notable exceptions among the many excellent surgeons)
- The ABC of trauma isn’t Airway, Breathing and Circulation, it’s Aggro, Bi. . .ing and Chaos
- There is only one way, and that’s the Michigan way (oops, got that one already)
- The Michigan driver’s license, contrary to popular belief, does not certify that the holder can actually operate a motor vehicle in a safe and responsible manner. It does prove your age, however
- Snow boarding lessons are a good idea (his fracture is healing well)
- It’s easy to psyche out Kanop on the golf course
Maybe I should stop there since I may want to come back here some day.
All the best
- Leon Visser