Explore the World at Your Bench

Courtesy of James Loss In today's fast-paced, publish-or-peril world of science, it is difficult for a postdoc to focus on anything but work. We can be so focused on research that we fail to take the time to get to know our colleagues. Yet, academia offers a unique setting where intelligent people from all over the world have a chance not only to work together, but to learn from one another as well. One encounter has developed into a friendship I could never have imagined, for our similarities, despite the cultural differences, are astounding. My wife and I had relocated from the Northeast to the Southeast for our postdoctoral training, and it is in her lab where this story begins. An assistant professor from Brazil was beginning a two-year sabbatical at her lab. My wife expressed her amazement about the similarities between this Brazilian guy and myself. Our commonalities started with our graduate training in classical pharmacology; we both had worked with in vitro tissue-bath systems, which in today's molecular world is fairly uncommon. The more we talked, the better friends we became. I discovered we had a common interest in the outdoors, he being an accomplished endurance motocross racer and I an avid mountain biker. Did you know that some of the best Formula-1 drivers, or "pilots," come from Brazil? This isn't so surprising when you see the driving in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo! Our wives became friends, too. This growing relationship helped dissipate our mutual sense of isolation. For a short time at first, the Brazilians were a little bit like fish out of water here in the United States. But I was impressed by their desire to master the English language. Explaining the proper use of our slang was a whole other project. The word 'cool' took on a whole new meaning with their accents and application. We had more success teaching each other how to make classic native foods. Brazilians are known for barbeque. I don't care how many US barbeques you enjoy, you've never experienced anything like the Brazilian version. The quality and cuts of beef in Brazil make our filet mignon equivalent to a hamburger. We reciprocated with a homemade Thanksgiving feast, proving that gorging oneself is an international predilection. Well, our Brazilian friends left the day after our wedding. That night when they said goodbye, there was nothing I could do to stop the tears. I felt as if we were losing a brother and sister. Or, maybe we gained a country: We have come and gone from Brazil. For three weeks we traveled with our friends throughout the county. It is sometimes difficult to work with people from different cultures, especially when you think that they refuse to at least try and communicate with you in a common language. But sometimes if you make a little effort, so will they. The reward: another country. James R. Loss II (jloss@pharm.emory.edu) is a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University, Atlanta. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[1].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[2].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[3].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[4].checked) result = true; if (!result) alert("Please select") return result; } .myradio{background-color : #94bee5} Please indicate on a 1 - 5 scale how strongly you would recommend this article to your colleagues? Not recommended 1 2 3 4 5 Highly recommended Please register your vote

Explore the World at Your Bench

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