{"id":27939,"date":"2010-12-14T18:09:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T18:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/?p=27939"},"modified":"2023-11-03T18:27:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T18:27:18","slug":"christmas-in-warmer-climes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/blog\/2010\/12\/christmas-in-warmer-climes\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in warmer climes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Three 1970s alumni now living in exotic locations share some warmth this chilly festive season\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Torben Poulsen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then:<\/strong> Administrative Assistant, Administration, 1976\u20131998
Now:<\/strong> Retired and living in Thailand<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Coming to EMBL \u2026<\/strong> \u201cI was tired of the three-day work week, endless strikes, bomb explosions and annoying hoaxes of early-70s London. The job interview, conducted by Sir John Kendrew was, to my relief, in English (I had exaggerated my knowledge of German).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EMBL in the 70s\u2026<\/strong> \u201cThe greatest \u2018culture shock\u2019 was the informality: as purchasing manager, I wasn\u2019t happy about getting chemical requests written on the back of envelopes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After EMBL<\/strong> \u2026 \u201cMy late wife and I spent a few years in Thailand studying Thai; it\u2019s a fantasic country and I have since remarried and settled here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connections to EMBL \u2026<\/strong> \u201cBelinda Bullard, Kevin Leonard, and Michael Reedy asked us to collect live giant water bugs for their work. I negotiated with monks in rural temples, offering a donation if they caught 200!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festive season \u2026<\/strong> \u201cMost Thais are Buddhists but will never miss an opportunity to party. I escape the bedlam by driving 800 km to beautiful beaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I enjoyed my recent visit to the lab and would be glad to show any staff or alumni the beautiful north of Thailand.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Patrick Laboeusse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then:<\/strong> Staff Scientist, Instrumentation, 1978\u20131985
Now:<\/strong> Chairman, Labo Meca UMS, Madagascar<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Coming to EMBL \u2026<\/strong> \u201cIt was a completely new life. I was 27 and came directly from Paris \u2013 working in the workshop I had to learn German very quickly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After EMBL \u2026<\/strong> \u201cI went to Madagascar 11 years ago to find some freedom \u2013 where the sun shines every day and food is fresh. Life is very simple here, but when you feel free there are highlights every minute! The company is expanding into Africa and I will move to the Ivory Coast next year to build a new workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connections to EMBL \u2026<\/strong> \u201cI am still in contact with Marie-Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Dauvergne in Grenoble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festive season \u2026<\/strong> \u201cMadagascar is an ex-French colony so the traditions are very similar, especially Christmas; the music is more African, and for food we have fresh crab, lobster, prawns, and plenty of vegetables and fruit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reuben Leberman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then:<\/strong> Group Leader and Senior Scientist, Cell Biology and Biophysics, 1976\u20131998
Now:<\/strong> Retired, Honorary Research Fellow Massey University<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Coming to EMBL \u2026<\/strong> \u201cI helped set up wet labs in Heidelberg and later Grenoble, where I continued my research. In 1983 I had a eureka moment: finding the relationship between the G-binding domain of EF-Tu and p21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After EMBL \u2026<\/strong> \u201cWe moved to New Zealand in 2002 with our younger daughter, who has Asperger\u2019s syndrome, to be nearer our elder daughter. After a year settling in our century- old villa, situated north of Wellington, an enquiry to the University about library facilities led to an interview upon which I was awarded an Honorary Research Fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festive season<\/strong> \u2026 \u201cA major difficulty for us Europeans is dealing with the seasonal differences: while many in Europe are thinking of turkey, snow and skiing, we are thinking of barbeques, beach and summer holidays \u2013 it feels wrong! Many New Zealanders have a sort of Christmas celebration in June \u2013 the middle of Winter down-under.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellen Dearden<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three 1970s alumni now living in exotic locations share some warmth this chilly festive season\u2026 Coming to EMBL \u2026 \u201cI was tired of the three-day work week, endless strikes, bomb explosions and annoying hoaxes of early-70s London. The job interview, conducted by Sir John Kendrew was, to my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":27941,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-27939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/lebemann_l.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27939"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27967,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27939\/revisions\/27967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27939"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=27939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}