Why I love being here

Today is Friday, day 5 of my experience as an Energy Project Videographer (EPV). I have been in Seattle for almost a week, and I really fell in love with this city, although I haven't seen a lot of it, yet. It is so green, here! That is really amazing, especially all the over-abundantly flowering front yards. And the weather is perfect, it is cool and sometimes cloudy in the morning, when I am going to work, and once we're done at the university, it's the most beautiful day outside, inviting to sit outside or go for a walk (today is probably an exception, though).

At SPU, I received a warm welcome into the "inner circle" of the energy project. I had just met everybody at AAPT/PERC, two weeks ago, but it was like meeting up with old friends. Monday was my first day on-site, and Leslie and I got introduced to the general procedures by Rachel and Sam. Then everything went very fast, and Leslie and Sam ended up sitting in the classroom, videotaping the morning session, while Rachel and I were participating in the warm-up energy theater. Right away, this experience was amazing, and I was inspired to look at the recorded data, later-on to do some analysis. And I am still working on that. In fact, I felt like I could have gone home after the Monday morning session, having gathered enough data to spend the next year analyzing it.
But no, I returned to the classroom as EPV in the afternoon, to take field notes of what was happening. It turns out that that's a lot. As an observer in a classroom, I felt totally overwhelmed by the amount of information that I was swamped with. How could I ever note everything down that was happening, right now? And then try to process some of it, at the same time, and write my own thoughts on that down? Eventually, I decided to focus on what I could see happening in "my" group, to not pay too much attention to what people were saying. After all, I would be able to listen closely while watching the video. But it might be interesting to have some kind of narrative of what people are doing, with a general sense of content, but without much detailed dialog or interpretation, in my field notes to have anchor points for watching the video later.
After the afternoon session, all the instructors and researchers ("visiting scholars") met in the "lounge" for a debriefing of the day and exchanging thoughts about the next day. Sitting there with the entire team, being able to raise questions about something that we observed during the day was such a rich opportunity to have intellectual exchange happening.

Unlike the first day, Rachel and I usually spend the mornings outside the classroom, processing video data, posting blog entries, thinking, talking, etc. Otherwise, the structure of the day is the same each day. But it does not at all get boring. There is just so much going on around us, it is really amazing. Which brings me to my conclusion and the answer to the "question" I raised in the title: Since the moment I arrived here, I have felt to be a (somewhat) important part of a very very interesting project. I am immersed in a rich and fertile environment (and I am fully aware of my metaphor), I feel like I will be able to grow a lot (intellectually) during the three weeks that I am spending here. Working on the energy project with those fantastic people that are so enthusiastic and accessible (meaning: always willing to talk about what they are doing and thinking) has already been so much fun, and will continue to be fun and a source of intellectual inspiration. I am proud to be here.