Here I am again. Here we all are. I have been in Germany for twelve days now: long enough to have (somewhat) settled in, short enough to have barely scratched the surface ... of anything. Luckily, I have time to explore.

There are 5 W's to understanding this blog:

Who: Me, your blogger otherwise known as Briana.
What: (Academic) Doctor of Sustainable Engineering embarks on two-year post-doc with one of the world's top life cycle assessment (sustainability analysis) research labs. Could also be described as German-speaking U.S. citizen living the expat life.
Where: Stuttgart, Germany; Southwestern Germany near the Black Forest.
When: January 2013 - January 2015
Why: So many reasons! Mainly to learn all I can from my engineering colleagues, to publish new sustainable engineering research, and to use the post-doc as a crucial stepping stone to launching my scientific career. Not to be overlooked, of course, is the opportunity to improve my German in the finest of settings!

What about the title, you ask? "Wander by Design" comes from the fact that I am an expert in finding opportunities to combine work with wandering, otherwise known as travel. You could say it all started with my last semester of high school as an exchange student in Germany. From there, I spent a semester and then a year in Austria, another semester in Brazil, a few project work weeks in Honduras and later in Uganda. As often as I find opportunities, they have a way of finding me. These cultural exchanges have, in no small part, created who I am today.

So what will I write about? Everything from daily life in Germany to global and local current events to sustainability essays for my fellow academic geeks. Be prepared for discussions on the Schwäbischen dialect, diatribes on the evils of German bureaucracy, and perhaps a few too many photos of landscapes. Of course there will be touristy travel entries, too.

What do I want from you? Leave me comments! Please. It's nice to know when people actually read what you write. Share the blog address: wanderbydesign.blogspot.com. (Those of you in or near Germany might get redirected to blogspot.de. That's okay. You should still be able to read the blog with either address.) Leave me links of travel blogs that you enjoy. Tell me if there is a particular topic you'd like me to cover. Tell me if you get tired of a topic. Above all, read and enjoy.

Bis demnächst,
Briana