Pag-uusap sa dalawang pulis sa estasyon ng tren sa Leer

Photo source: The Hindu

The Leer train station is a border station between the Netherlands and Germany. I took a train from Groningen to Leer in order to transfer to a train to Bremen. Immediately after getting off at Leer two German policemen walked towards me. One policeman asked for my passport while the other policeman approached a black guy who also boarded off from the same train. After giving him my Dutch residence permit, I asked him if he was checking everyone.

Policeman 1: No.
Me: Why are checking me?
Policeman 1: It's in the law.

He asked for my passport because, according to him, my residence permit was not complete. I don't know what else he wanted to know about me. I gave him my Philippine passport.

Me: So it's in the law that you check me but not everyone else?
Policeman 1: Because you don't look German.
Me: That is discrimination. How does a German citizen look anyway?
Policeman 1: (Maybe a bit annoyed already) You can look it up under Schengen Law Article 20.
Me: I think that law is discriminatory.
Policeman 1: You can write the authorities if you want.

I was a bit taken aback by his next question after he looked at my passport.

Policeman 1: Are you a seaman?

Me: No, I'm not a seaman although there are many Filipinos who are because big shipping companies can exploit them for cheaper labor. I am studying in the Netherlands.
Policeman 1: What are you studying?
Me: Is it also in the law?
Policeman 1: No, I'm just curious.
Me: I usually want to discuss about my studies, but I am not in the mood to do so. Sorry.

He dialed a number in his cellphone and mentioned my name to the other person on the phone aside from talking about other stuff which I didn't get. The second policeman joined in. Smiling, he asked me something in German. He asked me if I speak German.

Me: Nee. (I don't know why, but my brain suddenly switched to Dutch.)
Policeman 2: Only English?
Me: Not just English. I also speak Filipino and Cebuano, which is my mother tongue. There are more than 80 languages in our country.

Policeman 1 returned my documents and I proceeded to the train. What a wonderful way of saying "Welcome to Germany!"

Bakit tayo natutulog at nagigising araw-araw?

This is my original reply to Pinay Observer for her Pinoy Scientists website. As you can see, the second photo is different as well as the answer to the fourth question. The photo was changed because she could not find me in this photo, and I won't tell where I am in the photo. Haha. The answer to the fourth question was too long for the website.

---

1) What do you do?
I am doing a PhD in Chronobiology. We try to explain several properties of biological clocks using mathematical models. We focus on circadian oscillations which have periods close to 24 hours.

2) Where do you work?
I work in the University of Groningen, Netherlands.

3) Tell us about the photos?
(a) Discussing chronobiology problems with a group of PhD students at the 2009 European Summer School in Chronobiology which was held in Krakow, Poland.


(b) Expressing solidarity with the cleaners in the Netherlands at a nationally-coordinated March for Respect organized by the FNV (Federation of Dutch Trade Union).


4) Anything else you want to share?
We all sleep and wake up everyday. Our sleep-wake schedule is governed by the circadian clock system in our body. It is mainly orchestrated by a master circadian clock which is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a group of around 10,000 neurons in the hypothalamus and directly sits at the gate where the optic nerve enters the brain. The location of the SCN may have a functional role as its important function is to synchronize the entire body to the environmental light-dark cycle.

If we live in a cave for several days without any information of the 24-hour light-dark cycle, we will eventually sleep and wake up with a period different from 24 hours. This period is our so-called freerunning period and there is diversity in its value from individual to individual: some have short (meaning less than 24 hours) and others have long periods. It was found from several experiments that humans have an average period of around 24 hours and 15 minutes. There is a relationship between a person's freerunning period and his/her so-called chronotype. A person of early chronotype is sometimes called a morning person while those of late chronotype evening persons. Although there are other factors involved, a morning person usually have a short freerunning period and an evening person a long freerunning period. Circadian biologists are looking into this and other related questions on animal behavior. Researches in this field has implications in our understanding of human evolution and in improvement of human health and well-being.