Every morning it would snow now and my hands are getting some small spots because of the cold. Also out of nowhere, cuts would appear on hands and shins as the skin becomes very dry. Time to use my moisturizer more often now. Normally I would apply on my face because it is most exposed and any defects would be most visible. Now I think I would apply on my hands also because I have to shake hand with people very often and do not want them to shake a bloody hand. In the morning, Anatole came a quarter past 930am (that’s what the French always say instead of 945am) and before we discussed about the work, I returned him his guide for Bretagne. He then turned to the page with the full map and began telling me which places are great to visit, which are not to be missed, which places have mesmerizing panorama, etc. He never fails to talk something about life before discussing work with me which sometimes causes delays in my work. He said I should also check out a few of the islands which are very famous and I must stay overnight on one of them. Wow, I would love too, hopefully in May when the weather is good. It would be a different feeling to walk the beach at night. He said I should also visit a small town at the furthest west of Bretagne at the coast because it is very famous. Why is it famous? Because it is the extreme west point of Europe. So that is why I should visit it; doesn’t sound convincing to me. Then he gave me more absurd ideas like I should check out a jungle track in the south where tourists like to go hiking and camping along the way.
After all these, we finally moved on to work and he said I should get 2 more “clean” people to do the experiment. Clean would mean that they know nothing about the technique I am working on. Completely neutral that is. So he said I could go upstairs to Project Paris (mine is Project Siames) and try to catch any PHD students. Then he left for a meeting. So I went up one level and had to peep into every room to see if I can find any student-looking people. I don’t want to stumble upon some grumpy big shots (but I guess everyone here is willing to help). In the end I found 2 in a room, a guy and a girl and asked them for the favour. The guy did the experiment first and followed by the girl. She had a bit of CEPS (Close Eyes Proximity Syndrome, some of my hallmates would understand this term created by me. I got another one is MMM, Minimum Mouth Movement). But she was still pretty. Although she did her best, her results were completely undesirable and it was later discarded by Anatole and I had to find another person. But at least now there are 2 more people I can say hi to in IRISA. It was lunch time and this time I was “jio” by the gang again.
After lunch I went back to INSA because I wanted to try my luck again with the internet access. I went to the office and said that I wanted to have internet access. The guy (not the same as the last one) couldn’t understand a single English and I was really desperate to get the access. So I had to speak in French (normally I don’t dare speak in long sentences). “J’abit a Brehat et je voudrais avoir internet dans ma chambre.” (I live in Brehat and I like to have internet in my room, but it was in broken French still). He said wait and went to look for another guy who can make decision. Basket he asked the same guy that turned me down last time! He still said no, I can’t have internet access. I told him I would be staying till June and it is very difficult without internet access. He still insisted and said no. Then I asked why and he said because I am not a student of INSA. If this conversation is done in English I would definitely argue with him and fight for my right. I mean, why am I deprived of the access just because I am not a student here? Then they should lower my rent in that case. Either they lower my rent or give me the access. I mean this is super unfair. Although the admin lady said on my first day that they have been asking again and again on behalf of the foreigners here it was in vain. I wonder what she meant by “ask”. Did she just send an email saying so and so would like to have an internet access in his room, blah blah blah… Of course that won’t work. They should demand a more convincing answer than the “not a student of INSA” excuse. This is rubbish to the maximum. I don’t think the admin are trying hard enough (or even trying in the first place) because firstly, they are fighting a benefit for a foreigner, not a local. Secondly, the foreigner would stay for a while and would be gone so why should they take the trouble? Yes a foreigner like me might be gone in 6 months time but he might not be coming back anymore because of the unfair treatment. This is just another small incident that shows how unreceptive France is towards foreigners (rather to non-French speaking people). I think I got too carried away and should hold my tongue for now. But I can conclude that the admin here is highly inefficient which is a fact being acknowledged by some of the friends here. And so far, I feel that France is an extremely great country to visit as a tourist but to stay here for long, I have my reservations about that.
So fuming with anger for being rejected once more (this time for good as I don’t think I would come back and try again for another miracle), I smiled and “merci” the guy. This made me angrier as I still had to smile even though I was mad. I went back to my room and went to exchange for new bedsheets. 3 cleaning ladies were waiting at the linen room and my bad mood evaporated immediately to see them beaming with smiles when I approached them. After that, I had to rush back to office because it was already 2pm and I had plenty of work to do. Anatole didn’t have time to look at the results but I did brief him on them and I agreed with him that we need at least one more participant. So I went up again and came to a room with 5 students inside. One of them said he was willing to do the experiment for me and I told the rest I might need their help later. The guy who offered to help was Japanese and he is a visitor here. His name is Ichiro Ide. This time I had to translate the instructions, the questionnaire because they were all in French. But by now I had known them by heart. After the experiment, we chatted a bit and he said he had been to NUS before and also knew about NTU. It is really different to talk to an Asian because he knows quite a lot about Singapore as compared to some of the people here. I wanted to chat more with him but I really had a lot of work to do. So I thanked him again and went back to work. I worked till about 5pm and decided to take a break. But when I had barely rested enough, Anatole stepped in and it was back to work.
At around 6pm, Jean-Marie came in and said the soccer game has resumed tonight because there is a free slot at 7pm. Me and Anatole were looking at each other because we both wanted to play but there was just no time today. In the end we declined but 7pm is really a good timing. Next week would be 10pm and although they would send me back, I would still reach INSA at 12 and if I still want to type my journal, I would probably sleep at 130am. Furthermore, now my workload is really super heavy although it isn’t difficult to accomplish, but it is a lot of work. Both of us were analyzing the results of the 3 participants today and we are really stuck with a problem because the results suggested that we need to further fine-tune the experiments. As we were cracking our heads (Anatole was noticeably tired as he wasn’t thinking as sharply as before), Ahad came in with another guy to work at 630pm. We chatted a bit and he was telling Anatole that he had been speaking French to me. Haha, what an overstatement. The most I said to him was “Bonjour”, “Ca Va” “A demain”. Then he began to talk about French language as the “Premier Langue d’Art” (the first language of art) and keep on babbling. Anatole smiled and when Ahad finished talking and turned away, Anatole looked at me and gave me a “whatever” look. Haha, really Ahad is having a generation gap with the people here. “Whatever” is really not a so good expression and I tend to use it often when I don’t care about something. But it seems quite rude. Ok, should change.
Then Ahad left to discuss work with Bruno the just stepped-down team leader. I told Anatole that the people here work very irregular hours and he said that always happens in research institute. He then talked to me about those times when he was doing his PhD and whenever you have to do research, you would not have a normal and fix working hour. After chatting for awhile and we needed this chat because both of us needed a break as it was already 7pm, he suddenly felt more refreshed and started shooting arrows. He was writing post-it after post-it the ideas he had and in the end, the original plan of 2 experiments was doubled; becoming to 4. For the additional 2 more, one I had to make some amendments and the other I had to re-write the codes. For the last one, he said I could wait till he returns in April. That was when I realized I have wronged him of going for a one-month vacation. He would be on vacation only for next week. Then he would be in Germany, Switzerland, Greece and back to France all for conferences and presentations. No wonder he was super busy this week. And speaking of Switzerland, hui said that he might get a chance to go to Geneve (I thought it was Geneva but apparently there is another city called Geneve in Swiss near the border of France) for just 8 euros. There was some package for a tour to go there to see a car show. I think he really needs such a trip because it seemed like he could only go to mountains and skiing (which is very ex to do every week) in Grenoble. Maybe he should check out a guide on his region to see if there are any good places for sight-seeing.
After laying down the experiment plans, he said I should have 2 to 3 weeks free as I would complete all the experiments within 1 to 2 weeks time. His thinking was the opposite of mine because I thought I would finish everything between 2 to 3 weeks and have just 1 to 2 weeks to rest. He said what do I want to do during that free period. What should I answer? Sight-seeing? Go back Singapore? He then unleashed all his brilliant ideas again and began to use more and more post-its. After that, he still wasn’t satisfied and wrote in point forms the things that I should take note when writing my paper because he wanted me to start planning for it as soon as I finished all the experiments. He said it is not as easy as writing a report and needed much more time. Lastly, he composed an email for me to be sent out to the entire IRISA asking for volunteers to do my experiment. When he left the room, I had 7 post-its full of writings on my table. These were my arrows for March. He also said that I might want to buy a packet of sweeties as a reward to the participants.
So these are the things I had to do for the one month while he is away.
3 experiments (a must must complete task)
analyse their results
code the 4th one (depending on results of the 3 exp, but most likely needed)
conduct the 4th exp and analyse its results
implement 2 of his great ideas (whenever I sit down with him to discuss work, I really have to squeeze out all my brain juice trying to outsmart him. And I would always lose) This is super tough, but actually can don’t do but is for the bonus.
Start writing my paper.
For tomorrow, I don’t think I would pass any experiment as yet. I would make sure my codes are perfect, all files and folders neatly arranged and easily accessible, test run many times, and lastly come out with a schedule for people to book their timing with me. They are supposed to leave their numbers with me so that I can call them and make appointment. I asked Anatole what if no one replies my mail. He said they will but if not, I have to find a way to get people, if that means bringing the office PC back to INSA and asking all my neighbours to come out and do the experiment. He said he would still be here tomorrow but since it would be his last day, he would definitely be very busy and maybe could only spare one minute with me. So that was why we had to work close to 8pm tonight.
PS: Carol said that my blog is so detail and I can write my own biography. Haha I think it is too detail even for biography because I included every single rubbish inside like what time I bathe, what time did I wake up in the middle of the night, etc. But as I mentioned before, I had a poor memory and I would want to keep every moment I spent here on paper. Furthermore, it would be very very interesting to read all these when I get back to Singapore. That is why I am spending 1.5 hr everyday to write 1 entry.
After all these, we finally moved on to work and he said I should get 2 more “clean” people to do the experiment. Clean would mean that they know nothing about the technique I am working on. Completely neutral that is. So he said I could go upstairs to Project Paris (mine is Project Siames) and try to catch any PHD students. Then he left for a meeting. So I went up one level and had to peep into every room to see if I can find any student-looking people. I don’t want to stumble upon some grumpy big shots (but I guess everyone here is willing to help). In the end I found 2 in a room, a guy and a girl and asked them for the favour. The guy did the experiment first and followed by the girl. She had a bit of CEPS (Close Eyes Proximity Syndrome, some of my hallmates would understand this term created by me. I got another one is MMM, Minimum Mouth Movement). But she was still pretty. Although she did her best, her results were completely undesirable and it was later discarded by Anatole and I had to find another person. But at least now there are 2 more people I can say hi to in IRISA. It was lunch time and this time I was “jio” by the gang again.
After lunch I went back to INSA because I wanted to try my luck again with the internet access. I went to the office and said that I wanted to have internet access. The guy (not the same as the last one) couldn’t understand a single English and I was really desperate to get the access. So I had to speak in French (normally I don’t dare speak in long sentences). “J’abit a Brehat et je voudrais avoir internet dans ma chambre.” (I live in Brehat and I like to have internet in my room, but it was in broken French still). He said wait and went to look for another guy who can make decision. Basket he asked the same guy that turned me down last time! He still said no, I can’t have internet access. I told him I would be staying till June and it is very difficult without internet access. He still insisted and said no. Then I asked why and he said because I am not a student of INSA. If this conversation is done in English I would definitely argue with him and fight for my right. I mean, why am I deprived of the access just because I am not a student here? Then they should lower my rent in that case. Either they lower my rent or give me the access. I mean this is super unfair. Although the admin lady said on my first day that they have been asking again and again on behalf of the foreigners here it was in vain. I wonder what she meant by “ask”. Did she just send an email saying so and so would like to have an internet access in his room, blah blah blah… Of course that won’t work. They should demand a more convincing answer than the “not a student of INSA” excuse. This is rubbish to the maximum. I don’t think the admin are trying hard enough (or even trying in the first place) because firstly, they are fighting a benefit for a foreigner, not a local. Secondly, the foreigner would stay for a while and would be gone so why should they take the trouble? Yes a foreigner like me might be gone in 6 months time but he might not be coming back anymore because of the unfair treatment. This is just another small incident that shows how unreceptive France is towards foreigners (rather to non-French speaking people). I think I got too carried away and should hold my tongue for now. But I can conclude that the admin here is highly inefficient which is a fact being acknowledged by some of the friends here. And so far, I feel that France is an extremely great country to visit as a tourist but to stay here for long, I have my reservations about that.
So fuming with anger for being rejected once more (this time for good as I don’t think I would come back and try again for another miracle), I smiled and “merci” the guy. This made me angrier as I still had to smile even though I was mad. I went back to my room and went to exchange for new bedsheets. 3 cleaning ladies were waiting at the linen room and my bad mood evaporated immediately to see them beaming with smiles when I approached them. After that, I had to rush back to office because it was already 2pm and I had plenty of work to do. Anatole didn’t have time to look at the results but I did brief him on them and I agreed with him that we need at least one more participant. So I went up again and came to a room with 5 students inside. One of them said he was willing to do the experiment for me and I told the rest I might need their help later. The guy who offered to help was Japanese and he is a visitor here. His name is Ichiro Ide. This time I had to translate the instructions, the questionnaire because they were all in French. But by now I had known them by heart. After the experiment, we chatted a bit and he said he had been to NUS before and also knew about NTU. It is really different to talk to an Asian because he knows quite a lot about Singapore as compared to some of the people here. I wanted to chat more with him but I really had a lot of work to do. So I thanked him again and went back to work. I worked till about 5pm and decided to take a break. But when I had barely rested enough, Anatole stepped in and it was back to work.
At around 6pm, Jean-Marie came in and said the soccer game has resumed tonight because there is a free slot at 7pm. Me and Anatole were looking at each other because we both wanted to play but there was just no time today. In the end we declined but 7pm is really a good timing. Next week would be 10pm and although they would send me back, I would still reach INSA at 12 and if I still want to type my journal, I would probably sleep at 130am. Furthermore, now my workload is really super heavy although it isn’t difficult to accomplish, but it is a lot of work. Both of us were analyzing the results of the 3 participants today and we are really stuck with a problem because the results suggested that we need to further fine-tune the experiments. As we were cracking our heads (Anatole was noticeably tired as he wasn’t thinking as sharply as before), Ahad came in with another guy to work at 630pm. We chatted a bit and he was telling Anatole that he had been speaking French to me. Haha, what an overstatement. The most I said to him was “Bonjour”, “Ca Va” “A demain”. Then he began to talk about French language as the “Premier Langue d’Art” (the first language of art) and keep on babbling. Anatole smiled and when Ahad finished talking and turned away, Anatole looked at me and gave me a “whatever” look. Haha, really Ahad is having a generation gap with the people here. “Whatever” is really not a so good expression and I tend to use it often when I don’t care about something. But it seems quite rude. Ok, should change.
Then Ahad left to discuss work with Bruno the just stepped-down team leader. I told Anatole that the people here work very irregular hours and he said that always happens in research institute. He then talked to me about those times when he was doing his PhD and whenever you have to do research, you would not have a normal and fix working hour. After chatting for awhile and we needed this chat because both of us needed a break as it was already 7pm, he suddenly felt more refreshed and started shooting arrows. He was writing post-it after post-it the ideas he had and in the end, the original plan of 2 experiments was doubled; becoming to 4. For the additional 2 more, one I had to make some amendments and the other I had to re-write the codes. For the last one, he said I could wait till he returns in April. That was when I realized I have wronged him of going for a one-month vacation. He would be on vacation only for next week. Then he would be in Germany, Switzerland, Greece and back to France all for conferences and presentations. No wonder he was super busy this week. And speaking of Switzerland, hui said that he might get a chance to go to Geneve (I thought it was Geneva but apparently there is another city called Geneve in Swiss near the border of France) for just 8 euros. There was some package for a tour to go there to see a car show. I think he really needs such a trip because it seemed like he could only go to mountains and skiing (which is very ex to do every week) in Grenoble. Maybe he should check out a guide on his region to see if there are any good places for sight-seeing.
After laying down the experiment plans, he said I should have 2 to 3 weeks free as I would complete all the experiments within 1 to 2 weeks time. His thinking was the opposite of mine because I thought I would finish everything between 2 to 3 weeks and have just 1 to 2 weeks to rest. He said what do I want to do during that free period. What should I answer? Sight-seeing? Go back Singapore? He then unleashed all his brilliant ideas again and began to use more and more post-its. After that, he still wasn’t satisfied and wrote in point forms the things that I should take note when writing my paper because he wanted me to start planning for it as soon as I finished all the experiments. He said it is not as easy as writing a report and needed much more time. Lastly, he composed an email for me to be sent out to the entire IRISA asking for volunteers to do my experiment. When he left the room, I had 7 post-its full of writings on my table. These were my arrows for March. He also said that I might want to buy a packet of sweeties as a reward to the participants.
So these are the things I had to do for the one month while he is away.
3 experiments (a must must complete task)
analyse their results
code the 4th one (depending on results of the 3 exp, but most likely needed)
conduct the 4th exp and analyse its results
implement 2 of his great ideas (whenever I sit down with him to discuss work, I really have to squeeze out all my brain juice trying to outsmart him. And I would always lose) This is super tough, but actually can don’t do but is for the bonus.
Start writing my paper.
For tomorrow, I don’t think I would pass any experiment as yet. I would make sure my codes are perfect, all files and folders neatly arranged and easily accessible, test run many times, and lastly come out with a schedule for people to book their timing with me. They are supposed to leave their numbers with me so that I can call them and make appointment. I asked Anatole what if no one replies my mail. He said they will but if not, I have to find a way to get people, if that means bringing the office PC back to INSA and asking all my neighbours to come out and do the experiment. He said he would still be here tomorrow but since it would be his last day, he would definitely be very busy and maybe could only spare one minute with me. So that was why we had to work close to 8pm tonight.
PS: Carol said that my blog is so detail and I can write my own biography. Haha I think it is too detail even for biography because I included every single rubbish inside like what time I bathe, what time did I wake up in the middle of the night, etc. But as I mentioned before, I had a poor memory and I would want to keep every moment I spent here on paper. Furthermore, it would be very very interesting to read all these when I get back to Singapore. That is why I am spending 1.5 hr everyday to write 1 entry.
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