Bravo Tom Hanks! Although the DVD was in French (I purposely borrowed one with French audio and English subtitles), I was utterly moved by his performance. Of course the story was fictional, it still inspires me and sometimes I just thought I could be like Forrest. He was a football star, a hero during the Vietnam War, a ping-pong national team player, boss of a million dollars shrimp business, an inspirational runner and most importantly, he finally married the love of his life. I don’t think I need to go into details of the story because everyone should be familiar of it. It was definitely no blockbuster and if I were to watch it at home, I probably would not feel as much as I felt now watching it in Rennes. Credit must be given to the dubbing of the voices. It was so precise and well done that even the voices from the TV in the movie sounded real. But after watching the film, I still could not speak French of course. Still a good start nonetheless. (Now I keep mistyping my words because had started to get used to the AZERTY keyboard in my office. My laptop is of course using QWERTY keyboard)
I should be surfing the internet now and not typing my journal. But I couldn’t because I still did not get the access. I went down to the multimedia centre to ask for it but they said I could not get one because I was not a student of INSA. I felt unfair because I was staying in the same residential area as the other students, paying the same rent, and yet I was denied the access. Even my supervisor felt disappointing for me. And yes, today he was back finally. So I showed him what I had done so far and he explained to me the operation of Laurent’s code. He was really a brilliant guy because he actually came up with few more ideas on how to improve the technique of simulating sense of touch using just the mouse. After some discussions on my work, we broke for lunch.
Finally I got someone to talk to during lunch and he asked about what kind of activities I do in Singapore. He said that for all the activities that I mentioned, I can easily find them here in Rennes by just asking around. This of course I knew but it is the asking around part that is difficult. Anyway, he said he understands that it is hard to stay in a foreign country as he had experienced that before. He was on some sort of training in Canada for 4 months. At first I thought the Canadians speak French too but he said the part of Canada he was living in spoke English. Anyway, he speaks good English so it was no problem and moreover, he was with 3 more friends then. So he agreed that it was easier for him as compared to me now because he spoke better English than I speak French, and he wasn’t alone.
Then we talked about Chinese New Year and I told him how important this festival is to the Chinese. He said that he had absolutely no problem with me flying back home to celebrate CNY. I was grateful to him but even though he had no problem with that, I had. With the money of course. To and fro flight would cost me S$1500. He also said that I could go to Paris to celebrate with the Chinese there. He told me that BelleVille in Paris is the stronghold of the Chinese and he knew that because his girlfriend stays there. Well, going to Paris is also not quite possible. First, it is complicated and troublesome (I already experienced that on Day One). Second, I still would feel foreign because the Chinese from China are quite different from the Chinese in Singapore actually. And lastly, no matter who you are celebrating with, celebrating CNY without your family is quite meaningless in fact.
He said perhaps I could find out about the Chinese community here in Rennes and see what celebrations they have. This I probably would do in the next few days using the internet or asking my neighbours. But I doubt I would be successful and probably would be alone for CNY. He said that I could be excused from work during those few days. I told him that if I can’t find anyone to celebrate CNY with, I would rather come to work than to stay in the room and he agreed. So after a long lunch, I went to get my internet access which as I mentioned was unsuccessful. Then I went on to the bank and asked about the VOCALIA code. The woman at the counter (it wasn’t the same one that served me yesterday and was much older), could not understand what I was saying and directed me to 2 younger ladies at the back who were no better either. In the end, I was told that the code would be sent to me sometime next week or the week after next. Another wasted trip then. Ms Chebourou should tell me about this on the day I went to see her. But since she was so beautiful (I saw her again and she had her hair done like waves and was so attractive), I shall forgive her.
Back at the office, hui mentioned that he told his supervisor that he would stay until 30 June because I said I would stay till then the last time. But after discussing with Anatole and after he had told me which are the best times to visit places in France, I decided to stick to the official date of 18 June. He said that if I wanted to avoid the crowd, I should visit Paris in July because that’s when the school holiday starts and the Parisians would be leaving Paris. By August, Paris would be deserted because the families would go to the south for holidays. So my plan was this; end my IA on 18 June; go south and visit Marseille and/or Nice; come back Paris in July and if there is time (and cash of course), go to England (I just want to step on the English soil). But hui had already fixed his last date at 30 June and his side wasn’t as flexible as mine so he can’t change that. Apparently, he had got a stricter admin there. Anyway, what I could do is I still end on 18 June, go south to Grenoble and deposit my luggage with hui, then go to Marseille alone and when hui finished his IA, we would go back to Paris together. In any case, I told him that we could start planning this in April and I asked him to mark the date 18 April in his calendar. But still, it is too early to think about this now. Perhaps in the end I can’t finish my work and had to stay till end of June. But just thinking about the tour makes me feel very good now.
I should be surfing the internet now and not typing my journal. But I couldn’t because I still did not get the access. I went down to the multimedia centre to ask for it but they said I could not get one because I was not a student of INSA. I felt unfair because I was staying in the same residential area as the other students, paying the same rent, and yet I was denied the access. Even my supervisor felt disappointing for me. And yes, today he was back finally. So I showed him what I had done so far and he explained to me the operation of Laurent’s code. He was really a brilliant guy because he actually came up with few more ideas on how to improve the technique of simulating sense of touch using just the mouse. After some discussions on my work, we broke for lunch.
Finally I got someone to talk to during lunch and he asked about what kind of activities I do in Singapore. He said that for all the activities that I mentioned, I can easily find them here in Rennes by just asking around. This of course I knew but it is the asking around part that is difficult. Anyway, he said he understands that it is hard to stay in a foreign country as he had experienced that before. He was on some sort of training in Canada for 4 months. At first I thought the Canadians speak French too but he said the part of Canada he was living in spoke English. Anyway, he speaks good English so it was no problem and moreover, he was with 3 more friends then. So he agreed that it was easier for him as compared to me now because he spoke better English than I speak French, and he wasn’t alone.
Then we talked about Chinese New Year and I told him how important this festival is to the Chinese. He said that he had absolutely no problem with me flying back home to celebrate CNY. I was grateful to him but even though he had no problem with that, I had. With the money of course. To and fro flight would cost me S$1500. He also said that I could go to Paris to celebrate with the Chinese there. He told me that BelleVille in Paris is the stronghold of the Chinese and he knew that because his girlfriend stays there. Well, going to Paris is also not quite possible. First, it is complicated and troublesome (I already experienced that on Day One). Second, I still would feel foreign because the Chinese from China are quite different from the Chinese in Singapore actually. And lastly, no matter who you are celebrating with, celebrating CNY without your family is quite meaningless in fact.
He said perhaps I could find out about the Chinese community here in Rennes and see what celebrations they have. This I probably would do in the next few days using the internet or asking my neighbours. But I doubt I would be successful and probably would be alone for CNY. He said that I could be excused from work during those few days. I told him that if I can’t find anyone to celebrate CNY with, I would rather come to work than to stay in the room and he agreed. So after a long lunch, I went to get my internet access which as I mentioned was unsuccessful. Then I went on to the bank and asked about the VOCALIA code. The woman at the counter (it wasn’t the same one that served me yesterday and was much older), could not understand what I was saying and directed me to 2 younger ladies at the back who were no better either. In the end, I was told that the code would be sent to me sometime next week or the week after next. Another wasted trip then. Ms Chebourou should tell me about this on the day I went to see her. But since she was so beautiful (I saw her again and she had her hair done like waves and was so attractive), I shall forgive her.
Back at the office, hui mentioned that he told his supervisor that he would stay until 30 June because I said I would stay till then the last time. But after discussing with Anatole and after he had told me which are the best times to visit places in France, I decided to stick to the official date of 18 June. He said that if I wanted to avoid the crowd, I should visit Paris in July because that’s when the school holiday starts and the Parisians would be leaving Paris. By August, Paris would be deserted because the families would go to the south for holidays. So my plan was this; end my IA on 18 June; go south and visit Marseille and/or Nice; come back Paris in July and if there is time (and cash of course), go to England (I just want to step on the English soil). But hui had already fixed his last date at 30 June and his side wasn’t as flexible as mine so he can’t change that. Apparently, he had got a stricter admin there. Anyway, what I could do is I still end on 18 June, go south to Grenoble and deposit my luggage with hui, then go to Marseille alone and when hui finished his IA, we would go back to Paris together. In any case, I told him that we could start planning this in April and I asked him to mark the date 18 April in his calendar. But still, it is too early to think about this now. Perhaps in the end I can’t finish my work and had to stay till end of June. But just thinking about the tour makes me feel very good now.
Anatole also mentioned about a place in Rennes that I should visit. It is “Place des Lices” which is in Republique. He said this has one of the most beautiful markets in France and I really should visit it on a Saturday morning (which is this coming one). He said there are fresh flowers there, food, cafes, etc and it was really nice. I am really looking forward to that now. I should also drop by the Office of Tourism and get some brochures. He said that after he finished his training in Canada, he sees himself an improved person. He said that it would definitely be the same for me, regardless what experiences that I am going through now. Either bad or good, they nevertheless would aid in my development and growth. This I could not agree more because this is only the 2nd week and I felt that I am different already. Hopes it gets better each day. My biggest worry so far had been my work because it was not easy but with Anatole around, I guessed it should not be of a problem.
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