I spent the morning double checking the results just to be sure. I then emailed Mr. Giant about some Celtic music and immediately he said I can login into his local machine and download from him. I spent sometime figuring out how to login another person’s machine from my PC. Eventually I found out the Linux command to do that. Then I started to download not just Celtic music but also all sorts of other music. And I am listening to the Celtic music now. Flutes, harp, bagpipes and guitar are the main musical instruments. Very upbeat and fast tempo.
After lunch, I went on to type my final report. Anatole came near the end of the day and we discussed for almost 3 hrs on the results. Again all my analysis was not in depth enough. He redid most of the analysis, using trimmed mean and other techniques. He was really very experienced in data and statistic. After that, it was confirmed that I had to do one more exp. Despite feeling dreadful about that, I already had mental preparation for that. This afternoon during lunch, I met Ravi and told him about the new exp. He told me not to worry as he would find participants for me. Really very nice chap. Anatole then phoned to that statistician and discussed with him the results. After that, he took a look at my final report. But it wasn’t just taking a look. He was reading every word and typing and amending for me. Yes amending for me. He didn’t comment. He just went on typing. Like doing the report for me. Super. And he also changed some figures so that they looked more pro.
After that we went on the Net to find some Chinese restaurant. In the end we found one that seemed not bad. He then took out his calendar and said we had to plan for the remaining 1.5 months. He asked when I would be leaving and I told him the last date is 18th June but it would be a Sat. Hence, I told him I hope I can leave on the 17th. He said I can leave about a week before if I want. Provided that I finish all the work of course. He said if I can leave earlier, I would have more time to travel. Really very easy-going boss. Then we packed up and he brought me to his house first for some drink. He lived right at the city centre and he said that’s the mentality of Parisian. His apartment was really fantastic. Quite big (in fact very big as compared to all those colleagues’ apartments I had been to) and was facing the Parliament House. But it was very expensive; a third of his pay goes to the rent. Really too much. But he couldn’t care.
We chatted a lot in his living room drinking a famous alcohol. An alcohol of Portugal called Porto. Every household in Portugal would have a Porto. It was very sweet and quite strong. I liked it very much but I couldn’t take much. We were talking about life, about politics, about lots of stuff. And he said coming 25th May, French has to vote for the EU Constitution. There would be a guideline and law or some sort of governing structure for the 25 countries in EU. The French were against this Constitution because they felt it is pro-capitalism and a rightist policy. The current French govt is a rightist. But there are a lot of leftists in the population and they would most probably vote against it. However, if they were to do so on 25 May, it would make them the only country in the EU to do so. This again showed the self-centeredness of the French, according to Anatole. The French really have to stop thinking that the world revolves around them. They are not the centre of the world.
Both of us actually don’t really like programming and coding. To him, just like me, the computer is a tool, nothing more. And he likes to draw and has lots of comics and his own drawings. But his drawings are way better than mine. He showed me his diary which wasn’t really a written diary. It was a small notebook with some writings and drawings. For example he was waiting at the cinema one day and he just drew the people queuing there. And I must say his drawing skill is really good. Good enough to be published that kind. I already knew he can draw well because whenever he was analyzing the results, he would use diagrams and drawings instead of words. I think his idea of drawing daily event is really very interesting. I would do that also. Copycat. But it is really a great idea.
We chatted for so long and it was past 9pm and so we didn’t want to go to the Chinese restaurant. In the end, he brought me to a Creperie which is a common restaurant in Brittany which sells only crepe and nothing else. And the one he brought me to was the best. Finally I had a taste of the best crepe. First we had plain crepe, which was just egg, ham and cheese. Then we had a special crepe with chicken and other stuffs. Then we had a salty one. And lastly a dessert crepe. 4 crepes for a dinner was really a lot. And we ordered different crepe for each type and cut into half and shared. Except for the dessert crepe. So in the end, I had tasted 7 different kinds of crepe. This is really a specialty of Brittany. Anywhere you will be able to find crepe in France. But Brittany has the best. Those selling in supermart were… yucks according to him. You must really try one here, especially in Rennes the capital of Brittany.
I was very happy that he brought me to the Creperie because if I were to come alone, I wouldn’t know how to order or what to order. But I was even happier of his compliments for me. He said that he was impressed and that I had adapted well here. He could tell that I was rather depressed in the first month. But he said luckily I have this open mentality, this kind of social skills to mix so well with the colleagues. A bit of contrary to what I used to be in SG. But I am glad that I had changed. I told him I am not a very independent person. I am some sort of a pampered child back in SG. Kind of spoilt. But he said that it only means that I am very courageous to come all the way to France for IA since I am living a good and easy life back in SG. He said that he would have some reservations of asking for another SG student next year because he knows it is extremely difficult to live abroad. Esp. with language problem and being alone. He said he might not be so lucky enough to have someone like me who can adapt well. He doesn’t want to run the risk of that student going down into long term depression.
After the dinner, I was so full that I almost threw up. And we had a bottle of wine called Cidar or something like that. It is not a strong alcohol and has apple flavor. Like champagne and is served in a bowl-like cup. It is always served with crepe. The dinner was fantastic but to be able to chat with Anatole was really great. Esp. when I know that he has high remarks not only for my work but also for my personality. I don’t care that much about his comments on my work, though he said I had good programming skills (haha, I didn’t do a lot of programming here). What I am most happy about was that he had high appraisal on my other aspects beside work. This proves once again that social skill is very important. Even if your work isn’t very fantastic, your boss can still look up to you if you can communicate well with him.
After lunch, I went on to type my final report. Anatole came near the end of the day and we discussed for almost 3 hrs on the results. Again all my analysis was not in depth enough. He redid most of the analysis, using trimmed mean and other techniques. He was really very experienced in data and statistic. After that, it was confirmed that I had to do one more exp. Despite feeling dreadful about that, I already had mental preparation for that. This afternoon during lunch, I met Ravi and told him about the new exp. He told me not to worry as he would find participants for me. Really very nice chap. Anatole then phoned to that statistician and discussed with him the results. After that, he took a look at my final report. But it wasn’t just taking a look. He was reading every word and typing and amending for me. Yes amending for me. He didn’t comment. He just went on typing. Like doing the report for me. Super. And he also changed some figures so that they looked more pro.
After that we went on the Net to find some Chinese restaurant. In the end we found one that seemed not bad. He then took out his calendar and said we had to plan for the remaining 1.5 months. He asked when I would be leaving and I told him the last date is 18th June but it would be a Sat. Hence, I told him I hope I can leave on the 17th. He said I can leave about a week before if I want. Provided that I finish all the work of course. He said if I can leave earlier, I would have more time to travel. Really very easy-going boss. Then we packed up and he brought me to his house first for some drink. He lived right at the city centre and he said that’s the mentality of Parisian. His apartment was really fantastic. Quite big (in fact very big as compared to all those colleagues’ apartments I had been to) and was facing the Parliament House. But it was very expensive; a third of his pay goes to the rent. Really too much. But he couldn’t care.
We chatted a lot in his living room drinking a famous alcohol. An alcohol of Portugal called Porto. Every household in Portugal would have a Porto. It was very sweet and quite strong. I liked it very much but I couldn’t take much. We were talking about life, about politics, about lots of stuff. And he said coming 25th May, French has to vote for the EU Constitution. There would be a guideline and law or some sort of governing structure for the 25 countries in EU. The French were against this Constitution because they felt it is pro-capitalism and a rightist policy. The current French govt is a rightist. But there are a lot of leftists in the population and they would most probably vote against it. However, if they were to do so on 25 May, it would make them the only country in the EU to do so. This again showed the self-centeredness of the French, according to Anatole. The French really have to stop thinking that the world revolves around them. They are not the centre of the world.
Both of us actually don’t really like programming and coding. To him, just like me, the computer is a tool, nothing more. And he likes to draw and has lots of comics and his own drawings. But his drawings are way better than mine. He showed me his diary which wasn’t really a written diary. It was a small notebook with some writings and drawings. For example he was waiting at the cinema one day and he just drew the people queuing there. And I must say his drawing skill is really good. Good enough to be published that kind. I already knew he can draw well because whenever he was analyzing the results, he would use diagrams and drawings instead of words. I think his idea of drawing daily event is really very interesting. I would do that also. Copycat. But it is really a great idea.
We chatted for so long and it was past 9pm and so we didn’t want to go to the Chinese restaurant. In the end, he brought me to a Creperie which is a common restaurant in Brittany which sells only crepe and nothing else. And the one he brought me to was the best. Finally I had a taste of the best crepe. First we had plain crepe, which was just egg, ham and cheese. Then we had a special crepe with chicken and other stuffs. Then we had a salty one. And lastly a dessert crepe. 4 crepes for a dinner was really a lot. And we ordered different crepe for each type and cut into half and shared. Except for the dessert crepe. So in the end, I had tasted 7 different kinds of crepe. This is really a specialty of Brittany. Anywhere you will be able to find crepe in France. But Brittany has the best. Those selling in supermart were… yucks according to him. You must really try one here, especially in Rennes the capital of Brittany.
I was very happy that he brought me to the Creperie because if I were to come alone, I wouldn’t know how to order or what to order. But I was even happier of his compliments for me. He said that he was impressed and that I had adapted well here. He could tell that I was rather depressed in the first month. But he said luckily I have this open mentality, this kind of social skills to mix so well with the colleagues. A bit of contrary to what I used to be in SG. But I am glad that I had changed. I told him I am not a very independent person. I am some sort of a pampered child back in SG. Kind of spoilt. But he said that it only means that I am very courageous to come all the way to France for IA since I am living a good and easy life back in SG. He said that he would have some reservations of asking for another SG student next year because he knows it is extremely difficult to live abroad. Esp. with language problem and being alone. He said he might not be so lucky enough to have someone like me who can adapt well. He doesn’t want to run the risk of that student going down into long term depression.
After the dinner, I was so full that I almost threw up. And we had a bottle of wine called Cidar or something like that. It is not a strong alcohol and has apple flavor. Like champagne and is served in a bowl-like cup. It is always served with crepe. The dinner was fantastic but to be able to chat with Anatole was really great. Esp. when I know that he has high remarks not only for my work but also for my personality. I don’t care that much about his comments on my work, though he said I had good programming skills (haha, I didn’t do a lot of programming here). What I am most happy about was that he had high appraisal on my other aspects beside work. This proves once again that social skill is very important. Even if your work isn’t very fantastic, your boss can still look up to you if you can communicate well with him.
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