Today’s journal must begin with me running desperately on the street last night. I was supposed to meet Nicolas at his place at 940pm to take a lift from him to the soccer place. I have never been to his house and only knew it is near Vincent’s. So I checked the timing for the bus and decided to take the 909pm bus. It will reach my destination at about 920pm. With 20 min allowance, I was confident that I would find his place. I was spending the night in the multimedia centre using the internet to plan my tour until it was 9pm. I reached the bus stop at 905pm and there were quite a number of students waiting there too for the 909pm bus. Here the bus is always on time and almost everyone would check the timing from the timetable before going to the bus stop. At 915pm the bus hadn’t arrived and I began to panic. I know Nicolas would leave at 940pm sharp because it takes 20min to reach the soccer place and we had booked the court at 10pm. Here, I find that the guys always honor their words, so they would expect me to arrive there on time. If I missed Nicolas, there would be no way I can contact him as I don’t have his number neither do I have a mobile phone. And they will be playing with one player down, which would really upset the guys. And tomorrow in the office, I wouldn’t know how to face them.
So I prayed and prayed and finally the bus came at 917pm. Although it was just 15min or so of ride, it seemed ages to me and finally the bus reached my destination at 930pm. I took out the map and start navigating. I didn’t read the map in advance because I was pretty sure I would find the place within 20min. But now I had less than 10min and was really desperate. And the street signs were hard to read especially in the dark. The signs are small, nailed to the buildings instead of being attached to a pole. With less than 5 min left, I began to ask for direction and the only people in sight were a couple kissing and hugging each other. Too bad for them. I said excuse me and pointed at the map to ask for direction. They weren’t annoyed at all. In fact they were pretty friendly. After pointing to me the way, I ran towards the direction. I felt like I was participating in Amazing Race, with a map in hand. I reached Nicolas place and almost at the same time, he and Vincent (another Vincent) came out from his building. I was right on time. I still can’t believe the bus had failed me this time. Probably because of the strike I guess.
On we went to the soccer place and sitting in Nicolas car was better than in Vincent’s. At least I don’t feel giddy. Perhaps after running a bit before the game, I was energized tonight than before. Ran a lot and had some nice touches with the ball. There were a few new guys tonight because we were short of players. Still I was the weakest link in terms of skills. As for stamina and speed, I wasn’t the lousiest. But I must say Vincent Gramoli was the best, he was everywhere in the court but too bad he switched over to the other team. There was an occasion when I had the ball and was sandwiched by 2 defenders. Somehow, I managed to squeeze through them and chipped the ball to Nicolas who scored a beautiful goal. But I was just proud of my assist. A while later, I was forced to a tight corner and there was no support from my teammates. I tried my luck and shot at the corner of the goal and I scored! It was the first goal that I scored with skill. I always read from soccer articles that once the striker scores his first goal, his confidence will be boosted and soon he continues scoring. That happened to me and almost immediately, I scored my second goal but it wasn’t as spectacular as the first.
After 11pm, there were no other teams coming and so we decided to play an extra half hour. By then most of guys were dead beat except for Vincent who was still running up and down the court. He was the 2nd youngest in the team so he had lots of stamina. I of course was the youngest. After one hour of play, I found that I was still able to run about and make good use of this advantage to create chances for my teammates. Also, I am beginning to play rough and had more contacts with the guys. There was an Indian guy who was very bulky and rough and I had occasional collisions with him. Now my right shoulder hurt because of that. After 1130pm, we decided to call it a day. All in all it was a good game for me just that I must learn to hold the ball a bit longer and wait for support. While waiting for the rest of the guys to get change, Vincent and I chatted for awhile and he was interested in my life in Singapore, my studies, etc. He was the only one who talked to me because he speaks English well. On the way back, I wasn’t sure if there was still bus back to INSA as it was already past midnight. I knew that the last bus is at 0038am, but because of the earlier incident, I was afraid this bus might not arrive. Hence I asked Nicolas to drive me home.
Yuppy! Finally I had my light bulb changed this morning. It took me quite awhile because after unscrewing the cover, there were still 2 more small screws inside. And my set of screwdrivers (which I brought all the way from SG and finally had its use here) doesn’t have the correct match. So it took quite some time. But still I was very happy because although my room has 2 more other lights, I like that one best because of its position. It is directly above my bed and every night before I sleep, I would read a chapter of my novel and I can turn it off very conveniently as the switch is just above my head. As for the other 2 lights, one is near the sink while the other was above the table. And it is so low that I can feel its heat and hence I don’t like to use it. After I had changed the bulb, I made sure I tightened the screws as I don’t want the cover to fall on my head while I sleep.
I only reached the office near 11am and wanted to make some progress in work quickly before lunch. So in the rush, I didn’t know what I had done and the entire program just couldn’t compile. Luckily it was solved in the end and I was in time for lunch with the other guys. I had something special for lunch. A kind of pizza-cum-eggtart looking food called the “quish” (I can’t spell it, only know how to pronounce). It was cheesy, with baked crust, and bacon. Very delicious. The food that I liked here are the salmon, the drumstick, the fillet, the stick with roasted meat, and this quish. Not only was the food special, the lunch was special too as we went outside the restaurant and sat at a table in the open. We purposely carried the table which was in the shade further out so that we were completely exposed in the sun. It was the most enjoyable meal I had. I could feel the heat from the sun and at the same time the cold breeze. And I was just in my t shirt.
At the cafeteria, Jaro and I were chatting away and he was asking me how do I calculate the lunar calendar. I seriously had no idea. Then he asked me about the festivals and public holidays in SG since we were talking about Easter Day. I tried to tell him as much as I know. He said he once had an Indian boss and he celebrated Deepavali with him and his family. So he knew a bit about the story on the Indian God who came back victorious after defeating the demon. Being a Singaporean, I felt quite ashamed that I had never celebrated a Malay or Indian festival before. After talking so much about these festivals, I suddenly have the urge to eat zhong zi and mooncake. By the way, when I mentioned mooncake, Jaro thought it was shaped like a crescent. Luckily I would still be able to eat them when I get back to SG. Although duan wu jie would be over by then but nowadays, zhong zi is easily available.
Back in the office, I touched up on my code and began writing a brief summary on what had been done this week. Then I planned for what needs to be done next week. After that, it was the planning of my end tour again. Hui and I had somewhat finalized on the destinations and I told him it would be easier to split the planning to 2. I would do northern Europe (London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Loire Valley) while he will do the south (Marseille, Nice, Pisa, Rome). By mid April, we would have to come out with the full itinerary for our individual places and before May, we must start booking the youth hostels. I was doing research on the places to visit in London and realized that we are going to spend a lot there. The entrance to a castle is 10 pounds at student rate! Here, the entrance to those castles that I have been to is only 2.5 euros. But then, I haven’t been to majestic ones (like Versaille Castle) but guess they should be less than 10 euros. The fastest way to find out which places to visit besides checking the net is to ask those who had been to London. So I asked Kathy who once studied there. She not only gave me some ideas for London, but also for Rome and Paris as she knew I would be visiting the too. And I have forgotten to mention, Jaro told me Berlin is worth visiting but too bad we have dropped it in our plan. But his reason was Berlin’s nightlife is more interesting than that of Paris. Really I wasn’t that interested.
Kathy then told me that I must be careful with my belongings, esp. I am alone in a foreign country, and I am a Chinese so easier to identify and made target by crooks. She told me of some incidents that happened to her friends in Paris. She is really a very caring friend, and before I came to France, she already warned me of all these stuffs like, must always keep your belongings close to you, etc. That was when we were having dinner with some other friends. I had always wanted an elder sister and she somehow qualifies for this role. Anyway, she’s a year older than me. Hui said that he has not much experience in planning a tour as he had only been to Geneva since he came here; unlike me who had been to many places by now. But I guess that planning for a tour is much tougher than planning for a trip. And talking about trip, tomorrow I would be going to Dinan and not Nantes as the train fare to Nantes has increased by 4 euros probably due to the coming Easter. I wasn’t feeling apprehensive like I used to be about such trips anymore since I had some experiences already. Besides Dinan, I would be passing by a small town called Dol de Bretagne as I had to change train there. I would be able to tour awhile in that town since I had more than an hour of transition time.
So I prayed and prayed and finally the bus came at 917pm. Although it was just 15min or so of ride, it seemed ages to me and finally the bus reached my destination at 930pm. I took out the map and start navigating. I didn’t read the map in advance because I was pretty sure I would find the place within 20min. But now I had less than 10min and was really desperate. And the street signs were hard to read especially in the dark. The signs are small, nailed to the buildings instead of being attached to a pole. With less than 5 min left, I began to ask for direction and the only people in sight were a couple kissing and hugging each other. Too bad for them. I said excuse me and pointed at the map to ask for direction. They weren’t annoyed at all. In fact they were pretty friendly. After pointing to me the way, I ran towards the direction. I felt like I was participating in Amazing Race, with a map in hand. I reached Nicolas place and almost at the same time, he and Vincent (another Vincent) came out from his building. I was right on time. I still can’t believe the bus had failed me this time. Probably because of the strike I guess.
On we went to the soccer place and sitting in Nicolas car was better than in Vincent’s. At least I don’t feel giddy. Perhaps after running a bit before the game, I was energized tonight than before. Ran a lot and had some nice touches with the ball. There were a few new guys tonight because we were short of players. Still I was the weakest link in terms of skills. As for stamina and speed, I wasn’t the lousiest. But I must say Vincent Gramoli was the best, he was everywhere in the court but too bad he switched over to the other team. There was an occasion when I had the ball and was sandwiched by 2 defenders. Somehow, I managed to squeeze through them and chipped the ball to Nicolas who scored a beautiful goal. But I was just proud of my assist. A while later, I was forced to a tight corner and there was no support from my teammates. I tried my luck and shot at the corner of the goal and I scored! It was the first goal that I scored with skill. I always read from soccer articles that once the striker scores his first goal, his confidence will be boosted and soon he continues scoring. That happened to me and almost immediately, I scored my second goal but it wasn’t as spectacular as the first.
After 11pm, there were no other teams coming and so we decided to play an extra half hour. By then most of guys were dead beat except for Vincent who was still running up and down the court. He was the 2nd youngest in the team so he had lots of stamina. I of course was the youngest. After one hour of play, I found that I was still able to run about and make good use of this advantage to create chances for my teammates. Also, I am beginning to play rough and had more contacts with the guys. There was an Indian guy who was very bulky and rough and I had occasional collisions with him. Now my right shoulder hurt because of that. After 1130pm, we decided to call it a day. All in all it was a good game for me just that I must learn to hold the ball a bit longer and wait for support. While waiting for the rest of the guys to get change, Vincent and I chatted for awhile and he was interested in my life in Singapore, my studies, etc. He was the only one who talked to me because he speaks English well. On the way back, I wasn’t sure if there was still bus back to INSA as it was already past midnight. I knew that the last bus is at 0038am, but because of the earlier incident, I was afraid this bus might not arrive. Hence I asked Nicolas to drive me home.
Yuppy! Finally I had my light bulb changed this morning. It took me quite awhile because after unscrewing the cover, there were still 2 more small screws inside. And my set of screwdrivers (which I brought all the way from SG and finally had its use here) doesn’t have the correct match. So it took quite some time. But still I was very happy because although my room has 2 more other lights, I like that one best because of its position. It is directly above my bed and every night before I sleep, I would read a chapter of my novel and I can turn it off very conveniently as the switch is just above my head. As for the other 2 lights, one is near the sink while the other was above the table. And it is so low that I can feel its heat and hence I don’t like to use it. After I had changed the bulb, I made sure I tightened the screws as I don’t want the cover to fall on my head while I sleep.
I only reached the office near 11am and wanted to make some progress in work quickly before lunch. So in the rush, I didn’t know what I had done and the entire program just couldn’t compile. Luckily it was solved in the end and I was in time for lunch with the other guys. I had something special for lunch. A kind of pizza-cum-eggtart looking food called the “quish” (I can’t spell it, only know how to pronounce). It was cheesy, with baked crust, and bacon. Very delicious. The food that I liked here are the salmon, the drumstick, the fillet, the stick with roasted meat, and this quish. Not only was the food special, the lunch was special too as we went outside the restaurant and sat at a table in the open. We purposely carried the table which was in the shade further out so that we were completely exposed in the sun. It was the most enjoyable meal I had. I could feel the heat from the sun and at the same time the cold breeze. And I was just in my t shirt.
At the cafeteria, Jaro and I were chatting away and he was asking me how do I calculate the lunar calendar. I seriously had no idea. Then he asked me about the festivals and public holidays in SG since we were talking about Easter Day. I tried to tell him as much as I know. He said he once had an Indian boss and he celebrated Deepavali with him and his family. So he knew a bit about the story on the Indian God who came back victorious after defeating the demon. Being a Singaporean, I felt quite ashamed that I had never celebrated a Malay or Indian festival before. After talking so much about these festivals, I suddenly have the urge to eat zhong zi and mooncake. By the way, when I mentioned mooncake, Jaro thought it was shaped like a crescent. Luckily I would still be able to eat them when I get back to SG. Although duan wu jie would be over by then but nowadays, zhong zi is easily available.
Back in the office, I touched up on my code and began writing a brief summary on what had been done this week. Then I planned for what needs to be done next week. After that, it was the planning of my end tour again. Hui and I had somewhat finalized on the destinations and I told him it would be easier to split the planning to 2. I would do northern Europe (London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Loire Valley) while he will do the south (Marseille, Nice, Pisa, Rome). By mid April, we would have to come out with the full itinerary for our individual places and before May, we must start booking the youth hostels. I was doing research on the places to visit in London and realized that we are going to spend a lot there. The entrance to a castle is 10 pounds at student rate! Here, the entrance to those castles that I have been to is only 2.5 euros. But then, I haven’t been to majestic ones (like Versaille Castle) but guess they should be less than 10 euros. The fastest way to find out which places to visit besides checking the net is to ask those who had been to London. So I asked Kathy who once studied there. She not only gave me some ideas for London, but also for Rome and Paris as she knew I would be visiting the too. And I have forgotten to mention, Jaro told me Berlin is worth visiting but too bad we have dropped it in our plan. But his reason was Berlin’s nightlife is more interesting than that of Paris. Really I wasn’t that interested.
Kathy then told me that I must be careful with my belongings, esp. I am alone in a foreign country, and I am a Chinese so easier to identify and made target by crooks. She told me of some incidents that happened to her friends in Paris. She is really a very caring friend, and before I came to France, she already warned me of all these stuffs like, must always keep your belongings close to you, etc. That was when we were having dinner with some other friends. I had always wanted an elder sister and she somehow qualifies for this role. Anyway, she’s a year older than me. Hui said that he has not much experience in planning a tour as he had only been to Geneva since he came here; unlike me who had been to many places by now. But I guess that planning for a tour is much tougher than planning for a trip. And talking about trip, tomorrow I would be going to Dinan and not Nantes as the train fare to Nantes has increased by 4 euros probably due to the coming Easter. I wasn’t feeling apprehensive like I used to be about such trips anymore since I had some experiences already. Besides Dinan, I would be passing by a small town called Dol de Bretagne as I had to change train there. I would be able to tour awhile in that town since I had more than an hour of transition time.
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