This morning while I was on my way to work, the road was covered with a thin layer of snow. Normally people from the tropical countries would be excited to see snow and true enough when I told my friends about that on MSN, they all remarked, “Cool!” To me it was a dreadful sight because the presence of snow meant that temperature is dropping. My blocked nose had already been better after taken a flu pill last night. It was kind of weird to have the sun shining so brightly at you that you had to raise your hand to block the glare and yet the wind was so damn cold.
My body was adequately protected by the sweater and the coat but my hands and face had to suffer. Wearing gloves would help but that was too troublesome and I didn’t have a scarf to cover my face. So every morning I had to brace the coldness to get to my office. It was also very uncomfortable when my back perspired and the sweat would sort of freeze up and there would be a prickling feel. Like putting “Zua Huen” on the back. I really wish that soon there would come a time when I could just wear T-shirt, berms and sandals to work. Okay, that was asking for too much. At least just the sweater and pants and track shoes. Currently I am wearing the SAF boots and thanks to Hui who reminded me to do so before we came here.
I kept a small notebook with me which kept a record of the tasks that I had to do for the day. This not only kept me organized, but also help monitor my progress and make my days pass easier. Today was my most productive day so far, as far as work was concerned. I had somewhat analysed the code of Laurent, and had an idea to which part of the code that I should insert my codes to achieve my objective. I hoped it was as easy as it seemed, and I could impress my supervisor when he returned.
Today seemed like a day not for working because the people here were always not around in their office. A super slack day. The bunch of guys whom I had lunch with yesterday were still at the cafeteria having their breakfast at 930am. Then at 11 something, they left for lunch without asking me this time. I hoped it was because they went to somewhere else before lunch and so did not ask me to come along. As usual, they would have a cup of coffee at the cafeteria until 2pm.
In the afternoon, while I was working with the codes, there were a lot of commotions along the corridor. That same gang was “canoeing” around along the corridor on their movable chairs. These guys sure were having a lot of fun monkeying around! It reminded me of the days when I was in army and the OIC wasn’t not around. Here, the OIC did not exist. They even asked me to join in because they knew I used to canoe last time. I declined with a smile because I did not see much fun in that, but more importantly, I was talking to Mathilde. Yes, it’s Mathilde again!!! I hoped everyday I could write something about her because that meant I get to see her daily. I guessed I would join in the fun with the guys at a later stage just to patronize them. Not that I am a pretentious kind of guy, but just for socialization.
I knew why Ahad the Iranian was not close with them. He was too serious with his work and also too old. He was always working in front of the computer and did not even go for lunch. I guessed it was because he was an Asian and wanted to prove something to the French. It might also be because he wanted to work extra hard so as to make up for the disadvantages in language. Anyway it was impossible to imagine Ahad “rowing” along the corridor on the movable chair. Mathilde came and passed to me a letter of justification for me to present to the Prefecture. She then tried to ask when I would go there but again was stuck with the words. When she began to panic because she could not find the right words in English, I just laughed and said that I would go on Friday.
Hui showed me the photos that he took at his place, Grenoble, and it was covered with snow!!! There were mountains everywhere and I guessed it must have been a beautiful scene. However, I was glad I wasn’t there because I don’t think I would survive the cold. He also took picture of himself in his room and I asked him why he seemed so happy. He said that these photos were meant to be sent home and by pretending to be happy, his parents would not be worried for him. I also took self-portrait but I looked pitifully sad in them. Anyway I don’t intend to send the photos back. I worked a bit late today (until 5pm, latest so far) and went to the supermart after that.
I had a big discovery at the supermart today and that was; I found cup noodles of Nissin!!! Earlier I mentioned that I don’t think I could find cup noodles here because MSG is banned in Europe. That piece of information was given by my French teacher Nicholas Chaplain. Perhaps he was wrong. OR perhaps the noodles had no MSG which meant they would be very plain. In any case, I am going to try them after I’ve finished typing this. I bought only 6 items but spent almost an hour in the mart because I was comparing prices and had to determine which items were safe for consumption. My budget was 10 euros and in the end I spent only 5.72 euros. The stuffs that I bought were the cheapest (like corn flake for 50 cent and it was a gigantic packet). But I was afraid they would taste awful since they were so damn cheap. I also saw macaronis and spaghettis but thought that it was troublesome to cook because you had to buy flavourings and sauces. In the end, that might end up to be quite expensive also.
I could not cook at all so it might not be worth it to cook because I might end up wasting money and getting lousy food. Bread is the safest and it is also nutritious although the taste sucked. But perhaps by the end of my attachment, I would be leaner and my abs would come out, which is what I had always wanted. But I don’t want my rib bones to be too visible also. And yah, forgot to mention about lunch. I had lots of fries and a piece of bloody steak. On my way back to the hostel, I passed by houses and took a glance into one of them through the window. The owner was sitting on an armchair reading his papers and he had a nice fireplace by his side. What a contrast to see him sitting comfortably by the fire while I shivered in the cold and dragged my heavy boots as I struggled to reach home in the wind. But thinking that I just bought 1 month worth of food for 5 euros and would finally have a decent dinner later (that cup noodle), I was feeling much better. How peculiar that man could be easily contented by simple things in a harsh environment.
My body was adequately protected by the sweater and the coat but my hands and face had to suffer. Wearing gloves would help but that was too troublesome and I didn’t have a scarf to cover my face. So every morning I had to brace the coldness to get to my office. It was also very uncomfortable when my back perspired and the sweat would sort of freeze up and there would be a prickling feel. Like putting “Zua Huen” on the back. I really wish that soon there would come a time when I could just wear T-shirt, berms and sandals to work. Okay, that was asking for too much. At least just the sweater and pants and track shoes. Currently I am wearing the SAF boots and thanks to Hui who reminded me to do so before we came here.
I kept a small notebook with me which kept a record of the tasks that I had to do for the day. This not only kept me organized, but also help monitor my progress and make my days pass easier. Today was my most productive day so far, as far as work was concerned. I had somewhat analysed the code of Laurent, and had an idea to which part of the code that I should insert my codes to achieve my objective. I hoped it was as easy as it seemed, and I could impress my supervisor when he returned.
Today seemed like a day not for working because the people here were always not around in their office. A super slack day. The bunch of guys whom I had lunch with yesterday were still at the cafeteria having their breakfast at 930am. Then at 11 something, they left for lunch without asking me this time. I hoped it was because they went to somewhere else before lunch and so did not ask me to come along. As usual, they would have a cup of coffee at the cafeteria until 2pm.
In the afternoon, while I was working with the codes, there were a lot of commotions along the corridor. That same gang was “canoeing” around along the corridor on their movable chairs. These guys sure were having a lot of fun monkeying around! It reminded me of the days when I was in army and the OIC wasn’t not around. Here, the OIC did not exist. They even asked me to join in because they knew I used to canoe last time. I declined with a smile because I did not see much fun in that, but more importantly, I was talking to Mathilde. Yes, it’s Mathilde again!!! I hoped everyday I could write something about her because that meant I get to see her daily. I guessed I would join in the fun with the guys at a later stage just to patronize them. Not that I am a pretentious kind of guy, but just for socialization.
I knew why Ahad the Iranian was not close with them. He was too serious with his work and also too old. He was always working in front of the computer and did not even go for lunch. I guessed it was because he was an Asian and wanted to prove something to the French. It might also be because he wanted to work extra hard so as to make up for the disadvantages in language. Anyway it was impossible to imagine Ahad “rowing” along the corridor on the movable chair. Mathilde came and passed to me a letter of justification for me to present to the Prefecture. She then tried to ask when I would go there but again was stuck with the words. When she began to panic because she could not find the right words in English, I just laughed and said that I would go on Friday.
Hui showed me the photos that he took at his place, Grenoble, and it was covered with snow!!! There were mountains everywhere and I guessed it must have been a beautiful scene. However, I was glad I wasn’t there because I don’t think I would survive the cold. He also took picture of himself in his room and I asked him why he seemed so happy. He said that these photos were meant to be sent home and by pretending to be happy, his parents would not be worried for him. I also took self-portrait but I looked pitifully sad in them. Anyway I don’t intend to send the photos back. I worked a bit late today (until 5pm, latest so far) and went to the supermart after that.
I had a big discovery at the supermart today and that was; I found cup noodles of Nissin!!! Earlier I mentioned that I don’t think I could find cup noodles here because MSG is banned in Europe. That piece of information was given by my French teacher Nicholas Chaplain. Perhaps he was wrong. OR perhaps the noodles had no MSG which meant they would be very plain. In any case, I am going to try them after I’ve finished typing this. I bought only 6 items but spent almost an hour in the mart because I was comparing prices and had to determine which items were safe for consumption. My budget was 10 euros and in the end I spent only 5.72 euros. The stuffs that I bought were the cheapest (like corn flake for 50 cent and it was a gigantic packet). But I was afraid they would taste awful since they were so damn cheap. I also saw macaronis and spaghettis but thought that it was troublesome to cook because you had to buy flavourings and sauces. In the end, that might end up to be quite expensive also.
I could not cook at all so it might not be worth it to cook because I might end up wasting money and getting lousy food. Bread is the safest and it is also nutritious although the taste sucked. But perhaps by the end of my attachment, I would be leaner and my abs would come out, which is what I had always wanted. But I don’t want my rib bones to be too visible also. And yah, forgot to mention about lunch. I had lots of fries and a piece of bloody steak. On my way back to the hostel, I passed by houses and took a glance into one of them through the window. The owner was sitting on an armchair reading his papers and he had a nice fireplace by his side. What a contrast to see him sitting comfortably by the fire while I shivered in the cold and dragged my heavy boots as I struggled to reach home in the wind. But thinking that I just bought 1 month worth of food for 5 euros and would finally have a decent dinner later (that cup noodle), I was feeling much better. How peculiar that man could be easily contented by simple things in a harsh environment.
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