This morning I woke up at 845am. Actually, I was being awakened by my mobile phone and knew at once it was mum. I told her that there is no need for her to call me unless of emergency as I already promised I would call home every week. Not that I did not want to speak to her but by using the cell phone, it would cost a bomb. It is $2.50 per min! I knew she missed me a lot but I really did not want to waste that kind of money. So our conversation ended in haste. Perhaps I would call home tomorrow which would cost much cheaper of course.
After breakfast, I tried to translate the rules and regulation of my hostel. This not only helped me to kill time here but would somewhat improve my French. However, the French dictionary was rather inadequate for the task. Anyway I found out that I was not supposed to use any appliances for cooking and heating inside my room. Which meant my kettle was prohibited! Damn it. That meant I had to keep it inside my luggage every morning after I had boiled the water. I did not want to be evicted or pay heavy penalty if they spot check my room. There was also another regulation which I find interesting. I wasn’t sure if I had translated it correctly, apparently the hostel admin was not going to hold any responsibilities for any pregnancies cases here. It meant that hostel sex should be very common here. I also noticed that in every building here, there would be a condom vending machine.
Feeling quite bored, I began to try and create my own 2D animation using Flash. The story I was doing was “Romance of the 3 Kingdoms”, a novel that I had been reading every night since I arrived. I gathered that by the time I finish the novel (by reading a chapter a day), I would be left with about one month here. The animation was rather simple and crude and I only possessed the basic skills of using the Flash. Nevertheless, it was still pretty interesting. Soon it was lunch and I decided to cook something and thus went to the kitchen.
This was only the 2nd time I was here and I found the place quite dirty with unwashed dishes in the sink. As I was taking the pot from the tray, I saw a glass dangerously positioned at the edge of the table beside the tray. I had a feeling that I would break it if I knocked on it accidentally. Sure enough, despite how careful I was, I still knocked it and broke it. It was that kind of de ja vu feeling and it felt very strange. Anyway, it was a cheap glass (not purely made of glass. With some element of plastic in it) and I thought no one would know that I did it. Still, I thought that I would perhaps buy one and put it back if it is not too expensive when I visit the mart on Wednesday. So I threw the broken glass into the dustbin and found it full of wine and beer bottles. The brand was Kranterbeus or something like that. If I had not remembered wrongly, the first time I came here (last week that is), the dustbin was already full of bottles. This meant that people here consumed liquor at a tremendous rate, or no one clears the rubbish. My guess was the latter, because I thought the kitchen was being under-utilised here.
After breakfast, I tried to translate the rules and regulation of my hostel. This not only helped me to kill time here but would somewhat improve my French. However, the French dictionary was rather inadequate for the task. Anyway I found out that I was not supposed to use any appliances for cooking and heating inside my room. Which meant my kettle was prohibited! Damn it. That meant I had to keep it inside my luggage every morning after I had boiled the water. I did not want to be evicted or pay heavy penalty if they spot check my room. There was also another regulation which I find interesting. I wasn’t sure if I had translated it correctly, apparently the hostel admin was not going to hold any responsibilities for any pregnancies cases here. It meant that hostel sex should be very common here. I also noticed that in every building here, there would be a condom vending machine.
Feeling quite bored, I began to try and create my own 2D animation using Flash. The story I was doing was “Romance of the 3 Kingdoms”, a novel that I had been reading every night since I arrived. I gathered that by the time I finish the novel (by reading a chapter a day), I would be left with about one month here. The animation was rather simple and crude and I only possessed the basic skills of using the Flash. Nevertheless, it was still pretty interesting. Soon it was lunch and I decided to cook something and thus went to the kitchen.
This was only the 2nd time I was here and I found the place quite dirty with unwashed dishes in the sink. As I was taking the pot from the tray, I saw a glass dangerously positioned at the edge of the table beside the tray. I had a feeling that I would break it if I knocked on it accidentally. Sure enough, despite how careful I was, I still knocked it and broke it. It was that kind of de ja vu feeling and it felt very strange. Anyway, it was a cheap glass (not purely made of glass. With some element of plastic in it) and I thought no one would know that I did it. Still, I thought that I would perhaps buy one and put it back if it is not too expensive when I visit the mart on Wednesday. So I threw the broken glass into the dustbin and found it full of wine and beer bottles. The brand was Kranterbeus or something like that. If I had not remembered wrongly, the first time I came here (last week that is), the dustbin was already full of bottles. This meant that people here consumed liquor at a tremendous rate, or no one clears the rubbish. My guess was the latter, because I thought the kitchen was being under-utilised here.
The stove was really slow at heating up my pot of water as I was preparing to cook some noodles with a can of “Ruo Ding”. Finally the water was boiling and soon I was enjoying a pot of pork noodles. After that I had to wash the pot and I didn’t know which of the bottle was the detergent as the label was in French. In the end I tried one and grains came out of it. I continued washing the pot using these grains and still could not see any foam appearing. After I had taken a closer look at the grains, I realized it was sugar. Haha! What an idiot. Using sugar to wash pots. So I tried another bottle and this time I was right. But u can’t blame me because the sugar bottle was as big as a detergent bottle. As I was washing, a French girl came in and deposited her cokes in the common fridge. We Bonjoured each other and yes she was very beautiful but too big size.
I went back to my room and decided to watch a VCD. I chose “Timeline” for this week which was highly recommended by Weishen. Indeed it was a very good film. The story was about a modern professor trapped in the medieval times in France because the experiment had gone wrong. His son and some archaeologists were sent to retrieve him back. The setting was 1357 France, during the Hundred Years War between the French and the English. The time was set during the siege of Castle La Roque. The English captured Lady Claire (sister of Arnaut, the commander of French) and threatened to hang her in front of the French. This enraged the French and they fought with sheer passion and in the end triumphed over the English.
The plot was not very fascinating, but the flow of the story was smooth and the suspense adequate. In the end, one of the archaeologists, Andre Marek who went back in time decided to stay there because he had fallen in love with Lady Claire. In the beginning of the show, he was showing another guy a sarcophagus of a couple, who in death had their hands held together. The man in the coffin had a missing ear, and Andre was wondering what romantic story the couple must had back then. It turn out that he was “that” man in the coffin and when he went back in time, he got his ear cut off while trying to save Lady Claire from being hung. At the end of the show, all the archaeologists returned except for him and they later managed to reveal the carvings on the sarcophagus. It said, “Born in 1971, died in 1384.” (I personally find this interesting) And he named all his children after the friends that had went back in time with him. “Together, they made their own histories”, was a line in the movie and the spine of the plot.
Some of the conversations were in French with English subtitles. Perhaps I should go to the office and borrow some French shows to watch (with English subtitles of course) so that I can improve my French faster. My room is constantly vibrating because there are idiots here who just kept blasting their music. Back in NTU, I would have gone over and stop them. Now, I just pray the booming would go away soon. I guessed the culture here is people do as they like. They don’t really think much about others. Okay, I don’t think I would return that glass to the kitchen.
I shall list those stuffs that I brought which were of much usefulness to me.
1. SAF boots. Very warm-keeping to my feet
2. sweaters. Everyday needed in the office
3. slippers. I wear slippers even in my room because unlike in NTU hostel, people do not put their shoes outside the door. Also the floor is too dirty and cold to walk bare-footed.
4. Samsonite toiletries bag.
5. Lip Ice and moisturizing cream. My face is undergoing slight exfoliation and sometimes my lips would crack.
6. Nalgene water bottle. On Day One I thought I forgot to bring it along and bought an Evian bottle. Stupidly blur
7. Laptop. My only source of entertainment beside my San Guo Yan Yi when I am in my room
8. San Guo Yan Yi. Yes, my the other source of entertainment
9. French dictionary. But too basic. Should have bought a book on daily French conversation
10. Giordano cargo jeans. Because it has a lot of pockets.
11. VCDs, should have brought more.
12. Uncle’s turtle-neck sweater. Very handsome. Makes me look like Zai Zai and looks the same as the one Mathilde wears to work. (Qing lu zhuang, hahaha)
13. Track pants. Too bad only got 1 pair.
Here are some things I felt useless:
1. father’s brown jacket. Too small and too ugly
2. father’s sweater. Got a funny smell so I dare not wear to work. I was afraid Mathilde might not like that
3. CDRs. Nothing to burn because no internet connection.
4. Formal wear. Here, everyone wears casually
5. Shorts. My legs would freeze if I wear them!
6. Telephone! How could I forget? I had no phone connection in my room though Dora said she had it last time. Anyway the phone line connection is so different.
7. LAN cable. Bought for $7.90!
8. Gloves. Though my hands were often numb, but the gloves were too bulky to use.
9. Long johns. Waste money and weight limit. Although it is cold here but it is very troublesome to wear them. Moreover, it would be very hot when I get inside the office.
10. Sandals. Maybe later on?
11. Tissue packets. Here there is serviette everywhere.
12. Microphone. Lucky I didn’t buy a webcam! Perhaps can use to record voices (my voice that is) for the animation I was creating.
13. Alarm clock. Because my room is so small and at night it will be very quiet and the ticking sound of the clock is unbearable! In the end I banished it inside the drawer and used my watch instead.
14. Hair wax. Here my hair becomes straight and not curly. Maybe can use it when my hair becomes super long later on. (Don’t plan to get a hair cut here).
Things that I should have brought along:
1. Scarf. My face suffers in the ruthless wind.
2. SAF Mess Tin. So that I don’t have to use other people’s pot to cook. Maybe I shall buy one.
3. More songs in my laptop. Thought I would have internet access and can download here.
4. Full Metal Alchemist anime. Wanted to watch again
5. Another book. I almost wanted to drop the San Guo Yan Yi because of luggage weight limit. Lucky I didn’t.
6. Sketch book. So that I can continue the comic I was drawing.
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