I would like to start this section off by saying it's Michiganders not Michiganers. The two weeks before starting UoM's iREU, Optics in the City of Light, I had spent going to the emergency room, taking a lot of antibiotics, applying tons of ointment, and making up my finals. So let's just say that my time at Michigan was hazy. The flight over was the best I ever had. It was smooth, short, with more leg room than usual, and a fantastic view all the way. Once I landed I noticed that Michiganders are super nice. Almost too nice (just kidding). That night most of us REUers got acquainted when Steve Yalisove and John Nees took us out for dinner at Cafe Habana, one of the many wonderful establishments in Ann Arbor's downtown. The 4 days to follow included a lot of administrative paperwork hullabaloo in order to have access to papers and such, a laser safety test following a critically acclaimed laser safety video, a holography lab where we attempted to make 3D holograms, a tour of the many labs in UMich's Gerstacker building where the infamous HERCULES laser is located (those are some big Ti:Saph crystals I tell ya), a travel abroad orientation session, and last but not least project presentations. The week was very action packed and the presentations were good motivators for preparation.
The Flight
The airport at Detroit is pretty fancy. The flight of course was long. I sat next to a very American soldier. He had a ton of snacks with him which made me think, he knows what he's in for. Apparently the gentleman did a circuit around Jacksonville, FL, Washington state, Washington D.C., somewhere in the north east, I'm pretty sure he mentioned Kansas, to then fly out to Paris, have a 10 hrs layover, stop at some African city, and then arrive for a 4 month stay in Djibouti . Wowzers. The details of his stay there are classified. Afterward he plans on retiring from the military (at least active duty stuff) and working as a state trooper. So I wish him all the best and a safe return! Anyway, the flight attendants kept speaking to me in French, which I found very flattering. I thought, 'Maybe I look French'. But they spoke to everyone in French at first unless they could see you fumbling. All in all it was nice and kind of made the idea of France sink in.
Notre Première Semaine à Paris
We landed on French soil and went to get our NaviGo passes, which are unlimited public transportation passes. Let me tell you now. Think about what you're bringing to Paris because the metro stations have a lot of ups and downs, stair cases, and people. Lugging around 23 kilo bags builds character though. We all managed to make our way to Ideal Hotel Design on Boulevard Jourdan next to General Lerlerc (Metro 4 @ Port Orleans). The hotel was interesting and very colorful. The timing for us all was a bit off since we flew out of Michigan around 9pm and arrived in Paris at 11 am the following day after a ~7 hr flight. But nothing the weekend couldn't fix. Two Paris Tech students, Adrien and Francois, were waiting for us to arrive and invited us to Rugby and a party. We missed the Rugby and were too pooped for the party. We have to make it up to them at some point since they were kind enough to reach out to us. Monday we arrived at L'Ecole Polytechnique. We went from the RER B stop, Palaiseau- Villebon, up to our destination. It was an unexpected hike and by the end of this summer I expect to have killer calves. Patrick and I got lucky enough to meet Gerard Mourou who is very nice and very very important. We were drifting around for a bit until we caught up with our mentor, Bianca Jackson. There was a mess with our Polytechnique badges which enable us discounts on restaurant meals and access into the the school (turns out the mail carrier was just late that day) but the timing was all right since we were able to attend a free grad student barbecue. The first couple of days at work consisted of some paperwork sorting, wireless accessing, etc. I hope I am a lot more productive and of use this week. Outside of work we went to the Latin quarter one night and dined on some escargot, moved into Cité Universitaire where Michelle and I now share a fabulously spacious room (eat your heart out fellas), and went shopping on multiple occasions
. It hasn't been as eventful as it could be but some kinks had to be smoothed out. My favorite things so far have been the awesome food and speaking French. A lot of people in Paris speak English (and very well might I add) but it's been fun trying to figure out what to say. I hope my French improves a lot. Anyway, I know there is a lot to still include. I was thinking of making a post with some helpful information about Paris that you may not stumble across until you get here and it's painfully apparent. So expect that.
I plan to work hard and fully enjoy my stay here. Don't I just want everything? I think it can be done. Anyway, the city is beautiful and the people are great. No better place to be than here in Paris.
The Flight
The airport at Detroit is pretty fancy. The flight of course was long. I sat next to a very American soldier. He had a ton of snacks with him which made me think, he knows what he's in for. Apparently the gentleman did a circuit around Jacksonville, FL, Washington state, Washington D.C., somewhere in the north east, I'm pretty sure he mentioned Kansas, to then fly out to Paris, have a 10 hrs layover, stop at some African city, and then arrive for a 4 month stay in Djibouti . Wowzers. The details of his stay there are classified. Afterward he plans on retiring from the military (at least active duty stuff) and working as a state trooper. So I wish him all the best and a safe return! Anyway, the flight attendants kept speaking to me in French, which I found very flattering. I thought, 'Maybe I look French'. But they spoke to everyone in French at first unless they could see you fumbling. All in all it was nice and kind of made the idea of France sink in.
Notre Première Semaine à Paris
We landed on French soil and went to get our NaviGo passes, which are unlimited public transportation passes. Let me tell you now. Think about what you're bringing to Paris because the metro stations have a lot of ups and downs, stair cases, and people. Lugging around 23 kilo bags builds character though. We all managed to make our way to Ideal Hotel Design on Boulevard Jourdan next to General Lerlerc (Metro 4 @ Port Orleans). The hotel was interesting and very colorful. The timing for us all was a bit off since we flew out of Michigan around 9pm and arrived in Paris at 11 am the following day after a ~7 hr flight. But nothing the weekend couldn't fix. Two Paris Tech students, Adrien and Francois, were waiting for us to arrive and invited us to Rugby and a party. We missed the Rugby and were too pooped for the party. We have to make it up to them at some point since they were kind enough to reach out to us. Monday we arrived at L'Ecole Polytechnique. We went from the RER B stop, Palaiseau- Villebon, up to our destination. It was an unexpected hike and by the end of this summer I expect to have killer calves. Patrick and I got lucky enough to meet Gerard Mourou who is very nice and very very important. We were drifting around for a bit until we caught up with our mentor, Bianca Jackson. There was a mess with our Polytechnique badges which enable us discounts on restaurant meals and access into the the school (turns out the mail carrier was just late that day) but the timing was all right since we were able to attend a free grad student barbecue. The first couple of days at work consisted of some paperwork sorting, wireless accessing, etc. I hope I am a lot more productive and of use this week. Outside of work we went to the Latin quarter one night and dined on some escargot, moved into Cité Universitaire where Michelle and I now share a fabulously spacious room (eat your heart out fellas), and went shopping on multiple occasions
. It hasn't been as eventful as it could be but some kinks had to be smoothed out. My favorite things so far have been the awesome food and speaking French. A lot of people in Paris speak English (and very well might I add) but it's been fun trying to figure out what to say. I hope my French improves a lot. Anyway, I know there is a lot to still include. I was thinking of making a post with some helpful information about Paris that you may not stumble across until you get here and it's painfully apparent. So expect that.I plan to work hard and fully enjoy my stay here. Don't I just want everything? I think it can be done. Anyway, the city is beautiful and the people are great. No better place to be than here in Paris.
No comments:
Post a Comment