Journals from Abroad
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Journal: Hong Wei: Hero Jean of Arc
May 28, 2007
 Jean of Arc Celebration |
Monday is a holiday again. No work again.
I did more tests this week, some DMA tests and took a picture of the fracture surface of charpy samples. It was fun studying the surface but my knowledge about the failure of material was only from my Materials 360 class. I was so glad I had that class with Dr. Shield because all my research right now is related to that class.
I'm almost halfway through my internship. I am still searching information from Internet, as usual. Sometimes I would lose passion in it because I could not find the information that would help me in the project. I always asked myself "What is the purpose I came here, and what is the main idea and objective of my project?" in order to put myself onto the right track.
Wednesday night we went to Anais's apartment to have French dinner. I am working with her in the same lab. She sits next to my table in the same office. She is the one who keeps updating me with what is going on in Rouen city and some latest news in France. We had a great dinner; there were eight different types of French cheeses with bread and wine. She explained all the cheese to me but I still cannot remember the name of the cheese. What surprised me was they keep the cheese for a long time. One of the cheeses was almost one year old! We had good wine as well. It is the oldest wine I'd ever had. It was made in 1985, making it the same age as me. In France, they serve a small glass of alcohol at the end of the dinner. We had 1972 liquor. It was too old and the taste just too strong for me. I learned an interesting sentence in French. "Do you want a canon?" translates to "Do you want a glass of wine?"
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This weekend was the celebration of Jean of Arc in Rouen. This is the place where she was burned by the British. A big stage was set up in front of the Rouen Cathedral, which was surrounded by food stalls. It was full with people in traditional costume and music. A band played in front of the Cathedral. Performances throughout the whole day made Rouen a lively city.
Visa stuff bothered me for these few days. I just knew that I had made a big mistake. I can stay in all Schengen countries only up to 90 days. This put me in big trouble because I planned to travel for three weeks after 90 days working and studying in France. I have gotten all my flights and train tickets ready. I tried my best to contact every embassy and people to get extension for three weeks. My friend in the same lab helped me a lot in contacting the government in Rouen because they only speak French. The chance for getting me to travel seemed slimmer and slimmer. The last chance for me is waiting for the answer from the Malaysian embassy in Paris.
