tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33799704346176625502024-02-08T05:22:16.952+01:00steven in francethis is my blog to document my study away experience!
(Entries are in reverse chronological order)Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-91203724701455196482011-06-03T20:58:00.003+02:002019-01-02T00:28:05.448+01:00Final post: a reflection on the last 6 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been home in Michigan for almost 2 weeks now, and I’m already getting to leave to Boston for the summer. My parents, brother, and I flew back after our week of family vacation in Paris. Being in one place for more than one week has been very refreshing. It’s also allowed me to reflect on the last six months. I don’t expect to digest everything this fast, but here’s a start.</span><br />
<h1>
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #a5bdcd; background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surface level things</span></h1>
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think about the experiences I had in France from January thru March, during my time at Polytechnique. I remember…</span></div>
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<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I first arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, I tried asking for directions in French. It took me half an hour before I managed to find the exit; and that was after asking for directions in English!</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arriving at Polytechnique, being so nervous because I was late to the semiconductor physics class, and finally not understanding a thing during the class.</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At my first Catholic group dinner, a sketchy looking student with a beard came up to me, and said, “tu es Steven?”. I said yes, and we soon became friends. This student was Alexandre and he became one of my best friends at Polytechnique. And of course, you can find him on my blog anytime there is a picture with food in it.</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I got to my first French class too early, I listened to half an hour of jokes, presented by a diversity of English accents- Romanian, Brazilian, French, German…</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Standing at the organ console besides world-famous organist Daniel Roth, while he played an after mass concert at St. Sulpice Church</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the RNCGE :</span><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> un plateau et un plat chaud et la reste sont en bas ! </span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I asked “I’m feeling very sick, do you think I should stay here over the winter break?”, the school doctor told me: “if you cancel your trip to England, you’ll get even sicker!”</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Going to England, and starting every conversation with “Bonjour monsieur/dadame…”</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learning (at least trying) to dance rock</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Playing violin in a quartet, a school orchestra, and with a professional orchestra, and realizing what a common bond music provided, no matter the level of play</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Attempting to learn solfege in said musical groups</span></li>
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<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And of my 1.5 months of travelling afterwards, from April thru mid-May:….</span><br />
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<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=La+Rochelle,+France&daddr=Paris,+France+to:Loctudy,+France+to:Paris,+France+to:Madrid,+Espa%C3%B1a+to:Lisbon,+Portugal+to:Barcelona,+Espa%C3%B1a+to:Montpellier,+France+to:Nice,+France+to:43.16898,10.56286+to:Roma,+Italy+to:Venezia,+Italy+to:Wien,+%C3%96sterreich+to:48.11277,11.56074+to:F%C3%BCssen,+Deutschland+to:M%C3%BCnchen,+Deutschland+to:Berlin,+Deutschland+to:K%C3%B8benhavn,+Danmark+to:55.5287135,9.4927032+to:Amsterdam,+Nederland+to:Delft,+Nederland+to:Leuven,+Belgium+to:Bruxelles,+Belgique+to:Brugge,+Flemish+Region,+Belgium+to:Paris,+France&hl=en&geocode=FclZwAIdXW_u_yl1PSXJg1MBSDFAlu5gktMFBA%3BFSZ-6QIdXuQjACkPt-IGH27mRzFglIxow4ILBA%3BFajV2QIdg2bA_ykxlVDzkzIXSDH9x_KFme6Zzg%3BFSZ-6QIdXuQjACkPt-IGH27mRzFglIxow4ILBA%3BFbO1aAIdh4nH_ynJZjc4fShCDTF9mVDtwJxGrQ%3BFfSeTgId8Jl0_yk78-RhGjMZDTHQNpDkvesABA%3BFY2HdwIdPxwhACn1KO0mcZikEjEwA6Qh4PoABA%3BFZFymQIdbCc7ACmxnd0lB6-2EjEC6JQodFaHrQ%3BFaS_mgIdON1uACkxLYVqENDNEjFwmpf9pRkIBA%3BFdS0kgIdLC2hAClPWe1jFwPWEjFRRhXqkCwIEw%3BFdgyfwI"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #4a81e3; background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21 cities</span></a><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: La Rochelle, Loctudy, Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Montpellier, Nice, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Fussen, Munich, Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Delft, Leuven, Brussels, Brugges, Gent, and Paris</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20 Trains, plus several more that went accidentally unreported when the conductor failed to check the pass (sh…)</span><img height="641px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/e8UhV1Yg_gbpTDGut_WIgHEUZFOGSOba0N9muq67hnoFJ440zJyA55xs0suq-ZogYcTX30Y_wiyLxhFzDhzjqr5nK3bMdEIUhu_eCKW3_gio9NL78Jo" width="624px;" /></li>
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<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Around 11,000km (7000 miles) of rail travel</span><img height="437px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Kv9m61Z3pnWihcQXS1ufz8jU7Qv4_BzsuRFRDzWX8g52z-sZbotW5AekKiQf12-vwNmnK12tvEixhEhVK8zAh6rtnBK5Aio-G8hDmMAWU-yoMy6IRFY" width="624px;" /></li>
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<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1>
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #a5bdcd; background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The best souvenirs</span></h1>
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I struggled for few days, trying to figure out what the best keepsakes from Polytechnique, Paris, France and Europe were, so I could pack them for Olin. Then I started realizing that I was already carrying the best souvenirs from my studies and travels: myself. My </span><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">changed</span><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> self.</span><br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, it was the little things:</span><br />
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<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realized it when I went to the local Meijer and couldn’t find comté cheese.</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realized it when I sat in a car for more than an hour.</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realized it when I met a stranger, and didn’t feel like trying to find mutual friends, interests, or cities inhabited.</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realized it when I found saw a public drinking fountain for the first time in months! </span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realized it when I still had half a bowl of rice while the rest of my family had finished their meals</span></li>
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<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With my new lens into the world, I also saw more clearly the negatives of American culture:</span><br />
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<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I found myself at a buffet, disgusted with the idea that people can eat a plate of food in 5 minutes, and then get up and get another plate</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started noticing how empty the phrases “How are you?”. “Good, and you?” are often asked. In France, these phrases are used less often, but they mean more when asked.</span></li>
</ul>
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But it also gave me a new appreciation for the positives of American culture:</span><br />
<ul>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I arrived in O’Hare airport, and found friendly customs officers who smiled at me.</span></li>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite the potential emptiness of the phrase “How are you?”, I still like it when minor acquaintances greet me every time I see them.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I read </span><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dreams from my Father</span><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Barack Obama, and while my reaction wasn’t “only in America”, I did say to myself, “much more likely in America”.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These are all generalizations of course. Each of culture has positives, and negatives. And many of these negatives and positives are personal preferences. But these keepsakes come up every day, especially during mealtime. </span><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><br />
<h1>
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #a5bdcd; background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Au revoir!</span></h1>
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How can I distill 6 months of classes, sports, music, language, cheese, travel, and above all, friendships into a few pages? I can’t.</span><br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still, I would like to remember and thank the friends who welcomed me throughout my travels: </span><br />
<ul>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Golhens in Paris and Bretagne; Jeremy in La Rochelle; Eduardo and Alexandre (in spirit) in Lisbon; Oliners Ariel, Miguel, Rich in Madrid; Robert in Vienna; Emmanuel in Munich; and Jacques in Delft.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">…my fellow travellers</span><br />
<ul>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rebecca, who enforced my doctor’s orders and travelled with me to London. Jeff and Xy, who helped me explore Paris. Jeff, for being my cultural and linguistic interpreter through Italy. Xy, in Leuven and Amsterdam. And of course, my parents and brother, in Paris.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">...all the quirky, funny, and great people at Polytechnique:</span><br />
<ul>
<li data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alexandre, Ali, Anne-Charlotte, Camille, Catalina, Chris, Dominic, Guillaume, Helene, Jean-Mathieu, Laurent, Sébastien, M. Pernot, and many others</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And you, readers of my blog. You’ve forced me to reflect on and express my experiences at regular intervals, helping me to deal with my culture shock, honeymoon period, and adaptation in France these 6 months. </span><span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Merci beaucoup</span><br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is my last post for Steven in France, but you’re always welcome to talk to me about these experiences. Perhaps when another adventure comes, I will revive my blog in another form. </span><br />
<span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" style="--darkreader-inline-bgcolor: transparent; --darkreader-inline-color: #f8f0e1; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A bientôt!</span></div>
</div>
Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-44657856648393758332011-05-29T23:18:00.000+02:002011-05-29T23:18:21.731+02:00Guest blog from my brother: Daniel's trip in Europe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Hi I'm Daniel. I'm the guest writer of this post and Steven's brother.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">First I'll tell my own story of Europe. Of course, I was with my parents the whole time. First stop, London. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In London I went to the Tower of London and saw these weird guys who carried the keys (Beefeaters), went to many towers, and saw the Crown Jewels of London. The next day we traveled everywhere. First we went to the British Museum. There were many cool things there; then we went to Buckingham Palace and saw these weird soldiers with big hats. We walked another mile and we were at Big Ben, a giant clock. Last but not least we went to Wimbledon lawn tennis club and went to its museum. That night we went to the Ceremony of the keys to watch them lock the Tower of London's gates. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY33dybH3hn3-LFnnXat_YBaidOxJYizYLPhJgqV3gYJYyBM7uMVHgZX6HLZMMneUEgIgkQH7xrCTjyY4t05lSSTTo3BGNzcGJ_rvoewC02UHMWBylUofGX-SB8MYuoDsVlJg6Yn7zfFUI/s1600/IMG_1169.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY33dybH3hn3-LFnnXat_YBaidOxJYizYLPhJgqV3gYJYyBM7uMVHgZX6HLZMMneUEgIgkQH7xrCTjyY4t05lSSTTo3BGNzcGJ_rvoewC02UHMWBylUofGX-SB8MYuoDsVlJg6Yn7zfFUI/s320/IMG_1169.JPG" width="320" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> A big dragon!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtW-1bU9eClWz9mZhnfNxPzNW5E6bVXFmdlaEIabStnWL-b4Fvad5q1v_awUcTdTPky3oinhckdkCg7t3HU-hIFxBcxgsaJoxLhfOBW_YdZTDIkCF13nEUaqR0KisBxE1gRjfHBo0UNFf/s1600/IMG_1313.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtW-1bU9eClWz9mZhnfNxPzNW5E6bVXFmdlaEIabStnWL-b4Fvad5q1v_awUcTdTPky3oinhckdkCg7t3HU-hIFxBcxgsaJoxLhfOBW_YdZTDIkCF13nEUaqR0KisBxE1gRjfHBo0UNFf/s320/IMG_1313.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Centre court in Wimbledon</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The next day we went on the Eurostar train and met my brother in Brussels.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCiMLmFO0ZWRj8qpFst6FsMPoxswvUVim6apZ1iayG4pE5_HSKse9P4nzA0P_s2wLvYYfl3-9DzHGbsHsyMBHldDOMXPwE2PUm_5RVBXuQ2tbbFTUfI3UjlwmYOSGEP94caA03dbCSiixW/s1600/IMG_1347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCiMLmFO0ZWRj8qpFst6FsMPoxswvUVim6apZ1iayG4pE5_HSKse9P4nzA0P_s2wLvYYfl3-9DzHGbsHsyMBHldDOMXPwE2PUm_5RVBXuQ2tbbFTUfI3UjlwmYOSGEP94caA03dbCSiixW/s320/IMG_1347.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good to see my brother again!</td></tr>
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In Brugges, Belgium we went to the Basilica of the Holy Blood. Then we climbed a giant tower with a great view. We also did a lot more things. Altogether I went to Brussels, Gent, and Brugges. The best part was taking a boat tour that told us all the best parts in Brugges. I even found out that there is a Obama chocolate statue in a chocolate factory. After 2 days, we boarded a train to Paris, the best part of my trip.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNfOeVJW4fNWHtRH3FknWTSYBlh69Qgk-lgrp9Jv_jF4YgMO6VrdcQbJHXvUcLtw-Q36BTvyk0xDUISlP-OZYp4cUPX1rGvu7NZ_vboPqfZ7hcCDZZI2qF8fIHGVXJl-oZsK0tna7uoWWY/s1600/IMG_3312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNfOeVJW4fNWHtRH3FknWTSYBlh69Qgk-lgrp9Jv_jF4YgMO6VrdcQbJHXvUcLtw-Q36BTvyk0xDUISlP-OZYp4cUPX1rGvu7NZ_vboPqfZ7hcCDZZI2qF8fIHGVXJl-oZsK0tna7uoWWY/s320/IMG_3312.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down a window in the tower</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vWKGl-ocQOnshfKege7GCqdFsAWptqbuan4-FIcaxKl___NtXcT2uX5pguu3HjkDmQQBiTURW5a5kbxJNmWmHfg0be-y3GcyLybrA78JLSxuPNry6olf5nS7IXQcaXbavz0MqthiXht7/s1600/IMG_1475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vWKGl-ocQOnshfKege7GCqdFsAWptqbuan4-FIcaxKl___NtXcT2uX5pguu3HjkDmQQBiTURW5a5kbxJNmWmHfg0be-y3GcyLybrA78JLSxuPNry6olf5nS7IXQcaXbavz0MqthiXht7/s320/IMG_1475.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crazy-copying-American-flag windmills</td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In Paris I went to so much places I'll name my 3 favorite places. One of my favorite places was Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's battle arch. On the top it had a great view and on the first floor there was a mini museum. My next favorite place is the Louvre. There I got to see Mona Lisa and other paintings. And let me tell you one thing: every art museum has to have nude people. My final favorite place was the Eiffel Tower. Who could not like it, it has a amazing view, awesome elevator, plus its like France's biggest landmark. Paris was the best place I went to.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6k_6LyAY0NQlcMZWP_jx4lB9mzci7YsjpSu5OzB3RSvuXLXk1NZ6ABgBwGXeskCbKko-Q-QTdetLHJ-4dulfNF_t_9prnFrRObYQmvIOSv0VkfKgF7bj-BuDRwLTvry5osoduVMYftYG/s1600/IMG_3460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg6k_6LyAY0NQlcMZWP_jx4lB9mzci7YsjpSu5OzB3RSvuXLXk1NZ6ABgBwGXeskCbKko-Q-QTdetLHJ-4dulfNF_t_9prnFrRObYQmvIOSv0VkfKgF7bj-BuDRwLTvry5osoduVMYftYG/s400/IMG_3460.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> I just jumped off the Eiffel Tower</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbC6WHHMh_vegChLNkjrIkkmYEHEvqT-CoYHuritdFgvRrrQoz-FOCXqgqyYnh9cak6yBYzAprvrT9D_9vv5RbhSq46BJ9xVzRxGESe1gukbHiP8M_MC5rofZovwGSg-SsMXJWcs1mYNA/s1600/IMG_1668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbC6WHHMh_vegChLNkjrIkkmYEHEvqT-CoYHuritdFgvRrrQoz-FOCXqgqyYnh9cak6yBYzAprvrT9D_9vv5RbhSq46BJ9xVzRxGESe1gukbHiP8M_MC5rofZovwGSg-SsMXJWcs1mYNA/s320/IMG_1668.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us with the Golhens(or at least half of them)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtmqGcGehft8QZNAuItldh1V5oD8ez6dqMm6CUiC_6HQLvsYJyNZgZ8dKndCaQYpVHb4esDTt4sIZDgsr3VgWFlzO8GHnvjDNzr1gO5htL0ej0dS1_CzkckLyy_rFnwN7EYSWLxqeUOPM/s1600/IMG_1694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtmqGcGehft8QZNAuItldh1V5oD8ez6dqMm6CUiC_6HQLvsYJyNZgZ8dKndCaQYpVHb4esDTt4sIZDgsr3VgWFlzO8GHnvjDNzr1gO5htL0ej0dS1_CzkckLyy_rFnwN7EYSWLxqeUOPM/s400/IMG_1694.JPG" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At my brother's school</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">….Oh yeah, I forgot my favorite place Roland Garros (French Open). It was extraordinary plus I love tennis I got to see awesome qualifying matches that were very intense. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloM39zDj1Ftkrpy0V10SxvM8KZpW_FnkyUBRnozhIcK3WZqFASLo-mTSxU_0Qn-MC6bEkAesProOTUX5ceusJj_hKiIojF2AZBacBnxcQN4mJkF_fjX0xd1TBREzbpyqt-VZsNFFOmC_r/s1600/IMG_3437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloM39zDj1Ftkrpy0V10SxvM8KZpW_FnkyUBRnozhIcK3WZqFASLo-mTSxU_0Qn-MC6bEkAesProOTUX5ceusJj_hKiIojF2AZBacBnxcQN4mJkF_fjX0xd1TBREzbpyqt-VZsNFFOmC_r/s320/IMG_3437.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with Ryan Harrison, world no. 119. He's only 9 years older than me!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-6GIl_xQ2iG1JvpIgXBLkrsOIA7hI2Et8FuwFGRG9ycL-DVz50zIiXQBwUpD1cbbMlregxK0crT5rSi5Xar3eulu1wH6n8Ddah59A0yGI5RMcrzrrlMk00ZhVXT5KisVUG21oMqrmxj_/s1600/IMG_3446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-6GIl_xQ2iG1JvpIgXBLkrsOIA7hI2Et8FuwFGRG9ycL-DVz50zIiXQBwUpD1cbbMlregxK0crT5rSi5Xar3eulu1wH6n8Ddah59A0yGI5RMcrzrrlMk00ZhVXT5KisVUG21oMqrmxj_/s320/IMG_3446.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[From Steven] I randomly saw Jean-Eude, a Polytechnique student I knew, on the opposite side of the court. He was there with his company.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikT3uf2LXuoEge1pWP6V-cVFM1c9hdO2hAGuzl3PmVTdEldlymjEoaYM5i4dxL43EGl8N04tZrLexGa3Ao6VWE-_55NsHuhJ8P2slde6N7x3eKOXcfEp2IsX6FBhvbNNc3oijcTbX_xKFv/s1600/IMG_3446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Europe is......awesome! Next time I'll make sure I'll have a much longer trip.</div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-12234329741024281232011-05-19T04:01:00.003+02:002011-05-20T02:22:11.524+02:00Amsterdam<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">After Copenhagen I headed to Amsterdam to meet with Xy Ziemba ’12. We stayed there Sat/Sun 7 and 8 May.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The two unique things we did were:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. See some unusual car-bike combinations</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRrYPWTwmS1AwF0hL9jPO9ezyUXHXxvJp2Tz5A5Gr4EXz_ZPEfQSpjmEHEdG9MQovo6uFxRsgiImntDtfcAuR5bjBW3b1xMeCISjecwUIITEYUe2XlASOvZmbK-FS3M13R8zN42w7P-93/s1600/IMG_3229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxRrYPWTwmS1AwF0hL9jPO9ezyUXHXxvJp2Tz5A5Gr4EXz_ZPEfQSpjmEHEdG9MQovo6uFxRsgiImntDtfcAuR5bjBW3b1xMeCISjecwUIITEYUe2XlASOvZmbK-FS3M13R8zN42w7P-93/s320/IMG_3229.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Human powered hybrid?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Go to a concert at the Royal Concertgebouw. My friends tell me this hall has some of the best acoustics in the world. After asking the usherers therem, evidently this was by chance rather than by design</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2iXwMhpUV4O-YCTdRtNuTMfF_WnLxyXW0PAdLwZ5Bm5oA8qkYDWIm2lFC40EXIfIFUOfKr56gE-307dDW2DXnh2VuDn8pkiUZeVfp2QeqkWoBwbxwjovXiq9xFmv9tOI6s4p9SNevpr0D/s1600/IMG_3232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2iXwMhpUV4O-YCTdRtNuTMfF_WnLxyXW0PAdLwZ5Bm5oA8qkYDWIm2lFC40EXIfIFUOfKr56gE-307dDW2DXnh2VuDn8pkiUZeVfp2QeqkWoBwbxwjovXiq9xFmv9tOI6s4p9SNevpr0D/s320/IMG_3232.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We also met up, with Jacques, a friend from Polytechnique X2008 , currently working in the Netherlands. We went to church together and then had lunch on the great lawn in front of the Rijikmuseum</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKYX6t5pxoJNxJtdqrJHRk5r6qKvQr3eP6TSSPs1TRjNJSj-mnpL4PFQB7ufafzapuNVHDy-NTCy5o0WqxwLL7DXHG38Lovy2WBO2dpH9lXp_g-A-K4hjqyu3Xoa1uSdsmH-jBXLvOZgV/s1600/IMG_3248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKYX6t5pxoJNxJtdqrJHRk5r6qKvQr3eP6TSSPs1TRjNJSj-mnpL4PFQB7ufafzapuNVHDy-NTCy5o0WqxwLL7DXHG38Lovy2WBO2dpH9lXp_g-A-K4hjqyu3Xoa1uSdsmH-jBXLvOZgV/s320/IMG_3248.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m ready to be done”</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I visited Delft, Netherlands (9-10 May) and Leuven, Belgium (10-11 May) to visit Xy and Jacques, respectively. Though they were both charming towns to visit, I found myself ready to be done traveling: after more than 5 weeks of railpassing/backpacking around Europe, all tourists attractions started to feel the same, all the medieval buildings equally (un)interesting, all “self-discovery” moments repetitive, and yes, even conversations with strangers became tiresome. Especially with meeting new people, I was tired of meeting people, connecting at a rather deep level for several hours, and then never seeing them again. I wanted stable relationships again.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The novelty of traveling started wearing off in Copenhagen and had worn off completely by the time I reached Leuven, I was ready to see my friends and family, and be in a stable community for more than 2 days once again.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Luckily several things prevented me from tourist boredom. First, I was seeing my friends Xy and Jacques, whom I was sure to see in the future again!. Second, I apparently pinched my ulnar nerve, leading to an interesting adventure through hospitals in the Netherlands and Belgium.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, on Wednesday, 11 May, I went to Brussels Midi station to meet up with …</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My family! After almost 6 months of not seeing them!</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We traveled through Belgium a few days, and came to Paris for 5 days, with me as the tour guide!</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My last 2 blog posts</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have two more blog posts left in my blog. First, my brother (age 10) has agreed to be guest author and write a post about our travels in Belgium and Paris. </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, I will conclude this blog, steven in france, with a list of lessons I’ve learned in the past 5 months.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cher reader, wherever you are in the world (according to my blog stats, you exist on 3 continents), Merci beaucoup for reading this blog!</span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-78362731012677008322011-05-17T10:48:00.002+02:002011-05-17T10:50:15.611+02:00Frisbee around the world!Jason Curtis and I organized Oliners studying abroad to make this video. Props to Jason Curtis for putting it together!<br />
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P.S. Traveling around Europe allowed me to be the cameraman of half of these scenes.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='640' height='480' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/N0j6ITrLIyU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-66627517463648014892011-05-14T10:38:00.000+02:002011-05-14T10:38:41.247+02:00Copenhagen<div class="MsoNormal">Last Thursday and Friday (5 May) I went to Copenhagen. I wanted to see what Scandinavia was like, and Copenhagen was the closest city. Why did I want to see what Scandinavia was like? Because it seemed like all my European friend pointed to Scandinavia as examples of great societies.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPM2NM0DocFdecrhxNdjllrKSD4ixYsl_drAlrZY1qUxzozbPcIAJc52IYkxMfitxvO21jx2iA0otdw43U-KqiskWZu1c1AO8CNuMP_PoXfx7reRTSLquMbEIAgLvDyvR_LkwePin1pVbC/s1600/IMG_3202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPM2NM0DocFdecrhxNdjllrKSD4ixYsl_drAlrZY1qUxzozbPcIAJc52IYkxMfitxvO21jx2iA0otdw43U-KqiskWZu1c1AO8CNuMP_PoXfx7reRTSLquMbEIAgLvDyvR_LkwePin1pVbC/s400/IMG_3202.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mermaids, Windmills, and Bikes</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course in Copenhagen everybody must see the little mermaid. It is very underwhelming.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgIgnt9CLNuw_UzhgG_7ZLeSTi1DFOlYRlhuEWlLeyLc31ajlJKng5gmN5Um6dTPm6P-kDmPdKkBfAs7y3KlbAkOiBeHSDGNm_V1PXyQzq9deP7VdDIIH_e1Zp3KwbvI0rPnOajdkpE6Q/s1600/IMG_3170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgIgnt9CLNuw_UzhgG_7ZLeSTi1DFOlYRlhuEWlLeyLc31ajlJKng5gmN5Um6dTPm6P-kDmPdKkBfAs7y3KlbAkOiBeHSDGNm_V1PXyQzq9deP7VdDIIH_e1Zp3KwbvI0rPnOajdkpE6Q/s320/IMG_3170.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...so why not make it more exciting?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Much more interesting are the huge windmills and bikes throughout Copenhagen.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcE_z_HK43UC4NxvG1ENDuQqFDjiTNBMfxUWlvBW3AHoHVAMs2_X-YsUHTik8qfElViqlPr8jgC6sp-LMJmOiDOssjV2gLoH6L-FWnDkVxzdp52xNez7y1yOHe9hxs0USf_tv5WeSWb-dm/s1600/IMG_3119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcE_z_HK43UC4NxvG1ENDuQqFDjiTNBMfxUWlvBW3AHoHVAMs2_X-YsUHTik8qfElViqlPr8jgC6sp-LMJmOiDOssjV2gLoH6L-FWnDkVxzdp52xNez7y1yOHe9hxs0USf_tv5WeSWb-dm/s320/IMG_3119.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Danish Design</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">I also wanted to go to Copenhagen, because I wanted to see Scandinavia and its design influences ( especially after taking UOCD*)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First I went to the Danish Design Center. Their exibhts seemed like they were straight out of a UOCD textbook. If you have taken UOCD these things might look familiar to you.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3XeJO9C_6CsV_DBJIub75isQcvAm-HlUSwRM9GcRWllMGTUMfGDVNHYPLR9SShJqcRbQJt2VHk8bZmTt0l3mdE_fRYNeAHb93O88ldt7LHwMUYlvmb73rgW3chVqHmjn5DP1Vr1AygGg/s1600/IMG_3127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3XeJO9C_6CsV_DBJIub75isQcvAm-HlUSwRM9GcRWllMGTUMfGDVNHYPLR9SShJqcRbQJt2VHk8bZmTt0l3mdE_fRYNeAHb93O88ldt7LHwMUYlvmb73rgW3chVqHmjn5DP1Vr1AygGg/s320/IMG_3127.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1PCvSEivXt7wzpqztxEEVVKzfvnsjoj1Qa13locmrACUFS0arGiFShQ3nAAvhyxs4A9U8fbsTf0gVI8t5u8qYz-KZ_yc3sweq7_n0RAFze378BK6zeF64TZ1-NRaK2X_oJhoSJg8wCGM/s1600/IMG_3130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1PCvSEivXt7wzpqztxEEVVKzfvnsjoj1Qa13locmrACUFS0arGiFShQ3nAAvhyxs4A9U8fbsTf0gVI8t5u8qYz-KZ_yc3sweq7_n0RAFze378BK6zeF64TZ1-NRaK2X_oJhoSJg8wCGM/s320/IMG_3130.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I also ran into the Scandinavia show room for Tesla Motors. The sales person was very interested in talking to me, even though it was obvious I was not trying to buy a car. Evidently there are only several dozen such cars in Denmark. I asked how can this be, since Scandinavian society as a whole was more on the cutting edge of green technology then the U.S. The sales persons said that this was true, but there is not a culture of showing off possessions as statis symbols. Thus the wealthy Danish business man might still bike to work if it was convenient. This is exactly what I found as I saw many gray-haired men in suits bike around Copenhagen. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBo8cEHO7OeU6TfMDTrz1hIHrAz1HcYA0T-Ergsz2wDBmXFTkoVHg4zPSIKRc9lARxfu7uuRd6GyyhMDaHt6YhqLjR5qNfEYtENZaXFwhyBnNEE3SaCN6q1aw4E742_OOH1Ae2IlUvfpWV/s1600/IMG_3198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBo8cEHO7OeU6TfMDTrz1hIHrAz1HcYA0T-Ergsz2wDBmXFTkoVHg4zPSIKRc9lARxfu7uuRd6GyyhMDaHt6YhqLjR5qNfEYtENZaXFwhyBnNEE3SaCN6q1aw4E742_OOH1Ae2IlUvfpWV/s320/IMG_3198.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally I spoke to some desighners I randomly ran into they invited me to their office to chat. Turns out they work for INDEX, an orginzation that organizizes the largest design prize in the world. Later I recollected that I actually saw the head of INDEX speak at a conference I went to last year (Better World By Design).</div><div class="MsoNormal">One question that I was left with: why is the design profession- the people, lingo, education, still dominated from an art perspective?- by industrial designers, artistic terms/exhibits (the way they’re displayed sembles modern art exhibits), I don’t know the answer. If you do. Let me know!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*UOCD stands for User Oriented Collaborative Design. It is the required introductory design course at Olin. Most engineering schools do not teach their students this user oriented approach.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-26007497527649607732011-05-09T18:45:00.001+02:002011-05-09T18:45:55.648+02:00VW: Venezia to Wien<span id="internal-source-marker_0.9485943385059531" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hello blog readers, I’m Jeffrey Atkinson, Olin ’12, am currently studying in Trento, Italy, and traveled through central Europe with Steven last week. Since the Rome post, I’ve been promoted from guest editor to guest blogger, and I’m sharing a bit of what we did in Italy and Austria during our trip.</span><br />
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</div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The first things that anyone notices in Venezia (Venice) are either the boats or the tourists, both which jam the lagoon city. The boats which weave through the canals, large and small, of Venezia are the major form of transportation for people and goods in the city. The other is pedestrian traffic – no other vehicles, not even bikes, are allowed on the stone paved calle (alleys).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">From the bustling Grand Canal to smaller, contorted waterways in the city and the outer lagoon, one can see as many types of boats as vehicles in any other city. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We saw taxi boats </span><img height="238px" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/JzCfcA00YSTSl3lc5COJwi1dxRcSN3QG7_N6aqCqDDFAlAlGBs91ijNrNwBPHNLnLUlWHYdb1QunZ9WE2tukzdOqRxiOYdFlJnyWaPeaxElBkwqZsyg" width="320px" /><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">and bus boats (vaporetti), </span><img height="150px" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Bu0TMiA7eFiNpN4lNpN6jZ1pijXa8wH_gjGyItrEgQVUWZp78maceSHL9iEi1etE4xlmBR3vxq75pBqWjXozoW-z4mWY6spB2ST_ZLV_oPf6_gYKig" width="200px" /><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">delivery boats from local couriers, </span><img height="150px" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/uObBp4h-xMMu2R1SaBzOgmSZLnJoVSbA5_0-5aecaDzFyUhOrWB1yGDoMKikIASe_rLmcBhC6JEudBN_Hovp8a1WNSL4GN7orC_U6c0unUITZTX1iw" width="200px" /><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">UPS, and DHL boats </span><img height="150px" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/LxnSB67tNiTRONUIMsfSQu89KUr-9B5lhWv1fHU6aoXVACQaVeIximXg4JZn_BJxpEDTeuhu3JEbExTTWawAMmalnlzCg-HiWNzyr9XEwJm4Xz-uGg" width="200px" /><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">to more specialized beer keg and wine cask boats, funereal boats, backhoe boats, tiny runabouts, sleek speedboats, and finally police, ambulance and fire boats. </span><img height="150px" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/x0N7Kjxnrv9GrWvL1aVfHM-Rw2LJ4KhET4IZfBcUsCdFVJ5TdYGrtwq8IM4Rh4Bp5oaEJRog07tiYi3kYMlK3W6IqocE_UXZEWCHAqNpIo2v2dV81A" width="200px" /><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(you get the idea with the photos)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The other famous inhabitants of Venezia, tourists, were out in force – making some major attractions, like Piazza San Marco and Ponte Rialto, less than bearable during the day. Happily, we found that wandering around nearly empty streets at night was a very pleasant experience – Steven was particularly enamored with the dueling orchestras outside cafés at San Marco. Even during the day, retreating a few blocks from major routes, towards inviting pubs with fresh fish appetizers, was enough to escape crushing crowds, as was our brief excursions to the island of Murano, where the main jetty is filled with tourists examining the island’s famous glass creations, but the interior was blissfully quiet. A lack of cars in the city certainly helped our sleep in a guest house on a side canal. We were rewarded in the morning with breakfast in the private courtyard garden, during which our friendly hotelier Mattia chatted in Italian with me, in French with Steven, and in English when we both needed to understand something. In response to Steven’s question whether he had lived in Venezia long, he casually said he had grown up in the city, and that his family had inhabited the lagoon for “about 1000 years”. An authentic Venetian experience!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After 36 hours in the city, we caught a night train to Wien (Vienna, Austria), experiencing the complete opposite quality of sleep as under Mattia’s care. We napped about 5 hours, interrupted a couple of times by Austrian border control; the famed free crossing in the Schengen zone coming to a (hopefully temporary) end as other countries complain that Italy and France let immigrants freely enter, where they can easily travel through Europe even without documentation. All was well, though, as we were met at our arrival by Steven’s friend Robert, a student in Wien. We stayed a total of three nights with our gracious host, a much more casual and comfortable experience than living hotel-to-hotel.</span> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300px" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/G8UkvzoG92E8LckBAIwuN2NWRbJOzG3pqsxq-xDwnb3ZQYLNqYyq3H5roO9n7fufVwmr3_bgnwX3CgpUCM-MlriOLcgx_v5mAm6IJkQepQGAxHZ-pA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Guess what we cooked for dinner with Robert?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wandering around the center of Wien, we enjoyed architecture such as the Gothic masterwork St. Stephens cathedral, and a profoundly different cuisine to the Italian we were used to: Viennese finger sandwiches made with egg, peppers, or bacon, and Wiener schnitzels bigger than our plates (not to mention Ottakringer Goldfassl beer).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The next day, we toured the Hofburg palace complex, wandering through the Imperial apartments, “Silver Drawer” (actually a building for storing all the historic dining ware used by the Hapsburg dynasty), and the Treasury containing everything from fist-size jewels to medieval crowns. We peeked in at the Lipizzaner stallions at the Spanish Riding School and took the ring-road tram to visit the massive, historic University of Vienna main building. </span><img height="240px" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/N0RgdoJesUF8LblBx7J7zDS8goWvmVNvsKbUutqrcHSDtqmpZIHyD3B2_qLZjf5iujeAuUTGFoH-6Ymwt4DmVAflrZEPEb5-_HnS4ESqC2imlD8rWw" width="320px" /><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We also stopped by an exhibit on human-computer interaction. Sorry, the game didn’t work, so you’’ll just have to settle with this photo :)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We hoped to experience true Austrian music that evening, so were disappointed that tickets at the Volksoper (Peoples’ Opera) for Mozart’s The Magic Flute were sold out. We headed to the theater after the start anyway to see if we could beg departing tourists for their tickets. Steven managed to snag the ticket of a genial Russian guy named Sergey, who had left the theater, and saw the last 25 minutes of the opera, but it wasn’t enough to satiate the classical music urge.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We resolved to see Verdi’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nabucco </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">our last evening, Friday, at the Staatsoper (State Opera, the grandest in Wien). Standing room tickets were a very affordable three euros, but we had to, well, stand for the four-and-a-half hour opera. Regardless, it was a beautiful show and a great experience – even if I couldn’t understand the majority of the Italian sung. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320px" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/aPlnLRQWLYMZ0Lpi-RNQL-6zh-9eLNVoaUD0x61vi7YMNK6lEEa4_mQsOj6zsgVCZ97JSFNQQPrO6Uz4p9j8seplD75z-ISSb1YDwjPPr4_hMZ6xsw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Luckily, we saw a real opera and didn’t have to settle for just this</span><br />
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</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That evening wrapped up our trip, and we caught a train towards Fussen, which Steven has already written about, the next morning. We parted in Munich, where Steven continued his adventures and I returned to study for my finals! I’ll be leaving after the first week of June on my own (shorter) trip through Europe, and will be blogging here:</span><a href="http://jeffreyatkinson.tumblr.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></a><a href="http://jeffreyatkinson.tumblr.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://jeffreyatkinson.tumblr.com/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<a href="http://jeffreyatkinson.tumblr.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thanks for reading, and happy travels to all! </span>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-48934013191418174622011-05-09T17:59:00.002+02:002011-05-09T18:30:36.106+02:00Berlin<span id="internal-source-marker_0.9417755986950307" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve been traveling alone since Monday, 2 May. Monday-Wednesday I was in Berlin.</span><br />
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<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Absurdities of the human race</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Berlin has a very unique history, and it has made me realize some absurdities of us humans.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guy is selling visas.. to East Germany!<br />
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</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The wall. This one is obvious. Being walled in yet able to travel around (if you were a West Berliner), by your own countrymen...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nuclear bunkers. I took a great tour of a nuclear bunker (which can be accessed by secrete doors in the U-bahn, so next time you go on the T....).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The guide described the interesting psychological problems of being a bunker guard (how do you pick when to lock the last person out?), eating (canned soup, anyone?), sleeping (you’re constantly sleeping in sweat because of the high humidity levels and poor ventilation). and dying (the body bags were see-through, because colored ones don’t last more than 50 years).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">All this made the guide ask, why would anyone ever do this? Maybe some people rather just die in a nuclear armaggedon?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At this point, I talked to a fellow tourist from the UK. She informed me that during the Cold War, the fear of nuclear war was indeed real, and her husband even bought euthanasia pills for her and her kids... just in case.</span><br />
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<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Berlin’s city planning</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Berlin’s got an awesome backbone railway system, that allows for one central railway station (contrast with Paris’ 5 or so major stations, one for each direction). It has 2 levels of tracks going in perpendicular directions, and is Europe’s largest station. Very impressive.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As well, it seems like 50% of historical sites I wanted to go to were closed due to construction. For example, there was the Kaiser memorial church I wanted to go to.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But this was the only thing I could find! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Apparently, they are doing restoration work on the church, so the big modern building on the left of the previous photo is actually the church- enclosed for restoration work.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Other than that, Berlin is a wonderful mix of different architecture: for example, soviet-era Karl Marx Allee, 18th century Konzerthaus, and the modern home of the Berlin Philharmonic.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">User oriented museum design</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I went to some confusing museums in Berlin. As well as modern art exhibits, and musical concerts. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">With all these examples, there’s somethign fundamentally missing: context.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Let’s take the Berlin museum</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="480px" id="internal-source-marker_0.9417755986950307" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/clfWHUpHWEBW_U9p8WFNXXkJXS67UxXZ-da6IB4T3EUHt64y_tR3Ao3yd9gHvSWV204QjYP3h9BKDR1HUwkGkr-NvuisfeQQrnkKUWQ8cIirmJC3pw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640px" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I didn’t have time to read an article of Berlin before coming here, so I went to the museum, hoping to gain some historical context into he city. But the subject jumped around, focusing on interesting, but detailed subjects (do you know about the Humboldt family?). Which is fine, as long as one understands the larger picture (as in the overview history of Berlin), which I assume most tourists don’t. When I told the the kind owner, who asked me for feedback, about this, his response was telling: “Oh I never realized that! It seemed to me obvious for us Berliners what the overall history of Berlin is!”. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The same goes with modern art galleries. Tourists can stare and appear sophisticated, or they can really be informed about </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">why</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> this piece of art is unique, special, and important. Maybe then the gallery will sell more art. Just look at how context shaped </span><a href="http://blog.stevenzhang.net/2011/03/oxford.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">my view of An Wei Wei</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I think museum curators and artists just take this for granted. Because it comes naturally to them, they assume it comes naturally to everyone. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And with classical music... a program that just lists a biography of the artist’s life is not really context...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This is why this trip has deepened my appreciation for history- because it provides context! Which reminds me.... I should probably read up on the history of Boston. And Needham. And Olin, and engineering, and … blogging!</span>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-16772772419957268802011-05-04T12:39:00.001+02:002011-05-09T18:31:01.927+02:00Bavaria<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.4355640639550984" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hallo from Berlin!</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Here’s what I’ve been up to since Rome</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Monday 4/25 to Tuesday: Venice. Walk around, island hop</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wed to Fri: Vienna: Imperial palance, watch 2 operas (Magic Flute by Mozart and Nabucco by Verdi)</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sat to Sun: Fussen: Neuschwanstein Castle, Munich: BMW museum</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeff was with me up until Fussen, so I've asked him to guest write for Venice and Vienna</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><h1 style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fussen: fairytale land of Castles</span></h1><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The southern part of Bavaria is famous for its "fairy tale" scenery and castles.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The farmland here reminds of Michigan, which isn't surprising given the large number of Bavarian immigrants who came to Michigan in the 1800s.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300px" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ZMrk7nsRNK6335iD606SUr74erhUktWpp-O-Re8uZghr7ajUeSJ775Zlp_81b6B9A62Oap4SIzTCpX91OsP6LzYgpSPnDU6ZuNBNMiQSIqkhVUFVnGk" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400px" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px;">But Michigan does not have big mountains, or this:</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300px" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jeOEmmHIpod1uvLHh2D3JJmxFJkkuxbrZKCuMPisPegafhb8n1ET2yPjLiGZy0aRAMddG4-fhOX8FDGm-Z49U7W79McR5NViLZ3p4KwYkQPHe_onuw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400px" /></td></tr>
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</div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There are a ton of tourists </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300px" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/GXkOT8JnojMhgP-MksGlgHEfKH43C5am_dPiOcIALSqHkc_Y6Xt4BtS_YIIJIzmSkki8I-HoLqiaW_7odhUgdOdJUjBgpx15kTN1DYRZPiaXHLL9WQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400px" /></td></tr>
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</div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Here, there were more Japanese/Chinese tourists than I ever seen. I don’t ever see this many East Asian tourists in the U.S. That maybe a combination of: me not being in touristy areas in the U.S., East Asia is close to Europe, the rise of the upper class in China.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But like Venice, a little walk off the beaten path is all it takes to find magic</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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</tbody></table></div><h1 style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Munchen</span></h1><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A last minute email led me to a detour in Munchen. Luckily with my railpass, it didn’t cost a penny!</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I visited Emmmanuel Leroy, a friend from Polytechnique, who's working at BMW for the summer. </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Whereas Neuschwanstein castle is almost artificially fairy-tale looking, Munich's olympic park looks too futuristic to be real!</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300px" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Ars-71XTH11NouTOeYohho2cN_C3qC4V5bX3MnDeUz6ZPo0P8P4MXuD4voPZ2RXgc6JrwL2uxoMmbPWDBzLfkNiWU9FBJTeAtEF10Cu-YdNBvVVObQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400px" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I also met the most dedicated street musician I've ever seen *and I did street musicians for UOCD)</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300px" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Ul0Xvrbglt_NWOotWaPuqRSpq6arYcWR34bOirepx2isDy7jXRf2w7TWBQf111ZH2JtPrjSVt-4RUyolSbEFCUIOFnJIE-Xv4mP5Hn8PQG_djClA6rU" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400px" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I found him in the shopping district, on rainy day, under an overhang, afterhours. </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At first I thought he was being hired byt he store! [m,But nope, this is his very own Yamaha grand pinao, which he hauled in that very day and was hauling back out at 10pm</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wow. Emmanuel's theory: there are too many great pianists in Germany, and not enough concert halls!</span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-14638216047488772992011-04-30T17:36:00.000+02:002011-04-30T17:36:09.616+02:00Rome<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Buon giorno! I spent the past 4 days in Rome with Jeffrey Atkinson ’12, and invited him to guest edit this blog post. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We had a busy itinerary:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">21/4 (Thursday): Walked around Rome at night</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">22/4: Colosseum, Pantheon, Trastevere (the less touristy Rome), Good Friday mass in St. Celia (from 300 AD!)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">23/4: Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel, Roman Forum</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">24/4: Easter Sunday mass in St. Peter’s Square, St. Peter’s Basilica, Borghese Gallery</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Famous landmarks</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ll begin with pictures of famous landmarks in Rome. No explaination needed. (<i>Ed. note: well, they're really interesting, but you can look them up on your own.</i>)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="299" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/QkQUZJM56g7Ern1BaYXP9zoRSh5Igc4_sl9Yavq2QsdL6UMxPydxdPYAQYclgOtyb6ZJXwwKEVznq62m338ugRbpE1kMcb5Y-d0gd47SH0fartoN-bc" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="299" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_3G2hkk7U_bLZ3M0MW2mNtQGiOYzL2j_WqtzUvaMaf2KMHyc40KTmL3OYVDkBTIqiCTOLQaH_Qz-K7113AmspooHH2q1WIsXW1cbYbJEeyWwCsW46PQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forum</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Peters square (oval)</td></tr>
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<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Easter Sunday Mass</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Before arriving in Rome, we arranged with the office of American visitors to the Vatican to receive our tickets for Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square (hosted by ‘Papà Benedetto’ XVI, our tickets read). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We actually saw the Pope twice in Rome, first while trying to cross an intersection that was blocked off – all the pedestrians were waiting on the sidewalk for some reason we couildn’t quite discern. Suddenly, a police motorbike sped by at 50 miles per hour or more, followed by three more bikes and three SUVs. A black Maserati sedan flashed by, offering the impatient crowd a glimpse of a white-robed figure in the back of the well-lit interior... </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hey, that’s the Pope</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, we exclaimed. The pedestrians started clapping, although they seemed as surprised as us. It was a surreal moment for a random street corner in Rome – a good thing we didn’t try to cross the street in front of the police!</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="451px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/vnz-1QZTrSloOQ4ppE8YqaPeyinszPTg5VGW1uDR8THG2wpcumigEOuD7Kg_OGa3ebylGh_Rl0DXWwsQAKFZvChzzua2VfSrlD0a_yoBNf2Ax9xJLvw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="602px;" /></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The second time was, obviously, expected: we woke up early on Sunday to line up at the Vatican for Easter Mass.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="451px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/NN5XbXylF-oQTJSlCCUvfuywxBIf7Dfeb7JLqEvgdE9E7cauey-O3_jvkECLcRlnqxDNNUQnceFHl0Is0JeoDjLLaZz8rcs3NCgFPs74O07V5DMmch8" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="602px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I think this picture was taken when the Pope said “Happy Easter, Christ has risen” in Spanish, as evidenced by some Chilean flags waving.</span> </td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Even if you’re not Catholic, Christian, or religious, there’s something powerful about thousands of people from across the world gathered, at times in almost complete silence. Some proudly carried their country’s flags into the square – symbols of thei r culture rather than government, and cheered at the end when a short Easter message was read in their language out of the dozens represented.</span><br />
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<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Blobs, umbrellas, flowers</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What do all these things have in common? They’re all popular items sold by street vendors all over Rome. These street vendors are at times annoying, but also entertaining</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Blobs</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">: turn the corner into a piazza, and you’ll see a man flinging an animal-shaped gel blob into the ground. Apparently kids like the fact that the flat shapes </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">blob forms when it hits the ground. Jeff says he saw this same random product all over Trento and other places he’s travelled in Italy. So… here’s our theory: some centralized distributor must supply these toys all over Italy. And why the blob? Because some factory, likely Chinese, overproduced these toys this year, and so the distributor could buy them at really cheap prices</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Umbrellas</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">: one time, it started raining in Trevi fountain. In less than 2 minutes, tens of street vendors appeared selling umbrellas. We saw one guy trying to sell umbrellas to a man who already had an umbrella.</span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Vendor: only 2 euro, buy this umbrella</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Man: “I already have an umbrella”</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Vendor: “Then buy this super compact foldable umbrella” [pulls out small umbrella]</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Man: “I have the same one. Your colleague sold me one earlier”</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Vendor: “Then buy this even bigger umbrella to protect you from the rain even more!” [pulls out huge, noncollapsible umbrella]</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Flowers</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Everytime in a restaurant, we had street vendors walking </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">into</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> the restaurant, trying to help couples increase the romantic setting by selling them flowers. And the waiters didn’t care at all! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The most ridiculous situation happened on the Spanish steps, apparently the place all romantic young couples go in the evening:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The street vendor, eyeing a young French couple trying to take photos of themselves, offers to take pictures for them. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">They refuse. But their fatal error- instead of ignoring the street vendor, they make eye contact. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Street vendor then offers the couple flowers. The woman politely says no thanks. Error #2: she should’ve just said no and walked away.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Street vendor tries another strategy. He continuously offers the couple flowers by putting the flowers into the woman’s hands, saying “it’s OK, it’s OK”, implying he’s given up selling the flowers, and since it was late at night with no on else around, willing to give them out for free. Again, woman is too polite, and wanting to stop the annoying vendor, finally gives in, takes the flowers.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The couple tries walking away, is politely followed by the street vendor (this time he heckles the man), who reminds them everytime they try to kiss that the flowers are still unpaid! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="451px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/LhdDEdPTlm4lBAhdUfjx49StnUqXct3PFW6O4W8OB5T2ViTsyzH-F4z0oGtluBdHIk12OOfukvIO88AMzNTyBMtbG23PSrRt-Z8xfGkRgp7Tj2IVBbQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="602px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The lone street vendor, politely following the couple. After all, they still have to pay for the flowers!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This ridiculous situation continues for 20 minutes until the couples gives back the flowers and the persistent street vendor finally gives up.</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How to visit a museum</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I had an epiphany while visiting the Borghese galleries. The evolution of my museum-going strategies</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The first time I visited the Louvre, I walked, tried to understand statues just by looking, failed, and got bored of seeing so many statues in 1 hour. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Later I discovered the power of audiotours- especially Rick Steves- for giving context to artwork.</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="369px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/4YlY4cq8gdGKSVea1ay0DjrRlw5GrB-cSXYvgU7oTnF5UDaF_iPhwBJ5EkAbVNeXoPA4iPI563yR-Ukrve-AlmKjY6E--MtlVW21Pd4G-OUsCi53z7o" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="492px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cardinal Borghese, whose collection was expanded upon and turned into a museum.</span> </td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At the Borghese, I discovered the magic of sitting down, and sketching the artwork. It forces me to sit down, and relax, and allows me to appreciate the work put into every chisel/brush stroke. Besides, even I can get RickSteves-fatigue sometimes.</span><br />
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</span>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-80608859369488445482011-04-25T15:17:00.000+02:002011-04-25T15:17:05.339+02:00Nice<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.17609579710889411" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As a quick stop before Rome, I stopped in Nice, on the Cote d’Azur on last Wednesday. The town wasn’t too impressive (felt like most other resorts), but this was </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">original beach resort. </span></div><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It was a scenic train ride along the Mediterranean sea</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 7.2pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: sub;">I also met an artist who was excited because I was from michigan</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 7.2pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: sub;"></span>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-62528027003771045032011-04-23T11:03:00.000+02:002011-04-23T11:03:41.974+02:00Barcelona<div style="background-color: transparent;"><h1 id="internal-source-marker_0.6404587242286652"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Barcelona: tourists abound!</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Normally I would have more pictures, but bandwidth limits at internet cafes prevent me from doing that</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone I talked to seems to rave about Barcelona. Now I see why. Tons of young adults come here for the nightlife.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, Barcelona has lots of history too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But it’s hard to not like the over the top tourist culture in some places here.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a name='more'></a></span></span><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meeting (French) young adults</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not a must-like person (and besides, night trains aren’t very good sleeping places), but I met lots of new people in my hostel.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I met:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 HS students from UK doing a gap year and doing 3 months of rail-pass travel</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 French students in a noodle shop after I accidently spoke to the cashier in French (@ which point he pointed me to the other French customers in the shop)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A girl from DC traveling for the first time in Europe, like me!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had a nice dinner with 5 students from Strasbourg.</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/D5LEZatYVOYXI5znJ91E9NSno9mjN7pGOQpmAGAKQgRIAho46iwIBexN3iw7EVZwYZfmnOY9_Cf9wuqdFRPCDgIzLbCpZ3yruPLeFkjaSCEtOSqM2w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We talked about French culture, American culture, studying at Grand Ecoles, and of course, why they loved Barcelona.</span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-35430043914223047402011-04-20T17:31:00.000+02:002011-04-20T17:31:55.628+02:00Lisboa<div style="background-color: transparent;"><h1 id="internal-source-marker_0.7678775715176016"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lisboa: a small village</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was lucky enough to have Alexandre’s friend be my tour guide in Lisboa. He showed me all the good views.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Lisboa, I found, downtown was full of old, small buildings, while the suburbs where full of high-rise apartments. Exact opposite of U.S.... </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/asoo0m8xv77Ke8yNX6yKrt8C9SrN5gS7Ro-JtW_drV8oPx8ueD1fH_ll0NO4RlkOFBC6m_iOZJKn1t9zyvoCuFOMrng_Wp1xT1f2kiV3igEaLKPIN-g" width="400" /><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sintra</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I went to Sintra, a nearby picturesque town with royal palaces and castles. There I met Emma and Martin, fellow travellers from London.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/KUpnmQ1xYaFVmhhHZxBIY8kuyHN9S1cRhIBwepR3jBZOFsEBpytGk5NRfKFVN6tAiS5Ob033l9YvaUPX7c5PE-L6JEVcZfBloNMB9Iv7QhYC1ucjoYE" width="400" /><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I went to Sintra alone. It was the first time in a while I was travelling in touristy places without a guide. It was good to remind myself of the mantra “a strager is a friend you haven’t met” and meet new people</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the way up to the moorish castle on top of the mountain (see above picture), I ran into Fabia and Pierre, a middle-aged French couple from Paris. I had no idea I would use French again so soon! </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="289" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/XgPJHnHhEYchV_ptUT0G6cfn5y7AAGvz_B7Yupeo86iuq-HJNARvTh7lJySTpYh6ZKYqW1CymdZnNfCbOCYOWzmiGtHOcZxPOOKz588yD2wkx-6Zv1o" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">On top of the castle. Reminds me of the great wall of China!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At one point, I was explaining something from the guide book to Pierre, and he remarked “Nous avons de la chance d’avoir un chinois-americain, qui nous explique en francais, les choses portugaises”</span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-56266705088617724772011-04-20T17:30:00.000+02:002011-04-20T17:30:01.764+02:00Madrid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: transparent; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8566118786111474" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">start 15:30</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hola/Olá/Bonjour</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been all over the Iberian pennisula this past week. My itinerary looked like this:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">13/4 Wednesday: Night train to Madrid</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thu: Madrid, with Miguel, Rich, and Ariel (Olin students studying in Madrid)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fri: Madrid, night train to Lisboa (Lisbon in portuguese)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sat: Lisboa, with Eduardo, friend of Porguese friend Alexandre (you know the guy who’s on my blog with food :) )</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sun: Lisboa, night train to Madrid,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mon: Madrid to Barcelona train</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20/4 Tues: Barcelona</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Madrid: sunny plazas</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My biggest impressions is its sunny plazas. Huge open spaces surrounded by big 17/18th century buildings. My favorite is Plaza de Major:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="280" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/PqOS5JKVsZF1J4dTFB9D3030IwuM6Wm4WBIn8R97FhBUpYE6Qp4no3T5OeMOAw92rFeChgwjYfeLWCPgeytW7qodaLCbkWvla78nXZ2j6ixFZd8-o30" width="320" /><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This plaza represents 2 things I found unique about Madrid compared to Paris: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Lots of sun</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Vibrancy: people seemed more energetic (and louder). I’m not trying to make a stereotype. Just my limited observations of a part of the city.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rich, Ariel, and Miguel took me out to some tapas bars</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="279" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Vbb1wHNS-bkdg0qfgsrgz6G71uW0BKaUHh25_2yA3TRUeLXN7RcQoyIWyYGTTiwp_MFFrKQ5RVFvVG59eLaF_W-CIpuF_iYDYFYUtbcuv42ZKTj2FOI" width="320" /><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Las meninas</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This became my favorite painting after I saw it in the Prado museum:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="320" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/iSs-l06Mq2ndMlqHRawhAoeF5MPJjJ__YBgjrm9DlAf_-ASAUvjD-DrAoHSDP0qhL9rEjQIIZqSjhNsQjvANHfJAZkfSeDoWzMk-BVN9XvXWryP1in8" width="277" /><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez, 1656. Picture from </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wikipedia</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At first I couldn’t understand why art critics like this so much. But afer sitting in teh room for a few minutes, I understood.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(The following “critique” comes from my own experience, and very little prior art history training)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First this painting is introspective. At the surface, Velázquez is painting the Royal family. But I think the painting is more about himself. He does this self-portrait in a creative way. Look at his face. What is he thinking? Perhaps he’s reflecting over his life as a painter. Looking at the other paintings in the museum, I realized just how unique this painting is. About all other 16th century paintings are just portraits of royalty, dramatized Biblical scenes/history, or landscapes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Biscuits from nuns</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rich and I heard about a convent in Madrid that sells baked goods. We found the convent tucked in the corner of a unpopulated plaza. On the door: “Biscuits for sale”. Rich pressed the button and said “Dulce!” (sweets). Door opens. We walk down the corridor into a small courtyard. No one around. We walk down a hallway and run into a big lazy susan built into the wall. We heard a muffled woman’s voice form behind the lazy susan. We put money into the lazy susan. It spins, and out comes change and biscuits (with a muffled “gracias”). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div style="background-color: transparent;"><img height="240" id="internal-source-marker_0.8566118786111474" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/OZA4rDiY3f7P0VllViCAD32Nyx_RZZWIAMBZrOosIp1QiNr26n5Hoy-X1WiDojrzSWZ4KFQRqMqrjCv5eLKU186jx5B6uewPDPVQqNPtbAXNYrMo6sg" width="320" /></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Afterwards, we go out into the courtyard and share the biscuits with our fellow voyagers from Belgium. They too read their tourbook carefully to find out about this place. Finally, the Belgian woman bursts out laughing, and we all do as well, in reflection of what just happened. A magical moment.</span></div></span></span></h1></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-49576994042485715452011-04-16T13:53:00.001+02:002011-04-16T23:36:20.976+02:00My Tour around Europe<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.3755831161979586" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My tour around Europe.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I wrote earlier, I’m going around Europe for a month. Specifically, Western Europe - Switzerland - Scandinavia </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="355" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/N5BJehsCgToXOiN9cACuJNikOdx7WBIr5mnYaTRTlRpGTbPgCr1uGxToo0GP1JkhCev01x14RUKaiT-6okFnKBRq4krA1DlruZooiAwrYNY69p52M04" width="400" /></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Red indicates side trips I’ve already done. Blue is my month-long tour. Current location: Madrid.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m meeting various Oliners and friends along the way, so I won’t be alone the much of the time. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Traveling is done with this backpack + railpass:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end, I’m meeting with my parents and brother in Belgium, 14 May</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, Mr. Rick Steves is a great help.</span><br />
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<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Travel as a political act</span></h1><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many of you know Rick Steves. He writes the best guidebooks because he’s personally travelled Europe for the past 30 years. An exerpt from </span><a href="http://www.ricksteves.com/about/pressroom/travphil.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">his travel philosophy</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our Earth is home to nearly 6 billion equally important people. It's humbling to travel and find that people don't envy Americans. Europeans like us, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but with all due respect, they wouldn't trade passports.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Globetrotting destroys ethnocentricity. It helps you understand and appreciate different cultures. Travel changes people. It broadens perspectives and teaches new ways to measure quality of life. Many travelers toss aside their hometown blinders. Their prized souvenirs are the strands of different cultures they decide to knit into their own character. The world is a cultural yarn shop. Back Door Travelers are weaving the ultimate tapestry.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He has an awesome lecture on travel as a political act. I encourage you, especially if you’re travelling, to download this </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1TqDnqae2V2MzNjMWFmNzYtMzZmYS00ZTVlLWEyZDQtMTRhMzRkMGFiNWQ2&hl=en&authkey=CMfXvakF"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and listen to it on your mp3 player while you’re on the train!</span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-69734288541993306392011-04-16T13:43:00.001+02:002011-04-16T13:52:59.508+02:00A day in the life of a Parisien<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m currently in Lisbon, Portugal, on the 3rd leg of my around-Europe trip. But because of my travels, it takes about a week to post a blog post. So just pretend everything is a week in the past!</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/YEDPvLwq0pEL7YGJIwWw-dddSZvRh-O_bMi6Eqk0jTX0bUSSOjTgsbGVfnnJ7Hn7leCGRkfrEMxyzbggWnQrnDGTcJ-xP0_4ubP338mbqMfX2zbv-FA" width="400" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were astonished by how well we cooked our breakfast!</span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A week ago I had the opportunity to stay for a few days at Guillaume’s appartment in Paris. Gui is a PhD student at Polytechnique, and we were on the same team for our start-up class.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How much does a prof make?</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s a joke. Sort of. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One prof I talked to, who shall remain unnmed, told me that he works about 50 hours per week, minimum. He calculated this tobe 13 euros/hour, based on his salary. He then told me that the cleaning lady makes 11 euros/hour. At this point, his friend itnerjected and said, “yes, but at least with the cleaning lady, you see a result!”.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of you might outraged right now. What! A prof at the top school in France? How could that be! Maybe you should be, but before jumping to conclusions, consider this: the prof lives in Paris, and his living expenses are basically: rent, food, and metro pass. No car, No insurance (covered by government).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Biking around Paris</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Saturday, Gui took me around for a bike tour around Paris. We started at 1pm. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1:30pm: we bike thru the gates around the Louvre. In old times, only Kings did that! (But with Chariots!)</span></li>
</ul><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2pm: we go to Champs du Mars (park in front of Eiffel Tower). We see 3 protests. Cote Ivorians supporting the opposition leader, Kurdish Turks demanding more freedom, and most interestingly, pro-incumbent Syrian protestors (so counter-protesters). The Kurdish protestors said that the Syrian protestors were pobably paid to be there. Don’t know if that’s true, but it is interesting to see that every regime, even if portrayed badly by media, has supporters</span><img height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/uugDqt53L5FJcMg1dcw6ehpzfcLgPOIibWkQu34p-fDSwcv9LP5w3HzBfDFQDlXcHbxeU-Rgxk9Fc592y3zx-txd2rGzTioCRy7i7oxTkIBP8u9xo94" width="400" /></li>
</ul><ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5pm. We meet a group of American exchange students stuyding at Science-Po, and play ultimate at Invalides</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6pm We reach Sacre Coeur, the highest point in Paris. Just in time to see the sunset over 6-story building Paris, and buy beer from very entrepreneurial street vendors.</span><img height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/1M8cc5Z616w4rrdPv-JGjy1Iu1Y0y4Vwbv9h_vaGOON4n-95fvhU1HfDppYOGeVqlasFx7X_6UGd1ZyvWQPh-5hme7si4m6W2wRh_pmxfBAbmFGhtyY" width="400" /></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10pm. Bike 5 miles downhill back to Gui’s house. It wasn’t too bad, except no helmet and bike lights...</span></li>
</ul><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life of a Parisien* is lots of picnicking</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*at least, for a cheap student who likes being outside and doesn’t like waiting in restaurants</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I picnicked a lot that week. And hung around parks with friends.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XWg1qcXUZU4wYCug4256A4J1B7SzUKMsgig2y_XMkJIq-0nzTO28t6K5om7sTdZdhe-LrjKib1EKIrNZMn_kNWLyrJyo91cOyZlO17qixMjLaFMBgks" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seeya Anne Charlotte and Gui!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I have a Roman village in my backyard”</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Monday, I travelled with the Golhen family to their summer cottage before officially starting my big Europe trip. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My biggest impression: we stopped at a family friend’s house in Vannes, Bretagne (NW corner of France). Apparently last year, archeologists decided that there was a roman ruin in their backyard. Turns out they were correct. Here’s a picture of their background:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Vmj5Y_9OufR2gnVTP5pHv2fXmpWdT98YWVXW3_C_hxA1h8PZ6mOrinDG5euT1l8fQS3RHz98D5prEKQO3y_SPvHIZRpdmXCCIAY4mU_0UjdCQFlCeC8" width="400" /></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So they live in a renovated 18th century farmhouse (garage of left of picture), with a 21st century office building in their background, and a first century Roman village ruins (covered by the tarps). Julius Caesar might have come here to this very spot when he visited France! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Welcome to Europe!</span>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-78392306993165809682011-04-08T18:47:00.002+02:002011-04-08T22:02:39.729+02:00La Rochelle- "Paris is not France"<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9184472691267729" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This weekend I went to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Rochelle"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">La Rochelle</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a seaport town on the Atlantic coast</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/lXXeRdPELT2-hVfNWw5IVDDy7T9IO2JaiuhvcPf3haTpJo_lPjELtm3S0vh8aCjDyPvjYUbA8u4BvHMn_Kz8bHCWWeB17HMuJ3m93cT0FCLgYTYQOqw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also lost the Olin Challenge when I saw some random guy on the street wearing an Olin sweatshirt!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No actually, this was planned, of course. It’s Jeremy Colombel! He was an exchange student at Olin last semester. </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was weird however going around the school (EIGSI, see picture above), and meeting people who actually knew about Olin (since our schools have an exchange program).</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had no plan when I got to La Rochelle. Just relax, and see what happens!</span><br />
<div><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beaches</span></h1></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ba_GMGDyrUZO8bVgGfBMUoABZOcG3bGNpDLwed_hhM6wTiAN9gQ0-CvGQJKRt_TadY9cq40KD5ObIhkUqpioroRvJO0Qjie85QVIl4uEXjMzWcIrYwg" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
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<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;"></div></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just think. On the other side of the ocean, is Boston!</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rugby</span></h1><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/gF0t8SeJI9A8NUbnH84CZ5lZCBFPdgi43X0yp1xzlDFNoaxUdOGT4IK3buVO9C9rCCmOXn79w3aPNBrAAo0IPg8mUt0fe_xf1kFLeW6T9aXnlLQrTmA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I learned a thing or two about rugby. It’s really fun to play rugby on the beach</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Old port</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">La Rochelle has an interesting history of being English 2 times, and French 3 times. It’s a strategic location on the sea. And what that means for us is... we have a cool juxtaposition of new and old:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="480" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Lpw8sXvS3LcdHQYatGbgkAdmBxaYhuDJ3127AXsRRNb1SC1MZFDFrAFhkSYj1M0oZgkG424Rq6yxNXevWx1s2MRFPX90RfzfdnI0FcYp3ybHcSLAa_g" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old port, which guards the entrance of the city to the sea</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">French people can’t cook badly</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jeremy would like to share this story:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He really thought he messed up a dinner Monday night (forgot to defrost his fish!). So he overfried everything in an attempt to defrost-while-cooking</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But actually... the dish turned out to be delicious. Which goes to show: French can’t cook badly. Even if they try.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4nCb1JBB0YBAVfthGnXnkKVs970_Tm7xyqLEYAWbr3gdN7IVG8-nqXh9bmGd7OpX0_qGPVd1uoEjs4YTYh3cNjA7NMj3yzxiTBw8Sc0nZ4JA4sBVTSc" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="239" /></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, I cooked...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wCdXr-St5jyKavA47o01Evo7jHtsY5JDiQPwSVqpXB35THj_2ZaNHKrGup6r5vMsoBEfhwFkQ_MjZYPW7IVCLYdHC9bLgqlnZKXnnwzxt_GD7swkuS0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lasagna!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, we could’ve eaten out too. Kebabs, paninis, and...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="182" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/vEoKAvgKmXTVVHhzNOFRGkRnJmHdED8BZOjz4RuH6jyDMLppWid90Rvec6RYuA4WomMuKlFf_ykUdVRXKuakEdMVUadZwtQnNtnTaZKnfT9MRFTT_0o" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Americans?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Paris is not France</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve had many French friends tell me that Paris is not France. Just like NY is not the U.S. (but Boston is!).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I got that impression here. Life is much slower here. And dare I say, people were nicer? (though students in general everywhere are nice). Nice relaxing break for the journey ahead*</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for hosting me, Jeremy!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*I’m traveling around Western Europe for a month. More on that later.</span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-91601032204977185892011-04-05T23:24:00.001+02:002011-04-05T23:24:23.902+02:00"Steven, tu as fini..." - a song by AlexandreA song by Alexandre, which sums up my experience at Polytechnique<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sRavNsW9GWY?rel=0" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></div><br />
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Here are the lyrics:<br />
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<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8908668069634587" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The words (proper grammar may not follow)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steven, tu as fini. Je suis en train de chanter n’ importe quoi.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steven, you have finished. And I’m singing senseless things</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Je vais commencer parce que ce que tu me l’as demandé.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I will start because you asked me to.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alors je commence cette chanson disant</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I’ll start this song by saying…</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steven, bonjour. Il y a trois mois tu es arrivé, en disant n’importe de quoi</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steven, hello. You arrived 3 months ago </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tu as découvert en France les bourgeois</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You discovered in France the middle class</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Les gens très sympas et les gens qui chantent avec les guitares.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And very nice people, and people who sing with guitars</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Et puis aussi, les gens merveilleux qui font des maths et sont sérieux.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then, also, wonderful people who do math and are serious</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alors, tu as essayé … la mechanique quantique.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then, you tried… quantum mechanics</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">C’est un truc bizarre… mais peut-être un truc d’art.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A weird thing… but maybe even some art !</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(strumming start)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steven… tu as découvert des choses curieuses,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steven, you discovered some curious things </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A l’Ecole polytechnique.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">at Polytechnique</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Les francais mangent fromage, et boivent du vin, et prennent 3 heures pendant les répas. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The French eat cheese, drink wine, and take 3 hours during a meal</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parce que les français sont très sympas, … et bien habillés… Même en été.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because the French are nice, well dressed… even in the summer</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(I get my guitar)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alors en Chine et aux Etats Unis, tu n’as jamais vu, ces beaux amis</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In China, and U.S., you never saw friends as pretty as this!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-60196277792940377972011-04-05T00:26:00.004+02:002011-04-05T08:43:10.886+02:00Hey Rouje… ne ple-ures pas!<div style="background-color: transparent;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was week was bittersweet. Although there were no classes, and exams were over, my class, or promotion, as we say in French, X2008*, stayed until the final get together Friday night. I packed up my stuff and left Saturday morning</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*2008 is the year of entry of this class, X is the thing you prepend to represent Polytechnique. Why X? Because one of the emblems of Polytechnique involves two swords criss-crossed in a X form. Plus P doesn’t sound as cool.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3d-j5bj7IneshQhrZ1Wj6zDE97jvYbZ45qgERyzr-cj_EjDOh7A3mP3lKfnlwbxtkAtW6bG0hyfLEQ2KpetSz56Fi_r1antk35ZajkojYwgMRCMF3RPknohPIh_HR8QaNXXOYofoMvk6/s1600/IMG_1970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3d-j5bj7IneshQhrZ1Wj6zDE97jvYbZ45qgERyzr-cj_EjDOh7A3mP3lKfnlwbxtkAtW6bG0hyfLEQ2KpetSz56Fi_r1antk35ZajkojYwgMRCMF3RPknohPIh_HR8QaNXXOYofoMvk6/s320/IMG_1970.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alexandre, portuguese friend, helping me move out!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Read on about the symphony concert, and the Polytechnique rendition of <i>Hey Jude, don't make it bad </i>(hint, see title of this post)</div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"></span></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Symphonix Concert</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Wednesday, I played in a concert as part of SymphoniX. SymphoniX is the student orchestra completely run by students (so OCO, without Diana, plus alternating student conductor). </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="263px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BAhgaR0fpkzuCudk3juY0tQd94BkDyy0jfb7MqVY54A6Wh6ZvQpIKL4W1-nyn34Ti8gsv4iNwI8wqY7DzGXePLEv2r0HdM-lBBBxEeKfh-Gti_by9VI" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="351px;" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="266px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/eMl5Re3rhmAPBPpbCfWN9nnsglC1BWNLDABXycrwxcjXqe2exuiLiJ2IU875nYpCKnCXYLtXGNAXsp3S6yLTB08NmETDwgfczbrZ9tgXEG3VL8p_fcQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="355px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gabriel, the conductor, and I… Au revoir, Gabriel!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We got an audience of about 150 people! I guess that shouldn’t be surprising given the size of the school.</span><br />
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</span></span><br />
<h1><span id="quintet" style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quintet</span></h1><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="291px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DXqOum3RVulPRxTX-Ml3Y4bAUr3RpY8qZhIziJcd5RmLVdJlOvAMda5UiCzPznapfkZYFsKpQE8CUFa9qvYBaOXzV9AaC-SvB1vLV5leeVeomh8OG34" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="388px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Add caption</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve also been part of a quintet all semester long. We played <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2097794605">Dvorak’s piano quintet, 2</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 6.6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_2097794605">nd</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> movement (Dumka). </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our (almost) weekly rehearsals were at first hard for me as I didn’t understand all the French music terminology (for example, they use solfege instead of letters for notes). Towards the end though, I started to get the hang of it and it was quite enjoyable.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="294px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/OgUGjifNJVtOJH_1QbDbKvitWYVttdK3EJqrjESednOnVF9ELmc5DMxuj8hllgIkNXqT2TmBVjATZuGMr6DR-lNY1Lqhze7BtrL8zRBlLfJN4Bsc1tg" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="391px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(L to R). Alexandra, Laurent, your’s truly, Aurore (piano), and Pierre. See you guys! I’m going to miss our late night rehearsals!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Passing of the flag</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The official ceremony of the week happened on Friday, when the minister of defense of France arrived to lead the “passing of the flag”, symbolizing the transition from X2008 (the students who are leaving now; I’m a part of this group) to X2009. </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="295px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/atSnDGOJURILD0htWyKYf3jhAYvu5e5KrabfkXRr9NUUpOqWrk4pRHZm5biBp1cPZ8rsRBdkViVvqK-jK6WLt6Xc1Q8Wwc-IwiKbSnhg8fMjkITJpj4" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="393px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I spy an American flag…</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The ceremony was rather official, involved horses carrying laterns, and concluded with the singing of the song of X2008.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AGwzDEyqno16oJOhqMOxVxqZpOvfKRma9_PjSN6PhRE?feat=embedwebsite" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_ky8V5f40pbg/TZo-06-a8sI/AAAAAAAAOYA/V3Krp3BdTRg/s320/MVI_1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #365f91; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey, Rouje, ne pleure pas</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Afterwards, there was a grand show, called “Amphi Départ”. This was a 4-hour long show basically trying to compress X2008’s last 2 years here into a few hours of sketches, songs, and videos.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was astonished by the amount of organization and preparation that went into it. First the spectacle took place in two concurrent lecture halls/theatres. Scenes and people would transition between the two theaters seamlessly with video.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was quite ridiculous, funny (when I could understand the puns), and touching!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Near the end, was this:</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SCih2wgUe5w?rel=0" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The words:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey Rouje, ne pleures pas.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey Rouje*, don’t cry</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rouje, an intentional mispelling of the French word for red, Rouge, is the nickname of the 3rd year promotion. X2009 is called Jaune (yellow). Rouge et jaune are two colors of X.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seches tes larmes et chantes avec moi</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dry your tears and sing with me</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Le souvenir de tes plus belles années</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remember your best years here</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Une derniere fois avant d’y aller</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One last time before leaving</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Au revoir, Polytechnique!</span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-63014422162472513802011-04-02T02:45:00.004+02:002012-01-09T18:45:37.714+01:00Guest post from Xavier Ziemba: weekend in Paris<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9812576489057392" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another guest blog post, this time from Xavier Ziemba. Xy and Jeff Atkinson (both Olin ‘12) came to visit me last weekend, just after my last exam. Xy is studying in Belgium, and Jeff in Italy.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/yeczP0Ph_lt8asOWq_TvzQahkLwUbGMs3jhxfrrLE5hsSVLFyNNzyHNE6QQ8B9y7kX-XcZGozYbVCiHKq2gr1DcQLn25UICZCqm5M01EKtc4UUYVcrg" width="400" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being little kids in the village in Versailles</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s the guest post from Xy:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last weekend Jeffrey Atkinson (’12) and I went to visit Steven in Paris. Jeffrey flew from Torino, Italy on Thursday and I originally was due to arrive from Leuven, Belgium on Friday. However, after a rather productive Thursday morning, I decided to skip class on Friday and leave a day early.</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4f81bd; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sensible Trains</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taking Thalys, the high speed rail line serving Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam, has to be one of the most pleasant transportation experiences I’ve ever had. To leave a day early, I simply had to call a hotline and ask if space was available – no fees, no hassle, pure easy. It’s just like an Amtrak train, but faster, more comfortable, and with good taste for interior design. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="244px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dC0fdtwIA7nHpOrGCjxiassyuwBroeKvHmEMRcrl4gPzw46ImAoJ5ZQdgtJARkhw5fJU5lLYqteZnSxgnDWWsCL7bNZayCJfnIu3j1GDPyAxokjKYo" width="366px;" /></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Actually, there is one difference. The high speeds of the trains leads to more vibrations and bigger bumps. On a typical US Amtrak train, the ride is completely smooth. On Thalys, it is wise to hold on to something while moving about the compartment. Think of the ride as similar to a large charter bus.</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4f81bd; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why the #@! doesn’t this gate work?</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thalys was easy, but the Paris transit system was not. After meeting Jeffrey in Paris North station, we headed to Musée d'Orsay. Normally this trip should have taken us only 20 minutes, but it took nearly an hour after heading the wrong direction on a train.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We consistently had a number of other mishaps with trains. Many of these had to do with simply misreading signs and missing trains. However, even more annoying was the magnetic sensitivity of the tickets. Paris train tickets all use very thin magnetic stripes. Unfortunately, these seem to quite easily get demagnetized. Our first experience with this problem was when going to Versailles. All three of us were unable to use our tickets to exit the transit system. We talked to the gate attendant and he simply let us out.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Returning to the system we had the exact same problem (no surprise there). Unfortunately, we were with the crowds leaving Versailles and many of the tourists were milling around the information booths. After pleading with various station attendants to just let us through the gate at each station on our route, we finally found one who could replace our tickets.</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4f81bd; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cheap Tickets</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In all, I got to visit the Eiffel tower, the Catacombs, Musée d'Orsay, the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and Napoleon’s tomb. Of these, only the first two charged me admission. The others normally charge unless you’re both under 26 and a resident of the EU. Studying in the EU is considered “residency” by all the museums. All I needed was my passport and Belgian visa. I’d have to vote Orsay as the best museum though. I’m fond of both impressionism and post-impressionism and these two genres of art are Orsay’s specialty. Additionally, I finally got to see </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whistler’s Mother</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at Musée d'Orsay. </span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4f81bd; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do you eat that?</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"><img height="232px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/8-XTd3DuNc8pY2TIF1YzMvl4AyXPBGmdt7x2l5jEdK3HwZEcqRr31NXQIU_PdQBN3N6P1WF-fyxYnRrehj8tucrY8fPSGZmKDmAYj_h_vsRjadtORJE" width="310px;" /></span></span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saturday evening we wandered into a random restaurant for dinner. By this time in the trip I had realized that it was best to not translate each dish and just order something. I’d have Jeff and Steven help identify the major meat in each dish and pick what kind of meat sounded good.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this particular restaurant, we noticed that they served escargot. We all wanted to try the dish, so we ordered an appetizer of six snails. When it arrived we got six escargot, a funny looking clamp thing, and a two prong fork. Jeff, Steven, and I sat there looking dumbly at the escargot for a few seconds and then realized that no one had the slightest clue how to eat them.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steven called the waitress back and asked her to explain. After a bunch of French words that I certainly didn’t understand, we deciphered her motions. The “clamp thing” is used to hold the snail shell while you scoop the inside out. Once we managed this task we discovered that snail is really tasty!</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4f81bd; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Americans (They’re everywhere!)</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My time in Belgium has given me a sensitive ear for the familiar sound of a Yankee accent. In most tourist attractions you could hear plenty of American English spoken by the tourists. After Jeff had left to catch his flight, Steven and I went to grab lunch at a local cafe. We thought we were in a less touristy location, but were proven wrong by a friendly US Army colonel who was sitting next to us. I quickly struck up a conversation with the fellow throughout the meal. It was all small talk, but filled the void. After we had finished and left, Steven remarked that the conversation seemed somewhat pointless to him. The colonel had very little in common with us besides being American too. Steven was right that the conversation probably had little actual value. So why should we talk to him?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steven and I bantered for a while about this issue and I’ve come to my own conclusion about Americans and talking. Americans, and probably most people from English-speaking cultures, really hate silence. I think it’s more comfortable for the average American to chatter constantly instead of allowing silence to permeate the conversation. For whatever reason, we view silence as bad and seek to get rid of it with small talk. In other cultures, particularly some Eastern cultures, silence is not viewed in this manner.</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4f81bd; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fun</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alas though, I had an excellent time in Paris, ate great food, and got to hang out with two great friends. Paris is now definitively on my list of places to visit again. Three and one-half days wasn’t nearly enough time.</span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-89152292515348953502011-03-26T10:10:00.003+01:002011-03-27T23:11:16.743+02:00Mar 24 Bal de l'X... I'm done with the semester!<div style="background-color: transparent; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.23510753363370895" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I officially finished the academic semester two days ago, with the passing of my final exam (I think I will end up passing the physics classes I was worrying about... spiral learning does work I guess!).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But first, a word on attending a fancy ball in France.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/jltEf_u_8S6p17gzhqKQnafUuLnlt7n3eDqUa5LSyBj11MfGchAX-lLtVL3fCeDR7dnqTSaqmceL6s7m43HZzImsUxKz_FzFVbjqAd1gS79GT8esLoI" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="298" /></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 120th Bal de L’X</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Bal de L’X is one of the oldest and well known traditions at X. This is well evidenced by its </span><a href="http://www.baldelx.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">snazzy website</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to my program booklet, it was organized in 1876 as a charity ball to raise money for Polytechnique alumni in financial trouble. Since 1924, the BdX has taken place at the Opera Garnier (a tourist attraction in and of itself).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The program for the night included:</span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">waltzing accompanied by a live orchestra</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a live jazz band</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">watching a traditional dance called “</span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualfred/434870397/lightbox/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">le Quadrille</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” (sorry for the link, I don’t want to publish other people’s copyrighted photos)</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a room for “le rock” dance (see my </span><a href="http://blog.stevenzhang.net/2011/01/bonne-annee-from-france.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">first blog post </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in France), with live band</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">an entire level for “le disco”</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lots of fancy dinners</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lots of red dresses and uniforms</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I went with my fellow exchange student friends.</span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" id="internal-source-marker_0.23510753363370895" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/3Pa6kGqc1CojF4s9NLnA6Zyo-DbL12kO5CQ6Pz0-hyMvCW_4d28wY1qwLlW9lrdMybaPBYswEbaAEf784oVU3UAnhO-ki465b7clkz1ZfN49Gw0hLeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L to R: Alex (Portugal), Dom + Tobias (Germany), Raul (Portugal), Ilya (U.S., but he doesn’t speak English); in front of the Opera Garnier</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sir, you don’t have a tie”</span></h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was a little silly and thought not wearing a tie with my suit would be more “modern-looking”. So after an hour of public transit, I got stopped at the entrance of the Opera Garnier because I didn’t have a tie! Oops! A little smiling and SVP did the trick.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I did</span></h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In no particular order, here are some of the things I did: </span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walk around and admire all the fine architecture and finely dressed people</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Danced (limited success; why do pair dancing always have to be led by guys?) rock several times with random people </span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Got back to Polytechnique at 8am (it was easier to wait 2 hours and take the metro at 5:30am than to try to navigate the night buses!)</span></li>
</ul><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walking around the ball was very interesting, because I really got the sense Polytechneciens (and non-Polytechniciens) from all walks of life were present (something we don’t have yet at Olin!).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, I...</span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Met a French-American who decided to do her master's here to gain a different perspective. Her grandfather went to Polytechnique. He invented a screw that made refridgeration in submarines possible.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Parisien law student (we tried dancing, but given that I was not a very good lead, we decided to talk instead). We talked for several hours</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on American, French, culture, politics, iPhones, and lots of other things. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saw some tables where all the men (of different generations) were wearing the same uniform. </span></li>
</ul><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, other interactions were quite ordinary. I </span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Met a guy in one of my classes who I’d never talked to before. Now I finally know his name</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">met many of my friends, but this time with their friends/family.</span></li>
</ul><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dinner with a French family</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last weekend, a very kind French family from Palaiseau invited me to dinner at their house. it was 5 hours of very good conversation (the mother works at the France National Nuclear Waste Agency... so of course there were some interesting conversations there), some wine tasting (I admit I don’t know enough to know the difference), and delicious food.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me, the mother, father, daughter, and another Polytechnique student. In front was apple tart.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" id="internal-source-marker_0.23510753363370895" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/ULV_qAj2_cbiRZS2GcGqWlP15mpK1agMlUySqF8od7q8_193rNsg2GCPalPo-FnbvQT04R179nJZMBqoXcUy3XJBOJCGXbhxxVQc8sm1FpgnFyRKoK4" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, the mother, father, daughter, and another Polytechnique student. In front was apple tart</td></tr>
</tbody></table></span></h1><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Food observations</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve learned here to take a lot more time for meals. Most days, I spend an hour at lunch, and an hour at dinner. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For one, it makes digestion more effective. For example, in the dinner above, I was surprised at how full I was based on my portion sized. This observation is corroborated by my friend Guillaume. One time I rushed him thru lunch to work on our project (a regular occurence at Olin of course), and he said something like “not having an hour to eat makes me feel bad”.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, I’ve had several dinner experiences where the hosts change utensils/plates between courses. You don’t want cheese to ruin the taste of strawberries.</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A man who traveled for 13 years</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At church, I met a man who traveled the Americas for 13 years. Ok, he rested in places for many of those years, but he did travel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">travel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for 5 years total. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His plan was simple: </span><br />
<ol><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">motorcycle to a small town in America</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Find a big house with big yard</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Knock on door, and ask if he could pitch his tent in the garden.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Houseowner usually said yes, would start talking so much that they would just invite them to eat + sleep in the house anyways.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He sometimes returned to the house and cooked French food as an appreciation.</span></li>
</ol><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I asked him if he knew the U.S. well after that many years: “No, I just know </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">my experience </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the U.S. very well”. Hm... different way to look at traveling, eh? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ecole Polytechnique’s influence on the American engineering school.</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re interested in education, you should read this article about how E.P. influenced American Engineering Education: </span><a href="http://diigo.com/0g5if"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://diigo.com/0g5if</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Germans + beer</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have to post this photo; since contains my German friends and beer :)</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" id="internal-source-marker_0.23510753363370895" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/01CK2yHu86PFah4OybPJzoNN_nGmB5k260byUQxy1o-kQhlo8K5GxfDaXrQNWGFoEmx2CrJ0QnX55m87DbUgnQFkcKbHXHUzXfLcFodq0U39V4sFyUc" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-58228541727681319062011-03-16T23:04:00.002+01:002011-03-16T23:08:04.124+01:00Exams!<div style="background-color: transparent;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sorry for the lull in posts recently. I’m in exam week (yes already!). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just finished my first exam, giving me time/motivation to finally write another blog post. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In chronological order, here are somethings that happened the past few weeks</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Banquet Asterix</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the awesome things here at Polytechnique are the interesting/sometimes bizarre/grand but overall great student events that happen here. </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, last week, we had a the Banquet Asterix. (</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Asterix</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a very popular comic book hero; every child reads them)</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/FJHJf_bQLi6pzGYwmJFALs0yrzrWu9QF4gjMYauEGHIcBJafebPdgENyTvR6LMpcbVIFO5-pjUpDTCuFYHjTCb-B1OZ2leII6NssFGMA6gfrEW8xwpM" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bad quality I know. Just use your imagination </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The banquet was organized by the Binet (club) Asterix, who’s sole purpose is to organize this Banquet! It was complete with jugglers on stilts, magicians, a 4-course meal, and, of course, a bit of improv group choreography (if you remember, from my </span><a href="http://blog.stevenzhang.net/2011/02/volunteering-for-conference-of-1000.html#choreo"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">previous post</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To be fair, the student government has a lot more money than even CoRe (students are paid by the French government since they are military technically). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">International dinner</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The student government organized a dinner for all new international students and residents of Palaiseau, the town nearby. Everyone had a to bring a dish from their country. I was tempted to bring potato chips (simple, tasty, and very American!)... but I teamed up with Alex and Raoul my Portuguese friends to make açorda.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/LlRqrPy7vIR6AX0v-Y4SpMXfB03gwWqzYvrZT_1MuKBpPH5IHz8ple7F3AAOMgIISCr96kxfcuMCJJXvl3Lq3I7-DqpqDVqB_TsO34aJQPAVAXgv9Ho" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Germans hard at work</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="background-color: transparent;"><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good bye Prashanth!</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My friend Prashanth from India is leaving to go to Berkeley! Ok he actually left last Saturday. Before that though, Alex and I went to a English-speaking Catholic with him (the only one in France apparently!). </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCittOvKGwOxNVk7qQjAdxZ3YTIS0a8cRi6x7JiT5ZMbO6-w7m5Zy2jUjdRi6iYQEU_cUnbIkx8-G2BvCciEGIEczpZQRIuczKYVfBRfnlRpeuDRKz22FzM9rjUf_-N9eyXOKz8SDggVF/s1600/IMG_1712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCittOvKGwOxNVk7qQjAdxZ3YTIS0a8cRi6x7JiT5ZMbO6-w7m5Zy2jUjdRi6iYQEU_cUnbIkx8-G2BvCciEGIEczpZQRIuczKYVfBRfnlRpeuDRKz22FzM9rjUf_-N9eyXOKz8SDggVF/s320/IMG_1712.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Observant readers will note that Alex always has food in his hand... at least on my blog</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the train, we met a funny guy. He called me Mao, Prashanth a Maharajah, and Alex, Salazar. And lots of other politically incorrect things. I was quite amused, except when he talked on and on for an hour! Either way, I was impressed with his energy level, because we didn’t</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> really</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> mind the nonPC talk. Alas, at the end, he revealed his secret: we found out he just drank a whole bottle of whiskey :/</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dining at a Jesuit friend’s bachelor pad*</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sebastien, of </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmb_3nSOPS3ETrP1REYoby-Nk0g8ps3dRCyUY9YIIA0fJkZOr2e6Ym-Mo7HdyJctc7WV6yHiOZ6y8I3ucfewdIVGM3w-j-xIFr_pWy-gQaMqO2fd-oNwH41luicx8yViFAqhL6K87pnlXS/s1600/IMG_1345.JPG"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RNCGE fame</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, invited me to his place for dinner. *OK it’s not really a bachelor pad. It’s actually a communal living space for 40 Jesuit students who study at the Jesuit colleges in Paris. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A little bit more about Sebastien: he studied engineering and worked for a company in South America before deciding to join the Jesuits. He now studied philosophy at the college and helps out part time at the Catholic community here at X.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So now for a tour of the place. First we the huge philosophy library, then we have the bar in the attic...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogqh_MNNDd5rFvVIlvTaEF7pyTbccsk0QOEcPs5hNiL8ppd9No5JlO1vlrl80XvQL2k7I4fLRpUwNMbGNHYB3OtWNBnp9PwOKPxnQEAk8LSoN-rSHDASTVmS6VmfZrpCcqoWXk64clkOT/s1600/IMG_1723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogqh_MNNDd5rFvVIlvTaEF7pyTbccsk0QOEcPs5hNiL8ppd9No5JlO1vlrl80XvQL2k7I4fLRpUwNMbGNHYB3OtWNBnp9PwOKPxnQEAk8LSoN-rSHDASTVmS6VmfZrpCcqoWXk64clkOT/s400/IMG_1723.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheers</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">OK not a real bar, but a nice place nonetheless. Sebastien and I talked for a few hours on life, philosophy, faith, French, American, Chinese culture, the Babylonian language (apparently 40 people speak it in the whole world), </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, for the most important piece of wisdom of the day:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Earlier I asked Sebastien if he got along with everyone here. Yes, he replied, no issues at all. Later, I remarked how clean the bathrooms were, especially with 40 people (all men!) living there. Yep, Sebastien said, you can tell how well a group of people function by the little things, starting with clean bathrooms. Future roommates! Take note!</span><br />
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<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Palaiseau families</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I visited a Palaiseau family who I met at the international dinner. Of especial interest was talking to the grand parents about their experience in World War II, and how European relations were mended on a personal level after that. </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also rode a bike for the first time in a few months. Polytechnique is on a hill, so the way down is much easier than the way up!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3oqXTNjnY1IoGd0OXLHKAF6ZUKlLCe0A3xW-69yAdS_VFHp39u9ozwkhQs-WneBY4doal5y2XK7fqtR4DSef1EtgxTUPuIkEd6HHNAy81HwoIvrZOUMqrCKWTNFIdgUTjGNytNBJBEWdS/s1600/IMG_1724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3oqXTNjnY1IoGd0OXLHKAF6ZUKlLCe0A3xW-69yAdS_VFHp39u9ozwkhQs-WneBY4doal5y2XK7fqtR4DSef1EtgxTUPuIkEd6HHNAy81HwoIvrZOUMqrCKWTNFIdgUTjGNytNBJBEWdS/s400/IMG_1724.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picturesque neightborhoods <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicBn00367N1ILfbq7LcJ-jnccAU2vBWX7SEUyHrZRdXgQwXdzo4JX0_xDd_FEXGTCCoZW0NRoHkd__Ooo9NE-FqQGh9Z4gBwaypwjKmxlTnqC3VLAK5f6eNXk7fjohXEJ-QSKUK8jxBpWU/s1600/IMG_1179.jpg">always have bikes in them</a>, right?</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-39952799313233327162011-03-09T23:27:00.006+01:002011-05-08T21:54:07.574+02:00Oxford<div style="background-color: transparent;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/6zE8Q4QrMzkbBBKpiK_XvppAxKHpr0BbeGVGL8tTv2j1PQWtrPr84D5GG7ZN1ZnW3Q0Hxl3stfbMZXrk3eMxsM5lYy4OuXwJAEvXrILz_y-K6Ed3-xA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">St. Paul's Cathedral, London, at dusk</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To all readers of my blog,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You've been an wonderful audience, but </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have officially stopped writing this blog for personal reasons. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bonne journée!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just kidding! I’m hoping that this joke will help make up for my not having blogged in more than 10 days.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been back in France for a week now, but I haven’t had the chance to write about Oxford, my last, and favorite, stop in England. Full of old buildings (which I’m not going to write about), and interesting people (which I will write about).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the request/advice of several readers, I’m writing (somewhat) shorter blog posts now. Hopefully more frequent.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I stayed with a family friend, Tyler. We went to different high schools, but our parents know each other very well. Tyler and his roommate Orlando both went to West Point, and are at Oxford for a year as Rotary Ambassadorial scholars. They study African studies and Global Policy and Governance, respectively, so it was a good break from all the technical minded people I’ve been hanging around recently (or rather, the past 4 years; yes, Oliners, you’re well-rounded, too, but it’s not quite the same!).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/sOtsxTme5HJ6rmzsiZ6WVNXxVMjx-3dmrAei7ZSl3J84AbbgCzI-Q_Bkdbjr1kZIap6-hfoN_ZYhUWotKyVxEmaE7kdCdIQFzuedjB3OXKm1XzxBmXQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
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<h1 style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me and Orlando. In case you’re wondering, the London-Paris overnight express did exist before the Chunnel, with the help of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_ferry">train ferries</a>! </span></h1></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tyler was not there, but he and Orlando generously let me stay at their (very well equipped) apartment in Oxford.</span><br />
<h1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read on... First up, the atheist priest.</span></h1><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></h1><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Richard Dawkins + the atheist priest</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the things I wanted to do here was just go to different talks. So I went to a talk on the brain’s plasticity, organized as part of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ThinkWeek</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by the Oxford Humanist + Secularist + Atheist organizations.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The student introduced the speaker, and at the ended, thanked the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Richard Dawkins </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">foundation for supporting this event. I was about to ask the guy next to me if Richard Dawkins was a professor here, until I realized Richard Dawkins was just sitting a few seats to the left of me!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the end of the talk, I got into a long discussion with an elderly gentleman (very young at heart though!), David. David told to me he was an “atheist riest”, and we were off. We talked for five hours. He and his wife even took me out to tea, and explained to me the fine etiquettes of English tea time. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Q5bdf4Sa4Cp7uUBhXxVtE39ImivszoX3OXWap-5TPBxKXZn6Rv3XOWsM6o_JATjrxxtxvuXu0IL4owYKYC83SS_4Xe5k55rrH6gOLiE32iN7DTY8CXA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This cafe is right next to the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins">Eagle and Child</a> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">where C.S. Lewis + J.R.R. Tolkein met frequently.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1TqDnqae2V2MzUwZTk5MzAtNTcxZC00NTQ2LTlhOTAtNzQ0NDAzYjBhNzJj&hl=en&authkey=COyUoWs"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This short essay</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> he wrote explains better his beliefs and life than I can. It's worth a read before reading on.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We talked about many things:</span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is religion good, bad or harmless?</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His ministry in helping the homeless before retiring (he was a Vicar in the Church of England).</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He became a priest 50 years ago even though he was atheist at the time</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I quoted something from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mere Christianity</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and he said something to the effect of “yeah, I used to have lectures with C.S. Lewis, and I didn’t think all his arguments were sound”</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On a lighter note, Indian, and Chinese culture.</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I learned a lot from this talk. Not that I agreed with him (although I did agree on somethings he said about helping immigrants and homeless people, and appreciate what he did when his was Vicar). But the fact that we were able to talk 5 hours, and part as friends, was powerful. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I knew I wasn’t going to make him change his mind (though maybe he thought I was young and moldable :) ). But I knew I could listen to what he had to say, and ask him about it. Such is the power of listening...</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<h1><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our speaker i</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">s late...</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Orlando and I went to a talk by </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Richards_%28British_Army_officer%29"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sir David Richards</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Chief of the Defense staff of the British Armed Forces. One of the best talks I’ve been to, because instead of talking about abstract ideas, he talked about his life and how he got were he was.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" />I thought it was ironic when the organizers announced at 7:30 (the talk was supposed to begin then), “We’re sorry, but our speaker is late. He just finished an emergency cabinet meeting with the Prime Minister”. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How old is your school?</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I met some of Orlando + Tyler’s friends, and one of them asked me where I studied in Paris: </span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me: “Ecole Polytechnique”. </span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Confused Look</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me: “....it’s the oldest engineering school in France...”. </span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her: “How old”</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me, excitedly: “Over 200 years old!”</span></li>
</ul><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At which point I realized how little that meant to an Oxford student.</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap">Modern art</span></h1><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the way back to Paris, I stopped in London at the Tate Modern. I really liked the main exhibit, Ai Wei Wei’s </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/16Wii-TB8-wi_ZY50BBQIU6UuH4DDohbCzJhkrfe4RWU/edit?hl=en"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunflower seeds</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. 160 million individually created and painted porcelain sunflower seeds. </span></h1><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/IEeIYdq1Kdh69s_GTMONoi57V-zhFOKWC5tqfkgv0KGI5nBZtbsb48Z2eB7mL_D1igzCSCIaE3S5W4ZHTdhcWiGuGYNGLgva8-YfooQdrrg_BzYUVSs" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h1 style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coolest thing so far I think on my trip.</span></h1>n</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-3290729745188261142011-02-27T01:08:00.001+01:002011-02-27T01:09:57.726+01:00A short Bath<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8166710657533258" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A short Bath</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Wednesday and Thursday, I went to Bath, home of the famous Roman baths.</span><img height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/5sl08t8MKAMq8R1vd6oWQAFTX_CURSvw-Ofgs8-2eXF3oTdKwRPKRQc80e-iX7JhJbZ8RGUO-e5UUHUzxq91TVgZnvPZv8xpGbA96pHFdzJgJIIccCQ" width="320" /><br />
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I also lost the Olin challenge. Read on!<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The city of Bath was used as a spa for Romans almost 2000 years ago. In Medieval times, people built over the ruins of the baths, and it wasn’t until the Victorian era that someone discovered the ruins of the baths. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/DZqXF2U42eHFV-hVXtY07kojSf1WoFC50uaHQl5HIaK2FW6FsI0S3QcO5pYSOo3H1nkU2uHr67AGnBvJfBagx05VykdFKOqMIQDvMF4oIWVmP7al3JU" width="400" /></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now a good portion has been excavated and turned into a tourist attraction. You can see here where the actual Roman ruins end and the Victorian era rebuild starts (near my head).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn’t think I would like the baths too much. Afterall, I spent the past 2 months looking at historical ruins in Paris and London! But I ended up getting lots of insights on today’s culturefrom reading about Roman lives back then: </span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">women (and men) who required 10 slaves and lots of shiny objects: just look at how much our society shops today.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">people who would go to priests to write curses (on pieces of lead) at other people; nowadays, we just complain/gossip to our friends</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">people who built huge tombstones to themselves, in hopes of being remembered; nowadays, we try to “leave an impact on the world” (note, I’m not saying that’s bad. Just when it’s in excess and at the cost of our relationships).</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I may sound too philosophical, but it was a genuine thought I had, perhaps after 7 days of accumulating tourism.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Travel tip</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I figured out that going to grocery stores and buying sandwich meats/bread was a lot cheaper/delicious/healthier than going out to restaurants everytime.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I lost the Olin challenge*</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was walking around Bath Wednesday night, when I ran into Becky Belisle and Jona Raphael on the street!</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/8WVZpFgIWiItlt9XgOajZYSWSQsd-eqPepml1ElXi5acdTAXuy2v68MUcviZB0IPVWaVrNzv47394BOGTm3hUFn4O4ePhbMjQ6TjjfEzzZ0akvHcrZM" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s right, Boston!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I knew Becky was studying in Bath as part of her Fulbright program, but I completely forgot about that when I planned my trip to England. Also, Jona happened to be there at the time too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For those of you non-Oliners, Becky and Jona graduated from Olin a few years ago. The Olin Challenge is trying to avoid seeing other Oliners (which shouldn’t be that hard, given that our Alumni base is about 400 students) while traveling. Apparently I lost.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Interesting th</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">ing of the day</span></h1></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something you wouldn’t see in the U.S.:</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><img height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8d17dhDUzFY3fJDK98gQaBJN683X2BxtND9IULNVe-dHncsEx9QSPLnmgHFbKXSDbV1cGh1mkyO2BQK47bbp1zBVMUWJK6g3DApJ1UtpY3fWjnfkLFU" width="299" /></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The guy also did this:</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qywjMkuxXL1d8Ei7wscw_zIiwvMFXDlZDIdnRPHq174CDtn63CT9wwa-PTZ7LauW6IkmUgPbkhcjseWzcYr5E-9ZO1i-SS94InrB2520MbCZMa8e8Kg" width="298" /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, that is an audience member’s child.</span></span></div></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-58336889051925051142011-02-26T02:21:00.001+01:002011-02-26T02:23:39.214+01:00Freedom of speech and beer<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s what my itinerary has looked like in the past few days:</span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">S: London: Speaker’s Corner, British Library, church</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M: Walking around London, say bye to Rebecca Leung; train to Nottingham: meet Katrina Marshall, go to hockey game, go to music pub</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">T: Attend classes, walk around castle, go to oldest pub in England</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">W: Go take a Bath*</span></li>
</ul><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Bath is a city. More on that next post</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speakers'_Corner"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speakers' corner</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is where the British come to exercise their right to free speech. It’s a corner of Hyde Park where people gather to debate about anything they want. Yes, you can yell anything you want. You just can’t attack (physically) the other person. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/sMfDu3D-WBM4IMPyozft6goMt2yQFNJfaVLTx-OWcV0X6kUzBlKt9OLG2Bk1pSGNsm4fb-iDcPulhh1GalF9Tp6pSIdfE50s2pyR9p3m7ztg39HdlwU" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guy who's standing above everyone else is the speaker</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since it was a cold day, many speakers didn’t come. Many of the ones who did were religious, preaching some (sometimes very distorted) Christian message. This guy (I call him “the Texan” was reasonable though, but he did say "shut-up" too much. Several observers I talked to said they were atheists, but liked this guy because he was responsive and listened to the audience.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kTjQ8y8i8jc" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A little excerpt. Note the mocker with the speakerphone to the right</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone said this woman was racist (she might sound like it in the video), but her message is something more complex. I tried talking with her later and from what I understood, she believed that traveling outside of one’s homeland was genuinely a chaotic and bad thing to do (though how you define that homeland is another matter....). </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NMv_YD-6Qz4" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me just reiterate, that this is not my opinion! Think of me as a journalist :).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part of the culture here at Speaker’s Corner is to raise your voice, say “shut-up, all in a supposedly fun (?) way.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s watch the Texan again</span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6T_mollnvNg" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000099; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The man on his left is his “mocker”, the guy he argues with. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">They seem pretty at odds right? Apparently not. I talked to the Texan’s wife, and she told me part of it was for show. For example, her husband often has civilized discussions with his atheist mockers afterwards. Part of it is to play up the entertainment value of arguing for the tourists. Though apparently they do apologize (to audience and God) occasionally when they feel they crossed the line.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn’t really believe this until...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A teenager walked up, stuck a ice cream cone at the Texan’s behind, and walked away! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Texan showed the crowd his stained pants. Surprisingly, his </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mocker</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> started chiding the boy: “Come here boy! If you have something to say, say it! ...was that a gentlemanly thing to do?... Is your mother proud of what you did?” (turns out his mother was there). </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mocker was defending the very man he was arguing with! I guess there is some kind of higher order of ethics at work here, even in Speaker’s Corner. All the guys seem nice at heart I guess. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Either way, I don't think Speaker's corner is the best way to convince people of your opnions. I’m sure 95% of the people go to speaker’s corner just to have a few good laughs, so anyone who actually has good ideas are automatically viewed thru the lens of comedy.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">British Library + King’s Cross</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/DpT3_Pm_TQbX80AmySu_RXXUWcGkyBmiiOSZxRkaNx2dzH0yCT7jv_qSimpmH6qFOMlDy2YlgSdKHlXWqllXlVR_E3aiFwrDTVWcOC6N0QqcPUPwkns" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hm... looks like Harry Potter right?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/MVsTYN2M9zheGKR6tOb564XvLpL8F1woj8HO_S6sIbfGJfG4sd6rz7yxEgg5TmBAkmwXQltDT4ng1Ysl-CoJbtTPGm379hI8xgeEsETkC6I6jmkwfkw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How about this?</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nottingham</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In planning my trip to England, I wanted to go to a not-so-touristy place. Conveniently, I had a high school friend, Katrina Marshall going to school there. Thanks Kat!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She cooked some kind of pie, whose name escapes me:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBpuahj1BDSukEoAic56Z0YeFDhVlc6FeNCIbH9HOMdcxNzWKMVeuzyu025k69xdCVEOhco7mnC3DcO6JhzmyOE5Myz17JOCRvuxmdv2v1NN6wJ-klyPyyoCDg5cGa9mIyHtMNJkNDcju/s1600/image004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBpuahj1BDSukEoAic56Z0YeFDhVlc6FeNCIbH9HOMdcxNzWKMVeuzyu025k69xdCVEOhco7mnC3DcO6JhzmyOE5Myz17JOCRvuxmdv2v1NN6wJ-klyPyyoCDg5cGa9mIyHtMNJkNDcju/s320/image004.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We also went to a hockey game between the two rival universities in town. At the beginning of the game, they sang the national anthem (though probably with more heart perhaps than when we sing our anthem :) )</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t the highest quality game in the world, but immensely entertaining. I felt like I was in America: hamburger stands, cheerleaders, yelling and cheering, corny music and entertainment in between the slightest of breaks, school pride shirts, trash talking... Later Kat told me that the hockey game was probably the most “American” thing I could’ve done in Nottingham.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This photo sums up my experience in Nottingham</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You have the history (Robin Hood lived here!), the students (2 universities in town),and the bars (there’s a drinking culture here as big, if not bigger than the college drinking culture in the U.S.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Uni</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I attended two classes at UNottingham: a logic class, and an econ class (where we proved that veto-based delegation is optimal).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also talked with some students and profs there. Seriously, I wouldn’t be able to tell (by classes or student life) that this wasn’t a university in the U.S.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They had lecture and required homework here, so the teaching style is different from that of X.</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pub</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I went to the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Olde_Trip_To_Jerusalem"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">oldest pub in England</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*. Like I said, drinking is a big culture here. Even bigger than I thought average in the U.S. (my big university friends, do your classmates go out to bars on Mondays? and Tuesday nights?). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/krHugKvl-McE6mSD1cVCs2IpZTWFikd5TjbiMFXalTcOSicAszX2VGmI02dhAb31ywheBMwmIYT-hI-AAHmkZm0WeISf4uPVWVESb0XMde8dPspyFBw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="298" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, a 1000-year old pub in a cave! This is my “cool thing of the week”</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, pubs (vs bars or clubs) are generally more moderate places. I got to meet some interesting people: </span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Belgian and Englishman talked to me about the English economy</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I talked with a group of uni students on their perception of the U.S. They asked me the same with respect to the U.K. Apparently I’m a good neutral outside critic!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></li>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3379970434617662550.post-6728070572559858042011-02-21T01:29:00.005+01:002011-02-21T01:37:41.685+01:00Pip pip cheerio, London!<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Salut from Luhnduhn. It’s terribly nice here. I’m having just a spendid time!*</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Sorry, British friends, for my attempt at a Bri-ish accent</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rebecca and I left Paris for London on Thursday, 17 Feb. Here’s our itinerary:</span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thursday: Took train from Paris to London. Went to Victoria and Albert Museum. Walked around. Saw </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Totem </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Cirque du Soleil show)</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friday: Tower of London. Church service @ Westminster Abbey. Ate dinner in the crypt of a church (more on that later)</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saturday: Changing of the guards @ Buckingham. Walked around. Went to a pub. Went to British museum. Met interesting people on the street.</span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ED3fSsgeAjbXRbyQuqir9YO7y3oBxsz_BLPPXqrP5pzFB_AXi_nB17JC5K6EWxuriKQyXHvLCLL-g2s8jY6Bk4P3Nz7fTyJb-fN5-Q3El7qnDx5ByXGBQKZTap4pwcHqA9X7Yz4luU2D/s1600/IMG_1564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ED3fSsgeAjbXRbyQuqir9YO7y3oBxsz_BLPPXqrP5pzFB_AXi_nB17JC5K6EWxuriKQyXHvLCLL-g2s8jY6Bk4P3Nz7fTyJb-fN5-Q3El7qnDx5ByXGBQKZTap4pwcHqA9X7Yz4luU2D/s400/IMG_1564.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The British Museum is a great place to ponder and think....</span></div></td></tr>
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<div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; white-space: normal;"><div style="font-weight: normal;"></div></div></div><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m going to write mainly about the people I met and the interesting observations I had. A quick overview of all the standard tourist stuff will come at the end.</span></h1><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a name='more'></a></span></div><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How we got here...</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By high speed rail! You can see how fast it goes on this video, by comparing with the cars on the highway:</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/byxE7v8-qDM" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe></div><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, the Chunnel wasn’t anything special. Just 20min of blackness outside.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNA3Ae-7j6MNoGlFz8QNB1NAWbsNnEXRyxbHXPBZ8GLVfaeihw2fM2utTYmtd_ZNT5ZWsJTjWCMhIzOEKMG811lIGFl83r8VA58sqAuKXctn4M5WSBgcMjmPpNwg_myCox9bScltxVofiq/s1600/IMG_1444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNA3Ae-7j6MNoGlFz8QNB1NAWbsNnEXRyxbHXPBZ8GLVfaeihw2fM2utTYmtd_ZNT5ZWsJTjWCMhIzOEKMG811lIGFl83r8VA58sqAuKXctn4M5WSBgcMjmPpNwg_myCox9bScltxVofiq/s320/IMG_1444.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">London St. Pancras Station</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A secret I learned 2 years ago while traveling Amtrak: go to the food carriage to meet interesting people!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A friendly banker</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I did get a chance to talk to a French banker (specifically, analyst at HSBC) traveling to London, financial capital of Europe, for his monthly meetings. Some interesting things we talked about:</span><br />
<ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why finance plays such a big role in society: his answer: “Actually, I think 75% of financial services doesn’t add value to society. it’s for show”. For the record, he works in standard banking, not all the derivatives </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">et truc comme ca</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friendly banker: “The French Dream: be equal across society, retire early.” “The American dream is good, but unfortunately leaves many 75 year olds still working to make a living”</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friendly banker: “When HSBC announces $25m profits, the people in Hong Kong are proud and cheer. Meanwhille, the Europeans ask: ‘who did you cheat to make $25m?’”</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me: “I see commericals </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">advertising</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> commerical services all the time. But I can’t tell the differences between them!” Friendly banker: “It’s about brand image. The big banks are basically a commodity.</span></span></li>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t know enough about banking to form a strong opinion on how much banking is good/bad, but what the banker told me surprised me!</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m thinking in French!</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the first 2 days in London, I found myself saying to strangers: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Pardon, monsieur....”. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halfway thru </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">monsieur</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I realize I’m in England and correct myself. So I end up saying something like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Pardon m-- excuse me sir”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. And with especially thick British accents, and even Spanish (there are lot a Spanish speakers here), I find myself hearing French for the first couple of seconds before I realize it’s not.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">An Indian author</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rebecca and I were walking around Hyde Park (London’s Central Park), looking for food, when we walked into a friendly Indian man.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He asked us if he could ask us some questions about our backgrounds, since he was writing a book about Hyde Park. As we talked, we found that the friendly man’s name was Jamshed Mirza. He came to England many years ago to avoid religious persecution in India since he was Muslim.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mirza worked in the restaurant business, and was quite successful. However, his business suffered under competition because he didn’t have the large family apparently necessary for Asian business to be successful (i.e., many East or Southeast Indian restaurants are run by large families, which makes things cheaper).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He became unemployed, worked in the British Library, and started meeting some famous poets and </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">authors in his work. That’s how he was inspired to write </span><a href="http://www.ephbooks.com/Bookdesc.aspx?id=2916"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The People of Hyde Park</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><a href="http://www.ephbooks.com/Bookdesc.aspx?id=2966"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Visitors of Hyde Park</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, along with several other books. He says he doesn’t make that much money (he breaks even with his self-published books), but he’s the happiest man on earth!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now he sits in the Hyde Park cafe and talks and interviews visitors there. One time Mirza was speaking to a young woman at the cafe. Another young man asked him later “sir, here you are, a 50-year old man, talking to an attractive woman, and she’s very happily speaking back to you. I can never do it. What’s your secret?”. Mirza responded, “You have to establish trust. Most people are dying to talk or express themselves to someone. You just have to make them trust you first”.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1S4FVbT4aympsmM0Wk7GMRDg4mmXzIhQHSes74J3BreTE31-bZFh2RKS6b5a0i8P719y5x-ubh439S2jzR3QTrnnpyftAw8wc1AL0pOFWlJYBR_vygoF0haygKXZ9JCfQZi93U5rjyxW/s1600/IMG_1572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1S4FVbT4aympsmM0Wk7GMRDg4mmXzIhQHSes74J3BreTE31-bZFh2RKS6b5a0i8P719y5x-ubh439S2jzR3QTrnnpyftAw8wc1AL0pOFWlJYBR_vygoF0haygKXZ9JCfQZi93U5rjyxW/s320/IMG_1572.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mirza and I met up one day later in Speaker's Corner (more on that next blog post)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This story was very touching, because during the whole time, deep inside, I was a bit afraid that Mirza would ask for money or something at the end. But no such thing happened. Mirza was just a very genuine man. We need more genuine people in the world. We need to trust strangers more. They’re people too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cirque du Soleil</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While visiting Royal Albert Hall, Rebecca and I applied an important travel lesson* (#1): </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Always check to see if the box office has tickets</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was the last night of Cirque du Soleil’s newest show, and the ushers said the tickets were all sold out. But... there were some tickets left!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another lesson (#2). </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t plan too much.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We decided spur of the moment to go see the show.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Many of these lessons are from </span><a href="http://www.ricksteves.com/about/pressroom/travphil.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rick Steve’s guide books</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I love his “Europe through the back door philosophy. Check it out if you’re visiting Europe and don’t want to be just another camera wielding tourist!”</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant turtle in Royal Albert Hall!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The artistry, choreography, and show was amazing. After asking my circus-aspiring French friend, I found out that many of the circus members were probably former Olympic gymnasts past their prime. Imagine how commited they must be to perfect one thing really well to achieve 100% success rate every time!</span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tower of London: a juxtaposition of new and old</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rebecca and I also visited the Tower of London. It’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really interesting </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to see the juxtaposition of new and old.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikMuyYwTJaViWoxrNnUX-j0GaeQW5XevRR3e5JIAPPCQtjTUw8YnplixEWqdnDxej8gqV02la7f8j_de-HbZ3ceBmZEoDc8QAdsUL1DCMeSkrHJbnDHuuEr1r1W4_oqvN_xZ_L9-yvt3pu/s1600/IMG_1481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikMuyYwTJaViWoxrNnUX-j0GaeQW5XevRR3e5JIAPPCQtjTUw8YnplixEWqdnDxej8gqV02la7f8j_de-HbZ3ceBmZEoDc8QAdsUL1DCMeSkrHJbnDHuuEr1r1W4_oqvN_xZ_L9-yvt3pu/s320/IMG_1481.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 1000-year old Tower of London on the left. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skyscrapers right next to it to the right.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We took a tour with the famous </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeomen_Warders"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beefeaters</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to them, the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ravens_of_the_Tower_of_London"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7 well-fed ravens</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that live in the Tower of London (a popular legend: "If the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it”) are the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">real </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> royalty in the Tower of London nowadays. Here’s one of them:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9XmiQV_a6f6oQoS-InVtxkqnIQgu4wT-NUpTG8fkQhG_5gYbI35F35AiGLBfPDo8QIQ0gG3zEME36We0JKF48c1ttsa1folYolHoionpCT18RzH0DvhFlR8aaKPTe_yLeBIbqs1IfeDn/s1600/IMG_1488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ9XmiQV_a6f6oQoS-InVtxkqnIQgu4wT-NUpTG8fkQhG_5gYbI35F35AiGLBfPDo8QIQ0gG3zEME36We0JKF48c1ttsa1folYolHoionpCT18RzH0DvhFlR8aaKPTe_yLeBIbqs1IfeDn/s320/IMG_1488.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tourists apparently thought Merlin (the raven) was more interesting than our beefeater tour guide</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Victoria and Albert Museum</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This museum was quite interesting. I saw these pictures and I thought I’d seen them before....</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turns out they’re replicas of pieces from the Musée de Louvre!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEing5KqdY3Qlpb3Sp2MUgTWem_4BEyZkO3bFUhg3fckttthwmjQISR76BFzThGa39BD0L3Ei85aDTXX8O7Fh0fIGaBWPHD0Ru1eZgXrISOoyHBgZ4q0OJ3vmu5oDAV0Yo7UpaBgSQyy7-F1/s1600/IMG_1463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEing5KqdY3Qlpb3Sp2MUgTWem_4BEyZkO3bFUhg3fckttthwmjQISR76BFzThGa39BD0L3Ei85aDTXX8O7Fh0fIGaBWPHD0Ru1eZgXrISOoyHBgZ4q0OJ3vmu5oDAV0Yo7UpaBgSQyy7-F1/s320/IMG_1463.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">British Museum</span></h1><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I won’t bore you with all the standard tourist things at the British Museum. I will say that the British museum is one of the best museums I’ve been to. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Audio tours (again from Rick Steves) are really useful.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, do you know why this Assyrian winged lion has 5 legs? </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XmT0E3JsyUYP_jmAdcG8jilPYC-I_oKkVY5tIUIJPELK4MvBBlsQdm1z_478mU8X7IAPfE0bH8ynM6AxPohpDUc7fHEvoQZoDF3Sb1neb2SZAivTWGls6RzTEwGWkZmxdtI983fBEvxF/s1600/IMG_1551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XmT0E3JsyUYP_jmAdcG8jilPYC-I_oKkVY5tIUIJPELK4MvBBlsQdm1z_478mU8X7IAPfE0bH8ynM6AxPohpDUc7fHEvoQZoDF3Sb1neb2SZAivTWGls6RzTEwGWkZmxdtI983fBEvxF/s320/IMG_1551.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">To be complete from all angles!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And this sad picture of lion hunting (again, ancient Assyria) shows the lioness coughing up blood.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzF7-Wm3EcFQ3UZf9HSvHTPZ9gJasiZsI4p1660wbb3nUdBw3RbByy_XKsBQNYyOS_PkZZb4-g4MwbLAVMF3HEG9i1bZdMbeDJ1zSQ56L8K9tCfKoKZx0EByfr5ZA5mgnIKKok6N0JWQCI/s1600/IMG_1553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzF7-Wm3EcFQ3UZf9HSvHTPZ9gJasiZsI4p1660wbb3nUdBw3RbByy_XKsBQNYyOS_PkZZb4-g4MwbLAVMF3HEG9i1bZdMbeDJ1zSQ56L8K9tCfKoKZx0EByfr5ZA5mgnIKKok6N0JWQCI/s320/IMG_1553.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A side note on tourism</span></h2><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The British museum was almost as crowded as a pub! Certainly more crowded than the Louvre (which is not free like the British museum).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36RrkANwhePm0qlMS8apL1djBRVfiyFqNYK5ah9T6E1QBpfqPxJyUdV8vzSU8ynGaGC0Z_BZvFoceYT-yRKbsWUd_RIcME9xCjhnSGPzAp6gZE3-wWd_YEtmEvkrtWyC8HdgVJ_YbDQ2d/s1600/IMG_8048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36RrkANwhePm0qlMS8apL1djBRVfiyFqNYK5ah9T6E1QBpfqPxJyUdV8vzSU8ynGaGC0Z_BZvFoceYT-yRKbsWUd_RIcME9xCjhnSGPzAp6gZE3-wWd_YEtmEvkrtWyC8HdgVJ_YbDQ2d/s320/IMG_8048.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I couldn't see the Rosetta stone because so many people were around it. How Rebecca has better queuing skills than me...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was somewhat frustrated with many of my fellow tourists. They seemed only interested in snapping pictures with each artifact then moving on. OK maybe that’s their personal preference, but they shouldn’t be touching 3000-year old sculptures just to take a low-quality picture with their cameraphone. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" />Maybe they’re just bored and need an audiotour. Travel lesson #3: don’t be like these tourists. Get a free audiotour from </span><a href="http://www.ricksteves.com/news/podcast_menu.htm"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and listen to it on your mp3 player while traveling.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I made a resolution only to take a limited number of pictures (in this museum and beyond). The point of taking pictures is to:</span><br />
<ol><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Display them</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Use them to bring up memories.</span></li>
</ol><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s only so many pictures you can display, and taking too many pictures will “dilute” the strength of the other picture pictures in jogging memories. Besides, travel is about remembering the important things, not necessarily everything. I’ve found when I take too many pictures, I don’t take the time to look through all 1000 pictures (go figure!) and really think back to all the memories.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do you think? Does my camera philosophy make sense?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 32px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blogging competition, part 2</span><br />
</span></div><h2 style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Interesting thing from Singapore...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></h2><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdaSFxj87CjxES0VtbrZlx1px5pmRN6-UcuGrOF08I6uq1x0GafeigQOBSBA-4mB425u0Dya8lXtLi2c17Gxz6uPWtX0Rz7Lq7mmPUyTHFgiX0RNRg7E3D6TOtf1s_YH9wG8aMA5GLfLo/s1600/DSC_2166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdaSFxj87CjxES0VtbrZlx1px5pmRN6-UcuGrOF08I6uq1x0GafeigQOBSBA-4mB425u0Dya8lXtLi2c17Gxz6uPWtX0Rz7Lq7mmPUyTHFgiX0RNRg7E3D6TOtf1s_YH9wG8aMA5GLfLo/s320/DSC_2166.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant carrots? From <a href="http://olinsingapore.blogspot.com/2011/02/singapores-still-got-some-tricks-up-its.html">here</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div><h2 style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Interesting thing from England...</span></span></h2><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal;">Something else you will only see in a country where hundred year-old traditions are executed everyday...</span></span></span></div></div><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl15fhST91EolFY5_6X3h4faWJHYHRl08XJ1Q6jN7D46let5yVMot_Z4cgcCEG84x2-muIH8xAlR4dwTaT2eo_RDZY086YlQtlQo4V_nC4KQLYQrHsG46JZF9LQl1YMJdyulbpFiHAw8iv/s1600/IMG_1536.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl15fhST91EolFY5_6X3h4faWJHYHRl08XJ1Q6jN7D46let5yVMot_Z4cgcCEG84x2-muIH8xAlR4dwTaT2eo_RDZY086YlQtlQo4V_nC4KQLYQrHsG46JZF9LQl1YMJdyulbpFiHAw8iv/s400/IMG_1536.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The mounted police was constantly turning around and telling the cars behind to slow down! Apparently the soldiers take up 2 lanes!</i></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Steven Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10092066913143101420noreply@blogger.com4