It was my last day at work today. After 9 months, my internship is finally over. I've been really lucky to have done this internship as I've had a view of a large, international company, from its headquarters, that I wouldn't have got anywhere else. I've worked on a lot of different topics and gained a hell of a lot of experience which I'll be able to take with me and hopefully apply to other positions.
As it was my last day, there was a "Pot de Départ" with a some champagne and nibbles. My boss made a little speech and I was actually quite touched, both by what he said and comments other people made. He went over the fact that I'd worked on a lot of different things - including taking minutes in meetings which he admitted to having never validated (a bit of a running joke between me and my replacement) - and mentioned how people had been impressed that I always spoke French (the official company language is English). Other comments people made were that I have always been cheerful and always given time and been willing to help. I think that one of my biggest faults is that I don't tend to say "no" to people if they ask for help with something, but it was really nice that people had noticed that I made time for them.
I thanked them all for having welcomed me into the group and for having put up with me for 9 months and said how much I'd enjoyed working on so many different topics.
An envelope had been passed round and my boss's secretary, who I've worked with quite a lot and helped with her English, had been out to get a few presents. I got a couple of company souvenirs (note block and laptop travel kit: mouse, cable adapters,...), quite a lot of FNAC (similar to Virgin Megastores) vouchers, and a hamper full of paté, fois gras, jam, a half bottle of wine, and some sweet bits.
I ended up not leaving until about 6:30. Despite it being my last day, and although I didn't really have any reason to stay that long, it took quite a while for me to compose a goodbye email to people and say final goodbyes etc. Perhaps subconsciously I didn't want to leave; I've spent the best part of a year there and got to know the people. It feel's strange in a way that I probably won't see them again, and I'm dissappointed that I didn't get a chance to get a photo of the team, but I'll send them updates every so often to let them know how I'm doing.
So, that's it, the end of an era. I am officially a tourist now. I'll leave Paris for good in about 15 days and that really will be the end. This is a slightly odd moment in life in some ways. This year has been a chapter of my life that hasn't really had to much to do with the rest of it. I've made completely new friends, spoken a different language, worked rather than studied and attempted to find my place in a different culture.
When I go back to uni that will be a beginning of an end. I'm going to have to start again with fresher's week and making new friends (most of mine will have left when I return) yet at the same time it will be the final year of my degree. Well, I think I've over used the whole "beginnings and endings" thing a bit now.
Next week, from Sunday (I'll be sleeping tomorrow), I've got to try and visit all of Paris. Despite being here for so long I've done neither the Arc de Triomphe nor the Eiffel Tower. There's a new museum I might go and see on Sunday if it's not packed. If not then I'll go to the Grand or Petit Palais. At some point I've also got to go to the Palais de Versailles, the Cité des Sciences et Industrie and visit the quarters of Paris I've hardly stepped foot in.
@+
Friday, June 30, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
Endings (Part 1)
So, this is my last week at work, my friends (English ones) have pretty much all left and from next week I am officially a tourist.
It's quite sad and hasn't really hit me that everyone's gone yet. I've made some really great friends here who I am going to make sure I stay in touch with. I know this is something that everyone says but this time I will. Really.
The last few days crept up very quickly so we didn't have one big goodbye with everyone there, but instead we had a few smaller ones. I ended up going out every night except Friday last week and, with the Fête de la Musique on Wednesday night I was pretty tired.
La Fête de la Musique is a national festival on 21st June for which concerts are held all over the country. Most concerts are free and the artists range from big names to unknowns and the music ranges from Jazz to Classical to Indie Rock. Despite the fact that there was a big concert at La Defense (French Pop music) I went to Bibliothèque François Mitterand to an Indie/Rock concert on the recommendation/invitation of a friend. I only heard 2 sets but the 2nd of them was Razorlight! Despite the rain and the fact that we had to walk from Pont de Neuilly to La Defense (the station had been closed due to the number of people) it was an excellent evening.
Sunday saw the start of the Fête du Cinema. This lasts until Tuesday evening and, once you've purchased one full price ticket, all further tickets at any cinema are just €2.
On Sunday I met up with the stagiaire who used to work with me. We had brunch at Breakfast in America, a very popular American style diner, before going to the new cinema at La Defense to watch "Paris, Je t'aime". Neither of us knew what this film was about but had seen plenty of photos about. It turned out to be a series of short films/clips about people in Paris. They were mainly romantically themed but it was good and the short films were well integrated together.
Tonight I went to see "Dans le Peau de Jacques Chirac". This was also very good and also quite unusual. It was made entirely from Archive footage of Jacques Chirac and is a satirical comedy of his life. There is an impersonator doing a voice-over to tell the story and tie it all together. It was very well made and had the whole audience laughing at times.
Well, it's late but I've still got quite a lot more to say so I'll stop this for the moment and pick it up again tomorrow.
It's quite sad and hasn't really hit me that everyone's gone yet. I've made some really great friends here who I am going to make sure I stay in touch with. I know this is something that everyone says but this time I will. Really.
The last few days crept up very quickly so we didn't have one big goodbye with everyone there, but instead we had a few smaller ones. I ended up going out every night except Friday last week and, with the Fête de la Musique on Wednesday night I was pretty tired.
La Fête de la Musique is a national festival on 21st June for which concerts are held all over the country. Most concerts are free and the artists range from big names to unknowns and the music ranges from Jazz to Classical to Indie Rock. Despite the fact that there was a big concert at La Defense (French Pop music) I went to Bibliothèque François Mitterand to an Indie/Rock concert on the recommendation/invitation of a friend. I only heard 2 sets but the 2nd of them was Razorlight! Despite the rain and the fact that we had to walk from Pont de Neuilly to La Defense (the station had been closed due to the number of people) it was an excellent evening.
Sunday saw the start of the Fête du Cinema. This lasts until Tuesday evening and, once you've purchased one full price ticket, all further tickets at any cinema are just €2.
On Sunday I met up with the stagiaire who used to work with me. We had brunch at Breakfast in America, a very popular American style diner, before going to the new cinema at La Defense to watch "Paris, Je t'aime". Neither of us knew what this film was about but had seen plenty of photos about. It turned out to be a series of short films/clips about people in Paris. They were mainly romantically themed but it was good and the short films were well integrated together.
Tonight I went to see "Dans le Peau de Jacques Chirac". This was also very good and also quite unusual. It was made entirely from Archive footage of Jacques Chirac and is a satirical comedy of his life. There is an impersonator doing a voice-over to tell the story and tie it all together. It was very well made and had the whole audience laughing at times.
Well, it's late but I've still got quite a lot more to say so I'll stop this for the moment and pick it up again tomorrow.
La Mentalité Française
My replacement told me the other day that the French work at 100% during the week.....
20% Monday, 20% Tuesday, 20% Wednesday,........
Another quote, which doesn't translate too well:
Le poésie, c'est comme la merde. Ca ne s'explique pas, ça se sent.
20% Monday, 20% Tuesday, 20% Wednesday,........
Another quote, which doesn't translate too well:
Le poésie, c'est comme la merde. Ca ne s'explique pas, ça se sent.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Le Quart d'Heure Francais
So, there was another strike today. It was an RATP (Paris transport network) strike over the fact that the RATP want to extend the running time of the metro and RER (suburban lines) at night by 15 minutes. As usual, the strike wasn't as bad as everyone thought, it was just more crowded as people panicked about whether there would be any trains.
This seems to be a pretty petty reason to strike in my view, but it's not the most stupid. Apart from the homeless man going on hunger strike to raise awareness for the fact that homeless people are forgotten about once winter is over, and the politician going on hunger strike because a Chinese company wanted to close a factory near him (or at least that's the gist of the story that I caught), I think a strong competitor for "Most Stupid Reason To Strike" were the staff at a municipal swimming pool who went on strike over working conditions (fair enough) and THE FACT THAT CHLORINE IS USED IN THE WATER (what??!?!?!!).
Ah well, this is France.
Normally I aim to leave my apartment at 8:15 am. I wasn't too pleased to wake up this morning at 8:18 am. Thankfully, my replacement has taught me about the "quart d'heure francais". In other words, as long as you arrive within 15 minutes of the time arranged, you're on time.
Apart from no longer being able to remember major parts of the English Language, I think the "quart d'heure francais" is going to be one of my main problems on returning to the UK.
This seems to be a pretty petty reason to strike in my view, but it's not the most stupid. Apart from the homeless man going on hunger strike to raise awareness for the fact that homeless people are forgotten about once winter is over, and the politician going on hunger strike because a Chinese company wanted to close a factory near him (or at least that's the gist of the story that I caught), I think a strong competitor for "Most Stupid Reason To Strike" were the staff at a municipal swimming pool who went on strike over working conditions (fair enough) and THE FACT THAT CHLORINE IS USED IN THE WATER (what??!?!?!!).
Ah well, this is France.
Normally I aim to leave my apartment at 8:15 am. I wasn't too pleased to wake up this morning at 8:18 am. Thankfully, my replacement has taught me about the "quart d'heure francais". In other words, as long as you arrive within 15 minutes of the time arranged, you're on time.
Apart from no longer being able to remember major parts of the English Language, I think the "quart d'heure francais" is going to be one of my main problems on returning to the UK.
Monday, June 05, 2006
A Big Surprise
The weekend of the 24th-28th May I went back home. We had planned to have a barbeque for my Birthday on the Saturday as I wasn't home on the actual day. I flew home with Air France as the...wait a minute...."weekend"...."24th-28th"...."Surely that's not right" you're thinking.
Yes, I can confirm, the French are impressively lazy. Not only do they have more Bank Holidays than we do in the UK but they also have "ponts" (bridges). This means that when a Bank Holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday they take the Monday or Friday off too. I've been told that if it falls on a Wednesday they don't just take the week off but to be honest it wouldn't surprise me.
So, as I was saying, I took the plane back as the Eurostar would've cost over 300€ just for the return ticket. It was good flying and we even got a free sandwhich and drink which surprised me (you can tell I'm used to flying low-cost).
When I got home I had an even bigger surprise. For my birthday my (wonderful) parents bought me...well...pictures speak louder than words:
It's bright Orange ("a proper Beetle colour" as a friend said) and, for 1970, is in great condition. I've put some more photos on my flickr page here.
The "barbeque" was great although, due to the weather it wasn't a barbeque. Still it was nice to see everyone and I owe a(nother) thankyou to Mum and Dad for organising, cooking, inviting etc.
So, I'm back in Paris now on the final stint until I finish on June 30th. Work is going quite well and it's definitely more fun working with someone (my replacement has arrived and apparently I'm training him although sometimes I just feel like I'm pointing out all the problems he's going to have). To be honest I'm looking forward to the end though. I've had a great time here in Paris but I want to be getting back now. I know I haven't visited as many things as I should have, and I'll do that in the fortnight I'm here once I've finished working, but I'm not sure Paris is everything people expect of it. I think I've been here so long that it's just become "home".
I have enjoyed working, and I've learnt a lot about many different things. I've learnt more about people, communication and "work" than I have about IT but it's definitely been a valuable experience. Although my French has improved tenfold, unfortunately my English has deteriorated and I often find I can't remember a word or can't think how to put a sentence together. So, if I talk gibberish to you when I get back, just give me time to work out which language I should be using.
I think the thing I'll miss most about my time here are the friends I've made. Admittedly they're nearly all English and it's probably related to the fact that we're all "in the same boat" but I feel closer to them than I have to many people I've known. I am a little dissappointed not to have made that many French friends but I feel pretty sure that I'll stay in touch with those I do know. After all, it's an easy way to get free accommodation ;-)
Ok, well I'll finish for now as I may have a meeting at 8:00am tomorrow (I'll be glad when they're over with!).
Yes, I can confirm, the French are impressively lazy. Not only do they have more Bank Holidays than we do in the UK but they also have "ponts" (bridges). This means that when a Bank Holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday they take the Monday or Friday off too. I've been told that if it falls on a Wednesday they don't just take the week off but to be honest it wouldn't surprise me.
So, as I was saying, I took the plane back as the Eurostar would've cost over 300€ just for the return ticket. It was good flying and we even got a free sandwhich and drink which surprised me (you can tell I'm used to flying low-cost).
When I got home I had an even bigger surprise. For my birthday my (wonderful) parents bought me...well...pictures speak louder than words:
It's bright Orange ("a proper Beetle colour" as a friend said) and, for 1970, is in great condition. I've put some more photos on my flickr page here.
The "barbeque" was great although, due to the weather it wasn't a barbeque. Still it was nice to see everyone and I owe a(nother) thankyou to Mum and Dad for organising, cooking, inviting etc.
So, I'm back in Paris now on the final stint until I finish on June 30th. Work is going quite well and it's definitely more fun working with someone (my replacement has arrived and apparently I'm training him although sometimes I just feel like I'm pointing out all the problems he's going to have). To be honest I'm looking forward to the end though. I've had a great time here in Paris but I want to be getting back now. I know I haven't visited as many things as I should have, and I'll do that in the fortnight I'm here once I've finished working, but I'm not sure Paris is everything people expect of it. I think I've been here so long that it's just become "home".
I have enjoyed working, and I've learnt a lot about many different things. I've learnt more about people, communication and "work" than I have about IT but it's definitely been a valuable experience. Although my French has improved tenfold, unfortunately my English has deteriorated and I often find I can't remember a word or can't think how to put a sentence together. So, if I talk gibberish to you when I get back, just give me time to work out which language I should be using.
I think the thing I'll miss most about my time here are the friends I've made. Admittedly they're nearly all English and it's probably related to the fact that we're all "in the same boat" but I feel closer to them than I have to many people I've known. I am a little dissappointed not to have made that many French friends but I feel pretty sure that I'll stay in touch with those I do know. After all, it's an easy way to get free accommodation ;-)
Ok, well I'll finish for now as I may have a meeting at 8:00am tomorrow (I'll be glad when they're over with!).
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