Reborn from the dead

"- Oh, Look at that ! It seems to be a blog...

- Yeah,.. I think you're right... Uhmm, but I'm not quite sure yet. If it is one, it must have been ages since someone wrote on it !

- Yep. Oh! Look at the huge spider net at the bottom !"

By this short dialog, I think you got it :) I think I found the motivation to resuscitate my blog after this long year without any post.

To start, I decided of a few changes you might have already noticed :

- A quick redesign of the layout

- By now, I'll post in English to please my international friends (pour les français non-anglophones, ca m'obligera à vous donner des nouvelles de vive voix!)

Now, let's continue with what has been, is and will be my life.

The past year

As said before in this blog, I spent a year in the US working as an intern for Siemens in Princeton, NJ. It was amazingly amazing! Living the American life for a year has been an incredible experience. I had the chance to go to many famous places :

- NYC, of course. Only one hour away from Princeton, I've been there many, many, many times to enjoy the craziness of the Big Apple. Favorite place: Brooklyn Heights.

- Chicago, my favorite American city for now. I was there for Thanksgiving and enjoyed the parade, the deep dish and the blues club. Also, visiting the whole time by bike has been one of the best idea : "On n'est jamais déçu en vélo!" ©

- Boston, my favorite American city until I went to Chicago. Despite the clouds, the rain and the mist, we spent there one of our first trip in the US. Main events: the bus tour (to avoid the rain), Prudential building, Boston creme donuts.

- Washington DC. Went there twice. When you go to DC, you know why this is the American capital. It doesn't look like the other cities. Everything is neat, clean. For instance, metro's floor is covered by a carpet. Who would do that ?! By the way, most of the monuments in DC are definitely must-sees when you come to the US.

- Toronto & Niagara Falls. Nice trip with my parents. Even if most of the tourist guides say the opposite, I think the American side of Niagara Falls is better than the Canadian.

Besides all this stuff, life felt pretty easy actually. The week-time was shared between an interesting job, nights/dinner with friends and drinks at "wherever can offer us a beer/coke" just waiting for "Da Week end !". Starting with the famous Happy Friday (also called "Glandredi" in french), the week-end was the time where parties, NY clubbing nights and werewolves games took place. The parties especially took most of our time on week-ends : Housewarmings, Farewells, Beach party, Black&White party, Block party, Halloween, Christmas, ... All occasions were good to throw a party and see coming most of the international Siemens interns, Princeton students and unluckily the cops (sometimes even many times during one single party!).

America has also been the country where our body had to manage all kinds of fat, sweets and artificial chemical drinks: Triple Whopper Contest after endless Enchiladas, One dollar menu at McD's, Cheesecake Factory, Wendy's ("That's a burger man!"), Root beer (kind of a big scam about beer) and the 24/7 Wawa. However, I didn't gain any weight in the US (even lost 2 pounds) : Would it mean I'm ready for Survivor® ?

The last but not least, I met there a little blond south-african cute au-pair. As could have done Bambam and Pebbles, we shared all these good times and went through wind and rain. Now apart for too many weeks, I just hope we'll see each other as soon as possible and keep going in this happy direction. (Disclaimer: Don't read this, it's private : See you in SA, Nooh !) (I'm sure you've read the previous one! Curiosity killed the cat!)

The present

Back in February, I've spent 4 months in France enjoying french food : farm-fresh butter ("I can't believe it's not butter!"), sourdough bread, dried sausage and red wine (1985 Double-magnum Fronsac, Oh My G**!). It was also the opportunity to see friends I hadn't see for such a long time. If I missed France? Yes, of course a little bit: it's always nice to have a beer in the street without caring about cops around, fall sick without thinking about your money and at the restaurant pay the price written on the menu. However, after such a long time, you also see the bad sides of your home country: paperwork inefficiency (I'm still waiting for my health care card after 4 month), too many strikes (you have to anticipate them if you plan on moving around) and the french voices on english-speaking movies (I almost puked when I heard the little boy's voice in Slumdog Millionaire!). To conclude this french paragraph, even I'm criticizing it, as we said, "spare the rod, spoil the child" (Qui aime bien, châtie bien), this country will always be deeply mine.

Since 10 days now, I started what I could call "The German Experience". I'm now intern at Siemens MR (MR like MRI scanner) in Erlangen, Bayern for 3 months. Yeah Bavaria man ! USB* here I come! Even if I can't say a full sentence in German, I'll have to survive in this wunderbar world. "Ja, Nein, Danke, Bitte schön, Auf Wiedersehen, Bier" are for now the only German words I've pronounced: Just the essential ones!

The job is pretty much the same as I was working on in Princeton. OK. Quick explanation of the context: Siemens in the US (SCR) are doing the software for Siemens in Germany (MR) which are building MRI scanner. So now, I see with my own eyes the machines for which I've been working for the whole past year. The factory is huge and pretty impressive with cutting edge technologies everywhere. I didn't get a guided tour of it yet, but I'll try to do so during the next couple of weeks I'll be there. However, I experienced few days ago my first MR scan ! No, I'm not sick, my health has never been better, but Thanks for asking. To test the software, we have to find volunteers to go in the MR scanner and follow the protocol of the experiment. As I never tried that (Hum... that makes me think I still have to do bungee jumping), I volunteered for the previous experiment which consisted on a two-scans process : one on an empty stomach and one after drinking a protein chocolate milkshake. If you're not claustrophobic, it's a good chance to take a nap while you're at work! :)

The future

So, for the next 3 months, I'll be working there and will discover the German life. I've already planned few things like going to München for the Oktoberfest and have one of the biggest Princetonian reunion in Germany! I'll keep you updated on the following German events.

Why only 3 months although Germany has got Wurst, Bier and Spretzels for years ?! Because I got the famous H1-B visa to work in the US a couple of weeks ago. That also means I've been employed by Siemens to work as an assistant engineer. I'm really happy about that, especially in this crisis time. I think that's a pretty good deal as a first job! Some stuff still need to be done until then like finalizing the visa process or learning how not to mess up with tips... But the most difficult part is behind, and I'm really looking forward to start this job in the US.

Indeed, that's a pretty long post. Maybe, this blog will never see such a long message again. I hope I'll keep the motivation to write some other posts at some point. Thanks for reading me and I've only thing to say : "I'll be back." The Terminator

* United States of Bavaria

Music listened during this post : The best of Blur, No need to argue by the Cranberries (my 1st CD), OK Computer by Radiohead, Zeitgeist by The Smashing Pumpkins