"Your taste in d-orbitals is very cliché."
Classes are going to start in a few minutes. Those two and a half carefree weeks were too wonderful to be true. Oh... and the sodium drop was simply amazing.
My biggest achievement at MIT so far: winning at the Settlers of Catan yesterday night even though everybody ganged up on me since it was obvious I would win. This gave me the opportunity to teach my hallmates the French expression: to put sticks in my wheels. They really do love this expression. Don't be surprised if you wake up tomorrow monring to find the whole USA saying it.
I've had the opportunity to learn many english words as well... like "sketchy".
I can hardly wait for my 18.022 class. Hartley Rogers is teaching it. This man is a legend.
What I built that night was actually a giant hammoc. At one point, we were thirteen people in it. I wouldn't have tried with more than that.
Very nice.
However, the best was the five-story high bungy swing. I shall post a video that I taped with the camera on my hat one day.
No photos (I didn't bring the right cable to transfer them, stupid, stupid, stupid) and no time to say more for now.
Those big scratches on my arm are just the result that I screwdrived more tonight than in my whole life. I also learned how to use a circular saw. I still do not know what I was building, but I'll see tomorrow morning when I wake up and take a picture.
So. I guess I should be blogging since I've been here for a few days now.
The international orientation was quite good: even though the conferences didn't really apply to me, the people were awesome and I've got to learn many exotic and beautiful names =D
I really love my dorm, East Campus. I've started visiting some other ones and, so far, EC remains #1. People are nice everywhere, but there always were some weird silences when I went to other dorms: once the basic questions were asked (where are you from, where are you temped, what do you want to major in, do you like MIT so far), it seems there was nothing else to play. That's not the case in East Campus: people (from all the floors I've seen so far) are always glad to chat with you about random things (what to do with a hamster dead since March, Law and Order, how to elevate a floor, what crazy things are being built for Rush, etc.). People always seem very happy to see you and glad that they can share some of your passions with you. Even shy people talk a lot with you (though in a very soft voice).
I've still got many dorms to see. I'll probably go see some of them today. I know, I know, there's Rush for that... but I feel it will be a little bit biased at that moment. I feel that, during Rush, people will do plenty of cool things to "sell" you their dorm. I want to see the "natural" atmosphere of the dorm (even though most dorms are a little bit empty right now). But, don't worry, I'll participate in Rush as well... come on, free food + fun stuff!
Well, that's it. I'm leaving in a few minutes.
I'm crazy.
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Edit:
I've arrived.
I've already been asked three times for directions by people. I'm a natural guide =D
We're going to have another go at Operation 73 tonight since it failed miserably yesterday for the lack of keys.
We're also going to pull the greatest hack during the play tonight. Les coquins, c'est pas nous, c'est eux. They truly deserve it.
It should be a very interesting last night at work.
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Edit:
It was a magical night (for lack of a better word). Operation 73 actually succeeded since I decided to transform it in Operation 42 (you should never underestimate 42... though I must admit I was stupefied by its incredibleness as well). And the hacking of the play went smoothly and the actors loved it (though they were scared at one point).
I'll tell you everything in details in a few days. I finish packing tomorrow (and reparing my computer) and I'm leaving the day after.
I know I say this often, but I have incredible friends. They tried to throw me a surprise farewell party Sunday night. But, shhhh, don't tell them it was not a surprise, it would make them sad. What happened is that one guy wrote to everybody to know where we were eating (Le Wok du Chef) and forgot to take off my name of the list. Thus, I received an e-mail asking where was my surprise, which kind of took off the surprise element. Now, after reading the e-mail, I knew that many people would realize very quickly that I had received the e-mail as well and would come to delete it in my inbox before I see it. So, I selected the message and marked it as unread.
The next morning, when I went to check my e-mails, it had been deleted. Victory!
(Now, you might be wondering how my friends were able to break into my e-mails. It's very simple: they have the key. I'd say that 80% of my friends have my password. Why? Because I was one of the first one to get gmail and, at that time, hotmail only had something like 2MB of space. So, my friends and classmates found it very useful to store some of their stuff (mostly powerpoint presentations and such) in my e-mail. Voilà.)
Anyway, the party was really nice. I find it so hard to say goodbye to all those amazing people. They are responsible for who I have become... how will I survive without them?
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As I've said before, when people ask me where I'm going to go for university and that I reply MIT, most people stare blankly at me for they've never heard that name. Sometimes, though, it's quite different like yesterday when I bought a printer:
Me: I don't know if I need a multifunction printer or just a regular one.
Salesman: It depends, what do you want to use it for?
M: It's for school.
S: You need a multifunction.
M: But don't they have those same resources all around schools?
S: No, this is a myth. Do not expect to be able to use any of your school's resources. They brag about having n scanners, x computers, y copy machines and z flying dragons... but they never tell you how many of those things actually work and are available for students' use.
M: Is it really that bad?
S: Oh yes, it is. And all the schools are just as bad. Never forget that. You want some crunchy details? What school are you going to attend?
M: MIT.
S: [...] I am not worthy. [...] Shall we take a look at regular printers then?
I'd like to tell you how much I adore my two colleagues. They are two of the most incredible people I've ever met. They are brilliant and funny. They teach me some Chinese sentences. They feed me with delicious homemade Chinese food. They agree to go on expeditions in secrete passageways (we've discovered another one two days ago). They are simply wonderful.
More than that, they listen to my mathematical ramblings and even participate in them. Yesterday night, they spent over two hours explaining to me (and trying to make me discover by myself) that Pi has an end.
Their reasoning was very nice... philosophically. Maybe I'll tell you about it one day. Maybe.
Other than that, I'm leaving for MIT in exactly one week. I have three boxes packed already. I know, it is quite incredible. Who could have believed that I would have started packing so early? Oh, and while I'm writing, I'd like to produce a little story that happened to me last week.
Saturday the six of August. There's a big fiesta at work to celebrate our hundredth anniversary and the hundred and sixtieth birthday of our founder. In the morning, our boss arrives and asks us who wants to be the mascot for the day. I jumped up and down, raised my hand and said, "I do! I do!". So, I got to be the mascot... a huge squirrel!
I felt like I was Tic and Tac from the Rangers du Risque! It was awesome. I got to hug more people and be taken in picture more than in my entire life. I probably sweat more than in my entire life as well (there was a small fan at the top of the costume, but they had forgotten to bring a battery). However, the best part really was seeing how many people thought I was a beaver! Even as a squirrel, my beaveresque personnality was coming out =D
Given I could not talk (come on, I was a mascot), I could not correct people verbally. So, when they would say I was a beaver, I would show them my big fluffy tail so different from the one of a beaver. And then, most people would realize. However, there were some twenty-something English folks who did not grasp this concept when I showed them my tail. Actually, when I did so, the guy said, "What? You want me to kiss your ass? No way!"
I did my mascotesque desperate face and since he continued to say he would not kiss my beaver's arse, I broke the rule: I talked and told him the truth about my identity. He felt stupid. And I agree.
As you've probably come to realize, I often talk to strangers. However, I want to specify that the reciprocal is true: strangers often talk to me.
I was coming back home from work yesterday night and, as I was walking on the street, there was a man walking about fifty meters in front of me. Since I was walking faster than he was, the distance between us started to get smaller and smaller. I noticed that he turned around many times to look at me as I was getting closer, but I didn't mind. I'm not afraid to walk alone at night because I always think the same thing, "I have a good knee." Anyhow, when I arrived on his side, he looked at me again and greeted me before saying, "You walk incredibly fast. It's the first time in several years that I see a woman walking faster than me!" We continued talking until I arrived in front of my home.
It is true that I walk quite fast. I calculated that a city bus only goes only at " 5/3 * my speed " at night. I find this quite impressive =D
I basically think that I'm a good person. I'm happy most of the time. It's really hard to make me mad for a great deal of time. However, when this happens, I am really mad. No, not mad: I'm more disappointed than anything else.
Our very high superior wanted to see us this morning. Even though I'm not working today because I switched days with one of my colleagues, I went because I believed firmly that we were right in everything we have done so far.
I still believe this.
However, I used to believe that my bosses were being honest too and that the problem was just the result of miscomprehension.
I do not believe this anymore.
Oh, I am sure that my immediate superiors have nothing to do with this (and that they do not know more about this situation than us) and I do believe that they are trying to help us right now so nothing bad happens to us.
However, the big bosses have lied to us. They did something wrong and that's why we're in this mess right now.
The superior we've seen this morning seemed to be in control all the time... except at two moments.
Indeed, he lost his nerves twice. First, when we told him that there were beginning and ending dates on some pieces of paper. His reaction was much too fast: he said that no, there were no such dates and that he had the proof there were no dates since he still had the papers. He went to get them and it took him very little time, as if they were already on his desk, just waiting to be taken to be shown as a proof. Very fishy. And as he showed them to us, he said, "See, they even have the hole of the pin, so they are the real copies!" Yes, yes. We are all very sure that the dates were there. Actually, we had found that very funny when we had seen the papers because it meant plenty of things. I remember very well saying that I should bring my camera to take a picture of this to keep as a proof. Of course, I was joking. We would have never believed they would have gone so low as to change the papers. This is simply cheating.
The other time he lost his temper was when I told him that there was a missing comma in the collective convention and that, just because of that, if we wanted to be hard on them (which we didn't), we could use that as a proof that they were wrong. He started to shout that if anybody made such a ridiculous use of the collective convention, he would sue that person. I felt like telling him that his own use of the convention was far more ridiculous since he was supposing things that were not even written in it whereas what I was stating were just the facts, things that were written in it black on white. But I knew it was best not to say anything. Even if I know perfectly that each comma in the convention was meant to be there.
We do not want to cause trouble. When we first started all this, we did it just because we wanted to know what happened and why it had happened.
We all love our job very much. You could not believe how much we do. Some of us have made big sacrifices to work there. We don't care about the money. We're not doing this because of that.
Even if we loose in the end, they will be the losers. In all of this, we'll have stayed honest, we'll have done everything because we were thinking it was the right thing to do. They are just pathetic. They are so pathetic that they are unable to look in my eyes when they talk anymore. The disappointment they read in there is too great for them to bear.
Michaëlle Jean has become Canada's new
General Governor.
She is a great woman. I hope she'll do a good job.
Everything was weird today.
From early morning...
I woke up and found that I had taken off my pillow-slip from my pillow and had managed to fold it neatly and put it on top of my computer while sleeping
...to late night...
As I came back from work, I saw a man with an MIT t-shirt. After doing a beautiful double-flip, I go see the man (yes, I know, I talk to strangers too often... but can you really consider a man with an MIT t-shirt a stranger?) I ask him if he was a MIT alum. He looks at me and tells me, "It's confidential. I cannot tell you. It is top-secret." He winked at me and left. And the glass of milk I just drank tasted funny.
...without forgetting work.
People appearing out of thin air. A skunk that decides to mark the whole building as its territory and who passes really closed to me (thanks God for walkie-talkie and for nice colleagues who shout in a whisper during the Way of the Cross, "Run, Annie, run!"). Doors that get locked magically. More people that show up at the Way of the Cross than at the organ concert.
Fortunately, some things are constant: I arrived to an empty home full of my brother's dirty dishes.
My parents are gone for two weeks... which means I have three hours and more of chores that pile up everyday! I've got to admit I was pampered all my life and that I loved it. I guess this will be a good practice for MIT. Though I guess I have more chores these days. I have to cook the meals, clean the house, do the dishes and the laundry for both my brother and me (which is kind of unfair since my brother is older than me... he should do his share). And, mostly, I've got to take care of my dad's humongous garden (which is kind of logical since, when we were little and we were attending Jardins Jeunes, I would listen carefully and learn how to do everything and my brother would take his tomatoes and cucumbers and throw them on passing cars).
I don't mind doing all of this, but it takes away from me precious time I could have used. Oh well.
Less than three weeks to MIT.
You know you've seen the Way of the Cross too many times when you have to hide your laughter into fake tears when Jesus dies. I really had the hardest time not to laugh for three nights in a row now and tonight was just too much. It is insane how much fun we have at night. Walkie-talkies and basic Chinese* is all we need to be incapable of controlling or giggles.
After work, I went to see
Mes Aïeux at the
Francofolies. We arrived too late, thus we were at the very very very back. However, it was wonderful. We had the most extraordinary little middle-aged Chinese woman besides us. She did not stop dancing during all the show. At one point, I offered her some candies I had (which I thought were Chinese since it was Jane who had given them to me, but this groovy lady told me they were Vietnamese). I know, I am weird. I always share my food with people around me when I eat on the street because I know how annoying it is when you see someone eating just in front of you when you are starving. Anyhow, she was very happy to taste the green beans and so she gave me some real Chinese candies (dried prunes). After the show, she talked to us for a little bit. She was really awesome. And she understood me when I asked her in Chinese if she spoke Chinese.
I think I'm going to go to sleep now. I'm starting to feel a little bit out of focus.
*My Chinese right now includes the following these sentences:
-Do you speak Chinese?
-Would you prefer to have this brochure in Chinese?
-No, I am incapable of speaking Chinese, sorry.
-I love mathematics very much.
-The path is cleared: the boss has left the building.
-Warning, warning: the boss has not left the building.
-Eric, you are so stupid.
-Some basic words (hello-how are you, thank you, I love you, etc.)