Saturday, May 05, 2007
Yogurt, mon premier Danone!
We started the caveboy on yogurt this afternoon. He had some "mon premier Danone" and actually liked it. He still didn't eat very much of his bananas though. One time, he sneezed yogurt and bananas all over Phuong. That's always fun times when he sneezes or sits there spitting out food and drool. I've never seen a creature who generates so much drool. At lunch he ate a ton of carrots and pears, his favorite. We think his bananas need to be mashed better and then he'll love them again.
We took the boy out to Bercy, Place de la Nation and Picpus in the 12th arrondissement this afternoon on metro line 6. He slept a lot and didn't really indicate whether he liked Picpus or not. I liked it plenty. I liked Picpus and Nation was hopping. Bercy Village, an American style shopping area like Rice Village in Houston, was really disappointing. We won't be going there any more. Neither will the caveboy. I had a Magnum Blanc. Michael was jealous.
Phuong went out to get a sandwich grec tonight while the boy and I played fun games like Peek-a-boo and also had plenty of time for zerberts and tickling. I love to zerbert him near his neck because he laughs uncontrollably. He's very fun and silly. Then he got hungry and fussy. But to give Phuong time to eat, we watched some MTV. He likes to bop to the music.
We took the boy out to Bercy, Place de la Nation and Picpus in the 12th arrondissement this afternoon on metro line 6. He slept a lot and didn't really indicate whether he liked Picpus or not. I liked it plenty. I liked Picpus and Nation was hopping. Bercy Village, an American style shopping area like Rice Village in Houston, was really disappointing. We won't be going there any more. Neither will the caveboy. I had a Magnum Blanc. Michael was jealous.
Phuong went out to get a sandwich grec tonight while the boy and I played fun games like Peek-a-boo and also had plenty of time for zerberts and tickling. I love to zerbert him near his neck because he laughs uncontrollably. He's very fun and silly. Then he got hungry and fussy. But to give Phuong time to eat, we watched some MTV. He likes to bop to the music.
Well, I found out through the grapevine that there are grandparents (and great-grandparents!) who probably would like to know what Michael does every day, no matter how mundane. So I am starting another blog just about Michael and his every day activities.
I will try my best to post everyday. It will be fast, quick snipits, and full of details only his loving great grandparents and grandparents will care about!
This blog will only be about Michael!
Love,
P
I will try my best to post everyday. It will be fast, quick snipits, and full of details only his loving great grandparents and grandparents will care about!
This blog will only be about Michael!
Love,
P
Yesterday, I went down to Grenoble in southeast France to present some results to colleagues from another research center. The meeting was scheduled for Friday morning, from 8:30 to 12:30 with a tour of their facilities afterwards.
I stayed with a coworker at his parents' house on the outskirts of Grenoble, and we set off for the meeting at about 8:00, running late. I've been to French meetings before and know they start late and lack structure, but I've never presented at a French meeting. In the US, I would have arrived early, set up the projecter and presentation, and been ready to go by 8:30. In contrast, we arrived at the entrance gate at 8:40. Two cars ahead of us at the gate was one of the guys with whom we were supposed to meet. It also turned out that because I am a foreigner, there were some special forms we had to fill out that we had forgotten to request. So we finally got into the facility at about 9:10. Then we met some other colleagues working there. We arrived at the meeting room around 9:30 and there was no projector. So after finding a projector that turned out to be broken and having some coffee and croissants (as it was croissant Friday) we started without a projector. It was a small group, 6 of us, so that was ok. A bit later, one of the guys left the meeting and came back with a projector that works. Then the technical director arrived about 10:30, halfway through the meeting, because he had some other things to attend to first. A second participant left about 15 minutes later. After all was said and done, it was actually very productive and went over well. So that's how French meetings work.
I was talking about it afterwards in the railstation bar with an English coworker, who was also down in Grenoble for the day, and he told me a funny story about a meeting he had been to in Spain. It was to start at 10:00am. Since he has been in France for awhile, he was smart, arrived around 10:15 and was greeted by another Englishman and a couple of Germans. About 10:45 some other people start trickling in. At 11:15, the Spanish professor who had organized the meeting rolls in and starts setting up his presentation. Finally, after 11:30 the talk finally gets going.
I stayed with a coworker at his parents' house on the outskirts of Grenoble, and we set off for the meeting at about 8:00, running late. I've been to French meetings before and know they start late and lack structure, but I've never presented at a French meeting. In the US, I would have arrived early, set up the projecter and presentation, and been ready to go by 8:30. In contrast, we arrived at the entrance gate at 8:40. Two cars ahead of us at the gate was one of the guys with whom we were supposed to meet. It also turned out that because I am a foreigner, there were some special forms we had to fill out that we had forgotten to request. So we finally got into the facility at about 9:10. Then we met some other colleagues working there. We arrived at the meeting room around 9:30 and there was no projector. So after finding a projector that turned out to be broken and having some coffee and croissants (as it was croissant Friday) we started without a projector. It was a small group, 6 of us, so that was ok. A bit later, one of the guys left the meeting and came back with a projector that works. Then the technical director arrived about 10:30, halfway through the meeting, because he had some other things to attend to first. A second participant left about 15 minutes later. After all was said and done, it was actually very productive and went over well. So that's how French meetings work.
I was talking about it afterwards in the railstation bar with an English coworker, who was also down in Grenoble for the day, and he told me a funny story about a meeting he had been to in Spain. It was to start at 10:00am. Since he has been in France for awhile, he was smart, arrived around 10:15 and was greeted by another Englishman and a couple of Germans. About 10:45 some other people start trickling in. At 11:15, the Spanish professor who had organized the meeting rolls in and starts setting up his presentation. Finally, after 11:30 the talk finally gets going.
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