See you all next year, wherever you are...

Just a few more hours before being there. I can almost smell the clam chowder and feel the water entering my gloves and hood. It is amazing to think that in less than 24 hours I will almost be on the other side of the world. But this is weird too... I'm feeling like I'm going home. I guess this feeling will be even stronger in February... Here is what happens when you leave pieces of you in so many different places...
It also seems that I will have to add a new word to my vocabulary - "relax" - since everybody is doing his best so that I leave with no work or articles in my backpack... So this is official, I won't open a single book during the next 7 days... And I'm even going to push it a bit further: I'm not taking any laptop either! Let see if I can survive that ;)

Since I won't have any network on the 1st of January, I wish you all a wonderful New Year 2006 in advance. Be healthy, be happy and don't forget to look on the bright side (that's the most important thing I was taught this year). See you all next year, wherever you are...

I've flown too high on borrowed wings
Beyond the clouds and where the angels sings
In a sky containing no one but me
Up there's all empty and down there's the sea
No one here but me

There's nothing but light
That comes into sight

There's something up here that makes me wince
And I still got the feelings that I've felt ever since
I got to this place arrived at last
In front there's a future right back there's the past
Everything's moving so fast

There's nothing but light
That comes into sight

The present like I've never seen it before
Is this the right place to stay
Please my wings fly me away

The present like I've never seen it before
Is this the right place to stay
Please my wings fly me away
Please my wings fly me away
Please my wings fly me away

Flown away ~Lene Marlin

Sleeping, snowboarding, sleeping, snowboarding...

and Merry Christmas to all of you!!! Here are just a few pics of MY mountains and Tom and Alex. More will come later... I had a wonderful Xmas. It was great to finally relax and enjoy family. I'm boarding for Vancouver in 2 days so for now I'm stuffing myself with aspirin, trying to heal my sinusitis... Hopefully, I'll post underwater pics soon ;)

I'm done, I'm gone....

And I wish you happy holidays!!! If you need to reach me, give me a call as I won't probably be able to read my emails during the next coming days.

Quote of the day:" I know I look like somebody who smoked and took drugs during the whole night but I swear I didn't" (Olive, 2005)

It was 2005...

Do you realize that Xmas is in 4 days? Do you realize that 2005 ends in less than 2 weeks? It has been such a challenging and special year for me. I think I went through all the states of mind possible, from depression to euphoria... There are so many moments that I'll remember from this year (the order of what follows is totally random):
My most difficult moments and greatest fears: the night of the 4th of January in Chicago, leaving Oregon and my friends, readjusting to my country
My most stressfull moments: before my thesis defense, at the hospital waiting to see Anin, seeing Max at 160 feet
My best and most treasured moments: my diners with Mum, my week-ends with Dad and Alex this summer, my defense, my beers with friends both in Oregon and Europe, my nights alone in the lab at OSU working on my model and thesis, the last time I hugged my friends in Oregon, my trips (Redwoods, Bahamas, Quebec), this evening spent watching the Pacific Ocean in California in June, my starry night dives in Hood Canal, the night of the 12th of November, these smiles and eye contacts furtively exchanged
Some weird moments: waking up in the morning... in the lab, the 2 hours after my defense, being narked at 70 feet

Things I'm looking forward in 2006: Anin out of the hospital, more time with family, having my papers submitted, my winter trip to the US, which includes seeing all my friends from OR, my first graduation ceremony in June, starting my PhD, seeing the space shuttle flying again, graduating from ISU, some good Fat Tire, travelling again and again
Things I'm scared of: disappointing family and friends, making the wrong decision, leaving family again

As far as the list of my good resolutions for 2006 is concerned, forget it! I don't have any! And even if I did, it would never stand up anyway ;)

1 out of 2...

Ok, first exam done! We had 4 hours but I didn't even have time to touch the clementines I brought. It just went so fast. I have another one tomorrow as well but for now I'm going to sense my bed and believe me it's not going to be remote!

Time between now and....

... my first exam: 16 hours
... my snowboard: 3.5 days
... my drysuit: 9 days
... my Fat Tire at Fox and Firkins: 45 days

No comment ;)

The American way:
you order "Space Mission Analysis and Design" on Amazon on the 12th of December and pick the cheapest shipping option ($8). Estimated delivery time: 4 to 6 weeks. Actual delivery time: the 19th of December (a week later).

Now the French way:
You ship 6 bottles of wine to the US on the 5th of October and pay around $30/bottle for the shipping. Estimated delivery time: 6 to 10 days. Actual delivery time: 6 weeks.

A week-end in a box...

How do you like my 7 ft X 7ft jail????

I need chocolaaaaaaaaaate!!! I'm used to prepare banana/chocolate sandwiches when I'm studying for exams... But once again I forgot that supermarkets here are closed on sundays. I would give everything I have (ok, almost everything...) for a Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ;) Do you know that you can actually buy them on Amazon now??? It's not a joke, check it out! Check also the shipping rate for Europe... $70! Glups! We are living in such a crazy world... And I'm such a geek... looking for ice cream on the net...

The last Jibjab

205 George Bush's Year in Review is here.

First time...

... that my elbows hurt because of too much typing... Tomorrow I'll put a pillow on my desk.... Arnicaaaaaaaa!!!!

Thursday was our last day of class for this module so friday was "free" basically. I spent most of the afternoon with Mum and JY, drinking some mulled wine and enjoying the Christmas market next to the Cathedral. We also had diner at my favorite alsacian restaurant. It is really cool to be able to spend some evenings with mum without having to fly for 15 hours. I enjoy it even more that I know that it won't last. Mum also is realizing that I'll be gone again in a few months and she is starting to be mad at me. There is not much I can do about that though. I can't picture myself doing my PhD in France. I think she understands my motivation to go back to the US, but obviously it is going to be tough for both of us....

I also went to Mic's for our class Xmas' party.. It was nice to be with friends, enjoying a Xmas tree, a fire and a homemade mulled wine (again...). It was probably our last time together before the break.
I also saw Anin, who is still with us and fighting. It was wonderful to see him. Now we have to wait and see how he is going to respond to the surgery.

Today I spent hours glued on my laptop, reading lecture notes and typing summaries. I still have a lot to do so sunday and monday will be more of the same. Exams are tuesday and wednesday. I'm leaving wednesday afternoon for Lyon and I'm going to spend the nite at Tom's place. I should be at Valmorel with Tom, Dad and Alex by thursday evening. I already told Dad that there was no way of having a plastic Xmas tree this year. I want a real tree, which smells like a real tree and with real needles. And if I have to, I will go in the woods and cut it myself ;) It is going to be good to take a few days off... I can't wait. I'm feeling really tired. I compared a picture of me that was taken a week ago with one from September and this is scarry. Besides the 11 lbs that I lost during the last 3 months, I look like I'm 5 years older... Hopefully, a few hours on my snowboard and in the ocean with my drysuit will help ;)

Anyway, tonite I would have loved a big hug.

Finally here are the lessons I learned during the last few days:
- You have to prove yourself everyday and never take anything for granted.
- Life is a fragile balance.
I could develop more of those but I'm about to crash... Later maybe...

Study break... all my apologies...

What Happens When Engineers Think Too Much About Christmas?

1. No known species of reindeer can fly. But there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not completely rule out flying reindeer, which only Santa has seen.

2. There are 2 billion children (under 18) in the world. But since Santa doesn't appear to handle Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish children, that reduces the work load to 15% of the total - 378 million or so. At an average rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes.

   One presumes there's at least one good child in each.

3. Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with thanks to time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west. This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining gifts under the tree, eat the snacks, get back up the a chimney, get back in the sleigh, and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million homes are distributed evenly (which we know to be false but for the sake of these calculations we will accept) we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75 1/2 million miles, not counting bathroom stops. This means that Santa's sleigh is traveling at 650 miles per second, 3000 times the speed of sound. For comparison, the fastest man made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe moves at a poky 27.4 MPS; the average reindeer runs at 15 MPH.

4. The sleighs payload adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized LEGO set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons not counting Santa, who is inexorably described as overweight. On land, confessional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point one) could pull TEN TIMES the usual amount, we can not do the job with 8 or even 9, we need 214,000 reindeer. This increases the weight, not even counting the sleigh, to 353,430 tons. Again for comparison this is 4 times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth 2.

5. 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance. This will heat the reindeer in the same manner as a spacecraft re-entering the earth+s atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.2 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the next pair of reindeer, and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousands of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times the force of gravity. A 300 pound Santa would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.

6. Conclusion: There was a Santa, but he's dead now.

Astronaut day

This morning we had the best lecture ever: 4 hours of Astronaut and Cosmonaut lectures about Living and Working in Space. We were like kids in a candy store. Nobody wanted to leave the auditorium for the lunch break. The faculty almost had to kick us out of the room ;) We had 4 hours full of anecdotes, pictures, movies and... dreams. I know I'll never flight onboard of the Shuttle, Soyouz or the CEV (unless I have a few millions $$$$) but videos of space flights still produce the same effects on me as when I was 9 years old. So today we had the privilege to meet Steven Smith, from NASA, who flew 4 times with the Space Shuttle, Pedro Duque, from ESA, who flew once with Soyouz and once with the Space Shuttle and finally Dr Mukai, from JAXA, who is teaching us Life Sciences here at ISU and who flew twice onboard of the Shuttle (including the flight with John Glenn).

I put a few pics below. Sorry for the quality but we were in the dark most of the time. Click on them if you want to have them larger.

Steven Smith, Chiaki Mukai, Pedro Duque and Nikolai Tolyarenko at the beginning of the lecture:

The Space Shuttle experience with Steven Smith:

The Soyouz and ISS experience with Pedro Duque:


Steven Smith, Chiaki Mukai and Pedro Duque answering the thousands of questions we had ;)



But tonight, I have to come back to some more realistic thoughts... Anin is currently in surgery. We should hear from the hospital later in the evening or in the night. Keep praying.

The pics of my WE in Paris

are ONLINE

A week-end without being at school... can you imagine?

I spent the WE in Paris, being a tourist, walking the Louvre, the Jardin des Tuileries and the Champs-Elysees on Saturday and the Eiffel tower, the Invalides and the Grand Palais on Sunday morning. It was a cold but sunny week-end. I don’t know how many kilometers I walked in the cold but I enjoyed it a lot. I never thought that walking alone in Paris would be so nice. I didn’t touch a single book in two days. I needed time away from school, I needed time for me. My mum and step-dad were giving a seminar this WE so I joined them and so did Tom. It was good to be all together on saturdyay night ! The last time it happened was in Venice a year ago.

I was finally able to relax a bit ! I enjoyed mum’s food and famous apple sauce and I took my longest bath of the year (I have a shower at home). So it is decided, my next appartment will have a huuuuuuge bathtub with enough space around it to put candles and speakers so that I can listen to Norah Jones while playing with soap bubbles ;)

My exams are in 10 days so I’m going to be busy reviewing everything during the next days. I also need to find the time to re-take my GRE before the Xmas break. Don’t know how I’m going to manage to do both… But one thing is for sure, no sleepless nights at school anymore (at least till the end of Module 2).

In 17 days I’ll be sitting in the sand in front of the Pacific Ocean… And in February I’ll be travelling through the US and visit the schools I’m applying to. Don’t know yet exactely how long I’m going to be gone but I’m planning on going back to Oregon for a few days for sure. I cannot wait till June… Also it’s going to be a good opportunity to have my poster ready for the next FPS conference, as well as my papers ready for submission. In March, I’m going to Russia for the first time. A new country, another culture. And hopefully, in May, I’ll be back in the US for my internship.
I just cannot stay in place. I need to travel... I don’t care if I will have to eat pasta and rice for the rest of the year to pay for these trips. I cannot imagine my life without having a train/plane ticket in my pocket and a camera and laptop in my backpack.

And tonight, for the first time in weeks, I feel good.

Pics of Paris and Strasbourg by night will come soon.

In-Situ Burnt Out

I don't even know which day it is. Since saturday morning the only thing I have been focusing on in the number of days, hours and minutes between TNow and the deadline. Fortunately, tonight this is over... at least for those who don't present ;) I can't see the couch in the TV room anymore! But I have to admit that we had some good times... like playing US Football in the building at 4 in the morning (how is your arm doing Havard ???)...

So here is for the night between Sunday and Monday:


Then the night between Monday and Tuesday (more food on the table): when Arthur and I decided to change the Engineering outline at 3 in the morning (we did good though!)...












And no more pictures after Tuesday because it was way too scary: Chris not shaved and sleeping on the floor, Daniel chasing me about his Mining section, people crashing everywhere, and me... keeping the good habit of printing the keyboard on my forehead ;) And I don't tell you about the smell in the TP room.... Nobody died (at least no one that I heard of) but we are all suffering from serious lack of sleep and food... I also learnt that M&Ms (for Moon and Mars???) and coffee are not considered "food"...

However, this report allowed me to get to know some people better and I can tell you that the most efficient ones are not the ones who talk the most... . Anyway, tonight, the whole world can collapse, I won't even notice ;) zzzzzzzzzzzz...........

A night at home...

First night I'm going to spend in my bed since saturday. Arthur is taking the night shift, Im taking the day one... We would be living on a submarine that there wouldn't be any difference!

Yes I'm still alive...

just spending days and nights at school on our Team Project... Hopefully I'll get back to a more "normal" life soon. First time ever I bring my toothbrush at school though... See the pic from the last post? It is nothing compared to the reality... except that I'm way too tired to be rude.