Monday, July 11, 2016

Day 19: Always on the go...


Today was jammed packed with activities and research. It was hard trying to be everywhere and do everything, but I made it through the day. If I havent learned anything else, I've learned that in order to be successful in this program one has to master time management skills. There have been times that I wanted to hang out with the other students or go into the city and shop, eat, and have fun but I realized that the requirements to pass my course is different than theirs. My course requires that I constantly research, constantly study, and constantly document my findings. This is not to say that I can't have fun, because I have. I'm simply saying that one should take care of their responsibilities first.

First thing this morning was the fashion museum. We left as a group, caught the train, and walked a few blocks to the building. By the time we arrived they had just unlocked the doors. The museum was larger than I expected, and like majority of the exhibits in this city, didn't allow photography. A few of us got into trouble because we had our phones out pointing to the clothes and the museum workers assumed we were taking pictures. Ounce we showed them we were using Goggle Translate to translate the signage they smiled and allowed us to continue. Afterwards we all traveled back to the school and I did some research to locate some more electronic stores in the area. Unfortunately, I still haven't received even one interview.

I found a few and my partner and I headed out, hoping to land one. The first store told me no, which I suspected when we entered. By this time, I've come to realize that women are more willing to help then men and young people are more willing than old. I simply smiled than thanked them for their time and left. Another issue I'm experiencing is the language barrier. It's hard to get people to understand what you're trying to ask them when both of you can't fully communicate. The second store was located inside of a mall. I went in and waited as the young man to finish helping a customer. When he was done I approached him and said "hello, I don't speak French, do you speak English" in French.  He smiled and replied yes. Excited I began to tell him about the program and my desire to interview him...he said yes.

Afterwards we returned back to the school to drop out my books then headed across town to meet the group at the Eiffel Tower. Today we walked up the stairs to see the view. I made it to the second tier which was 669 steps. My legs were seriously cramping and going into spasms but I had to save face... I got my second wind and walked down to meet the rest of the group so we could head over to the boat for the boat ride. It was nice to see parts of the city while traveling on the water. More importantly, after all the walking I do everyday day it was nice to just sit down.