White at work

Dream catcher!

My dream catcher is catching beautiful dreams in this snowy winter!

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep...


-Robert Frost

Wanderer!

Few months back I left Paris with two big suitcases in the same way as I reached the city 4 years back. As I was packing I realized that my wardrobe have completely changed, I was not carrying much things that were with me when I left India. Being a wandered this scares me a lot. Recently was talking to someone who left his home country few months back, his move may not be as dramatic as me, he can still go back to his country and see the house and things he grew up with but he still left something he was very passionate about. Recently I lost few things that I dreamt of having for a longer time in my life and realized that it doesn't matter how big or small the thing is, just the concept of losing is very painful. Beginning a wanderer, I cannot drag the whole world with me..can I? but as a wanderer I enjoy meeting new people and I was surprised to see how sensitive and insensitive people can be in reacting to such losses. some people's consolation can added more pain and some were really sweet. And I still enjoy being a wanderer as I can get to do many 'first things' in my life, like having my christmas tree at home. Thanks Jo!

Soria

Yesterday during one of the random reading in the my meditation center library, I discovered this Spanish poet Antonio Machado. He got my attention by the following lines.

People possess four things
that are no good at sea:
anchor, rudder, oars
and the fear of going down.

Hmm! I should stop using rudder and oars in my sea, obviously it is not working. Later I googled him and found some very cheesy poems (I don't know if it is a good poem and lost its charm in translation) about a place I visited in Spain called Soria. I have very nice memories from this place, specially I enjoyed that snow in the summer, in mountains near Soria. Back to my oars, I am in a sea and cant use my oars, How should I move on in my life? I got the same question in my mind, when I was new to Paris, I didn't know how to use maps. In India I was guided by random people in every street corners of my life. Then when I started being comfortable to navigate around people in Paris, I thought I have mastered the art of navigation in the 'western world'. Now in Cambridge, with a GPS mobile and a Sat Nav, I am still lost. Struggling to read the non-existing sign language of people, sometimes misuderstaning a cultural difference as a joke. Standing in vain to be led by someone around this beautiful country side, I felt Antonio Machado gave me an answer to the wanderer in me, to move on in my life!

Wanderer, your footsteps are
the road, and nothing more;
wanderer, there is no road,
the road is made by walking.
By walking one makes the road,
and upon glancing behind
one sees the path
that never will be trod again.

Paa the Movie!

I told you... bollywood is very famous here, yesterday bollywood movie Paa made headlines in Cambridge news. Part of this movie was shot in Cambridge, specially focusing on this grass hopper clock which is in the heart of Cambridge. I am very curious to see this movie but I hope it is not a remake of Brad Pitt's Benjamin Button, that movie made me sick . Also, I was shocked to read the quote of Dr.Taylor, who is making a replica of this clock, "The fearsome beast which drives the clock indicates that time is often our enemy, not our friend". But, time is always been my good friend, It is a very big healer, it shows me the meaning of all the tears I shed , it takes all the pains and shapes into practical wisdom. After losing all the badminton mixed double match, again time gives me hope that I will get better with time. I have only one complaint with that beast that drives the clock, it makes time too slow. I wish I can gather all the 27 years of experiance and turn 60 next week. Cambridge News.

Happiness and Love

I have this horrible habit of reading book just randomly, just opening a random page and start reading from there, mostly philosophy books. When I was reading one such book over the weekend I got to read this thought provoking and very comforting lines "Like love, Happiness is a journey not a destination". I grew up hearing, you have to do this and that to make the family happy and at the end of the day I made no one happy. But with friends this happiness is just there, we don't have to do this and that to be happy in a friendship. I guess the same is true for love, when we feel the love, we want to make it grow and we have a defined formula that we have to do this and that to make it grow, may be the bollywood type of expression is one such attempt to make this feeling grow? More over, we even define the success and failure of this feeling. How funny is that. Yesterday was nothing extraordinary happened, but felt that the day was filled with love and happiness. A love of a friend to his friend and his little attempt to stop him smoking. Love and Happiness are such little things and not in a big fairy tale. I also got to do a random read of my favourite philosopher, very close to what I was trying to write in this blog and this cartoon, if I say Live love and laugh as a key to happiness, many of my friends will accept with that chicken and add the fourth one :-)

What a thing is relationship, and how easily we fall into that habit of a particular relationship, things are taken for granted, the situation accepted and no variation tolerated; no movement towards uncertainty, even for a second, entertained. Everything is so well regulated, so made secure, so tied down, that there is no chance for any freshness, for a clear reviving breath of the spring. This and more is called relationship. If we closely observe, relationship is much more subtle, more swift than lightning, more vast than the earth, for relationship is life. Life is conflict. We want to make relationship crude, hard, and manageable. So it loses its fragrance, its beauty. All this arises because one does not love, and that of course is the greatest thing of all, for in it there has to be the complete abandonment of oneself.

--J Krishnamurti.

Bollywood ...

Just a sample of the bollywood I was talking about, such a big exaggeration of simple attraction :-) I am not sure if we want to make the simple things to look extraordinary or the feeling is extraordinary and we mess it up in search of right words! It happens only in bollywood and for some reason people like to see it this way! Surprised to see the growing popularity of bollywood outside India! You may say that the lyrics can be excused, as poetry is always a bit of an exaggeration... to add more spices, the second bit of the song in more westernize dress is happening in the rebirth! Same people get attracted at first sight in their rebirth.. In reality..How long an attraction can last?

living in 5th dimension

Ok! I was born in the country were bollywood movies are made. Sometimes I feel my life is as cheesy as a bollywood movie, a big melodrama . So last few days I tried to put this cheesy side away from me, watching my emotions in silence. This silence can be awkward sometimes, specially for my bollywood genes. Sometimes when two people meet and they exactly know what each other is thinking about, still spend that few minutes in awkward silence or have some random talk about how slow a slow ATM machine is or just keep searching for words between badmintion matches. So finally I invented this new game of imagining the 5th dimension to escape such awkward conditions. The game is just in a blink your eyes, imagine yourself having a deep breath and blow that out in your palm towards the awkward condition (same as a virtual flying kiss), you will see the awkward condition and your breath disappearing into ether in seconds. It is so much of fun. You feel like a magician disappearing the things, experiencing impermanence nature of the world in a flying kiss within few seconds, collasping the reality just by observing! Anyways! I am lucky to have friends who listen and appreciate the bollywood in me but for the rest..I have my magic virtual flying kisses.

sign languages..

Oh ! God ! I am so bad in reading sign languages, after spending 40 days of my life in silent meditation retreats I felt there are many feeling that can be conveyed without use of languages. But thanks to this puzzle (trying to read a of non-existing sign languages in pain), it got me closer to many lovely people and I was able to feel their love as they tried to put a smile back in my face!

The end of John..Keats!

After seeing the anti-climax in the two weekend movies, I am drained off all the strong emotions and just feeling the scary silence of my mind, no pain nor happiness, often I have to check if I am still alive. Luckily it is cold in UK and the chill air reminds me that my mind and body are still alive. In the end of the second movie as the man in the brown coat was walking away hand in hand with his girl with the red bag, in one of the beautiful streets of Cambridge as the christmas lights were about to go on, I wished the climax was different but still I was able to say, "they look great together", may be the climax I wished for....would not had such a perfect match?? Thus trying hard to deal with the tragic end of John...Keats stories which left me in this scary silence. As always my friends are giving me a helping hand. I had this very nice discussion about tai chi with a wonderful new angel I met in cambridge. She told me that the negative forces acting upon us can be turned into our favour just with right and very small movements of our body, I am sure that holds true for my mind too. Just with some slight postive tuning I can convert this scary silence into a very nice environement for my meditation practice.

The Girl with a red bag.

Today I spent my day in a(living a) very cheesy movie...Bollywood???.No may be.. more like a cheesy Hollywood movie, as it involves Christmas etc. Cambridge has this beautiful city centre, with a pedestrian area...no cars...old buildings and churches, gives the feel of a romantic era... Today was Cambridge Christmas light switch on ceremony. Cambridge was in a festive mood with lots of people, music, colours and lights. I was walking around this beautiful place with very pleasant friends, had good food served by a very cheerful Italian lady. I would have been in very high-spirits in such a festive season with nice people around but I think it was the memories from yesterday’s sad movie about Keats love story kept me in a low tone. It is a very strange to be very calm even when you are surrounded by stimulants for all the five senses. Just the minutes before the lights were about to go on, the man in a brown coat walks by. How on earth I was able to spot him in that Christmas crowd..That man in the brown coat..holding hands of a girl with a bling bling red bag! But I don’t want to finish this blog with “The End” as in movies....I like to finish it in a real cheesy way...Thus with the Christmas lights...lighting new hopes for a new beginning!

Long drive in the night!

Yesterday went on a long drive in the beautiful English countryside , crossing the prime meridian to meet friends in their new house. My friends who hosted me from the very first day in Cambridge and healed my post-phd depression in their woodend clinic with their lovely pets, cider and their love. They now moved to a beautiful village in the countryside ,Yesterday as I was driving through the fields, i came across fox (unfortunately without George Clooney's voice) . But the return journey almost close to midnight was bit scary,Without a single car on the dark and rainy road, trying to avoid the wild animals on the way, twice got scared by seeing my own car seats in the rear mirror :-( felt like I was playing a part in a scary movie! With that fresh adrenalin on the road to the new woodend clinic, now charged to face the whole new adventure at my work!

Illusionist!

Almost £200 pound vanished from my account this month...parking ticket...booking and cancelling tickets to a dream land....etc.. etc.. Just changed new battery in my car...More than money..wasted endery... and still wasting my energy in chasing an illusion...Today got into a big debate, Should I be selfish and drag the other people into my illusion..well! they have been part of my illusion... without being aware of it...will it be fair to let them know about my illusion? what's the point? Just seeing someone's name +1 in a doodle poll...can drain all my fully charged batteries???..What a big illusionist I am! Practising all the major religions once upon a time in my life ...helped me today to remember these favourite lines from Bhagavad Gita!

What of yours did you lose?
Why or for what are you crying?
What did you bring with you, for you to lose it?
What did you create, for it to be wasted or destroyed?
Whatever you took, it was taken from here.
Whatever you gave, it was given from here.
Whatever is yours today, will belong to someone else tomorrow.
On another day, it will belong to yet another.
This change is the law of the universe.

-Bhagavad Gita!

Living the moment!

Currently cat sitting a lovely cat! I love the way the cats are calm and composed most of the time :-)

Meditation!

Happy to kick start my meditation practice again. I wish it is as easy as this :-) pic from joy of tech!

More colours!

Celebrated Bonfire Night with fireworks at my work!

Colours in my campus!

Feels like I just woke from a long sleep, these trees were green just few weeks back. How did I fail to notice the changing colours in my campus, when did I last see the fishes in the Cam running through my campus. Well! Sports car watching is not as calm and relaxing as the fish watching. Colours of my campus, please take me back!

Soft Corner!

Sometimes it is very disturbing to think that I have just lived less than half of normal human life expectancy. Sometimes I feel I have seen all the good, bad and ugly of the world but as I travel to new places I meet many new angels and they put me through new experiences in life, help me to see the world outside my own mind. It is just my 6th month in Cambridge but I have meet more angels than ever. I don’t know what makes me follow these angle’s words so blindly, sometimes following their words have led me to dead-end or I like to call those dead-ends as “soft-corners”.

I have used this word “soft-corner” a million times in my life, never had a second thought about this word, and never wanted to check the meaning in the dictionary. I just wanted to believe that a corner of my heart/ mind with beautiful feelings is meant for the special people I meet in life. Outside my mind, in reality, in dictionary this soft-corner doesn’t exist, there is only a soft-spot. Now with this reality standing before me...mind is struggling to find a place for the special people and the fictional relationship my mind developed in that soft-corner. What can I do? my dear angel..why did you put me in this non-exisiting 'soft-corner', till I find my answer, I can just tell myself these lines from my favourite movie Memento! or ..maybe..this is my answer..

"I have to believe in a world outside my own mind.
I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world is still there.
Do I believe the world is still there? Is it still out there? Yeah!
We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I’m no different.
Now, where was I?"

-Memento

Adventure cont.

My driving adventures still continues, with this small crash in my friends apartment empty parking space where there was place to park at least 20 cars, I still manage to reverse into the garden walls. And when it comes to parallel parking...manage to do it sometimes ..sometimes with the postman help. Yesterday was the worst, when the parellel parking turned into a perpendicular parking. I don't know how on earth manged to get my front two wheels on the foot path and ended up in the perpendicular position...Anyways ..nothing else to complain ... life is exciting with lots of smooth and scenic roads ..

My first long drive!

Just after 6 driving classes, I dont know what gave me confidence to go for this 310 kms long drive. High ways, narrow beach roads, 2 fatal mistakes ! but I survived! In spite of these stressful incidents, enjoyed the norfolk coast with friends!

Enjoying the summer

GeoTagged, [N52.07928, W0.15746]

In new house, yet to have Internet. Will update all the wonderful things in new house and life in Cambridge soon . Until then a quick update from iPhone, we have this wonderful apple orchard at work...so...when we need a snack,we just pluck one from tree. Eating garden fresh fruits is...heaven!

Healing in woodend!

After having some tough time and been cheated by money minded Joanne Tipping, my old landlady in Bishop's road, moved back to woodend cottages...now in the middle of woods with nice friends and these lovely rats, will be totally healed before moving into my new victorian terrace house in August. The bitter lesson learnt from this landady is, always sign a legal contract before making any money dealing...Some one not fair to law cannot be fair with you... But after paying price for the greed of one landlady, I also got to discover how many nice friends are there with me here Cambridge..

Instincts

Today was a very nice day, got to see some raw human instincts, got to see the innocence and the power of mankind. First the innocence, I have come across many different love stories in my life. The sweetest are the one when people fall in love, following their instincts without giving many thoughts to it. As we grow up we start looking for logics and reasons behind love which makes it less interesting, no wonder people always cherish their first love. After a very long time today I got to hear one such crazy and sweet love story...Now the power, the Concorde. Since the Wright brothers made the first fly in 1905, the animal (bird) instinct in us urged us to fly and to cross the Atlantic in less than 2 hours, today I got to see that powerful machine.

Punting

Had a department outing..two institues(sanger & EBI)..one project(Ensembl)..one outing (punting in cam)..13 punts... Thanks for the photos Michael!

Berry picking

I have enjoyed black current in ice creams and in french kir, thanks to julian got to see and pick them today.

Colors in the sky

As I was crossing the road confused to see too many colours! There was suppose to be only Red and Green! This is UK, sunny morning and a rainy evening..confused sky turned on its colours. I wish my confusions in my mind(about my home) can add some colour to my life.

Wordsworth

Badminton..then little cricket practice..walk through the cambridge's historic colleges, the colleges of India's first and the current Prime Ministers...thanks to my friend Lucy, I got to hear many inside story and a look into wordsworth's hostel room...iphone with a new display (yes It stopped working last week)...feeling much better (Yes.I had a bad friday)..I will have a home soon..(Yes! I like to have a new home)

Still flying!

Some adventures for the day, during the lunch break watched colleagues flying this remote controlled baby plane. It was completely designed and hand made by them and can fly up to 4 kms it seems. So, my next hobby is to make one, we were planning to open a small flying club to learn to fly this plane first using stimulation software (we can’t afford to crash this plane made with foam) . Running behind these plane in the football ground got a thorn in my feet, how many times I have done that in my childhood days, I wish my mom is here to take that out.

First adventure!

Last 3 months, I am bored of writing about how great things are going here in Cambridge! So, here comes some changes.. Just today for the first time, I felt some mild forces were against me! Where should I start..Well! Today was my badminton day..I played from evening 4:50 to 8:15, after causing some mild injury to the opponent with my shuttle..took the 8:30 bus back home, but a grumpy driver refused to stop in my stop...so got down almost 4 miles after my home and was trying to get the city bus. Well! This is Cambridge...there is only one bus every hour, I was “lucky” enough to have one in 10 min, I saw my bus approaching and put my hands in my purse to get money and realized that I had only 10 penny in my purse...so have to miss that bus, went in search of ATM..Taxi...Normally it takes 15 min to reach home from work..On a very bad day it can take 2 hours, I reached home at 10: 40. Well! In spite of all the adventure, I was able to update my status live in facebook an got support from friends who were miles away... one of my roommate offered to pick me up if I get into such adventure next time! iPhone is fun!

Too hot!

GeoTagged, [N52.07926, W0.15749] Wow it is 30 degree here today. Too hot to even sit in the lawn during the coffee break. Need some rain now. I was waiting for summer to bike to work. Now sun is making it impossible. 60 min biking in 30 degree, I may melt. Beautiful cafeteria lawn.

Posted from iPhone .

First rain!

GeoTagged, [N52.16843, W0.11547] First time in the last 3 months in UK, I used my umberlla. So far me and rain had a good timing, only either on of us out at a time. Yesterday in a nice warm evening there was a heavy down pour which reminded me lot of Indian monsoon. Specially walking in a muddy road, trying to avoid water filled pit, parts of your leg and hands wet still not cold... Exacly like a pleasent down pour in India so when I decided to move to UK, few friends in France were not too happy about it, one of the reason they gave was "bad weather" they were worrried that I may find it difficult to survive the UK rain. So, I was talking to my dad about my friends concern about " bad weather". As an engineer who worked in river management, trying to make channels for the farmers, he didnt agree with my friends in calling UK weather a "bad one". According to him rain can be one of the best thing that can happen to keep the farmers happy in India. As my dad's daughter I can't agree more with him. He knew some orthodox farmers who perform special prayers and rituals to have rain, so according to him UK is a bless country...again I have to agree with him...Rain..that feed the crops that are waiting to feed us, making my cambridge green. After all the soothing green is one of new colour added to my life recently, which took me out of my Phd depression. Well! I didnt enjoy rain in Paris as much I do and did in UK and India, may be in Paris ...rain in a concrete jungle..all rain and no green.

Fishes..

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It's lunch hour walk around the campus. Today stopped over the bridge across Cam that runs in the campus, was amazed to see the school of fishes under the bridge swimming against the current . Why do they do that? May be that is what keeps them grounded to a location with minimum effort. They are sort of in harmony with their surrounding in spite of not swimming with the current? Last few weeks I feel this sort of a strange harmony in life.

Posted from iPhone .

Beautiful sunny day!

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Working from the beautiful garden, wondering how kind the nature and the whole universe is. Just trying to recall when was someone mean to me last time... Not even once after moved to UK..(except one phone call). Today for the first time feel like accepted by everyone around me. Thanks to the nice people who touched my life. Life is beautiful as much as the pond side garden, from where I am writing this!

,

From iPhone .

First Cricket

Played my first cricket match, it is the first time playing with the full cricket costume in a real ground, in the home ground of Jack Hobbs(parkers piece). I played a friendly match for NCI (one of cambridge cricket club) vs.Ramsey(a village close to cambridge). It was great, the feeling we get as I watched 1000s of match is totally different from the one when you are actually in the field, the intense , need to concentrate for every single ball when you are in the field, running between the wickets, it is not as relaxing as it looks like. Great team sport with tea breaks...its just my type of game. I scored 5 for not out but I gave off all the runs in one over I bowled (well that was equivalent to two with all the extra balls that I gave). The more terrible thing I did was to run my partner out, yes! one of the very good player in my team got run out because of my wrong call! Need to do some serious practice. In spite of all the stupid mistakes I did, we won by 25 runs!

What do I do? and Where?

This is all about my new town, new job and new work place! He is my neighbouring team's boss! Its all about my beautiful campus , work and people....and the Mac part...hmmm! Please ignore! 0

Elderflower picking

Posted from iPhone.

Jam day!

With friends picked flowers in the cam river bank, made 15 kgs of jam and 10 liters of elderflower cordial and 20 liters of elderflower champagne. Now we are going to team up to watch India vs. England cricket.

Relaxing saturday!

Sunny day..Barbecue..Birthday cakes..lots of bubbles...cricket..good time with friends!

Sun dry!

Feels so good to sun dry my cloths after 4 year! Feels as good as a green plant that can use the sun and feed the whole world! Thank you sun! What will we do without you!

Posted from iPhone!

On cloud nine!

I was on cloud nine yesterday, Just discovered yesterday...I enjoy air to water..! Still scared of diving but not flying!

Happy birthday!

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First entry from my iPhone. Just started celebrating Michael's birthday at work! No! No! we didn't celebrate the birthday in the motor way, the geo tag is bit crazy, actually showing few miles away from the actual location!

Why Me?

Why Me? I am asking myself this question for last few weeks, since I took this new job! Things around me seem to be like a fairy land which looks too good to be true! Why am I pampered so much? It was lovely day, went for a walk during the lunch break with my colleagues, some random photos of my work place. A work placed bathed in green..with bunnies playing around ...I am loving my new work and the campus!

Nice changes..

Among the nice changes happening in my life, one of my favourite is my new kitchen and dining! Now, I enjoy cooking more than ever! Before.... After....

As day goes..

As days go by…enjoying the sports..... badminton in this beautiful court at work ...

and evening biking in the beautiful Cambridge!...

Already in a very nice routine...Am I really less than 2 months old in this town?

Give teddy a bath

Bank holiday, its cleaning and give teddy a bath day! I wish I can finish these cleaning soon and do some cambridge discovery in my new old bike!

Richmond sur Thames

Long weekend..did some deer watching in Richmond sur Thames!

Beautiful to see such a peaceful co-existance inside the city London!

astro cont.

Allergic to fishes.

If one day, I decide to write an autobiography, you may find this statement, "There were lots of Pisceans came and went in my life". Few days back with a glass of strong English cider I was discussing understandings and misunderstandings of my life , with one of my good old friend in Cambridge. As we were discussing recent conflicts in life that I faced during my Paris exit, we discovered that all the conflict I had in Paris were with Pisceans, and this friend in Cambridge also happened to be one. After a pint of cider, you tend to look for logic of life in more irrational places like the astrology match site.

This is what we got, “This can be a tough match, if only because Sagittarius are so direct, and Pisces are so diplomatic in the way they approach communication. Your Sagittarius can come across uncaring, too blunt, and even deliberately hurtful. When confronted with these feelings, Sagittarius may respond by saying, "Well, you asked, didn't you?" Arguments go around and around on this topic between Pisces and Sagittarius and can eventually kill the relationship.

Pisces with Sagittarius is not an easy. Your most obvious difference is that Pisces are sentimental romantics who wear their hearts on their sleeves. Pisces will not respond well to your brutal honesty. Pisces wouldn't dream of being as direct with you -- or anyone else -- and they are careful to surround their negative comments with positive ones to soften them. You feel that this is too much work. Pisces might respond by saying you ought to be more caring. One rule: It's absolutely critical to take your Pisces' feelings seriously. Sagittarius can too often make the mistake of dismissing them.”

Well! Most of the things happened to be true, especially “Pisces wouldn't dream of being as direct with you”.... During my Paris exist days, I was having Japanese dinner with two Pisceans who happen to know that I am allergic to fishes and saw me ordering miso soup during our few visits to Japanese restaurants, If it was one my Sagittarian friend He/She might have said on my face, “Stupid! Girl, why are you ordering miso soup when you were allergic to fishes”, and I would have replied “Shut up! I know!”, but in this case it was Pisceans, so they created a mini 10 minute drama just to convey this statement to me, the first fish asked the second one, what is miso soup? Where it comes from? And how it is made? So indirectly trying to make me realize that it is made of fish. I felt like screaming at the top of my voice, “ I am allergic to fishes, but I love miso soups! Do you have any problems with that Fish? “

Just like this love for Miso soup and allergy(hate) for Fishes in my life, many people I adore and respect in my life are Pisceans too, like my ex-boss, a friend from college, my first friend in Paris and infact this Cambridge friend..

Moral of the story, just use astrology for timepass, not to make decisions in life!

Parker's Piece

As we were walking to the beer festival yesterday, we crossed this beautiful huge park called Parker's Piece, just in the heart of Cambridge. Every time when I crossed this park, I was overwhelmed to see boys playing cricket. This is a very common to see in India, but for the first time seeing it outside India makes me feel very nostalgic. Michael, a new member of my team also one of the reason for breaking the silence at work, told me that this very same Parker's Piece is the birth place football it seems. If it is hard to believe ...Here is the link..Thanks for the link Michael. The trees in the background also signifies something but we are yet to discover that.. Talking about sports, I restarted my badminton in Cambridge, I was so excited to find a nice court and good team to play just in my company campus.

Beer ..now you're talking

Days are running so fast, it is already a month in Cambridge. I feel I am completely soaked up by the greens of Cambridge. I always wished to see the beautiful historical buildings of Paris without cars, now I can do that in Cambridge, the historic city centre is a pedestrian area, as you walk in the centre of the city you feel you are transported in time, just as in few “quartier piétons” of Paris. One major difference from Paris is my work environment, after working with molecular biologist, for the first time working with a full team of bioinformaticans. Oh! God! They were so silent. First few days we hardly spoke 10 or 20 words per day. Later they started opening up with glasses of Beer. Yesterday had a small outing after work to the 36th Beer festival. So, Beer is the socializing tonic for the English as the wine for French.