The week following my Houston trip, I left Delaware on a Saturday to go back to France. I had a small thing to finish there: convince my advisor and four or five other people that I deserved to be called "doctor." I arrived on Sunday around 1pm, and of course I was not really in any talkative frame of mind (I usually don't have trouble sleeping in the plane, but for once...). I managed to stay awake long enough, until 7pm, and finally crumbled into my bed. Good thing. I needed the sleep. And there was a lot of work to do.
Thursday
I am off to meet with the caterer with my mum to get the food. I still can't believe how much time it took. I'm late I'm late I'm late. I was also supposed to give a printed version of my dissertation to the university's administration -- which I did, but apparently I did not put the right name of school/department (they changed its name between the beginning and the ending of my studies...). I need to print it again, and I hurry to the printer's services to get ten copies or so to distribute to whoever may want to have one on Friday. The dissertation is still full of mistakes, but well. No time.
So. No time at all to make slides during the day. I fix them the evening. I send them to JC who gives me his comments via Internet (thanks Mr Net, thanks JC). And here I am fixing the slides once again. Then I rehearse alone, in the living room. My father got up a few times during the night, 'cause there was a lunatic talking alone in the house about high-performance computing. Anyway. First try: too long. I lasted 60 minutes where I should last only 45. Second rehearsal, after some new modifications to my presentation. I go to bed around 4am. I got the luxury of three hours of sleep.
Then finally, I talk for about 45 minutes. I get questions for about 30 more minutes. The committee leaves to decide about my academic fate (and tell each other how their holidays went, I'm pretty sure !). Meanwhile my parents and friends prepare the buffet, so that the committee will feel really guilty if they don't give me my fucking certificate that says I am a PhD. I was starting to starve (not really in fact, I was far too stressed).
After the defense, we pack everything up, we clean, I bid goodbye (or see ya for others, rather) to my friends, and go with one of them to go back to Paris and... I stay comatose at his place with his girlfriend for a few hours. Then it is time to celebrate my new title with him and my other friends, including those who could not attend my defense. And also celebrate my friend E.'s birthday (no, not the same E. as before. Keep up with events, please !).
So, to answer immediately to some questions I've been asked: no, I did not defend on purpose on week 42, and no, I did not defend on purpose the same day my best friend E. had his birthday (yes, this time, it is the same E., sheeeesh).
Monday
Quick visit to the caterer, Mr Carrefour-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines ("Carrefour" is more or less the equivalent of WalMart in France; St Quentin en Yvelines is where this specific Carrefour is located). Quick trip to the university there to say hello, and see who does what, who's new, how things are, etc.Tuesday
I had promised myself to make my slides for Friday's defense... Too tired, I get up really late. Then, thanks to the strikes, I arrive rather late at the university, and in the end, I don't achieve much. In fact I talked much more (with some former colleagues) than I worked. Ooopsie. Hence I postpone my defense rehearsal, that some colleagues had agree to attend to, early for the next morning. 'Cause I have almost no material to work with, y'see? Then in the evening, I know that I will definitely not be done by Wednesday morning, so I postpone to the late morning (yes, at that point, I still believe I can make it), mainly because of the strikes that are still around [1].Wednesday
I am definitely NOT ready to rehearse in the morning. I continue to make my slides. Finally, around the end of the afternoon, I have enough material to show it to somebody. I perform (yes, perform) in front of E., E. (not the same E.), and JC (yeah, JC, you stand out...). I get an awful lot of comments (lots and lots of things to modify for the next day...).Thursday
I am off to meet with the caterer with my mum to get the food. I still can't believe how much time it took. I'm late I'm late I'm late. I was also supposed to give a printed version of my dissertation to the university's administration -- which I did, but apparently I did not put the right name of school/department (they changed its name between the beginning and the ending of my studies...). I need to print it again, and I hurry to the printer's services to get ten copies or so to distribute to whoever may want to have one on Friday. The dissertation is still full of mistakes, but well. No time.
So. No time at all to make slides during the day. I fix them the evening. I send them to JC who gives me his comments via Internet (thanks Mr Net, thanks JC). And here I am fixing the slides once again. Then I rehearse alone, in the living room. My father got up a few times during the night, 'cause there was a lunatic talking alone in the house about high-performance computing. Anyway. First try: too long. I lasted 60 minutes where I should last only 45. Second rehearsal, after some new modifications to my presentation. I go to bed around 4am. I got the luxury of three hours of sleep.
Friday
It is 6:45am, and I am TIRED. We go to the university by car with my parents. We arrive about 2 hours before the defense. Around 11:45am, it is time to try to connect with one of the committee members who attends through Skype. I had tested my system a few weeks ago, fixed any microphone problem, etc... And it had worked ! I swear it had. Not anymore. I try to fix the problem. Still nothing. Eventually, a colleague lends me his laptop... under Windows. Yes, I know, and I [censored] you. The defense begins a bit later than planned (not because of my technical problems, rather because of a train which had problems to arrive. Yes, the strikes, once again. But hey, it was for a noble cause).Then finally, I talk for about 45 minutes. I get questions for about 30 more minutes. The committee leaves to decide about my academic fate (and tell each other how their holidays went, I'm pretty sure !). Meanwhile my parents and friends prepare the buffet, so that the committee will feel really guilty if they don't give me my fucking certificate that says I am a PhD. I was starting to starve (not really in fact, I was far too stressed).
After the defense, we pack everything up, we clean, I bid goodbye (or see ya for others, rather) to my friends, and go with one of them to go back to Paris and... I stay comatose at his place with his girlfriend for a few hours. Then it is time to celebrate my new title with him and my other friends, including those who could not attend my defense. And also celebrate my friend E.'s birthday (no, not the same E. as before. Keep up with events, please !).
So, to answer immediately to some questions I've been asked: no, I did not defend on purpose on week 42, and no, I did not defend on purpose the same day my best friend E. had his birthday (yes, this time, it is the same E., sheeeesh).
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