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My Research Abroad Experience

So for the past 10 weeks I have been in Paris working on artificial intelligence research at Universitie Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC). As I wrap up my work for the trip and prepare to come back to the States, I wanted to write about the research part of the trip as opposed to the previous posts I have done that have focused on spending time in the city.

I have worked for the past year with Dr. Judy Goldsmith in UK's computer science department. When I expressed interest in going abroad this summer, she arranged for me to come to Paris and work with one of her friends on research that was very similar to the on going project I had. Her friend, Dr. Patrice Perny, was also very helpful in finding out what kind of visa I would need and arranging some funding. Dr. Jinze Liu in the CS department was also very helpful with getting financial support. So with the exception of almost falling into a housing scam, getting to and settling in Paris went very smoothly.

For a brief overview of the project: At UK I have been working on planning problems involving uncertainty. An example of a planning problem is a GPS car navigation system. The computer must plan a route from one destination to another while trying to minimize the travel time. Now if when a car reached an intersection you could count on it taking the planned direction 90 % of the time and 10 % of the time it takes another direction (possibly there is a wreck or bad traffic in the planned direction), you now have a planning problem with uncertainty. The solution to such a problem must plan for ending up in a situation that is not part of the best plan. The research in France has focused on these problems but with the twist of trying to find a plan that optimizes multiple criteria. For example, planning for retirement involves trying to maximize how much you will have when you retire but at the same time you would want to maximize how well you can live before then.

The approach to research in my field is very similar in Paris to how it is done at UK. It involves math and programming and drawing problems out so as to think of them visually. The biggest difference I noticed was in the details of the research. The professors I was working with were very good at going through the details of how things were working. When there was a new approach to try I could get it ready to test very quickly. This would often result in errors that would cause delays later. On the other hand, the French professors would often know if something was correct before testing. As the summer went on I begin to learn to think through my work more which would end up saving time in the future.

This will have been my second summer primarily working on research and I can't say enough about how much you can learn when you have an open problem and two months to try to figure it out. To any UK undergraduates involved in research I strongly recommend spending a summer on a project. Without the worry of classes, you can really focus and learn so much.

And finally I would have to say that not only should all students study abroad but that all students should have the opportunity to immerse themselves in another culture. I learned so much from the research this summer but I've learned even more from just getting out and trying to blend in. I have met few people here who don't speak English but it's a lot more fun to try to speak French and deal with the little mistakes that you will inevitably make. Being outside of my comfort zone for the summer as resulted in as much learning as my research did.

Versailles

When I was taking French classes in middle school the go-to video for when we had a substitute teacher was a documentary on the Chateau at Versailles. Seeing the same documentary five times a year did not make me want to go to Versailles anymore then I already did. Fortunately it did not dull my interest so six weeks into my stay in Paris I decided to check it out myself. Versailles (Vear-Sie) is about as close to Paris as Versailles (Ver-Sales) is to Lexington. I was accompanied on my excursion by a group of students from Chicago who were visiting Paris. The other students had museum passes that let them avoid the long line to buy tickets but since I did not I rode along with a friend of the students' teacher who drove ahead early to get her ticket.

As Versailles is very big (and incredibly takes up only a small percentage of the entire estate) it would be impossible to describe everything. The most striking feature is how ornate everything is. And I mean everything. Every wall, ceiling, fireplace, statue, whatever. If it was in the palace it looked as if an artist had spent months on it. It is easy to see why the French people rebelled against this type of extravagance using tax money.

Another very apparent aspect of Versailles is how perfect everything is. This is especially true in the gardens where everything is laid out in a very orderly way. From the upper palace windows one can see the perfect designs that the paths, trees, flowers, and fountains form. In one of the first rooms you enter as you go through the palace there is a miniature model of Versailles. Looking out the windows in the palace the gardens actually look very much like a large scale version of this model.

I found the palace historically and artistically interesting. But the overall experience at Versailles was a bit exhausting. Many of the rooms are crowded and it is very hard to stop for long and look at anything. There is a constant flow of people walking a little then taking pictures and then continuing. This makes it hard both to stop and to walk as you have to watch out for people stopping right in front of you.

The gardens on the other side are peaceful and quiet. I could have spent all day there especially if I had brought a pic-nic. They sell orange juice in the garden made from oranges grown on the estate. It was the most delicious orange juice I have ever had.

Overall, Versailles is definitely worth seeing. It is pretty incredible once you are there. But if you plan a visit it might be worth investigating the best times to go when it would be less crowded.

A Weekend in Collex (Geneva)

After four weeks in Paris, I left the city for the first time to spend the weekend just outside of Geneva, Switzerland. I was going to be visiting my girlfriend's father who works for Lexmark there. As I took the train away from Paris I began to see what had become an unfamiliar sight - nature that had not been completely shaped by human hands. It's not that Paris has no grass or trees but when you see green it is usually in a park that has been manicured to perfection. The three hour train ride gave me my view of France outside of Paris. The land itself very well could have been from within the United States. It was only the interruptions of farmhouses and other man made structures that confirmed the landscapes French identity.

The small village I stayed in was called Collex. A few minutes outside of Geneva, it is minutes from the French border and lies in the same valley as Geneva. This valley has the Alps on the Swiss side and the Jura mountains on the French side. If I had to decide on one single most impressive sight of the weekend it would be those mountains. Maybe this was because I had spent the past four weeks in a city. Or because I just have never been any where close to mountains like the Alps. Whatever the reason, the mountains never lost the staggering effect on me everytime I looked up at them.

That Saturday I was able to go hiking in the alps. Even though it was almost summer, large snow drifts could be seen at the base of the cliffs that surrounded the valley I was hiking through. Its hard to imagine seeing so many beautiful waterfalls that you could become desensitized to them but that happened on this hike. All across the mountains the melting snow was creating cascades of clear water that fed stream that ran through the valley. The valley was nothing like anything I had ever seen before (most of my hiking experience comes from the Smoky mountains around Gatlinburg).

The village of Collex itself is a small, quiet rural area. Within the town you can not find a stop light and from the apartment I was staying you could walk anywhere quickly. Places you might walk include the post-office, local bison restaurant, and France. The village is right on the border and I was able to stand in two countries at the same time during a walk. Speaking of the bison restaurant, the village also has a herd of bison (American Buffalo) which provide for a restaurant where most every item on the menu includes bison meat.

On the subject of food, I'm going to need to write another post to talk about all the different things I have tried in France and Switzerland. This past weekend and the following Monday included raw bison, beef tartare, and escargot to name a few.

The city of Geneva itself is very French but different than Paris. There is much more green and is of course the large lake featuring the Jette d'Eau (Water jet) which is the most well known landmark in Geneva. Overall I thought it was nice balance of nature, parks, and Paris-like cafes, restaurants, and shopping.

That was my first experience of Geneva. I am looking forward to hopefully returning in July for another visit.

French Volleyball

 

At the university where I'm doing my summer research Tuesdays mean volleyball. Around lunch time on my first Tuesday there I was invited to play volleyball at the campus gym. I accepted, anticipating a casual relaxed game. The type of game where no one was really that good but if you relaxed the rules to allow more kinds of hits then it could still be competitive and fun. This is NOT how volleyball is played at this university. The first red flag that this wasn't what I was used to should have been when I was asked if I was any good. Assuming a relaxed game I said yes I was ok since if nothing else I am in shape and coordinated. That is enough to make you a solid player in spring break beach volleyball or fraternity intramurals so I thought I would be fine here.
 
When we (Dr. Paul Weng, the professor I'm working with and myself) got to the gym we jogged a few laps and then began hitting a volleyball back and forth. So far so good. Just warming up a bit before the game began. Then a lady (who was obviously a coach) shouted out some things in French. Everyone stopped hitting to listen. "Now we are going to do drills," Dr. Weng said as the coach selected a couple of players to demonstrate. Drills? Maybe this isn't the casual game I thought I was going to be playing. I got the idea of the drill from watching the demonstration and joined up with a group to go through it. It quickly became apparent that everyone in the gym (about 40 people both faculty and students) was very good at volleyball. Everyone could serve, set, and knew exactly where to be when they needed to be there.
 
Much humbled by the level of talent around me I spent the rest of the two hours focusing on just not looking too bad and listening to what I was told. This turned out to be a good strategy as I learned quite a bit and had a very good time. 
 
Another big difference between the sports at the university and back home was the level of conversation during the game. With friends in America, trash talking the other team and yelling when you spiked or blocked were just part of the game. Here, all communication was for the benefit of the team working together and when the point ended the ball was just passed back and served again. (Once I began to understand more of the conversation I realized there was a bit more trash talk than I realized at first.)
 
This was my first experience interacting with French students and seeing the differences between how sports I'm used to are played vs. how the French play.

Being a Tourist (Day 2)

The day that is Memorial day in the United States is also a holiday in France. So instead of going to work today I once again set out to see more of Paris. The goal for today: L'Arc de Triomphe, Les Champs-Elysees, and Place de la Concorde. L'Arc de Triomphe was my number one must-see for my time in Paris.

So a metro-ride-across-Paris later and I was at Charles de Gaul-Etiolle metro station, walking up to street level where the arch is. As I ascended I looked to my right and the arch came into view. First impression was very much dissapointment. While very tall, the arch was not nearly as wide and I thought it looked in pictures. This gave it a misproportionate look and made it seem much less grand. As I reached ground level though I realized I was on the side of the arch and not looking at it straight on. Then I remembered from pictures that the arch is actually 4 arches supporting a platform. Together they look like one big arch. Second impression: wow!

To reach the arch you cannot simply cross the street. The arch is surrounded by a giant traffic circle. I could not see any visible lane lines in a circle that should have had at least five lanes. Somehow the Parisian drivers navigated this circle without any obvious set of rules of navigation. It was however too wide to get across on foot, especially when you had no idea where cars would be coming from. So I took a tunnel to the traffic island where the arch stands.

Up close the most impressive aspect of the arch is not its size but how ornate it is. It is covered in statues, engraved names, and other decoration. On the ground underneath the arch are several plaques and the everlasting flame on the tomb of the unknown soldier (The flame was put out once - by a drunk football fan after France beat Brazil). A message from General Charles De Gaulle is on a large plaque among the others. The message sounded very grand as I read it in my rough French. Looking up the complete translation later it sounded much less impressive.

The walk to the top of the arch is not very strenuous despite the long climb. The view from the top is breath taking. You can see many of the major monuments (the one you can't see in the view you can see by looking down) and right down the Champs Elysees. You also get a good idea of how the city is not as flat as it seems when your out walking around. There is much less green in the city. Looking out over Lexington from Patterson office tower it almost looks like a forest with buildings occasionally popping up. In Paris it is all buildings. Many of the buildings in Paris look very similar so it gives the surrounding view some uniformity.

L'Arc de Triomphe did not dissapoint in any way.

I did not find Champs Elysees that interesting. I'm not very much into shopping so I just walked down it until I came to a park where I stopped and read for a couple hours. As clouds began to roll in I completed my journey at the giant obelisk found at Place de la Concorde. The most interesting place about this square to me is the history. It is where the French monarchy (and thousands of others) met a bloody end by the blade of the guillotine. The violent nature of its past is lost in the bustle of tourist.

Being a Tourist (Day 1)

Since Paris is my home for the next two months I am trying hard to be more Parisien than tourist. However, I am in Paris. It would be foolish to not go see the sights. So with that in mind I set out this weekend to be a tourist. First thing on Saturday I took the metro to a crepe café near the Eiffel tower. The previous weekend I had met up with friends in the UK honors program on the honors trip to Europe and we went there. Since I planned on starting my day at the Eiffel Tower I decided to return. The owner and his wife are very friendly. They speak a little English although their accents sometimes make it hard to understand. The food was delicious (as all the food has been in Paris) and an American was also in the café so I had some English conversation while I ate. 

Following my meal I walked to the Eiffel tower and lay on the grass for a couple hours: reading, taking some pictures, and enjoying the sun. One of the more pleasant things about the Eiffel Tower area is the smorgasbord of different people there. You hear French, German, Italien, Chinese, and English (both American and United Kingdom English). There are older couples, families, teenagers, small children, and those in middle age. One man was playing a mideval role playing game with his children, running around with a sword. A group of French college aged kids of both genders played a small game of rugby near where I lay.

After the Eiffel Tower (Tour d'Eiffel en Francais) I begin to make my way on foot towards Notre Dame. I chose to not take the metro because I wanted to see Les Invalides on the way. Les Invalides was housing ( built for crippled or retired soldiers during the monarchy. Currently it is a military museum. The complex is huge and looks more like a palace or fortress. Its most striking feature is a golden dome. On a sunny day it is incredible how bright the dome gets. The gardens and grass are kept at perfection. There appeared to be one guard whose sole purpose was to blow a whistle if anyone went near a 10' x 60' patch of grass. On another side of the complex, massive cannons point out over a walled trench that surrounds the complex. I am sure the old soldiers staying at les Invalides felt very safe. I did not see much of the inside because it required a ticket and I wasn't sure I wanted to go in. I may return in the next couple of months and see more.

I navigated the streets and alleys of Paris and finally arrived at Notre Dame. The cathedral has been the place I have visited most since being in Paris but I had yet to go inside. While I decided to save the tower for another day (I had walked about 5 miles at this point and probably had 2 more left to get home and the mideval architects had neglected to add elevators to Notre Dame) I went inside for the first time today. Notre Dame is a big cathedral. That is an understatement. But still when you go inside, the size of the interior is breath taking. How did they fit this into the building you had been looking at outside. Massive pillars and walls of arches support the ceiling which is as untouchable as the sky. I tried to take pictures to capture my experience but when I reviewed them later I knew they did not do it justice. Candles burned along the sides of the interior. Intricately decorated chapels and confessionals lined the right side. Renaissance artwork (I assumed. I don't know enough to be certain) lined the left side. One could get candles to leave burning for loved ones. They were free but a box next to them said, "2 Euro offering for candle." On the sides of the cathedral near the altar but high on the walls were the largest stain glass windows I'd ever seen. A similar theme of all the sights in Paris ran here. That theme is, "Wow this is a lot bigger than pictures make it out!" Before I left I spent some time to sit in the chairs facing the altar. Resting my head back I stared up at the massive ceiling. I thought this would have been what a Renaissance Parisien would have seen if he fell asleep in church and woke up leaning back. Being surround by the opulence of the late middle ages Catholic church I couldn't help but think if the first Christians in the first century could have ever imagined a building like this.

With my feet close to falling off I walked to the university I'm working at and then home. Fortunately, I chose to wear running shoes instead of Sperry's so my feet were not screaming as much as they had my first couple of days here. I'll have another post soon about my latest excursion to L'Arc de Triomphe and La Place de la Concorde.

Impressions de Paris

 

This summer I will be working on computer science research at a university in Paris, France. For me this will be my first time out of the country. While I have had French class in the past I am far from fluent. As most everything was new to me, the first couple of days have been a whirl wind of new experiences. I have been trying to jot them down before jet lag overtakes me. Here are some of them.
 
French drivers are better than American drivers. At least it seems this way with cars zipping down very narrow Parisien alleys. It surprises me that I have not seen a wreck or at least a lot of broken off side mirrors.
 
There is food everywhere! 
 
Everything is bigger than I expected. Having taken French class for several years in high school I had seen many pictures of Paris. They truly do no justice to the size of bridges, churches, and palaces. The Eiffel tower is simply enormous.
 
You should not trust your sense of direction after only a day in Paris. This results in getting lost and finding yourself at the Eiffel Tower which is not even close to your hotel.
 
Getting lost is not that bad. You see so many things you might not have seen otherwise. And when you want to become unlost you simply find one of the city maps found at bus stops. After only a few days I already feel much more familiar with Paris.
 
Which leads into the next experience: walking. My feet have never been so tired. And yet I have preferred walking to the metro because there is so much cool stuff to see.
 
And after doing a lot of walking, I do not think I have seen a more inviting place to sit then the grass around the Eiffel Tower. Better than any carpet.
 
That is all for now. I can hardly wait to experience more of the city once I overcome the 6 hour time change.
 
(This was written a few days ago but not posted until today. Actually arrived in Paris 7 am on Friday)