Couch surfed at a stranger's house! and it went well. And it was comfortable.
Organized and led 3 algorithms lectures, one of which was in-person.
It would be 4, but my flight overlapped on that day, and I needed time to settle in.
Went over Dijkstra's algorithm, and it's common implementation versus how it's traditionally taught with the decrease_key operation in a priority queue. I still need to edit that video.
Went to an Emacs SF meetup, and suprisingly, met someone and got their number without realizing I had been admiring their work in the Emacs community for many years!
I wish I had more in common to start a fire or was staying longer to match on more interests.
Submitted a packet for the Onion fellowship and I know I won't get selected. I got good feedback from a friend who said to keep things shorter who probably will get selected, and I'll keep that in mind. I'm glad I tried this writing exercise.
Came (a bit begrudgingly) to France, purely for cost of living savings. Not to have fun. Not to see the Olympics.
It turns out my worries about needing proof of subsistence weren't necessary. A US Passport gives you the benefit of the doubt in so many ways. I didn't need to produce any documentation about my stay. I don't even have a return flight.
Schwab was down and I couldn't move any money from the bungled Crowdstrike deploy (who shipped to 100% of users without doing canary deploys or testing? What a company.). I was worried about being denied entry due to lack of funds in my bank account.
Second Place at an AI and Security themed hackathon
And I left before any winning was announced because I had to meet with a person I was couch surfing with.
Networked with people at the hackathon
But I need to go deeper! I need to help them outside of the hackathon.
A couple people told me I should write on medium.
I also didn't capitalize and really meet with as many people as I'd like, but also my team needed me. The hackathon was chaos.
Helped someone, ever-so-slightly, understand just a bit more about lisp macros. When they asked, I had pretty bad diarrhea at a public library when the only stall was occupied.
Took the TGV down to southern France. It's still really busy here though, lots of people here for the Olympic games.
Survived some kind of diarrhea that plagued me for days.
Not dying; not being sicker; not getting anyone else sick.
<2024-08-10 Sat> Updates to this month:
Wrote ob-libre-translate, my first emacs package that I wrote on the 31st, after this article. It's a small one, and I had a template from ob-translate, but still; yay. I tried writing an article on it, but didn't finish in this month. I still need a piece of creative writing for it, and an image.
Applied to some jobs this month. It's a slog to do that. And I secured one interview! Wow the chances are usually < 1% for each job application.
Meaningful losses:
Didn't hit month goal of 3 articles this month. This one counts. I'm missing 2 others.
Came to France, leaving my life in America at a pause. I enjoyed the Bay Area and part of me didn't want to leave. I had roots here, until I uprooted myself more than a decade ago. Am I really able to network in France?
Someone I know didn't have time to meet during the in-person seminar. I likely won't see her for a while. This didn't hurt emotionally, but it was a meaningful loss because I could have helped a student network for a job. (And maybe network for a job myself).
I've lost lots of sleep. In addition I was hauling ~50lbs in hot weather and not eating much. The body has tiredness.
The place where I'm staying unsettles me because of
noise; there's 4 other people here. And lots of banging up stairs.
people smoking indoors
the place is dirty; I found a cigarette bud on the kitchen floor. It's a total guy-sty. Things feel greasy when I touch them.
and I paid for a month. So I'm locked in…
My friend totally botched scheduling after I told him for months I needed a ride from Bay Area TO Seattle. He kept thinking I was going the other way, and our roadtrip is effectively canceled, and I had to scramble for housing, kind of why I unexpectedly needed to travel ASAP.
Logistics eat so much time it's effectively an entire project to just get from place to place. I'm grateful I can travel, but still.
Got sick in the Bay Area. Not sure why. I got better just hours before getting on that flight to Paris, which was too close.
What I'm grateful for:
My students. They've connected me with the hackathon, which led to some connections in the Bay Area. I also got a free meal from one of my students and an apple.
My friend who teaches math took me out for meals and I got to hear about the girl he's dating.
Put away a suitcase in his storage. That suitcase is half my life right now. Glad it's safe and I'm not lugging it around.
The host on couch surf. He let me do whatever I needed to do and didn't need me to hang out with him. I used his cooking utensils and his bed was cool during these summer nights.
Oakland in general. I didn't realize there were such cool spots to hang out. I was too poor back then and trapped in violence to really see anything else than the people I wanted to hurt.
AC transit. Unlike the olden days, I think AC transit has AC now. 51B was cool during a hot day.
The shopkeeper in Paris from whom I bought 30 eggs from. I then proceeded to hardboil 30 eggs and packed them in a ziplock bag. They were good snacks since I hadn't been eating much on the international flight; I also ate some on the TGV the next day. I'm going to eat my 30th egg from that carton now.
The French cost of living! Buying weird cheeses that have some mold on them for a discount from the "anti-gaspi" section of the "hypermarket."
Peaches/nectarines are in season (and they're cheap!).
The shopkeeper at Spar who helped me find laundry detergent and was amused by my kind of broken French.
France doesn't really have air conditioning, and despite my grievances about my living space, it's cool enough to sleep. I'm sleeping on the ground though instead of on the bed (it's complicated).
A friend from high school in the Bay Area let me stay with her and her husband. They had a really friendly cat that reminded me of my college days. Her husband also makes really good eggs and is a good chef in general.
Another friend from high school told me about a job opening at his friend's place. We went out to lunch in Oakland at a nice Thai restaurant. I enjoyed hearing about his life now. He's going to be a dad!
Another friend from college talked to her parents and I got to stay at her parents' place. They cooked good food and I told them also that they needn't cook for me. They'll welcome me back in the future too!
Some guy stole a dozen eggs from me at Berkeley Public Library as I was using the restroom on the 2nd floor. I found him. Chased him. And I realized after seeing him, he's in a much worse spot than me. I'm glad I let that go. He better enjoy those eggs!
Okay, I think I kind of carried my team in terms of direction and helping everyone, but my hackathon teammates were cool people too.
Airplane bartering episode: I don't eat meat so I gave my in-flight meal to a guy in another aisle who then gave me double-stuffed oreos which I then gave to the French guy sitting next to me who gave me his thing of chickpeas earlier. And the other guy sitting next to me who tapped the other-aisle-guy on the shoulder so I could initiate. If only I could network like that for jobs.
Looking ahead:
Wrap up the algorithms seminar, covering up to either a first or second lecture on Dynamic Programming.
Attempt to seriously write articles more.
May try to couch surf more in this town, or nearby towns. I'm going to sleep at weird hours because it's so noisy. I think children run up and down upstairs. Lots of banging and sometimes wall shaking.
I've collected contacts…but I need to somehow create value for people here. Connect others.
Where do I go from here? Berlin, Germany? Try to network in Paris? Lisbon, Portugal? Malaga, Spain?
Je veux améliorer mon français.
Either I study AI, or dedicate time to learning 3D Godot in August. I need to somehow find an opening in the job market, or create something to attract income.
If I don't do either of the above, it'll most likely because of a software project I'll undertake. I don't know what that would be yet.
Apply for jobs in the US. I want to return… but I might be able to chill in SE Asia for cheap after my stay in Europe. I don't like flying because of carbon emissions. If I had not failed so hard in acquiring income I would be sitting in Seattle.
I may know an old lady in France who might let me stay at her place if I work on her garden. Not really sure how that will play out, or if it will at all.