Paris, May 31, 2005

Well, well... I thought I'd be writing again pretty soon after my previous note until I saw the date a minute ago... May 8th. Almost a month has gone by and it feels like barely a week... That should tell you something about how busy I've been, or simply unorganized enough to even keep track of time.
Either way, time flies...

Things have been pretty good this month. The future is slowly taking shape with another short-term contract with air Liquide on the back of the first. It may not be a permanernt job yet but it shows that at least folks are
acknowledging that I bring at least a little value to the company (key item for all parties involved) and it'll also be a chance to deepen my understanding of the Group to finally earn my place in it at some later stages. Nothing's been finalized so as of today I'm still due to leave the company in August but hopefully things will have taken shape by then...

Nearly two weeks ago now, I've been lucky enough to spend a three-day week-end in Boulogne-sur-Mer, a small sea town on the English Channel where a good friend of mine is starting his career as a professor in law and communication (and other things... at least it' fuzzy enough to include everything, should he read this one day!! (o:). It's funny how leaving Paris, or any big city for that matter, even for a short period, is enough to recharge one's psychological batteries... It felt really good to enjoy a simple life (just like hobbits) if for a couple of days... See pictures below...

Otherwise, not very much to report really. I mean, I'm trying to get back to reading academic stuff again but outside of week-ends it's a bit of a challenge, I must admit. I'm almost finished with "Partners for Democracy: Crafting the New Japanese State Under Macarthur", quite an interesting book discussing, almost day-by-day, the constitutional "proceedings" (as it were) in Japan from the end of 1945 all the way to the coming into force of the Showa constitution in 1947. The next book on the list --which I hit upon by chance at a Gilbert in Paris-- is a compilation of letters sent by Japanese people to McArthur while has was SCAP (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers) in Japan between 1945 and 1952. A good follow-up I think... (o:

On this note, I shall sign off but not without telling you that (as Orson Welles would put it), until next time, I remain obediently yours.

Thomas