After waiting for more than 5 months, we have an answer: the H1-B for Sam has been approved \o/. We begin all the procedures: selling the car and the appartment, sorting all our stuffs (to give, to sell or to keep that is the question).
The adventure is just starting!!
Serious business: our appartment is for sale! http://tinyurl.com/SuperAppartLille Feel free to share!
\o\ |o| /o/
Monday, September 16, 2013
#8 - Go Go Go
Et après plus de 5 mois d'attente, la réponse tombe : la demande de visa H-1B de Sam est acceptée \o/ . Les démarches commencent donc dans la précipitation : vente de la voiture, de l'appartement, tri des affaires à emporter / vendre / donner.
L'aventure continue !!
Sinon chose sérieuse : notre appartement est en vente : http://tinyurl.com/SuperAppartLille . N'hésitez pas !!
\o\ |o| /o/
L'aventure continue !!
Sinon chose sérieuse : notre appartement est en vente : http://tinyurl.com/SuperAppartLille . N'hésitez pas !!
\o\ |o| /o/
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
#7 - Second day of interview
After a stressful night, going over and over every answer to yesterday's test, telling myself how better I should have done, how not too bad, but not good enough it was, and so on, the waking up was a little tough. But the adrenaline took over the fatigue quickly. Right next was the second day of interview.
Today's program, technical discussion on my answers to the test, analysis of the choices I've made, of the approaches I've used, ... Very cordial, and quite frankly, comforting mood with the team. Having sat a number of times in their seat, interviewing my own candidates, was a precious experience for this day, helping me understand where they wanted to head the conversation and what was expected of my answers.
At lunch, another interview at a restaurant was planned with the head of the server programming team. In the very own car of ArenaNet's technical director, we drove to Factoria in our quest for food. Being seated right next to the man, quite the legend, had added its fair amount of pressure. But as we're driving next to the I-90, the sound of a siren cuts the conversation short. The police. We're pulled over.
As the car engine stops, the policeman approaches, a hand on his holster, as in the books. "Keep your hands on the steering wheel." He looks just like Rick Grimes, the sheriff from AMC's The Walking Dead. At least to a tourist like me.
"Sir, how fast do you think you were going?" Damn.
A speeding ticket in our driver's pocket, we were back on our way to lunch. "We do that for every interview, just to see how you'd react", he jokes. Nice way of blowing off some steam. Thank you, Officier.
Today's program, technical discussion on my answers to the test, analysis of the choices I've made, of the approaches I've used, ... Very cordial, and quite frankly, comforting mood with the team. Having sat a number of times in their seat, interviewing my own candidates, was a precious experience for this day, helping me understand where they wanted to head the conversation and what was expected of my answers.
At lunch, another interview at a restaurant was planned with the head of the server programming team. In the very own car of ArenaNet's technical director, we drove to Factoria in our quest for food. Being seated right next to the man, quite the legend, had added its fair amount of pressure. But as we're driving next to the I-90, the sound of a siren cuts the conversation short. The police. We're pulled over.
As the car engine stops, the policeman approaches, a hand on his holster, as in the books. "Keep your hands on the steering wheel." He looks just like Rick Grimes, the sheriff from AMC's The Walking Dead. At least to a tourist like me.
"Sir, how fast do you think you were going?" Damn.
A speeding ticket in our driver's pocket, we were back on our way to lunch. "We do that for every interview, just to see how you'd react", he jokes. Nice way of blowing off some steam. Thank you, Officier.
#7 - Deuxième jour d'entretien
Après une nuit à repasser en revue toutes mes réponses au test technique de la veille, me disant sans cesse que j'aurais pu (du !) mieux faire, que c'était pas mal, mais sûrement pas au niveau, et autres variations autour du même registre, le levé fut un peu compliqué, mais l’adrénaline prit rapidement le pas sur la fatigue. Devant moi, un second jour d'entretien.
Au programme de la journée, discussions techniques autour de mes réponses au test de la veille, analyse des choix que j'y ai fait, des approches que j'ai utilisées, ... Dans une ambiance très cordiale et finalement assez relaxante. J'ai vraiment ressenti un certain confort du fait d'avoir eut l'occasion de passer un grand nombre d'entretiens de l'autre côté du miroir, qui m'ont permis de voir les rouages et de mieux cerner mes interlocuteurs.
Pour le repas du midi, un entretien au restaurant était prévu avec les responsables de l'équipe de développement serveur. On se dirige donc en voiture vers Factoria (en anglais), un quartier commerçant habitant plusieurs restaurants. Au volant, nul autre que le directeur technique du studio. La pression monte d'un cran. Mais alors que l'on longeait l'I-90, des sirènes retentissent... et un policier nous arrête.
Stoppés sur le bas-côté, le policier s'approche, une main sur son arme comme la procédure l'exige. "Gardez vos mains sur le volant." Son uniforme ressemble à s'y méprendre (en tous cas pour un touriste comme moi) à celui de Rick Grimes, le shérif bien connu de The Walking Dead.
"Monsieur, à quelle vitesse pensez-vous que vous rouliez ?" Damn.
Une amende dans la poche de notre conducteur, nous repartons manger. "Nous faisons ça à chaque entretien, pour voir comment le candidat réagit" se défend-il en rigolant. Voilà qui aura permit de faire retomber la pression ! Merci, Mr l'agent.
Au programme de la journée, discussions techniques autour de mes réponses au test de la veille, analyse des choix que j'y ai fait, des approches que j'ai utilisées, ... Dans une ambiance très cordiale et finalement assez relaxante. J'ai vraiment ressenti un certain confort du fait d'avoir eut l'occasion de passer un grand nombre d'entretiens de l'autre côté du miroir, qui m'ont permis de voir les rouages et de mieux cerner mes interlocuteurs.
Pour le repas du midi, un entretien au restaurant était prévu avec les responsables de l'équipe de développement serveur. On se dirige donc en voiture vers Factoria (en anglais), un quartier commerçant habitant plusieurs restaurants. Au volant, nul autre que le directeur technique du studio. La pression monte d'un cran. Mais alors que l'on longeait l'I-90, des sirènes retentissent... et un policier nous arrête.
Stoppés sur le bas-côté, le policier s'approche, une main sur son arme comme la procédure l'exige. "Gardez vos mains sur le volant." Son uniforme ressemble à s'y méprendre (en tous cas pour un touriste comme moi) à celui de Rick Grimes, le shérif bien connu de The Walking Dead.
"Monsieur, à quelle vitesse pensez-vous que vous rouliez ?" Damn.
Une amende dans la poche de notre conducteur, nous repartons manger. "Nous faisons ça à chaque entretien, pour voir comment le candidat réagit" se défend-il en rigolant. Voilà qui aura permit de faire retomber la pression ! Merci, Mr l'agent.
Monday, March 11, 2013
#6 - First day of interview...
...which was also Laeti's birthday!
We arrived early at ArenaNet's building, where I was headed to conduct my first day of interview. Laeti was expecting to have to leave, but to her surprise, they invited her as well to tag along during the tour of the studio. Which was amazing: open spaces but with enough walls to keep the overall volume acceptable, easily movable desks, a huge kitchen with tons of free snacks, ... Seeing that it was so awesome added a lot of pressure to the upcoming challenges!
Right after lunch (we ate at the studio, there's this great thing where you can order your food just by writing your name and choice down to a list, and it's delivered right at your desk at noon), Laeti started her second tour (headed to the playtesting room), and I began the technical test. Obviously, I won't get into details, but it was both very stessful and very interesting. A good, pertinent test can mean a lot to prove that you're targeting a great company. Those were the lines of code that had the most potential to change our lives that I had ever written!
While I was sweating to secure a position there, Laeti was continuing her tour by chatting with designers and community managers (hi, Stephane!). She even had the chance to play in a room full of designers which were testing the content of a future update of the game. She had won a Golden Ticket for her birthday!
Once the technical test completed, as I was crying a little bit inside ("oh dear lord, have I screwed this up?"), and after a short detour to our hotel, we were invited to eat at a luxurious restaurant in Bellevue, where Laeti ate her favorite food: Fish'n'Chips! I chose a salmon, which was amazing as well.
A day full of promises!
We arrived early at ArenaNet's building, where I was headed to conduct my first day of interview. Laeti was expecting to have to leave, but to her surprise, they invited her as well to tag along during the tour of the studio. Which was amazing: open spaces but with enough walls to keep the overall volume acceptable, easily movable desks, a huge kitchen with tons of free snacks, ... Seeing that it was so awesome added a lot of pressure to the upcoming challenges!
Right after lunch (we ate at the studio, there's this great thing where you can order your food just by writing your name and choice down to a list, and it's delivered right at your desk at noon), Laeti started her second tour (headed to the playtesting room), and I began the technical test. Obviously, I won't get into details, but it was both very stessful and very interesting. A good, pertinent test can mean a lot to prove that you're targeting a great company. Those were the lines of code that had the most potential to change our lives that I had ever written!
While I was sweating to secure a position there, Laeti was continuing her tour by chatting with designers and community managers (hi, Stephane!). She even had the chance to play in a room full of designers which were testing the content of a future update of the game. She had won a Golden Ticket for her birthday!
Once the technical test completed, as I was crying a little bit inside ("oh dear lord, have I screwed this up?"), and after a short detour to our hotel, we were invited to eat at a luxurious restaurant in Bellevue, where Laeti ate her favorite food: Fish'n'Chips! I chose a salmon, which was amazing as well.
A day full of promises!
#6 - Premier jour d'entretien ...
... et c'était aussi mon anniversaire !!!
Nous arrivons à l'heure pour l'entretien.
Laeti accompagne Tyn parce qu'entrer dans ce genre de boîte c'est trop cool ! Et là surprise, ils acceptent de laisser Laeti rentrer aussi !
Nous sommes très bien accueilli et on nous fait visiter les locaux qui sont juste hallucinants !
Après le repas, Tyn part pour son test technique. Alors que Laeti s'apprête à partir, on lui propose une autre visite pour lui en faire voir un peu plus : danse de la joie donc \o\ |o| /o/.
Pendant que Tyn bossait pour leur avenir, Laeti discutait avec l'un des community manager.
Pour faire rêver un peu plus Laeti (et aussi parce que les autres bossaient pendant ce temps là), on la laisse jouer dans la salle de test : un salle rempli de PC, pour que les développeurs, les graphistes, puissent tester le jeu ensemble. Et c'est d'ailleurs pile poil là qu'ils ont décidé de tester un nouveau donjon \o/
C'était "Charlie et la chocolaterie" en bien mieux !
Pour le repas du soir, ils ont décidé de nous inviter dans un super restaurant de Bellevue, pour manger le plat préféré de Laeti : le Fish and chips. Qui était DELICIEUX !
Nous arrivons à l'heure pour l'entretien.
Laeti accompagne Tyn parce qu'entrer dans ce genre de boîte c'est trop cool ! Et là surprise, ils acceptent de laisser Laeti rentrer aussi !
Nous sommes très bien accueilli et on nous fait visiter les locaux qui sont juste hallucinants !
Après le repas, Tyn part pour son test technique. Alors que Laeti s'apprête à partir, on lui propose une autre visite pour lui en faire voir un peu plus : danse de la joie donc \o\ |o| /o/.
Pendant que Tyn bossait pour leur avenir, Laeti discutait avec l'un des community manager.
Pour faire rêver un peu plus Laeti (et aussi parce que les autres bossaient pendant ce temps là), on la laisse jouer dans la salle de test : un salle rempli de PC, pour que les développeurs, les graphistes, puissent tester le jeu ensemble. Et c'est d'ailleurs pile poil là qu'ils ont décidé de tester un nouveau donjon \o/
C'était "Charlie et la chocolaterie" en bien mieux !
Pour le repas du soir, ils ont décidé de nous inviter dans un super restaurant de Bellevue, pour manger le plat préféré de Laeti : le Fish and chips. Qui était DELICIEUX !
Sunday, March 10, 2013
#5 - Seattle first time
As we had a free day before Sam interviews, we decided to pay a visit to the Washington state's biggest city, Seattle!
As the good tourists that we were, our first stop was the Space Needle, the iconic monument of the town, built during the 1962 World's Fair. As the price to get on the top was a little too high at $20, we decided not to get in (plus, we had just flew over the city the day before). Instead, we checked out the surroundings.
Amazing idea: indoor terraces. We discovered the Armory, which is a closed space with countless restaurants (kabobs, Subway, ...) , a museum for children, and plenty of indoor tables and chairs to eat, rest, read or play. That's were we ate our first American meals!
That was way, way more food than we were used to! The digestion was tough, a nap could easily have been used.
As the good tourists that we were, our first stop was the Space Needle, the iconic monument of the town, built during the 1962 World's Fair. As the price to get on the top was a little too high at $20, we decided not to get in (plus, we had just flew over the city the day before). Instead, we checked out the surroundings.
Amazing idea: indoor terraces. We discovered the Armory, which is a closed space with countless restaurants (kabobs, Subway, ...) , a museum for children, and plenty of indoor tables and chairs to eat, rest, read or play. That's were we ate our first American meals!
For Sam: a waffle with grilled pork, scrambled eggs and maple sirup, and for Laeti, a classic burger and fries.
In the afternoon, we took the monorail to get to downtown Seattle, and see the famous Pike Market. We saw plenty of fishes there, as well as many store selling second-hand books and disks. The sight on the ferry wheel on the port, right next to the Puget Sound, is great. Well, even if it was raining at the time.
Once our tour completed, and after having proudly bought our Orca Cards, we headed back to Bellevue, exhausted by the walk. In the bus, we confirmed what we saw the day before. People are nice to the driver, always saying "hello" when going in and "goodbye" while living. A real pleasure.
Before going back to the hotel, we weren't able to resist getting a first sight at the company where Sam was interviewing the next day. That way, we would be sure of the way, and it was also the opportunity for Laeti to...
... proudly pose in front of the building sign!
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