Remember, I was telling you that I had to purchase a good-bye card for a lab mate who was leaving yesterday.

What I did not say was that he was leaving for Paris, where he is going to spend the next few years working on the end of his PhD. He is co-advised by my advisor and a professor in France, and after having spent about nine months around here, he is going to stay there (except maybe for some short visits from time to time).

From this short description, it might not have struck you as obvious, but he is French.

And now I have no one to speak French to if not over the phone. No one to exchange a few sentences with in my native language when we meet in a corridor. No one with whom I can really talk about the differences between here and back home. Not that it should be that big of a problem, of course, because this is how it has been for most of my stay in the U.S. but...

Damn.

I am going to miss the bloody bastard.