Il y a quelques temps nous avons reçu le récit de l'expérience du Pays Fritz, dit Alsacien aux Etats-Unis. Nous avons retranscris le texte tel quel en anglais, pour approfondir nos connaissances dans cette langue.
MEMORIES OF VINCENT FRITZ IN TULSA,OKLAHOMA 2014/2015
First thing first, let me introduce myself;
I am Vincent FRITZ, Aspirant Serrurier du Devoir
dit Alsacien.
I m currently living in Tulsa, Oklahoma USA for one year to improve my english and work as metalworker/blacksmith in a famous workshop.
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The company i work for is called WIEMANN METALCRAFT and is owned by the Gary BRACKEN family.The two boss are Gary’s sons Douglas and David BRACKEN.
The company was founded in 1940 by a german, Ernest WIEMANN(1910-2010) and was incorporated in 1946 as Ernest Wiemann Iron Works. It is now a full service custom ornemental and technical products fabricator workshop.
Since the founding, the company have successfully completed challenging projects in residential, commercial, religious, public, institutional and government locations in almost all 50 states and many international locations.
They do: ornamental stair and balcony railings, canopies and awnings, monumental stairs, decorative driveway and pedestrian gates, walkway gates, fences, custom hot rolled steel doors and windows, bronze entry doors, gazebos and trellises and other ornamental garden structures, site furnishings, wrought iron furniture, etc …..
o have an office with full time project managers who use Auto-cad, 3D modeling, machining software and also 3D printing for casting pieces and prototypes.
WIEMANN METALCRAFT is also the master distributor in North America for Heritage Cast Iron USA products, the only line of decorative, authentic Victorian era cast iron fence, gates and railings available in the North America.
The company also received a lot of work awards and has been recognized by it peers in the National Ornamental and Miscellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA). It is the most rewarded workshop on the 900 who are part of the NOMMA.
Im also really proud to work for this company and feel really lucky for being chosen for a year internship.
The BRACKEN family is like my second family, they are really nice with me and take a really good care of me.
I can say now that im a part of their family and so does them.
They invite me to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas an Easter with them without making any difference between me or their children.
I do appreciate this very much and I’m recognizant for all they’ve done for me.
The workshop is on the 41st Street and I’m living on the 15th Street, so its not so far.
Im leaving alone in a little building of a dozen of apartment.
And i had the chance to buy their old company pick up truck, a 94’ Ford F-150, the really typical and old school American truck.
The company is divided in two parts, one is called TPD and work for the government; I’m not allowed to be there cause I’m not a Us citizen;
The second part is the Custom workshop, where i work with 9 guys, doing railings and a lot of very different jobs.
I learn this year how to use a new system of measurement (inch, 1/8, 1/16, etc..), but also
discover a new material: the silicon bronze, witch is a mixture of 80% of copper and 20% of brass. Really smooth material, similar to the brass for welding and heating but it allows to have more different patina possible.
The blacksmithing workshop is well equipped with 4 power hammers, a lot of dices, matrices and pliers, 3 gas forge and 1 coil powered.
The current materials that we use are the steel, the aluminum, the brass, the silicon bronze, the cast iron.
I can say that I’m really lucky to work for this company because i learn a lot of new things and discover a lot of news technics, skills, who improved my knowledge.
I also discover new regions and landscapes, different accents and cultures by traveling all over the country for jobs installation like in Glen Rose, Texas in a ranch big of 10 000 acres, where we was also able to hunt and fish during the weekend and our spare time,or in Washington DC, Orlando, Florida etc..
I went on a road trip for christmas and new years eve with my boss David and his wife Shelby to Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago and Madison, where we meet a good friend of him and brewed beer for one day straight.
My boss offer me one month of vacation that i can split in four weeks to go on little road trips of one week each. Im planning on renting an Rv or build a wood structure on the back of my truck for these journeys.
Traveling in the USA teach me also how to care more about peoples, i was surprised to find here so more manners, fraternity, respect, honesty and recognizance than in France.
In fact, this country is rich of all the old values and morals that we kind of lost in France.
Everywhere i go and meet new people, they are really welcoming and interested in what I’m doing here.
They always all ask why did i choose Tulsa and not New York or Los Angeles ..So i explain to them that i wanted to be in complete immersion to see what the real america is and improve my english as much as possible.
Im currently building a lot of memories and share a lot with peoples from new culture. I really like being away from the France and from my home for one whole year.
I was a bit scared the last week before coming here and had a lot of questions but im independent and need to be alone sometimes.
I didn’t take any decision yet, but im thinking about coming back after my two years of « compagnon itinerant » to see if i can find my place somewhere in the USA and try to make my life over there.
Nous remercions le Pays Fritz pour le partage de son expérience et ses clichés qui nous donnent envie de voyager.
Rassurez-vous, vous pourrez redécouvrir cet article traduit prochainement.
Texte et crédit photo: Pays Fritz
Mise en forme: Geoffrey le Flamand
