1st 1/2 of 2009
Q1/Q2=reaping the sown
san diego, london, beijing



This morning, in my pleasant, cheap hotel in downtown San Diego with great continental breakfast (hotel occidental), after a 12 hour sleep, while studying Chinese (oh, supermemo, you're the joy of my Chinese studies and bane of my existence), I opened my .mp3 qin collection. Returning After Resigning was the second song and I surfed to find our what it meant. Qin master John Thompson provided all the backdrop:

John Thompson translates the poem by Tao Yuanming (365-427), on which the song is based, as follows:

Come away home!
My fields and garden will be full of weeds, how can I not go back?
It was myself who put my mind into bondage,
so why go on being sad and lonely?
I understand that what is already past cannot be rebuked,
but know the future's possibilities.
In fact this wrong road has not taken me so far,
and what I now realize is correct, while yesterday I was wrong.
My boat wobbles about in the light breeze,
the wind swirls as it blows my clothing.
I ask a traveler about the road ahead,
and resent that the early morning light is still dim. (silkqin.com)

So here I am at the beginning of the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Back in San Diego for the quarter taking classes in corporate strategy and the environment, non profit management, government in the era of globalization, Chinese politics, and one other (20 credits) all while working ostensibly 3/4 time (beyond full time, really) with the organization I've given my life to over the past year and a half.

There's something that makes me feel nostalgic when I'm in San Diego. I think it's the spring-like air. Every day feels like the last week of school, so it's somehow easier to tell yourself to get the work done, and then somehow easier to let the mind wander back to the dead you've left behind.

Many trips ahead. London next week. Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang. Back and forth. Hoping the connections I make and the work I do more than offsets the flying free for all.

Time to get our work done.

Labels: john thompson, personal, qin, san diego, update

[Narrator's Note: Four months after the fact, I finally find time to fix the ftp settings on the blog.]

One Week In Shanghai
And the World's Your Xiaolongbao (though i recommend the veggie version)
Greetings from the Xu Hui District (where I used to live)

My advisor told me I was crazy to take a week off in the middle of my first quarter at IR/PS, but I got a free ticket to Shanghai and here I am.

My friend requested pictures from Shanghai as I take them, so here they are. Click on the big tea garden gate to your right.

My first day, I took our first econ midterm via webcam. Then I went to Jiaotong University to talk over some plans, which did not progress as planned. I had been awake for two days and was been having trouble forming utterances very well in English, let alone Chinese. After that, I represented my university at a graduate recruitment fair. I kept nodding off during the consular staff person's talk on how to get a visa.

Yesterday I spent the day researching the relationships between Shanghainese "money boys" and the NGOs that work with them to do harm reduction. It was interesting. If it pans out, I may put more time into researching this in the future.

This morning I got up at 3:30 all jet lagged and unfocused on tasks at hand. That means you, my gentle readers, are the ones to benefit.

Jane Goodall arrived last tonight. I was out late with friends at my favorite vegetarian restaurant, so I wasn't here when she arrived, and she was asleep when I got in. I knew Dr. Jane had arrived at my boss's house because her mascot Mr. H was on the bureau.

I'm now awake while she sleeps in the room above me. I haven't been this excited in a long, long time. Not since Christmas Eve maybe, when I knew Santa was coming.

The next four days will be jam packed with chimp-loving, people hugging, worm bin creating, organic garden viewing, and Chong Ming Island hopping. Stay tuned to my Shanghai October 2006 flickr set for my latest uploads from this whirlwind tour. I can't believe this is happening. I feel very blessed.

Labels: excitement, goodall, personal, photos, shanghai