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

It Can Be Done!
Thoughts on Being Carless
in Southern California

Before I moved to San Diego for grad school in September 2006, I had many discussions with friends about whether or not I could continue being carless in SoCal. I did not want to buy a car, but most people said I would have to give in. Only one friend was adamant about staying true to my cyclist spirit and convinced me that, even if I had to ride on the highway, I should not buy a car because they're "just gross." I agreed, and thought of my time hitting the books as an experiment in reliance on pedaling and public transport.

After nine months in what to me is one of the most poorly planned, unnecessarily sprawled out cities in the United States, I'm happy to say that I survived without a car. And I've got the calf muscles to show for it.

What did I have to give up by not owning a car?

I gave up realizing the expansiveness of San Diego, which I was convinced was "too small" when what I meant was "too spread out." I also gave up aimless driving. I gave a car stereo. I gave up going to Asian restaurants on Convoy Street. I gave up being able to stay on campus past 9pm when the last shuttle leaves for the Hillcrest Medical Center 25 minutes south of UCSD.

What did I gain by giving up owning a car?

I gained friends from the shuttle. I got muscular biker's legs. I learned that cops will sometimes pull over cyclists when they jump the gun on a red light. I gained happiness confined to a 20 square mile area in a medium-density city. I saved enough money to fly as often as I needed, and erased some of the guilt of creating so much carbon to do so.

Labels: bicycle, bike, carless, cycling, san diego