Inspired By A Presidential Candidate for the First Time in My Life

It is no secret that I have been a long-time supporter of Barack Obama. I am inspired by his eloquence, and his unexpected commitment to doing things differently (the first time I went to a volunteer meeting the first thing they told us is NEVER say anything bad about the other candidates....only good things about Barack).

However, even I was amazed and impressed by his speech yesterday. There will always be those who will say this is not enough, or it was a political ploy. However, he wrote this speech by himself, and clearly spoke from his heart - a rarity in American politics. It is my hope that America is ready for a person who actually speaks in the nuance that is the reality of the world, as opposed to being overly concerned by the sound bite do or die.

I am for the first time in my life truly inspired to step beyond myself and commit to a cause on a National level. Those who know me out there know I am quite a cynic, so may be surprised to learn that I plan on going up to Pennsylvania and dedicating whatever time the Obama campaign needs to win the primary there. I am proud to support a candidate who supports a majority of my policy priorities...and who steps beyond the traditional nasty poll-driven politics and says what he thinks and believes.

I suggest everyone listen to the speech in its entirety. Though it is 40 minutes long, no speech on race issues in America should be any shorter, and I believe this one is truly a landmark in American politics.

Back in DC

Well, I didn't blog over the last couple of weeks, despite promises to various people to the contrary. Sorry about that folks. Been various reasons for not doing so, but needless to say I'm back in DC, and for those of you who are wondering I had a productive trip to China, I am happy to be home, and am now at home suffering from the Martian Death Flu (or so I am dubbing it).

For those of you who attended Carleton College from 94-98, you might remember the great Martian Death Flu epidemic of 1997...it has apparently returned this year (another friend in Minnesota recently recovered after a bout of this year's version). I am progressing and on the mend, after a brutal few days, which is a good thing, because I have a busy 2nd half of the week planned.

Back in Beijing Again

I have to admit, it is a little surreal to be back in Beijing so soon after I left, especially since I’m in such an exceptionally different circumstance. Whereas in the Fall I was faced with challenges of my own limits, a language barrier, health issues, and many other issues, now it is so simple and easy. I am fortunate enough to have wonderful friends that are letting me stay with them while I’m here, which makes the experience that much more real in a lot of ways. (Real in a…so this is what it would be like to have my own apartment in Beijing sort of way…).

Despite the fact that this is a working trip for me, in that I am meeting with people, talking to various firms, etc., I have been enjoying myself immensely. There are a lot of very interesting folks who live here, and it is always fascinating to have the “how did you end up here” conversation. I have been taking advantage of the fact that I didn’t have any meetings this week to really get out and about and talk with random people. I have also been pleasantly surprised at how much my Chinese stuck around, though I have these weird holes in my memory for completely random words that I should remember. I am sure that will all resolve itself in time as I use the language on a daily basis. Last night I went to a happy hour with a friend and had 80% of a conversation for about an hour in Chinese…it made me feel really good about the effort I put in last fall. One nice thing is that my instinct from my trip here this fall to always be using Chinese has stuck around, and apparently my accent is still sufficient that people usually respond in kind. Hopefully I won’t totally disappoint my old tutor when I meet her for dinner on Sunday…

One unfortunate item of note: I was going to go skiing with a friend this weekend…which would have been really cool, if for no other reason than I could say I went skiing in Beijing…but it’s been so nice and warm that there’s nothing but ice left on the slopes. So no dice on my big plans for the weekend.

For those of you interested in my job search news, I have spent a good amount of time on the phone with some very interesting people, and I have some meetings set up for next week, so I’m feeling decent about where I am. While I would love something to just fall in my lap, I know that’s just not very likely, so I am just enjoying the experience for now.

Random Plug for Me...

I wanted to make a shameless plug for my own publicity...

I was working at the polls as the Obama precinct captain (which basically meant hanging out by the polling place, waving signs, and answering voter questions encouraging them to vote for Obama) during our Primary here on February 12th. As a result I was there when someone from a women-orientated political website came by asking why I was supporting Obama. So I was interviewed on video. Unfortunately it doesn't look like they'll ever get my moment of fame video on their website (it being a week later and there being bigger political fish to fry), but my sentiments were mentioned on this post on their website...

Kinda silly, but fun!

Is this February???

Today is quite a bizarre day. I wouldn't believe it is February unless I looked at the Calendar!

		Washington DC, Reagan National Airport Lat: 38.86 Lon: -77.03 Elev: 16 Last Update on Feb 18, 12:52 pm EST
Mostly Cloudy 72°F (22°C) Humidity: 37 % Wind Speed: W 17 G 26 MPH Barometer: 29.50" (998.9 mb) Dewpoint: 44°F (7°C) Visibility: 10.00 mi. More Local Wx: 3 Day History:

Though I know the temp is going to drop very quickly this evening, today has just been too good to be true! Boy am I ever happy I left Minnesota, where it's currently 10-degrees!

Happy President's Day everyone!

Where to Now?

I have spent a lot of time thinking about what is next in my career, and trying to balance the warring sides of my nature: the one who searches out comfort, and the one who searches for a way to do good. How does one satisfy both? Can one satisfy both? Since returning from China, I have come to the conclusion that I really want to continue my career path along its track to spend more time in China, promoting Chinese economic development through trade and business. But the question I am debating is how best to do that?

In the end, Doug and I agreed that we wanted some new adventure in our lives. Both of us have usually done the "safe" thing. We didn't go off into the wild blue yonder and teach English in China, or backpack through Europe for a summer. Instead we found jobs and started our careers, him in Finance, me in Marketing and International Trade. Now we've reached a point when we know we're nearing the end of the time in our lives when we can take a lot of big risks. So we've decided that the best way to have an adventure and yet still maintain a certain amount of comfort and security is to find jobs in China. I for one have always wanted to live and work overseas. I believe it provides a unique opportunity to explore other cultures and meet people from all walks of life.

To that end, I'm once again going back to Beijing to meet people and do informational interviews, but this time only for a few weeks, not the 3 months of last time. I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of interesting people, and determining, on a more real-world basis, where I fit in in the professional world. While I know what I want to do (i.e., market entry strategy consulting), my goal for this trip is to find out what the world at large will LET me do!

I'm looking forward to the next step, and jumping into a new adventure!

Did We Really Climb to 15,000+ feet?

Lijiang:

This town was most definitely the highlight of the trip. However, we’re also convinced that we’d hate it in any other time than off-season. This opinion was reinforced by the statements of our new friends at Sexy Tractor...a great resource for local info in town actually, and one of the most pleasant porches to hang out on for a day, watching the world walk by on the cobblestone streets below you.

I guess I’m at a loss on how to really describe Lijiang. Where Dali was a quaint town that had been overrun by tourist-led renovations, Lijiang somehow managed to keep its character as an old town where people actually lived their lives. As we wandered the backstreets of the old city, I was struck by how much it was a lived-in city, with all the qualities of a small, happy town, and full of people who had lived there for generations. In most of China I have found that the cities have been built with a plan to an extent that one city feels and looks very much the same as another. Lijiang was the exception. Yes, parts have the feeling of a bad theme park as flag-toting tourist guides lead baseball-cap-clad Chinese tourists, but once you leave the main drag shopping streets it’s like you’ve stepped back in time and into another world populated by women wearing traditional Naxi clothing, hawking their vegetables down the alleyways. I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves because all narrative in my stilted prose would fail to do it justice:

Oh, and did I mention that on our second day in Lijiang we accidentally hiked up to 4680 meters? Yes, most of it was accomplished by a gondola, but we sincerely thought we were only going up to 3000 meters, and then we get on the gondola and we just kept going up. There’s a stunning mountain in the Lijiang area called Yu Long Xue Shan (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain), which you can see from pretty much everywhere, being as it towers up to 5,600 meters (18,360 feet) over the valley.

We were amazed at how long it took to hike up from 4506 meters to 4680 meters (the upper terminus of where silly tourists like us can go): two hours! But frankly it was worth it. We definitely had some oxygen and pressure issues – Doug on the way up, and me on the way down - we ate tons of food that night, and the cost was ridiculous for China (RMB 220 per person), but for the first time in my life I understand why there is an urge to climb mountains. The quiet and hugeness of it all was breathtaking (or maybe that was the lack of oxygen?). But in the end I can say I was at 15,354 feet…

One final note on Lijiang before I close out the China portion of the blog. A lot of places in the world have become replicas of themselves and many people have consistently argued that globalization creates homogenization of cultures and the loss of tradition and history amongst indigenous cultures and minority peoples. While not an opponent of globalization by any means, I have always been somewhat conflicted about the tradeoffs between significant increases in quality of life and health and life expectancy, and the loss of traditional values and entire cultures to the advent of “modern” life. In Lijiang we encountered something truly surprising. When all the annoying tour groups were gone from the streets and the tourist shops began closing their doors, something amazing happened in the central square every night. Young local people began converging in the square to dance and socialize. One evening we even saw an adorable old woman with an ecstatic smile on her face dancing circles around the younger women and men, teaching by example the joy she had for her traditions and culture. I took a short video, which doesn’t begin to capture the experience, but gives you a taste of the music, singing, and ritual to it all.

And so, I leave you with that for now...