TWO MORE YEARS!

My assignment in China is now officially extended.

I am at the stage where I am thinking I need some specific goals for the rest of my time here, because the last 24 months just flew by and I am not sure where it all went.

So, perhaps, I need some kind of checklist for the next two years: 

  • specific places to go; I have hardly traveled anywhere in China
  • specific things to see; Terracotta warriors, for example
  • experiences to have; bungy jump off Canton Tower?
  • people to meet; finally hold that Tumblr meetup with sirnathandouglashunt and coquitove.

Anything else?

Just back from a work dinner with the director of Asia-Pac for my company. It was a small group of about six people and was surely was one of the most interesting work dinners I’ve been to. Among discussions about politics, media, technology, economics and business, we got to talking about music and literature. He mentioned that he’s mostly into reading the classics and War And Peace was the best thing he’d read. While I’ve worked for him for more than 8 years now, growing up professionally under his shadow, so to speak, I had my first one-on-one session with him earlier in the day. He dispensed some rather sage advice on career and development; all delivered with a great level of honesty and sensitivity. At the dinner I was surprised by how easy he was to get along with, and was rather surprised by how much he’d remembered about the people at the table - their families, hobbies and backgrounds - and how human and unfrightening he was. It may have been a function of the fact that he is leaving the company at the end of the year. But I think it’s more just the kind of guys he is. I think that the whole time I worked in the same office as him, sitting just meters away (literally), I never bothered to get to know him because of some perceived distance between his position relative to mine. But the biggest learning of the night was that if it it was not for that, then we could have probably been mates.
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Just back from a work dinner with the director of Asia-Pac for my company. It was a small group of about six people and was surely was one of the most interesting work dinners I’ve been to. Among discussions about politics, media, technology, economics and business, we got to talking about music and literature.

He mentioned that he’s mostly into reading the classics and War And Peace was the best thing he’d read.

While I’ve worked for him for more than 8 years now, growing up professionally under his shadow, so to speak, I had my first one-on-one session with him earlier in the day. He dispensed some rather sage advice on career and development; all delivered with a great level of honesty and sensitivity.

At the dinner I was surprised by how easy he was to get along with, and was rather surprised by how much he’d remembered about the people at the table - their families, hobbies and backgrounds - and how human and unfrightening he was.

It may have been a function of the fact that he is leaving the company at the end of the year. But I think it’s more just the kind of guys he is.

I think that the whole time I worked in the same office as him, sitting just meters away (literally), I never bothered to get to know him because of some perceived distance between his position relative to mine. But the biggest learning of the night was that if it it was not for that, then we could have probably been mates.

Source: thecandideye.wordpress.com

One of the most intersting parts of living in China is witnessing first hand how a culture is taught how to spend money. Less than a month ago this same column at my local supermarket was full of Halloween stuff, now it’s all Xmas’d out. You may wonder what the Chinese care about Halloween (a pagan originated harvest festival) or Christmas (a traditionally Christian festival)… well the sad answer is that this is all about commercialism. And the fun part is that people are buying into it - no pun intended. Soon, the massive Chinese middle class will be indoctrinated just like the rest of us. Then the engine driving the world’s commercial economy will be based here. I shouldn’t complain. I am riding this wave after all.
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One of the most intersting parts of living in China is witnessing first hand how a culture is taught how to spend money.

Less than a month ago this same column at my local supermarket was full of Halloween stuff, now it’s all Xmas’d out. You may wonder what the Chinese care about Halloween (a pagan originated harvest festival) or Christmas (a traditionally Christian festival)… well the sad answer is that this is all about commercialism. And the fun part is that people are buying into it - no pun intended.

Soon, the massive Chinese middle class will be indoctrinated just like the rest of us. Then the engine driving the world’s commercial economy will be based here.

I shouldn’t complain. I am riding this wave after all.