June 2008 Journal
An entry of pictures - Monday June 16th, 2008My already-easy class schedule got easier when my postgraduate classes ended prematurely. Now I teach MBA classes on the weekends, and the other five days, I do absolutely nothing. I've been spending more time with my Chinese friends to keep from going insane. I was also visited by the CSU Chinese Club. I helped them around Nanjing, gave them a tour of Zhenjiang, and met up with them for some shopping and partying in Shanghai. I like pictures much more than typing. In no particular order:
Rose and Ted
My two CSU classmates, Travis and MaryKathryn (that's me in the middle)
Three of my best Chinese friends, Xing Qiu Yan, Wang Tao, and Yao Wei Wei
The Awesome Street
Brenda and Kristin enjoy the best jiaozi in China
This round door is better suited for the nice aliens from Fifth Element than for Chinese girls
What a cute baozi face
Xing Qiu Yan and Brenda at the Bund
Xing Qiu Yan and Brenda on a ferry across the Huangpu River
Partying American style: sports bar with beer, fried food, and Nirvana playing from the jukebox
And for fun, a picture of my "super cute girl little friend" cooking for me in my kitchen
And her "glamour photo" from a studio - NOT BAD, Qian Jin!
That's all the photos for now. Two more weeks and I'm flying home!
My entire life took shape in May - Thursday June 5th, 2008
I never updated my journal in May. Sorry! I was too busy planning the entire structure of the next chapter in my life. And what a structure it is!
The morning of May 1st, I had an interview with the University of Utah for a position as the "Development Specialist" in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. We connected a Skype video conference call (and luckily I was wearing one of my new suits) and our 20-minute interview soon stretched into a full hour. They're looking for a kind of "jack of all trades" employee - someone who can research donors and corporate sponsors, who can develop and build an interface for a big database of custom information, someone who can write and design content for print and electronic media, do public relations for departmental research both internally and externally, and can complete "special projects as assigned." (I've always found that to be the most interesting area of my job.)
Anyway, we really had chemistry - at least as much as a potential employee can have with his potential supervisor from across the ocean on Skype. I had the right experience and the right enthusiasm, and they immediately checked my references and sent me an offer letter for the job.
My old supervisor is also my new reference, and he was thinking of creating a position for me at Colorado State University to get me back on board there. Well, getting a call from someone else wanting to hire me lit the fire under his feet, and soon I had two great job offers waiting for me. Seriously - I would have had to be absolutely nuts to turn down either job - they both had a lot to offer, were in great locations, and seemed like something I would really be interested in doing.
On May 7th, I locked myself in my apartment all afternoon and made one of the hardest decisions of my life. I made an Excel spreadsheet with the pros and cons of each job, but they still looked pretty equal. Finally I just kind of closed my eyes and pictured where I should be next. I kept thinking about my family (who lives in Salt Lake City), and I decided I'd be happy to live near them again. I haven't lived within less than 7 hours of them for 7 years, and I haven't seen them more than once a year that whole time. Also, the challenge of a new position with new responsibilities where I would have to prove myself from scratch was very attractive to me... I guess I love fresh starts. (I did sell everything and move to China, afterall.)
Let's see ... other factors in my decision: Utah snowboarding is cheaper than Colorado. Salt Lake City is a bigger city than Fort Collins. Starting new sounded more attractive than chasing my old college days (I went to CSU afterall). A city full of girls I've never dated sounded better than a city where half the girls are my exes. (haha!) Anyway, I happily accepted the University of Utah job, and I very-regretfully had to turn down CSU. I still feel like that was the right decision a month later, so that's a good sign.
I leave China on July 2nd, 2008. I'm flying from Shanghai to Beijing to San Francisco to Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. WOW. That's a lot of traveling. And I'm landing in SLC about 8 hours after I leave Shanghai. Time changes are strange. My plan is to get all drugged up on Tylenol PM so I can sleep the whole way - I've read online that it's a good way to battle jet lag. (Also: don't eat. I'll be hungry and sleeping the whole flight.)
I went to Nanjing for Maia's birthday dinner at the all-you-can-eat-and-drink Tepenyaki grill. We enjoyed some of the best beef of our lives. One dish was called "Raw Beef Salad" - there was nothing salad-y about it. It was a plate of raw, juicy, bloody, delicious beef. My MSG-battered oil-drowned tastebuds were dancing little pirouettes around my mouth to eat food that was 1) NOT Chinese, 2) NOT covered in MSG and oil, 3) Fresh, and 4), Safe. Anyway, the beef was awesome. I was in total awe.
We had a little barbecue party here at my apartment building. We had about 25 people show up. I found cans of imported tuna downtown, so I made a big plate of tuna fish sandwiches for the party. We grilled hamburgers, had a delicious punch, tons of chips, and my Chinese friends all brought cute little Chinese dishes to the party. Halfway through the party, Emil, Nikki, Diane, and I (my 3 best Chinese friends) snuck upstairs and watched Resident Evil. Pretty great night!
Well, I have a busy night of playing video games ahead of me. And my hands are tired of typing. I'll try to update more while I'm actually still living here - before I disappear to the U.S. and this site just becomes another boring, static lao wai blog about China.