Ryu2.mind

I went to a Stanford alumni dinner tonight, the biggest Stanford eventsince I came here -- we took up 2+ floors of an Italian restaurant (TrattoriaIsabelle -- which seems to be a relatively well-kept culinary secretcompared to other more well-known ones in SH... definitely worth goingback for! ;) ) 

Interestingly, I pretty much never participated in the alumni eventswhile in the Bay Area, mainly because for me the distinction betweencollege and post-college life was fuzzy, with the campus just minutesaway and the majority of my Stanford friends sticking around SF or theSilicon Valley in any case after graduation.  An ocean away, it'sa different story... when you're a stranger in a strange land, linksthat you thought were trivial become all the more important, and it'sreassuring to know that.  The Stanford alumni body here seems tobe equally made up of locals, ABCs, Hongkies/Taiwanese, and laowai, and tonight a good portion of all those groups showed up -- leading to an interesting dynamic with everyone in one setting.

Amidst a sea of the usual business/engineering/finance/law types, the most interesting person there was Rob Little,'05, now playing pro basketball for the Shanghai Sharks.  Hespiced up the conversation with plenty of anecdotes about China and aswell as stories about playing ball in the unheated Luwan Stadium in theShanghai winter (the cheerleaders have it the worst, apparently). Like Yao, he has a personal full-time interpreter/lifeline and a goodnumber of culture-shock moments.

But what struck me the most was his thoughts on how and why he came outhere -- ie, which came first?  The country or the career?  Hewas drafted less than three months ago, literally on the spotat a basketball camp attended by Chinese basketball league officials,and on a whim, just came out here doing what he loves to do... in thiscase, playing basketball.  Not much justification type talk aboutChina being a growing economy, or a basketball-crazed nation, oranything else.  Just simply the fact he wanted to play ball. 

As a contrast, most of my friends that I've met here and I had an interest in this country first, and pursued opportunities based on that... but I'm reminded by tonight that every expathere has their own story, their own journey... and that is truly whatmakes the community here and meeting new folks so fascinating compared to back home. 

To hear tales, and realize there is no real formula, no real plan, nocookie-cutter plan for coming to China, no matter what your motivationsare... from English teacher to basketball player, everyone becomes astoryteller and listener at the same time, and regardless of what oneis doing, the tales told are never mundane for just being an expat is -- almost by the definition of someone being apart from his usual country -- never ordinary.

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Looks like I'll be staying in Shanghai for another year at least...which had always been my hope,  but now, it looks like it's moreor less set from a employment perspective, and I  know what myduties will be -- essentially, working on the same project, butresponsible for a portion that's much more pioneering, with a lot moreresponsibility and challenges.  It comes on the heels of analogousdevelopments in other parts of my life here as well...

A coincidence?  I had an uplifting conversation with glenNice this week, where she reminded me... there are no such things as coincidences. I've been meditating a lot on the part of the Book talking aboutwatchfulness, and how for those who have been given much, much will bedemanded.

It makes me thankful for being given so much, but fearful in a way...what will be demanded of me?  And am I being watchful?  Am Iprepared?  At the same time though, will that man-centered desire to beprepared subvert itself into a tyranny of hesitant fear?  For we can never be fully ready, just as much as possible...

Sorry this is delibrately vague... but I think you get the picture... ;)