The First Chinaversary
October 27, 2013
Today, I celebrate my first Chinaversary. I am simultaneously amazed at how quickly time has flown by, and how much has happened over the past 12 months. As I look back upon my many, many photos, I decided to narrow down the year to the top 10 most defining moments. Here they are, in chronological order: First Day It was…
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Danba, China: The Valley of Happiness
October 21, 2013
Life of a globetrotter can be strangely disorienting. One minute, you are in the Tibetan village sharing roads with goats, the next, you are in Shanghai, sharing roads with cars and motorbike drivers who possess severe road rage. We live in the world where we can wake up in one setting and go to sleep in the next. Our minds…
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Muddy Road to Heaven: Hiking in Sichuan
October 13, 2013
Back in my Peace Corps days, I had the nickname of Posh Corps. Somehow, despite living in a village amidst the mountains of Cameroon, I managed a rather posh life (relatively speaking – Internet connection in a house without running water is pretty posh, no?). It didn’t take me long to acquire a personal moto driver who would come pick…
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Hello, Late Twenties!
September 28, 2013
A few months ago, I came across a hilarious early vs. late twenties post on Buzzfeed; hilarious, because it is so dead on. A few weeks ago, I officially entered my late-twenties. It was one of those surprisingly good birthdays. 27 is a rather unremarkable milestone. It is also the first year I honestly felt somehow much older. Given a…
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A Day in Napa Valley
September 22, 2013
A great friend of mine from my Peace Corps days took advantage of my business trip and visited me in the Bay Area. I was glad she came out because I’ve been thinking of visiting Napa Valley, but that is so the last place I’d want to travel alone. Get a Designated Driver After asking around for tips, a friend…
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Confession of a Travel Brat
September 20, 2013
I discovered on this trip to the Bay Area that I am a “mountain” person. Growing up in Taiwan, we had the best of both worlds. There are literally stretches of highways where you get the mountain range on one side, and the Pacific on the other. But, I was too busy puking and battling with carsickness to appreciate it…
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California Dreaming : Culture Shock in America
September 1, 2013
Recently, I got a big girl job. Last summer, I thought I was on my way to a big girl job, only to realize the banking sector was still in hot waters and I wasn’t lucky enough to get a headcount. Alas, it took a move across the world and a few months of networking, hustling, and some miracle-working later,…
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THE Job vs. THE One
July 10, 2013
As a twenty-something, most of us are constantly on the lookout for THE Job, or THE One. I have spent the better part of last decade battling for both, and realized that the lessons learned in both fields are strikingly similar. Sometimes, hard work is not enough. THE Job: As a child, we were taught that genius is 1% inspiration…
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Mourning the Loss of a Village Friend
July 7, 2013
Today was a sad day full of tragic news. I woke up to my NYT alert on the San Francisco plane crash, and made a mental note how spooky it feels that I am due to take a flight on a similar route in a few weeks’ time. You just never know. Then, I ended the day with a devastating…
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Celebrating America’s Birthday in Foreign Lands
July 5, 2013
4th of July. For 10 years-ish of my life, this day meant pool parties, picnics, BBQ, day-eating/drinking, and then fireworks in the evening. For the past 10 years, however, I have spent most of America’s birthday abroad: France (’05), London (’07 & ’11), Cameroon (’08, ’09 & ’10) and now Shanghai! I am not even an American by birth. I…
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