Update! Woot!

Life continues to be exciting and rewarding. I'm now working full time at North Media in addition to teaching my 12 hours with the university. Yes, it's a little crazy but not as crazy as the first couple of weeks of the term. I've stopped going to Chinese class in the mornings and have instead chosen to use that time at NM. My partner in Intl. Services (who is turning out to be a fantastic mentor, not to mention a good friend) has instilled the idea of effective time management into my head. At this point, communicating with a variety of Chinese people, solving problems, writing documents, translating, expressing my ideas, taking feedback, learning about the company--all in Chinese--is better for my language skills than any textbook lesson could ever hope to be. And it's a lot more productive because application is tangible and relevant.

I'm into a solid routine now and being that I've got a good sense of the ropes and the scope and expectations of my job, I'm really starting to dig in and run with it. Already I'm starting to understand this networking business and how to get things done by working with people, finding out what they need and figuring out how to help them fulfill those needs. It's really quite satisfying and it leaves me with a really great feeling at the end of the day. It's fun, like a puzzle for me and it's a race to put the pieces together as fast as possible. hehe :)

Just like a puzzle though, I don't notice the time I'm putting into it. I counted last week and in total, the hours I spent working for someone else--either the university or NM--totaled well over 60 and it looks like this week is going to do the same. The thing is, it doesn't feel like it. I got this great quote from a friend that exactly puts what I'm feeling into words:

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both." -François Auguste René Chateaubriand

:-)

In addition to expressive quotes, there's a song by Natasha Beddingfield that does a good job of describing my attitude towards love right now...the chorus line goes something like "I'm single right now, that's how I wanna be." As you might have guessed, I wised up to the boy's games and decided I'm tired of mystery. I'm still part of the family--mother still loves me, his cousin and I are quickly becoming best friends, even the parrot likes me!--and since he never calls them either, we're all pretty much of the same status. *rolls eyes* Whatever, too busy to waste time or emotions--there's too many other people to love and be loved by here to worry about it. Hooray for moving on.

Finally returned my overdue library books (about a month late) and traded them in for a microecon book which I'm steadily pouring through on my taxi and bus rides all over the city. I'm kind of sad I didn't take more econ at willamette, it's actually kind of interesting and it helps to put structure and words to what I've already casually observed. And me being the math major, nicely summarized theories and graphs are always something I've gotten a kick out of. I know what you're thinking and yes, you are absolutely right: Nerds are damn sexy. ::sheepish grin (snorts)::

Alright, I'm tired and I'm going to the play house in Fushun tomorrow with a bunch of Japanese guests so I need to sleep and since I've temporarily run out of interesting things to tell you all, I'll leave you with the (slightly adapted) words of one Fred Rogers: May it be a beautiful day in your neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine, could you be mine? No matter where you're from or where you roam, your home is where your neighbors are, would you be mine, could you be mine, won't you be, won't you be, please won't you be my neighbor?