A Broad Reference

Hey everyone, I just got back to SF last month and have been recovering from jetlag and cultural dissonance and of course looking for jobs.

Taiwan (and Asia in general) has been an amazing fascinating experience, I learned a lot and I'm really glad I was able to take the time off work. I'm planning on returning to Asia at some point, and will perhaps focus my efforts on finding a job that will allow me to do that. Learning Chinese exercised mental muscles I didn't know I had. I've come a long way according to my room mate Angie who has been super supportive. Especially at a recent party where the only 2 people spoke any English at all, I spent 4 hours hanging comfortably, even to the point of introducing myself to the whole group in only Chinese. Of course, speaking is a lot harder than comprehending and the characters are still a bunch of squiggles. I still have a long way to go to attain fluency and accuracy but I've got a foundation now that I would not have achieved at home. I made so many great friends and was getting so close to sort of functional in Chinese that I'm sad to leave. Everyone was so friendly and willing to help me. I highly recommend Taiwan as a place to learn Chinese. But of course I'm glad to be home with Gwynie, whom I missed something fierce.

I'm very glad I took the time for this adventure, I was super burnt out over last year and just decided to do something different, very different from science. It's made me realize I'm not as trapped or pigeonholed in my profession as I felt. If anything working outside those confines for just a short time has made me aware that I can still try to do anything I want. It made me think longer and harder about what I want to do, what I like doing and to question myself about what I'm actually good at. Still no concrete ideas,

Creatively I feel like I've worked on pieces that I've been thinking about for a while. I'm definitely excited about the direction they're going in, altho still not ready for public airing yet. I've certainly enjoyed the blogging, it's helped me stay in touch with so many more people than I expected. I'm really touched at how many of my friends stop by frequently to check in on how I'm doing, even tho it's mostly about what i had for dinner.

I've decided that I need to make a bigger effort to include a variety of people in my life and not choose the "safe option" as much just because I'm scared of how things might turn out. I've been very lucky to meet some amazingly interesting and talented people who have forced me to grow in directions that had veritably atrophied at home. For that alone I'm glad.

Keep watching this space I'm going to post randomly as thoughts occur.