Live Update

Quite a few stories are left untold, including the story of our final presentation to students at Hebei University of Economics & Business. Those stories will be told...just a little late, go figure.

Tonight was my last night in Shijiazhuang. Tomorrow we depart for Beijing and I catch a flight out of Beijing on Saturday. It's been quite an experience. Some quick observations:

• Shijiazhuang is booming. The scale of development is almost inconceivable but in a way that seems more sustainable than what I saw in Dubai last year. They build on three year plans and the city is transforming before our eyes.
• Students are students. Tom and I got to know a few of the students and they are smart and down to earth, although I never would have imagined being treated with such reverence by humans.
• The people I've met are outstanding, from my CSC teammates to the ABV team to those at the University to locals to anyone associated with Phil. Quite pleased to have a number of new friends and people welcome in San Carlos anytime.
  
• Very interesting to hear people talk about the overall climate over here. More on this later, perhaps.
• Can't say enough good things about the food, even if I did have to dodge several menu items. Nevertheless, I can't wait to have good Mexican food and a big, juicy burger.
• Does anyone want to go into the donut business with me in Shijiazhuang? The ratio of Chinese donut shops in SF to total donut shops in all of Shijiazhuang is huge.
  
• Is it rude for me to say I'm very much looking forward to the level of cleanliness to which I'm accustomed?
  

I should sleep. Stay tuned for more...

Commencement

I hereby begin blogging about my trip to China.

To set a bit of context, I was fortunate enough to have been chosen to be a part of the IBM Corporate Service Corps, a program to develop leadership skills while addressing economic challenges in emerging markets. It's also a very good example of blending corporate responsibility with corporate strategy, which I find interesting. From a personal standpoint, I'm excited to do some good by doing work I'm actually good at. I wouldn't say my day painting houses was a complete disaster, but they never invited me back, either.

So I'll be heading for Shijiazhuang, China to help a university build their research capabilities and improve MBA teaching and some other things. We'll figure it out when we get there. The work will last from May 9 until June 3, which should be plenty of time for me to learn Mandarin. In the meantime, on Friday I depart with Kristy and Angie to visit Shanghai and Beijing for a bit of vacation prior to kicking off the work. It will undoubtedly be excellent.

Why is this called "Dan Dan Noodles," you ask? First of all, my name is Dan, so that takes care of the first two words. I like noodles. And Dan Dan Noodles are in fact a Chinese dish, which you can learn more about right here. It is also what one of our friends has taken to calling me in recent years, so at a minimum Jessica will laugh.

According to that Wikipedia article, Dan Dan Noodles translates to "Peddler's Noodles." But it also says that a dan dan is a type of pole, which would seem to translate to "Pole Noodles." Either way, I'm getting pretty hungry right now.