Posted 6:15 AM by Andy
Now that I have some time to reflect on the last 6 weeks, let me do a quick brain dump.

Illness. The one word I can use to describe my July is sickness. I felt sick about my situation in Shanghai. Work is extremely mundane with no respite in sight. Although there are a few new people that have come here, my social life is very predictable with no new sparks. I felt an acute sense of homesickness where I pined for the days in sunny California. After one weekend recently where I hung out at Guandii nursing a drink and imbibing on second-hand smoke, my body broke down. Last week I had a heavy cold starting from Thursday. I thought I had recovered on Saturday but when I inserted my contacts on Sunday to play ball, my left eye immediately flashed pain signals to my brain and became swollen. My head was spinning. I tried to make a go of it and play through the pain a la Jordan vs. Utah in game 5 of the 1997 Finals against Utah when he had a fever. What hurt more than the physical pain was knowing I couldn't play a game I love against guys that were showboating. So I got a facial instead and slept for 12 hours that day. The deep sense of alienation I feel towards this city is also due to the vacuous nature of what I see going around me in society. My new colleague Nelson, a former investment banker and venture capitalist, urges me doggedly to go out there and pick up women for the sake of accumulating experience as if I was in some cosmic role-playing game amassing my hit points to go to the next level. He has no problem snatching women from under guys' armpits like the rap goes because he is that experienced, having played the field since 16 and dated actresses and entertainers recently. Pit that nagging voice against my noble ideals of being a good man and it can become a major headache. At least Rob is good-natured about it when he checks up on my social status while Nelson is outright dogmatic in critiquing my naivete. What to do when I am not attracted or interested in the good girls while I don't stand a chance with bad girls? Still, I'm being patient by not leaving at the first impulse to give China more of a chance to grow on me. With the public listing of Baidu yesterday, I am keeping a close watch on landmark companies with the potential to dramatically alter China's tech economy.
Departures. Julie W moved to Chengdu at the end of June to help with the HR department at SMIC's facility there. Her sweet nature and caring heart will be sorely missed. Today is "Rachel"s last day as an intern here. She is definitely the most unique woman I have met in my life, a liberal with deep convictions about human rights, a girlie-girl who is fiercely independent and tough, an intelligent future attorney who relates well to vastly different people. Our politics, faith, and values are on polar extremes but yet I value this friendship and have learned so much from her. I remember almost every conversation I've had with her. We have clogged the company network with our email exchanges on theological debates and musings on relationships. She knows virtually every guy who is in the party scene in Shanghai through her 4-month stay. A parade of men fawn over her from her 37-year-old manager to 60-year-old Oxford professors to 21-year-old Lamda frat boys. I like to think I stand out from the crowd so I try to keep our interactions at a lofty plane but ultimately she is just fun to be around. At our last dinner yesterday, I mentioned I didn't know whether I'll ever see her again because I don't want to presume about those kind of things. She said she is not good at keeping in touch but quickly added she will respond to messages. I love how she hedges, shirking the initiative to keep a friendship growing but affirming it enough to indicate she doesn't want to let it wither and die. All I can say is I will never forget this girl.