Posted 10:21 PM by Andy
Work. There are some changes at work that directly affects my group. Our VP of product management has left the firm, which was anticipated. My manager and another senior product manager are leaving shortly to pursue entrepreneurial ventures. Our CTO pleaded with the rest of the PMs not to jump ship but challenged us to revamp the site. Our current business model is unsustainable so a proposal to relocate servers and hire a local development team to redesign the site from scratch has been approved. It's on us to save eBay China. Results should be available in a year. I agree with the CTO that staying will provide invaluable experience.

Competition. I've realized that I relish competition, especially in an area where I have some talent. Last week I suffered food poisoning and experienced the worst bouts of vomiting and diarrhea in my time here. After 3 days of eating nothing but porridge, I stepped onto the court feeling extremely weak. Harboring visions of MJ in his flu game in the '97 playoffs against the Jazz, I was happy to be sweating and moving up and down the court in my sanctuary. After losing the first game, my team won the next five in a row. I wasn't in a great rhythm, and my defense wasn't up to par, but I was in a Zen-like state where instinct took over and my mind coasted. I've been chasing this natural high in all of life. The same feelings are evoked in worship, and during particularly well-played poker sessions. It may be blasephemous to compare the sacred and the mundane, but the feeling of mastery is the same, where you feel like floating on water and nothing can faze you. During the last year I've become a fan of boxing because it is the purest form of individual physical competition where tactics and strategy are employed, and stamina and will are tested. I love seeing the best fighters go head to head. Unfortunately two fighters in their prime rarely meet in today's game.

Social life. Subjected to illness, my social life has ground to a virtual halt. Instead of wallowing in this misery, I've started to monetize my other skill of taking standardized tests. I've started tutoring a kid on the LSAT for 200 RMB per hour. That's not a bad rate for here but most locals still cannot afford it. Teaching twice a week will pay my rent.

Next time. October holidays in Japan.