Musings

Today, we’re in Zhenghou, which is the largest city in Henan Province. From the 5 star hotel that we’re staying in (courtesy of the Henan Province Cultural Department) to the beautiful Henan Museum that I see from my window (that we’ll we be getting a private tour of this morning, it is vey clear that China’s economic miracle has reached this city of 10 million people. Last night, we had a traditional banquet (at least 30 dishes, accompanied by at least 8 toasts) with our gracious hosts) at an incredibly beautiful high-end restaurant a short walk from our hotel. I…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 10 days or so, or are hitting delete whenever you see a post on Facebook or LinkedIn, or receive email from me, then you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I’m rather smitten with the members of the Women’s Academy for the Future of Women. These young women are incredible. I feel certain that I’m going to be stopped at customs, and have to declare my 6 new Chinese daughters that I’m trying to sneak in. There is an innocence and naivety that I didn’t think existed in the…

One of the students in the Men’s Academy is a young man named Bush, who more makes up for his less-than-perfect English with his energy, enthusiasm and resourcefulness. On Tuesday, Bush had asked me if I’d meet with him, but wasn’t really clear what the meeting was about. I agreed, and then throughout the day, I found that he’d also invited others to the meeting.   Lunch was scheduled for noon, and we were to meet outside the foreign faculty apartment building, which is where I’m staying. when I got there, I found there were about 6 or 7 of…

The other night, I took a stroll down to Italian Street and found a nice spot to sit and people watch, while I enjoyed a taro bubble tea. As I settled in to my favorite spectator sport, I happened to turn around and notice a man with a young baby sitting at the next table. The baby was the sort of infant that you see on Chinese calendars; sturdily built and of generous proportions, with the sort of cheeks that any Jewish grandmother would die for. He was just so happy, that I thought about asking if I could take…

At the Women’s International Symposium over the weekend, I was particularly taken by the translating skills of one of the World Academy members. Some of the speakers would speak for 2 or 3 minutes before pausing for translation, and she would then deliver what appeared to be a flawless translation. One speaker in particular was delivering a really flowery and energetic speech (she’s a lawyer by trade, but the way she worked an audience tells me that she would have done well in stand-up) and all of that energy and passion came over in the English translation. At the end…

Over the weekend, I was honored to attend the 6th International Symposium for Women, held on the Sias campus. Saturday morning started early with opening ceremonies held in the sports stadium, where there were 5,000 students, faculty, dignitaries and VIPs in attendance. The opening ceremony lasted about two hours, and because the seats were very hard, I found myself fidgeting a lot. That stopped however, when Chung To, who was one of the keynote speakers got up to speak. Chung To is the Founder of the Chi Heng Foundation (CHF) which translates as “wisdom in action”. Growing up in China,…

After a day of interviewing young women for the World Academy, Friday was a day of interviewing the young men. In total, I interviewed about 30 over the course of the day. I think that I mentioned before that there was never a plan for there to be a Men’s Academy for the Future of Women, but that it had come about because of the tenacious determination by a handful of young men on campus. In speaking with them, I find myself marveling at the fact that in such a traditional country, that they chose to take a stand on…

Even though it had only been 24 hours, I swear I could hear the strains of Etta James in my head, when I got back to my apartment to find my luggage waiting for me. it had been a very long first day in China. I’d woken up a couple of times in the night and managed to force myself back to sleep, but at 6am, I decided to get up and take a shower. That was easier said than done, as the all in one mini-bathtub / shower cubicle wasn’t really designed for the taller than average Westerner. I…

  So here I am in central China, at the start of my two-week adventure. I’ve been on the Board of Sias International University for almost 4 years now, but because of scheduling conflicts, this is my first trip here. My trip here was a long one, a total of 29 hours door to door. It would have closer to 28 hours, if not for losing an hour in dealing with the fact that while I made it here, my bags didn’t. As I stood at the baggage carousel,I’d looked around me, realizing that I was the only non-Asian there….