Last Night in NL...

A quick post tonight because I have to be up in about 4 hours! I have to get some sleep. I find it near impossible to sleep on planes, so I'm betting I'll be pretty tired when I arrive in Shanghai.

Am I ready for this? I don't know.... I woke up this morning and for the first time (maybe because I knew I had less than 24 hours to go), felt a pang of trepidation. What am I getting myself into?? And I ask that in a good, rhetorical way - the lows may be lower than I expect, and the highs higher. If that makes any sense. I spent my first few weeks in France homesick, but by the end of it, I wanted nothing more than to stay. We'll see. If I don't write for a few days - even a week - it's because I'm "culture shocked" and don't want to use this blog as a place to gripe about why "they" can't do things more like "we" do.

Good night and see you from the other side of the world...

43 Things...

I forgot about this great site until tonight: http://www.43things.com/ It's basically a way to track and share progress on your life goals, no matter how big or small. You can comment on other people's goals and provide tips on how to accomplish them. Very cool.... I'm starting to get into this whole Web 2.0 thing :)

I set up my 20-odd things almost a year ago. Funny how I had "pick up and move" as a goal - almost a check mark on that one! It's neat to see that I accomplished some of my goals (achieve my CC in Toastmasters, visit NYC) and let go of others (score a 700+ on the GMAT). Hopefully I'll accomplish other goals this year - fingers crossed - like live in the US.

Overall, a neat site for finding motivation and inspiration for your goals.

The Countdown is on...

I woke up this morning and realized I'm into my last four days. My final SWAP registration kit showed up on Friday. I've had my farewell party at The Keg. I have my passport back with my Chinese visa. I have a fistful of yuan to get me through the first few weeks.... not as safe as travellers' cheques, I know, but I refuse to go that route. Too much trouble! And they seem very antiquated today - I've travelled to 13 countries and the only time I used travellers' cheques was when I was 16 and didn't have a credit card.

The one thing I have been putting off is the inevitable trip to the necessary evil that is Wal-Mart. I really hate Wal-Mart. My fellow Terra Nova Toastmasters know about my Wal-Mart abhorrence because I even did a speech about it. But there's no denying it is a one-stop shop. Dominion isn't far behind, but it's also more expensive. Ugh. I'm thinking about doing a 1 am trek to avoid the screaming children and rude people blocking the aisles with their carts. Or I could head over this afternoon and use it as last-minute preparation for crowd tolerance??

That is it for now. Time for another farewell coffee....

Leaving the corporate cocoon - Part 2

Wow. It's over. Yesterday was my last day at work. I think I'm just starting to process the last 36 hours. I was up almost 24 hours straight. Work was a blur and I felt like a zombie after being up late working on my application for Georgetown. After work, I stayed at the office to finish my Georgetown app. Finally at about 11 I finished and headed to a friend's to help her celebrate her own MBA. It was after 4 am by the time I got home... but well worth the late night! It'll be sad to say good-bye to my friends. More on that later.

I just listened to "Beauty"- a song from a great NL group called Shaye....

Stay true to your nomad skies
Keep your eyes out for coyote
A thousand secrets are lost
In the archival dust
So lay your ears upon the tracks

One day you will come back
With wrinkled hands and grey hair
And there you will stand on the spot
And you'll marvel how the place is still the same
Though you are somebody else now
Fly on butterfly

And the day that you spin
From your little cocoon
Well, you can't be prepared
For the beauty you'll find there
And you will find beauty
In the toughest of places
And I will be thinking of you out there


The song is resonating with me tonight and making me emotional as I realize I'm into my last few weeks of residency in Newfoundland.... potentially Canada too. With the exception of a few weeks back here in the summer.... that is it. I'll be moving on again in the fall to some as yet unknown destination for my MBA (maybe DC - the interview this week went incredibly well.... 4 blocks from the White House! And what a time in history to be living in DC). I have a love-hate relationship with this "Rock" in the North Atlantic. It will always be home - but it is time to move on. I'm a big city girl and St. John's just doesn't do much for my love of big, culturally diverse cities that have a lot going on. The notorious George Street just doesn't cut it. The Scope just named it the best place in STJ to meet "your next lover". Um, ok. Anyone who's spent 10 minutes on George Street knows that if you're there looking for your next lover, it's generally of the "drag off" variety... but I digress!

It occured to me that I'm in an interesting situation in that I didn't leave right after high school or even University. Almost 5 years after MUN, I have deep personal and professional networks here and I'm sad to leave those behind. The happy hours at The Keg.... Terra Nova Toastmasters.... the business networking events.... I'm happy I stayed long enough to have those experiences. And there are many things I'll miss about Newfoundland, like the friendliness of the people and the ability to leave your pursue on a ledge on George Street (speaking of!) to go dance without fearing that someone will steal it!

Enough "waxing philosophical" for now :0)

Leaving the corporate cocoon

I love this article from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/01/08/jumping.ship/index.html.

These people are living their "What Ifs". My situation is different - I'm not starting my own business - at least not yet! - but I have thought about the negative "What Ifs". What if China doesn't work out? What if I don't get into an MBA program for the fall? What then? I'm taking gap time now based on my plans to start a full-time MBA in September. I have an interview with George Washington U next week... I'd love to know I have a place somewhere before I leave for China.

Speaking of MBA programs, it's time to get back to my essays for Kellogg :)

You know the economy's in bad shape when...

... you can get to the other side of the world for $1,200 Cdn return. All In. From NL. I've paid that for the States.

I've booked my ticket and suddenly my move just got a lot more real. It's amazing how a plane ticket makes things seem that much more concrete. I leave St. John's at 7 am on Jan. 29 - got to love the infamous early morning flights from STJ - fly to Toronto, then go over the North Pole to Shanghai. That should be cool in itself - I hope I have a window seat. The flight is 12 hours and I arrive in Shanghai at 4 pm on Jan. 30. First time over the Pole. First time crossing the date line.

I picked an arbitrary return date of July 9. The school term is over the end of June, so it gives me some time at the end to travel if I want. Who knows? Maybe I'll end up staying longer.

Biggest Fear...

I was at the Jema Travel Clinic today and was relieved to find out that the only vaccination I needed was for Hep A & B. I had visions of being given a long shopping list! Even the Hepatitis shot was #3 of 3 - I had the first two before going to Trinidad and Tobago a few years ago.

I also got a supply of Dukoral... i.e., travellers' diarrhea medication. That brings me to what I most fear about China. Getting sick. You hear the horror stories about Westerners going over there and not being able to leave the bathroom for a week. I remember a marketing prof talking about how people wouldn't get close to her (this was in Japan) because she smelled.

Yuck. I hope the Dukoral, plenty of hand sanitizer and cautious food choices help me avoid that fate. I can't afford to lose 10 pounds on my frame (yes, nice problem to have, I know). And I certainly can't afford to be out of commission my first week because I have orientation in Shanghai.

Wow - I still can't believe I'm going to see Shanghai :) When I think of the sights I'll see, the people I'll meet - suddenly the risk of getting sick doesn't seem so bad.

I just hope my opinion hasn't changed by this time next month!

Speaking of Lone Female Travelers....

I’m not a stranger to solo travel. Here’s a snippet from a speech I’d been preparing to give to my Toastmasters club after returning from my first trip to DC. For some reason I never gave the speech, but at least part of it will see the light of day....



A lone female traveller always attracts attention, for better or worse. Some people look at me with pity. Sometimes I get curious glances as though people can’t quite figure out what a young woman is doing travelling by herself. Where’s the boyfriend or fiancé?

Eating alone in a restaurant is, without a doubt, one of the most disconcerting experiences for a woman travelling alone. But I’ve realized that it’s only uncomfortable if you let other people’s awkwardness bother you. I used to feel vaguely embarrassed about eating alone. With every bite, I’d feel self-conscious, as though everyone was staring at me. That all changed this past summer during a trip to Washington, DC. I decided to embrace the experience of eating alone. On several occasions, I actually made the decision to eat alone at nice restaurants. At first I engrossed myself in a book, but that was just validating those who think it’s unnatural for a woman to dine alone. So I ditched the book, and began to savour not only the food, but also the empowerment that flows from holding one’s own. I won’t turn this into a rant about not needing a man. The truth is that I didn’t need anyone in those moments – man, woman or child. I was free to be alone.

Travelling the World for Free

Ok, I just tried to publish this to my blog, but nothing seems to have happened. So here's the link: http://thetravelersnotebook.com/how-to/how-to-travel-for-free/

This is a fantastic article - in essence. In practice, I'm not convinced all of these tips are wise, especially for a lone female traveller.... or any traveller for that matter. Yes, we should trust more. Our Culture of Fear has taken much of the fun out of travel (and many other things - don't get me started on "anti-bacterial" soap and the sudden need to keep children out of the way of all germs!). That said, I'd pony up the money for the peace of mind of a plane ticket any day over hitchhiking/negotiating my way to a foreign land. But the writer's points about the joy of new experiences and minimizing needs (read: wants) are well taken.

Teaching English as a Second Language gets a nod here. Indeed, the self-financing aspect of my teaching experience is what is making this possible for me. I'll be paid in local currency and my accommodation is provided. I won't make much by Canadian standards, but by local standards - I suspect I'll be quite well off. I had considered one of those volunteer abroad programs, but in the end, the high cost of participation (thousands of dollars for a few months), at a time when I'm saving for my MBA program, deterred me - at least for now :)