It is always miraculous to see a dream take shape and form. Dreams in themselves are made of the chiffon of our hopes, desires, and aspiring. There may be no limit to their fabulous unfolding, rich in all the magic of the fantastic. A dream may be held at the focal point of one’s mind and heart until it takes over the total process of one’s thinking and planning, until at last we become the living embodiment of what we dream. This is the first miracle: we become our dream; then it is that the line between what we do and are and our dream melts away. A new accent appears in how we think, the signature of our dream must guarantee the integrity of our every act. (Howard Thurman, 1899 – 1891)
[found on Greendrinks]
March 05, 2012
Collage
collage / opkrabbelen
Originally uploaded by macchi.
I'm slowly working through the book Opkrabbelen which has a lot of different assignments and questions and all kinds of stuff.
One of them is to make a collage, moodboard, or whatever you want to call it. This is mine.
I like it. I think I'm going to stick it up on my fridge or something because there are a few things on here that are good reminders for me.
What stands out for you? (I realize most words are Dutch). Curious to hear what you see in this (and maybe that will help me a little bit more again).
March 04, 2012
Some thoughts on work (2)
Think about this for a moment: when introducing yourself to unknown people (outside of work, so imagine a date - or dating website -, first lesson of a language course, a party, anything social really), what do you talk about? Place you live, work you do, hobby's you have?
My theory is that about 9 out of 10 people will talk about work. And if you don't start talking about it yourself, the other person will ask you about this - most likely in one of the first questions.
Why is this? Why is the work we do such an integral part of our identity in this society?
The type of work you do clearly is a way of cutting out your place in this world. And for the other person, it is a way of deciding where on the social ladder to put the person you are talking to. And the more I think about it, and the more I'm in situations that this is happening in, it is starting to annoy me more and more.
Work is an easy identifier: everyone works or is trying to get work. So in a way it is a 'safe' topic as everyone can relate. Talking about other interests that you may have outside of work are most likely more difficult as a conversation opener: chances are that the person you are talking to doesn't have that same interest and it will take longer to find a mutual topic to talk about. But isn't half the fun talking and finding that mutual interest? And aren't those other topics so much more interesting to talk about and get to know the other person?
My theory is that about 9 out of 10 people will talk about work. And if you don't start talking about it yourself, the other person will ask you about this - most likely in one of the first questions.
Why is this? Why is the work we do such an integral part of our identity in this society?
The type of work you do clearly is a way of cutting out your place in this world. And for the other person, it is a way of deciding where on the social ladder to put the person you are talking to. And the more I think about it, and the more I'm in situations that this is happening in, it is starting to annoy me more and more.
Work is an easy identifier: everyone works or is trying to get work. So in a way it is a 'safe' topic as everyone can relate. Talking about other interests that you may have outside of work are most likely more difficult as a conversation opener: chances are that the person you are talking to doesn't have that same interest and it will take longer to find a mutual topic to talk about. But isn't half the fun talking and finding that mutual interest? And aren't those other topics so much more interesting to talk about and get to know the other person?
February 29, 2012
China - again
The past week I was travelling in China for business. I'm there occasionally, maybe once a year, for work - but this trip seemed a little different, but very good.
On the work side, it was good because this was actually the first time that I wasn't accompanying some high level manager or director, but I was going to do my own things and bringing my own messages to discuss with my colleagues. Good stuff.
It was also a little different because I ended up with a bit of spare time (partly because of the above) so that gave me an opportunity to explore new parts of Beijing and Shanghai.
Good to do, not just the spare time but also because it made me realize that I have quite an outdated image of Shanghai especially. An image from all of 6 years ago when I had been there as a tourist for two days. The visit this time was also only two days but getting a better idea of how people work and live in this city has been very interesting. Especially because I've always been saying how I think it's a great city and wouldn't mind living/working there for a while. To be honest, I'm not so convinced about that anymore. Or rather, I see many more of the drawbacks of it now as well.
Which is good, because I'm slowly gearing up my job search so I'm happy to have had the opportunity to get a better look at what I think I want.
On the work side, it was good because this was actually the first time that I wasn't accompanying some high level manager or director, but I was going to do my own things and bringing my own messages to discuss with my colleagues. Good stuff.
It was also a little different because I ended up with a bit of spare time (partly because of the above) so that gave me an opportunity to explore new parts of Beijing and Shanghai.
Good to do, not just the spare time but also because it made me realize that I have quite an outdated image of Shanghai especially. An image from all of 6 years ago when I had been there as a tourist for two days. The visit this time was also only two days but getting a better idea of how people work and live in this city has been very interesting. Especially because I've always been saying how I think it's a great city and wouldn't mind living/working there for a while. To be honest, I'm not so convinced about that anymore. Or rather, I see many more of the drawbacks of it now as well.
Which is good, because I'm slowly gearing up my job search so I'm happy to have had the opportunity to get a better look at what I think I want.
January 23, 2012
Reminiscing Asia (3): a Delhi morning
Delhi/ on the back of a bicycle rickshaw
Originally uploaded by macchi.
India had never really been on my list of places to visit. Somehow it didn't appeal, and had no particular interest in going there.
This changed over the last few years, through books I've read, movies I've seen and work I've done which involved India. This was reinforced by a very short work trip to India - 3 days in Delhi, 3 days in Mumbai. And though I could not really do much other than my work meetings, the stay there was quite a revelation of what India is like.
To me, India is not Asia. Or well, not the Asia that I know which is mostly East-Asia.
What struck me most is how everything everyone is everywhere at the same time. It may sound strange but I'm used to Asian cities (KL, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Osaka etc etc) where everything is more or less compartmentalized. Yes, there's chaos everywhere but in the expensive parts of town it's tidy, clean, expensive-looking with likewise people there. And the poor people, well... they are somewhere else for the most part.
India isn't like this at all, which was unexpected but also much more confronting than what I was used to. You would be in a taxi going to meetings, and passing a family with many many kids living underneath the highway in full view of everyone.
In a way, this trip was quite comfortable as I didn't need to go out by myself much. I do want to go back and travel by myself, but that will be such a different experience than elsewhere that I'm not sure if it's something I'd enjoy or want to do by myself (which is usually not a problem).
December 19, 2011
Reminiscing Asia (2): standing in the fog in Shenzhen
Foggy Shenzhen
Originally uploaded by macchi.
Last year I was in Beijing for a few days, and wanted to see at least a little bit of a new part of China. So, I flew to Guangzhou to tour Guangdong for a day with a colleague. Guangdong is a province which is part of the Pearl River Delta, the most important economic region in China. A LOT of the things in your home will have been produced here (or components of it are).
We took a whirlwind tour of the area, and my colleague had chosen the various stops to show me the extremes of Chinese development. Shenzhen, for example - which is where the above picture is taken. A town that was barely a fishing village in the late '70s and has grown to a city with over 10 million inhabitants in just over 30 years.
Starting out as a Special Economic Zone for a wide range of production facilities, it has now moved away from the very labour intensive production to high tech and innovative production. It is also home to some of the countries best known high tech companies, such as ZTE, BYD, Huawei to name only a few.
So, why this picture in my series of Asian moments? We were standing here with a group of people on an urban development tour, and an architect from OMA was explaining their current project, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on the other side of where I was taking the picture. It was very foggy - or maybe part pollution? Many Chinese cities, including Beijing, are renowned for the levels or air pollution. But the speed at which everything is still being built and developing is enormous. Very impressive. And this isn't even the fastest growing region in China. You'd have to go much further inland and I'm sure the amount of construction cranes will be double there. That feeling of evercontinuing development, construction, etc is what has stuck with me though and why this picture is here.
Later on that day we visited the other part of Chinese development, the South China Mall. Which made the day all the more fascinating.
[it may seem as if I only know Asia through work, but much of the other stuff was in the pre-digital camera!]
December 04, 2011
Reminiscing Asia (1): late night Kuala Lumpur
late night supper with sweet milktea/KL
Originally uploaded by macchi.
....
Following my earlier post I've been looking at some of my Flickr series of trips to Asia. And I'm going to share some of my most memorable moments during those trips with you here.
First up: Kuala Lumpur, where I visited for work in June 2008.
It was my first time to this country, and I only spent a short week there mostly working. But I'd convinced my boss that I should really arrive on Saturday to be rid of my jetlag by Monday to be able to do that work well.
And that gave friends of mine the opportunity to drive up from their city in southern Malaysia to KL to come and meet me. I never cease to be amazed at how these friendships can stand years of irregular contact; and yet some people will drop everything to come and see you.
I had the best introduction to KL that I could've wanted: starting with amazing Chinese food, then being taken around the city to go up KL Tower and have an incredible view of the city, finishing off the evening with the above - a late night snack with milk tea. And of course, the whole night accompanied by my friend and his wife and 3-yr old daughter.
Sitting outside on a terrace at midnight, in warm balmy tropical weather, sipping milk tea and chatting to friends after a long day of travelling - bliss.
Some thoughts on work (1)
One of my colleagues asked me maybe a year ago "how I know so much about the countries I work on". At that time the question struck me as odd. Sure, I might know a fair bit about the geographical region I deal with in my job but isn't that supposed to be normal?
The question keeps coming back to me over the last few months, also because of comments other colleagues have made to me. Such as that I always read every document there is, know what it is about, and can comment intelligently about it. The first isn't true in my perception so these comments are always a bit mysterious to me.
But I think I know now why this is - why people see me in this way. What I do in my job links for a large part to something that is a part of my live and that I am immensely interested in and fascinated by: Asia, more specifically China right now and Japan in the past.
Just a few examples:
> I have travelled extensively in the Asian region, mostly in Japan. And would love to see more and more.
> A third of the books I've read for fun in my spare time this year were about China, with another third on that other topic which I find increasingly intriguing: sustainability. I don't read these books out of a sense of compulsory reading to keep up with my field. I read them because I enjoy them, I love reading about other people's experiences about these places, or about current developments etc.
> I follow several blogs about these countries and topics, because I'm genuinely interested.
> I happily go to debate evenings on any of these topics.
And to be honest, I don't think many of my colleagues do the same about their respective countries/regions.
So it's no surprise that I do actually know a lot. And that I can comment on a certain topic or development without having read the full 80-page report on it. That actually has nothing to do with how hard I work, but everything to do with having found a job which engages me fulltime with those issues that I find personally fascinating and worldchanging. It also doesn't mean that I've made my hobby into my work - because what I do for a living I wouldn't want to do for free. But it does feel like a pretty close ideal situation.
No wonder I'm having trouble letting go of this particular job. Though I also know that whatever comes next will ideally include the same topics and issues - and that shouldn't be too hard considering the growing importance of the region worldwide!
The question keeps coming back to me over the last few months, also because of comments other colleagues have made to me. Such as that I always read every document there is, know what it is about, and can comment intelligently about it. The first isn't true in my perception so these comments are always a bit mysterious to me.
But I think I know now why this is - why people see me in this way. What I do in my job links for a large part to something that is a part of my live and that I am immensely interested in and fascinated by: Asia, more specifically China right now and Japan in the past.
Just a few examples:
> I have travelled extensively in the Asian region, mostly in Japan. And would love to see more and more.
> A third of the books I've read for fun in my spare time this year were about China, with another third on that other topic which I find increasingly intriguing: sustainability. I don't read these books out of a sense of compulsory reading to keep up with my field. I read them because I enjoy them, I love reading about other people's experiences about these places, or about current developments etc.
> I follow several blogs about these countries and topics, because I'm genuinely interested.
> I happily go to debate evenings on any of these topics.
And to be honest, I don't think many of my colleagues do the same about their respective countries/regions.
So it's no surprise that I do actually know a lot. And that I can comment on a certain topic or development without having read the full 80-page report on it. That actually has nothing to do with how hard I work, but everything to do with having found a job which engages me fulltime with those issues that I find personally fascinating and worldchanging. It also doesn't mean that I've made my hobby into my work - because what I do for a living I wouldn't want to do for free. But it does feel like a pretty close ideal situation.
No wonder I'm having trouble letting go of this particular job. Though I also know that whatever comes next will ideally include the same topics and issues - and that shouldn't be too hard considering the growing importance of the region worldwide!
November 13, 2011
Experimenting with food: scrubs!
Following another No Impact Week where I've followed online discussions more than participating myself again, I suddenly find myself trying something new: making my own cosmetics.
While I know that there is loads of bad stuff in conventional cosmetics (see, for example, The Story of Cosmetics), I also find it hard to find products that seem better. But making my own also seems like a lot of work, and for which you need a lot of time.
Until someone posted some recipes for making your own scrubs. And that seemed doable, with just sugar, some spices, salt and olive oil. What could go wrong?
So I now have a jar of sweet 'n spicy brown sugar scrub ready to be used. Very very curious what it will be like!
While I know that there is loads of bad stuff in conventional cosmetics (see, for example, The Story of Cosmetics), I also find it hard to find products that seem better. But making my own also seems like a lot of work, and for which you need a lot of time.
Until someone posted some recipes for making your own scrubs. And that seemed doable, with just sugar, some spices, salt and olive oil. What could go wrong?
So I now have a jar of sweet 'n spicy brown sugar scrub ready to be used. Very very curious what it will be like!
November 10, 2011
Itchy feet
gansu mountains
Originally uploaded by macchi.
I just finished reading a book on urban development in China (this one) in which a Dutch journalist and architect explore the inland second tier cities in China. All cities that most of us have never heard of.
I have visited two of them (Xi'an & Lanzhou) and my work has offices in another two. But the rest..... more than any other book this one makes me want to travel again!
But also, it's made me realise again that China is so diverse - and I tend to forget that when I travel for work as I'm always stuck in the same cities, and in the same Central Business Districts. And apart from the cities (where, admittedly, so many Chinese people now live) the countryside is stunning.
This picture is taking in the mountains in Gansu province, pretty much in the middle of the country. I was on my way to a Tibetan settlement, Xiahe, which was one of the highlights of my trip exploring (a small part of) China. After Xiahe, I continued west to Jiayuguan and Dunhuang, where the oldest Buddhist caves in China are located. Stunning.
But it's further West still that I want to go. Xinjiang, Urumqi, Kashgar, the Taklaman desert and more. I don't know why this part of the country fascinates me so much - maybe the emptiness, isolation, but also (the decreasing) sense of non-Chineseness that I expect the find there. I need to be quick though. What I'm reading about Kashgar isn't good.... So hopefully, a next non-work trip to China will include that part of this immense country.
But first, my Flickr collection will next year finally start to include some pictures of Japan. Cannot wait to show you all my favourite places there - and my new discoveries!
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