Simple Pleasures

I have 2 amazing books to read over Thanksgiving - Winterson's Lighthouse Keeping and Murakami's The Elephant Vanishes. I am as excited as a 5 year old would be on Christmas Eve, waiting to open her gifts. I wish it was perfect weather to go with these books. There are plenty of wooden benches beneath maple, birch and other trees here, which are so forlorn - yearning for someone to sit on them. But the cold is just too bone chilling to read sitting on them.

Flag Day at HBS

Flag Day is an important section event. It's the day we hang our national flags in our classroom. The # of flags raised in my section is 30; i.e my section mates come from 30 countries. Unfortunately, HBS's policy dictates that the Taiwanese national flag should not be put up. Fortunately, for my Taiwanese classmates, we hung the Taiwan Olympic delegation's flag. That diffused the uncomfortable situation a bit. To introduce our flags, we give a 3 min fun presentation of our countries - quirky facts, trivia, a bit of patriotism thrown in. The below hilarious map surfaced during the USA presentation, all in good fun. Notice Africa doesnt even exist!

Are You Here Yet? -2

I know the heights of egotism and pomposity is to quote oneself. But i cant help it, I want to remind myself a promise I keep making to myself. I need this reminder ever more so here at Harvard, to not get drowned with all the work and the many ways one can spend time here. Eastertide, here goes all over again  March 09, 2009- 

You have to be a Jack of all trades. Being a Master is overrated. You need to be able to sing a ditty, dance the lindy hop, discuss the Palestinian situation in Middle East, solve a cryptic crossword, be content with your own company,be comfortable going to parties alone, steer a sparkling conversation over lunch, climb a peak - kilimanjaro or kinabalu - once in a while, run a marathon, swim a kilometer, backpack across continents, be kind to the dog or the kid, know all about wines and yet remain a teetotaler, know all there is to know of cigars, and yet remain a non-smoker, learn a language, give a dime to the old man selling tissues, canter and gallop with your horse. To all this, you need to have a sense of humor nothing can diminish, a goodness nothing can tarnish, a soul that is free and that transcends all this and everything.  Are you here, yet?