Slight Disruption in Plans due to Volcano in Iceland.....REALLY?

What's this world coming to? A major earthquake every week, and now a gridlocked air system due to a continuous volcanic eruption underneath a massive glacier in Iceland. It's almost unbelievable at times!

I was scheduled to fly over to Germany to see the beau on Friday night, but all flights to Northern Europe were canceled. After two hours and three transfers on the phone with Delta, I learned that the earliest I could reschedule for was Monday. At this point, I'm thinking that even that is wishful thinking. But that's where the schedule sits now, we'll see what happens Monday! After reading that the volcanic ash in the air causes airplane engine failure, I'm thinking that it's still better safe than sorry!...

First Trip Back to Asia

I left China hoping to try to make it back once a year. It would be impossible to keep up relationships and language ability without some sort of commitment. I'm so thankful that the first chance...10 months after leaving in May 09...came from my company. I have been working closely with our Aerospace Electronics Commodity Manager to find new Asian suppliers for key programs, quote them, review them, and (Ta-Da!) visit them to make a selection! We will now begin the complex technical reviews, awards and transfer of components as a result of the trip.

We were admittedly only going to SE Asia and Shenzhen, China, but I took a few vacation days and ran up to Beijing, since I was already in the area! I got to see a lot of old friends, visit a lot of my favorite places, and enjoy some of the local food that I hadn't had in 10 months. At the same time, I saw a couple more classmates in Singapore, as I was there for a weekend before we started work. It all really lifted my spirits. When you move away from a place...you leave promising your friends that you will be back to see them. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. But over the last few months, I've seen a lot of my China and IMBA friends that I wasn't expecting to see again so soon...just because our paths are crossing in various places of the world. Thank goodness that the world is sometimes "flat." And now I can't wait until the next time I see you all again!

Here's a lot of people around the "Hot Pot" Table...Sichuan style!


Then with some of the foreign friends:


And then adjusting to the hot in Singapore:

A New (But Familiar) Blog

There was a bit of begging and pleading by my family, (OK- so only my father), to reinstate the blog. My old blog's web address used to be "Experiencing China" so I thought I had to end it when I moved out of China in May 2009. As it turns out, you can import all your old entries when you start a new blog. Your new life can start, still fully connected to the old one.

As you already know, the new web address is "WatchOrLive." I'll admit that there were a few months where I thought I would fall into a more sedentary 'watching' role as I moved to Michigan to be a grown-up, start a job, take on the responsibilities of paying back student loans and saving for retirement. I didn't feel like I was going to be experiencing all the world has to offer, and wouldn't have anything interesting left to say in a blog. But I was wrong,thank goodness! I should give credit here to Aunt Cindy...who told me last summer during the transition that the things I was truly passionate about would still find me, and I would find them...and if anything, I would have better means to experience them now that I was employed and not a student. She was right. I didn't spend more than 2 months in Grand Rapids before I was flying over an ocean again, and I haven't sat still since.

I look forward to sharing with you the new perspectives from new personal and professional roles in my life. At the same time, writing about it reminds me to continue to Live it...not Watch it go by. I'm 6 months in to this new Phase...and am finally looking forward to it and not fearing it. I hope you enjoy the little tid-bits I may share along the way.

Stephanie