Healthcare Road Map

Apologies for the deceptive title. Only reading MSNBC, Boston.com, and BBCNews, my information is limited to how much time I feel like spending on those sites, but it seems that the healthcare issue is stirring up good-ol' fashioned mobs with pitchforks and torches. I cannot even begin to have an opinion on it, since I really have enjoyed distancing myself from the American Media (it's actually very refreshing not being bombarded with garbage 90% of the time).

I am really posting to lay out an ever so small portion of my trip home, mostly because it gives me an excuse to play with some screen-capture software that I purchased, and because I'm putting off doing some work at the moment (yeah midnight right?).



I'm thoroughly convinced there are only 3 people who still read this, so it seems like a lesson in futility but who cares, it's the internet

Sunrelenting

It is August and the heat is really on. The humidity too, extra even.

That's not really news though. There is little new to report on. We are grinding away at getting this new company moving forward, and the prospects look promising. We have several partners lined up, and two are already committed. We also we're able to secure some gravitas with the help of some senior figures both in China and abroad throwing their names under ours.

That is exciting, but not money-in-my-pocket exciting. My Macbook is still dead and the more research I do on it, the more it looks like 6 years of music and 3 years of documents have been all but erased thanks to a tiny needle scratching a tiny disc in a rather compact little computer.... That is frustrating to say the least.

On a happier note, this American adventurer is coming back home, not for 1 week, not 2, but three weeks. I expect my home coming to elicit a response similar to this:


And if you call in the next 30 minutes we'll include a full sit down face-session with this guy himself, something we've never offered before on this show. But wait, there's more (Billy Mays and Ron Popeil would be proud) I am multi-tasking this trip. Mixing business with leisure with family time with wedding time. It does of course mean a road trip (work related for a solid 75% of it), which means that if anyone who still actually reads this is on the northeastern seaboard, they should let me know when they are free between Sept 7th and the 21st.
The trip will be interesting to say the least as we find ourselves dealing again with our humbling South China Learning Institute summer program. But it's new, improved, with a curriculum and of course a snazzy powerpoint that details all of our wonderful opportunities. Folks if you've got kids in college or just out, they cannot afford to miss a summer in arguably one of the most important cities of the next 20 years.

Time it's flying

The last week and a half has been incredibly busy here. We are prepping for our return to the states, as well as moving forward with the new business concept which is neatly represented by this little logo I put together one day.

The craziest thing is the fact that our best friend is getting married, marking the first of the SSCC to succumb to that most hallowed institution. What's crazier will be the 15/16 hr trip that it'll take to get back in , and the awkward customs conversation when they ask why you've been in China so long with only a tourists visa.

The trip home will be both business and pleasure however as I plan on doing another Eastern seaboard trip to meet with as many schools as possible, armed with a powerpoint pesentation, brochures, and of course, snazzy business cards. The aim is to get as many schools on board with the SCLI program and look for recommendations of places to vet our services. We'll see how it goes this week as we begin approaching schools for meetngs.

The company that I have been rather surreptitious about is going to run in the True Wind vein. The "C" stands for consulting. Not my area of expertise, but the boys have a history with this stuff from their time in Gotham city, and we have some partners with experience both in China and in the field. The feeling is positive as we move forward securing a company line as well as a website (another one right?).

On a side note, it's hard to believe August is nearly half way over. This of course comes up to mark the 6 month point in my time here, and it's rather scary to think about. It's gone way too fast, and well... the results we were hoping for have not been realized just yet. I seem to say the next few weeks will tell, and I keep trying to believe it. We'll see where things go.

Junkin' It

Things have been slow out here lately, and unfortunately there is little new to report on other than the drain of funds and the intensity of the heat. SCLI is gearing up for the school season and our curriculum is beginning to come together. We are currently working on a pitch presentation and educational materials to show to schools and potential students. Sadly, any revenue from our efforts will not be realized until late fall at the earliest... Which is frustrating.

The new direction we are working toward is seeing some positive progress, and though we are in the due diligence phase of things,the potential market is promising. We are excited about it, but cautious nonetheless.

The bright spot in the past few weeks was junk boat cruise we were invited on this last Saturday. The weather was perfect, albeit painfully humid, but the sun stayed out and the waters were calm. It was my first junk experience in Hong Kong and most certainly will not be the last. The cruise set off from a large pier paaacked with parties ranging from 10-40 people all awaiting their respective boats. Our meager crowd of 15 or so dialed in the reserved boat and set sail for the island of Po'toi about an hour and a half away. Po'toi is one of the southern most islands under Hong Kong's jurisdiction and is home to a small town that exists solely to run a large restaurant frequented by junkers. The fish was amazing and diverse, and the atmosphere, though a bit muggy was quite interesting. Large round tables housed boat parties and all were seated on various levels of decking. all of this overlooked the medium-sized cove that sheltered the 6 or so junks that were there at the time of our arrival. Lunch was great, but it was time for a swim.

I have since been told that the salinity of the waters varies greatly depending on which coves the captains decide to stop at. Ours happened to be quite salty. Eye-burny salty. A damper on the afternoon's activities? Absolutely not. We christened the swim with a couple jumps of the top of the boat, then proceded to loung about in lifesavers for a good half hour, before swimming and jumping in some more. The good life.

Swimming was nice and a few of us retired for naps on the main deck. We slowly raced the sun back to Hong Kong and once there, decided it wasn't yet time to go home. Negotiations were in order, and an extra couple hundred hong kong dollars a head bought us and extra 90 minutes to watch the sun come down and the city light up, in an unprecedented on-water view.

A great day indeed, and sadly, it's all in the past as we continue to work, study mandarin (we're a bit behind regrettably), and continue to make something of our time here.

Weekend Update

Who doesn't fondly recall snowcones? Except for the end, when it was kind of a purple/black slush mess.

Well Molave caught everyone a bit off-guard and hit full typhoon status right before making landfall. We caught the brunt around 3 am as the eyewall came directly over Shenzhen. Yes, it was Saturday, but none of us would have been able to fall asleep anyway. 37 stories up, a typhoon is a whole different animal: the wind is unbelievably loud, rain is forcing itself in wherever possible through sills, air conditioner vents, so on and so forth. It was really quite something, the roads competely flooded and trees were down everywhere, we even saw an unfortunate VW with a rather large piece of flora digging into its hood.

Pretty neat stuff.

On more topical notes, the Anemoi Partners are moving forwad into some interesting directions. The SCLI programs all remain up and running, and the curriculum is beginning to take shape. Our teacher Jess is learning quickly by Shenzhen standards, and is slowly becoming more dependant with time. It's exciting and frustrating at the same time. We learned some hard lessons this summer with our applicants, and will not make those same mistakes again, the only problem is that again isn't until this winter and next summer. "The meantime" is what makes life all the more difficult. We were not slated to last more than 6 months sans some cash flow. SCLI's real potential for revenue will not be realized until November at the earliest, and that is where life gets tricky. Our other directions are mum at the moment, but I am happy that the boys are moving projects in a direction that better suits our core skill set and allies us with more established figures in and around China.

It looks like I will be applying to teach English (while not a terrible thing, it was something I had told myself I wouldn't have to do), and I'm excited to imagine what I would be like in charge of a class. In fact, I think a lot of people are... maybe not excited, let's say, amused and slightly scared, of what I would be like as a teacher/mentor. As I seem to be saying a lot on this blog, the next few weeks will be interesting, it seems the current day never is.

Molave set to make landfall

Ever since Hurricane Bob made swept through Boston in 1991, I've been fascinated with hurricanes and tropical weather in general. Morbid curiousity abounds as stories rain in of trees, vehicles and various household pets go flying around neighborhoods. I imagine my excitement about storms like these will subside (if only slightly) once I own property in a storm's path, but until then, I anxiously await the chance to sit inside some heavily fortified structure and watch Mama Nature wreak havoc on poorly built structures and those flaura and fauna which Selection has decided against.

We have had a couple bruhes with Typhoons/tropical storms already in Shenzhen, and tonight it looks like another will be making landfall righ on top of us. Molave (only at about 70mph sustained winds right now) will be making landfall sometime late this evening. We're all pretty excited, and for two real reasons. One, awesome rain and wind is a break from the dreary pattern of humid & sunny and bleak tropical rainfall; and two (probabl incorrect usage of a semicolon, but whajevs) typhoons knock the smog out for a couple days leaving us with gorgeous views, clear skies, and mildly reduced humidity.

Awesome.

If things start getting intense, don't worry, they've already inspected our windows for typhoons.

Side Projects

The expat community out here is well-known for having is(are?) well known for having its(their?) finger in many pies. Most folks out here keep up with a regular day job, and have side projects ranging from importing gourmet food from Australia, to running sites like yours truly started one random weekend evening. While this isn't a monetary game yet, the concept is fun, laid-back, and gives locals an opportunity to waste time on the internet with Shenzhen relevant inside jokes.
Beijing is next, followed by Shanghai, and then if it hits, we take it stateside. Random? Quite. Interesting? Probably not to a lot of folks, but that's not really the point. Though making money is a point, and that's where some of my other time is being spent. It looks like this American may have to bite the bullet and get into teaching English like so many post undergrad students who go abroad do. While I don't see it growing permanent or even long term legs, it will support the next few months, and allow me to get some much needed classroom experience that will in fact be essential to where some of our future plans are taking us. Mum is the word right now, and in no way is the South China Learning Institute vanishing or being pushed aside. We currently have one Anemoi partner back in the states on the Eastern seaboard to keep in touch with schools as they gear up for their 2009/2010 season begins.

Like anything that develops on the ground, plans shift. The original college prep business still sounds good, but we lack the connections to build us into a profitable company, and we are not here to step on toes and alienate ourselves from fellow Americans abroad. The next 2 months are going to be very interesting, and will, for better or worse, dictate the next year or two of our lives.

Serious stuff right? You have to keep it light, in fact, we recently discovered the joys of bowling at a significantly reduced cost to its American counterpart (and oddly enough everything at the alley is made in the US). Open mic nights have proven interesting to say the least, but there is talk of getting a small group of lads together for some good ol a cappella.

On a side note, the VPN is great, but I've now caught up with all current cartoon series (Family Guy, South Park, American Dad) Any suggestions out there besides Dexter and Mad Men?

(Around the censors) and back online!

Apologies for the delay, but China saw fit the need to block all US-hosted blog websites, in an effort to force its people to use Chinese-based hosts. This was tolerable, then Google started popping offline every now and then, and then everything went south the other week when riots broke out in Urumqi. Then a whole host of sites became inaccessable such as The Wallstreet Journal, Facebook, and a few other news blogs as well.

I'll be posting info to fill everyone in on the last 2 months shortly.