China is an amazing place that you can never run out of things to do or run out of ideas for new endeavors, at least for the near future. This easily kept me running around all day and staying up late every night since I came off the mountains. Half of my brain thinks in English, half of my brain thinks in Chinese.  

However, the difference between China and US is more than simple translation puzzle. We used to say that it’s an advantage to apply what you learned in another culture to this culture. Yet, I found it sometimes confusing and often tiring trying to switch my brain back and forth between the two cultures, especially when I try to balance between being an observer and a player at the same time. On one side, I still want to hold on to my personal belief as an idealist; on the other side, I want to enjoy the excitement of the big world, instead of as some foreign entrepreneurs in china who keep their balance by being a player in their smaller controlled circle and thus somehow remain an observer in the broader China. China is amazing that you can define your space as an idealist or as a pragmatist, yet it’s confusing for me because I naturally belong to both because of my native brought up and my very different life path.

This is a totally different kind of reversed cultural shock from what people would think of when they go back home after many years. Not only China is totally different because of economic development, but also now the dominant consumer culture is of those born in 1980s or 1990s while the wealth and management roles are still held by those born in 1970s or earlier.

Standing at the cross of time, space, language, career, life, culture, and etc, I found myself hardly thinking of the same issue for more than a few minutes, which makes it so difficult to develop a consistent scheme for any of the issues I’m trying figure out.

I bet you are confused just reading this by now, haha!