back from the motherland

I'm back in Singapore. Touched down this morning not-so-bright and early. Amazingly enough, I made it to class this morning after only sleeping 1.5 hours last nite on the flight home. *groan*. Came back after lunch, did some work and then crashed again. Just got back from dinner at the 'rents.

I have to say that the China trip affected me in more ways than one. Firstly, I was really dreading going cos I thought it was going to be a nightmare, and I was seriously doubting my ability to survive. Thankfully the rest of the group turned out to be really nice people, and I had a blast of a time in between meetings and in the evenings. Despite the fact that I had less sleep every night than I've had in a loong time, I had a good time.

The other big thing was that I think that the trip made me appreciate my roots and heritage more. I've begun to see myself more as a Chinese than I've ever done before. Seeing the Forbidden City up close, speaking to the native Chinese and all that just struck a chord. I've always been westernized but I think to a certain extent, I've done that at the expense of my Chinese roots. Think it may be time to revisit those roots and start brushing up on my mandarin. I'm very embarassed that I'm Chinese by ethnicity and yet can't communicate effectively in Chinese. Not good.

Lastly, I feel a bit more grown up. I survived my first business trip. Now it's left to see if I can survive the aftermath of it - the trip report and the assessment that goes with. Sigh...