Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Life After Peace Corps

Things I Love to Do

My neighborhood has lot of flowers and trees.  In front of my apartment, there are two fruit trees: apple and the purple leaf plum.  I recognized the apple tree since spring but discovered the purple leaf plum tree only yesterday.  It was its deep red fruit caught my attention.  I spot a few lying on my running path.  Immediately, I thought they were cherries.  But when I bit into the fruit, it was crunchy like a plum with a sweet and sour taste.  I went to “google” and found out its name.   I was excited, went back to the tree and kept taking pictures of its fruits  Leaning new things in nature always brings me lots of joy.    
If I can re-live again, I would love to be a Botanist or Archeologist.  I am just a nature lover; crazy about everything in the natural world: flowers, trees, wildlife, streams, waterfalls, mountains, rocks and even a dead tree.  Remembering their names and shapes seems effortless to me.  Once I study a plant, I never forget its name and its look.   I think I will be happy just gardening every day, or scouting the wood every weekend.    I will be equally happy if I am a National Park Ranger, visiting a mountain every day. 
To be an Archeologist, one must have a strong desire for adventures, which I know I have.  Traveling to remote places, climbing into tombs, caves, mountains, cliffs, finding out the  relationship between people and landscapes, discovering the mysterious past behind each excavation, etc…  all that mesmerizes me.  Men like Indiana Jones, to me, are the most interesting and sexiest men on earth! I will have endless conversation with them over dinner with a glass of wine and candle light.
Anyway, I have lots of plans when I retire.  I can be a volunteer for a National Park, Sierra Club or an archeology society, or I can hike the entire Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide or the Pacific Crest, disappear into the woods for months, to be a hermit…..
Would that be nice?

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Life After Peace Corps

 Life as It Should Be
The recent GSA scandal not only causes the casualty of a few top executives, it also creates massive financial reporting nightmares to other Federal agencies.  About a month ago, my organization received a letter from US Senator requesting a list of conference costs.   Financial reporting is my expertise, I had no problem putting the data in the format that was requested, but the data was MASSIVE, more than 3,000 entries , so I worked very hard for a week, nearly as hard as I used to when I worked for the private sector.  
Well, doing special project (like this Congressional Request) is always interesting.   I have been with the Smithsonian only three months, but I learnt a lot, including some of the BIG words, such as Curator, Philanthropy, Symposium, Synchrotron and Anthropological;  words that I never ever used before.  Now I can talk like a Professor, a Scientist, an educator, or even Dr. Chan…..:-)
I like my job, I like my organization.  It is a privilege to work for the Smithsonian. The work is not difficult at all.  Sometimes, I do feel bored working for the Federal Government.  I missed the dynamic environment in the private sector, the board room drama, the everlasting challenges of my brain, the accomplishments, and of course, the BIG FAT bonus at the end.  All those things made me feel important, productive, smart and proud.  Not everyone can handle the pressure I used to deal with everyday….but at the end, I could not deal with it any longer.
At this stage of my life, I want to spend more time doing things I enjoy.  Working 40 hours a week is enough.   I am off this Friday, plan to visit some museums, maybe go to Mt. Vernon, visit George Washington Estate, maybe take a long walk along the river, maybe visit my friends in NY, or maybe doing nothing at all……

Friday, May 11, 2012

Life After Peace Corps

Strawberry Field

Spring time is just lovely here along the Four-Mile Run stream, a small running creek down by the hill of my apartment.  The place exerts a magnetic spell.  Wild flowers are everywhere.  So far I have identified the daffodil, dogwood, Virginia bluebell, wild iris and strawberry, cliff rose, forget-me-not, yellow buttercup and many many more.  Here is the place I called “Strawberry Field”. 

About four miles into my walk, there is a patch of earth full of wild strawberry.  I never saw a real wild strawberry before.  Back in New York by the hiking trial of Harriman State Park, I spotted a few wild strawberry shrubs.  Occasionally in early May, I would see their yellow flowers, but I had never once seen the flowers grow into fruits.  Perhaps, they lacked of nutrients, or maybe birds got into the fruits before I had a chance to see them.   But here it is!  A plot of grassland by the river is full of wild strawberries.  The fruits are very small, but plumb with crimson color.  I pick one and taste it, not so sweet but juicy.  The birds should love them.    There is another plant I discovered by the hillside of the river. Its leave resembles the Chinese squash that my Brooklyn friend Wood grows in his garden.   It has the same yellow flower.  I have to remember to check them out in autumn.  Maybe that yellow flower will turn into a squash.  Wishful thinking!      

I find a nice spot to take a break on a level rock.  A gurgling sounds of the stream smooths me.  I take off my shoes and dip my feet into the water.  It is cold but I really enjoy the feeling.  My mind begins to drift back to early February when I first moved to Virginia.   I had my early sorrow.  I missed New York.  Many weekend, I felt desolate and bereft.  But as soon as I had decided to train for the 26-mile hike, I started taking long walk along the Four-Mile Run stream.  The walk slowly and surely heals my wounds.  While I am with the river, I forget my loneliness.  I keep walking and walking, discover more attractions along the river shore.  The river has also taught me another lesson about life.  Life resembles the flow of a river, it is constantly moving.  No matter how many twists and turns, the river continues to push forward and eventually, reaches its destination.  So I should enjoy the ride and not to be defeated by its turbulence.  Given time, I will fine-tune with my new life in Virginia, meeting new friends, developing a new altitude and living contentedly in a quiet suburban area.  Soon I will not miss the city life of New York. 

A child’s playful giggling brings me back to present, Oh! time to head back home.   Linda and Iren, my two Returned Peace Corps friends are coming to see me.  We are going to have a nice Chinese homemade lunch…….


Saturday, May 05, 2012

Life After Peace Corps


Best Time of the Week

Sunday morning is the time I treasure the most.  Usually, I get up very early, clean my apartment, do laundry, and water my plants.  I walk around bared foot on the squeaky clean wooden floor, have a cup of 3 in 1 Chinese coffee and watch the sun comes up behind the two big sugar maple trees in front of my living room window.  That is how my day begins.

My apartment is facing east, captures all the morning sun.  As soon as the sun comes out, my plants become alive, someday, I could nearly hear them sing.  The blue morning glory plant whose seeds I brought back from Azerbaijan last year is growing nicely.  Actually, it is growing very aggressively. Its vines quickly spread by way of long, creeping sterns.   It seizes every object it can take hold of and grips on tight.  I have to trim the vines and let them grow along my floor lamp.  Soon I will see its blue flower.

After I make myself a hearty healthy breakfast, then I am ready to head out for a long walk.   My favorite part of the walk is a river gorge about five miles from where I live.  Some time I like to refer it as “my canyon” for I love the sound of it.   Inside the canyon, everything is just lovely.   Here is what I wrote when I first discovered this place:


I followed the watercourse and it led me to a narrow gulch.  Inside, the air was moist and cool.  Immediately, I was taken in by the luxuriance of plant life along the stream bank.  The vegetation was lush and green.  Soon I could hear the gurgling sound of running water echoing through the gully. Occasionally, small rapid appeared, and the water cascaded down to a rock chute.  There it was! a lovely water hole right underneath it.   Sun rays peeked through tree branches and casted a brilliant glow on the water surface.  At the bottom, pebbles covered with green algae and I found a few tiny fishes wiggling merrily.   Judging by the gully’s steep walls and richly forest, I was convinced that once upon a time, this place must be a remote coulee profuse with wildlife and exotic plants.  So I named this place “My Canyon”. 

This place is part of “My 26-mile hike training trail in Virginia” article.  I am still in a process of finishing it and hope to share it with my hiking friends in NY soon.  So stay tuned, my fellow 26-mile hikers.