Taking Stock
It has been almost two years since I started this blog on 8 October 2006. That was about 10 days before the birth of my son, Shanle. This life altering event prompted me to blog and to share my joy and thought with my friends near and far.
"Living a nomadic lifestyle, I have more friendships than the time I have to nurture them. I hope to keep my friends abreast of my life, share my photo albums, videos and the little things happening along the way before we next meet."
The above is the first paragraph of my first blog post and it is still the primary motivation that keeps me blogging. The number of posts has dwindled over the years but I try to blog at least once a month. Sometimes, I wonder how many of my friends are reading my posts and what are their thoughts after reading. Feedback is very limited but occasional words of encouragement from friends who read my blog really brighten up my gloomy days.
This 100th post came at a very trying time of my career. I have passed the "honeymoon" of my posting to Cairo and now I am still in culture shock. It is really challenging to operate well in this part of the world where uncertainty rules the day. Nothing is for sure and contracts are just for reference. Reliable information is hard to come by and no operations go as planned. I have yet to find my groove and I can't help but feel defeated when things go wrong. I think it will take a while before I get used to the way things get done here.
Life is full of ups and downs. My life so far has been quite smooth sailing so I guess it is time for the down swing. I will have to brace the fall, bottom out and find the right momentum for the next upswing.
