Somewhere between the ministry and the chili crab…

Life turned a corner today. It all started on our taxi ride between meetings with the agency which assesses talent pools across Southeast Asia to a local technology VC. We were discussing the historical, political, and cultural influences impacting this part of the world vs. Central and Eastern Europe as both regions capitalize on a new global era. It suddenly dawned on me that over the course of the first half of this year, I’d be investigating and comparing first hand the economic trends on an intra- and inter- regional basis of emerging economies across the globe. I keep trying to decide between a career in technology and a career in global economics, but here I am at a technology company traveling the world and witnessing globalization firsthand. Am I seriously, seriously getting paid to do this?

My thoughts turned to what lies ahead after this project completes – an equally incredible opportunity to impact our business in Asia and Latin America. After that, it’s back to school. The decision on INSEAD in 2008 was for the most part made before I left the States, but visiting the campus today here in Singapore where I’ll spend my first semester made me jump from my skin with excitement and anticipation. It just all fell into place and felt so right, or at least the next two and a half years did. I gazed out the window across the water, thinking of the personal travels I’d take across Southeast Asia during my time here. Could life’s immediate path forward possibly be more professionally and personally fulfilling? Could I possibly be happier to focus my attention on these goals and finally read the many now dusty books I’ve bought on globalization and economics, finally read The Economist regularly, finally take the GRE, finally take those French classes again? Um...no.

Then came a truly memorable meal at a casual Singaporean seafood restaurant. I ate frog legs! They don’t taste like chicken, for the record. They don’t really taste like anything, but they have a very light and spongy consistency. The real moment of liberation, however, came with the chili crab, more or less the national dish of Singapore. You’ve got to eat it with your hands, and it makes an absolute mess (they even bring out bowls of water so you can wash your hands as you eat). I sat there hands covered in spice and grease, imbued with a feeling of freedom that could not have been more apropos following the morning’s thoughts. It’s like during a storm when you give up on trying to say dry and embrace the rain. In that water soaked moment life is so carefree you feel a child again, so simple, yet a rare moment of complete liberation from the stresses and strains of the everyday.

Tapioca did come but not as Nate predicted but rather with dessert, and after the cannon went off and not before (ok no one is going to get that but Nate and Ray, and both were so drunk on Friday when we discussed this I may be the only one myself who understands what I mean here). The point is the path ahead is ripe with opportunity, and as I leave some of the challenges of the past few years around that corner, the lessons I’ve learned will give me the fortitude to excel as never before.