Scotland: Edinburgh, The Highlands, and, surprise! Clean air!
This last weekend, a fellow American traveler and I took a three-day excursion to the green lands of Scotland. Scotland reminded me of Seattle, with the clean, crisp air and greenery; however, Seattle is a very dark forest, while Scotland is the brightest emerald. The Highlands have rolling hills and textured mountains, which are not... Read More
Trade Committee
This morning the American Chamber held their monthly trade committee meeting in Hotel Hilton. Since I work in the trade department, I helped put the event on. This month’s topic was JALTRADE and external commerce. Basically, since we are preparing for the trade mission in late September, the meeting served more as a manner to... Read More
San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato
This past weekend, I traveled to San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. Only a five hour bus ride, I met up with my friend who is staying in Morelia. San Miguel is beautiful. It is a very small town, filled with tourists and flowers. We spent one day and night in San Miguel, enjoying the... Read More
Living in London (AKA cultural learnings for make benefit glorious University of Washington)
Outside the office, I’ve found the UK a very hospitable place for Americans. Obviously, there are a lot of values that the US and the UK share. Compared to any other country except Canada, the language barrier between Americans and Brits is minimal. Many of the differences are “procedural”, such as driving on the left... Read More
Soccer Games, Shopping, and Family
After several weeks of traveling and moving, I finally spent this past weekend in Guadalajara. It felt nice to feel like I could finally discover a bit of my own city. I spent the Saturday walking through San Juan de Dios, located downtown Guadalajara. Although this was my third visit there, I was impressed by... Read More
Thunder and Lightening…Don’t Forget Dolly
I am finally getting adjusted to living on my own. It took me about a week and a half to get situated, and I think I succeeded. The hard part was not that I had to cook on my own and buy my own groceries, rather it was thinking of things to do after work.... Read More
Another weekend in Puerto Vallarta?
I feel more situated at my new house. Thank goodness I don’t see any gigantic insects in my bedroom or bathroom, and there are less mosquitoes here. My roommates are friendly, yet rarely home. The best part is that I leave my house at 8:58am and get to work by 9:02am, walking. I also have... Read More
London and Seattle are very different places
London and Seattle are very different places, but there’s one thing that always reminds me of home here: the weather, in both good and bad ways. Despite the occasional thunderstorm, I prefer breezy, cool summers to hot, muggy ones. For the summer, I’m working at an accounting (they call it “accountancy” here)/consulting firm called Fitzgerald... Read More
Another week…
Another week has passed by ever so quickly. I went to Puerto Vallarta with a friend from Morelia last weekend. It was amazing. We explored the beaches, snorkeled, hiked up a mountain to see the waterfall. The interesting thing about this waterfall is that many Puerto Vallartans take pride in it and promote it to... Read More
Life as a Mexican, from an American Perspective
I have almost completed my third week in Mexico. I love it here! Let me begin with a little bit about the environment and activities outside the workplace. Bus: I live a bit far from the American Chamber of Commerce, so I struggle with the bus rides every day. It’s not that the distance bothers... Read More