Ditto what Phil said.
I am currently working with a team based in Asia Pacific, and it’s … so many things. I sought this assignment and am loving it for everything that I’m learning out of it. But the jet-set lifestyle it’s not. What it is instead, is an always-on, what-time-is-it-somewhere else continuum that you drift through. Work intersperses with your personal life in a weird way, and upsets the traditional schedule that’s often expected of you from US-oriented colleagues.
I have trapsed to Shanghai, Tokyo, and Sydney and enjoyed them all. But junkets they were not. They are intense learning experiences, mentoring opportunities, project jam sessions, and social outings cum business meetings. They are long working days, and short sleep-adjusting nights. And you often make the mistake of checking email when you get back to your hotel room – yikes!
You take a lunch break, but you also take a dinner break. You are back on the phone after kids are in bed. You start taking your free time in the US afternoon, and you leave early Friday afternoon (Saturday in Asia) because you are starting early Sunday night (Monday morning in Asia).
Is this what we have all signed up for with globalization? Maybe the Eastern Standard Tribe is not so far off. 没问题 – I’m on board.
Posted at: 1:15pm Shanghai, 2:15pm Tokyo, 3:15pm Sydney – tomorrow.
Technorati tags: globalization timezones travel asia worklife
Scott,
I have recently learned about you and what you do in Zimbabwe and throughout the world. I am from the US and in South Africa working at Jubilee Community Church, Cape Town, for a year.
I would love to get more info on what you do and even see if there are any opportunities for me to get involved.
Elizabeth