Despite Their Hustler Wherewithal

Fretting a bit yesterday.  Up early then.  I walked around a hotel room this morning gesticulating, memorizing, scribbling and my commencement speech eventually began to take form. I wanted to talk about Chinese students from history who went abroad.  Yung Ling for example, and his hopes and disappointments when he left his land and fell in love with a young United States in the early nineteenth century.  He returned to China and was eventually successful, but when given the chance to lead an imperial mission of young scholars back to the U.S., which he accepted, the outcome was more complicated than anticipated.

And I knew I wanted to talk about students, here in China whom I had worked with.  Students from disadvantaged backgrounds whom I taught when I first arrived in Shanghai.  Students I’d lost touch with and who, despite their hustler wherewithal, labored mightily against their fate and the time and place they were born. 

This room full of graduate students, some of who were peers, graduating with their Executive MBAs, I suggested, were living in a more fortunate time and place.  The world was far more ready for their internationalism.  And I wanted to try, in a way that felt original or at least heartfelt, to encourage them to be confident.  This, despite whatever front-page news you may b reading, was a good time. 

Later the dean and I were chatting as we all milled about, waiting for the festivities to start.  I had the story largely locked in my brain and I tried to relax and enjoy the banter.  My colleague offered me a brownie and I replied that I had no business eating such a thing.  My trousers felt plenty tight as it was.  And he calmly proceeded to eat the gooey cake suggesting that he could afford to.  He was on a fasting regimen.  Adhering to periods of fasting during the day, he’d managed to drop thirty or more pounds and needed new suits and new belts as the old ones were all too big now.  This was the second person to talk to me about this intermittent fasting concept and unlike the first time it was explained, this time I readily tried it on for size.  I could do that.  Tomorrow morning then.  Nothing but water or coffee without milk and sugar, till after tomorrow noon.   For now, the procession has begun. 

Friday 8/24/18