What a strange place to find an isolationist!

I would've thought that I, of all people—having grown up overseas, traveling more before I was eight than many people travel in their entire lifetime—would not have become an isolationist. It wasn't intended, it wasn't planned, it wasn't even conscious—but I feel pretty confident that my approach him to the world was narrow and limited and, well, smacking of “isolationist”.

In the past two and a half years I've been in five countries – relishing a myriad of experiences and people. What a blessing it is to live in world far different and far bigger than me!

Hey, what's the hurry?

As the myriad of observations and experiences from China mellow and ferment in my mind, I wonder if the question, "Hey, what's the hurry?" lurks, unasked and unanswered. Certainly, eastern thought seems to pay far less homage to the "urgency" of time than the west. Could it be, then, that the ubiquitous measures of success in the west which are steeped in timelines and acceleration are irrelevant and perhaps preposterous from the Chinese point of view? Certainly, the emphasis on community has an intrinsically longer view than the individualistic approach spawned and bred by capitalism!

Perhaps the most disturbing observation that was put forward by more than one of our speakers and many casual conversations was this: The majority of the population does not have the training or ability to innovate. I winced every time I heard this... how can this be true? Aren't there some universal attributes to humankind that include this innovative spark, even if hidden?

So, back to the question: What is our hurry? Might our assessment of their innovative abilities be skewed by our western influence?