【65】A love affair in Seven words@Absent and Present October-November

From the second half of October to the first half of November, I was away. I went back to China, where you could say is my motherland, and stayed there for a hustle-bustle month. Got some work done, met lots of people for business as well as for friends and family reunion, and yes not surprisingly felt ill, just like many westerns would do when they are there, for a long while due to the air pollution in most of the cities on my agenda. 

While adjusting myself to the familiar-turned strange-turned familiar country, I was in awe how much China has advanced in the past several years, especially in those big cities. You could see skyscrapers everywhere in both CBD and residential area, housing developments often extend miles and miles to no end in your eyesight, Starbucks and luxury brands are fixtures in those high-end shopping malls, where customers seem of no shortage....On the other hand, I also saw the side of China I had known for a long long time, where small mobile business stances selling food or other goods are crowed in market places, those business owners stand in the cold and wind all day waiting for customers while always keeping an eye on the City authorities who often confiscate or destroy stances for the sake of public image of the markets, and those residences hurry in and out of those closely built high-rise buildings for their separate days and lives and never give too much attention to those around them. All of these amaze me, comfort me, but also puzzle me and make me wonder why in the world people's lives can be so different. More alarmingly is that those differences are open and visible for everybody to see and the "high" and "low", the"big" and "small", and the"grand" and "humble" are often not that far from each other either. This might have contributed to a lot of resentment Chinese felt in a lot of ways towards one another in a superficial monetary aspect.

The one thing that seems never changed was my hometown where my parents, relatives, teachers, friends live. It is still a warm, clean, humble, and yet upbeat county, township, village where the mundane world seem to be able to disappear in front of those familiar faces in an instant. I love that feeling, just like when I am in Pittsburgh, my adopted hometown, I feel a clear presence of the power of Love and the power of Dream. So long you are surrounded by people who you love and love you back as well as who you respect and respect you back for what you do, by a sense of purpose to make some memories, and by a genuine belief that whatever you do matters, you are brave enough to live each and everyday full. It is that fullness makes us present, and being present in life is a blessing.

So while I was away from Pittsburgh, and present in the places where I come from, I was inspired by an English Hint Fiction contest, in which contestants can only use seven English words to tell a story. It is so powerful to see how far and deep a few words can reach an audience. I dare to challenge myself and use this style to record and share my love affair with Pittsburgh and my hometown.

The day I left, I lost, home.  (Pittsburgh, and my family here just give me a strong sense of belongings)

I see you, in my parents' winkles. (Wherever my parents are is my hometown, although I am not there most time of a year, I see it and miss it still)

Higher, Further, Stronger, You are still behind. (When a country's development is simply driven by GDP, there are still so many things behind, like equality, happiness, and quality of life for all)

Back, back into torment, by two childhoods. (For a traveler, we will never settle in one home without experiencing torments inside. We miss our parents who gave birth to us and always treat us with unconditional love, for we are their children. But we also can not miss the opportunity to have a life of our own, to give birth to our own children, their grandchildren, to pass on the beautiful love we had received.)

【64】Chinese in Pittsburgh@WestingHouse

Heidi Profile:

Name:                       Heidi Zhang Title:                          WestingHouse Senior Legal Counsel, Asia Profession:               Legal Services Employer:                 WestingHouse Electric Company LLC Education:                Duquesne University, School of Law Location:                   Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Year in U.S.:             1991-present Origin in China:         Beijing Education in China:  China University of Political Science and Law, History of Chinese Law First Impression:      Elegant, Peaceful, Amiable, A woman with substance Media Impression:    FriendlyPittsburgh; FriendlyPA; (WeChat, Weibo)-Chinese in PA

Heidi Story:

On July 22nd, I had a privilege to squander two hours of Ms. Heidi Zhang, a seasoned lawyer’s time, without paying her even a penny. Even more outrageous was that I got stuck in the traffic and was 15 minutes late for our appointment at the Panera Bread restaurant in a booming business district called Cranberry, just half an hour north of Downtown Pittsburgh. A lesson learned: Always planning some buffer time for meetings, especially those important ones. However, that is not the only valuable thing I learned out of that interview appointment with a rough start. Heidi was a bundle of inspiration and wisdom. Much was learned that day about her professional journey in the U.S.; her philosophy of raising her daughter and balancing life and career; as well as her words of wisdom for peer Chinese parents and younger generation. Heidi came to the U.S. shortly after destiny led her into meeting her future husband, a visiting scholar from Duquesne University, in early 1990s’ Beijing. As a graduate of China University of Political Science and Law majoring in the History of Chinese Law, Heidi had obstacles landing a job in the U.S. at the very beginning. Especially back in those days, when Postal Office was the equivalent service to today’s email, job application not only took longer to proceed, but also it was harder to get good and current information in the job market. However, with Heidi’s determination and persistence, she pursued a career of law, and found her position with Cohen & Grigsby P.C. a Greater Pittsburgh Area law firm. While she started working in the firm in 1994, she also started to attend Duquesne University School of Law Evening Division in the same year and got her law degree in three years’ time. Once well-equipped with both Chinese law and American law backgrounds, Heidi found herself well positioned to serve her firm’s broad client base and playing a more and more vital role in the business. Because of growing network in the business and her stronger pursuit of work satisfaction, in 2004 she encountered a good opportunity that resulted in a decision of leaving Cohen & Grigsby and joining PPG  Industries Inc. She spent almost three years of her time with PPG and honed her skills even further. In 2007, she decided to leave the corporate and started her own law practices that covers both Chinese and U.S. law practices. The money was good. But at the time, her daughter was still very young. After postponing to have a child for about 10 years in exchange of her dream career, at this point, she felt more inclined to spend some quality time with her daughter and husband in a relatively stable and predictable environment. So when another great opportunity with WestingHouse Electric Company LLC occurred in 2008, she packed away her entrepreneurial attempts, and geared up to become a senior legal counsel who manages the entire Asian market for the company. Although currently flying all over the global is still part of the job, more time with her family, especially her daughter who is sixteen now, would have been much appreciated, she said she was still happy about the stability and predictability of the corporate environment brought to her life. The safety social norm and well-educated population in Pittsburgh helped her to maintain a higher level of mental stability and easement as well. Especially in a comfortable and affordable community like Pittsburgh, she humorously pointed out that people here didn’t need to work themselves to death to make ends meet or to enjoy certain level of comfort, so Pittsburghers are more inclined to spend time on enriching their lives outside their career or job. Having a work-life balance and making time for a life is important. It is important for Heidi and she got it. She gave me a score of 11, when asked to score her level of life satisfaction here in the Pittsburgh region ranging from 1 to 10. It seems that she is an elegant superwoman who got the best of both worlds. When asked about her daughter, her peaceful outlook unavoidably gave away a hint of joy and pride. She said to me, “My daughter is always busy. She sings, plays stage drama, and volunteers. She just got elected to be part of their high school student government. She got a bunch of friends who helped with that course, and I believe her advertisement was funny--she used the Chinese historical Character MuLan with an exaggerated traditional Asian flat nose as her image to run the election. Being funny is very important in this case and other students liked her or her MuLan image, so they voted for her. ” When I asked whether her daughter was in private high school or public high school, Heidi said to me the following with a very confident tone, “I believe it is important to give her an environment that is the closest to the real world from a very young age. Private high school is more of a status symbol and kids might be over protected or provided. Public high school on the other hand is like our society. You have people from different walks of life, and you need to learn working with them with respect and preference. Then a whole dynamic of personality, most time a matured personality, will be better developed under such environment. I just hope my kid to be happy, grow up being able to make her own judgements and decisions, and be able to solve problems in the real world. As long as she is happy, she would be a good person no matter what she does, she would be successful in her own definition.” This very western-oriented philosophy of raising a kid resembles so much with that of my Dad and Mum. As much as I held a deep pride of being my parents’ daughter, I respect Heidi’s choice, and I wish more and more parents would give the way they raise and treat their kids a serious consideration and further form a dialogue that can direct parents, especially most of our Chinese parents, into better practices. (This picture was taken during a prom Sabrina (in blue dress third to the right) attended.) Towards the end of the interview, I asked her to give some words of wisdom for younger generation who hasn’t made it, but on the way there. She succinctly summarized it and amiably delivered it. She said: Improve communication skills, including language; Understand societal and organizational culture; Have a good work ethic; Don’t be afraid of LOSE FACE--for Chinese guys; and Don’t think we are only women but consider ourselves professionals who have something important and valuable to contribute--for Chinese girls. Heidi is not the first amiable and likeable lawyer I have ever met outside board or court room, and she will not be the last one either. But her personality and quiet nature backed up by an unshakable confidence resulted from years of professional experiences really left a strong impression on me. I relate to her, look up to her, and feel so lucky to be able to have such a juicy conversation to learn a story of an accomplished Chinese woman in Pittsburgh. Sometime things with a rough start may end pretty smooth and fulfilling. Just like most of life journeys. Just like this interview with Heidi Zhang.