Ramblin.

We are three days into our first official week. I'm happy to say that I've just hosted my first Open Space, which I hope was a success. Open Spaces are an opportunity for ThoughtWorkers to host discussions on whatever topic they choose. There is no structure for the discussion. It could range from a full on presentation given by the discussion leader, to a completely open format where people just share ideas. I decided to have my discussion on language acquisition. In my class, there are folks from Brazil, China, India, Germany, the US, the UK and New Zealand. Many people, of course, speak their native languages plus English, while others are multi-lingual. My goal was to have a discussion detailing the various techniques and resources I've learned to use for my own purposes in foreign language acquisition, to gather the techniques and resources others have used in their experience, and finally, to relate all of these to the acquisition of programing languages, something many here, of course, are very passionate about. We discussed these things, shared ideas, and I actually learned quite a bit about how programming languages are grouped by various characteristics. In many ways they resemble the language families we see coming from various parts of the world in that there are certain underlying characteristics they all have in common, and yet remain unique languages because of a few central differences. Overall, it was a very interesting discussion.

On a different note, I'm happy to say that I've officially booked all of my plane and logging arrangements for travel over the next 5 weekends! This Friday, myself and a colleague will be taking an overnight bus to Hampi to explore the ancient ruins. The next weekend we hope to be camping with elephants at the edge of a large forrest in southern India. The following Friday, we'll be flying to Goa which is a set of beach towns on the western shore. I believe the next weekend, which spans three days because of a holiday here in India, will be the famed Taj Mahal and Delhi trips. And on the final weekend, we're heading to Jaipur for the Diwali Festival of Lights. We'll explore the city, visit India's largest tiger sanctuary, and end our travel time in India with a camel trek across the desert. I'm ecstatic about the opportunity to see and experience these places. This has all really been a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I've found that it's kind of tough to write entertaining blogs about work stuff. And that's not because the work stuff isn't entertaining. It's actually a blast and I've enjoyed every minute so far. It's just hard to find stuff to poke fun at. We've been learning new things at an alarming rate, not only about tech tools, etc., but about ourselves. For example, on day one we were all given a book called Strengths Finder 2.0. We were told to go online, put in a code (a unique code found in each book), and fill out an hour-long survey that would determine what our top five strengths were. The premise of the whole thing was that westerners are often so pre-occupied by pinpointing and overcoming our weaknesses, that we forget to use or even think about our strengths. After your strengths are determined, each is given a chapter in the book in which it is discussed, i.e. how to utilize it, the type of things that would most satisfy it, etc. In short, my strengths were spot-on. Like creepy spot-on. The descriptions detailed directions my life has already taken, things that I'm already passionate about, career paths I'm already on, etc. It was a pretty profound experience to have many aspects of my life described to me (to a T in most cases) on the pages of a book that I had never seen or heard of before. I won't tell you my strengths, but I would encourage people to check the book out. I now have a number of concrete ways to use my own strengths at work and in my personal life, which is a relief in many ways.

A couple more highlights from the week so far. We met the CEO of ThoughtWorks, a British guy named Trevor. I had never met a CEO before. Frankly, it was not what I expected. Trevor seemed, well first of all, like a really intelligent guy. But he was humble. Seemed very down to earth and excited to meet all of us. We drank beer and ate Chinese food.

Finally. The funniest photo ever taken. Be back soon.

Me attacking Shaobo. Shaobo running away. Run, Shaobo, Run.