Introducing . . . the IBM CSC China 14 Team

So I am leaving in about 48 hours for the 24 hour trip to China. That includes almost 9 hours of layovers. Three or so in LAX, and at least five in the Seoul, Korea airport. Oddly enough, I am indifferent to having to sit in an airport for hours waiting on a flight. I'll have plenty of reading material and no children with me to entertain. Can I add that my last overseas flight (coach) included a toddler on my lap because I was too cheap to buy her a ticket? That takes some grit. So does packing for a month in China, a task that also inspires procrastination. I'd rather introduce my talented colleagues that are preparing in concert with (or without) me. Can't wait to meet you, teamies!








Anna Greenberg, Global Financing, Atlanta, Georgia by way of Brazil








Janani Babukrishnan, Integrated Technology Delivery, Bangalore, India








Crystal Yu, Global Business Service, Washington, D.C.








Judy Kershow, Global Administration. Atlanta, Georgia








Peter Dornberg, Integrated Technology Delivery, Cologne, Germany








Tamas Orosz, Global Financing, Budapest, Hungary

and Yours Truly,







Jennifer Dennis, Marketing & Communications Strategist, Austin, Texas

I'll have the grapes, please.

Three weeks and counting until I depart for China. My team is busy with our pre-work assignments, which are to prepare us to consult our clients in country. More on the team and our clients later.

For now, some Friday Fun! Friday's in my casa are all about fun, which usually starts with pizza, one of four major kid food groups. Pizza brings me right back to my preparation for China. My husband, an ex-pat of the semiconductor industry with many tours of duty in Taiwan, has assumed responsibility for ensuring that I have 100% clarity on all the foods I will not be eating in China. Pizza is right at the top of the list, followed closely by pasta, Mexican, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, cheesecake, pancakes, french toast, french fries, Caesar salad, Skittles, dim sum, and sushi. When I told him he was pulling my leg about the last two, his said something like, "Just because you eat with chopsticks at PF Chiang's . . . " which I waved off, citing the importance of cultural immersion. And since I have never been a picky eater, that I am up for the adventure.

Today, one my my teammates shared a great presentation she came across by an alumnus of a CSC Tianjin team, which included these excellent photographs of the specific kinds of foods that I can eat in China. I never watched Fear Factor mostly because I didn't want to see the cast eating live bugs, which aren't the least appetizing dish of all these options. At least they have grapes.


frogs


scorpions


chicken feet


chicken heads


silk pupae


man eating a jellyfish


dog!


Grapes. She looks really happy to have them.

Shake It Like a . . . Chicken

Last time I checked in I was in an epic snit about vaccinations. Usually I prefer to forget about exposing my inner toddler, but I giggled all day after getting my shot for Japanese Encephalitis and not because they gave me laughing gas before sticking me. Evidently this vaccination is one big, bad, muscle burning cocktail that, if one does not flap one's upper extremities all day like a yard bird running from a stray cat, then your biceps wind up feeling like you lost a boxing match.



I tried the flapping and I guess it worked. My arm looked a lot worse than it felt a few days later. At least now I have something else funny to laugh about whenever I hear the Chicken Dance polka song at a wedding. As if that song doesn't get enough laughs on it's own.

Does the Word "Trypanophobia" Mean Anything to You?

Trypanophobia, according to Wikipedia, is quite simply a fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles.

Wikipedia also says that trypanophobia likely has some basis in genetic evolution, since our ancestors who avoided having their flesh pierced would have a greater chance of survival.

ORLY?

That must mean that my fear of being stuck by needles is not irrational after all. And that it doesn't stem from traumatic toddler memories at the booster clinic, or the time a nurse attempting to insert my IV forgot her phlebotomy training. You know you're in trouble when a nervous nurse says, "Don't look! I've gotten your blood all over you!"

The other day, one of my CSC China 14 teammates ST'd me (that's "IM'd" in IBM land) to say she had just returned from the Passport Health clinic freshly vaccinated for our trip. Apparently we must receive a number of them, including doses of Polio, Hepatitis A & B, and Typhoid fever.

I started immediately scanning my brain for plausible excuses to back out of the program. There weren't any. The only thing I could come up with was an objection to be shot up with monstrously life threatening diseases. But I had to cast that dumb reason aside as quickly as it fleeted in. A coward I may be, but a liar I am not. It's not the low dose of microbes I fear. It's the stick.

Furthermore, it's kind of pathetic that these diseases are common enough in Tianjin that I should have to be vaccinated for them. But the very fact that they are is one of the reasons why the IBM Corporate Service Corps exists. You can't build a smarter city of individuals that will contribute to breakthroughs in science and technology when they are struggling to acquire the basic necessities for survival.

My specific assignment has not been disclosed to me yet so I don't know what I will be working on. But I know why I am going. Trypanophobe or not.

Is this really going to happen?

The first time I heard about the IBM Corporate Service Corps was during one of my daily Facebook surfing sessions. An IBM colleague of mine was posting pictures of herself enjoying what looked like an African safari vacation. It didn't take long for her to answer my questions about what the heck was she doing in Africa. She explained that she was in country as part of the IBM program to perform community-driven economic development projects in emerging markets - a sort of corporate version of the Peace Corps. Her enthusiasm for the program seemed to radiate through my laptop screen and straight into my eyes. I was instantly struck with envy and pride in equal measure.

Fast forward a year or so later when I had just returned from Pulse, the IBM flagship conference for service management that hosts nearly 7000 attendees. I am part of the core team that spends 9 months of the year planning Pulse. It's hard not to become emotionally involved. Naturally, I ride a wave of endorphins for a least a week post-conference, not unlike what one might experience after the other thing that takes 9 months to complete, you know - childbirth. It was during this Pulse afterglow phase when I opened the email inviting me to apply for the IBM Corporate Service Corps.

I had no expectations of being accepted. I was just thinking, "What if . . .?" After consulting my manager, I completed the application and wrote the required essay. Just doing that bit required that I search myself for what was really driving me to participate and how I feel about corporate responsibility. Would my husband be supportive? Would my family survive without Mama for an entire month?

As time marched on, each answer to those questions cleared a path that led me to where I am today. Today I confirmed my travel arrangements to Tianjin, China as a member of the IBM Corporate Service Corps China 14 team.

How am I feeling? Privileged, honored, nervous, scared, excited, and exhilarated. This is really going to happen. I'm going to see how they do things on the other side of the world.