Now I’m back in San Francisco, staying with my parents in their beautiful townhouse in an up-and-coming neighborhood.  I think they are reliving their 20s: impromptu cocktail parties with the neighbors, nights out at Giants games, standing room at the opera, walks to the local wine bar with Max (the favorite child, the furry one with four legs!)

My impressions of life in America, after 1.5 years on foreign soil: Public bathrooms are so clean! Baby carrots are so convenient! People in the financial district at noon on Monday are almost all in jeans! (These are not nearly as entertaining as 9 Notes on Re-Entering Canada After Quite a Long Time Away.)

Thanks for all your kind words about my letter to China. It’s fun to hear how other people characterize their own relationships with China:

A lot of people have been asking me about my next step. I’m going to Chile to work with Charlotte Thornton, the founder and chairman of the CHEBEL Companies.  Here is a description:

CHEBEL, a vertically integrated energy provider of 21st Century refinery science and fuels, is headquartered in Calgary, Canada with an office in Silicon Valley. A proprietary reconfiguration of ‘solar concentrated power tower’ technology affords us our business model unique to cleantech. CHEBEL will incorporate and base its key subsidiary, U-LINC ENERGY + SOLAR UTILITY, in Santiago with field offices in Calama and Copiapo for administering project(s) slated for Regions XV, II & III. CHEBEL believes strongly in giving back. A non-profit ‘WorldARC-CHILE’ will be set up with its program that promotes entrepreneurialism in zero emissions and waste recycling industries.

I met Charlotte on a sidewalk in Santiago in 2005. It was raining, and I think we shared an umbrella. She is an Oklahoma native, who has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Collaboratory for Research on Global Projects.  Last year she even sent me a care package of Trader Joe’s treats via a classmate who was traveling to Beijing.

A few months ago, Charlotte asked me to join her team for Startup Chile. Startup Chile is a program of the Chilean government to encourage world-class early-stage entrepreneurs to start their businesses in Chile.  Here are two videos introducing the program:

I will be responsible for connecting with the Startup Chile community, English-Spanish translation, marketing, and more.  I’m really excited to go back to Chile (where I studied for all of 2005) and actually use my Latin American Studies degree.  I will need to brush up on my Spanish, and learn to speak intelligently about renewable power systems. I’m very excited for this opportunity.