I pretended to give a speech at EXPO CHINA, at Santiago's Estación Mapocho. Maybe next year!

If 2010 was the year I spent thinking about Chile from China, 2011 has been the year I took action on this vision. It has been a crazy year, and I am so happy about where I am right now, in the final days of 2011.

The last day of 2010 was my last day of an intense job as a copywriter for a very big Chinese client of a very big Japanese advertising agency. I had originally intended to stay for at least a year, but the combination of long hours (until 5, 6, 7, 8am at least twice a week) and corporate policies that I didn’t understand took a heavy toll on my sanity, and I decided that I could not sign a long-term contract. So New Year’s 2011 marked a new beginning.

I celebrated my 27th birthday on January 5 in Beijing, with a delicious dinner at Nice Rice and festive drinks at Mao Mao Chong. Stephanie brought balloon animals, which added special flair to the occasion.

My hairstylist (#8 - I miss him!) gave me curls and the balloons really brought life to the party.

Angie, me, Shepherd, and Sean. At Mao Mao Chong in Beijing celebrating my 27th birthday.

When I left my advertising job, I intended to write a book about careers for young foreigners in China. I created this simple website and began to brainstorm an ambitious book proposal. But I soon lost all motivation. I could hardly get out of bed. How could I write a book about the advantages of launching a career in China? My own China career hit a low point. I had plenty of freelance work — tutoring a sweet UK-bound high school student, training an upstart recruitment firm, planning a charity cycling event — but I felt overwhelmingly reactive, and was not doing my best work.

Following a sunny family vacation in Thailand and Cambodia, my brother visited me in Beijing and we visited the snow-covered Great Wall at Mutianyu. The day was pretty and not bone-chillingly cold.

In March I received an unexpected but ultimately life-changing email from a Canadian-American renewable energy entrepreneur who I’d met in Chile in 2005. She invited me to upload my resume and a full scan of my passport as part of her solar energy startup’s application to Start-Up Chile. In May we found out that we’d been accepted to the program. In June I bought a one-way ticket home. Two weeks later I packed up all my belongings, made a huge donation of clothes and shoes and random supplies to a local charity, and planned a simple farewell party at my favorite rooftop Yunnan restaurant.

I packed my stuff into these 2 suitcases and 2 bags, and hailed a cab to the airport. Zaijian Zhongguo!!

On the plane home, I wrote this: Dear China: It’s Not You, It’s Me. Let’s Be Friends Forever.  That post meant more than anything else I wrote this year, and I received dozens of comments and emails from friends near and far.

I spent about three weeks at home in California, partying with my parents’ friends on “the Lane” and visiting my brother in Hermosa Beach for the 4th of July. This was my first time experiencing the new lives that my closest family members have built while I have been on the other side of the world.

My parents' most obedient child, Max.

In mid-July, I landed in Chile. Thanks the to generous hospitality of Roberto Edwards and his team, the open doors of Start-Up Chile, the strong support from Marcelo Peralta, and so much more, Chile has given me the opportunity to bring my passions together.

For years people have been telling me that someday they envision me running my own company, but before I landed in Chile I didn’t really think I could do it. Working in a gorgeous office with entrepreneurs from all over the world, and giving speeches in Spanish to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs has shown me that yes, it is possible.

Thank you to my first clients — Trey, Chai, Luis, Victor, Juan Cristóbal, Charlotte, Adam — for believing in me and what is becoming my consulting practice, Tricontinental Advisors.

Grazie to my designer friends -- Nicoletta, who created the Tricontinental Advisors logo, and Sara, who made the Beyond Chile's Single Story banner -- for making my websites look more professional.

Thank you Joe, Fu and Yuli for helping with Chinese translation. Thank you to everyone who has taught me Spanish, particularly Nana Petra for love-filled Spanish lessons throughout the first five years of my life, the University of California Education Abroad Program that brought me to Chile in 2005, and Marcelo who continually teaches me new words and phrases.

Thank you to all the wonderful people I have met through the power of social media: Akhila, Alexis, Andrea, Dan, Gia, Hilary, Humberto, Jacci, Kyle, Roxanne, Sarah, Sarah, Stacie, Susan, and so many more. Thank you to everyone who reads this blog, especially the lurkers (say hi!)

Thank you Start-Up Chile and the Ministry of Economy, for shaping a new culture of global entrepreneurship in this gorgeous country of contrasts, a place that has always embodied the entrepreneurial spirit.

Thank you Grandma Ginny. Every writer should have a pen pal like you. I look forward to seeing you in a few days.

Thank you Ben. I am so excited to show you and your team the entrepreneurial side of Chile in 2012!!

Thank you to my parents for their enthusiastic support of my international adventures, and their resourceful use of frequent flier miles that enable their international adventures to coincide with mine.

This list is incomplete; I could write pages and pages more. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all!

Here’s to health, happiness, and prosperity in 2012 and beyond!

Lots of love,

Leslie