NorthStarNerd.Org

The Fall of the Wall ... A Cold War Kid's Perspective

How the world has changed ... for the better! 20 years ago the Berlin Wall came down. My personal travels have taken me many times for both business and pleasure to the Czech Republic (Pavla's wedding) and China (trip to JiaYou: Link #1, Link #2, Link #3). Both of these countries were on America's "persona non gratis" list when I was younger. Here are some of my Memories from an earlier age:

• Listening via short-wave radio the night the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia
• Watching President Kennedy on black and white TV saying "Ich bin ein Berliner" when he visited West Berlin
• Seeing all the US Air Force B-52's in the skies over Duluth, Minnesota, During the Cuban Missile Crisis these bombers were shifted north to be out of range of the Soviet missiles.

Now through work I lead collaboration projects for a large Fortune 100 company which involves working almost daily with friends / co-workers from China and the Czech Republic. Pavla, whose wedding photo is displayed below is my "Czech daughter", and via Skype and Penny Talk I am in constant communication with her. Her "real" father died young due to his opposition to communist rule in Czechoslovakia, but that's another story ...

My son is now studying in Europe for his master's degree through Johns Hopkins University. Like his Dad, he blogs ... and has an interesting perspective on the historical significance of today (see his blog post). He comments upon a world he never knew ... thankfully.

Click to expand either image ... from our travels to the Czech Republic and China.

The Old Testament (He Qi's Traditional Chinese Folk Art)

It's not often in life you get the opportunity to combine your major beliefs and ability. With that brief introduction, I am pleased to present this musical web mashup of the Bible's Old Testament, traditional Chinese folk art and music (Amazing Grace). All the art was created by my friend, Chinese artist He Qi.

We may be friends, but He Qi's life and mine could not be more different ...

While I was growing up in Minnesota during the 1960's, and worrying about the fortunes of my favorite Minnesota Twins baseball players, He Qi was being "re-educated" by the Chinese. He Qi was considered an "undesirable" due to his Christian faith, and was sent into the Chinese country side to learn proper thought. The local authorities learned of his artistic ability, and he was given the task of painting portraits of Chairman Mao. By night, he painted the Madonna. (Learn more about He Qi via Christianity Today)

I own two of He Qi's large silk prints including the Nativity and Finding Moses. Both works of art hang in places of honor in my home and appear in the video (more on He Qi's Silk Print Style |detail). Here is the link to He Qi's online gallery.

As a reminder, my wife Molly and I have been privileged to learn a little bit about China through our work and trips that built both an elementary school and a dorm in rural China. Our travels took us up in the mountains near the Vietnamese border. I hope you enjoy this web mashup. You may wish to maximize the video to get a better view of the Chinese Folk Art:

Old Testament (China) on PhotoPeach (video link)

The "Square"

Personal note to Dj ... 20 years later ... keep up the good work!

Boston for Beds!

It's April 4th ... and Spring should be in the air. Instead, newly fallen snow blankets Minnesota ... and Molly is slipping over the pavement on a final training run for the Boston Marathon which is two weeks hence. However, as Molly (my wife) moves towards Patriot's Day and her 26.2 mile jaunt, running the final yards will be just a tiny bit easier for her than for most competitors.

You may ask why? The answer is simple ... what began with a trip to China, Loppets for Lingyun, continued with Rich's Birkebeiner K's for Kids, will finish via Molly's Boston for Beds. The end result will be a new school dorm up in the mountains of Southern China near the Vietnamese border.

Take three minutes and watch our video ... then donate. Contributions to the China Tomorrow Education Foundation are tax deductible in the USA (full report).

Donate via PayPal ... even a $25 donation helps!

Boston for Beds Video (3 minutes in duration)

Note: Click on the screen icon to view full sized (bottom right corner)

One Armed Skier Builds Dorm in China!

My first of three "Kilometers for Kids" cross-country ski races start this Sunday with the City of the Lakes Loppet. Due to a recent ski injury that saw me break my thumb and tear a ligament, I will compete minus one ski pole (i.e. I can't hold anything with my left hand). Although this will slow me down significantly, and cause me problems going uphill ... I can't let the kids down. Contributions to the China Tomorrow Education Foundation are tax deductible in the USA (full report).

Donate via PayPal ... even a $10 donation helps!

Here are two photos of me ... cast and all. In addition, you may wish to watch this YouTube Video Report of last year's Loppet. After all ... have you ever seen skijouring (dogs pulling cross-country skiers ... another much shorter event)
.

A Nerd's Dorm Rises in China

Two days ago I was feeling sorry for myself. A New Year's Eve day cross-country ski injury had left me with a broken bone in my thumb and a torn ligament. I had planned to ski three long distance ski races this Winter (25 to 52 kilometers) to finish raising the money for a dorm my wife Molly and I are trying to build in the mountains of southern China near Vietnam (LingYun).

Instead I was taught a lesson in humility when by chance yesterday photographs of the dorm's construction process arrived . I thought ... who cares how fast I ski ... one armed cross-country skiing will still get me to the finish line. Thus, broken bones, torn ligaments and all ... please sponsor me in my Kilometers for Kids Project. Help me and the dorm reach the finish line! The races will take place in February ... and hopefully we can achieve our fund raising goal by March 1st!

Take two minutes and watch the video I created ... then donate. Contributions to the China Tomorrow Education Foundation are tax deductible in the USA (full report).

• Report Date: February 25, 2009
• Money Raised: $6,067
• Goal - $7,500

Donate via PayPal ... even a $10 donation helps!

LingYun Video (2 minutes in duration)

Merry Christmas from the Northstar Nerd

Today I post my blog holiday card, and use the artwork of a friend, He Qi. Two years ago I said this about He Qi: (more about The Artist)

While I was growing up in Minnesota during the 1960's, and worrying about the fortunes of my favorite Minnesota Twins baseball players, He Qi was being "re-educated" by the Chinese. He Qi was considered an "undesirable" due to his Christian faith, and was sent into the Chinese country side to learn proper thought. The local authorities learned of his artistic ability, and he was given the task of painting portraits of Chairman Mao. By night, he painted the Madonna.

I own two different large silk prints including the Nativity shown below, which hangs in a place of honor in my home. My other print is Finding Moses (more on the Silk Print Style |detail). I like how He Qi combines Chinese folk art and bible stories.

Thus, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays. Please pause to reflect about what is truly important this Christmas season. My little attempt to try and make the world better is in southern China.

Birke Bashin For China's Kids!

It's 90 degrees outside today ... and humid. While it may seem hard to think about Winter during this kind of weather, earlier this week I signed up for three long distance cross-country races. The longest is the American Birkebeiner at 52 kilometers or 32 miles. Although I was not planning upon doing another round of ski races this Winter, the devastation wrought by the Sichuan Earthquake in China has changed everything. Once again, under the auspices of the China Tomorrow Education Foundation (CTEF) I intend to help rebuild schools in Sichuan.

• Read the full project report and donate via PayPal

CTEF asked me to create a copy of my keynote talk delivered at this year's annual dinner earlier this year in Seattle. Thus ... via YouTube (click to watch in high quality) ... the journey continues:

• Birke Bashin for China's Kids - YouTube Link
  ... View all my CTEF volunteer posts

Or if you prefer, watch a short video of my wife Molly taken while she was dancing with the children from one CTEF funded school which we visited last Fall.

• Molly Dances at LingYun School - YouTube Link
  ... More YouTube CTEF Links

(click on either image to view full sized)

 

Four High Schools Seniors ... Robots ... Leaving Microsoft

On the surface these three topics might seem unrelated, but they are! This evening I will take out to dinner four young men who just graduated high school. These guys are the core members of my S.N.I.P Lego robotics team. After having coached S.N.I.P. for six years ... since their elementary school days, I wondered how I could recognize these boys, and the fact thay they were moving on in the world ... to various engineering schools around the USA. Each young man has already shown me that they are socially conscious, but I wanted to encourage them to continue following this path.

Eureka! A quick visit to Amazon yielded four copies of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. Ever since last year when my own effort started to build schools in the mountains of southern China, I've been inspired by John Wood. He was Microsoft's second highest ranking executive in China, and he gave everything up to build schools in rural Nepal.

Last night I contacted John Wood via email, and asked him if he might send me a dedication I might put in each book.  Here are John's direct words ... they're good:

"To whom much is given, much is expected. The true test of your education will be in bringing that same opportunity to others, throughout your lifetime. Good luck, and make the world proud!"

Feel free to chime in with your own advice via the comments section for Caleb, Erik, Matt and Tim. In closing, here are two podcast interviews with John Wood, author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.

PBS Podcast Interview with John Wood (his organization)

National Geographic Podcast Interview with John Wood

Sichuan, China Earthquake Relief: Rebuilding Schools - Helping Children

As many of you know, I have am involved with building schools in rural China. Last month, I was even a keynote speaker at the China Tomorrow Education Foundation (CTEF) annual benefit dinner. If you've seen news reports on the devastation in the Sichuan region ... including collapsed schools, you will understand that the need for help is huge.  Thankfully, as far as we know, none of our schools collapsed. My foundation (registered 501c charity in the USA) is trying to help out.  Here is a quote from our president's message:

"CTEF has been helping school children and renovating school buildings in rural China since 2001. Even before the earthquake, CTEF had been working with enthusiastic local volunteers on school renovation projects in Sichuan's Beichuan and Yilong counties. We are committed to using 100% of the Earthquake Relief Fund to rebuild schools and communities and help school children who have suffered from this tragedy. "

Learn more, and consider donating. My plans include a trip to China later this Fall. I will report back on our efforts via this blog.

You may also wish to visit National Public Radio's Chengdu Diary. NPR actually has a team of reporters in Chengdu. They were preparing for a special week of China coverage that had been planned for next week.