Romania and China and so forth

I had lunch today with an interesting woman who had an interesting proposition for me; she wants me to work with her to create an association that would encourage people who want to help enrich the lives of children in other countries to sign up to visit those countries, live and work for a brief time with those children, and help contribute to their abilities to change the lives of the children for the better. She reasons that there are many people who are trying to "find themselves" and find meaning in their lives who would find personal value in such endeavors. Moreover, she asserts, the children would benefit greatly.

As a first step, she envisions organizing a program to help support an organization in Romania that works to teach children various skills that might equip them to make a difference in their own lives. Many of those skills are in the arts, but some are in more mundane areas. She picked this organization and this country because of her personal experience there in recent months. She is enamored of Romania and its people. And, being a brazen capitalist, too boot, she believes there are amazing opportunities to make money, particularly in advance of the country's adoption of the Euro in 2008, a year after its entry into the European Union. She wants me to go to Romania next June so she can introduce me to the people who run the organization. From what she told me of Romania, I think I would really enjoy the country.

She also had another interest, and that is for me to work with her parents to help establish a framework to ensure the longevity of a not-for-profit theater they operate in Central Texas. My background in association management, she says, would be invaluable in helping her parents look critically at the governance and operational structure of their theater, giving them the opportunity to install systems, structures, and procedures to ensure its ongoing health.

So, that's my most interesting tidbit for today.

Still investigating flights to Beijing; haven't bought the ticket yet, but I found a rount-trip ticket from Dallas to Tokyo to Beijing, returning same route, for only $892. While it's economy class and godawful long flights, I think it's the best bet. Now, I await the official invitation letter so I can try to expedite getting a visa. If only I knew what was involved in getting a temporary cell phone that would enable me to communicate to the U.S. while on the short trip, I'd feel better. Sunday-Sunday trips with no communication back home have no appeal to me.