Thursday, June 28th 6:45AM PT
(Plano time)
Starbucks in hand, I show up at Mayor
Evan's house. The mayor, Sally Bane (Executive
Director, Plano Economic Development),
Liu Yaun (Plano Public Safety Officer
and translator), and I leave for DFW Airport.
10:00AM - Fly to Tokyo to catch
a connecting flight to Taiwan.
Friday, June 29th 6AM PT
(That is 7PM THURSDAY in Taiwan!)
We arrive at the airport in Taipei where
council member, Jean Callison, joins us.
The mayor of Hsinchu and a news camera
crew greets our delegation.
7:45AM PT/8:45PM Hsinchu Time
- It has been a long day of travel. Much
to our surprise, Mayor Lin and his reception
committee inform us that we have fifteen
minutes before dinner. (After 23 hours
of travel...I remember my mom's words
not to embarrass her.) I run upstairs
to my room to call the important people
in my life and let them know I am safe.
Put my best face on and have dinner with
our gracious host.
We are now
in Hsinchu
Saturday, June 30th 2:45AM
I am up. I am wide-awake watching CNBC.
I get a random phone call on my cell phone
from a friend. She has no idea I am out
of the country (or what time it is here).
We talk a bit, and she voices her opinion
about being in stage three water restrictions
despite the lakes being effectively full.
I get a little home sick. I could be in
Plano fielding this call!
One of the highlights
of our first day in Hsinchu is
attending a sister city delegation dinner
where we are joined by other sister city
delegates from Cupertino, California,
Cary, North Carolina, and the Philippines.
After dinner, we enjoy a performance
by various dance and musical groups
from local schools. The
sister city dinner and performance is
part of Hsinchu's 25th Anniversary Celebration
as a provincial city.
Provincial cities are governed by provinces
and are one level above the county controlled
cities and one level below a direct-controlled
municipality of the Republic of China.
Sunday, June 31st 3AM
I am up again. I am watching "Wedding
Crashers" on HBO (definitely "thumbs up"
when you are far from home.)
In the morning, we visit Hsinchu's City
Hall for official ceremonies. Mayor Evans,
with distinction and eloquence, declares
today to be Hsinchu City Day. We listen
and learn about the history of the city
from past Hsinchu mayors and other speakers.
There was a brief
moment of humor, when Mayor
Lin refers to our 11-couse meal as a snack
and I thought he said snake!
Monday, July 1st 3:30AM
Guess what? I am watching the Yankees
get pummeled by the Oakland A's.
Today, I experienced diplomacy at it's
best. Plano's
commitment to nurture the relationship
with Mayor Lin and the city of Hsinchu
with a goal of opening doors for economic
development within our city limits dates
back to before I was on council.
We meet with business owners from Krypton,
a company located in Plano. We facilitate
introductions to meet with numerous companies
in the Science Park (an area similar to
the telecom corridor). There are nearly
400 companies located on 1900 acres, mostly
from the technology sector. Later that
day, we go to Taipei to meet with top
executives from Cipher Lab, a global company
with over 200 employees. Their US headquarters
is in Plano. We have fruitful discussions
about the company's future as it relates
to the US and Plano.
Tuesday, July 2nd 7:30AM
(It is 6:30 PM Monday, July 1st in Plano)
Head home.
We are now
in Plano.
Tuesday, July 2nd 3:00PM
I arrive at DFW (NO INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT).
I feel like I am home when I see the Whole
Foods at Park and Preston and I have two
slices of pizza from Sal's Pizzeria in
Uptown Plano...good ole American food.
I am grateful for the opportunity to
be part of an experience that was not
only memorable, but, most importantly,
will bring Plano economic growth. I am
also glad to be home.
By the way, we are off stage 3 water
restrictions and on to stage 2! I need
to call my constituent.
