The Gaoshan Opening Ceremony

One part of this trip to the US was the Silicon Valley module of Gaoshan Academy's programme. I was lucky enough to host the opening ceremony for this Silicon Valley trip,

in a truly wonderful place: the Computer History Museum.

Wu Jun's lectures were very inspiring, and I hope to get all my reflections written up over the New Year holiday.

There were a few lines in the museum that moved me deeply in that moment.

Honestly, before the programme began, I wasn't sure what to expect. My first trip to the US in two and a half years also stirred up some feelings I couldn't quite name. With a friend's inspiration and guidance, I finally found that feeling — breathing freedom again after so long, and at first I was almost a little "drunk on oxygen".

In the end, we chose lyrics from a Bob Dylan song to open the ceremony, as a gift to the friends setting out on this exploration together: his questions about how far a person must travel before being called a person, and how many seas a white dove must cross before it can rest on the sand.

Standing at the end of 2022, I suddenly felt the song fit this moment, too.