SQLSaturday#148 part VI

SQLSaturday #148 Speaker party was a dinner, and for those who attended it, it will stay in the memories for a very long time. Looking at the picture – do you see anyone being unhappy or unsatisfied? The dinner was absolutely amazing if you ask me – the food and the company were memorable, and we simply have had fun, enjoying the moment.
I have to say that I feel honored sharing all those moments with each and everyone who were present, and that the connections that were made at this event are to last.

Besides enjoying the company and having an enormous amount of fun, we still have had time to share our impressions on the event, to discuss some things that went right and wrong, and make some expectations on what the future might bring to the Chinese SQL Server community. Everyone wants to see the results of their work, their impact, to see things growing, each and everyone wants to leave their print on whatever they choose to do – and knowing that we did our best to help SQLFamily in China to grow is definitely a big satisfaction for me.

Sure thing, nobody knows how things will look in the future, but there was a strong spark of the community which should help community to carry on, reaching for better and bigger results. :)

On the next day, Tiffena was kind to take Mark Stacey, Matt Horn and myself for a trip to Suzhou for a Humble Administrator’s Garden visit. Besides being an amazing place by itself, this short trip (around 110km) provided me with a better understanding & insight into the Chinese society normal life. I have had experienced different types of transportation – subway, local train, bus, catching a cab on the train station (easy), catching a cab near the Gardens (impossible). :)

This was an important experience for me, because it was an outlook on a real life, that people in China are living.

There are actually very few words that can describe the beauty of the gardens – you gotta just walk around, get lost in them to be able to feel them. I enjoy greatly staying in any garden – being surrounded by the nature is a big pleasure, and I certainly believe that the gardens are created for relaxing and viewing pleasure – so if you are inviting me for a walk in Garden, most certainly I will accept it. The Humble Administrator’s Garden had a lot of places to view and a lot of opportunities to sit down and have a talk – which we certainly did a number of times through the day.

The main problem I have had during that day was the exhaustion and the temperature combined with a humidity – it was absolutely devastating. I had to stop, sit down and drink a lot of water in order to be able to carry on. Especially the humidity was something which I have found out was quite difficult to support. The beauty of the gardens and the company were really compensating – I have had so many great conversations that I am constantly coming back to, though it is being almost a month that since this trip has passed. The positive things were in such a superior quantity, that they are what I cherish the most from this trip.

This is a photo was taken near the gardens and when I look at it – it takes me back into a different century, into a different time and space where people were living in a much simpler way. I wish I had an experience of spending a week exploring this beautiful places like Bill Graziano did. I am sure that one day there will be an opportunity to come back with my family and explore chinese cultural heritage. :)

(to be finished)