Suddenly very bad feeling overwhelmed me. Maybe, it is just because of the place. After all, I have spent a very long time talking about moving and yet still trapped in the tiny place that I have been for the last three years.

Change is what I wanted for the new year. Indeed, new year! After a ski trip to Austria, I find out many things that I did not know about myself. I never know that I am pretty good at picking up a new sport. I never know that I am more positive than I thought. I never know I am more determined than I imagined. All very good news, a surprising byproduct of the job.

But still, when Monday is coming, I want to show a sad face to everyone. Has the weekend gone just like that?

So it is gone, slowly, between my fingers. It has been a while that I have closed down this communication, at least sort of communication to me. In a modern society, with all the fancy soft wares and websites, fewer and fewer people appreciate the art of writing, particularly letters as a form of personal communication. But I just cannot let it go. The sense of nostalgia is overwhelming and I ordered Ted Hugh's letters from Amazon. I wonder how the sales of the book is like in Britain, after all, this is where all the stories of his love and work are. The editor is so royal to the original text that he even kept all the misspelling or certain spelling habits.

To me MSN is still a better options compare to other newer popular sites, without hassles, I decide to keep it, simply to write to myself.

The Austrian holiday is so beautiful. The sky is as blue as the ocean for my whole stay of seven days. With no television in my room and the radio plying nothing but opera or Christmas songs, I devote myself to reading Alan Greenspan's Turbulent days. But is it really as turbulent as the title suggested? The short answer is no. All the wars after WWII are more than a competition of military forces, but economics forces too. Capitalism has won and more than that, it has never been in such a dominant and secured position in world economies. To me, his arguments are very familiar. Many ideas remind me of one of Clinton's speech on development. But apart from the worrying secondary education, Greenspan seems less worried about the health issues (which should be distinguished from the aging population, which is an issue of affordability) in the US. After seeing the Supersize Me this week on Channel Four, I believe health is a more pressing current issue. Maybe an issue that decides who will be the next president in the US. If US citizens do not look after themselves carefully enough, the super power might be shaken in the second half of 21st century. The economics burden is obvious and the innovation pace will slow down given its more far reaching effect, which is the true propelling power that America has today (which it benefited from its foresight of the coming of Internet Age in the 1990s).

But wait a second, does Capitalism really work for every economy and can be adapted easily? The strong attack Greenspan had on the price and wage control seems natural and obvious for the USA, the biggest market economy in the world. Then what about the current price control on oil and gas products in China? After a decade of low-inflation and high-growth period, China had food inflation over 20% in 2007. The spike in oil and gas in international market certainly had more impact than before. Private cars are no longer the privilege of the super rich, but ordinary family too. So is the price control in China (a widening price freeze in water and electric is expected soon) a right move in China, a more market-oriented economy than ever?

Suddenly Russia jumped into my head. The recent NYTimes Russia discussion gives me a better balanced arguments. Regardless of the attacks on Putin, in domestic Russia, Putin's popularity remains high. Forget those long queues for food and worthless currency due to hyper inflation, today's Russians' life quality has improved more than the word 'significantly' can describe.