1/1000

So I am now finished with my idea submission to Google's Project and the deadline for submission has passed. Looking at Google's Project 10^100 page now indicates that Google received over 100,000 submissions to the project. Only 100 ideas will be released to the general public to vote on in January. This means that I have less than 1 chance out of 1000 to get my submission into that top 100 project ideas. I have confidence in my idea, but 1/1000 is pretty stiff odds. It's not the lotto, but it is pretty intimidating.

I am concerned that my project might not touch enough peoples lives to be considered as a top idea. There are sure to be other ideas that would have direct effect on more peoples lives as compared to mine. I am excited to see what other ideas have been submitted; January cannot come fast enough. I have found some other submission ideas that have been posted online by the idea authors. So far I have seen about three or four. I am not the only one trying to promote my idea prior to January. UVOL needs the support of volunteer organizations and volunteers all over the world if it is to be a successful website. Therefore, I have started trying to spread the word about UVOL now. Even if it not chosen as one of the top 100 ideas, perhaps my own efforts to promote UVOL will open doors.

When the idea for UVOL first hit me, it was like a rush of mental craziness as my brain started thinking of all the possibilities for what can be included in the site and how it could change things. I do not think this idea would have formulated if not for Google's Project, however. Since I began writing my submission last month I have been going over in my head how I first started thinking about what eventually came to be my idea for UVOL. The idea was certainly born out of my personal frustrations in finding volunteer work which stem back all the way to my high school days. Over the years I have had numerous experiences which have led to the formulation of this idea. The most recent experience I am still...experiencing. Had I known exactly what the volunteer project here in Jiaozuo was like, I probably never would have come. Things here are very disorganized and I still have my doubts about how trustworthy the project coordinator is. If UVOL had existed when I was searching for volunteer positions in China, I would have known to steer clear of this project and would have had a much easier time in finding a more worthy project of my time. I must be thankful for this project though; it has allowed me the time and opportunity to spend many an hour working on my UVOL submission and it has directly contributed to my ideas about what UVOL will be and how it will work to solve the problems volunteers and project coordinators face.

Searching for a desired volunteer project is like trying to find a needle in a haystack; after a systematic and planned search you might find that needle after hours upon hours of relentless searching. The only problem is, you never really know how the particular project you find will be or what the people are like that run it. Many times it takes a leap of faith that the project is how it is made out to be in the description (just like I had to do with this project). Same thing goes for project coordinators that are trying to find volunteers as well; how can anyone be sure that a volunteer is trustworthy and will do the things that he/she says they will? With luck, UVOL will make things a bit more transparent in the volunteering world. This will instill confidence in projects and in volunteers allowing people to make more informed decisions. Hopefully this will allow more people to volunteer who otherwise would not even try.

In the world of technology, simplicity is king. UVOL aims to make volunteering simple which will help volunteerism penetrate into the minds of the mainstream masses.

Okay, enough about UVOL. In less than a week I will be in Shanghai. I am very excited to be moving onto the next thing here in China. I always hate goodbyes though. I am not looking forward to saying bye to people that I will probably never see again. Saying bye to one of my Tai Chi teachers will be especially difficult, I think. He and I have become quite good friends even with our very difficult time communicating with each other. He has been teaching me things about Tai Chi that he is apparently not supposed to. The Chinese culture is very interesting in this regard. From what I have gathered, their "secrets" and wisdom that has been accumulated over thousands of generations are only passed down through family or to very select individuals. It is only very recently in Chinese culture has this trend started to change and the open sharing of information been introduced into the minds of the Chinese people. My Tai Chi teacher's teacher is very upset with him that he has been teaching me the things that he has. Even though my teacher is being open with me by teaching me these Tai Chi secrets, he makes a point to tell me that I am not to pass on the things that I have learned even to other Chinese people that he considers friends. He says that they are not his students so they cannot be taught this information. I do not fully understand this concept and tradition, but I find it very fascinating. In any case, I am very humbled that he has accepted me as his student even though it is getting him in trouble with his teacher. It will be very difficult to say goodbye to him.

I will be taking a train to Shanghai, but I will not be immediately meeting up with my friend Alan in Shanghai. Alan's family own an apartment in Shanghai where I will be staying for a time, but at the moment there are some plumbing problems in the house and we cannot stay there until those are fixed. Upon my arrival to Shanghai on Monday, I will be staying with a couchsurfer. I am very thankful for the existence of couchsurfing and not just because I get to stay in wonderful people's houses for free. Couchsurfing has also played a part in formulating my ideas for UVOL. Anyway, I am looking forward to staying with another couchsurfer and I hope that one day when I have a place of my own I will be able to host people from around the world as well.