In the meantime, my Sandwich Board Guy picture and story continued to spread internationally, especially in France, Germany, Italy, India, Hong Kong and China.
More and more international journalists called me for interviews—and a new flood of emails poured in from around the world.
People started telling me how great things were in China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia.
“Come here and teach English at the university,” they wrote. “Come here, and you will find a job.”
I even received emails from several expatriate Americans describing how wonderful it was to live and work in Shanghai.
Students and unemployed people started reaching out to me for personal advice. “Should I study finance or is that no longer practical?” “Should I put on a sandwich board like you did?”
I was also asked for economic, financial and business analysis, including a request to write an article about who might succeed Warren Buffet at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway and a request to write an article about corporate governance in light of the global economic crisis.
Both articles were subsequently published in prominent Indian business journals—Business & Economy and The Human Factor, respectively.
Several journalists asked me for political analysis. “How do you think the upcoming elections will affect the economy?” “Will you vote for Obama or McCain?”
I was truly becoming a Sign of the Times and the Face of the American Economy—but where in the world was I going to end up?
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