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Editor: Kathryne Ogrod & Elsa Zhang
Maybe you have seen him riding his bike around town or frantically rushing from one meeting to the next. Although he has only been in Tianjin for one year, he has greatly benefited many of the businesses and lives in Tianjin. If you did not know him before, you soon will; his name is Michael Heart.
Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri in America, Michael studied banking at the University of Missouri. He completed his education by working for a Bank in Europe. This ended up bringing him to work in Taiwan.
Although he was supposed to work for only a year, destiny it seems had other plans for Michael. Mr. Heart ended up living in Taiwan for over six years and marrying a Taiwanese woman. After learning the language and culture of Taiwan he became very familiar with Taiwanese real estate. The company he had worked so hard to build up was eventually bought out by a larger firm called Jones Lang La Salle.
His last two years in Taiwan were spent as the English editor for the research division of the Taiwanese section. Shanghai was his next location for two years. His beautiful wife accompanied him and they both worked hard in Shanghai. Around this time, a new addition came into their lives, a beautiful healthy boy who has brought much joy and laughter into their lives.
At the end of two years, Michael had a hard choice to make. He could either: remain in Shanghai and live in a place where his wife had a good job and where the real estate market is red hot or continue on to Tianjin where the corporate real estate market is just beginning. He chose to go on to Tianjin for the simple fact that Tianjin is an area that is just being developed. The best part about being in corporate real estate is seeing where the city is going and what new sights will be added to the city.
Corporate real estate is very important to many businesses because it offers the chance for new businesses and new innovative ideas to be exposed to many new places. Michael works with businesses in the area of: offices, shopping, industrial, hotels, and service workers, in order to find the best location for these people to work. Currently, Mr. Heart is working on filling the Tianjin Three Towers which will be full soon. There are many foreign investors who want to come to Tianjin and many are worried that Tianjin cannot support this kind of return. Michael has been working with many new and innovative businesses who are concerned with more than just making money. There are many projects on the way that will not only create jobs for locals in Tianjin but also businesses that are looking to help with environmental issues.
This will be the first year that Michael, his loving wife, and beautiful son will spend Christmas in Tianjin. Michael calls himself the ambassador of Christmas for his family and he is very excited because his son is at the age where he will start to remember some of the activities his family does together. A Christmas tree will be decorated and presents will be placed under the tree with Christmas music playing on the stereo. Michael is happy about celebrating Christmas outside of the United States because there are times when Christmas can be blown out of proportion back home. In America, many people can get caught up in the giving and receiving of presents; it is easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a time for family to come together in light, warmth, and celebration rather than gift giving. Michael is looking forward to spending a warm day alone with his family on Christmas day.
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