Jim Barbiere:  

Life Hey all... After WHS I went to Trenton State, which is now The College of NJ. I majored in History and pursued minors in Philosophy and German, which led me to study abroad in Frankfurt, Germany. There I discovered beer. Seeing as I had also joined the TCNJ lacrosse team, this revelation was harmonious with my new lifestyle. Life was good. When I got back I also discovered a profound interest in Buddhism and Daoism, so I started learning Mandarin Chinese. I stayed on at TCNJ for a 5th year, where I did a Senior Honors thesis about how modern music can galvanize marginal political elements through the creation of a unifying subculture. For contrasting examples I used the San Francisco hippie movement and German Neo-Nazi skinheads. I also kept playing lacrosse, which I've grown to love. During that year I was living in the heart of Trenton, in an crazy four-story party house with my girlfriend Mairin (now my wife), two college buddies (Tracy and Joe) several hundred gallons worth of fish tanks and none other than Kevin Hoel. After graduation, Mairin and I recognized that we needed to grow as separate people if we had hopes of spending our lives together. So I moved to Beijing to teach English and she moved out to Seattle. While in Beijing I learned taijiquan, a Daoist martial art, and learned why the Buddha smiles. I only stayed a year, and when I got back to the States I headed ...Expand for more