Thanks for stopping by to visit my website!

My name is Kevin Ho and I finished law school at UC Berkeley (Boalt School of Law) in 2004 and currently live in San Francisco. I am an attorney at a medium-sized firm in the city and enjoy my work and still manage to have a life outside of the office and time to enjoy it!

Before coming to the Bay Area, I completed my MA in London at the University of London's School for Oriental and African Studies in 2001. My MA was in International Studies and Diplomacy. What does that mean? Well it means international law, economics and diplomacy. What does it really mean? Well in undergraduate they teach you the broad strokes of an area, maybe even some specialty, but at the MA level there's more depth and, strangely, an even broader perspective. Well in law school then you learn everything about everything in terms of the 'fine print' of society. But before I get ahead of myself, I also graduated in 2000 with a BA in East Asian Studies from Washington University in St. Louis with a year at New College, Oxford University. You can read the boring details of these bio-data below.

As for me I've travelled a lot, met a lot of great friends and have just been lucky enough to have a good time most of the time, despite being from Iowa!!! Which can be both a good thing and a 'bad' thing - although I seldom look at it that way.

Personally, my interests are varied: they include running, biking, classical music, cooking, photography, design, domestic politics and global politics as well . They also include weight-lifting, cooking and gardening (although we've killed more plants recently than not) That said, I once made a flower garden in the shape of a violin - a fusion of interests if you will...

So, I've traveled a great deal and have been lucky to do a lot. I can speak English and Cantonese, and passable Mandarin and German - but all are rusty now. I've had tea with a Lord (a Peer who lives in Iowa of all places) at the House of Lords in London; wandered the halls of the U.S. Senate (with impunity) as an intern, conducted an orchestra and coxed crews at New College in Oxford; eaten Peking Duck in 'Peking' (it was both crispy and fatty - just right!); wandered the canals of Venice (it was smelly!); climbed the Great Wall of China (it was freezing!); been in the Pyramids at Giza (it was stuffy!); wandered the Alps (it was treacherous!); met a ton of classical conductors and performers; but in the end I've met a lot of good people who I'm glad to call my friends along the way.

My academic and personal interests focused on East Asia, political economy, public policy and the law. (I told you the boring stuff was coming)

In addition to courses in Japanese History and foreign policy and Chinese History taken at Washington University, in St. Louis, my training also included a year of studying Chinese Political and Anthropological History and Music History at New College and the Chinese Institute of Oxford University. All of this culminated into an undergraduate paper about Hong Kong's transition from British colonial administration to the Chinese-sponsored limited self-rule. (Which should be updated I know!)

Subsequently, my MA training in London provided both a broad and generalist analytical framework focusing on issues of economic mulitlaterialism in an increasingly globalised world. Hong Kong once again made an appearance as an academic pursuit, culiminating on a MA thesis probing the legal status of Hong Kong in modern international law. (for both papers and other essays please click here to the writing sample and web-designs section of this site.)

East Asian studies aside, my academic interests and passions also includes classical music. My passion for classical music started when I was young. Since then I've been in an one orchestra another for most of my life. It's interesting that I like classical music at all since my parents don't really know anything about it. I started listening to classical music by taking the bus down to the library, once there I checked out new and different classical CDs and records each week, picking and choosing things until I found pieces that suited me. Ever since, I have been an avid collector of classical CDs. But my tastes have also diversified into techno, hip-hop, trip-hop, rock, jazz and cheezy club and chart music too.

My music training includes violin, voice and piano. Academically, I took courses in that focused on late-Romantic era to Early-20th Century Music History. I also took a term of conducting that focused on basic conducting technique, score analysis and orchestration at Oxford. When I was England, I was went to a wealth of concerts by some of the world's best orchestras. I've seen great conductors including Jansons, Ozawa, Chailly, Davis, Gergiev, Musur, Jarvi and Slatkin among others.

If music bores you, I'll have you know that I have also been a reporter too. I worked as a metro reporter at the Daily Iowan in Iowa City, and co-founded the Diatribe magazine at Washington University.

In the summer of 2000 I combined my interests in politics and my skills in the press field to intern and get up close and personal with Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa (R). (But this does not mean I didn't volunteer for the Howard Dean campaign 4 years later)

Interning for the Senator was not the most glamorous jobs, but it was extremely revealing and invigorating at the same time. I helped draft press releases, coordinated weekly interviews between the Senator and the Iowa press corps, I also compiled and analyzed Iowa press coverage of the Senator and his activities. It was a great experience. In addition to meeting new people in and out of the office, I had a great 'view' - talk about access to the Senate and the government. It was a revlation to see that, despite the charges of a bloated 'Soviet-style bureaucracy', a surprisingly small number of people are responsible for carrying out the business for hundreds of millions people.

Well I'm bored of typing now, so I'll leave you to browse around (if you're still here!) I hope you enjoy the site, I think it begins to show you some of the people and places that I've seen. Maybe it'll give you some insight as to how I tick. Drop me an email to tell me what you think of the site if you. Till then…

Favourite Friends: See Photos

Favourite Drinks: mojito, cosmos, pims, Shiraz Cabernet/Merlot, Earl Grey tea, diet coke, fanta, Vodka Collins/Vodka Red Bull - and, of course, Minute Maid Fruit Punch.

Blogs:

CNET - 30 (or 60) Days with the iPhone

The Guppie Blog.

Interests: Chinese History, Politics, Culture, Japanese History, Music History, and International Organisations like the WTO, the U.N. American Politics, British Politics and Culture, Law

Favourite Music: See the catalog: Classical (late-Romantic to today), U.K. Garage, Soulful House, Pop, Jazz, some deep house.

Favourite Music makers: Mahler, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Ravel, Debussy, Vaughan Williams, Sir Simon Rattle, Rostropovich, Jansons, Abbado, Boulez, Jarvi, Hahn, Vengerov, Ma, Bell, Chang, Mutter, Ashkenazy, The London Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, Coldplay, Jack Johnson, John Meyer, Ben Watt, EBTG, Dave Matthews Band, Counting Crows, Blur, The Postal Service, Jamaroquai, Radiohead, royksopp, zero7, Massive Attack, Ulrich Schnauss, Daft Punk, Artful Dodger, Chicane, Madonna, Bent, Janet Jackson, Stan Getz, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra, Nina Simone, Louis Armstrong, Also, go to www.bbc.co.uk/radio

Favourite Pastimes: Running, biking, Entertaining, Blogging, Punting in Oxford with Pimms and Strawberries, Driving the convertible along the California coast, hanging out with friends, laying out in the sun and reading, listening to the iPod, tv, books, Internet, talking, shopping, cooking, eating and drinking well - the usual.

Favourite Foods: Any - many will attest to my appetite, but if I had to choose, Chicken Tikka Bhriyani, Thai Green Coconut Curry Chicken, Sea Bass, The French Laundry Sushi - usually Tuna or Salmon, Chinese Black Bean Roast Pork, Hot and Sour Soup, Thanksgiving Turkey and Stuffing, Carne Asada Burrito, Gnochi.

Newssrouces (see links): New York Times, The Economist, The Washington Post, The LATimes and The Onion

For my resume, click here!

For an alternate 'resume,' click here...

Send me e-mail

...or if you want to chat with me aol IM me at kevho42.