One of the interesting pictures that I saw these days came from TIME magazine—a worrying mommy is swathing her son with bubble wrap to provide protection from his hair to toes. Yes. It is a picture mocking at over-parenting. The cover story on TIME was “The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting”. According to the article, over-parenting is spreading so quickly since recent decades. Debate about good parenting and bad parenting was launched: is overparenting good or bad?
It is true that concerns about children’s safety, grades, success and future motivate parents to overact their roles as parents. According to me, it is understandable that parents don’t want their kids lose the competition at the starting line. Thus, it is justified that parents send their toddlers to schools that offer Mandarin and Spanish lessons. In this case, more investment in education should be appreciated, but it is hard to measure how much is appropriate.
The TIME article also talked about the hurried lifestyle and intense extracurricular activities. I have to say that hurried lifestyle is no good for both mental and physical development of children. When I sit down and think over the most frequent words that I use in conversation with my son, I realize that “hurry up” and “quick” have quite high frequency. As a parent, I hope to save every free minute and let him to draw a picture, trace letters, play puzzles or at least color something. But I also know that free playing plays an extremely important role in childhood. Kids discover the world through playing themselves and with friends.
But what sounds ridiculous for me is that some parents won’t play piggyback ride any more in case of their kids bang heads on the wall. It is even ironic that a Connecticut grandma wrote to the mayor to chop down hickory trees in order to prevent her occasionally-swimming nut-allergic grandson from being hit from the dropping nuts. Kids are like flowers. They do need sunshine, water and care, but it doesn’t mean that they should always stay in conservatory 24/7. Sometimes, a little wind and a bit of rain will help them to learn more about survival. I really appreciate my son’s school give them two one-hour outdoor free playtime each day. Almost everyday, he shows me something he finds at school from his little pocket.
New Vocabulary:
swathe: to wrap or bind with or as if with bandages
Hullabaloo: Great noise or excitement; uproar
Trampoline: A strong, taut sheet, usually of canvas, attached with springs to a metal frame and used for gymnastic springing and tumbling
Saturday, December 12, 2009
from "queer" to "faggot"
When I wrote these English blogs, thesaurus.com helped me a lot with finding new words. Howeve, things are not always so simple. Some words are synonyms, but they are not replaceable. One of the typical examples is the word “weird”. I found “eccentric”, “strange”, and “queer” as its synonyms. Before I picked “queer” as the new vocabulary for my blog, I asked my husband if he knew this word. He answered, “Do you mean gay?” That really surprised me because I didn’t realize that “queer” had been derived as a synonym of “gay”. After I looked it up in dictionary, I knew that “queer” is not a polite way to name a guy with homosexual trend. It mixed some negative attitude while addressing homosexuality. When I googled it for further research, I found out another word with similar meaning to “gay”: “faggot”. Even Wikipedia has an entry for “faggot”—a pejorative term and common homophobic slur against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. It will be so awkward if an English beginner randomly picks “faggot” from dictionary without understanding the real meaning.
New Vocabulary:
Queer: odd or unconventional, as in behavior; eccentric.
Pejorative: tending to make or become worse.
Faggot: American slang, a common homophobic slur against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
New Vocabulary:
Queer: odd or unconventional, as in behavior; eccentric.
Pejorative: tending to make or become worse.
Faggot: American slang, a common homophobic slur against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Does marriage change people?
Does marriage change people? Most people will say that nothing you can do to get your husband or wife change. I think in terms of personality and characteristics, it is true. But recently, I found out that for some husbands, one thing is changeable. They will gradually get away from their old buddies and friends with whom they hang out most often will become their wife’s husbands. Although it sounds like a nightmare for most husbands, it is hard to deny it.
For me, it is a pretty interesting phenomenon. For most wives, it is almost impossible to become intimate friends with their husbands’ friends’ wives, but it is inevitable that husbands of intimate girlfriends will become intimate buddies. I asked my husband if my conclusion is true, he didn’t answer it but he started to name some of his male friends with whom he hung out most often recently, they are all my girl friends’ husbands. I also asked some of my girlfriends who live in different cities and countries whether they see the same phenomenon, they all agreed, which reaffirm my thought that marriage and relationship can really change a man through changing his friends. But later, I doubted myself. Is it wife who changes friends of her husband or their kids who does it?
All my girlfriends around me these years are mommies of my son’s friends.
Although I think that I still keep good contact with girlfriends I made in high school and college, it seems that hanging out with them becomes really difficult, except for those who have got married and had kids like me. In Sex and the City, when Maranda becomes a Mommy, she’s so afraid of getting alienated with the other three girls. Although in the show, she is lucky enough to keep close with her girls eventually, I don’t believe that it will happen to everyone in real life. In reality, our friends will somehow shift, from friends of ours to friends of our families.
Old friends might not go away, but family will bring new folks to coruscate our life. Just like my husband, he is pretty enjoying sipping beer and playing vacuous Wii games with other daddies of Marvin’s friends.
New Vocabulary:
coruscate: to give forth flashes of light; sparkle and glitter
vacuous: lacking intelligence; silly
For me, it is a pretty interesting phenomenon. For most wives, it is almost impossible to become intimate friends with their husbands’ friends’ wives, but it is inevitable that husbands of intimate girlfriends will become intimate buddies. I asked my husband if my conclusion is true, he didn’t answer it but he started to name some of his male friends with whom he hung out most often recently, they are all my girl friends’ husbands. I also asked some of my girlfriends who live in different cities and countries whether they see the same phenomenon, they all agreed, which reaffirm my thought that marriage and relationship can really change a man through changing his friends. But later, I doubted myself. Is it wife who changes friends of her husband or their kids who does it?
All my girlfriends around me these years are mommies of my son’s friends.
Although I think that I still keep good contact with girlfriends I made in high school and college, it seems that hanging out with them becomes really difficult, except for those who have got married and had kids like me. In Sex and the City, when Maranda becomes a Mommy, she’s so afraid of getting alienated with the other three girls. Although in the show, she is lucky enough to keep close with her girls eventually, I don’t believe that it will happen to everyone in real life. In reality, our friends will somehow shift, from friends of ours to friends of our families.
Old friends might not go away, but family will bring new folks to coruscate our life. Just like my husband, he is pretty enjoying sipping beer and playing vacuous Wii games with other daddies of Marvin’s friends.
New Vocabulary:
coruscate: to give forth flashes of light; sparkle and glitter
vacuous: lacking intelligence; silly
Monday, November 16, 2009
Farmers Market vs. Supermarket
Last week, I happened to hear a report about the impact of supermarket invasion in developing countries from NPR news. With the fast development of global retail chains, traditional markets in developing countries are facing tremendous threat, as well as local farmers and agricultural producers. In some developing countries, supermarket is considered as a new shopping and living style. Although same products in supermarket are about twice price as in traditional market in those countries, more and more customers are attracted by the convenience provided by supermarket. According to the report, some new supermarkets offer customers store credit card which is really popular, albeit its high interests. It is a pretty interesting phenomena that when farmers market is again a fashionable life style in developed country like America, traditional local market are rapidly declining in third world countries.
Neophilia could be considered as a latent identity for most of human beings. Once supermarket becomes part of daily life, a weekend-only farmers market turns out to be a fashion. As always said, fashion has and will always repeat itself and come back after being packaged in a different way. Although supermarket is definitely an evolutionary shopping concept, farmers market is exactly a new look of traditional market. The popularity of brand new supermarket chains in some developing countries along with the prevailing farmers market best demonstrates the human nature of neophilia.
Moreover, the phenomenon could also be explained as a cultural transition. Culture evolves through the demands of society. When people in developed countries begin to care more about their life quality and food safety, their needs for fresher products increase. Although global trade, along with supermarket chains brings delicious fruits from the other side of the planet to our table and benefits our guts, we all know that they are neither environmental-friendly nor sustainable for our planet. Sometimes, the freshness of the products in supermarket is artificially created—some fruit and vegetables are coated with chemicals to look good. It is undoubted that our modern life is tightly connected with supermarket or hypermarket like Wal-Mart. It is impossible to get rid of it since it has been part of our life. So, honestly, what we can do is limited—going to a nearby farmers market every other weekend could be an option.
Overall, shopping supermarket and farmers market are both desirable living style for better life. I enjoy both ways of shopping—supermarket is neat and convenient while shopping farmers market is a pretty relax and pleasant experience.
Vocabulary:
neophilia: love of or enthusiasm for what is new or novel
Neophilia could be considered as a latent identity for most of human beings. Once supermarket becomes part of daily life, a weekend-only farmers market turns out to be a fashion. As always said, fashion has and will always repeat itself and come back after being packaged in a different way. Although supermarket is definitely an evolutionary shopping concept, farmers market is exactly a new look of traditional market. The popularity of brand new supermarket chains in some developing countries along with the prevailing farmers market best demonstrates the human nature of neophilia.
Moreover, the phenomenon could also be explained as a cultural transition. Culture evolves through the demands of society. When people in developed countries begin to care more about their life quality and food safety, their needs for fresher products increase. Although global trade, along with supermarket chains brings delicious fruits from the other side of the planet to our table and benefits our guts, we all know that they are neither environmental-friendly nor sustainable for our planet. Sometimes, the freshness of the products in supermarket is artificially created—some fruit and vegetables are coated with chemicals to look good. It is undoubted that our modern life is tightly connected with supermarket or hypermarket like Wal-Mart. It is impossible to get rid of it since it has been part of our life. So, honestly, what we can do is limited—going to a nearby farmers market every other weekend could be an option.
Overall, shopping supermarket and farmers market are both desirable living style for better life. I enjoy both ways of shopping—supermarket is neat and convenient while shopping farmers market is a pretty relax and pleasant experience.
Vocabulary:
neophilia: love of or enthusiasm for what is new or novel
A recent film- "The Proposal"
Recently, I watched two of the year’s most popular comedies: the Proposal and I love You, Man. Although the critics’ review on Yahoo gave higher rate for I Love You, Man, I personally prefer the Proposal much further，not only because it is a romantic comedy but also because the movie is quite related with the research paper I am working on.
The story is about a successful and imperious Canadian woman in Manhattan, who is accused to overstay with an invalid U.S. visa and is about to be deported by USCIS agent. In order to keep her legal visa status in the U.S, she decides to risk violating the law and persuades her assistant to collude with her for a phony marriage. Throughout their plan, they eventually fall in love with each other. The romance is a little bit cliché, just like most of the other romantic comedy, but there are still a lot of sweet and affable moments about family relations.
In addition, although this film is mostly about a love journey, it does uncovers some problems of the current broken and inefficient procedure existing in U.S. immigration bureaucracy—the long queue of immigration applicants in USCIS bureau, inhumane and rigid regulations, and low efficiency in case processing.
One of the most hilarious parts appears when the closing credits are on. The main characters are being interviewed by immigration officers. Interview questions such as “What’s your wife’s favorite color when she’s not home?” and “What’s the flavor of your husband’s Speed Stick? Mask or Alpine?” “Does your wife fart in front of you?” are queerly hilarious. I think most audience cannot stop laughing when they watch this part.
I googled the “marriage interview questions for U.S. immigration” after I watched this film. I found out that weird questions are more than the forementioned. It is understandable that these questions are deliberately designed to prevent phony marriage and defend the law. However, is it necessary to make the whole procedure as a “game show” or a slapstick?
Hope an upcoming immigration reform will change it and make the immigration process a pleasant one instead of a struggle.
Vocabulary:
Imperious - able to deal authoritatively with affairs
Collude - to act in conspire; to act in unison or agreement and in secret towards a deceitful or illegal purpose
The story is about a successful and imperious Canadian woman in Manhattan, who is accused to overstay with an invalid U.S. visa and is about to be deported by USCIS agent. In order to keep her legal visa status in the U.S, she decides to risk violating the law and persuades her assistant to collude with her for a phony marriage. Throughout their plan, they eventually fall in love with each other. The romance is a little bit cliché, just like most of the other romantic comedy, but there are still a lot of sweet and affable moments about family relations.
In addition, although this film is mostly about a love journey, it does uncovers some problems of the current broken and inefficient procedure existing in U.S. immigration bureaucracy—the long queue of immigration applicants in USCIS bureau, inhumane and rigid regulations, and low efficiency in case processing.
One of the most hilarious parts appears when the closing credits are on. The main characters are being interviewed by immigration officers. Interview questions such as “What’s your wife’s favorite color when she’s not home?” and “What’s the flavor of your husband’s Speed Stick? Mask or Alpine?” “Does your wife fart in front of you?” are queerly hilarious. I think most audience cannot stop laughing when they watch this part.
I googled the “marriage interview questions for U.S. immigration” after I watched this film. I found out that weird questions are more than the forementioned. It is understandable that these questions are deliberately designed to prevent phony marriage and defend the law. However, is it necessary to make the whole procedure as a “game show” or a slapstick?
Hope an upcoming immigration reform will change it and make the immigration process a pleasant one instead of a struggle.
Vocabulary:
Imperious - able to deal authoritatively with affairs
Collude - to act in conspire; to act in unison or agreement and in secret towards a deceitful or illegal purpose
Monday, November 9, 2009
Marvin's Birthday
Today is my son’s 4-year-old birthday. We planed a party and invited some of his friends come to the party this noon. When I brought him to Costco this morning to buy food and drink for our reception, I think I “made a mistake”, but an interesting one. I knew that I shouldn’t have taken the way through toy section in the store, but I did. That brought me lots of trouble, as most parents have experienced. Marvin was totally amazed by the toys, especially transformers, dinosaurs and race cars. We are not parents who buy everything asked by their kids. Usually, my son is a reasonable kid when I tell him that we should discuss with daddy before we decide to buy a new toy, but today things were not that simple. He wanted a set of 20 race cars, which I have to admit are really hunky-dory. I told me as usual that we had to talk to daddy when we went home and made the decision together. His response was pretty plausible, “Last time when I came here, Daddy said that I should discuss with you.” I realized that he had seen the same toy when he came to Costco with his daddy two weeks ago. Obviously, daddy had already kicked the ball to mommy. The buck-passing game could not continue any more because daddy and mommy are not supposed to go back to their words, isn’t it? And suddenly, I found out that the boy in front of me started to have his own precise and explicit logic. In terms of buying new toys, setting a principle is important, but disappointing him sometimes may lead to his distrust on parents. So, he got his desirable race car set.
On our way home, I told him that mom and daddy did discussed about buying this toy set and appreciated his understanding and patience, and this toy set was also a reward for his comprehension for principles. Our 4-year-old young man seemed to be quite delighted with his new toy and flattered by mommy’s praise. I was pleased too. Although I made a mistake by going across the toy section, spending twenty dollars reinforcing my son’s attitude towards principles was also a valuable lesson for me. Principles should not only be obeyed by kids but also parents. Trust is a two-way track, which is extremely important for young kids when their philosophy is shaping.
The party was awesome. Kids were all attracted by the colorful race cars. They shared the toys and all really enjoyed Marvin’s birthday party. Marvin, of course, was the most exultant one, who dressed with his new Ralph Lauren shirt, met with his friends, got lots of B-day gifts, blew his candles and blessed by everyone.
New Vocabulary:
hunky-dory: perfectly satisfactory; fine
flattered: being pleased or gratified the vanity of
exultant: marked by great joy or jubilation; triumphant
On our way home, I told him that mom and daddy did discussed about buying this toy set and appreciated his understanding and patience, and this toy set was also a reward for his comprehension for principles. Our 4-year-old young man seemed to be quite delighted with his new toy and flattered by mommy’s praise. I was pleased too. Although I made a mistake by going across the toy section, spending twenty dollars reinforcing my son’s attitude towards principles was also a valuable lesson for me. Principles should not only be obeyed by kids but also parents. Trust is a two-way track, which is extremely important for young kids when their philosophy is shaping.
The party was awesome. Kids were all attracted by the colorful race cars. They shared the toys and all really enjoyed Marvin’s birthday party. Marvin, of course, was the most exultant one, who dressed with his new Ralph Lauren shirt, met with his friends, got lots of B-day gifts, blew his candles and blessed by everyone.
New Vocabulary:
hunky-dory: perfectly satisfactory; fine
flattered: being pleased or gratified the vanity of
exultant: marked by great joy or jubilation; triumphant
Sunday, November 1, 2009
About the recall of Baby Einstein DVDs
One of my friends recently purchased Wii FitPlus for her daughter in order to encourage her do some exercises. Her 4-year-old daughter is quiet and shy. She would rather playing piano for 40 minutes, instead of playing slide in the playground. It is quite understandable that my friend worries about her daughter’s athletic performance. However, among Wii’s hundreds of games, her daughter only likes the very gentle yoga exercise and prefers watching her mom playing game and giggling on the sofa. My friend said that it was one of the regretful purchases she has made.
We are living in a world fulfilled with ubiquitous technologies which all claim to make our life better; however, is our life really made better by things like TV, computer and Wii? The recent recall scandal of Disney Baby Einstein DVDs pulls the debate again under spotlights.
Although I am one of the parents who introduce TV to kids in their early ages, I do not think watching TV and learning from TV can replace the interactions between kids and parents. According to an article on TIME two years ago (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1650352,00.html), some TV learning programs, such as Baby Einstein and Sesame Street are considered by lots of parents as a replacement for parents’ evolvement in early education. That is not a feasible trend. Parents are not just giving birth to kids. More than feeding them up, we are here to nourish them. Even though 24/7 parents are the toughest job in the world, in my opinion, a 30-minute story time everyday is really crucial for not only kids but also parenting course. Interacting with kids is pretty time-consuming, but it worth all the inputs.
It is undoubted that increasing pressure from work and life in modern society keeps parents really busy and overloaded. A one-hour TV program can allow a desperate mommy finish a simple yoga section and free a sweaty daddy to a relaxing shower.
I think that interest groups, like Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) are not only expressing their indignation towards the current intensive and overwhelming commercial market, but also are broaching their concern for the next generation and the future of human beings.
New Vocabularies:
ubiquitous:being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent.
indignation: anger aroused by something unjust, mean, or unworthy.
broach: to bring up (a subject) for discussion or debate.
We are living in a world fulfilled with ubiquitous technologies which all claim to make our life better; however, is our life really made better by things like TV, computer and Wii? The recent recall scandal of Disney Baby Einstein DVDs pulls the debate again under spotlights.
Although I am one of the parents who introduce TV to kids in their early ages, I do not think watching TV and learning from TV can replace the interactions between kids and parents. According to an article on TIME two years ago (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1650352,00.html), some TV learning programs, such as Baby Einstein and Sesame Street are considered by lots of parents as a replacement for parents’ evolvement in early education. That is not a feasible trend. Parents are not just giving birth to kids. More than feeding them up, we are here to nourish them. Even though 24/7 parents are the toughest job in the world, in my opinion, a 30-minute story time everyday is really crucial for not only kids but also parenting course. Interacting with kids is pretty time-consuming, but it worth all the inputs.
It is undoubted that increasing pressure from work and life in modern society keeps parents really busy and overloaded. A one-hour TV program can allow a desperate mommy finish a simple yoga section and free a sweaty daddy to a relaxing shower.
I think that interest groups, like Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) are not only expressing their indignation towards the current intensive and overwhelming commercial market, but also are broaching their concern for the next generation and the future of human beings.
New Vocabularies:
ubiquitous:being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent.
indignation: anger aroused by something unjust, mean, or unworthy.
broach: to bring up (a subject) for discussion or debate.
This year, the flu season comes really early, especially for me. I took my flu shot about one month ago, but miserably, I still cannot escape the evil hands of sickness. Fortunate enough, I am not having a fever, which means I am neither having a normal flu nor terrible H1N1 flu. However, a bad cold could be bad enough to kill me. Consistent running nose, nose bleeding, huge waves of mucus, horribly barking cough and dizziness totally beat me down. For pregnant woman should be especially cautious about taking medicine, I went to my doctor’s office for help. The nurse gave me a blue mask right after I entered the clinic. Although it seemed that I was a dangerous patient, I really appreciated the mask. I knew how hard it would be for people to get through a bad cold and I hope to keep my virus in my mask. It really was a critical time for everyone.
Back to my story, my doctor prescribed me some medicine to help manage the symptoms, especially for calming my throat and erasing the congestion. I got the regular Robitussin for my cough, which only contained dextromethorphan. My doctor said that it’s totally safe for fetus since tests showed it did not cause increased risk of congenital malformations in newborns. I don’t know what kinds of tests have been done to prove it and I believe that my doctor has no idea, either. Actually, there is a list of medicine which is considered safe for pregnant women to take, but no guarantee.
When I was prescribed penicillin one month ago for my inflamed gum caused by a wisdom tooth, I encountered the same problem—if it worth risking the chance to make myself feel better? My answer then was no. My pharmacist told me that any test to prove certain medicine was safe during pregnancy had been done only on animals. Any medicine has its side effects, especially during pregnancy. That’s why pregnant women are considered top priority for H1N1 vaccine. But, we all know that even the H1N1 vaccine is not an elixir but grasping at straws.
Back to my story, my doctor prescribed me some medicine to help manage the symptoms, especially for calming my throat and erasing the congestion. I got the regular Robitussin for my cough, which only contained dextromethorphan. My doctor said that it’s totally safe for fetus since tests showed it did not cause increased risk of congenital malformations in newborns. I don’t know what kinds of tests have been done to prove it and I believe that my doctor has no idea, either. Actually, there is a list of medicine which is considered safe for pregnant women to take, but no guarantee.
When I was prescribed penicillin one month ago for my inflamed gum caused by a wisdom tooth, I encountered the same problem—if it worth risking the chance to make myself feel better? My answer then was no. My pharmacist told me that any test to prove certain medicine was safe during pregnancy had been done only on animals. Any medicine has its side effects, especially during pregnancy. That’s why pregnant women are considered top priority for H1N1 vaccine. But, we all know that even the H1N1 vaccine is not an elixir but grasping at straws.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
"Returnees"
“Returnee” has not been a new vocabulary recently in China. Lots of Chinese who are currently or have been studied and worked overseas are thinking about going back to their motherland for better career path. Although living expenses in big cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing are almost as high as other international metropolis like New York, the economic boom in China is really attractive to most of them. Hundreds of thousands of IT major PhDs are dreaming of becoming the next Yibo Shao, CEO of China’s ebay or Yanhong Li, owner and founder of China’s google. Most of them have strong background of related knowledge and know about the industry. What they need might just be opportunities. Rather than being a normal engineer in a Silicon Valley company, creating their own business in China—the huge market—is somehow worth risking.
However, making a plan into practice could be a long process. Before they make their decision and eventually decided to be returnees, it usually takes a long time—could be several months or even several years.
One of my husband’s friends started his plan two years ago. He got his degree here and has been working in a famous High-Tech company at Silicon Valley for 3 years. He said that his parents wanted him to work in Beijing where they can help to take care of his kids and get family reunion eventually. However, after seriously considering about this for about two years, he finally made his decision—leaving U.S. But the destination is not Beijing but Singapore. He said that he wouldn’t feel that safe to suddenly be exposed to a total Chinese culture and Chinese special industrial politics, which he has been grown up with but has been so distant to for almost 10 years.
No matter what business one is doing, the so called “guanxi” (the network of relationships) is extremely important and determent. For most of the returnees, playing the game of “guanxi” is not their expertise, thus, setting up a new business could be really hard and desperate in some extent.
Another difficulty is that moving back to China is not a personal issue but a family one. Most of the returnees have settled down in U.S. with husbands and wives, moving back means change the whole family’s life style and fate. Moreover, the concern of identity is somehow annoying. Most of the returnees have got U.S. citizenships or permanent residents, working back in China could be a little bit strange. They neither want to give up their U.S. citizenships, which they have started to dream of once they landed on this continent, nor are happy to be considered as expatriates at their motherland. It is such a dilemma.
However, making a plan into practice could be a long process. Before they make their decision and eventually decided to be returnees, it usually takes a long time—could be several months or even several years.
One of my husband’s friends started his plan two years ago. He got his degree here and has been working in a famous High-Tech company at Silicon Valley for 3 years. He said that his parents wanted him to work in Beijing where they can help to take care of his kids and get family reunion eventually. However, after seriously considering about this for about two years, he finally made his decision—leaving U.S. But the destination is not Beijing but Singapore. He said that he wouldn’t feel that safe to suddenly be exposed to a total Chinese culture and Chinese special industrial politics, which he has been grown up with but has been so distant to for almost 10 years.
No matter what business one is doing, the so called “guanxi” (the network of relationships) is extremely important and determent. For most of the returnees, playing the game of “guanxi” is not their expertise, thus, setting up a new business could be really hard and desperate in some extent.
Another difficulty is that moving back to China is not a personal issue but a family one. Most of the returnees have settled down in U.S. with husbands and wives, moving back means change the whole family’s life style and fate. Moreover, the concern of identity is somehow annoying. Most of the returnees have got U.S. citizenships or permanent residents, working back in China could be a little bit strange. They neither want to give up their U.S. citizenships, which they have started to dream of once they landed on this continent, nor are happy to be considered as expatriates at their motherland. It is such a dilemma.
Monday, October 19, 2009
24/7 Streetlights
Last week I went to a Korea Market on El Camino Real. When I drove home, I happened to notice that all the streetlights along the El Camino Real from Lawrence Express Way to Mary Blvd were glowing. It was around 3pm. That really surprised me. Actually, it has not been the first time that I see streetlights all on during daytime at Silicon Valley. I could not imagine that so many lights were all on in a pretty nice sunny afternoon. I think that most of the people will have the same wonder—have these streetlights ever been off?
There have been so many debates about light pollution and environment pollution caused by public facilities, streetlights especially. It is really hard to figure out whether the government has not noticed that or it will cost more to turn the lights off. Although lots of cities have been using energy-saving lamps, keeping all the streetlights on during the daytime is absolutely not a good strategy. It is taxpayers’ money who affords all the facility costs, why don’t we just turn the lights off and use the money to support better education in our city or help more people struggling with poverty. According to an article on USA today last year, if a timer is placed on 3,000 streetlights that shuts lights off for 5.5 hours, $400,000 a year will be saved. How about we double the time? From 7am to 6pm, shutting 3,000 streetlights off for 11hours each day will save $800,000 a year! Moreover, I think we can shut far more than 3,000 local streetlights off in each city. If we also count on the lights on freeways, the amount of money that will be saved should be huge.
Despite of saving money, environmentally, shutting unnecessary lights off can efficiently help reduce carbon emissions. Although I am not a big fan of politicalizing global warming, I support any possible green movement to help sustainable development.
Last but not the least, personally, I don’t think that there is any technical difficulty with installing timers to control these public lights. In many other countries, as I know, streetlights could be on and off automatically. Even hiring a group of people to do that manually will still save thousand of hundreds of taxpayers’ money. Shouldn’t we do anything to save money, save energy and save our planet right now?
There have been so many debates about light pollution and environment pollution caused by public facilities, streetlights especially. It is really hard to figure out whether the government has not noticed that or it will cost more to turn the lights off. Although lots of cities have been using energy-saving lamps, keeping all the streetlights on during the daytime is absolutely not a good strategy. It is taxpayers’ money who affords all the facility costs, why don’t we just turn the lights off and use the money to support better education in our city or help more people struggling with poverty. According to an article on USA today last year, if a timer is placed on 3,000 streetlights that shuts lights off for 5.5 hours, $400,000 a year will be saved. How about we double the time? From 7am to 6pm, shutting 3,000 streetlights off for 11hours each day will save $800,000 a year! Moreover, I think we can shut far more than 3,000 local streetlights off in each city. If we also count on the lights on freeways, the amount of money that will be saved should be huge.
Despite of saving money, environmentally, shutting unnecessary lights off can efficiently help reduce carbon emissions. Although I am not a big fan of politicalizing global warming, I support any possible green movement to help sustainable development.
Last but not the least, personally, I don’t think that there is any technical difficulty with installing timers to control these public lights. In many other countries, as I know, streetlights could be on and off automatically. Even hiring a group of people to do that manually will still save thousand of hundreds of taxpayers’ money. Shouldn’t we do anything to save money, save energy and save our planet right now?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
about Trade Protectionism
“An escalation for restrictive trade could undermine economic recovery in both United States and China.”
— An official in American Chamber of Commerce in China
Since September 26, a tariff of 35 percent on Chinese tires for cars and light trucks has been imposed, which is about 9 times more than the previous one. According to an anonymous White House official, United States is just enforcing trade laws, not practicing protectionism. Whether the levied tire tariff on Chinese tires is a sign of commercial protectionism or not, any form of such protectionism is widely considered undesirable by world leaders and economists, especially the time period through this global economic crisis. People with a little background of U.S. history of the Great Depression period might know that President Hoover’s Smoot-Hawley Tariff—the highest tariff rates in American history—not only shocked the world but also sparked an international trade war and worsened the U.S. domestic economic spiral. That has been considered a typical and infamous example of practicing trade protectionism worldwide.
Although American Democratic Party somehow has cultural tendency of favoring protectionism, President Obama is the first U.S. president who supports such a punitive duty on U.S.-Chinese trade since President Ronald Regan. Such a heavy duty may not only cause about 100,000 Chinese workers lose their jobs but increase the cost for American consumers, as well.
It is understandable that President Obama’s first step toward U.S.-China trade is mainly driven by domestic political pressure, especially when he is facing difficulties for his health care reform right now. However, let’s think about international trade in another way. If people believe that importation is a disadvantage for domestic economy and local workers, then why bother about being a member of the World Trade Organization? I believe that WTO is such an organization that provides a frame for free global market and supports free global trading system. International trade could be a simply buy-sell process, but most of the time, it is more complicated and sophisticated than that—political tools is a good example.
There is a traditional Chinese saying—if you give me a fist, I will kick you back for sure. An immediate investigation that launched by Chinese Commerce Department on imported U.S. chicken meat products may validate such philosophy very well. Nobody wants to swallow a broken tooth without any kickback. Thus, does it mean that there will be an imminent international trade war in the near future? If there is one, it must be an interesting one.
— An official in American Chamber of Commerce in China
Since September 26, a tariff of 35 percent on Chinese tires for cars and light trucks has been imposed, which is about 9 times more than the previous one. According to an anonymous White House official, United States is just enforcing trade laws, not practicing protectionism. Whether the levied tire tariff on Chinese tires is a sign of commercial protectionism or not, any form of such protectionism is widely considered undesirable by world leaders and economists, especially the time period through this global economic crisis. People with a little background of U.S. history of the Great Depression period might know that President Hoover’s Smoot-Hawley Tariff—the highest tariff rates in American history—not only shocked the world but also sparked an international trade war and worsened the U.S. domestic economic spiral. That has been considered a typical and infamous example of practicing trade protectionism worldwide.
Although American Democratic Party somehow has cultural tendency of favoring protectionism, President Obama is the first U.S. president who supports such a punitive duty on U.S.-Chinese trade since President Ronald Regan. Such a heavy duty may not only cause about 100,000 Chinese workers lose their jobs but increase the cost for American consumers, as well.
It is understandable that President Obama’s first step toward U.S.-China trade is mainly driven by domestic political pressure, especially when he is facing difficulties for his health care reform right now. However, let’s think about international trade in another way. If people believe that importation is a disadvantage for domestic economy and local workers, then why bother about being a member of the World Trade Organization? I believe that WTO is such an organization that provides a frame for free global market and supports free global trading system. International trade could be a simply buy-sell process, but most of the time, it is more complicated and sophisticated than that—political tools is a good example.
There is a traditional Chinese saying—if you give me a fist, I will kick you back for sure. An immediate investigation that launched by Chinese Commerce Department on imported U.S. chicken meat products may validate such philosophy very well. Nobody wants to swallow a broken tooth without any kickback. Thus, does it mean that there will be an imminent international trade war in the near future? If there is one, it must be an interesting one.
About the film--the Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Last Friday, my friend recommended me a film of WWII subject, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which is a great film about people’s tragedy life in wartime. Different from other film with similar subject, its emphasis is on the dramatic change of life in a family with Teutonic ethnicity during the holocaust of European Jews by Germany Nazi in 1940’s. Although the story is told from a wartime friendship and experience of two children Bruno and Shmuel--one is a privileged son of Nazi family; the other, an “evil” Jewish boy in striped pajamas, the film also presents the subtle but dramatic conflicts and suffering within the Nazi family.
Their friendship is simple but special. They are friends separated on different sides of barbed wire fence. Their childhood belong to two totally different categories. When Bruno decides to do something adventurous to draw a meaningful period to their friendship before he leaves the countryside, nobody realizes, except audience sitting in front of the screen, that something horrible will happen eventually. Bruno’s commitment to his dear friend and his innocent brave lead him toward the edge of cliff. When undressed Bruno and Shmuel with other prisoner in the camp are herded into the crowd and dark gas chamber, it is really cruel and breathtaking for film watchers. Everyone in front of the screen knows what is waiting for the two boys. We know why Bruno is here. We know how fearsome and terrified these two little boys are. We also know how their precious friendship will end in. I was really moved and totally heartbroken when they hold their hands tightly together in the darkness; however, I was somehow released because, at least, they are not lonely at the very end of their life. They are lucky because they have the strongest belief of their pure friendship even at the last minute of their life. Therefore, Bruno and Shmuel might not be the most woeful victims of the war, instead, Bruno’s families are.
At the end, rain is falling heavily. Thunder and lighting are shifting. The elegant mother is screaming outside of the barbed-wire fence with her dear son’s clothes. Father is standing numbly in front of the gas chamber building. Who should be responsible for the distressing ending? It might the two boys’ innocent friendship and Bruno’s naïve and imprudent impishness. However, if there is no war, no Nazi, no holocaust, these two lovely boy will not end their life in the gas chamber and no parent will suffer the panic of losing their kids. It is undoubted that Bruno and his friend are one of the most pitiful victims in the war, as well his privileged Germany family.
There is a Chinese saying, “evil behavior eventually affects all those involved, including the perpetrators.” After the end of WWII, the president of Germany kneed down in front of the Monument of Jews. However, victims of the genocide by Nazi Germany are not only the 6 million Jews killed during the war, but the Germany people as well. Both of them was suffering huge physical and mental panic.
The catastrophic WWII seems to have been a history years away from us, but in fact, we are still living in a world surrounded by military conflicts and wars—Iraq War, Darfur-Sudan War/Genocide, India-Pakistan military conflicts and so on. Looking forward to the future, rarer natural resources and increasing populace in our planet will inevitable generate more conflicts, but no matter what excuse is used to launch a war, war is evil and people being passively involved in are the most woeful sacrifice.
Wish all the stupid wars vanish someday. Even though it is just a wish.
Their friendship is simple but special. They are friends separated on different sides of barbed wire fence. Their childhood belong to two totally different categories. When Bruno decides to do something adventurous to draw a meaningful period to their friendship before he leaves the countryside, nobody realizes, except audience sitting in front of the screen, that something horrible will happen eventually. Bruno’s commitment to his dear friend and his innocent brave lead him toward the edge of cliff. When undressed Bruno and Shmuel with other prisoner in the camp are herded into the crowd and dark gas chamber, it is really cruel and breathtaking for film watchers. Everyone in front of the screen knows what is waiting for the two boys. We know why Bruno is here. We know how fearsome and terrified these two little boys are. We also know how their precious friendship will end in. I was really moved and totally heartbroken when they hold their hands tightly together in the darkness; however, I was somehow released because, at least, they are not lonely at the very end of their life. They are lucky because they have the strongest belief of their pure friendship even at the last minute of their life. Therefore, Bruno and Shmuel might not be the most woeful victims of the war, instead, Bruno’s families are.
At the end, rain is falling heavily. Thunder and lighting are shifting. The elegant mother is screaming outside of the barbed-wire fence with her dear son’s clothes. Father is standing numbly in front of the gas chamber building. Who should be responsible for the distressing ending? It might the two boys’ innocent friendship and Bruno’s naïve and imprudent impishness. However, if there is no war, no Nazi, no holocaust, these two lovely boy will not end their life in the gas chamber and no parent will suffer the panic of losing their kids. It is undoubted that Bruno and his friend are one of the most pitiful victims in the war, as well his privileged Germany family.
There is a Chinese saying, “evil behavior eventually affects all those involved, including the perpetrators.” After the end of WWII, the president of Germany kneed down in front of the Monument of Jews. However, victims of the genocide by Nazi Germany are not only the 6 million Jews killed during the war, but the Germany people as well. Both of them was suffering huge physical and mental panic.
The catastrophic WWII seems to have been a history years away from us, but in fact, we are still living in a world surrounded by military conflicts and wars—Iraq War, Darfur-Sudan War/Genocide, India-Pakistan military conflicts and so on. Looking forward to the future, rarer natural resources and increasing populace in our planet will inevitable generate more conflicts, but no matter what excuse is used to launch a war, war is evil and people being passively involved in are the most woeful sacrifice.
Wish all the stupid wars vanish someday. Even though it is just a wish.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
About America's Sex laws
Weeks ago, I read an article about America’s Sex laws in Economist. The author argued the justice and necessity of the current American Sex laws. As a new home buyer and a mom of young kids, I do support strict curbs on any criminals, especially released sex offenders. Ratchet effect is one of the biggest concerns because sexual offense is considered as a psychological problem, which could be treated but not secured. If the current public sexual-offender registries can help homeowners and parents be alert of potential danger, there’s no reason to dysfunction it. However, I still agree with the author’s argument about making the punishment fit the crime.
When I used the California Megan’s Law website to check the safety of the new house we were going to purchase, it was convenient to check out any registered sex offenders by zip code and address, but on the other hand, it was not clear enough about what criminals those sex offenders convicted in specific. Most offense descriptions are like “lewd or lascivious acts with child under 14 years” or “rape by force”. As we know, registration is required for life by many states. Some offenders convicted their crimes decades ago and some did even when they were teenagers. On public sex-offender registries, there is no date of convicted crimes listed. According to me, it does not make much sense. If some of them are not recidivists with good record for a continuously long time period, it could be considered to remove them from the public registry. It is better for the Department of Justice to have specific assess of each individual offenders and mark the level the threats.
I believe that most sex offenders do not want to be titled “life-long sex offender” with most essential private information exposed to the public. Although their public personal information is legally not allowed to be used to harass offenders or their families, discriminations against them could easily ruin their life.
Personally, I believe in good human nature and support giving chance to anyone who’s willing to repent past mistakes. Therefore, any adjustment and reform that secures public safety and eliminates unnecessary difficulties for offenders’ life will win my vote.
When I used the California Megan’s Law website to check the safety of the new house we were going to purchase, it was convenient to check out any registered sex offenders by zip code and address, but on the other hand, it was not clear enough about what criminals those sex offenders convicted in specific. Most offense descriptions are like “lewd or lascivious acts with child under 14 years” or “rape by force”. As we know, registration is required for life by many states. Some offenders convicted their crimes decades ago and some did even when they were teenagers. On public sex-offender registries, there is no date of convicted crimes listed. According to me, it does not make much sense. If some of them are not recidivists with good record for a continuously long time period, it could be considered to remove them from the public registry. It is better for the Department of Justice to have specific assess of each individual offenders and mark the level the threats.
I believe that most sex offenders do not want to be titled “life-long sex offender” with most essential private information exposed to the public. Although their public personal information is legally not allowed to be used to harass offenders or their families, discriminations against them could easily ruin their life.
Personally, I believe in good human nature and support giving chance to anyone who’s willing to repent past mistakes. Therefore, any adjustment and reform that secures public safety and eliminates unnecessary difficulties for offenders’ life will win my vote.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Moving in Amercia
Usually, June is a season of farewell because of the graduation day. I went through it 5 years ago, in Shanghai. Back to 2004, half of my friends took their flights to Paris, half of them stayed and I arrived in Los Angeles International Airport. I didn't expect the season of "goodbye" came back again 5 years later. This time, it has nothing to do with graduation but our Mommy Club.
Our Mommy Club was formed back in 2006, when most of our kids were just starting their first walk in a park near our home. Except for having kids, we have a lot more in common. We all married, of course. We all came from foreign countries when we were young to chase our dream. We are all first-generation-immigrants, struggling for almost everything ourselves in this new land. Since we get little help from our distant families, Mommy Club becomes a big support of our lives. We not only share experience of childcare but also love each other as a big family. However, when our kids are taller and older, there are more to be considered, such as school district and a new home.... The place we are living now is a quiet and beautiful apartment community. The only concern is its "non-excellent" schools. Thus one month ago, Ontario's family decided to move to Austin and Taotao's family started their new life in Seattle. Just one week ago, Jonathon's family purchased a new house in cupertino and moved to their new house last weekend. Suddenly, most of the boys in our social net have left. I know it will take quite a time for my son to get used to it—making new friends and put old friends in best memories.
I still remember the day when we had our farewell party. Someone said that moving is just part of our life since our ancestors moved from woods to woods, tribes to tribes and continents to continents. Sometimes moving became adventure, and adventure evolved into epic, that’s how we got Iliad and Odyssey… In modern America, we are just average Joes, Jacks, Janes and Jeffs, trying to make a living here and there. If there is an American dream in this land, then moving is just something pragmatic—part of our life experiences, especially for immigrants. I am trying to count on my fingers that how many movings have I been through in America? LA to San Jose, back to LA, then Sunnyvale, back to LA again and eventually living in Sunnyvale now while expecting a big moving to Pleasanton the end of the year.
Definitely, we are enriching our life through moving, getting deeper involved in its culture and society.
Our Mommy Club was formed back in 2006, when most of our kids were just starting their first walk in a park near our home. Except for having kids, we have a lot more in common. We all married, of course. We all came from foreign countries when we were young to chase our dream. We are all first-generation-immigrants, struggling for almost everything ourselves in this new land. Since we get little help from our distant families, Mommy Club becomes a big support of our lives. We not only share experience of childcare but also love each other as a big family. However, when our kids are taller and older, there are more to be considered, such as school district and a new home.... The place we are living now is a quiet and beautiful apartment community. The only concern is its "non-excellent" schools. Thus one month ago, Ontario's family decided to move to Austin and Taotao's family started their new life in Seattle. Just one week ago, Jonathon's family purchased a new house in cupertino and moved to their new house last weekend. Suddenly, most of the boys in our social net have left. I know it will take quite a time for my son to get used to it—making new friends and put old friends in best memories.
I still remember the day when we had our farewell party. Someone said that moving is just part of our life since our ancestors moved from woods to woods, tribes to tribes and continents to continents. Sometimes moving became adventure, and adventure evolved into epic, that’s how we got Iliad and Odyssey… In modern America, we are just average Joes, Jacks, Janes and Jeffs, trying to make a living here and there. If there is an American dream in this land, then moving is just something pragmatic—part of our life experiences, especially for immigrants. I am trying to count on my fingers that how many movings have I been through in America? LA to San Jose, back to LA, then Sunnyvale, back to LA again and eventually living in Sunnyvale now while expecting a big moving to Pleasanton the end of the year.
Definitely, we are enriching our life through moving, getting deeper involved in its culture and society.
Monday, August 31, 2009
My first English blog entry--About Parenting
In our life time, we might find tons of thousands of things to be hardly achieved. It is hard to be a honored "full A" student; it is hard to be a successful professor; it is hard to be an outstanding employee. However, it is even harder to be good parents--a 7/24 life-long role.
I am a mom of a four-year-old boy and expecting our second child at the same time. Although my son has not reached his teen age, which could be the most scaring age for most parents, I started to realize the importance of the quality of parenting and of the hardness of it.
Most of the time, I am so proud of him and think that he is an angel coming to my world. Like yesterday, we bought him a new bycicle with "Lightening Mcqueen" logo on it, which is his favorate cartoon figure. However, since it is his first toddler bycicle, he seemed a bit akward at the beginning. He even didn't know how to clime on it. After my husband spending almost one hour assembling the bike, we helped him settle his helmet and knee guard. We showed him how to pedal the bike and how to control the handlebar at the same time... Ten minutes later, when he is confidently riding his bike 15 feet in front of us, I am so moved and so proud of him. I told my husband that I felt something lingering on the edge of my eyelid... Actually, this reminded me his first steps when he was learning how to walk. Time just passed so fast, he is no longer a fatty baby boy; no longer the boy crying whole day long during his first days to school. He is a big boy now--an upcoming elder brother of our expecting baby.
With his growth, I find out that it is usually not as easy as I thought to get along with kids. Or, in another word, hard to control them. As parents, we always hope that our kids could be reasonable, generous and have good personalities. However, it is such a long way to educate them or train them to be what we want them to be, sometimes, even impossible. The only way to guide them to right behavior is to do the same thing yourself.
When I first realized that my son started to yell to me, I know that the first thing I need to do is not blaming him but to control my temper and manner even when I am angry with him. He is always learning from me!
The best lesson I have learnt from my parenting experience is that always be assertive but kind even when pointing out what they have done wrong. Meanwhile, we should always adjust ourselves based on kids' reaction for better communication and understanding.
I am a mom of a four-year-old boy and expecting our second child at the same time. Although my son has not reached his teen age, which could be the most scaring age for most parents, I started to realize the importance of the quality of parenting and of the hardness of it.
Most of the time, I am so proud of him and think that he is an angel coming to my world. Like yesterday, we bought him a new bycicle with "Lightening Mcqueen" logo on it, which is his favorate cartoon figure. However, since it is his first toddler bycicle, he seemed a bit akward at the beginning. He even didn't know how to clime on it. After my husband spending almost one hour assembling the bike, we helped him settle his helmet and knee guard. We showed him how to pedal the bike and how to control the handlebar at the same time... Ten minutes later, when he is confidently riding his bike 15 feet in front of us, I am so moved and so proud of him. I told my husband that I felt something lingering on the edge of my eyelid... Actually, this reminded me his first steps when he was learning how to walk. Time just passed so fast, he is no longer a fatty baby boy; no longer the boy crying whole day long during his first days to school. He is a big boy now--an upcoming elder brother of our expecting baby.
With his growth, I find out that it is usually not as easy as I thought to get along with kids. Or, in another word, hard to control them. As parents, we always hope that our kids could be reasonable, generous and have good personalities. However, it is such a long way to educate them or train them to be what we want them to be, sometimes, even impossible. The only way to guide them to right behavior is to do the same thing yourself.
When I first realized that my son started to yell to me, I know that the first thing I need to do is not blaming him but to control my temper and manner even when I am angry with him. He is always learning from me!
The best lesson I have learnt from my parenting experience is that always be assertive but kind even when pointing out what they have done wrong. Meanwhile, we should always adjust ourselves based on kids' reaction for better communication and understanding.
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