Have a lot of pent up hostility and maybe getting it out will be cathartic. I've mentioned often that I do this diary now mainly for me, then for the kids to look at in the future, but it really started as a way to keep in touch with friends and family to let them know what is going on with us and hopefully, for them to share stuff about what is going on with them. Sure, I will hear good things, like their kids college acceptances, but with a few exceptions, people just don't share the darker side of the ledger in writing. They spill their guts when we see them in the summer, which is nice, and I understand the reluctance as things that are perceived as being a negative are easily misunderstood when you don't have the inflection of the spoken word. For better or worse, I obviously do not share this compunction.
In the last few weeks, I have learned that people I would have never suspected have gotten a hold of this link and are reading it on occasion. I had a moment of self doubt about if I was sharing too much...being too harsh, but have to let that go cause it just wouldn't be honest or enjoyable to do. Let's see how it goes but will say, if you have any sacred cows, I will be mentioning/bludgeoning them eventually. So either stop reading now or, let's enjoy this steak together.
Have often described the architecture around town as being Modern Bomb Shelter. Totally understand that they had to build this place from scratch in a hurry under the threat of an extended bombing campaign, but it is just so depressing looking. Grey, with black mold lining the walls from the wet humid climate. Go anywhere in town and it all looks the same. I like the fact that they built these places to withstand a lot of explosives, especially on earthquake swarm days like yesterday. Recently, have seen a lot of construction in the neighborhood where they are tearing down some trash heaps and building a more contemporary (visually appealing) structure. Gonna be hard to rip down some of these old apartment buildings where people own the units, but feel that in about 40 years or so, this place might not be a complete eyesore. I won't be around to see it, but good on ya Taiwan and keep up the good work.
Spring time here consists of this yin and yang between nasty humid hot days, and rainy humid not quite so hot days. We did have a day last week that was the best I've felt in 2 3/4 years. Low 80's, a little breeze pushing around the humidity, and blue blue skies. It was such a delight. While it is nice to have the rain to keep the temps down, keep the windows open and the AC off, it is primo weather for mosquito breeding. Our plug-in bug zapper goes off metronomically and Carolyn comes to the breakfast table detailing the amount and location of the bug bites she has received in the last 24 hours (it was 8 from head to ankle this morning). I am constantly on the hunt to kill them and am on a personal best streak. Today was the third day in a row that I killed one with a full belly of blood.
Paul got to travel with the school baseball team (sorry, softball team) to Jakarta for 5 days to compete in the annual IASAS tournament. I had to look it up...IASAS stands for Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools. It consists of the American schools in Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Bangkok. They compete in sports and have gatherings for things like art and public speaking. Singapore is the biggest school and typically dominates most of the competition, so everyone hates them. Some parents travel to cheer on the team, and I wanted to go cause I have never seen Jakarta, but it wasn't cheap, Betty was on the road, and everyone says that not only is there nothing to see in Jakarta, but the school is way out of town so you wouldn't see anything anyway. Plus, I had a feeling they were going to stink...there are some stud atheletes on the team, but you can see at a glance that they didn't grow up playing ball and that they only pick up a glove for the season. It is cool that for most all of these competitions, they live stream the action on line, so we could hook the computer up to the TV and watch the games on the big screen. Was fun to see Paul do well, cringed when he popped up, and enjoyed the action best when the call to prayers was being broadcast in the background. Luckily, one of the moms is a prolific shutterbug that likes to share.
They went one and four and ended up in 5th place, so my scouting prowess is intact.
Have been in a lot of talks/seminars/discussions about college. Paul is a sophomore, but it is time to start thinking about those kinda things. We are using our freebie Alaska Airlines tickets to make an east coast run between NY and DC this summer with the stated intent of touring a bunch of different schools so he can get a feel for the type of institution he wants to attend. This is just a cover for me to visit as many baseball stadiums as I can and will be notching home games at the Padres, Yankees, Pirates and Nationals into my belt. Don't tell Betty.
Talking about schools here is really bizarre. Most of the kids are Chinese, and there is this...not sure if I should call it a competition...but definitely a pressure to go to Harvard. By Harvard, I mean Ivy League, Stanford or one of the UC schools. Those are the desirable ones for the affluent Chinese parents, and attending anything other than those sure seems like failure. I listen to the TAS college counselors a lot, and while they do provide a lot of decent info, it seems as if half of their time is spent trying to convince the Chinese that there is more to life than "Harvard". A funny line by one of them at the thing I went to last week was a hypothetical conversation between two Chinese moms, and one of them asks the other where her daughter is going to school. Mom #2 says "Reed". Mom #1 says "Shema? (What?). Mom # 2 repeats the name and mom # one says "Wei shema? (Why?). Funny cause it's true. There were some chuckles, but I truly got the impression that all the talk about going to the right school for the kid doesn't make it through in most cases as the questions that followed were all about what needs to be on their kids resume to get them accepted to Harvard. A lot of these kids are just tortured with pressure and more often than not, are not accepted to the targeted school and must feel like failures (even when they are truly gifted and hard working individuals). The worst are the moms, and they are always the moms but not necessarily always Chinese, that do get their kids into Harvard and them bragging about how they got into MIT AND Harvard, or how they got perfect SAT's. I am pretty much interested in my friend's kids, or kid's friends that I've known all of their lives, and do like a good anecdote, but puffing up your brat to strangers is blowhardy and always annoying.
One topic about the process that affects Paul's grade is that they are changing the SAT again. Basically, they changed it many years ago from a total of 1600 to 2400, but are moving it back to 1600 and changing the format to be more in line with the ACT. Current HS sophomores will be the first class to take the new version and everyone wants to know is if their kid should take the new SAT or the old ACT. The prevailing thought is that the first round of SAT takers have a kind of mulligan, so if they aren't strong taking that type of test, that might be the better move. I like the counselor that said to take one of each and then take the one the kid feels most comfortable with a second time, which seems reasonable. The fun part of these talks is hearing about how there is a huge industry of SAT doctoring/cheating in Mainland China. At least 3 times in the last year the SAT scores from China have been delayed or withheld. Obviously, part of the problem is with the SAT itself, but the industry of cheating is so inherent that you wonder why the universities even bother looking or accepting these test scores. That is until you realize that these schools make beau coup bucks accepting foreign students that can pay the full ride, and are in bed with the College Board. I have a new found respect and admiration for the schools that do not require or deemphasise those tests. Here's to you FairTest.org and all that you represent.
Since I am on the school topic, I just learned that there is a difference between Junior Highs and Middle Schools. I always thought it was semantics. Might have been better to know this before my kids were immersed or done with it, but probably would not have made any difference in the choices we made. Anyway, this link takes a deep dive into the subject if you have interest or time.
That's pretty good...two posts in two days. Feels good to get this stuff out of my brain. Next time, hopefully this week, will present my long awaited personal list of 10 things the Chinese do better than anyone else. As a reminder, here is the CNN article about 10 things Taiwan does better than anyone else that got under my skin and have been thinking about ever since. Here is a teaser...#3 - The Chinese make the best raccoon faces.
Don't worry... Betty KNOWS Paul's college trip has turned into Gomez baseball trip
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