Day 299 - United States

Thought of the day: Today is the first day of school in Boulder Valley School District. This day reminded me of a documentary I just watched called "Waiting for Superman". For anyone who cares about K-12 education or with kids in the public school system, it's a disturbing documentary to watch. It shows how broken the US public school system is and why. Other than the obvious issue of lack of funding, the way the schools are run is even a bigger issue. Teachers are not motivated to perform because it's not a merit based system like any other free enterprises. Bad teachers are impossible to fire if they have tenure.  Instead of pursuing a different career that may be more suitable for their abilities and temperament, the "bad" teachers just continue circulating in the system. The lack of accountability is certainly contributing to the lack of improvement in the quality of education. According to statistics, America is facing an education crisis and there's a compelling need for reform. However, there exists strong forces driven by self-interest blocking any meaningful reform. When the system is so broken, simply throwing money at it won't solve the problem. Before that can be fixed, a whole generation of Americans are being given a sub-standard education. It will certainly affect the competitiveness of the country in a long run. Of course, with the reputation of being a melting pot, the US can fill in the education gap through immigration. But that's assuming that the US will continue to be attractive to well qualified immigrants which may no longer be the case if the country can't provide good quality education to its children.

Photo of the day:

Lila standing on the map of the United States in Jasmine's school. It's certainly my hope that she and her sister will receive a good education in this country. The chance is good because we are lucky to live in a good school district but it's by no means given.

Day 287 - Neighborhood Park

Thought of the day: We are starting to know more people living in the neighborhood.  One of the families just immigrated from China on investment visas.  The EB-5 world has always been a bit of a myth to me because I don't think I have actually met anyone on EB-5 in the past.  Apparently the requirements for getting the visa has become less stringent recently and there are now many affluent Chinese who qualify.  In addition, many of those on EB-5 have enough cash on the side to buy real estate in the US and they consider this a good time to buy as the market is soft in the US while the Chinese real estate market is still very hot. In addition, the US has been considered by many Chinese as a safe and even prestigious place to invest in real estate. Many early Taiwanese immigrants did very well from doing so - some of them still live in this neighborhood - and now the mainland Chinese are following their brave footpath. The children and grandchildren of those Taiwanese immigrants often thrive in American schools and work places and I expect the same to happen for this new wave of immigrants. Of course, despite their relative wealth, many challenges still lie ahead of them in integrating into this very different society. They have met the challenges of the rapidly changing Chinese society and I have no doubt that they will meet the challenges here as well.

Photo of the day:

Misty morning in a park in my parents' neighborhood.  I don't see too many neighbors in the park as many of them are probably either busy working or shuffling their kids from one activity to the other.  Bay area is a fiercely competitive place for adults and kids alike and I suspect the new wave of immigrants just make it even more so.

Day 265 - Jasmine and Apollo

Thought of the day: Jasmine and I rode horses at a ranch today. I had some pretty interesting chats with the owner.  He came to the US from Poland after WWII when he was barely 14.  Like so many other immigrants, he was penniless and knew not a single soul when he landed. He carried out hard, manual labor in various places and ended up in Colorado where he started to buy forest land, bit by bit, at a price that was dirt cheap as few people at that time saw the value in the tree covered, mountainous land.  Over years, he accumulated a good chunk of land and got pretty well-off after its value skyrocketed.  Now his family owns three ranches, two in Colorado and one in Arizona.  His children and grandchildren grew up in the ranch and many of them still work there as the ranch apparently has a mysterious draw for them. He offers horseback riding tours as the ranch is ideally located in the Pike National Forest.  He is already in his late seventies but is still full of energy and vitality and works in the ranch every day. It's another one of those immigrant stories, but the familiarity of it makes it no less exciting or impressive.  Despite the craziness that's going on in the American political arena, people like him truly embody the American spirit. Meeting and talking to people like him never fails to inspire me and give me hope.

Photo of the day:

Jasmine riding her horse Apollo with me riding Roman behind her. Apollo is a super-gentle horse but she has a tendency to walk slowly and Roman kept trying to overtake her.  Other than that, we had a beautiful and unforgettable ride through the forest together.

Day 142 - America

Thought of the day:  It's a day of disasters and scares.  Before I boarded the flight this morning, I heard and read about the 8.9 earthquake in Japan and the ensuing tsunami and nuclear emergency.  It was, is, a terrible disaster indeed.  And then a few minutes prior to landing, it looked as if our plane was engulfed in smoke that came out of nowhere.  It was eerie and I had never experienced anything like that before on my frequent flights.  The ride in our small plane got bumpy soon afterwards. Some passengers screamed. I was a little scared too but there was nothing I could do other than holding Lila's hand tightly. Luck for us - it was just a scare.  The smoke came from an ongoing Lefthand Canyon fire in Boulder - the third major fire near Boulder in just a few short months - and not from the aircraft. After going through a bit of clear air turbulence, the aircraft proceeded to land smoothly.  I was, needless to say, quite relieved when we landed.  At the same time, I couldn't help thinking how powerless we are over so many things - earthquake, tsunami, fire, plane crash, to name a few.  Yes, the chance of any of these happening to us is very small, but it's still a miracle that we survive every day.  Not only our life is a miracle, every single day of our life is a miracle too.

Photo of the day:

Passengers taking interest in the huge "America - Why I Love You" map displays in Denver International Airport.  Everything in DIA looked beautiful to me today after the flight experience.