While I appreciated China’s ban on families having more than one child to take a bold step towards reducing over population, this policy has created a society of only children. 

When the government dictated that a family can have only one offspring, couples often did unthinkable things to ensure that their one child could carry on their family name.  If having a male child guarantees that the family name will live on and that this male child will be able to take care of them in their retirement better than a girl, then aborting and giving girls up for adoption became the thing to do.

But now, 37 years after the ban, China has 30 million more men than women. 

Talk about taking a decent plan to reduce over-population and really messing it up for cultural purposes.  When China had the largest population that was growing out of control, they set up a plan that actually did reduce their population growth.  Instead of finding another solution to balance the sexes today, China recently announced that they are lifting the ban on the one-child policy. Oh NO!!!

While I was in China last week, I talked with many people in Beijing who said that this new policy probably wouldn’t change things. 

Young couples are busy with their careers and don’t want to have several children.  The cost of raising and educating children is so high that they don’t have the funds to take care of both their children and their parents, too.

Chinese youth will be faced with the problems of a “sandwich generation” – those couples who have to care for their own children as well as both sets of parents.

Now that there is a shortage of women in China, maybe families will see the benefits of raising girls.  Hopefully they’ll see that a society of mostly men doesn’t work, and that young Chinese female professionals and entrepreneurs are soaring to the top. Yes, women can support a family and many out earn their male counterparts.

So hopefully with the lift on the one-child ban, Chinese families will continue to have just one child and appreciate having both boys and girls!

I was grateful that the subway had English directions and enjoyed using their very efficient transportation system. 

Some of their signs were hilarious.  Check these out!

Nobody likes to throw up, but I take that to a new level.  I’d rather die than to throw up!

I’ve traveled around the world and I have only gotten really sick in Mexico, Vietnam, and India. 

Even when I know not to drink their water or eat food from street vendors, I still seemed to fall prey to something.  In Mexico, it was the water used to wash vegetables, and in Vietnam, it was carbon monoxide poisoning from a rickshaw ride in traffic.  In India, it was from the filth and polluted puddles that I had to navigate in 100+ degree weather.

My student and friend Sean Linkletter told me not to drink the water or buy any food from street vendors in Beijing.  He told me that the street vendors get their cooking oil from the sewers! 

Say what?

They try to save money any way they can and oil from the sewer must be less expensive than oil from the store. After hearing that, I just imagined the sewer oil as I passed by the vendors and quickly lost my appetite.

So I’m still not really sure what got me in Beijing but I got violently sick for 5 hours and was bedridden for 30.

We missed the Great Wall and a second dinner with Sean no thanks to food poisoning.  And worse, I was miserable.

The only thing that could make me that sick had to be something I ate and I only ate at our Swiss hotel and in 5-star restaurants in Beijing.  Rob and I ate the same things each day but he didn’t get sick. 

In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have eaten the eggs sunny-side up.  After all, it’s like eating a half-cooked egg.  I don’t think I’ll ever eat eggs sunny-side up again.

While I survived the trip, I now have 4 countries that I’m scared to return to…

Armed with N-95 face masks, we lucked out because the air quality in Beijing was good until the day we left. 

As we flew out of Beijing, the pollution was so thick you could barely see across the street. 

Our hotel had a high tech gym with a clean-air system to ensure our good health as we exercised each morning.  The air was so pure that it was invigorating to workout. 

But outside, people still wore their masks, even on days that were relatively clear.

Views from our room at the Swissotel.  

Smoggy photo from plane below…

As Sean Linkletter’s college advisor way back in 2008, I was so proud to see him in Beijing last week. 

He studied finance and Mandarin in college, interned with a finance company in Shanghai, and moved to Beijing to work in financing commercial real estate.  Being fluent in English and Mandarin is quite an asset for any company, and he loves living in Tianjin, 30 miles south of Beijing.

With blonde hair and blue eyes, people stared at him everywhere we went.  Every time we talked to the Chinese, they immediately turned to me and spoke to me in Mandarin.  You know – it’s my Asian face!  But when I shrugged my shoulders because I didn’t know how to say, “I’m a stupid American who only speaks English!” and turned to Sean, who then spoke eloquent Mandarin, they smiled with a confused expression. 

Sean took us to have Chinese hot pot, which was a whole new experience for us. After putting on bibs and protection for our purses and jackets, we dipped meats and veggies into hot water and oil to cook, and then into a spicy peanut sauce. It was delicious until the spices snuck up on me and numbed my tongue and month.

The guys at the next table bought shots for Sean and Rob, and took photos of us. Everyone in the restaurant stared at us because the Asian woman spoke English and the Caucasian guy spoke Mandarin!

As we walked down “Snack Street” in Beijing, I saw the familiar rows of food vendors that you see in any metropolitan cities tourist districts. The wafting scent of fried goods filled the air and Chinese people everywhere were eating all kinds of treats on long bamboo skewers. But when I looked closer at the various kinds of meats on the skewer, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The first recognizable meats were sea horse, cricket, and then a starfish.  Both were a little bizarre, but who would eat them?  They’re mostly skeletal and I can’t imagine there’d be much meat.  A French man had just taken a bite of one and told me that it tasted just like French fries. Go figure!

But then we came across SCORPIONS, CENTIPEDES, and TARANTULAS. Sorry, but that completely creeped me out. 

I stood looking at them with horror on my face and when I brought out my camera to take a photo, the vendor shooed me away with her cardboard sign. Maybe it’s just because I have been sensitized to eating cows, pigs, chickens and ducks, but not to insects. 

Then again, there are predictions that human civilization may need to eat insects to survive.  But, this California girl is not quite ready for that.

I traveled halfway across the world to introduce Merit Academy’s one-on-one classes to Chinese agents last week. 

This new concept in educating foreign students so they actually learn to communicate in English, build strong academic skills to prepare them for the university, and to give them an individualized education was well received.

I gave the introductory presentation at the reception and met with agents the following day.

With 70+ students in high school classes in Beijing, they were thrilled to find this unique opportunity for their clients.  I even met several agents from Mongolia who asked me to set up satellite schools in Ulaanbaatar and also in Beijing!

Who knew there would be such interest?

When my daughters were born, I vowed to educate them by creating a comprehensive K-12 curriculum, hiring the best teachers, and giving them unparalled experiences.     No, this wasn’t homeschooling – I never taught a class.  I started a private school called Merit Academy in 1994.  We changed our structure from small classes to one-on-one classes in 2000, and that’s when we saw students really thrive.     We’ve had hundreds of students and each one of them have gone off to do incredible things.    I’ve watched how the academic pendulum went from New Math to Whole Language to Common Core. I’ve observed (with frustration) the Department of Education’s many attempts at educating the whole child; that’s the main reason I’ve been in the business of education since 1979.     For me, the best part of this job is when students come back to meet with me to discuss a plan for THEIR CHILDREN! I’m thrilled to guide them as parents and honored that they value the unique benefits they received as students at Merit.  I don’t think I’ll ever retire!   Besides, where will my future grandchildren be educated?

Watching the Joy Luck Club with Merit students the other night was exceptionally insightful thanks to Angelique, a new international student from China.  She translated some of the scenes that didn’t have a narration and she explained the dynamics of the Chinese culture.   Each of our students brought fascinating perspectives!     Amy was born in China, but adopted by a Santa Cruz couple when she was just one year old.     Ivon and Evelyn compared their Mexican ancestry with some of the Chinese traditions.   Tasha brought her All-American Girl experiences to the discussion table.     Watching excellent films like these introduces culture and history in a way that simply can’t be done in a classroom!

Most college kids scramble to find courses each term.  I know; I work with many of them.  They search the schedule of classes for interesting courses or get tips from friends about easy GEs (general education courses). When they finally get frustrated, or when their parents realize they’re throwing lots of money down a big black hole, one of them contacts me to help them figure out what they’re really doing in college and how to create a plan to get them to graduation. 

By laying out a 4-year plan – ideally before they head off to college – students get a better sense of their majors and what it takes to prepare for a real career.  We layout lower division, and then upper division requirements for their major, and then add in GEs, electives, internships, study abroad and other opportunities to ensure that they are primed for the workforce upon graduation.  The best part is that we read and discuss course descriptions so they really get a sense for what they’ll be learning.  While we’re laying out their 4-year plans, they can make pretty good educated decisions about whether or not these plans work for them. 

The good news — if they decide they don’t really like the major or career, they figured this out BEFORE they started taking courses in that major and wasted their parents’ precious college funds. Sometimes students get so excited while building their 4-year plans that they add a minor to enhance their college experience and give them more tools to nail that perfect job.  Others merge 2 majors by double majoring.

But students who choose classes one term at a time miss out on these epiphanies.  They often have regrets about classes they missed because they’re offered on even years or they’ve already satisfied that particular requirement.  With short-sightedness, they won’t have time to add prerequisite classes that also satisfy GEs, which limits what they can take by way of interesting upper division courses. Sadly, these students don’t have the opportunities to take full advantage of their college experience.

So have your college-bound or college student lay out their 4-year plans now.  Ask them to justify what they’re taking and why.  And most importantly ask them to defend their 4-year plan — so they own it.  This will ensure your best ROI (return on investment).