Travel is like an interlude on a different life trajectory before returning to the familiar orbit. The different perspective brings sharper focus how routines have changed over time.
It starts with packing the luggage. Years ago, when commodities are not as globalized, we pack in s
tuff that may not be readily available in the arriving cities; not any more, it is more that we need to bring money in case we miss something these days. Wait a minute, we don’t need to bring money or travelers’ checks neither, we bring “global” cards and the ATM machine would flush out the right currencies. Globalization and technology deserve credits for these conveniences. At the same time, technology occupies the luggage with more electronic devices and their accessories than ever before. It has not been long when bringing a laptop has been a practice more for the computer professionals on business trips. These days everyone is bringing some sorts of computer devices. For my household of 4, in our 2014 trip to Hong Kong, there are 1 Kindle Fire, 1 laptop/tablet, 1 laptop, 3 smart phones, 1 Nintendo, 1 iPad; a total of 8 devices, an average of 2 per person; and not to mention the 2 local phones that have been arranged. And these devices have their own “friends” as a big bag of adapters, power plugs, and bundles of cables in the luggage.
In recent years, airline check-in could be done online in advance with seat selection and boarding passes – another technology enabler. When we get on the plane, the most frequently asked question is not the flight time, but whether the plane offers Wi-Fi, power supply or personal in-flight entertainment. Not that many years ago, people bring books or magazines; now hours can be killed with an electronic device. Food quality has improved but it is still intriguing why it remains so hard to make the food taste as good as at the ground level. Maybe technology could get us there too.
Fast-paced cities, like Hong Kong, bring home the influences of cell phones. Cell phone used to 
be of the size of water bottle and can be used as a defensive weapon when needed. Now it is more of a personal choice with size to fit in the pants’ pocket or with size more pleasing to the eye; the cell phone at times become more of an essential than the wallet used to be. On the subway, three quarters of folks, regardless of their ages, are busy on their phones – games, text, videos, movies and only once-in-a-while that they are talking on the phone. And in the subway, there is a frequent announcement to remind folks to not only pay attention to their cell phone while riding on an elevator. Is the phone (aka telephone) still being used the same as what the dictionary has defined it to be – an apparatus, system or process for transmission of sound or speech to a distant point, especially by an electronic device?
Have the conveniences brought by these smart devices also stealing time to do other stuff that does not rely on the smart computer?
nguage helping them to meet new (girl) friends in China, or in their gratitude to the teachers and school. There are more interesting things to do on Friday evenings; the graduate students (and their family) are those coming to the school on Friday evening consistently for over 10 years. The video is produced by my daughter and it feels magical when the 3-minute clip gets the full attention of these hundreds of parents and students. Classes of all grades put up performance from singing songs, reciting poems, magic show, drama, or group aerobics. Preparing kindergarten or elementary grade students to perform requires lots of energy and crowd management skills as these cuties have different priorities and worlds of view from adults. Motivating the upper grade students is a more strenuous mental challenge for the teachers and students. The effort really shows in turning each of the performances into entertaining, unique and very special moments. The 2 hour+ ceremony concludes with parents joining the students in singing gratitude to their parents and cake cutting – how fitting with piety and food such a central theme for Chinese heritage.
be emptied. Sealed bottles are OK – I learn something useful. I bought a Barry Gibb T-shirt for $35 which is a standard price for today’s concerts. There are programs but I did not go for it. I think you can get them cheaper through Barry’s website directly.
eginning of summer holiday for many 8th graders. I did not have my own middle school graduation. I did not remember any speeches in the middle school graduation of my daughter; attending my son’s at the same school, three years later, bring some moments back.
students would shape our future. A few graduate students deliver their speeches; I like how one student says that his generation needs to solve the problems created by this and past generations; and how another student shares his learning from the movie of Star War. Their air of confidence impresses the most. Kids in United States are not seasoned with much hardship in their first many years, they have a rosy picture of what the future can offer them, and serve as reminders life is more worthwhile with passion, with contribution and with joy. Certificate presentation came after the speeches. Every audience waits for the few seconds of his/her loved one to walk up and down the stage. Most families put their hands together for each student. It is a lengthy session with some intermittent shouts from the audience for their own favorite friends and families. The principal concludes nicely with a short quote.
arning experience. I have experienced more of these interviews from promising start up or best companies to work in. The interviewers show trusts in the ability of candidates and often offer hints to put the candidates at the best.
), SAT and extracurricular. Do these factors weigh the same? They are all important in some ways. GPA and SAT are more the entry criteria to be met, and extracurricular is relevant for those who meet the entry criteria. If SAT is the more of an absolute standard, GPA is a bit relative to the peers in the school. Unless your extracurricular is super unique, there is that entry criteria of GPA and SAT. There is also that natural selection process where students would filter colleges based on their GPA and SAT to some extent. Without the natural selection, the public and private Ivy would get far more revenue just from the admission application fee.
urish”, Martin E. P. Seligman provides a visionary new understanding of Happiness and Well-being. Both Happiness and Well-being are the topic of Positive Psychology. Martin E.P. Seligman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, has led the Positive Psychology movement for fifteen years, where the goal is about raising the bar for the human condition. In as much as the national wealth is measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Federal deficit, there is yet a well-known metric to measure the well-being of the countrymen.
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