I love Halloween-I love to decorate and dress up, and I love that it melds fall harvest foods and activities with fangs and witch hats. Sure, you can eat a caramel apple any time of the year, but it tastes so much better drenched in red-tinted white chocolate with fang marks.
I usually go all out, and each year I accumulate more decorations (usually I make them). We haven't done any decorating yet this year- I am unsure what the etiquette is once you rent in an apartment community. I have a feeling hanging a plastic-wrapped "body" upside down from my balcony won't go over very well. The stove with burning hands and a boiling brain on top doesn't seem to quite fit either.
There are a lot of dogs in the complex and I am tempted to buy those realistic rubber rats with the squeakers and hide them all over the property. It would be very satisfying to have our neighbor's dog drop one at her feet. Or better yet- a toddler carrying it around like a pet.
This will be the first time in four or five years that we don't have a costume party. It makes me a little sad. Maybe we can find one to crash this year. Anyone want to invite us? I make amazing treats and my partner is a chili whiz.
Feifei Wang’s answer to this question was posted on Quora. She answers the question as some one who came from China. Feifei has her own blog on Quora.
I’m a Chinese American, my family and I immigrated to the US some 10 years ago, and became citizen a few years later.
Here are the reasons we decided to move to the US. I imagine these probably apply to many Chinese Americans as well:
Overall superior basic living conditions, which include: better air quality, cleaner water, greener cities and suburbs, better roads and bridges (they don’t collapse)… You can’t buy these things in China, no matter how rich you are, you breathe the same polluted air like everyone else.
No poisoned food. Food safety is a huge problem in China. From street food to milk to restaurant food, you’re never sure if it’s safe. There’s a famous joke saying “You can’t honestly say you’re a Chinese unless you’ve eaten everything on the periodic table”. While in the US, the most you have to worry about are probably bad sushi and Monsanto.
Better, less exam-focused primary education system. This is probably one of the most important reasons many Chinese families try to move to the US. The elementary and middle schools in China are brutal. It’s heavily exam-driven, and it’s really not good for overall development of the child. There’s a lot of memorizing, a lot of test preparation. The last 3 years of high school is just a 3 year long exam preparation class for the university entrance exam. There’s no way to escape it, and many parents don’t want their children to be limited like that. Especially with the “one family, one child” policy. A lot of people tried to send their kids here to attend middle/high schools even if they themselves can not come over.
Better universities with more freedom. China has some pretty good universities, like Peking University and Tsinghua University. However, unless you did well in that once-in-a-lifetime university entrance exam, you won’t have other opportunities. US universities offers a lot more freedom, you can transfer departments, or even universities. You can improve your GPA and go to a better university midway. This is a huge plus compared to the rigid Chinese universities.
Better grad schools. The reason I separate grad school and 4 year college is because it attracts different people. Going to US grad school is still the most accessible method to go to the US. It is very hard for a Chinese to apply for a US visa, and getting an F1 (Student Visa) through grad school is the cheapest way. And Chinese grad schools suffer from corruption like other Chinese organizations. Students don’t feel that they can do anything in grad school other than being the slave labor for their advisers. I guess US grad schools also have similar problems, but it’s a lot better.
Overall better social welfare system, especially if you can get green card or become a citizen. You can actually buy land and house (Chinese government only allows people to buy the use rights of a land, you don’t own the land or the house). If you rent, the landlord can drive you off anytime he/she wants (yeah… renting law in China sucks, reason why people want to own their own home). Better health care, better unemployment insurances, better domestic violence support, less corrupted justice system… overall, safer, easier to live in the US.
More freedom. This is a personal experience, but since I’m lucky that I entered the US with a green card, so it may not be true to people who struggle with their visa. I think I have a lot more options to do what I want to do with my life. And the general ideology is that you can do whatever you want, be whoever you want, as long as you work hard and don’t give up. I’ll say regular Americans have a better chance working towards their dream and succeed than regular Chinese people.
Now I sound like a total traitor, praising America over the motherland. US is not perfect, if it’s up to me, I’d live in one of those welfare states. But I really like being an American.
This entry was posted on Friday, January 6th, 2017 at 6:30 pm	and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Publishers Weekly" "[Treadwinds] fills an important corner not only of Lew's multifaceted career but the larger portrait of Korean and Asian-American literature of the past two decades."-- "Publishers Weekly" [Treadwinds] fills an important corner not only of Lew's multifaceted career but the larger portrait of Korean and Asian-American literature of the past two decades. Publishers Weekly" Read more...
Daughters of God must be equipped to fight the spiritual battle that rages around us every day. The Sword of Truth, the very Word of God, is our best weapon. The Word of God is powerful in its ability to transform us into the image of Christ. Knowing how to properly wield this weapon by being in the Word and rightly handling it, makes us a fierce opponent to the enemy's attacks and allows us to be equipped for the works of the Lord.
FIERCE is for every daughter of God that wants to be trained in properly handling her best weapon against the enemy, the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of Truth.
This retreat is taking place in April in Kansas and Texas and in Spanish in Kansas, in September in New Jersey and in October in California! Our materials will be available on Amazon in Februrary 2018.
The Horse Sport Ireland Team of the Year Award went to Ireland's gold winning team at the European Championships. Photo (c) Jenny Abrahamsson.
Following a superb year for Irish showjumping on the international stage at underage and senior level in 2017, a host of Ireland's top athletes gathered at the Killashee House Hotel in Naas Co Kildare on Saturday night for the prestigious Irish Show Jumping Awards Gala.
The Horse Sport Ireland Team of the Year Award went to Ireland's European Championship winning team, sponsored by Devenish and The Underwriting Exchange of Bertram Allen, Denis Lynch, Cian O’Connor, Shane Sweetnam and Mark McAuley.
Cian O’Connor was named GAIN Equine Nutrition International Rider of the Year, while Mark McAuley received the Acadami Rookie of the Year award. The Horse of the Year title went to Denis Lynch's stallion All Star, owned by Thomas Straumann.
Among the accolades given out on the night, fourteen Irish riders were awarded prestigious 'FEI Badges of Honour' in recognition of their performances for Ireland on the international stage. Gold FEI Badges of Honour were awarded to seven Irish riders, with two Irish riders receiving Silver Badges and five receiving Bronze Badges. The FEI Badge recipients were congratulated via video message by FEI president Ingmar de Vos and were presented with their awards by Horse Sport Ireland CEO Ronan Murphy.
Depending on the number of appearances, Gold, Silver and Bronze Badges of Honour are awarded by The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), to riders who have competed in a Nations Cup, Olympic Games and The World Championships.