We are just a group of retired spooks that discuss things that you’ll not find anywhere else. It makes us unique. Take a look around. Learn a thing or two.
When I was growing up, my father did his best to give me an education. And throughout this time, he repeatedly emphasized that my future depended on the type of job that I had, and the size of the company that employed me. Larger companies offered more opportunities than smaller companies, and the more education that I would have would provide two things for me. Firstly, they would increase the job pool that I could choose from, and secondly they would enable me to start off with a higher salary than others.
He meant well, and certainly that formula worked well for his generation, but my generation suddenly became the “disposable worker” generation and layoffs became more common than not, and no one ever ended up with a job for life. Couple that with my role in MAJestic, and it was really a dog-eat-dog survival life with more than enough highs and lows.
And what you want to do, as a parent, is to make sure that your children have it better than you. Maybe not necessarily easier, but certainly better; more opportunities, and a chance, a real honest-to-goodness chance that they will be able to make a life for themselves in a world that is subject to whims and changes beyond their control.
Well, I am in China. And the Chinese have seen dramatic changes in their lives over the last thirty years, and many generations of Chinese have sacrificed and existed in a situation where there just wasn’t much in the way of any opportunities. And so they remain cautious, but guarded, about their children.
And thus, knowing that the (proverbial) rug “could be pulled out from under their feet”, many middle-class Chinese do what ever they can to guarantee that their children are equipped with the kinds of skills to make it, and survive in a contentious and changing world. And while China (as a nation is secure and prosperous), things could change. And as such, no one is taking any chances.
The educational system in China is not only great, but absurdly so. Not only do elementary students learn Chinese languages, and history, but they learn English as well, and their entrance into university is predicated on their ability to speak and pass English qualification exams.
Which makes things very interesting, as I will often see children studying all the time, jut about everywhere. Couple that with secondary classes that their parents also provide for them. These other classes range from swimming to dancing, to archery, to martial arts and everything in between. Some go into robotics, while others study the arts. And with that in mind I would like to present some videos of Kindergarten to first grade Chinese students…
They are all zipped up in a small 30MB file. I think that you all will enjoy them.
These children are not the exception. They are the normal average. If America believes that it can compete against China then they will need to reconfigure the school curriculum towards STEM subjects, and less on the soft social and humanities. They will also need to be very serious about the environment hat they are raising the children within.
For a nation of “lone wolves” can never truly work together without fighting, squabbling, and performing uncharacteristically self-defeating behaviors.
Do you want more?
This article is going into the China vs. America comparisons index.
Let’s continue on our adventure into Asia, but first let’s chat a little bit more about the splash photo above.
Image is from the movie Kelly's Heroes. Let me tell you that that is a fine, fine movie to watch with family on a lazy August afternoon. Just get some icy cold beer and enjoy.
Here’s another quote with a pic for your entertainment. Ah. What a great movie!
OK. Now let’s continue on our exploration of Asia. First stop, China and how they build houses.
Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.
How Houses are Built in China…
Houses in China are built quite differently than how they are built in the United States. Instead of a concrete slab with a wood-frame pole structure with particleboard floors and wall to wall carpet with drywall, the Chinese build out of cement.
The create a strong cement structure and lay down polished stone over it. Here we see a guy making a small house (LOL)…
A really small house.
And people, that’s exactly how it’s done.
Sappy Vietnam MV video
What? You think that music videos only exist in the United States? Nope. Every nation has them. Just like every nation… every single one… has their very own local bands and local music.
You should listen to some of them out of Australia, and Poland. Pretty darn awesome! I’ll tell you what.
Here’s an older video from Vietnam. I place it being made sometime during the 1990’s. You know when Bill Clinton didn’t have sex with that intern. LOL!
Nice to have in the car…
Back to China.
This is a pretty nice innovation. You inflate it by plugging it into your cigarette lighter. If you have an American car, the chances are that it won’t have a cigarette lighter plug. You can thank the progressive democrats for that “improvement”.
No problem. You can inflate it by blowing air inside the mattress. However, it might take a while. Truth. It might take you an half an hour or so using that method.
Don’t fret though. China makes tons of little micro air pumps that operate off of the USB. So you can either use your automobile USB socket or bring your laptop into the car and inflate the sofa using that plug.
You see just imagine the kinds of fun that you can have in a little subcompact with this kind of sofa mattress. You can keep the toddlers occupied. You can let the dog stretch out. You can kick back and take a nap during lunch, or maybe play with that girl you find rather fetching.
Maybe like this fine lass…
Nice Chinese girl and George Clooney doesn’t even notice…
Yeah. Big Hollywood names get their big pictures plastered all over Asia. It’s part of the Marketing strategy to saturate the commercial markets with images of the well-known and famous.
Don’t ya know.
Night Market (in the daytime) – Vietnam
Vietnam has changed quite a bit since the 1960’s. And yet in other ways it hasn’t changed at all. I mean the mountains are still there, and all the hub-bub about “climate change” the weather still is pretty much the same as what it has been for centuries. The lush banyan (forever) trees are still there. The birds still sing their songs, and the air is all pretty moist and hot.
Time change. People, cultures and society changes. However, people are still people. Boys are still boys and girls are still girls, and that progressive narrative about there being 65 different kinds of genders is nothing more than the ramblings of a crazy person that is socially incapable of fitting within society.
Pretty girls still exist in Vietnam. Here is a dated vintage photo of a pretty Vietnam lass taken in the 1960’s. She is wearing a cute western dress, rather than the more traditional Vietnam dress and hat.
Here’s a nice vintage photo of a Vietnamese food market. Look at it. Study it. Cool huh? Notice the tin can to the far right of the photograph. Looks like the American people wanted to help the Vietnamese, and tell them so in English…
But, only one thing… They speak Vietnamese, French and Chinese in Vietnam. Not English. At least not at that time. So, what’s the purpose?
Look. Study the picture. Note the placement of the tin can. Note the quality of the photograph.
What’s in the photo? Breads. Rolls. Donated butter. Donated oil. Tins of sardines. Not typical Vietnamese fare. Oh, yes they do eat rolls, and baguettes. It’s the French influence, don’t ya know. They do use butter. But the preponderance within one photo tends to be a little deceiving.
American media for ya.
A vintage photo of a 1960’s Vietnamese food market. Notice the tin on the far left of the picture. The words on it says that the tin was donated by the United States people. Pretty cool, except for one thing. It’s in English. In Vietnam at that time they spoke and read only three languages. They were Vietnamese, Chinese and French. It seems that all that English writing is for propaganda purposes. Propaganda, not for the Vietnamese people, but rather for the Americans who would look at the photo from the American mainstream media.
From the article; My first bite into Nuong’s bánh mì thịt evoked in me a sensation that could only be described as “same same, but different” in comparison with bánh mì in Vietnam. It was delicious, especially the perfect firmness of the Vietnamese ham. In a way, the sandwich was very similar to a typical bánh mì in Saigon, yet quite different. For starters, the pickles had a different tanginess to them, owing to the use of non-Vietnamese vinegar, which is similar to the condiment you might add to your hủ tiếu somewhere in District 5. The unorthodox addition of authentic Vietnamese-style char siu made the combination pleasantly sweet and chewier. But the starkest differences were in its main components. Source.
Here’s a modern micro-video of contemporaneous rural Vietnam and the food market there. Now wouldn’t you all want to have one of these Po’ Boy / Grinder / Submarine what’s ya call it’s… fresh from the market counter here?
Oh, and speaking about the fine Vietnamese food experience, here is another photo…
From the article; “Taiwanese flour is so different. It’s sweeter and chewier,” she explains. Her “baguettes” are coated with vegetable oil almost immediately after baking — the secret to their crunchiness after being toasted a second time. Different varieties of bánh mì are made to order when customers appear. Lò Bánh Mì Pasteur’s homemade pâté is several shades darker than those in Vietnam. “The Taiwanese like eating jiànkāng [healthy], [so] we don’t use preservatives. That’s what makes the commercial pâté so pinkish,” she adds. Source.
I have many more videos, but I just cannot put them into a single
post. It will bog down your computer terribly. So to watch the rest of
the videos in this post, please continue…
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
Links about China
Here are
some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader,
might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.
China and America Comparisons
As an
American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United
States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.
The Chinese Business KTV Experience
This is
the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the
British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal
press. This is the reality. Read or not.
Learning About China
Who
doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what
China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in
China.
Contemporaneous Chinese Music
This is a
series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It
is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I
am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series
of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and
enjoyment.
Parks in China
The parks
in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very
mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.
Really Strange China
Here are
some posts that discuss a number of things about China that might seem
odd, or strange to Westerners. Some of the things are everyday events,
while others are just representative of the differences in culture.
What is China like?
The
purpose of this post is to illustrate that the rest of the world,
outside of America, has moved on with their lives. That while they
might not be as great as America is, they are doing just fine thank
you.
And while
America has been squandering it’s money, decimating it’s resources,
and just being cavalier with it’s military, the rest of the world has
done the opposite. They have husbanded their day to day fortunes, and
you can see this in their day-to-day lives.
Summer in Asia
Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
