Expats in Asia > Obstacles for an Expat in Asia

Becoming British (part 1963)

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JohnB:
DavidE,
I think it safe to say, many of the world's young people eagerly pursue a
university education outside their native country.

I was enjoying the merits of a German beer garden in Freising Germany and
one of the conversations was about American education. Given the issues we
Americans think we have with our K12 schools (too insular), our universities are a highly sought 
education that pursue critical thinking.

What I say is that I think there is hope for your step- son. If he opens his eyes & lets
some light into his mind.
 

maxx:
I think it is UCLA  in California,60% of the student population is Asian. Fort Lewis college in Durango Colorado. is probably about 5% Asian. Fort Lewis is just a small reginal college but it draws students from all over the world.

The little hick town I live in. Is covered with weeds and sand. Where drugs and alcohol addiction run rampant. Yet they have one of the highest rated school system in the nation. My oldest son graduated high school in Ozark Ark. He earned a  full ride scholershipe to a university in Ark. So did my only daughter, In my son's graduating class of 300 students. They had 11 valor Victorians.

You all make fun of my spelling and punctuation. I graduated high school in 1986.In a school system that was only interested in passing the student without helping them. Times have changed.3 of my kids are honor students. The other 2 don't go to school yet.

I think the school system in the states has gotten better. Because before they were just looking for a paycheck. Now the parents and students demand better. And they have gotten better teachers. Who give a shit and are not there just to collect a paycheck.

I think that is why America draws more international students. Because the individual student is not a number anymore. Just for the sake of a argument. I have talked to a few international students. I have talked to more then a few who went to school in England.So that tells me. That England has also upped there game.

Willy The Londoner:
I had a very scant education.  I was intelligent enough to stay in the top level in each year at school but that intelligence stopped when at 15 years and one day of age I walked out of school on a Friday and started my first job on the following Monday.

I had no idea how 'important' examine results were!  These were neither things discussed in our family and I never heard anything in their favour from teachers. My parents main concern was struggling to supply the needs of 5 growing children.  Going to University was never an option for us working class kids!   The highest echelons in my days was going to Grammar School. 

But when I look back 57 years to that day then what would I have done with examination results that I have not done in my life.  In honesty probably less.   I have traveled the World and seen and done things that I probably would never have done.  My life has been interesting to say the least.

With examine under my belt  I would have probably found a a good job and settled down with a wife and family at an early age and the life that I have experienced would not have been.

I do not down cry higher education but my ambitions at a young age were self reliance. I have no idea about parents wanting their kids to do well as I never had any to fret over  but judging by my nieces and nephews and friend's reaction to their children's education it seems that the 'bragging rights' could be more important that the education itself!

It seems that education anywhere is more the parents concern that the child's.

The ramblings of an old man may!

Willy

maxx:
The thing when you have kids is you want them to do better then you. The key to that now is a education. I grew up in a working class family. My father had a sixth grade education. He thought as soon as you were old enough to walk. You were old enough to work. And we did. At 4 I was working pigs. At 7 I was hauling firewood down the mountains. At 9 he stuck a shovel in my hand. And I shoveled sawdust from dawn to dusk. At 17 I left home and have never ben back. He was always broke.at 8 years old they shut the water off.AT 9 years old they shut the gas off.

In the 1970s and 1980s in the U.S it was real easy to get a job. You didn't need a good education. But what you did need was enough education to know. That you need money to start your own business.

It is now 2014. And a good education is the key to a good job. I look at the job boards about every other day here. So lets say out of the 100 jobs I look at. Maybe ten of them don't require a degree of some kind.4 of the jobs I'm qualified for. Require A commercial drivers License. Witch I can't get in the state of New Mexico. Because of my age of 46.If I had kept my commercial License current when I had it at 28 I would of ben ok. But I let it lapse. Because it is expensive in New Mexico to keep it current every 2 years. The other 6 jobs pay minnumum wage. And every high school drop out grabs those jobs quick.

So go back to school get a degree. While I'm getting a degree. Who is going to pay the bills.

Kids do way you down. Clothes med, dental, food ,housing, Stuff to further there education. If your thinking about making a life changing move. You have to think about them. In the U.S the government will give you 1,500 per year per kid up to three kids. Then it drops to a grand. It doesn't come close to covering the expenses of one kid for a year. The payback for having kids is them. They remined you every day how much. They bring to your life.

maxx:
Sorry man computer thing again. So Willy I think that you have missed out on the greatest adventure in life Kids. They make you mad. You want to sell them every other day. They smell funny. They scream and holler. They through fits in public. Bad enough to make you want to just walk away and tell people that they are not your kids.

Then one day you come into the house. And here comes the little monsters. All smiles and gigells. They tell you of there  acomplishments for the day. They show you really bad art. That you know that they tried there hardest on. You see the joy in there faces. with the simpelest act of kindness from somebody. You see the joy as they figure something out. Kids tell great stories with grand adventures. As long as there is somebody who will listen

I have been to most of Asia. I told my stories of what I did and what I seen to my kids and wife. It was ok. Doing it by myself. It is much better having the kids and my wife along so that they can see what I see. And do the things that I have done.

My stories and adventure have inspired my older kids. My daughter wanted to look at all the stuff I had from Thailand. My oldest son spent a month in France and Italy.

In America you need the degree to get anywhere now. There is no tramp steamers, There is no higher paying jobs. Without a degree. Minnumum wage is not enough to even pay the bills. And that is about the only jobs you can get without a degree. Unless you have a rich relative or know someone who owns a company and they can give you a job.

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