Military cuts now are the same mistake Bush 41 and Clinton made. Funny Obama as Bush redux.
Chinese Pressure? The question is it all just rhetoric? I think so. It is more likely an excuse to raise taxes and push through health care and the like….

Ever eat chicken feet?

JiangxiDad on February 14, 2009 at 2:32 PM

In the Philippines, they’re called “adidas”.
: P

China will continue to buy US Treasury bonds even though it knows the dollar will depreciate because such investments remain its “only option” in a perilous world, a senior Chinese banking regulator said

The blood-Red Chinese are as believable as any leading Democrat. Comforting, ain’t it?

DarkCurrent on February 14, 2009 at 5:30 PM

Oh man. With the price of apt’s in Shanghai, I really don’t think I can pay that kind of money for tuition. Wow! Maybe I better try Taiwan.But thank you again for that info. It was an eye-opener.

The Shanghai HS sounds unbelievable. I’m sure it’s very hard to get into.

Good luck to the kid in Deutschland. Sehr interessant. Ich habe Deutsch als Kind für zehn Jahren studiert.

JiangxiDad on February 14, 2009 at 5:14 PM

I was trying to post links to both schools in my comment above. Somehow it kept getting rejected, leading to the “e” post above. My son goes to SMIC School, which has both English and Chinese tracks. Kids on the English track study Chinese, but as a second language. Shanghai High School is well known in Shanghai, but not as difficult for non-Chinese passport holders to get into as they make it out to be.

DarkCurrent on February 14, 2009 at 4:53 PM

Sorry, forgot to say I hope your entire family is having a wonderful experience. I hope you all look back on it as some of the most memorable times of your lives.

I lived for awhile in France, so know the expat thing.

DarkCurrent on February 14, 2009 at 4:53 PM

Thanks very much for that info. My kids are in middle-school, but I’d very much like to do this for them if I can swing it. I worry because their Chinese really sucks (even worse than mine does) so I thought school and later college would be a problem. The Shanghai HS sounds unbelievable. I’m sure it’s very hard to get into.

Good luck to the kid in Deutschland. Sehr interessant. Ich habe Deutsch als Kind für zehn Jahren studiert.

Are your kids currently in school in China? An “international” school? Sometimes my wife and I entertain the notion of spending a few years there with my kids before they’re gone.

JiangxiDad on February 14, 2009 at 4:07 PM

Are your kids currently in school in China? An “international” school? Sometimes my wife and I entertain the notion of spending a few years there with my kids before they’re gone.

JiangxiDad on February 14, 2009 at 4:07 PM

My son (12) is here and attends a bilingual school with US-based curriculum. My daughter (16) was here and attended Shanghai High School but is currently an exchange student in Germany.

I used to live in China (in Wuhan). I ate ducks feet once (supposedly it’s a delicacy there and I couldn’t insult them by not eating it). It tasted like pencil erasers. :/

Theophile on February 14, 2009 at 3:50 PM

I’d describe it more like very worn out bicycle tire rubber. After a while you learn how to decline without being too insulting. It’s a survival skill ;-)

She’s the world’s greatest half-Chinese sinophobe as far as I know.

DarkCurrent on February 14, 2009 at 4:03 PM

Are your kids currently in school in China? An “international” school? Sometimes my wife and I entertain the notion of spending a few years there with my kids before they’re gone. I have several friends from Shanghai among my neighbors, and have some contacts through them there.

It tasted like pencil erasers.

LMAO

Just to gross out my daughters who think they’re disgusting. :)

JiangxiDad on February 14, 2009 at 3:49 PM

My kids won’t touch them either. My daughter continues to suffer from severe ichthyophobia as a result of finding a bag of fish heads Mom put in our refrigerator back when we still lived in the US. She can’t even look at a little goldfish without being freaked out anymore. She’s the world’s greatest half-Chinese sinophobe as far as I know.

I couldn’t have found a better analogy anywhere.

You were drunk and had a lot of cute Chinese girls encouraging you to do it though, right?

DarkCurrent on February 14, 2009 at 3:42 PM

Just to gross out my daughters who think they’re disgusting. :)

Had them two weeks ago for New Year’s dim sum in NY.

JiangxiDad on February 14, 2009 at 3:32 PM

You were drunk and had a lot of cute Chinese girls encouraging you to do it though, right?

You throw it out in the street, what else?

Sounds like America when it was in it’s expanding days.

I have when too drunk and it was served in a pub. Don’t tell me Americans eat them in America too?

DarkCurrent on February 14, 2009 at 2:45 PM

Had them two weeks ago for New Year’s dim sum in NY.

Ever eat chicken feet?

JiangxiDad on February 14, 2009 at 2:32 PM

I have when too drunk and it was served in a pub. Don’t tell me Americans eat them in America too?

I can understand a girl from the country of China and now living in the city not having a problem with this, but come on, Jiangxi, what the hell do you do with the mess from plucking and cleaning a chicken?

genso on February 14, 2009 at 2:05 PM

You throw it out in the street, what else?

JiangxiDad on February 14, 2009 at 2:32 PM

Funny story. I tried them in China. I’m like DarkCurrent, what do they do with the stuff we eat. Duck heads, fish heads, chicken feet… And, gotcha….magic.

I can understand a girl from the country of China and now living in the city not having a problem with this, but come on, Jiangxi, what the hell do you do with the mess from plucking and cleaning a chicken?

genso on February 14, 2009 at 2:05 PM

You just pay extra, and they do it for you. Magic!

btw, as a kid growing up in the NYC suburbs, for Thanksgiving we went to a place where you went behind the store and picked the live Turkey you wanted.
My grandma would come visit us on the train from Brooklyn. Inside her suitcase was a chicken, with some feathers remaining. She didn’t think she could get a decent chicken in the “country.” Ever eat chicken feet?