“I am mad at myself now”. My girl friend called me this afternoon.

“For what?”

“One of my husband’s friends in China visited NYC lately and brought an IBM laptop with him when he was back.  It cost more than $2000.”

“I see.”Since her husband dreamt of the same laptop.

She seemed to figure out what I was thinking and added: “not only because of the laptop, the guy used to be my husband’s subordinate when both of them worked in the same company. He knew nothing and learned everything from my husband at that time. But he just bought a villa. I really regret that I persuaded my husband to pursue his Master degree. Otherwise, we were able to buy a villa too.”

No wonder she was so upset though it was not necessary at all.

“I really hate education in China.”

Aha, the Chinese sayings: 萬般皆下品，唯有讀書高。學好數理化，走遍天下也不怕 seem to have already poisoned her.

Friend sounded to picture her husband as a good student and the guy a bad one.

“Why blame on education system we have benefited? Without being educated, how could we be here in the States?” I thought. The Chinese education system is imperfect. Apparently, there are many problems. Only when we are here, do we know the dark sides of it. But totally blaming on the exterior influences seems unfair, and especially when both of them were educated the same way.

The guy may belong to late bloomer (大器晚成). Some people were never straight A students when they were in schools. However, they apply their knowledge wisely. They work smart. What is the most important is what people learn from society rather than from schools. Many straight A students are very intelligent. But they put their efforts on their scores rather than how to make a living through education. They are bookworms (like me). Maybe this is one of the biggest discrepancies between Chinese education and Western education. Degree doesn’t equal to ability, neither do academic scores. So actually the real education is self-training. Learning to be confident when the roller coaster of life is going down and learning to apply what one has been taught are essential to build up one’s capacity.  

The Chinese sayings mentioned above are not incorrect. The main points are what book one should read, how to use one’s knowledge, and how excellent one’s EQ is (getting more critical now).

“Well, you could have a villa if you guys were working in China now. But since you choose staying here, you’d better forget about it. Life is a balance. The guy might lose something for his villa. He may admire you couple to work here. ” I was lecturing unconsciously.

“Come on. Forget about it. Let’s set up a time to watch Lust, Caution, alright?” Time to stop.

We hung up.

I am sure my friend will be alright since she was born to be a happy girl though being out of sorts from time to time, just as every girl does.