
The Parachute Generation - kercker
https://nytimes.com/2017/02/02/magazine/the-parachute-generation.html
======
narrator
My Masters program was about 80% Chinese nationals. I became friends with a
few of them despite the language barrier. I like hanging out with people from
other countries because it's a very cheap way to vacation at home.

'A' was a guy, about 23 years old, not very talented as a programmer, though
there were some great ones in the group. He did not understand that plagarism
was wrong. He would copy paste wikipedia and I'd point out that that was not
allowed and he handed it in anyway and the teacher would read him the riot
act. I think he got a C anyway. He had an idealistic worship of American
culture and really wanted to be friends, but his personality was as bland as
can be. Guy went to an all boys school in China and so he said one of the main
reason he picked school X was that there were a lot of women there and his
TOEFL scores were good enough for them to let him in.

'B' was a very upbeat and enthusiastic young lady who would always wear hats
that said "Genius" is Chinese. Lots of energy, always got projects done on
time. Told me she took a semester off to have a baby. I was thinking, "wow,
that's odd, a very career focused ambitious woman having a baby in her early
20s". Then I thought the politically incorrect thought (downvotes!) that this
was an anchor baby, except not the penniless economic refugee type. Ahh good
for her, I think she'll be a great addition to our country.

~~~
Cerium
Early babies are also a culture thing. In China as soon as you get married you
are expected to have a kid, and that you will go back to work soon and that
your grandparents will help a lot.

~~~
pasquinelli
did you mean your grandparents or your child's grandparents? i'm just
imagining my grandpa helping out with my first born, (my grandma was dead at
that point, my grandpa wasn't far behind), and it seems like maybe a bit much.

~~~
icebraining
Remember that if everyone has children in their early 20s, the kid's
greatgrandparents will only be in their late 60s/early 70s.

------
manarth

      Korbin’s Chinese housemate, Oscar, spent several thousand dollars
      on a laptop so powerful that it blew out the fuses in their host
      family’s house.
    

I was fairly engrossed in the story, until that sentence. The jarring
hyperbole of _" a laptop so powerful that it blew the fuses"_ \- it makes me
question how much of the rest of the story is poetic licence.

~~~
autokad
You can certainly do that with a PC, especially on a circuit with already a
lot of load on it. one of those 10-20lb laptops with docking station +
multiple monitors?

seems possible to me

~~~
manarth

      "especially on a circuit with already a lot of load on it"
    

That's basically my point: sure, plugging something in can blow a fuse, but
either the device is faulty, the circuit itself is faulty, or the circuit is
already near capacity.

If it's a laptop, a docking station, speakers, multiple monitors, all plugged
into a socket extension, plugged into a single outlet - even then, I wouldn't
expect it to trip the fuse unless the circuit was already well on the way to
overload.

If a circuit is so close to overload, it could be tripped simply by plugging
in a phone charger, so the super-expensive mega-powerful laptop isn't really
relevant.

~~~
dsacco
For what it's worth, I had to draw two dedicated electrical circuits up to my
home office because my custom PC was simply too much load _on its own_ , let
alone the four monitors and assorted other equipment I have.

Granted, my computer is about $10,000 of hardware with four GPUs; my point is
that I'm not sure it's poetic license. You can definitely build a computer,
even a custom laptop, that would at least strain typical circuits and maybe
trip them with other peripherals attached.

~~~
Veratyr
I dunno, a standard residential US circuit is max 15A at 120V, or 1800W. A
GTX980 is 165W and the highest powered Xeon I could find was 165W. A Xeon + 4
GPUs + power supply loss comes to around 1050W and between the motherboard,
RAM, SSDs, HDDs, monitors, speakers, cooling and such I'm sure you can push it
high enough that it causes issues but I really can't see that coming from a
laptop, even with peripherals.

------
losteverything
There is gold in being a host family. $1800 a month. Or more. Paid by the
School.

Little old ladies with an extra bedroom hosting a young Chinese boy. Often
when they turn driving age I see them in a new car.

Over 200 are enrolled at the regional college prep Catholic school

Host families are a secret way to make good money.

EDIT: its not airbnb-esque. You don't hand over a key. They are children.
Hosts can't go away for the weekend. They provide / cook meals or shop or take
student to the store for their own food.

~~~
notadoc
$1800/month to host a foreign kid while they're in school? That sounds
unlikely and dubious, maybe 1/3 of that amount is more realistic.

But if it were true, poorer families who are struggling financially should be
made aware of this, you'd have millions sign up to host. It'd likely be a good
cultural experience for both sides too.

~~~
losteverything
I talked to the lady. It's true. Her property taxes are $18k and could not
afford to live in her house. When she bought it decades ago taxes were <$900

The Chinese spend the money and the Catholic school churns out ivy and first
flight college acceptance letters.

The school packages everything for the Chinese families. My $1800 is a 2-3
year old number and low if I had to guess.

Tuition for a primary grade is over $10k. So it's private money and lots of
it. What a better way to spend your fortune on educating your offspring.

------
Toenex
Watching my own children go through the education system here in the UK I have
noticed how much more of a qualification system it is compared to when I was
at school/college in the 1970's & 1980's. Education seems to be something you
try to get along the way to qualifications.

~~~
Angostura
I may be lucky. My daughter is in a bog "bog standard" comprehensive in East
London and loving it. The school really seems to like kids and has this nice
balance between pushing for attainment and growing the whole person. So yes,
she's doing well in classes but has also discovered a passion for playing
drums, astronomy, Duke of Edinburgh Awards etc.

The head teacher says very plainly "I don't want to be the CEO of an Academy,
I want to be a headteacher". I hope he, and the people like him manage to
survive the changing system.

~~~
OJFord
> _The head teacher says very plainly "I don't want to be the CEO of an
> Academy, I want to be a headteacher"._

When you say you hope he survives the changing system, I hope he realises he
can do so by being the headmaster of an academy.

I mean, smart CEOs worry about making enough money to invest in developing the
product right? The 'product' of an academy is educated children (or adults, I
suppose, if they stay through the sixth form) - so what's the problem?

The academy system just gives the head/governors more control to do what's
right for that particular school.

Sure, some schools are so templated that there's little benefit to be had, but
many are unique in a way in which those familiar with the school can manage
better without having to abide by national or regional policies that aren't
the best fit.

~~~
Angostura
You do realise that 'regional authority' in this case is the local council?
Being An academy doesn't remove most curriculum requirements.

What it does do is allow fiscal autonomy and freedom from a bad local
authority.

However where the school is working with a good local authority, there are
very few advantages. Indeed staying in LA control provides tremendous
advantages in terms of pooling of resources - IT support, curriculum support,
HR and finance for example.

In this case the LA is well managed and supportive. Splitting away offers few
benefits.

You say the 'product' is smart kids. The product of many academies is actually
kids who score highly in metrics that can be measured, but don't have a great
all-round education. Oh, and a big shiny car for the CEO.

------
Waterluvian
It seems like what these parents really want for their kids is enculturation,
but they don't realise it. A western education on its own is still rather
limiting when it comes to career and life success.

~~~
beachstartup
> _but they don 't realise it._

it's hilarious you think that people who send their teenage kids to live
overseas indefinitely and pay $40k/year for a basic high school education
"don't realize" what they're doing.

~~~
wpietri
Did you read the article? It opens with a story is about a guy sending his
16-year-old son to Oxford because he likes the sound of a degree from there.
Not Oxford in the UK. Oxford MI, which is a village in a rural area north of
Detroit.

I'm from Michigan and I have a hard time believing that this guy knows what
he's doing. Oxford HS isn't even in the top 100 high schools in Michigan:

[http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-
schools/michigan/r...](http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-
schools/michigan/rankings)

Even were the school excellent, I don't think a village of 3,500 people is the
best place for a foreign student to get American acculturation. In the 10k
town I lived in for a while, the exchange students really struggled compared
with the ones where I lived later, in a near-city suburban area. There was a
lot more for them to do, the average resident was more broad-minded, and there
was a greater variety of people for them to meet.

~~~
jmknoll
True, but about that same guy, the author later says:

"His father insisted that this wasn’t just about family prestige or future job
prospects. “I also want my son to understand, in a way that I never could,” he
said, “that the world is bigger than Shenyang, bigger than China.”

~~~
walshemj
There are lot of Chinese kids in my UK town local public schools (ie private
schools one of which Obahmas roomies at Harvard attended ) for this very
reason.

------
philip1209
Non-mobile link: [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/magazine/the-parachute-
ge...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/magazine/the-parachute-
generation.html?_r=0)

------
saycheese
Anyone know examples of major companies providing these services with URLs to
their websites?

It's fine if there in English, Chinese, etc.

~~~
jmknoll
I work for a related company in the industry, based in Shanghai. Would be
happy to chat/answer any questions about the work.

~~~
saycheese
Mainly just interested in seeing a few notable companies real online marketing
materials.

------
beachstartup
this has been happening since the 90s. there were at least 2 or 3 of these
kids at my high school in california.

~~~
huac
Although not in as organized of a way

~~~
TeMPOraL
People tend to organize over time. Moreover, this is a strong side of
capitalism - where there's lots of demand for something, eventually someone
will start offering it as a service, in exchange for money.

------
bawana
looks like Trump university might get a second wind.

------
princetontiger
Western countries are the best on earth

