Archive for December, 2013

East Asia’s Culture of Learning and Higher Test Scores

Ben杰明
Dec 20 |16:00
A Culture of Learning
Author:
A Culture of Learning

A Culture of Learning

In reaction to the recent PISA 2012 results, this week’s panel GPS with Fareed Zakaria discussed the educational leg up that East Asian countries seem to have over American education. His guests included Sal Khan (Khan Academy), Tom Friedman (New York Times author), Wendy Kopp (Teach for America), and Arnie Duncan (US Education Secretary). The discussion was dominated by a sense of ‘those guys got it right’ which unfortunately is not the over-arching reason for China’s higher test scores, in my opinion. Let me explain… Read More…

 

Will Students still come to America after PISA 2012?

Ben杰明
Dec 17 |23:43

Chart courtesy of theGuardian.com

After American 15-year-olds scored 36th overall on the global Reading, Math, and Science test, will parents continue to send their students to study in America? Test-obsessed parts of the globe may look at the 2012 results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and determine that our K-12 education does not compare to theirs. Or parents might not care and just send their kids to America anyway. (We’ve still got the highest ranked universities in the world…)

Read More…

 

Does your Body Reward you?

Ben杰明
Dec 7 |22:52
fruit
Author:
fruit

Yumm, breakfast!

One week ago I moved into a house with roommates in Somerville, Massachusetts. In that first week of transition I had a lot on my plate, so I did what most temporarily scattered people would do – eat shitty food. I ate plain ramen, peanut butter bread, cheese on toast, dunkin donuts sandwiches, rotisserie chicken from Shaws… barely any vegetables or fruit. I also exercised very little… maybe a few push-ups and sit-ups. I wasn’t depressed but I felt like I was just… existing.

But today, I feel like a million bucks. Here’s what happened…

Yesterday morning I was having my peanut butter on toast with banana slices when one of my roommates explained why he makes fruit smoothies every morning. “I eat fruit only in the morning.” he said. “It’s actually really good for you and the body breaks it down quickly, which in turn gives you a lot more energy to burn.” Read More…

 

“No politics on Thanksgiving”…

Ben杰明
Dec 3 |07:48
thanksgiving_politics

Who is right?…No one.

Thanksgiving is a special time when family reunite for great food and awesome desserts. But it wouldn’t be a normal family gathering without some passionate political rhetoric. And after the turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, cheddar broccoli, maple carrots, and biscuits, who wouldn’t grab at the opportunity to burn some calories by cursing your ideological foes vis-à-vis your loved ones?

Then gram gram chimes in: “No politics on Thanksgiving!” But she already knows… It’s too late to stop it, gram gram.
This crazy train has left the terminal!

But dear reader, AL.ME is not a place for hard-line party politics and I don’t intend to explain why ‘merica has become a communist, totalitarian state run by a Muslim… (no, I’ll save the “truth” for my other blog.) But honestly, listen closely, I have some shocking news to share with you… Read More…

 

What you didn’t know about Chinese Food in America…

Ben杰明
Dec 2 |23:40
takeout

American or Chinese?

For years I’ve been attempting to explain (and cook) the differences between real Chinese food and American Chinese food. At first, it surprised American friends to discover that the Chinese have never heard of dishes like Crab Rangoon, General Tso’s Chicken, Egg Rolls, Egg Foo Young, and Chop Suey. All were created in America for American taste buds.

Crab Rangoon was actually an American creation that has been served in San Francisco since the 1950s.

Egg Foo Young was an adaptation on a real Chinese dish and made its American debut in the 1930s.

General Tso’s Chicken [pronounced 'TSAO'] was coined after a famous Chinese general but the people of his modern-day hometown in Xiangyin, Hunan province have never tried it before! (See Jennifer’s talk below) Read More…