On the Kindness of Others

I read today about a single woman near Orlando, Florida who over the last 10 years has adopted three children, two with special needs.

The woman is 44 and had already raised two biological children, both grown and out of the house.  I’m humbled by her selflessness.    

We have been blessed with a healthy daughter (though she does suffer from migraine headaches), and we love being parents, but it still takes a lot of energy to raise her. I can only imagine the love and dedication it takes to choose to become a single parent to three children, particularly those with special needs. 

Every child deserves a safe and loving home. It is life affirming to know there are unselfish people kind enough to provide one to those most in need……

On the Rise of China

Here’s a trivia question for you: By the year 2010, which nation will have the most people who speak English?  

The answer is China. 

Mind you, this is not because so many native English speakers are moving to China; it’s because so many Chinese are learning English.  

Through my job, I meet business people from all over the world, China included. I’m often told in advance that these visitors will speak little or no English; however, they usually do. Two weeks ago I helped to host six officials from the city of Ningbo, China. At lunch, the official seated next to me self-deprecatingly insisted he didn’t speak English well at all, but he told so in perfect English as we carried on an hour conversation about politics and the U.S. trade deficit with his country. (I speak no Chinese.) 

English is the international language of business, so all this shouldn’t surprise me. But coupled with its tremendous size – the 25 percent of the population in China with the highest IQ exceeds the population of North America – China bears watching from a business standpoint.       

Here’s another statistic I stumbled upon: Through the year 2004, Rotterdam was the largest port in the world (by tonnage moving through world ports). By 2006, Rotterdam had fallen to No. 7 overall – overtaken by six ports in Asia, including three in China…. all in the span of two years. This growth was largely reaped from a 50 percent jump in trade between the U.S. and China in the preceding three years… with the United States importing Chinese goods and exporting U.S. dollars.  

Of course, I’m not the first person to see China’s emergence. 

In 2007, The American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages reported that the number of U.S. public school students enrolled in Chinese language courses grew from about 5,000 in the year 2000 to 50,000 in 2007. These students and their parents recognize China’s potential role as a world economic power. 

To paraphrase author Thomas Friedman in his book “The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century”: keep an eye on China.