#26 The Bright Side: Having In-laws from the Other Side of the World

Happy Fourth of July! This past weekend, I met Jason’s dad Jack and step mom Lizzie for the first time. They are from Midwest, and have never really talked to anyone from China. Jason once told me that he is a little worried if we will all get along. Day two, four of us went...

#25 The Bright Side: Why Chinese Education emphasizes Memorization and How One Could Benefit from…

(The spin-off blog of #22 First Principles Thinking: What is “Bigger” Impact and How to Make It) In the previous blog, I ended with a one-page summary of the article 10 ways you can make an impressive impact at work by Inc.com. In this spin-off, I share why I summarized the Inc.com article; how exactly...

Episode 63 Step Mother

Last week, I went back to China to visit my families with Jason. Yesterday I told Jason, “I absolutely don’t need any more pajamas but my step mother got me pajamas again, the fifth set! — well I actually kinda like them.” That conversation sits me down for this post. I grow up in a traditional Chinese...

Episode 60 A Thousand Words of Thoughts After Watching Crazy Rich Asians

This blog is about an inspiring conversation I had about inclusion after watching the movie. (It is an important, but also sensitive topic — it took a lot more time to write. I have best intension. I have tried my best to be conscious and careful. But in case it still affected you unexpectedly, please accept my...

Episode 41 The Unity of Knowledge

I’ve been a blogger for over a decade. In the recent two to three years, I mostly post on Wechat moments, which is pretty much the equivalence of Facebook used by the Chinese community. Very often if a non-Chinese friend asks “So where is your blog?” I have to awkwardly say oh that’s on a...

Episode 36 A Conversation over a Lemon Pie

Cen and I were talking over a lemon pie. When she happened to mention one common friend by saying "Well xxx might be the only republican friend of mine." I was so surprised, "Wait. What. How do you know?" And she mentioned some of their conversation over politics, and his conservative parents. That's the moment...

Episode 30 Stereotypes Are More Often Correct Than Not

One of the profs of the classes I am taking this quarter is a Chinese. I mean, a Chinese Chinese - he was born and grew up in China. His English is not great. He is very unique. He often make on-the-edge jokes - some can easily be categorized as racism. At the beginning, I...

Episode 18 Chinese Parents’ Expectations

Today, we were talking to prof Chris Ryan about Chinese parents' expectation on our generation. Chris said, well, they wish you success, they wish you have money and power. Why they wish you have money and power? Actually, they hope you are safe and happy, and they also assume that money and power will buy...

Episode 16 How I Learned to Tell American Jokes

About two years ago, I wrote a blog about Why Humor is So Valued in American Culture: WhyHumorIsSoValuedInAmerica Today I am taking the chance to thank all the awesome people who helped me along the way, to reflect on the significance and breadth of application of #ChicagoApproach, to summarizes my progress over the two years, concluded...

Episode 15 Small Talk… And Then?

This is a speech I delivered in the University of Chicago Booth School of Business when I lived in the US for the first 6 months. I designed a social experiment related to small talk, and was pleasantly surprised by the results. The speech presented the results and insights. It received a standing ovation at...