One world. Many worlds.

Scene 1:

[Shanghai, a workplace lunch, a group of summer interns in a leading local company]

Xiaoming=a Tsinghua student, Dagang=a Peking U student

Xiaoming: Hey so what do you think of the first year in Beida?
Dagang: Ahh! It is tough! Though I got the 1st prize in international Olympia Math Competition, I still have to study till midnight all the time to do my 1st year math homework. And it is so hard to get a seat in the libraries, even though I get up at 5:30 am every day, no seats left! I heard Tsinghua has more studying spaces for students, ohh, I envy you....

[New York, workplace lunch, a group of summer interns in a Forbes 100 Co. ]
Jim=a UPenn student, Danis=a Harvard student
Jim: Hey so how is your first year in Harvard?
Danis: Ahh! Harvard is not for us! It is for older guys! You know you have to live in single sex dorms, and the best sports clubs sometimes are not open for freshmen! So hard to get girls....

Scene 2:

"My mom yelled at me again for my stubborn insistence on staying in Astrophysics. She wanted me to work as a programmer for a bank. I don't know what I am supposed to do now... As an Astrophysicist, it is really hard to make lots of money to attract girls... " [This is the theme of 99% of the posts on a Physics Ph.D online forum in China. ]

"I rejected the VC because I am very confident in the profitability of my idea. I wouldn't let go of my deserved share. I have planned to leave academia to run my own business after I finish the NASA Chandra project." [Quote from an audience, an Astrophysicist to be, at an East-cost VC competition. ]

Scene 3:

I have to take special classes to improve my English this summer, or my parents won't buy me the Coach purse for my bday". --- A 20 y/o Shanghai girl.

I do "Coachsurfing". It is cool. I plan to use 6 to 8 weeks to explore China's west, then Burma, India, Turkey, Spain, Morocco... I am expecting to end my vacation on the beach of Morocco!"---A 20 y/o chicago boy.