My friends and I have been cackling over some Internet research I've been up to. There are some wacky people on the Internet. But the research is so interesting, I feel the need to share.
In the US, I discovered when i was pregnant with #1 that my blood was Rh(-). Since my husband is Rh(+), this required, for the health of my baby, me getting a couple of shots in my butt of Rogaine (yes, it is truly called Rogaine) to keep my body's immune system from killing the "virus" it mistakenly thinks an Rh(+) fetus is. In the US, this was not considered a big deal, and was a 15 minute procedure. However, in HK, this is considered a huge deal and is an 8 hour procedure. having a bit more time on my hands than I have had in the past 6 years, I decided to finally research what being Rh(-) is all about.
First, a little science...and then the comedy. Humans have known for over 100 years that there are different types of blood, A, B, AB, and O. this is quite common knowledge. then about 50 years ago, it was discovered blood has a special protein in the red blood cells called Rh. it was mistakenly believed the protein came from the Rhesus monkey, and was named Rhesus factor, but after this was disproved, it was shortened to Rh.
In Africa, Asia, and among native tribes with zero mixing of Europeans, the population is 99% Rh+. Being negative is kind of a genetic mistake, like Downs Syndrome or Albinoism, that certainly happens, but rarely. However, Among Western Europeans, some populations are as high as 35% negative. In the Americas, where everyone mixed with everyone, it averages out to be about 10% of the general population, albeit still slightly higher for whites than other races. While it can be said to be a genetic aberration among some populations, there is clearly something going on beyond chance for so many European descendants to be negative, or absent this human protein.
Many believe this means Rh- folks are not quite human. Ok, let the crazies out of their pen, give them a computer, and let the fun begin!
One theory is that negatives are descendants of those who mixed with aliens (you knew this was coming, right?). As aliens mixed, their blood, which didn't have the human protein, caused problems because alien or part alien females recognize their human fetus is not in the same species and systematically kill it. This might be true for me. I've always felt a little *different* and I've always enjoyed Star Trek, as did my mother, who was also probably negative.
Another is that humans are part reptile. Because, obviously, reptiles don't have this protein.
Another is that Angels mixed with humans, invoking biblical references i never heard of before and don't quite understand.
Another is that Neanderthals, who resided in Western Europe at the time of an early modern man migration from Africa to Europe, didn't go extinct at all, but when they mixed their negative blood with positive Man blood, sooo many babies were not born as a result their population dwindled and eventually disappeared. Being negative is a sign of being at least partly neanderthal, or other humanoid subspecies that was thought to have gone extinct along with the rise of modern man. there is actually some science to back this one up; a recent discovery of a half breed skeleton which is partly modern human and partly Neanderthal several weeks ago actually seems to show some proof there was a time of mixing between humanoid species. And it would explain why concepts that some so easily for most people, like addition subtraction and spelling, are so darn difficult for me.
Another is that negative blood is more "pure", in that these modern humans broke out of Africa before the Africans developed the protein, and that Africans, aboriginal people, and Asians (who left Africa in later waves) are actually mutated versions of humans resulting from mixing with monkeys (based on the mistaken original idea of Rh coming from the Rhesus monkey, even though that was long ago debunked). Oh wouldn't Hitler have liked to have known about that!
Another angle is that being negative was a survival strategy for Europeans during times of plague and disease. Rh(-) folks seem to have a scientifically proven resistance to certain lethal bacteria like trichinosis, found in raw animal meat and feces. this theory stretches the idea that perhaps the genetic mistake of being negative turned out to be a Darwinian winner in the face of several European plagues that wiped out most of the Western European population, and possibly at one point most Western Europeans alive were negative; the Super Humans who could walk amongst the dead and dying unharmed. However, since a negative woman can't bear more than one or two positive babies before her immune system goes on the attack, eventually the number of Super Humans decreased to today's numbers.
My husband, being Rh+ is clearly human. My status is not so clear. Apparently I'm not quite human. Thus, the flurry and concern over my human baby's well being at Tuen Mun Hospital. I guess this is just what one has to put up with when one marries outside of one's species.
Or it could all just be a genetic mutation, like other genetic mutations, that can get exacerbated when too much inbreeding occurs. But that's not nearly as fun to write about.
What's your theory?
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Health in Hong Kong
So far, these entries have been about me, because I've been the only one who needed care in HK! But today's episode is about my five year old.
This Saturday my son fell on an escalator and the teeth of the steps ripped a nasty gash in my son's bare legs (it's still very hot and humid here). Busted open and bleeding profusely, I debated whether the leg needed stitches or not. Since there was a clinic right next door, I decided to go and see what the clinic doctor said.
In HK, there are two ways to get health care. a private doctor charges about 300 dollars (and up), and typically the wait time to see him or her is between 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the number of people in "line" before you. Alternatively, you can go to the hospital, where the charge is $100 for care, but you can expect to wait several hours to be seen. In my local hospital, the triage room is the same room as the regular patients. So the patients who are a little sick and waiting are sitting right next to the dying on gurneys (who are also waiting). This may explain why Tuen Mun Hospital is described as "the war zone," as typically the dead and dying are at least separated by a curtain or something from the rest.
I remembered once I had a head injury and I thought I needed stitches. After waiting at Beth Israel Hospital for 3 hours, I was finally seen and told I certainly could have benefited from stitches, but you have to get it done within an hour or your risk of infection outweighs the benefits of stitches. So I opted for the private doctor, where I hoped I would be seen early enough to get the stitches, if necessary.
I brought my son to the doctor and registered him. a man got up from his spot on the couch to let my boy sit down and rest his leg. the manager of the mall found us and collected my details and gave me her details so I could claim the cost of the doctor with the mall's insurance company. While i was talking outside with the manager, Kai was half passed out and nearly falling off the couch. Another man moved from his seat to sit next to my boy to prop him up and hold him back from the edge so he didn't fall while I was outside. Everyone told the nurse they wanted Kai to be seen before them, so we got ushered in after only about 10 minutes.
the doctor cleaned up the wound. it ran the entire length of his shin. Most of it was a surface scratch, but we were concerned about a couple spots where it was quite deep. Finally, the doctor decided stitches were not necessary, cleaned the wound some more, and bandaged it up. he asked us to check the bandages in two days and if it was infected, to return for more assistance.
Two days later, the wound still looks simply awful. I think he should have gotten stitches after all. I don't know why the doctor didn't stitch him up. It's going to be one hell of a scar.
Tomorrow, joy of joys, i get the spend the ENTIRE day at TMH, because they are worried my Rh(-) immune system is attacking my Rh(+) baby. I will be seen as an inpatient. I hope that means I get a bed so I can at least relax with a book for the 10 hours they expect it will take to do everything.
This Saturday my son fell on an escalator and the teeth of the steps ripped a nasty gash in my son's bare legs (it's still very hot and humid here). Busted open and bleeding profusely, I debated whether the leg needed stitches or not. Since there was a clinic right next door, I decided to go and see what the clinic doctor said.
In HK, there are two ways to get health care. a private doctor charges about 300 dollars (and up), and typically the wait time to see him or her is between 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the number of people in "line" before you. Alternatively, you can go to the hospital, where the charge is $100 for care, but you can expect to wait several hours to be seen. In my local hospital, the triage room is the same room as the regular patients. So the patients who are a little sick and waiting are sitting right next to the dying on gurneys (who are also waiting). This may explain why Tuen Mun Hospital is described as "the war zone," as typically the dead and dying are at least separated by a curtain or something from the rest.
I remembered once I had a head injury and I thought I needed stitches. After waiting at Beth Israel Hospital for 3 hours, I was finally seen and told I certainly could have benefited from stitches, but you have to get it done within an hour or your risk of infection outweighs the benefits of stitches. So I opted for the private doctor, where I hoped I would be seen early enough to get the stitches, if necessary.
I brought my son to the doctor and registered him. a man got up from his spot on the couch to let my boy sit down and rest his leg. the manager of the mall found us and collected my details and gave me her details so I could claim the cost of the doctor with the mall's insurance company. While i was talking outside with the manager, Kai was half passed out and nearly falling off the couch. Another man moved from his seat to sit next to my boy to prop him up and hold him back from the edge so he didn't fall while I was outside. Everyone told the nurse they wanted Kai to be seen before them, so we got ushered in after only about 10 minutes.
the doctor cleaned up the wound. it ran the entire length of his shin. Most of it was a surface scratch, but we were concerned about a couple spots where it was quite deep. Finally, the doctor decided stitches were not necessary, cleaned the wound some more, and bandaged it up. he asked us to check the bandages in two days and if it was infected, to return for more assistance.
Two days later, the wound still looks simply awful. I think he should have gotten stitches after all. I don't know why the doctor didn't stitch him up. It's going to be one hell of a scar.
Tomorrow, joy of joys, i get the spend the ENTIRE day at TMH, because they are worried my Rh(-) immune system is attacking my Rh(+) baby. I will be seen as an inpatient. I hope that means I get a bed so I can at least relax with a book for the 10 hours they expect it will take to do everything.
Monday, September 19, 2011
It finally clicked.
My husband's been pushing me for years to identify something I'm passionate about and publish something about it.
I like to write, I like to research, I like to present (what teacher doesn't like an audience?) but I never felt strongly enough about anything to make the effort. Like most of my colleagues, I was surprised when I started attending conferences how easy it was to do a presentation....we all say " gee, I could do that!" but my problem was not that I thought I couldn't, but I didn't care enough to want to.
Especially the past 4 or 5 years, I have been feeling particularly passionless about just about everything in the TESOL field, and lately I have been wondering if I'm in the right field at all. I like what i do, but i thought I had lost my passion for it..I don't LOVE it, and if you don't love what you do for 10 hours a day, you really should get out, especially when your work is with other humans who depend on you for something.
But I realized this morning, I HAVE had a sincere passion all this time and just never really connected the dots. Not only do I have a passion, but it's a passion about something that as far as i know, is a HUGE gap in the entire field of education. And I really don't know how it's possible that I could have been saying I had no passion for years and years when I did, all along.
As an undergrad studying Early Childhood and primary school education, I realized teacher education courses spend no time, or almost no time, specifically talking about the unique needs and considerations of ESL children. My activities with my native English speaking students didn't go over so well with my ESL kids, and i didn't know how to fix that.
While obtaining my MA in TESOL, and in talking with others who got MAs at other universities, or certificates at any one of the dozens of TESOL certificate courses available worldwide, I realized TESOL education classes, generally, spend a great deal of time on adult second language acquisition and adult motivation and adult-centered themes and issues, but unless you are taking a specific class on teaching children, very little or no mention is made of the unique needs and considerations of teaching young EFL/ESL learners. Most people get general teacher education or general TESOL certifications, so the majority of educators have no idea what to do with young ESL learners.
the problem is that general ECE courses are very good at explaining how and why children are different from adults, citing child psychologists and researchers like Erikson, Piaget, Bronfenbrenner, and how their brains are fundamentally different and the best practices for them. However, they do not deal with second language or dual language acquisition issues. because it's assumed little kids just "pick everything up easily and naturally' so there is nothing special to consider about them, which is totally untrue!
On the other hand, TESOL education courses assume the majority of its graduates are going to go into adult education, higher education, or at least secondary school. They are very good at explaining how the brain processes language, but overlook the fact that the adolescent and adult brains are fundamentally wired differently from the young child's brain. However, because research has conclusively proved that the earlier the better in terms of SLA, parents and governments are increasingly expecting their kids to start English education in ever earlier grades, and in many cases, from Kindergarten or even infancy! there is a huge market for teachers willing and able to teach young children, so many TESOL grads end up working with very young children.
After a period of trial and error, many figure out what seems to work, but I have seen some shockingly developmentally inappropriate educational practices conducted by even long term veterans.
This bothered me so much in Japan, I conducted no fewer than 8 or 9 workshops on the topic. it bothers me so much in Hong Kong, I don't even want to be a part of the massacre of the young mind. There is a systemic problem, starting with the very top people in government, that absolutely no one truly knows or seems to care what is appropriate or even possible for pre-operational and concrete operational thinkers. it's like even 4 year olds are expected to be able to learn like 14 year olds. Since HK seems to score at the very top of international standardized tests, no one seems to have a problem with it; whereas i was warmly welcomed to give workshops on the topic in Japan (who recognizes they have a problem in their educational system), no one is in the least interested in my soap box efforts in HK.
it's shocking, considering the number of general education teachers who end up teaching ESL children, and considering the number of TESOL certificate grads who end up working in primary schools and kindergartens around the world, that more attention is not paid to this very important area. it seems there are a lot of myths about teaching children that are so pervasive, no one even thinks there is a problem.
Myth 1: teaching children is easy
Myth 2: children are chock full of motivation and enthusiasm all the time
Myth 3: children are sponges and absorb everything (that's almost true, but they forget just as quickly as they learn for a variety of biological reasons, and there are variety of factors that influence just what, if anything, they absorb at all)
Myth 4: children only need exposure to acquire language ( this is based on baby brain research and is true for pronunciation, but not other features of language acquisition)
Myth 5: you can teach children to read English the same way you teach them to read their native language OR
Myth 6: it's a bad idea to teach reading and writing to children; oral fluency is the only important part.
Myth 7: techniques that work with one age group can still be effective with another age group
Myth 8: Homework is an effective tool for revision for pre-adolescents and young children.
There are other common fallacies, mainly corollaries and associations with the above myths, but these attitudes result in teacher education courses severely lacking in direct instruction on how to work with young children in the ESL/EFL context, I think this is a shame because there are some genuine benefits to starting language education early, as long as the language education is done appropriately. Thus, many parents and community leaders are introducing their kids to ESL/EFL study at earlier and earlier ages, using teachers who are learning how to teach youngsters by trial and error, without any real understanding of both childhood cognitive development and second language development.
I've actually been rather passionately discussing these issues for years without realizing it was something i was passionate about. How did that pass me by for so long?
But it finally clicked.
I'm so glad to learn I wasn't as dispassionate about TESOL as I had been thinking I was. I was stuck in this mindset I needed to be excited about an adult-oriented topic. But i am positive i can and should pull the things i learned in early childhood education classes and TESOL classes and find ways to help teachers of young ESL children, a large and growing segment of the TESOL field.
I like to write, I like to research, I like to present (what teacher doesn't like an audience?) but I never felt strongly enough about anything to make the effort. Like most of my colleagues, I was surprised when I started attending conferences how easy it was to do a presentation....we all say " gee, I could do that!" but my problem was not that I thought I couldn't, but I didn't care enough to want to.
Especially the past 4 or 5 years, I have been feeling particularly passionless about just about everything in the TESOL field, and lately I have been wondering if I'm in the right field at all. I like what i do, but i thought I had lost my passion for it..I don't LOVE it, and if you don't love what you do for 10 hours a day, you really should get out, especially when your work is with other humans who depend on you for something.
But I realized this morning, I HAVE had a sincere passion all this time and just never really connected the dots. Not only do I have a passion, but it's a passion about something that as far as i know, is a HUGE gap in the entire field of education. And I really don't know how it's possible that I could have been saying I had no passion for years and years when I did, all along.
As an undergrad studying Early Childhood and primary school education, I realized teacher education courses spend no time, or almost no time, specifically talking about the unique needs and considerations of ESL children. My activities with my native English speaking students didn't go over so well with my ESL kids, and i didn't know how to fix that.
While obtaining my MA in TESOL, and in talking with others who got MAs at other universities, or certificates at any one of the dozens of TESOL certificate courses available worldwide, I realized TESOL education classes, generally, spend a great deal of time on adult second language acquisition and adult motivation and adult-centered themes and issues, but unless you are taking a specific class on teaching children, very little or no mention is made of the unique needs and considerations of teaching young EFL/ESL learners. Most people get general teacher education or general TESOL certifications, so the majority of educators have no idea what to do with young ESL learners.
the problem is that general ECE courses are very good at explaining how and why children are different from adults, citing child psychologists and researchers like Erikson, Piaget, Bronfenbrenner, and how their brains are fundamentally different and the best practices for them. However, they do not deal with second language or dual language acquisition issues. because it's assumed little kids just "pick everything up easily and naturally' so there is nothing special to consider about them, which is totally untrue!
On the other hand, TESOL education courses assume the majority of its graduates are going to go into adult education, higher education, or at least secondary school. They are very good at explaining how the brain processes language, but overlook the fact that the adolescent and adult brains are fundamentally wired differently from the young child's brain. However, because research has conclusively proved that the earlier the better in terms of SLA, parents and governments are increasingly expecting their kids to start English education in ever earlier grades, and in many cases, from Kindergarten or even infancy! there is a huge market for teachers willing and able to teach young children, so many TESOL grads end up working with very young children.
After a period of trial and error, many figure out what seems to work, but I have seen some shockingly developmentally inappropriate educational practices conducted by even long term veterans.
This bothered me so much in Japan, I conducted no fewer than 8 or 9 workshops on the topic. it bothers me so much in Hong Kong, I don't even want to be a part of the massacre of the young mind. There is a systemic problem, starting with the very top people in government, that absolutely no one truly knows or seems to care what is appropriate or even possible for pre-operational and concrete operational thinkers. it's like even 4 year olds are expected to be able to learn like 14 year olds. Since HK seems to score at the very top of international standardized tests, no one seems to have a problem with it; whereas i was warmly welcomed to give workshops on the topic in Japan (who recognizes they have a problem in their educational system), no one is in the least interested in my soap box efforts in HK.
it's shocking, considering the number of general education teachers who end up teaching ESL children, and considering the number of TESOL certificate grads who end up working in primary schools and kindergartens around the world, that more attention is not paid to this very important area. it seems there are a lot of myths about teaching children that are so pervasive, no one even thinks there is a problem.
Myth 1: teaching children is easy
Myth 2: children are chock full of motivation and enthusiasm all the time
Myth 3: children are sponges and absorb everything (that's almost true, but they forget just as quickly as they learn for a variety of biological reasons, and there are variety of factors that influence just what, if anything, they absorb at all)
Myth 4: children only need exposure to acquire language ( this is based on baby brain research and is true for pronunciation, but not other features of language acquisition)
Myth 5: you can teach children to read English the same way you teach them to read their native language OR
Myth 6: it's a bad idea to teach reading and writing to children; oral fluency is the only important part.
Myth 7: techniques that work with one age group can still be effective with another age group
Myth 8: Homework is an effective tool for revision for pre-adolescents and young children.
There are other common fallacies, mainly corollaries and associations with the above myths, but these attitudes result in teacher education courses severely lacking in direct instruction on how to work with young children in the ESL/EFL context, I think this is a shame because there are some genuine benefits to starting language education early, as long as the language education is done appropriately. Thus, many parents and community leaders are introducing their kids to ESL/EFL study at earlier and earlier ages, using teachers who are learning how to teach youngsters by trial and error, without any real understanding of both childhood cognitive development and second language development.
I've actually been rather passionately discussing these issues for years without realizing it was something i was passionate about. How did that pass me by for so long?
But it finally clicked.
I'm so glad to learn I wasn't as dispassionate about TESOL as I had been thinking I was. I was stuck in this mindset I needed to be excited about an adult-oriented topic. But i am positive i can and should pull the things i learned in early childhood education classes and TESOL classes and find ways to help teachers of young ESL children, a large and growing segment of the TESOL field.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Biskey, the Dream Teacher
Biskey, the Dream Teacher
Today I took my son to KFC. I like chicken, but only the breast, and usually in HK when I order, I never get breast, despite repeated requests for it. Today, as usual, when I tried to order, the woman insisted she was giving me breast, when I knew it was thigh, and sure enough, when I sat down, it was thigh, which I dislike.
Disappointed, I tried to find a way to deal with my disappointment in a positive way. Rather than blame the worker for not understanding me, I said, “Kai, this is my problem. I only like breast meat, but I have never learned how to express this in Cantonese. I can’t be upset because I need to learn how to explain myself better in their language. But I wish I were eating breast right now.”
Kai surprised me with an entirely different point of view. “You know Mommy, the important thing is that you have food to eat. It doesn’t matter if it is thigh or breast; at least you have something to eat and enjoy. That’s what’s important in life.
"It’s like when I wanted to play in the park when we went to “put-put” golf. I really wanted to play there more, but we had to go someplace else. At first, I was disappointed because I wanted to enjoy it more, but then I realized that the place we were going might be just as fun, so I decided to look forward to the new place rather than feel sad about leaving.”
“And you were absolutely right, weren’t you, Kai? We went to my friend’s house and you made a good friend and played with him all night and really loved it there!”
“Yeah, so I learned it’s better to think about what the good points are instead of feeling bad about the sad points.”
Now, I am a bit of a pessimist, and any effort I make to look on the bright side of things is usually a concerted effort on my part. I have been trying though to be more positive in my thinking. I had thought it was a positive thing to say the problem was mine because I need to communicate better, but Kai one-upped me with his belief that I should be grateful for having any food at all. Just as he surprised me the day at the park, when he decided that he wasn’t going to feel sad about leaving, because the next place might be just as fun. I was pretty blown away by that mature comment that day as well.
He really surprises me with his wisdom sometimes, far beyond his years.
So I asked him, “Who taught you to have such a wonderful attitude?” (thinking he would say Daddy or somebody, but his answer completely surprised me.)
“I learned it in my dreams.”
“In….your….dreams? And who teaches you?”
“I don’t remember her whole name; it’s pretty long. But it’s like Biskey. She lived in Japan. And then moved to South Africa, but she didn’t like South Africa much, because she was always being chased and she was tired of running, so she went back to Japan and now she’s in Hong Kong. She teaches kids, and babies, how to do things, like taste and smell and enjoy. She made a class and I’m in her class. I talk to her a lot, in my dreams. She knows English too. I learned those ideas from her.
She looks like a big tree. At first, I thought she was a tree, but she isn’t. She’s a girl. And she is always teaching me things. She has been teaching for a long time. She taught you, Mommy, when you were two years old. She taught you how to love.”
Kai looks at me with shining eyes, and rocks back and forth in his chair as he eats his chicken, grinning ear to ear.
I don’t know what to make of this story. Part of me really wants to believe there is a Biskey in the world, teaching children how to love and think positively. It was a pretty elaborate story to come up with off the top of one’s head. If it was just a story, I’m pretty impressed by the elaborate story scheme and character development. If it’s true…..there are certainly stranger things in this world.
Who would Biskey be? A dead relative? Many people in my family, including myself, have a gift of communicating with the dead in our dreams. Has this gift been passed on to my son?
Could it be an Angel? Most religions have angelic figures in their mythology, and there is no reason to not believe that there are probably life forms on Earth living in a different plane of existence, which we have called gods and angles, for lack of a better name. It’s cool to think there is an angel that instructs kids in their dreams how to live a positive life.
Anyway, thank you Biskey, whomever or whatever you are, for teaching my son such wise and wonderful concepts. Hopefully, through him, I can learn these lessons too.
Or re-learn them, apparently.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Death and taxes
There is a famous saying that there is nothing certain except death and taxes. This year, I've managed to avoid both until now, but my overseas 6 month extension on US taxes is nearly over, so I had to sit down and bite the bullet this weekend. Know how long it took me to do my damn taxes this year? 8 hours. 8 HOURS! That's a whole freaking work day! I had to file for both CA and Fed, of course, and there is a grand total of 25 (25! I wish they had caps for numbers!) pages of forms now sitting on my table.
in addition to those pages I had to print to send in, there were literally hundreds of pages of explanations how to do the forms, opened up in different tabs on my computer because I had to bounce between forms. The 1040 alone was 179 pages long! Then there were tabs of tables. The calculations were long and tedious. For example, this is what you have to do if you have a child:
If you have a child, you can get a credit for child care expenses. I paid 6K on child care expenses. I can take up to 3K in a credit. But then, you have to multiply that 3K maximum by .20, .21, .23, .25, up to a maximum of .35 depending on how much you earn. Then you have to list the smaller of your salary, your spouse's salary, or the credit, and that is what you can take as a tax break there are 3 pages of forms and worksheets necessary to calculate all this. Then you can take a child/dependent credit. There is a whole 4 pages of worksheets you have to do to get this credit. After this credit is worked out, you can take an ADDITIONAL child credit.
This is calculated by
1. start with 1,00
2 enter amount from line 51
3enter amount from line 32
4 subtract 3,000 from line 4a and multiply THAT by .15
5. enter the smaller of line 3 or 6, put on line 13, then put that on line 65
(this is the easiest of the calculations with the fewest number of steps, so the only one I can be bothered to write down).
Everything is like that. there was a worksheet for every line, and every line, and my tax form has 77 lines ( some with a's and b's). No wonder people do this as a full time job. One return can take an entire working day to do!
Basically, the government's tax tables charge the people about 12% of their income per year. But this is over and above the 10% they take out every paycheck for medicare, social security, and CASDI. THe state also gets its cut, from each check AND end of the year.
I asked my husband why in Japan I never did taxes. He said it's because the city office (who knows EVERYTHING about you in a very big brother way) already knows all your particulars, so they calculate it for you and take it from your salary and you never even see it. Most companies know this, so they pay a little extra to employees so the salary they quote you (say, 4 million yen a year) actually IS the salary you bring home, because you were paid more and that extra was taken out before you saw it.
Imagine, getting paid what you were actually quoted. I once had a teacher at my school that was shocked at how small her paycheck was and thought I had made some mistake. I calculated her salary with her, and she said "Wait, you quoted me a salary BEFORE taxes?" In the US, honey, that's what we do. We tell you you are going to earn 20.00 an hour, but in reality, you will only be bringing home about 16 of that, and then at the end of the year, you will get taxed on 12% of that, even though you live in the #2 most expensive area in the US, and 16.00 is minimum wage there.
In Hong Kong, I received a short questionnaire two months ago. It just asked me who my dependents were, how much I made, if I own property, and about 10 other questions. It took me about 10 minutes to read over and fill out. I mailed it back to the government and I will be getting a bill someday. It's basically 16% of your income, less credit breaks for dependents, but they sort it all out for you and just send a bill. If you are curious, you can use an online calculator that has all the formulas loaded on it, enter your details, and it tells you what bill you can expect to receive, in case you want to prepare in advance.
Since it's so straightforward and transparent, people usually know what they are in for and put money away every month in special bank accounts especially designed to hold tax money, which pays interest, so at the end of the year, they get a small bump due to the interest. NO 25 pages of forms. No tedious calculations. No entering this line on that line and reading 500 pages of explanations how to do the forms. A short questionnaire, an online calculator, and a bill. Much less scary big brother than Japan and much less gut-wrenching than the US. I hate hate hate doing US taxes.
It's all a bunch of crap, too, because most of it is designed to help people find a way to pay less than they "owe"; if you are willing to take the time (or pay someone to take the time), there are all sorts of loopholes and special worksheets to help you not have to pay your fair share.
For example, this year, I got a credit for moving out of the country AND I got a credit for my overseas living expenses; not just the cost of rent, mind you, but all utility bills can be included too. For HK residents, this is a whopping $114,000 credit ( more than people living in Tokyo). I'm happy to take it since it's there for me, but I feel weaselly, because what the hell? I never got a credit for living expenses while living in the US, but why do overseas Americans get such tax breaks? Oh, because the diplomats and military folks live overseas. Can't make THEM pay taxes. Why can't Americans get a credit for living expenses if they actually live and work in the US? Why do Californians and New Yorkers get taxed the same as those living in Arkansas with 1/2 the cost of living? It all total crap designed to help special interests. I may be benefiting from them this year, but it still pisses me off as a tax paying American that people who don't even live and work in the US get these special considerations, while the people who do live in the US don't get them. It should make you all mad too. The US is just crazy, crazy, and it's never going to end until the corruption is rooted out, and that won't happen as long as we allow lobbying to be legal.
That's my rant of the day. Hope it makes you mad too. As I've said about so many other things, it doesn't have to be that way.
in addition to those pages I had to print to send in, there were literally hundreds of pages of explanations how to do the forms, opened up in different tabs on my computer because I had to bounce between forms. The 1040 alone was 179 pages long! Then there were tabs of tables. The calculations were long and tedious. For example, this is what you have to do if you have a child:
If you have a child, you can get a credit for child care expenses. I paid 6K on child care expenses. I can take up to 3K in a credit. But then, you have to multiply that 3K maximum by .20, .21, .23, .25, up to a maximum of .35 depending on how much you earn. Then you have to list the smaller of your salary, your spouse's salary, or the credit, and that is what you can take as a tax break there are 3 pages of forms and worksheets necessary to calculate all this. Then you can take a child/dependent credit. There is a whole 4 pages of worksheets you have to do to get this credit. After this credit is worked out, you can take an ADDITIONAL child credit.
This is calculated by
1. start with 1,00
2 enter amount from line 51
3enter amount from line 32
4 subtract 3,000 from line 4a and multiply THAT by .15
5. enter the smaller of line 3 or 6, put on line 13, then put that on line 65
(this is the easiest of the calculations with the fewest number of steps, so the only one I can be bothered to write down).
Everything is like that. there was a worksheet for every line, and every line, and my tax form has 77 lines ( some with a's and b's). No wonder people do this as a full time job. One return can take an entire working day to do!
Basically, the government's tax tables charge the people about 12% of their income per year. But this is over and above the 10% they take out every paycheck for medicare, social security, and CASDI. THe state also gets its cut, from each check AND end of the year.
I asked my husband why in Japan I never did taxes. He said it's because the city office (who knows EVERYTHING about you in a very big brother way) already knows all your particulars, so they calculate it for you and take it from your salary and you never even see it. Most companies know this, so they pay a little extra to employees so the salary they quote you (say, 4 million yen a year) actually IS the salary you bring home, because you were paid more and that extra was taken out before you saw it.
Imagine, getting paid what you were actually quoted. I once had a teacher at my school that was shocked at how small her paycheck was and thought I had made some mistake. I calculated her salary with her, and she said "Wait, you quoted me a salary BEFORE taxes?" In the US, honey, that's what we do. We tell you you are going to earn 20.00 an hour, but in reality, you will only be bringing home about 16 of that, and then at the end of the year, you will get taxed on 12% of that, even though you live in the #2 most expensive area in the US, and 16.00 is minimum wage there.
In Hong Kong, I received a short questionnaire two months ago. It just asked me who my dependents were, how much I made, if I own property, and about 10 other questions. It took me about 10 minutes to read over and fill out. I mailed it back to the government and I will be getting a bill someday. It's basically 16% of your income, less credit breaks for dependents, but they sort it all out for you and just send a bill. If you are curious, you can use an online calculator that has all the formulas loaded on it, enter your details, and it tells you what bill you can expect to receive, in case you want to prepare in advance.
Since it's so straightforward and transparent, people usually know what they are in for and put money away every month in special bank accounts especially designed to hold tax money, which pays interest, so at the end of the year, they get a small bump due to the interest. NO 25 pages of forms. No tedious calculations. No entering this line on that line and reading 500 pages of explanations how to do the forms. A short questionnaire, an online calculator, and a bill. Much less scary big brother than Japan and much less gut-wrenching than the US. I hate hate hate doing US taxes.
It's all a bunch of crap, too, because most of it is designed to help people find a way to pay less than they "owe"; if you are willing to take the time (or pay someone to take the time), there are all sorts of loopholes and special worksheets to help you not have to pay your fair share.
For example, this year, I got a credit for moving out of the country AND I got a credit for my overseas living expenses; not just the cost of rent, mind you, but all utility bills can be included too. For HK residents, this is a whopping $114,000 credit ( more than people living in Tokyo). I'm happy to take it since it's there for me, but I feel weaselly, because what the hell? I never got a credit for living expenses while living in the US, but why do overseas Americans get such tax breaks? Oh, because the diplomats and military folks live overseas. Can't make THEM pay taxes. Why can't Americans get a credit for living expenses if they actually live and work in the US? Why do Californians and New Yorkers get taxed the same as those living in Arkansas with 1/2 the cost of living? It all total crap designed to help special interests. I may be benefiting from them this year, but it still pisses me off as a tax paying American that people who don't even live and work in the US get these special considerations, while the people who do live in the US don't get them. It should make you all mad too. The US is just crazy, crazy, and it's never going to end until the corruption is rooted out, and that won't happen as long as we allow lobbying to be legal.
That's my rant of the day. Hope it makes you mad too. As I've said about so many other things, it doesn't have to be that way.
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