Gestational diabetes which is also known as pregnancy-related diabetes carries risks for both mother and child. The sooner the disease is diagnosed, the sooner it can be treated. At present, the condition is diagnosed between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy with the use of the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Investigators at Peking University’s Hospital in Beijing and several other research facilities in China and the United States have found that fasting blood sugar levels can be used to diagnose Gestational diabetes at the 19th week of pregnancy.

Their study, published in February of 2019 in the Chinese Medical Journal, included 34,087 pregnant women. Participants were classified as being…

• underweight,
• healthy weight,
• overweight, or
• obese,

and diagnosed at 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy using OGTT. A total of 6806, 20 percent of the women were found to have Gestational diabetes.

• among overweight and obese women with fasting blood sugar levels of at least 5.10 mmol/L at 19 weeks, 78.5 percent went on to be diagnosed with l diabetes of pregnancy using OGTT at 24 to 28 weeks.
• among underweight and normal weight women, those with fasting blood sugars of 5.10 mmol/L or over, 52.9 percent were later diagnosed with diabetes.

From the above result,s the researchers concluded overweight and obese women with fasting blood sugar levels of 5.10 mmol/L or over at 19 weeks should be diagnosed with Gestational diabetes.

Like Type 2 diabetes, diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy can be treated with diet and physical activity. If needed, insulin or oral anti-diabetes medication can be added. The women are usually asked to monitor their blood sugar four to five times a day and adjust their eating and medication accordingly…

• Mayo Clinic in the United States recommends a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in refined carbohydrates.
• a physician, nurse, or dietician can advise the women on calorie counts and portion sizes.
• walking, swimming, and bicycle riding, along with regular housework and gardening, are often recommended.

Women diagnosed with Gestational diabetes are usually asked to visit their obstetrician or midwife more often and have their baby’s health monitored closely. Labor may be induced when the baby can safely breathe room air or if the pregnancy goes beyond the due date.

Delivery cures Gestational diabetes but mothers must be monitored for possible development of Type 2 diabetes after delivery. Diabetes testing should be performed 6 to 12 weeks after delivery, and every 1 to 3 years after that for at least the next 5 to 10 years.

I was asked by Camp Med, a licensed day care program and summer camp sponsored by the City of South Pasadena, to give a presentation to our campers about the upcoming Summer Olympics, as I would be leaving for Beijing shortly to work on the Games. I thought if I just talk and the kids just listen, it could get kind of boring. So instead, I proposed an Olympic Family Feud.

The campers were divided into 4 groups. The winning group would each receive a prize. The way it worked is that I would ask a question and give one specific group a chance to respond. Unlike television Family Feud where only one person can participate, here anyone from the group could chip in. The team leader would then try to write down the best answer. If the answer was wrong, the question would move to the next group. If one group was noticeably weaker, they would get the easier questions.

What struck me is how engaged the kids got. You could see the wheels turning. They started thinking. They wanted to give the right answer. They wanted to win. They were having fun and so were the other counselors.

The questions asked required different skills, memory, reasoning and also listening (to what I had talked about throughout the summer). Due to the internet, it was very easy to come up with questions as multiple trivia, kids and information sites exist.

When I returned from the Olympics, the kids were very interested about my experience. It was as if the Olympic Family Feud had opened the door for them to be aware and interested in the Olympics. The event was such a success that we are following it up with a Halloween Family Feud. For Halloween Family Feud, more jokes and questions with an element of levity will be included. And there will be more questions that our younger kids can answer.

Attached are the questions (with answers) to both Family Feuds:

Olympic Family Feud

1. Where am I going tomorrow?

China

2. The J in Beijing, how is it pronounced?

As a z

3. How far away is Beijing from Los Angeles?

6300 miles

4. China is the 3rd largest country in the world. What is the largest country in the world?

Russia

5. What is the second largest country in the world?

Canada

6. Which country is expected to win the most medals at the Summer Olympics?

China

7. Where was the last Olympics?

Turin, Italy

8. Which country won the most medals at the Winter Olympics in Italy?

Germany (29)

9. The US won the second most medals. How many medals did the US win in Italy?

25

10. Who is shooting to win 8 Gold Medals and what sport is he in?

Michael Phelps, Swimming

11. Dara Torres is on the US Olympic Swimming team. How old is she?

41

12. Why have so many Swimming world records been recorded in the last couple of months?

The swimsuit: Speedo’s LZR Racer.

13. What women’s sport will no longer be in the Olympics after this year?

Softball

14. Why are some of the athletes not going to Opening Ceremonies?

To avoid the air pollution

15. What kind of work do I do at the Olympics?

Ticketing

16. Name this famous person I gave Olympic tickets to in Korea in 1988? Clue 1; He lives in California and is over 50. Clue 2: He’s been in science fiction movies. Clue 3: He received weightlifting tickets.

Arnold Schwarzennegger

17. Name this famous person I gave Olympic tickets to in Spain in 1992. Clue 1: He lives in California and is over 60. Clue 2: He was in 1 of the batman movies. Clue 3: He received basketball tickets.

Jack Nicholson

18. How many Olympics have I worked on?

11

19. Name a summer Olympic event that many find better to watch on tv than see in person?

Gymnastics, diving, water polo

20. Where will the next Olympics be?

Vancouver Canada

21. What year?

2010

22. What country did the Olympic Games originate over 2700 years ago?

Greece

23. As a 12 year old boy, at the Mexico City Olympics, I was in attendance when Bob Beamon completely shattered a world record. He beat the previous world record by so much that Sports Illustrated named this 1 of the 5 greatest sports moments of the 20th century. What sport did he break the record in? Clue: It was in track & field.

Bob Beamon set a world record for the long jump with a jump of (29 ft. 2½ in.). It was one of the most astounding feats in the history of the Olympics. He shattered the record by more than 21 inches. It has since been called the perfect jump.

24. What Olympic moment did Sports Illustrated call the greatest sports moment of the 20th century? Clue: It happened at a Winter Olympics. Clue 2: It involved the United States

In 1980 at Lake Placid, a group of amateur & collegiate hockey players from the US defeated the best professional hockey team in the world, the Soviet Union, 4-3. This has since been named the Miracle on Ice.

Halloween Family Feud

1. What year did the first Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon appear?

1924? 500BC? 2004? 500BC? 1945? (this one) The Middle Ages?

2. Boris Karloff played what famous movie character?

Frankenstein

3. What do you get when you cross Bambi with a ghost?

Bamboo

4. Bela Lugosi played what famous movie character?

Dracula

5. How much does the world’s biggest pumpkin weigh? A: 245 pounds, B: 485 pounds, C: 685 pounds, D: 1,385 pounds (this one)

6.What famous movie character did Lon Chaney Jr. play. Clue: Michael J. Fox, also played this character.

The werewolf

7. According to those silly, scary movies, when do werewolves come out?

At Full Moons

8 What do birds give out on Halloween night?

Tweets…

9. Bodies that are wrapped in cloth and stored in tombs are known as what?

Mummies.

10. In folklore, a male witch is known as a?

Warlock

11. As a Halloween treat, what chocolate candy bar do kids like best of all?

Snickers

12. According to legend, which Halloween creature usually has all of the following: a unibrow, tattoos, and a long middle finger?

A: a werewolf (this one), B: a vampire, C: a witch, D: a golem

13. If you were to draw a witch, what specific item might you want to include on her face?

Warts

14. A number of famous Science-fiction and scary movies were filmed in South Pasadena, name 1:

o Back to the Future (1985)

o Back to the Future Part II (1989)

o Back to the Future Part III (1990)

o Halloween (1978)

o Halloween II (1981)

o Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006)

o Hell Night (1981)

o Jurassic Park III (2001)

o Prom Night (2008)

o Scream 2 (1997)

o Teen Wolf (1985)

o Terminator, The (1984)

15. What’s a monsters favorite dessert?

I-Scream!!

16. Name 1 of the 5 most popular Halloween costumes for kids last year (2007)?

Princess (10.7%)

Spider-Man (4.8%)

Pirate (4.7%)

Witch (4.2%)

Fairy (2.8%)

My Psychoanalysis of the Chinese Pearl Industry and Their Highly Effective Selling Methods

“What is a free gift? Aren’t all gifts free? “

– Anon

From the Hotel Room of: Raymond Fong; Beijing, China.

Sellucation – it works 🙂

While travelling in Beijing, my girlfriend and I got chauffeured to a huge pearl outlet and were greeted at the front door by several nicely dressed ladies, one of whom led us inside. She then proceeded to guide us to a stand with a nice sized aquarium on top of it.

Inside the aquarium were a bunch of oysters the size of my hands. She handed my girlfriend the net and had her fish one out. (So yes…. oyster fishing really is a sport in China, sort of….) During this whole time the lady was giving us a lesson on oysters and pearls – the different colors, different types, different locations to get them, etc.

The Education Part of Sellucation Begins

It was nothing short of an education on oysters and pearls.

How fascinating. I never thought I’d care so much about oysters (most of the time I preoccupied with what sauce I want to pour over them before I devour them whole).

Once we got an oyster, the lady put it on the table, whipped out a knife and hacked into that poor lil’ oyster (it never had a chance) all the while asking us to take a guess as to how many pearls we can find inside.

She wrapped up the whole educational lesson of which if she had a killer headline it’d read something like this:

“Who Else Wants to Know the #1 Way to Tell if That Pearl Jewelry is Fake and Save Yourself From Wasting Hundreds of Dollars?”

She showed us exactly how to tell if a pearl is real or not and showed us that test in action. We, on the spot, used the test on a fake and a real pearl. And lo-and-behold – the test works!

And before finally escorting us to their pearl warehouse, she gave us a free gift – the FRESH pearl from the oyster we just dug out.

The Result?

And at the warehouse….? She was happily swiping our credit cards taking our orders. We felt GREAT making our purchase since we made sure that the pearls we were purchasing were REAL (just like that lady taught us).

Now that I’ve had time to dissect what happened, I realize that was one heck of a sales/marketing system harnessing the awesome power of sellucation. Let me explain.

The Enlightenment

Sellucation is the process of selling through education.

It is not so much about the selling as it is about educating your prospect such that they’d want to BUY from you.

You see, people hate to be sold to but they do LOVE to BUY. Sellucation is providing them with so much useful information that it’s only natural that they perceive you as the expert and their advocate and want to buy from you.

Let’s examine the pearl sales process in more details.

Breaking it Down…

First, she taught us about oysters and pearls, thereby encouraging us to invest some sort of interest in the subject at hand – oysters and pearls.

Then she had us actively fish for one inside the tank – we now have a sense of emotional attachment to that oyster and the treasures contained within. After all, it became OUR oyster since it was brought out through the fruits of our effort (never mind how little our efforts were, that’s beside the point; the point is we invested effort and grew a sense of attachment).

She busted open the oyster and showed us the treasures within, all the while asking us an involving question of “how many pearls do you think there are inside this (your) oyster?“

So beside the fact that it was “our” oyster she was cutting which meant the pearls inside were “ours” by default, we invested even more of our emotions because now we were subconsciously hoping our guess was correct.

We were actually looking forward to the actual solution and thereby, completing that mystery/train of thought in our head.

By now, she definitely had us interested and also invested in this whole market of oysters and pearls – a market that I’ve never in my life ever expressed interest in.

The challenge is…. how do you transition this interest from JUST oysters and pearls to THEIR oysters and pearls?

The “Selling” Part of Sellucation

Easy. By conveying the message that they are a legit company selling REAL pearls and by gaining our trust.

Remember the part where they taught us how to spot fake pearls?

Well, by showing us how to spot fakes, they are basically saying “Look, would we try to sell you fakes immediately after showing you how to SPOT fakes? Of course not and that’s why you should trust and buy from us!”

And of course, the gift, who can forget about the free gift? Surely it’s just the lady’s nice gesture right? Surely she thought we were the cutest couple ever and wanted to reward us for being so good looking?

NOT! (I mean, we DO make a cute couple but that’s not the reason for the gift.)

See, our human minds function in a manner that we are inclined to reciprocate. When someone does a nice thing for us, we have a tendency to want to do a nice thing back – not all the time and certainly not all of us, but a fair amount.

That gift subconsciously makes us feel somewhat indebted, that we should return that nice gesture. And what better way to do so than spending lots of money buying lots of pearls of which that lady surely gets a cut of?

Now you see?

At the End

All of this was a game of charades to get us to buy.

But don’t get me wrong, we are happy with our purchases and we’d do it again. We as consumers felt we were treated properly, felt safe, and felt that we weren’t getting cheated with fake pearls. We were happy to buy with that peace of mind that was afforded to us.

THIS, my friend, is the power of sellucation – selling through educating.

This is a lesson you must keep in mind as you write you newsletters, reports, boot camp, articles, salespages, etc. This is the same method we teach in our Attraction Marketing Formula course – how to establish yourself not only as the expert, but also someone your reader trusts, advocates, confides in, and connects with.

By doing so, you’ll be taking yourself to the top and adding much $$$ into your banking account.

To Affinity and Beyond,

Raymond Fong

The ancient Chinese conception chart or the Chinese calendar for gender as it is also known (amongst many other names) can be used for two different purposes. One being a baby gender predictor. Women who are already pregnant will look at the chart and cross match their age with the month that they got pregnant. This will reveal a neatly coloured pink or blue square predicting whether they are carrying a baby boy, or a baby girl.

The Chinese calendar for gender can also be used to tell a woman which month she must get pregnant to conceive a child of her preferred gender! You would find your age, look down the chart to find the blue or pink squares and in theory these squares will tell you which month you should try to get pregnant.

The ancient Chinese conception chart is believed to hang proudly in the Institute of Science in Beijing and local legend will tell you that it was buried in a royal tomb near to Beijing over 700 years ago. But is it accurate?

Many Chinese women will tell of a 90% success rate, maybe due to a one child policy which is currently in place in China (forcing Chinese couples to pre-plan the sex of their baby) But a poll that I have run on my website states a 50-50 balance in answers. According to my poll you may just as well flip a coin and hope for the best. And after a fair amount of research, I cannot find any official study results.

So would you put your trust in the Chinese birth gender chart?

There are of course medical procedures that you could undergo to try and select the gender of your next child. Some of these procedures are expensive and intrusive. Many do not totally guarantee your desired results. Only one method of gender selection can be certain to work 100% and that is Preimplantation genetic diagnosis. PGD (for short) is not readily available in all countries, some religions class the procedure as un-ethical, some places will only use PGD for detecting medical genetic disorders. The only good thing that PGD has in it’s favour is that the method is tried and tested, where as the ancient Chinese conception chart isn’t.

The Chinese birth gender chart comes under the ‘natural gender selection’ tag. Many methods of natural gender selection can be found today, some of them include procedures that you can carry out in your every day life. The natural gender selection methods do not guarantee you a certain gender 100%, but they do claim to tip the scales in your favour by a considerable amount.

So weigh up the odds… Which would you prefer to help you in your quest to gain a perfectly balanced family. Some old chart with lots of little pink and blue squares? Or some natural methods that you can learn to help yourself?

China is one of the fastest growing countries in the world. The booming ESL market is obsessed with the English language, and a developing economy, Beijing’s new generation is acquiring the English language at a fast pace. In this case, native English speakers are training school student all the way through English degrees. China’s English teaching jobs have skyrocketed in the past decade and continue to grow exponentially.

Government is emphasizing on Teaching English in China due to continuous regulation of ESL market. Schools are offering high paying jobs according to experience and qualification of the candidate. Free housing, worry-free contracts, high wages and free health insurance are some of the highlights of working as English trainer in China.

Let’s see some important reasons why Chinese government is giving much importance to the English language:

1. A Perpetually Expanded Market:

Many economists revealed that China is the fastest growing market for English language study, almost 50% of language books are bought by Chinese government worldwide. Teaching English in China is increasing at a fast pace because proper training is provided to small families, small town schools and poor people.

Many studies revealed that around 100,000 English tutors are presently needed in Chinese cities and this number will increase in future. To give a good shape to country, reputed schools are tempting experienced teachers with high wages and other lifestyle benefits. In last decade, thousands of English teachers have migrated to China to earn reputed jobs.

2. Students are getting younger:

English learning students are getting younger by the year. Reputed companies are hiring them to cater the needs of public. Private schools have switched to English language training at the age of six. Earlier, ESL schools were started to teach the English language to adults, in the few last years, the demand has modified who are eager to set up their home income on language classes.

3. Increase in SAT, College Counseling and TOEFL:

With time, more and more students are settling in foreign countries for higher studies, keeping this complication in mind Chinese government is looking for experienced native English speakers for admission consultants and college counselor jobs.

4. The slow economy has increased English demand:

One might assume that Shanghai’s deteriorating economy might reduce the demand for English courses; however, its opposite has proven to be truth. Fluency in the English language holds an important place in finding jobs in a country like China where economy is growing slow. Reputed language institutions are emphasizing on training of conduction of meetings in the English language.

5. Technology is altering the ESL Landscape:

In the recent years, technology has become an essential part of the English learning career in Shanghai. Modern countries like Beijing and Tianjin have installed interactive signboards in English classrooms and schools. This advancement in International language has left an overwhelming impact on Tianjin’s ESL environment.

6. Competitive Jobs:

In this past decade, China has become very popular in hiring consultants, designers, managers and architects. All these factors are increasing native English teacher demand in well-developing country like Beijing.

There are many places in the world well worth visiting and a great deal of languages well worth learning. Few languages, however, offer the same bright professional prospects as proficiency in the lingua franca of the Middle Kingdom. China is happening and with it, so are Mandarin language studies. Today almost everyone knows that China is different type of country now compared to what it was even 10 years ago. Most people are not too familiar with the details about how that rise came about, with the start of market reform, to the opening of the first stock exchange, the entry into the world trade organization and the reform regarding the flow of capital from and to China. What people do know is that China is a rising power. We speak about an awakened dragon. China is country that accounts for one sixth of the world’s population. China is the world leader in not only exports, but today also in high tech exports. When the giant dragon sneezes, like giant Gulliver, the surrounding nations take notice.

Most westerners can tell you a few stories of how one large company after another moved production to The Middle Kingdom. Already today, but more so in the future, other similar trends will emerge. When western economies foundered in the wake of the global banking crisis China grew at an annualised rate of almost 10%. A growth prospect that no western nation has seen for centuries. In all these ways China is less a country and more a continent in its own right, and a hungry continent at that. With average wages a fraction of American salaries the dragon has an immense potential to still continue to grow far into the future.

The future will see a different world from the one we see today. But what does business say about China and Chinese language studies? This is an interview with a leading human resources consultant with 20 years experience within the Nordic investment banking industry in leading management positions in New York, London and the Nordic region. We asked Mats the question: why should people study mandarin? This is what he told us.

The first reason is naturally the growing importance of China as a super power and its emergence as a major player in world trade. To set this into a perspective the value of European trade with China has grown nearly 500% during the last 10 years and since 1996, when China surpassed the US, China has become EUs most important trading partner.

From the first point it follows that western societies will face growing interaction with Chinese people. In this respect it is important to bear in mind that although trade is international, business is local. Therefore the ability to communicate in the Chinese local language, understand the culture, know general etiquette and business conduct – in essence to understand the Chinese mind – will become paramount in the future. Today in Europe there are about 250 million people speaking English, 150 million speaking German and 125 million speaking French. At the same time only X people are fluent in Mandarin implying ample opportunity for those wanting to acquire this skill to position themselves in a unique place in the labour market.

The third reason comes from having worked nearly twenty years in recruiting and training graduates I often get the question what makes up a good CV. In my opinion the number one priority is of course good solid grades from University. Then one looks for features that: stand out, show some special added value, show initiative, show interest in meeting new people, and show eagerness to take on challenges. In this regard even if one were not to use the acquired language skills directly, the engagement in serious Mandarin studies for an extended period of time will certainly fall into this category and set a person apart from the crowd.

The prearranged China tour would be the best choice for the travelers first visit to experience the exoticism of China. Prearranged tours means that you will have some professional tour operators to help with the travel arrangements like booking hotels, customizing the tours in China. In this way, the tour operators and tour guides not only give knowledgeable information about the tourists attractions where you will visit, but also you can acquainted with the locals very well along the trip.

When you’re planning a China tour, it would be best if you choose an tour package that includes as much as possible. Finding hotels, looking for the right restaurant and arranging the transportation are all tedious work that best left for your tour agent to work out. The China tour package covers all hotels, city transportation, and most of your meals would make the China trip easier. And as well, it would be great if the tour package including the best airfare deals from your country to China. Then you will be free and leisure on this trip.

When on the China tour, the accommodations will be the most important to you after a full day sightseeing, as you maybe very tired. The tour packages that offer 4 star or 5 star hotels for your choice, which would make you fully relax and enjoy the trip. And the 4 Star or 5 Star hotels would offer you standard or luxury accommodation that you feel very comfortable.

The China cities and tourists attractions you see and the local Chinese you meet during the trip will lead you to good memory in your life. The capital city of Beijing in China, could offer you a great place to begin with any of your China tour. Beijing has plenty of cultural and historical remains throughout the world, Great Wall, Forbidden City and Summer Palace, are the places you never to miss.

Xian, Once was one of the greatest cities in the world, the signs of human habitation date back to 6000 years, is known for the Terra-cotta Warriors. Also, Xian is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin area of China. This booming city attracts more and more visits traveling to China.

No China tour is perfect without touring the wonderful scenery of Guilin, where rivers and karst peaks covered in lush greenery. If asked which of China’s natural scenery is the best to see, most Chinese people are certainly to point out to the beautiful scenery of the Guilin area, as the ancient Chinese saying goes: Guilin’s attractions top China.

Your China tour trip will bring you good memories everlasting. Finding a right China tour operator and tour package would assure you a safe and smooth trip. And good luck for your trip.

Introduction:

Your first site of Uganda is usually Entebbe airport in the far south of the country lying close to Lake Victoria. I had prepared so many documents at the visa office in Beijing (where I travelled from) yellow fever certification, bank statements, photocopies of various forms. After getting in the line for immigration and visa extension I faced a rather large lady behind the bullet proof glass. She said, “passport” Stamp, one month extension, “thank you sir have a good stay” I pushed all the papers at her, she looked at me, no need, bye! I was so disappointed if she had known the sweat and tears getting all that together in China before I came, surely she would just look to make me feel better?

Kampala

The capital of Uganda is Kampala, sprawling, dirty, on a hill, crowded and downright smelly. Is it exciting for the visitor, are there fascinating things to see, do you feel you are in deepest Africa, perhaps not, but you have just arrived and are starting to discover pavements are full of holes, cracks and uneven. So walking meant a constant eye on your feet, the person coming at you and the many obstacles in your way. I remember seeing a photo of a temple (Hindu), in the brochure from the Ugandan consulate in Beijing, looking so magnificent and white. Yes here it was, dirty looking, damaged in many places and worn down by time. This was to be a common occurrence in Kampala between tourist photos and the real thing, this is a city that is in ruin, and even the new buildings that seem about 10 years old look worn and tired. Damage is everywhere, in the road, streets, buildings and general environment. As a city centre goes it is amongst the worse I have seen. The best thing they could do with the place is tear it down and start again. Can I say anything complementary well to be honest no? However this is East Africa, deserted by colonialism in 1962 and run from tribalism ever since. Where HIV and polygamy are still the main social concerns, where religion is based on missionary zeal and Old Testament hell-fire, where women are still third class citizens in the minds of men, where railways tracks are over-grown and deserted, taxis disguised as buses run around in confusion and terror for both pedestrians and passengers. Suicidal motorcycle riders are everywhere weaving in and out of the chaotic traffic vying to sell the back seat to anyone willing to risk their lives behind them as they try and manoeuvre ahead of the bus/taxi and cars. Every car is scratched or dented in some way, so buying a new car in Kampala is probably not the best decision you can make. The roads have tarmac that is so soft in the heat that much of it just melts down and leaves huge holes in the road breaking down many cars through violent ups and downs as they try to drive over or around the damage. In some places they have what we in England call, sleeping policemen, a hump in the road to calm the traffic. In Uganda these humps are so high and large the bottom of any car with some laden scrapes along the top of the humps with a scream of metal against tarmac. As a passenger in the back seat it means a jump to the ceiling, bouncing your head off and abrupt sit down again. In addition to this they have some parts that have several smaller humps of four together so driving over them is the joy of being shaken to death and talking funny for a few moments.

The wildlife, after all this is Africa is hiding and I am not sure where? Lots of exotic birds are around but not much else. My landlady tells me every evening and morning the monkeys come over the house roofs and chatter loudly. The dogs go mad trying to catch them. However after three weeks I still have not seen them once, despite getting up early with camera in hand to go looking for them. My landlady swears they are there every day – but I am now suspecting the troop has gone on holiday to Kenya for the rainy season. Also a green snake was in the garden but by the time I got there with my camera (seconds) it had gone? The locals tell me that if you want to see the animals now you have to go to the Wildlife Park and pay. I think I saw more wildlife in Shanghai than Kampala. However it is early days and I need to be patient and wait.

My purpose being here is of course is to work. The Uganda counselling association has invited me to give a speech at their conference and a local counselling company has offered me a partnership to help them streamline their operations and bring them up to date. In addition to this I will teach some psychology courses in the local universities. There is a large expat community in Kampala and everyone of course speaks English so unlike my time in China at least I can understand everyone apart from when they talk in the local dialects. I have done a tour of the hospitals here, (very poor quality most built in the 1940’s by the British and then in the hands of the Ugandan government left to go to ruin) most mental patients are locked behind high fences with barbed wire to keep them from escaping. In one hospital the staff told me they were terrified to even go in the mental illness block as the patients are unsupervised and wander around freely. I saw this for myself and thought back to Bedlam hospital in London 200 years ago – and that is here now! No Quaker humanism in Uganda to treat mental illness with compassion and moral healing. I was offered one post in such a hospital in Ishaka, about 5 hours outside Kampala, but the owner had just come out of prison being held on tax-evasion charges and he was so arrogant I decided perhaps not best to get involved. The shame is I would have enjoyed the challenge of bringing the mental part of the hospital into the 21st century and saving the misery of all those patients who are trapped in an endless cycle of 1950’s psychiatric thinking and methods. Drugs, confinement and punishment – still the only thing psychiatry understands. However you cannot help them if the boss is in and out of prison and likely to disappear for good at any moment throwing the whole thing into disarray.

Soon I will have to decide if I will stay longer or move on. I have a two month visa that is about to run out and have to pay $850 to renew for one year. If I do that I will make a three year commitment to improving Uganda’s counselling, training and psychology via the local companies and see how the penny falls.

I cannot recommend Uganda as a desirable place but when you come to a third world country you have to lower your expectations but not your desire to make it better. The days of Idi Amin are long gone, and peace is over the country but like any African state local crime is very high (had my wallet lifted on a taxi/bus already) and you have to be careful of mob-rule here. I will see in a few weeks if I stay or move on – life is about travel, experience and adventure – so live your life do not let life life you.

Oprah and Eckhart Tolle author of A New Earth answered a caller’s question from Beijing, China concerning weight loss and bodily transformation.

Cathy from Beijing had lost 30 pounds in the last year and acknowledged that for her it was a “spiritual work” beyond that of weight loss. Upon trying to explain it to her friends, Cathy found it difficult to adequately articulate the spiritual process without her friends looking at her as if she was “mentally ill” or weird.

Oprah commented: “A friend and I were talking about this the other day about allowing yourself to be fed from the energy that’s already there inside your body. I know what you’re talking about.”

Jesus Himself had a situation in which His disciples were hungry and brought Jesus meat saying, “Master, eat.” But Jesus said to them, “I have meat to eat that you don’t know of.” The disciples being perplexed said to one another, “Has anyone given Him something to eat?” Jesus hearing them responded, “My meat is to do the will of the Father who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:31-34).

Undoubtedly once your spirit has been awakened by God and is connected to the Creator, the “quickening spirit” within will energize your mortal body (John 6:63). It was in fact the Holy Spirit that rose Christ from the dead and imparts life to our physical bodies (Romans 8:11).

Hence the discussion between Oprah, Cathy, and Eckhart was very insightful concerning feeding off the energy within before prematurely and excessively eating.

Undoubtedly there is nourishment within from our own spirit that many rarely tap into being overly consumed and preoccupied with the body and egoic mind.

When we however cultivate the spiritual energy within to feed the body, we can thereby overcome obesity, and prevent overeating. As we develop increased consciousness, we will both hear from and harness our bodies more easily prior to over indulging.

Eckhart wisely said: “Being in touch with the body helps greatly because the body knows what it needs. Overeating happens because it is part of the ego’s unconsciousness, which seeks to substitute for the sense of aliveness.”

Oprah agreed wholeheartedly with Eckhart on that point being experientially sure of that in her own life. Cathy too agreed.

Before ever being known by the flesh, Christ was called a “child of the Holy Spirit” by which He was conceived of the virgin Mary (see Matthew 1:18).

Considering human beings are also triune in nature – meaning we are spirit, possess a mind, and live in a body – how much more nourished we would be both inwardly and outwardly, if we could simply reconnect with divine spiritual life. Inner life is far more nourishing and satisfying than external substitutes that enlarge our bodies but leave us empty inside.

Studying Chinese languages getting progressively more popular among foreigners. Every year many foreign students are showing great eagerness to make their way to China for learning Mandarin. Mandarin, which is commonly speech as ‘Putonghua’ is becoming more attractive to them. Interest in studying Mandarin is growing dramatically. Record number of students are coming from America to China only for learning mandarin.

Mandarin, the official language of China is also the most extensively spoken language in the world. One fifth of the world population speaks some form of Chinese language where Mandarin is one of the certified languages of United Nation. For political purposes and international business also learning Mandarin language is getting more significant.

After opening its door for the foreign investment China is swiftly becoming a world financial power where more than 874 million people use Mandarin as their first language. What about the history of Mandarin? In nineteenth century the language was used mainly in court and also by the people of upper class. Then in Beijing it has concentrated largely. Now the people of China are progressively more conscious of the need to learn Mandarin as the language is quite important for getting many jobs and also for different studies where work is reasonably concentrated. Students are coming from other countries with eagerness to study abroad in China as learning Mandarin has loads of profession opportunities. One who can speak mandarin has high demand both in Government and private sectors. For international business purpose Mandarin speaking people are getting more advantages than others. For teaching, healthcare and social services, journalism and many more other jobs Mandarin knowing people are getting more rewards.

In China there are many language institutes with highly organized study abroad programs for the foreigners who are interested to learn Chinese languages. There are many reputed Chinese Universities and Schools with inexpensive Chinese language program. Beijing, Hong Kong, Kunming and also other parts of China has many known Chinese language schools with highly structured study abroad programs particularly for the foreign students who are having interest in Chinese language study.

Learning Mandarin in China is undeniably a great experience for the students as they are free to travel around many places and can also learn more about Chinese culture and economy.