I love this

ARCADIA, Calif. — Ryan Ren, 14, loves the soccer fields around his middle school in Arcadia, California. Those don’t exist in his hometown of Guangzhou, China. But Ryan, now a student at Dana Middle School, hasn’t been to Guangzhou in a while. He’s what’s known as a “parachute kid,” an adolescent who comes to America alone to study, leaving parents at home.
“I only knew a few days before coming to America that I was coming,” said Ryan in Mandarin. “My reaction was, ‘That’s weird.’ All my friends are in China, so I didn’t feel good. I didn’t understand.’”

This story also appeared in Fusion
Ryan’s situation is unusual, both because he is attending public school and because he arrived here alone. The circumstances of other parachute kids vary. Some always knew they’d be coming to the U.S. for middle or high school because their parents had been planning for it from before their birth. Most parachute kids attend private schools, which can range from swank boarding schools like Phillips Andover, to small private day schools. A small, but growing, number attend public schools.

Yes, they are brownish, and often too short for basketball.  But they are my little brownish people, Nancy can go and get her own.   In fact, my curtain call for The Franciscans! the peasants will be Parachute Kids only.  I have some great song and dance set up for them.