So "gap year" students, Molly, Polly and Lolly, head off overseas to discover who they really are.
Now living overseas, he discovered last month that two of his brothers had been detained, and he fears five of his nephews have also gone.
The Deputy Director of the NFIB, Pete O'Doherty, said the situation was "particularly distressing" for people when they might have saved up for months or even years for a holiday, or to visit family overseas, only to discover the flight or hotel doesn't exist, or the booking has never been made.
But prospects dimmed even before the opening ceremony, when overseas journalists arrived to discover that China's promise to provide uncensored Internet access was riddled with caveats.
In the course of expanding overseas, G.M. has discovered that it can operate far more efficiently than in the United States.
On a flight to see Ladbrokes' overseas operations, he discovered there was a young girl on board who needed a £45,000 liver transplant.
Section 60 is home to American casualties from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — though there are a few graves sprinkled in of World War II and Vietnam veterans who either died of old age or whose bodies were discovered overseas after many years of being missing in action.
"For a long time I would fantasize about some of the letters being discovered overseas, but over time I just gave up hope and forgot about them," said the man, who asked that only his surname, Zhang, be published for fear of reprisal.
As he pursued a career overseas, Neal, 28, discovered that some opportunities were scuttled by his previous legal troubles: in 2004 he was accused of sexually assaulting a female counselor at a basketball camp in Philadelphia while a student at La Salle.
"For a long time I would fantasize about some of the letters being discovered overseas, but over time I just gave up hope and forgot about them," Zhang, who follows a spiritual discipline that is banned in China, told the Times.
