back to school cont'd...

So i spent the morning interviewing teenagers for a summer English program. To their horror, i revealed that my language skills came about first and foremost due to a lot of TV. To my horror, they were lovely but really SCARED and STUCK... When asked what they would like to do over the summer, many said that their option of choice was to watch the telly... 8 out of 12 would rather stay here than travel - mainly due to laziness... many yearned for freedom - and by freedom they meant the prying and controlling eyes of their parents - and a stress-free environment (aka: no school), but were afraid to go away (where they thought they might get some... freedom that is). Yet with all that said, the kids were lovely and we had a fun conversation (debate?) about the differences between eastern and western values. I loved that one kid said that HK was losing its heritage and yet had no real western culture as well. He also took down democracy, complete with examples starting from today and moving back in time showing how leaders were often incompetent / didnt care about the "will" of the people... When his opponent said that at least then the people were responsible and could get rid of him, i suddenly wondered whether people are ever mad at themselves for choosing the wrong leader?? Or is democracy a system so big that it allows people to deflect away these types of thoughts... For all the bush bashing have we ever heard the lament "we were so stupid to elect him?"... But perhaps those people dont partake in all of that talk... Anyhow it was a trip - even if i had to get up way too early on a bleak and raining saturday morning...

Oh yeah - i love my haircut but i hate the smell of my new shampoo. yuck.