Nothing can be more enlightening than having a political discussion with a pair of 13 year old boys. Obviously, what they say is, likely, a reflection of the views of their parents – but they tend to be more frank and up front – especially if they have limited language skills in the language in which the discussion is taking place.
On the subject of South Korea's just-this-instant elected president, 이명박, Tom explained to me that he was "crazy man," and when I asked him to elaborate, he said he was "a robber" and that he had a "casino problem." I'm going to guess that Tom's parents voted for one of the other guys.
It is true that the presumed president-elect will be facing a criminal probe by the national legislature, before even being sworn in next month, for his association with a corporate fraud case. Ah well, politics is politics, everywhere, right?
I had a good day at school today. All the students were relatively pleasant and at least moderately motivated. Several, including normally silent Mona in my T2 class, are stunning me with unforeseeable founts of interest and actual work.
Cindy, in the brilliant T1 class, has the flu, and she and I were chatting before class about how everyone has the flu, these days, including me, just now beginning to recover (knock on wood). Then she said something very funny: "Your voice is much nicer when you're sick." I guess she was referring to that raspy, slightly lower sound it has. But… I didn't know what to say. Should I have said, "Oh. I'll try to stay sick, then"? But I think she was joking. Sometimes I can't tell.