And the Japanese teacher asked…

Kim Hor what Cambodian elementary school aged children do in their spare time? And Kim Hor replied: ‘They usually play outside’

She then turned to Sagoru* and asked: ‘What Nepalese elementary school aged children do in their spare time?’
Sagoru* replied: ‘They usually play cricket outside’

Turning to Carl, she asked: ‘What Swedish elementary school aged children do in their spare time?’
Carl replied: ‘They usually play computer games’

Finally turning to me, she asked: ‘What English elementary school aged children do in their spare time?’
I replied: ‘They usually drink alcohol and smoke’

On the concept of sharing culture…Kigami-sensei told us a lovely little thing about Japanese culture. Kids can be ‘respected’ at school if they are good gamers. No need for cool clothes, fantastic hair or being good at sports…none of that nonsense! Just good old fashioned getting-boggly-eyed from staring at a little screen for hours on end, and you too can be revered at school. Such a shame I’m crap at computer games…although, on a completely different note apparently it might be cheaper to ‘invest’ in a Nintendo DS lite and a dictionary cartridge rather than one of those funky electronic dictionaries…I might have to explore…hmmm… this could be bad for my poor little bank balance…



*This might not be his real name. Not because he wants to be protected from any back lash, but because I have a crap memory. Sorry.