Week 10 Question

Staying with the topic of high schools, I thought I'd introduce a question that is a little bit on the lighter side (not as serious):

Tell us about a funny story/experience that you remember from when you were in high school.

While the story I'm about to tell you may not be all that funny, I always get a kick out of it whenever I think about it. Here goes...

At some point during the first semester of my senior year, my parents left town for the weekend to visit some relatives. That left me and my twin brother, Jim, with the house all to ourselves. My idea was that I'd have a few friends over for a movie on Saturday night. What I didn't realize was that Jim had already considered a far different plan for that same night.

That Saturday night, my mom called to make sure everything was fine, and I told her that Brian, Nate, Tasha, Amy and I had rented a movie and were driving home to watch it. She was happy to hear that I was hanging out with "those nice girls Tasha and Amy" and asked me how Brian and Nate were doing. Shortly thereafter, I remember turning the corner on the street where we lived (it must have been around 10 pm) and thinking to myself, "Hmmm, it looks like one of the neighbors is having a party or something." I thought this somewhat strange given that most of our neighbors were old or had little children, but I never even thought of the possibility that all of these cars were leading up to our little grey house on the corner of Campfire Circle.

My doubts quickly changed once my friend Brian quipped, "Hey, isn't that Tom Mchugh standing in your mom's flower garden?" I looked over; sure enough, there was Tom standing in my mom's poinsettas. We quickly got out of the car discovered more surprises. It wasn't just Tom standing in the flowers: there were people everywhere outside! Some the people I knew (Jim's friends), some people I had seen (at school), and some I had never laid eyes on before!

We went inside; there were people everywhere: in my parents bedroom, in the kitchen, in the living room, on the patio, downstairs, upstairs, in my bedroom, and even on the roof. I saw my brother's friend Danny and asked him where Jim was. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away. My friends and I dispered through the house looking for Jim, but we couldn't find him anywhere. Finally, I went out back and there he was sitting in the grass with his head in his hands. I asked him what was going on and he replied, "It doesn't matter, Kelly broke up with me." I could tell he was pretty broken up over it, so I didn't bring up the fact that there were 60 or so people partying in our parent's house. Nope. All I could say was that I was sorry to hear it, and that he better have a plan for cleaning this all up before our parents returned the next day.

What did my friends and I do? What could we do? What would you have done? There was no way we were going to watch the movie, so we did the only thing we could do: we joined the party.

Needless to say, Jim didn't have a plan for cleaning up the mess before our parents got back; he was still pretty distraught over his breakup.

I'll never forget the look of astonishment on my mom's face the next day as we filled garbage bag after garbage bag full of trash. She kept saying to me, "Your brother is going to be grounded (can't leave the house) for quite some time." In fact, if I remember correctly, he went out the next weekend, and the weekend after that, and every weekend for the rest of our senior year.

Week 9 Question

Next week or perhaps the week after spring break, we will take a short field trip to a local high school. During this visit, you will have the opportunity to meet and talk to American high school students. We will also use this visit as a way to generate ideas for our third essay, which will be a cause-effect essay about some issue related to American high school students.

As a prelude to this trip, I'd like for you to discuss your impressions of American high school students. More specifically, I'd like you to explain what stereotypes you have about high school students in the U.S. (your assumptions about what you think American high school students are like). These stereotypes can be based on movies, TV shows, pop music, hearsay (what you've heard other people say), or personal experience.

Week 8 Question

Hello!
Thanks for writing such thoughtful responses to the week 7 question. I enjoyed reading all of your comments.

In some ways, we've come "full circle" here on our modest blog. That is, we started the blog by talking about Montana (Missoula to be exact), and now here we are talking about it again.

This week's focus is in some ways related to our two previous questions; indeed, you've shown that each and every one of your hometowns and countries offers something special in this world. This week, I'd like you give your opinion on what you think makes Montana unique compared to other places in the world. You can talk about Montana in general, or you can discuss only Missoula. It's up to you. Good luck!

Week 7 Question

Hello! I'm still waiting for some responses to the week 6 question. Keep them coming.....

I have to admit, this week's question may be the most difficult we've had yet--you will really have to think before answering. Even before giving you my example response, I will have to think about it.

On to the question: What is one thing you think you can contribute (give for a common purpose) to your country when you go back? That is, in what way do you believe your experience, knowledge, skills, etc. will benefit your country in the future?

As I said before, this question isn't an easy one, but I digress. Before answering, I must say that my response is all "modesty aside." I think that in some ways, I am a "cultural liaison" here in the U.S. In other words, I provide a link between people from other countries (who come here for various reasons) and Americans. This link is various in its functions and incarnations: I (try to) help international students better function in the U.S. by encouraging the development of their language skills; by helping these students to develop their language skills, I indirectly assist them in more confidently/appropriately/accurately interacting with Americans in various situations. If they are better able to express themselves in whatever situation they may confront, then my contribution as "cultural liaison" has served its purpose in that both the students and the Americans they interact with benefit. That said, I realize there are numerous ways I could improve the ways in which I attempt to make my contribution, but perhaps we'll save that topic for another week.