Elections inspire thought

When assigned to be US President, they were excited about coming up with the first 5 things they would do.  When I told them that they were now elected Minister of Hungary, they groaned and didn’t want to do it.  Interesting thoughts- if they were elected President of the US – they would end the war with Iraq (find peace with Iraq), help the environment, take on Hungary as the 51^st state, help poor people, get rid of unemployment… all large things to try and do.  If they were elected Minister of Hungary, they would stop grafitti, making smoking and drugs illegal, put more trash bins on the streets, make the water not be polluted- particularly the Danube, exile the current Minister, give money to support space research,   They generally have a negative view of the government and the country.  They think it is dirty (which parts of it are) but they don’t believe in their government system at all.  I told them we should write letters to the Minister with their concerns for the country, and they didn’t even entertain the idea because they knew that he wouldn’t read their letters.  When I asked them if they would join the army to support their country if they were invaded by the Russians (again) all but three of them would NOT.  They know that their army cannot stand up to the Russians, so why bother.  However, when I asked them if they would join the army to defend Hungarians living in Slovakia or Romania or Ukraine, they were all for it.  They know that neither the Slovakians or Romanians like them, so any way to get back at them was good for them.  It’s quite interesting to talk to them about issues like this.  They believe that they are optimists, but they think their parents are pessimists (and one girl categorized her parents as “realists” – perhaps a budding pessimist?).  I asked them why this was the case, and they know it’s because they have not lived through any sort of invasion or occupation and their parents have.  So – my next question was if the Russians invaded, would they become pessimists too?  They pretty much said that they hoped they wouldn’t.  This group of 9^th graders is really phenomenal.  They are hard workers (for the most part) and they really want to learn English.  They know that they are intelligent (that’s what puts them at this school) and they are fortunate and that to be at Eövös is a privilege.  I am in constant amazement that I am able to walk into my classes and need no Hungarian to be able to teach these students.  They work so hard to study other languages and to not only understand them, but excel at them.  It’s amazing to me- and embarrassing at the same time.  They knew the presidential candidates, and the way the Electoral College worked – and my American students don’t even know that.  It’s just weird.