Fernando,

I think you would have enjoyed staying at our home in Illinois. We had an exchange student that was with us for two years (his junior & senior years in HS). The second year was actually illegal, but we held things up in paper work with the State Department, INS, and with a college and our high school, which helped us make it work. Since we had two teenagers at home, he had a blast.

Our oldest son, at home, went off to college during O's second year with us, but he still had a blast, got his Illinois drivers license, and would drive around the area, and got involved in basketball and baseball with the HS team, and received what's called a "letter" for participating in baseball.

He also went up to my son's college (son was playing football there), on quite a few weekends, and enjoyed the campus life there as well.

Needless to say, our kitchen table was always a "hotbed of debate" and we often went on until the wee hours of the morning.

The young man, from Bilbao, has become an important part of our family, and to this day, he calls my wife and I Mom and Dad, and he's one of our Sons.

I guess the problem with the exchange programs is that too many young people are put in homes where they don't get a chance to grow in their understanding of the U.S., and the people who host them are obviously stunted in their own ability to comprehend the differences that exist around the world. I wish your experience was better than it was. I'm so sorry to hear how bad it was.

Wolf

Wolfgang81m thank you very much for posting that message.

I wish my staying in the States was so productive as the boy you told me, but unfortunately it wasn't.

My host family was just a divorced woman with her 6 years-old daughter, so I couldn't enjoy the company of a boy of my age (I think it would have been great if I had someone of my age).

As you may guess this poor woman was working most of the time, and her daughter was in the school or with friends.

Anyway, it was not all negative, as I told yoy I find my way (more or less) to discuss, debate and inform myself. Also, I was lucky because a friends of my parents were in Disneyworld. I took a plane and went to Florida. That weekend was terrific!

It's a pity I couldn't get more of that visit. I've promised myself I will go again to the States in a better condition, maybe to the West Coast which I have heard its wonderful.

Well, yesterday I was too late to buy it, but today I did, and I have it before me.
It is a small one, so the intermediate one will be different (taht I couldn't find by now).

It's only got a black boy formed by two conguitos, one as a head, other as body, plus arms and legs. In the "Head" one, there is a mouth, anose, and two eyes. The figure's got his left hand in a "thumbs up" position.

Nothing else. If somebody wants to see it and it is possible to post it (I would ask the moderator) I could scan it.

I will keep on looking for the interemediate one.

I consider any people of any ethnia, race, religion, sex, as my equal in dignity and rights. Obviously we are different in many other things (since I am a caucasian male, I can not ever be an asian girl).

That stated, my respect towards any kind of people, what I complain about is that this PC culture keeps on telling us in which terms we have to speak, write, and consequently think.

As La Maestra said, I was born under Franco's dictatorship (died when I was 13), but more influence may have had on me the fact that I used to be a communist, until I got fed up exactly of what we are speaking now, that they told me how I should speak and behave, and this has a very strong influence in the way one thinks.

Now I support capitalism with energy and convinced that it is the best system, same as democracy, no matter that I don't like it (because it is unfair to many people). But it is the best one of all the systems I know by now.

Anchovy Front has expressed very well with the blackboard example what I mean. I don't see why we have to ban colours.