Good move, now I won't even have to see her godawful English.

"And this. And that. And I was naked. And I did this. And it was amazing. And wow. And hoo. And haa."

Gives me a headache. Would someone tell her what a conjunction is please.

Since when is a postcard, with German lettering, from a restaurant in Berlin, Germany, fall under the grouping of postcards from Poland?

#1 - Agreed. Same goes for all those online backup sites. Back up your photo collection, which includes your 3 year old daughter naked and playing with a rubber duck and bubbles in the bath, and you'll be put away the next time you step out of a plane in the US.

@KID - Perhaps you missed my meaning of the term "re-educated". That term was used by Chairman Mao and his clique after the 1950s to describe the act of sending Chinese intelligentia and city high-school graduates to the countryside as forced labour to learn how to farm and hence become one with the people and so forth and so on.

Here, I tongue-in-cheek imply the reverse process. I certainly see nothing wrong in helping someone expand their intellectual horizons after growing up in a monoculture.

The reader who sent in the report about his students' attitudes should also take into account that there may be some in his class that are open minded and can think for themselves, but are merely too cautious to express this in public. We all know what happens to those who speak openly there.

However, being married to a well-educated, modern, young Chinese woman, I still hit brick walls on some matters, in spite of my ongoing "re-education" and the "age of enlightenment" in our home :) It is still very difficult for her to accept the concept of freedom of speech and that someone who disagrees with her has the right to do so and be vocal about it. Given that I see America right beside the other top human rights violators, for each example of Chinese human rights violations, I try to show her something equivalent done by the Western powers, so at least she does not immediately become defensive when such topics are discussed.

I think that Chinese persons can open up and accept that some wrongdoings are perpetrated by their government as long as we can accept that our governments are just as bad. We need to be fair.

Cory, please note that principal (e.g. head of school) is not the same as principle (e.g a rule).

Erm, with all due respect, rhinos do not produce ivory. Bring out your inner child sir and visit a zoo, and you might find that a rhino's horn is made from keratin, the same protein that hair consists of ;-)