At Big Brother Mouse one morning I chatted in English with 22 year old Lao and 21 year old Kao, who were university students and roommates. Their native village was 180 miles from Luang Prabang.
Lao majored in tourism at school and worked part-time as a hotel receptionist. Lao’s parents wanted him to be an English-speaking tour guide but he felt unable to become one because there were already so many and the competition was keen. He had changed his major to Chinese so that he could become a Chinese-speaking tour guide. However, he was afraid to tell his parents of the change because he was convinced that they would not understand. In his free time, he played a game similar to boules ball. He had never played team sports because his parents forbade it. His older brother was very athletic and excelled in many sports, including soccer. He was thin and muscular with a firm stomach. His parents found those physical characteristics to be weak, which is why they would not allow Lao to play sports.
Kao liked to watch television in his spare time, especially music videos.
When Lao and Kao left for school, I conversed for more than hour with Denghe, a 16 year old Hmong high school student. He has been studying English at school for nine months and he often comes to Big Brother Mouse for more practice. He didn’t learn Laotian until the age of 10 because everyone in his village spoke Hmong. In his free time, he plays the guitar and sings American, British, Hmong and Laotian folk and rock songs.
Denghe was very diligent. He asked me to define two vocabulary words from school that he didn’t understand—fellow and gene. When I associated the word “gene” with DNA, he understood. I also couldn’t help myself from sharing with Denghe one of my Dad’s favorite sayings, “The key to a long life is three-fold—good genes, good habits and good luck.” I am not sure he appreciated the saying but I told him it worked for my Dad, who died at the age of 93.
