i just finished translating for a co-worker at a parent luncheon. i had forgotten how much i really enjoy speaking with parents and helping them talk through issues related to their students. these parents genuinely care about their children and are desperately hoping to find someone who will listen to their frustrations and help them understand their child. i know i don't have children of my own, but i feel like four years in the high school and even more working with middle and high-schoolers lends me some credibility in this area. i was nervious at first that my vocabulary would escape me, but it was not too shabby.
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last night i went with some friends to watch syriana. i took me about an hour into the movie before i finally understood how everything and everyone came together...the movie is only about two hours long: this company lost their drilling rights to china so they want to merge with this company who has a holding in kazakhstan. this man has to find some dirt on one of the companies, but not enough to keep the deal from happening. george clooney (who suddenly looks like he could be my dad) is being used as a pawn by the cia. the one prince who wants to break ties with the u.s. finds it impossible. in short, america's dealings in the global oil industry are CORRUPT. one of the best scenes is when this guy (with the committe to liberate iran and an oilman with one of the oil companies in the merger) talks with the lawyer. [i should've paid attention to names, i guess]:

he quotes milton friedman, a nobel prize winner: "corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation." his next line sets up the whole movie, "we have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. corruption is our protection...corruption is why you and i are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the street. it's why we win."

the movie was interesting. it's intense but definitely worth watching. it's frustrating sometimes to know that so much corruption does exist and affects the lives of so many people. i generally don't want to spend time seeing something as depressing as this movie. corruption abounds. there's really nothing i can do about it. the american government makes life difficult even for those who are loyal to it. still, the movie addresses critical issues and allows you to ponder about things that matter. you should see it. take dad. he'd like it.