The Occassional Ex-Pat

Election Fever has struck our house and from the least likely source. Keegan! It has been so amazing to watch how his English vocabulary has expanded since we have been home. I realize that what he knew last fall was what he heard in school and from me but considering a lot of the kids at school spoke English as a second language there wasn't a lot of what I would like to term kid talk in there. I hesitate to call it slang becuase that has negative "street talk" conotations in it. Really it is plain kid talk. What they talk about day in and day out and what they are influenced by at school and from older siblings as well. For example Keegan was into cars when we left Sweden but during his car infatuation over the last few months he learned all about which ones were which, how fast they go, which is cooler etc. Now with his Star Wars infatuation he is learning all of the characters, how they interelate, and plots either real or imagined. It is fascinating to listen to his chatter with his friends. He has gone from Dark Vader and like savers to Darth and life sabers. Choxaboxen to Chewbaca. Now all this might not seem like important stuff in the greater scheme of things but I see it as a measure of how much he is taking in. Case in point. The other day we were driving home and listening to a story about old time rock-n-roll. We got home and he asked me if I like rock -o- rama. I told him yes rock-n-roll is fun to listen to. Keegan: No, rock O rama. The guy. You know, the one they were talking about on the radio before the part with the music. Me: an A-ha moment...they were talking about the campaign for the White House. Barak Obama. Kids really are sponges. They take it all right in. Amazing. Thanks Keegan for the listening lesson. Rok A Rama my sweet boy, rok a rama.