News from the Pacific
 

OzOne wrote in message ...
On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 14:06:50 GMT, "Maxprop"
scribbled thusly:


My daughter is going to Bora Bora later this year as an end of high
school gift from us, a wind down after the most idiotic set of
examinations ever devised for high school students.
the dreaded Higher School Certificate....

I hope she and her friends will be properly supervised. Certainly you
haven't forgotten the Aruba incident so soon?

Max



Max,
Things like that happen every day somewhere in the world.
You cannot spend your entire life in fear of what may happen....hell,
those gang rapes that were so heavily reported here (because Muslims
were the rapists) happened within 5 or 6 km of my home.

Living a life in cotton wool is no life at all, you need to be aware
of and recognise wherever possible when a situation is developing and
get out ...she is pretty savvy.

Almost verbatim what the girl's mother said about her daughter when she went
to Aruba.

I hope she has a wonderful time. Tahiti is ausgezeichnet.

Max

News from the Pacific
 

OzOne wrote in message ...
On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:00:26 GMT, "Maxprop"
scribbled thusly:


Almost verbatim what the girl's mother said about her daughter when she
went
to Aruba.

I hope she has a wonderful time. Tahiti is ausgezeichnet.

Max


Yeah, I've been a few times, spent a hurricane season in Bora Bora,
beautiful place.

On kids...I've encouraged my kids to get out and enjoy life, as have
most parents.
We've had broken arms, a few chipped teeth and countless cuts and
bruises but they araware of how situations can get out of hand.
Take my daughter at a Chillis concert Tuesday night, front row/centre,
a woman behind was getting agressive about needing to get to the
front...daughter asked security to help..the woman was removed after
they had watched her escalating bad behaviour.

Oh did I mention she's now into rock climbing, using that strength
developed with 6 years of rowing.

Life is all about living after all.

By all means. I'm not hypocritical on this issue. As a technical mountain
climber, avalanche control/explosives coordinator (as a ski patrolman in
Colorado), sky diver, and motorcycle racer, I've not lead a sheltered life.
As for my daughter, I made sure I never sent her into harms way
deliberately, but allowed her to spread her own wings. Example: she and
three of her sorority sisters wished to go to a Florida location for spring
break her sophomore year in college. I declined to fund the trip, and so
did the other parents. All four kids were still terribly naive and prone to
succumb to the peer pressures found in such places. As a senior I paid for
the same trip with the same four girls. By then she was wiser and had
demonstrated to my satisfaction (as had the other girls to their parents)
that they were able to steer clear of the pitfalls. The trip was great for
them all. It likely wouldn't have been two years earlier.

Other countries are a different matter. Most US citizens tend to naively
believe that the same system of justice prevails elsewhere, which simply
isn't the case. The son of a friend was only recently released from prison
in the Philippines, at age 28. He had been incarcerated since his 21st
birthday for simple possession of marijuana. As an American student
studying in the Philippines, he had been informed of the country's policies
on recreational drugs, but chose to ignore them. I spoke with him
recently--a very changed person, to be sure--and he told me that he and the
other American students simply "couldn't believe that the penalties for
simple possession were as severe" as the law stated. His life is ruined,
essentially. He's a mess mentally and probably won't recover to achieve any
of his original goals.

Some of the laws in French Polynesia are arcane and provide for severe
penalties as well. And sexual predators are everywhere, including Tahiti.
As the song said, "Teach your children well . . ."

Max

News from the Pacific
 

OzOne wrote in message ...
On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:18:38 GMT, "Maxprop"
scribbled thusly:



By all means. I'm not hypocritical on this issue. As a technical
mountain
climber, avalanche control/explosives coordinator (as a ski patrolman in
Colorado), sky diver, and motorcycle racer, I've not lead a sheltered
life.
As for my daughter, I made sure I never sent her into harms way
deliberately, but allowed her to spread her own wings. Example: she and
three of her sorority sisters wished to go to a Florida location for
spring
break her sophomore year in college. I declined to fund the trip, and so
did the other parents. All four kids were still terribly naive and prone
to
succumb to the peer pressures found in such places. As a senior I paid
for
the same trip with the same four girls. By then she was wiser and had
demonstrated to my satisfaction (as had the other girls to their parents)
that they were able to steer clear of the pitfalls. The trip was great
for
them all. It likely wouldn't have been two years earlier.

You made a wise decision.
They often see themselves as being so aware, so mature but we with
older heads can still see the child within that grown body and often
are "horrible" when we use our parent power to veto an event.

That's life and now I'm getting the "You know when I wanted to go to
,,,, and you didn't let me, well I'm glad I didn't go, It turned out
really bad" or words to that effect.

I've heard that as well.

I love it as they mature and realise that we aren't the fun nazis they
originally thought.

Other countries are a different matter. Most US citizens tend to naively
believe that the same system of justice prevails elsewhere, which simply
isn't the case. The son of a friend was only recently released from
prison
in the Philippines, at age 28. He had been incarcerated since his 21st
birthday for simple possession of marijuana. As an American student
studying in the Philippines, he had been informed of the country's
policies
on recreational drugs, but chose to ignore them. I spoke with him
recently--a very changed person, to be sure--and he told me that he and
the
other American students simply "couldn't believe that the penalties for
simple possession were as severe" as the law stated. His life is ruined,
essentially. He's a mess mentally and probably won't recover to achieve
any
of his original goals.

Yep, seen very similar situations myself...had a friend who rotted
away in a Thai jail ( probably deservedly after being caught smuggling
brown).

Some of the laws in French Polynesia are arcane and provide for severe
penalties as well. And sexual predators are everywhere, including Tahiti.
As the song said, "Teach your children well . . ."

Here here!

That said, I hope she has a wonderful time.

Max

News from the Pacific
 

OzOne wrote in message ...
On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:02:16 GMT, "Maxprop"
scribbled thusly:


That said, I hope she has a wonderful time.

Max

She will.
BTW, I just booked tickets for us to see Steely Dan on Sep 15 at a
winery up the coast from here.
Great thing about my kids is they actually like my music...

Playing at Bimbadgen Estate, they are. How could anyone not like their
music? Your kids have great taste.

"They call Alabama the Crimson Tide,
Call me Deacon Blues."

Max