Well...I have survived the first 3 weeks with the "Little Emperor" resident in our home !!!
It has not been too much of a nightmare, we have had a few intense discussions about his place in the scheme of things here, but no real dramas.....yet !!!
First point of contention was when I posted a note on the 'fridge about what his daily chores would be...stuff like putting out the trash, picking up his clothes, being on-time to eat meals with us...you know the sort of stuff we all went through as kids. He told his Mum that he did not do such work, it was for Women..................and if he wanted to sleep late it was his decision.........
Next was when he announced that he was off to the City to meet with some Internet contacts and go to Karaoke etc etc.......I told him I would need to know exactly who he was meeting, where they were going, what was their phone numbers and addresses and what time he would be home...and most important, how would he get there !!!! His answer was that they are his friends, not mine and their info was private..........and that he expected Mum to drive him to and from the meeting.
About then I sent Mum away to the shops and had a VERY serious discussion about the "price of eggs"...I think I scared him with the "intensity" of my requirements as to his behaviour in MY home.
So we now have a sorta sullen acceptance of the status quo, he aint happy about it all, but I am patient, he will come around or perish
On point of observation....he has just finished High School in China and got very good marks overall...in the low 90's. He boasts that he is some sort of Maths genius and was not really aware that Maths is my passion...and part of my qualification. So I gave him a good grilling on Maths to discover what he really knew about the subject. And accepting there is a language problem, I am convinced that he has almost no intrinsic or intuitive understanding of the Mathematical Process, his learning has been by rote, like all Chinese Students, he has sweated blood learning by heart reams and reams of Text and basically memorising the whole text book...and has worked 24/7 doing just this for all subjects. This is the usual format of Chinese Education and gives rise to the myth that most Chinese Students work harder than their Western counterparts. They may work harder but I am sure thay are not as clever...once you step outside of the rigidity of knowlege produced by rote learning, there is not much left.
The entire results focus is on test scores, these can be easily manipulated by memorising the whole text book...but it leaves a lot to be desired in the actual understanding and cognisance of the subject matter.
He will need to mightily adjust to modify this approach when he enters the Aus University system which has an entirely different focus...you need to UNDERSTAND your subject, not just to parrot it !!!!
Hey ho..interesting days ahead !!!!!!!!!!
