Laurence writes:

>Second, I have some Russian immigrant friends whose children are
>now in college.  Their mother commented that the one thing she wished she
>had done differently after immigrating to the US was to have shielded her
>children from popular American culture.

We get a lot of Russian immigrants here in Sacramento; more than a few
of the young people show up with two things--a soccer ball and a stringed
instrument such as a cello.  Much to the frustration and disappointment of
my local music teacher friends, you would never guess which item soon gets
dropped like a piece of the iron curtain.

John Smyth