history class!

We are just coming from the 11th grade history class, where we were invited as guest speakers. We went there already last week, but since we didn't have much time, I did not manage to speak. Today, it was my turn.
The students seemed extremely interested - there was complete silence in the classroom.
We had a map of the world in the classroom and first I asked them if anyone knows where Estonia is. Nobody knew. So, I asked them to guess on which continent it is. Surprisingly, the first guess was Asia (do I look Asian?). Luckily, the second guess was Europe. So, I showed them the location of Estonia on the map and spoke a bit about the country. Mostly, I concentrated on the history of Estonia, especially the Soviet time because I find similarities between South Africa during the apartheid times and Estonia during the Soviet times.
In the end, there was time for questions - one of the questions was: is Estonia a republic now? Since Tobi was also there with me today, the students used the chance to ask questions about Germany. Germany is a very appealing country to South Africans, everyone wants to go there - apparently they think that it's something like a paradise.
Something hilarious from last week when Tobi was speaking about Germany and German history to the same 11th grade students. He had been speaking about 20 minutes, about the WWII, the Nazis, Hitler etc. (by the way, they are currently learning about WWII in class). In the end, there was time for questions. One of the questions was: "Does Hitler still rule Germany?!??"
I feel really grateful to the history teacher who invited us to his class. I would like to go to more classes to speak about my country.

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Something interesting which we have observed here - people are empoyed to do really small jobs - for example, there are 15 people employed to cut grass on an area less than the size of a football field or dig a ditch - in Europe, big machines would do the job instead, or just a few people. But I like the solution here - to employ as many people as possible, since unempoyment is a major problem here.
Also, when you are parking your car, doesn't matter where (street, in front of a shopping centre...), there's a "parking guy" who "takes care" of your car. Later, you just give him some tip. In the gas station, you don't even have to get out of the car - the guys there just fill up the tank, pump the tyres and check the oil if you want to. Before leaving, you just give them tip.
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I finished reading Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom" last night. The books is just great! Mandela is truly a hero. I got a good overview of South African history by reading this book. I really recommend it, if anyone is interested. I think I'll buy the book because I want to read it again after some time.