Nerd Talk

I was giving a student a ride home yesterday after we decided that the greasy exterior of my water bottle was from the person who stocked the aforementioned bottle. If I exchanged the bottle it would only result in my getting greasier, long story short, I drank the water. Anyway he told me that he made a Tauntaun Pokemon card on his iPod touch. (Read that last line again and smell the nerd coming off of it, I can only say its nerdy because I see the same merit my student does in making this Pokemon card.)



Like me you are probably laughing because the sheer thought of a Tauntaun being on a Pokemon card is slightly ridiculous to you considering Tauntauns are indigenous to the planet Hoth... light years away from the Pokemon Universe.


Also at lunch I was chatting with some students and the topics were as follows... Settlers of Catan, Lost, on-line Settlers of Catan, Settlers of Catan iphone app, Risk, how to ask a girl to prom, and sports (this was only when a girl came to talk with us). I have realized that a lot of my conversations with students start out by spouting off nerd lingo that would make Steve Jobs blush (Is he a nerd or a revolutionary?)

Regardless, nerd talk tends to run rampant in our youth house and my assumption is that, like any other way you would relate to students, a key to reaching adolescent boys and relating to them is to engage in this nerd talk, but not go overboard. Know enough about Lost to ask about it but don't have a tattoo of your theoretical Lost timeline on your forearm so you can reference it when someone has a question. Know how to play Guitar Hero but don't beat Through the Fire and Flames on expert. Know what a Tauntaun is but have to look up what planet they are from. Happy Youthing.

P.S. My dad's biggest concern for me when I was in High School is that I was staying up too late at night playing Risk.