All I want for Christmas is.....whatever he has

Let me state a common fact! .....
We have all been kids at one stage! Not the most awe inspiring fact but relevant none the less.
And for many of 'us' (myself included) the 'kid phase' is taking longer than expected to escape from our systems. I'm sure 'we' are all professionals in our own right and possibly buying and renting property, trying to place our own little stamp on this world of ours. I'm sure some of 'us' even have crossed a metaphorical venn diagram whereby 'our' own children share the commonality of the 'kid phase' with us.
I'm not, in any way begrudging this beautiful little lapse in maturation. In fact, I think it is a necessity in the survival of particular situations. It even helps 'us' understand certain goings on such as the phenomenon of the 'trend'.

We have all witnsessed a 'trend' as a child. We have all begged and pleaded to be involved in anything that seemed like it was a 'trend'. It transcends all boundaries of race, nation and time. The 'trend' is even cyclical to a certain extent.
There is no time greater to notice these trends than at Christmas time, but its not these giant well marketed toys that I'm talking about here. It is the small but definite trend of the 'gadget', electronic or otherwise that emerges, not from advertisement but from availability.

Teaching in a classroom in Korea, these trends are evident to the most ignorant eye. Although it must be said that many of these privately educated children have psps, dslites, portable electronic godknowswhats and super applicated cellphones, it is not these devices that caught my attention and aided my nostalgia.
Korean children seem to be taken over by tiny little packets of ...... origami paper. 7 and 8 year olds will sit there and whip up a perfectly created paper crane, colorful flowers and ribbons made from these square sheets of paper. The paper is specially designated for origami folding. When one of my students attempted to teach me how to make one of these cranes, it emerged that in fact...my hands were too big (well thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it). It's a talent that I endeavour to perfect. For what reason, I'm not really sure, its not exactly CV material but it seems so innocent and actually fulfilling to a certain extent. Another innocent but definitely cyclical trend that is disturbing the classroom is the top trump. Although its not sports cars and football players gracing the cards, pokemon do warrant being 'trumped' and i never knew there were so many.

Whether its little pieces of coloured paper, a variety of stationary accessories, pokemon toptrumps, slingshots, stickers, tamagochies, pink feather topped pens or balls of green slime, available and affordable trends will always emerge in our classrooms. In a world where technology has in fact gone a little bonkers, its refreshing and almost reassuring to see little squares of paper make such an impact.