international relations

From the end of October:
Last week when I was studying for my international relations mid-term I met with a group several times to prepare. We did well to stay on task, but like most study groups our focus would wane from time to time. One such incident came when another student - a Filipino - was telling us about growing up in - you guessed it - the Philippines when it was still a U.S. territory.
He told us how in elementary school he knew the names and order of all the U.S. Presidents (which I vaguely remember having to learn in 8th grade but now there’s no way I could get them all in the right order even if my life depended on it). They learned the "Star-Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful" - he remembered wondering what ‘purple mountain majesties’ were and where in they were located. It was hilarious to listen to him. My favorite part came when he told about the country gaining sovereignty.
"I swear all they did," he said, "was copy the Constitution of the United States, except wherever it said, ‘United States’ they changed it to say ‘Philippines.’ It’s the same thing with the songs . . . now it’s ‘Philippines the Beautiful.’ I finally figured out what ‘purple mountain majesties’ were when I moved to Utah."