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| Ex-teacher on 'oddly quiet' Obama | Ex-teacher on 'oddly quiet' Obama |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| When Barack Obama takes the oath to become the 44th president of the United States, it will be a proud moment for retired teacher Bill Messer. | |
| For the 74-year-old Welshman was a lecturer at the private Hawaii high school which the young Obama attended. | For the 74-year-old Welshman was a lecturer at the private Hawaii high school which the young Obama attended. |
| He remembers an "athletic and extremely popular" 17-year-old who was "oddly quiet," despite his articulacy. | He remembers an "athletic and extremely popular" 17-year-old who was "oddly quiet," despite his articulacy. |
| Bill Messer said: "To see him as he is now, is to see something that was not really at all predictable." | Bill Messer said: "To see him as he is now, is to see something that was not really at all predictable." |
| The teacher was born in Aberaeron, Ceredigion, and was educated at Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron, which had a school roll of around 270. | The teacher was born in Aberaeron, Ceredigion, and was educated at Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron, which had a school roll of around 270. |
| His wife had relatives on Hawaii and after visiting the island he emigrated to the south Pacific in 1967 and landed a job at the fee-paying 3,750-student Punahou School, on the island of Oahu. | |
| We all started taking more notice of him, and realising that we'd had a gem in our midst, without thoroughly appreciating it Bill Messer | |
| Obama, born in 1961, was a pupil at the school from aged 10 to 18 and the paths of the two men crossed in the student's final year, when Welsh-speaking Mr Messer took him for one course for his university-entrance tests. | |
| Mr Messer said he remembered an "affable and pleasant" young man who had "lots of friends". | Mr Messer said he remembered an "affable and pleasant" young man who had "lots of friends". |
| But he said: "He was oddly quiet. To hear him now, of course, you would never believe it, but he was oddly quiet in class. | But he said: "He was oddly quiet. To hear him now, of course, you would never believe it, but he was oddly quiet in class. |
| "His more regular teachers thought he was an excellent student - thoughtful and serious. | "His more regular teachers thought he was an excellent student - thoughtful and serious. |
| "I've spoken to them more recently and none of them had the slightest notion that the was going to turn out the way he has." | "I've spoken to them more recently and none of them had the slightest notion that the was going to turn out the way he has." |
| Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and white American mother, was the only black youth in the class. | Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and white American mother, was the only black youth in the class. |
| He's too precious to ruin. It's necessary to give him the kind of room he needs because he's got one hell of a future ahead of him Mr Messer | He's too precious to ruin. It's necessary to give him the kind of room he needs because he's got one hell of a future ahead of him Mr Messer |
| Mr Messer said: "He took to the place as if he'd been born for it. He made himself at home and was extremely popular. He did very well here." | Mr Messer said: "He took to the place as if he'd been born for it. He made himself at home and was extremely popular. He did very well here." |
| He lost track of his former pupil for many years until Obama's law career in Chicago took him into US politics. | He lost track of his former pupil for many years until Obama's law career in Chicago took him into US politics. |
| "It came as a big surprise for us. I'd heard nothing of him for years and years and years, until he gave the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic convention and, by God, that was something. | "It came as a big surprise for us. I'd heard nothing of him for years and years and years, until he gave the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic convention and, by God, that was something. |
| "It made everybody sit up think "Here is a guy who's coming", and so we all started taking more notice of him, and realising that we'd had a gem in our midst, without thoroughly appreciating it." | "It made everybody sit up think "Here is a guy who's coming", and so we all started taking more notice of him, and realising that we'd had a gem in our midst, without thoroughly appreciating it." |
| Mr Messer joked that he had heard someone complaining Obama 'spoke in complete sentences'. | Mr Messer joked that he had heard someone complaining Obama 'spoke in complete sentences'. |
| He said: "He speaks marvellously. I don't think he ever took oratory as a course but, by God, he speaks marvellously." | He said: "He speaks marvellously. I don't think he ever took oratory as a course but, by God, he speaks marvellously." |
| The new US president still regularly returns to his Honolulu high school, most recently last month when he played basketball with friends and former school teammates. | The new US president still regularly returns to his Honolulu high school, most recently last month when he played basketball with friends and former school teammates. |
| Mr Messer added: "Everybody gives him his space. He's too precious to ruin. It's necessary to give him the kind of room he needs because he's got one hell of a future ahead of him." | Mr Messer added: "Everybody gives him his space. He's too precious to ruin. It's necessary to give him the kind of room he needs because he's got one hell of a future ahead of him." |