Elle, that's so sad! I saw the Dalai Lama on monday when he came and spoke at the UW. It was quite the opposite of what you described! They were awarding him an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Human Letters) and it was all very official, but his giggly nature made it quite enjoyable. He was given plenty of time to speak (I understood most of it, he had a translator to help him with his "broken english"...) and afterwards took several questions from the audience, which gave him time to tell plenty of stories from his travels. It was great, I'm sorry your experience wasn't. :(