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Selected facts and thoughts from my time living in Switzerland and travelling the continent.

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There is no inherent value in travelling. The value comes in realizing the beauty of creation in different parts of the world, and in seeing the people that God has chosen to populate the planet. The pure understanding of cultures carries no value in itself, but only in relation to Spiritual things and our ability to spread the Gospel.

It is not fun being a minority, and even less fun being unable to speak the local language to any degree.

The inability to speak the local language does not indicate stupidity, and actually has little bearing on intelligence. We must be careful in dealing with hispanics in the US, and how we think about them. As much as American tourists in Europe expect locals to speak English with them, we should strive to learn Spanish for our fast changing population.

I really missed community. A community of like minded people for worship and social endeavours is not something which is optional in life. I have to think that if I had those things during my time over there I could have stayed for much longer.

In General: Why is it that Americans expect immigrants and foreigners to "fit in", but do no such thing themselves when travelling abroad? There is a game I liked to play while out in touristy areas. It is called "American Or Not?" I simply had to view the person(s) from afar and guess if they were, or were not American based on their clothing, behaviour and/or loudness. The clothing is not a fair basis for judging, but the other criteria were usually dead giveaways. This is espcially true in restaurants.

What is my point? I am not arguing for a melting pot, and I am not arguing for rigid diversity. I think it is most appropriate to try to fit in while travelling by adopting local customs and practices. It is also necessary to maintain personal and familial tradition, from wherever that comes. It is possible for countries to exist with multiple Official Languages and a myriad of ethnicities. The United States should not be so anti-Spanish, and it's citizens should not be so quick to melt everyone to the most common denominator. (The same goes for Canada and the debate over French) The beauty of diversity is in the difference, not the points in common.

Chronological Travels and Events:
July 14-16               Stuttgart, Germany- to visit Chris and Melanie
July 28-August 1     Amsterdam, The Netherlands- with Jason
August 5-6              Munich, Germany- to see soccer matches:
                                 Galatasaray (1) vs. Real Madrid (3)
                                 Bayern Munich (3) vs. Man Utd (1)
September 23          Interlaken, Switzerland- day trip
September 29-30     Cinque Terre, Italy- hike
October 15-18         Rome, Italy- with friends from the US
October 18-20         Venice, Italy- with friends from the US
November 15          Turin, Italy for soccer match:
                                 Italy (1) vs. England (0); friendly
November 24-26      Philadelphia, USA- to watch Messiah College win the Div. III
                              National Championship in soccer.
December 15-17      Zermatt, Switzerland- skiing
January 6                Nara, Switzerland- skiing
January 14              Airolo, Switzerland- skiing
January 20              Andermatt, Switzerland- skiing
January 28              Interlaken, Switzerland- skiing
February 9-11         Chamonix, France- skiing
February 16-18        Barcelona, Spain- weekend trip with soccer team
                                 FC Barcelona (2) vs. Deportivo La Coruna (3)
February 20-24        St. Anton, Austria- skiing with friend from the US
March 13                Milan, Italy- to see a Champions League soccer match:
                                 AC Milan (1) vs. Deportivo La Coruna (1)
April 12-16              Toronto, Canada- to surprise family for Easter
April 21                   Milan, Italy- to see a soccer match:
                                 Internazionale (4) vs. Fiorentina (2)
May 19                   Castle Tour - Bellinzona, Switzerland

Were are very susceptible to thinking that different is either better or worse. In my case, I thought that much of European life was better because it was different from what I normally knew. Somehow that made it more refined or worthy, but that is not the case. One thing I know for sure, their sports fans are not more refined. In fact, they are fast heading towards the stone age in word and deed when cheering for their local club.