The second thing I did after landing in New York’s JFK airport was to buy a grande gingerbread latter from the bustling Starbucks kiosk on my way to the gate for my connecting flight home. I am not a fan of Starbucks, or most other chain stores for that matter, especially those that grossly over-sweeten their products, but I have to say that I enjoyed my “coffee” almost as much as I did using the ‘grounded’ toilet (my made-up name/phrase). I mean, the toilets on airplanes do the job, but I always have an unsettling feeling that something will go horribly awry and I’ll be loudly sucked down and out of the plane, or into the sewage holding tank or whatever holds all the literal shit for those ten-hour trans Atlantic flights.
Speaking of flights, I’ve often discussed with people the bad environmental practice of flying. I’m all for saving the planet (seriously), but I have to argue that flying is a greater good than not. I think much more air pollution is actually caused by industrial meat production (have you ever stood behind a farting cow? Well, I haven’t but I’ve been outside feed lots in Middle America, and it’s almost like being suffocated). And obviously I am biased, as I’m a foreigner in Sweden, going home for Christmas, and have done my fair (or unfair?) share of flying. But I think traveling is really important for cross-cultural communication and, hopefully, understanding. So much appreciation, and even love, can form when visiting a foreign country, whether your interests lie in food, nature, music, language, fashion, history, or any other of the hundred things that can make a vacation special. Seeing that people can live in a different manner and have different manners expands your mind and hopefully makes you think more about the way you live back home. Sure, sharing ideas via Skype is useful and expedient today, but technology will never be able to replace the personal experience of walking through a magical forest older than Christ, eating food cooked to perfection by an old jolly Italian mother in situ, singing songs in another language and having a great time even though you’re not sure what you’re saying, standing in the same place as Napolean or Anne Boleyn or Mozart or Da Vinci or Sartre.
Also, the people that I’ve met while traveling have always been the clincher- they determine whether I have a good time or not. Surround yourself with good people!
I believe that diversity in every sense is an important component to peace through understanding, and I think it’s sad today to see so many countries (particularly in Europe, perhaps…) that are clinging to their homogenous ethnic roots, or traditional culture, as it may be put. I had a conversation my with flatmate the other day about immigration and national identity. For instance, we discussed how it may be easier for immigrants to the US to become American. Of course, the most distinct thing is not how one feels about their own sense of identity, but it is often more obvious when you look at how others perceive you. Even though you see yourself one way, others may not see the same thing. Life is a struggle, I feel, to be seen as the person that you feel you are.
