Thinking Travel

My very good friend Shannon, who is 2 months into a solo roadtrip across the Great White North (aka Canada), just had her first story accepted to the Best New Writing 2007 anthology. Congratulations, Shannon!!

Shannon will soon be on her way up to Hudson Bay to commune with polar bears and whales — I can’t wait to hear about the trip once she’s back in US cell phone territory.

Check out this story on NPR’s All Things Considered:

July 30, 2007 · In Crete, people are known for the generosity and hospitality they show strangers. And it may even have something to do with the hot climate on the Greek island.

Today…

Memories. As I type this I’m sitting at my desk in my just-a-little-bit-more-organized office. The windows are open, the ceiling fan is spinning, and I can hear Aaron digging away in the dirt of his latest garden project (more about that in a bit). Best of all I’m drinking an iced Senseo. (It’s hot and sticky today and our A/C is still on the fritz.)

Any time I drink iced coffee I aways think back to the summer afternoons I spent with my German host parents on their patio drinking what my host mom called Calorie Bombs. She’d leave the left-over morning coffee to cool on the kitchen counter. In the afternoon she’d slyly ask if we should have a Calorie Bomb and enjoy the summer afternoon outside. I always said yes because she made the best iced coffee ever – strong coffee with milk, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, topped with freshly whipped cream.

Nowadays I indulge in iced coffee any chance I get so I make mine skinny: coffee, ice, and skim milk. Yum.

Unpacking. This afternoon I unpacked a few more boxes in my office. I’d procrastinated because I thought I might paint the walls first. But things have gotten busy for both of us as work and we’ve had to be more realistic about what we can accomplish on the weekends.So for now I’m sorting my books into two piles: office and den (Aaron’s office, the den, has floor to ceiling built-in shelves). Only the books that relate to intercultural communication/training, travel, or journaling receive a spot on my office bookshelves. Everything else goes in our downstairs library.

Next on the agenda: Sort thru all of my paper (articles, grad school notes, diss stuff, receipts) and reduce it by half.

The Garden. Aaron is working on a new gardening project that has turned out to be a

tad more work than anticipated. I’m so impressed with his determination and when he’s

finished the side of our house will be lined with beautiful butterfly-attracting flowering

bushes.We bought several purple and white bushes and green and red grasses last weekend at Southern States and decided how to arrange them. Then Aaron got to work digging up the existing weeds and dirt. That’s when he discovered that the dirt is actually clay, which I’ve learned is very difficult to dig up, at least in our yard. So he’s getting quite a work-out today.

Dilemma. Aaron and I have a love/hate relationship with TV. I love it, Aaron hates it. ; ) No, actually, there are shows we enjoy watching (Lost, Ugly Betty, Heros, and of course anything on PBS) . When we were first dating we used to hang out at Aaron’s apartment on Sunday nights eating dinner while watching the Simpsons and the X-Files. That was back when we both had free cable. And for the record, I have to add that Aaron had a ginormous TV that took 5 strong men to carry (ok, maybe not quite that big) , while I was content with my sling-under-my-arm-ultra-portable 13-inch set. Then we both moved to apartments where we had to pay for cable and we both opted out.

We then spent the next few years TV free. And it was fabulous. Really. (This is coming from a TV-addict.) Then one Friday night while eating at a brew pub in East Lansing, MI, we found ourselves glued to a TV hanging from the ceiling. It was the opening ceremony for the Sydney Summer Olympics. A relative of mine was in the Olympics that year and I wanted to watch him compete, so after dinner we rushed to Radio Shack and bought rabbit ears for Aaron’s TV. And then we watched the Olympics non-stop.

Since then we’ve disposed of Aaron’s TV and have been using my itty-bitty TV. We didn’t want to deal with moving Aaron’s 5-ton set and since both of us were in grad school, we didn’t want another distraction. So we got used to hearing Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke and the gang, but not actually seeing what they were up to because channel 11 looked more like a colorful snowstorm than a TV show. And we didn’t think twice about watching movies on our laptops. We decided we’d buy a nice TV and DVD player when we bought a house.

So last night we checked out 21st century TV technology and found that we are completely out of the loop. But we’re not sure we care about being in this loop. I mean, I’m a Lost junkie, and I’d LOVE to watch it every Wednesday on a 40+inch Plasma so I could see all the details fraught with hidden clues and read-between-the-lines meaning, but honestly, I’m just as happy watching it nearly commercial-free on my laptop on Thursdays.

Neither of us want to shell out another $40+ /month to Time Warner for cable because Aaron won’t watch it and I’ll watch too much of it (it’s physically impossible for me to turn the TV off when HGTV is on). But it’s looking like we’ll need cable, direct TV or something similar in order to get HD on an LCD TV. And then if we want HD when we watch DVDs, we have to buy a special DVD player and an extra-special cable.

It’s not that we’re lusting after HD or an LCD…but we figure if we’re going to buy a TV we should buy a nice one. We just didn’t realize how complicated and expensive TV-buying had gotten. And with everything else we have to research and then buy, we’re not yet convinced that spending the amount of a nice trip to Costa Rica for a TV is going to add enough value to our lives to make it worth the effort.

Cantaloupe Cat. October, my brother-in-law’s cat whose living with us for a few months, is a very choosy eater. She has no qualms about letting us know when she’s less than satisfied with her meal. Recently we were becoming a bit desperate because she didn’t like anything we scooped into her food dish. Then one afternoon October sniffed, licked, then attacked a slice of cantaloupe on my lunch plate. As I held the rind she chomped and slurped with abandon. I had no idea that cats liked cantaloupe.

I dedicate this day to my Grandmother, Judy, who I’m sure is proudly flying the American flag in front of her house today.

We often have fun discussions about patriotism, flag-flying, and other US-related issues. Over time I’ve come to understand and appreciate her perspectives. And I admire how she displays her love of what the US represents to her (by flying the flag) while simultaneously questioning and critically thinking about US political issues.

I’m often at a loss about how to be patriotic. I’ve spent several years living outside the US and I know how much of the world feels about us, how they see us. There’s much about the US I don’t appreciate.

But I am US American. I was born here. I grew up here. I’ve lived in the West, the Midwest, and the South. I struggle with how to be “proud” of where I’m from without implying that I condone all that it does. (My solution = be exceedingly reverent to Eugene, OR, my home town and state!)

I’m often critical of the US, yet I tear up when I hear “Oh Beautiful” or “The Star-spangled Banner.” And every time I go through passport control on returning to the US I’m always happy to hear the cha-chink of the passport stamp and “Welcome home” from the passport agent. The US = familiarity, home, ease.

A few years ago I visited Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia with my parents. I’ve LOVED these living, interactive, historical sites since my first trip to Fort Lewis (think Lewis and Clark) in Oregon. At Williamsburg actors impersonate historical figures so visitors can hear them give speeches and discuss the issues of their time. After hearing their perspectives on what it meant to fight for and gain independence from England I began to understand the unique ideals the US stood for. I gained a better appreciation for the magnitude of their endeavor. I saw the US in a different light.

So today I won’t fly the flag (sorry Momo!) or use the flag/bald eagle/statue of liberty address labels I receive in the mail. But I will celebrate big ideas/ideals.

And I will make potato salad, brats, and a red-white-and blue trifle!

Happy 4th!

Have you seen this Cisco commercial? This technology would have made school a whole lot more fun!

The June 2006 issue of Real Simple featured a brief article about personal space around the world. It’s just a cursory look at touch and space on different continents, but I was pleasantly surprised that this topic was addressed at all in a magazine that focuses on decorating, cooking, and house cleaning. Check it out!

Last night, my sweetheart treated me to a surprise Valentine’s dinner at Queen of Sheba, an Ethiopian restaurant in Chapel Hill.

Yum.

I’m not an adventurous eater AT ALL. But I’ll eat anything at Queen of Sheba, even if I don’t immediately recognize it. It’s that good.

The last time I was at Sheba’s was in November when our SIETAR-NC group went there for dinner. Using torn-off pieces of a very thin pancake-like bread, we scooped up spicy lentils and creamy mashed chickpeas off a communal round platter.

Towards the end of our meal, our lovely server, who I think was the restaurant owner, spent some time talking with us about her native Ethiopia. What caught my attention was the bit about coffee: it’s a beverage meant to be shared, not consumed alone.

I love coffee. I love coffee shops. Whenever I need a creative tune-up, I head to one of my favorite cafés. While studying for my PhD exams, and later writing my dissertation, my brain sparked the best ideas while sipping a creamy latte or smooth café au lait in a secluded corner of Schuler’s, Beaners , and later Caribou, Weaver Street , and 3 Cups …alone.

For me, coffee is creativity, ideas, stamina, and too often in a paper cup. Because much of my work and many of my North Carolina to Michigan road trips have been solitary ventures, coffee was my warm and comforting companion.

So my reaction to hearing that coffee is never (traditionally) consumed alone in Ethiopia was ethno-centric: I’d never survive there, there’s no way I could always drink coffee with others, I couldn’t imagine making small-talk in order to get coffee, etc.

But before I got too far with this line of thought I laughed at myself because 1) I’m not going to Ethiopia any time soon (though I’d love to), so it’s not like this is going to be an immediate problem, and 2) I’m supposed to be open-minded about things like this, right?

Then I started thinking about coffee from a different perspective: I began to recall the numerous times coffee has been a community experience for me:

When I’m at home to visit family, we spent hours at 5^th Street Public Market sucking down americanos and café au laits while catching up.

My grandma, a fellow coffee enthusiast, and I often express missing each other by saying “I wish you were here so we could go get a latte!”

At a conference in Seattle a few years ago, a grad school friend and I re-connected over lattes in one of the oldest cafés in town.

I conducted diss interviews with study abroad students at German cafés.

My husband and I love reading while sitting close at a tiny round table, our coffee cups inches apart.

While teaching in Freiburg, Germany a few years ago, I spent afternoons planning lessons with my colleagues…in a café, over coffee.

You get the idea.

I still love scoring that perfectly secluded café table near the window that offers the perfect balance of espresso-machine hissing and quiet isolation so I can work in blissful solitude. But after thinking about coffee from a different perspective, I have a better appreciation of the times when coffee creates community.

Journaling Prompt: What does coffee mean to you?

“In Vietnam, the publication of a wartime diary written by an idealistic young doctor has captured the imagination of readers, and become a runaway best-seller. The diary of Dang Thuy Tram was rescued from destruction by an American soldier.“

Tram’s diary is currently being translated. It is set to come out in the US in September 2007. The title: Last Night I Dreamed of Peace.

Here’s an excerpt:

“July 25, 1968: Oh, my God. How hateful the war is. And the more hate, the more the devils are eager to fight. Why do they enjoy shooting and killing good people like us? How can they have the heart to kill all those youngsters who love life, who are struggling and living for so many hopes?”

Listening to excerpts from Tram’s diary in this story was deeply moving. But I was also moved by the following words uttered by Frederick Whitehurst, the American man who rescued Tram’s diary while in Vietnam.

“I’m not a pacifist, I’m not at all,” he says. “I come from a military family. I’m a company man. But I’ve always known since in Vietnam when I did it, when you put a bullet into a human being you cannot take back that thing called life. You cannot get it back, and Dang Thuy Tram describes so deeply what that thing is, that thing called life. And a bullet went right through her forehead and in that instant, she was gone. Can we think of another way to do this?”

I’m looking forward to reading Tram’s diary next year.

Click here to read or listen to the All Things Considered story on NPR from November 15, 2006.

I just returned to North Carolina after nearly three weeks in Portland and Eugene, Oregon (where I had a very sloooow Internet connection that precluded website updates).

The purpose of my trip was to present at the Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC) conference in Portland. The Eugene portion of the trip was to visit family.

Travel brings discovery of all shapes and sizes. Here are three things I discovered during my Oregon trip:

1. The Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI) in Portland has a wonderful library full of intercultural books, videos, course packs from their summer institutes, and other resources. Best of all, the library is open to the public.

2. One of my favorite restaurants in little Bloomington, Indiana now has a location in my hometown. The Eugene Laughing Planet Café is located on Blair Blvd. near the very tasty Sweet Life Patisserie. The Eugene LP isn’t as funky as the Bloomington location, and the menu had changed a tad, but it was nonetheless a tasty treat to order a chicken quesadilla, green salsa, and fresh lemonade.

3. It’s a surreal feeling during a landing when you think your plane is about to touch the tarmac but instead fires up the engines and takes off. On my Portland to Minneapolis flight our pilot aborted the landing because we overshot the runway. It was startling but it actually ended up not being a big deal. After climbing for a few minutes, we simply circled around and landed.Happy Halloween!

P.S. I still love the Marina laptop bag. Perfect for traveling.

On several occasions I’ve heard people express fear about traveling abroad or hesitancy to let their high-school or college student participate in a study abroad program. The world seems too dangerous to explore.

In a recent Detroit News article, Kathleen Fairfax, Director of the Office of Study Abroad at Michigan State University (where I worked as a graduate student), addresses the concerns many have about sending students into an uncertain world.

But Fairfax also notes that students are “sign[ing] up in droves to study in all corners of the world.” And most importantly, she declares that now is the precise time we should study and travel abroad:

“…Part of the value of coming to a college or university is the opportunity to expand one’s worldview, including through international experiences and travel. Even with our best efforts, no college or university can ever offer a 100 percent guarantee of safety for those traveling and studying abroad.

But the alternative to continued international engagement — increased isolationism — ignores a fundamental responsibility to prepare students who are coming of age in a century that will be defined by globalization.

Study abroad programs at U.S. colleges and universities are more necessary than ever before.” (Read the entire article here.)

I couldn’t agree more.