On a recent trip to Europe for work, colleagues and I spent the evenings in typical European fashion, sipping wine of all varieties, and experiencing the local eateries. And in doing so, were subject to the norms of walking everywhere, freezing temperature or not. As we sipped and sampled cheese, I was amused by the nature of the conversation that continued. With colleagues from Switzerland, Russia, Poland, France, and Germany, the chatter started with European History, discussions about Berlin, and ended with testimonials about gliding off the coast of here and there. No American sports, no American anything. It was a welcomed perspective of the world, and the pleasant reminder that the US is not the center of the universe, albeit wonderful. I talked to a colleague's daughter about the journey of one's first job, often more of a 'stumbling' into what becomes the path of one's career. She was anxious about her first job; would she know it if the right one came along, should she take it even if it was not related to her area of study etc. At 22, her parents live in Geneva, and her grandparents live in Paris. She graduated from NYU (I think). As she talked, I was thinking and smiling to myself - can she really go wrong here?! On the walk home, I was shivering, assured only by science that my legs were still attached. The wind was unforgiving, the roads narrow. As I thawed in the hotel room, I sat and noticed the beams, notched and worn, maybe for a hundred years. I was in old town after all. I laid down to sleep and all was quiet except for my own breathing and the wind outside my window. As I laid my head on the pillow and closed my eyes, my mouth still had a smile on it that refused to close.
Cheers.
