He strolled in last night as Jolea and I were cooking dinner, poured his back pack out in the middle of the living room floor and started telling us all about his trip. It was the most talking he's ever done at one time in his entire life. He's his father's son.
He brought Mom gifts... Koffie and Thee from.... I forget, I'll have to try to tra
nslate the package. I know it wasn't Germany... I'll let you know. The coffee smells great. It was freshly roasted and packaged while they waited. That was probably 6 weeks ago, but hey, it's still fresher than anything I could get.From the sound of it, they had a wonderful time. He said the stories they had heard about how rude people would be when they found out they were from the US didn't hold true. Maybe it was because they were backpacking, staying in Hostels and sleeping in a ratty car. I would have felt sorry for them...
I'll try to get him to down load some of his pictures into my computer so I can share them with you. They really had an awesome time and learned a lot about the cultures of 15 different countries. 15!!!!! Jolea better get busy. Jeff is already planning his next backpacking adventure. He's going to South America, he wants to go skiing there. He said he will learn to speak Spanish first. Yeah! I'll have someone to practice with.
They were amazed to find people all over Europe that spoke 6 or 7 languages. He said they met lots of people from Australia 'on holiday'. Seems in the European countries and in Australia as well, when you go to work at a business or profession you are given 6 weeks of vacation a year!!! And they promote 'seeing the world', so they start teaching their children other languages as early as first grade! Then when they graduate high school or University, it's baby birds out of the nest... go my little fledglings... see the world. How cool is that? Back here, we don't even want them to leave the county! We should at least push them to see the major sights of the good ole USA... the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone... (I'm such a bad parent... I've never taken my kids to any of those places... too busy working...) Hmmm, maybe that will be my goal to take my kids to see a major US site in the coming year. We could just go to Palo Duro Canyon or Big Bend. Jolea really wants to see the Marfa lights. It's a start....
You know it's supposed to be a time of change... the election and all. People have been screaming for a change in healthcare standards, leaning to a more European standard. Maybe we should lean toward a more European way of looking at a lot of things, such as our down time/vacations, learning more than one language when our brains are still young and absorbent. Learning to live in a tiny space like the Ikea display rooms. Being open to other cultures, learning about people... and how they feel. Do we really think the rest of the world is going to want to be like us? Especially when we are not looking all that good. Maybe we need to go back to our roots.... I'm talking WAY back, and for many of us that means a different culture in a different part of the world. Why are we so scared of other cultures? Why do they make us feel uncomfortable?
When Jeff and Zack left on this adventure, Jeff wanted to go see Jolea in St. Thomas, he wanted to see where she lived... and how she lived in that culture that could possibly be part of our family's culture. Early on the islands were inhabited by the Cruzans. Zack wanted to go to Scotland, where his 'roots' started. I'm so glad they were able to see even more than what they set out to see.
It's up to our kids to save the world, let them go out and see it... set those fledglings free! Our country has become stagnant, we need a fresh start, let that fresh start come from our kids. You have no idea how proud I am of my kids at this moment. I guess Jody and did good and we really didn't do anything more than tell them if you want to do something it's all up to you. They just took it a little farther than we expected.... and I'm glad they see the world not as a scary place that has to be conformed to one way of thinking.
I know you are dying to know what they did with the little car.... they GAVE it to two 40 year old backpackers from the US, they met at the airport. These guys told them they had wanted to backpack Europe when they were Jeff and Zack's age and were just now getting to do it. So the boys gave them the keys and said have a good time....
Life is good! I'm going to go rent the movie Roots.
6 comments:
Glad the boy child is home safe and full of stories. Tell Jolea to join the army and see the world, no the navy. Ships with big guns, she could really get in peoples faces and tell them how it is.
That's not her style... she's more like a small cannon or a pump action shotgun fired from the hip. You know they wouldn't let them shoot a shotgun from the hip in 4-H, next time she's at your house you should let her try it out. I know she's fired a cannon... it was kind of scary how excited she got.
I agree! That is all I have ever wanted to do, is travel. Got it from my parents who traveled a lot.
And that is cool they gave the car away - I like that.
Brilliant post.
Welcome back, Jeff!
You've got a lot of good karma, pardon the pun, coming your way for a long, long time.
I've left teeny things when I've travelled, like bike helmets or flippers and snorkles, but love remembering such moments and knowing that such stuff is being enjoyed and used by others.
You have totally changed the direction of those 40 yr old backpackers travels in Europe. You have freed them from having to take public transport. You rock!
Yep, in Europe we tend to get longer vacations. The UK might have changed in this respect as I rarely hear of my friends taking long vacs these days. When I was young, there was always a week in the spring, a few weeks during the summer, a week in the autumn and a couple of weeks at Christmas. But my family were self-employed - had markets - so we could piss off whenever we pleased.
Continental Europeans totally have it sussed. They really do take off the entire summer. Look at the Turks. 3 months in the summer. Now that's the way to live life.
My friend, Thor, in the US, was working for Georgia Pacific for nearly 12 years and got only 20 or so days a year vacation. Last year his job was outsourced and he now works for a separate company. Had he stayed at GP, he would have reached a month of vacation a year. Finally. Instead he is back to 2 weeks a year. He not happy about that.
I don't know how folks do it. I have been totally spoilt for 17 years. 13 weeks of paid vac for 16 of those years. Totally spoilt.
Back to Europeans going orf and seeing the world. When I was at uni it was common to go travelling after graduating but these days a large percentage of 18 year old students defer entering uni for a year and go travelling instead. It's known as the 'Gap Year' and there is even a website devoted to it.
It's a wonderful idea as it gives 18 yr olds the time to mature and think about their future whilst travelling and learning about the world.
I think I have rambled on long enough.
Great post, Judith.
Thanks, I think Jeff is really pleased that he went. Jody asked him the same question he asked me when I returned from St.T. "was is worth it?" As in the amount of money spent, cuz that's what he thinks about. And Jeff had the same reply as me... Hell yes! I'd do it again! I may have to go with him to So.Am.
That was a really great post. That's so awesome that they gave the car to another couple of backpackers. Right on!
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