Finally, my people post

Weeks ago, my Uncle Eric – a self-admitted “Czech Me Out” regular visitor – sent me a Facebook message (yeah, I’m still getting used to the whole family on Facebook thing) saying:

“Here's a challenge should you choose to accept it: I'd like to understand more about the people. Not your US friends, but the locals you meet. How are they like you & me? How are they different? What do they think about the US, about their countries, about the future? I think it would add lots of richness to your overall blog to mix up levity with some occasional serious insights. This assignment will force you to meet more locals "on the streets" - that's what I want to hear about next - and I want to see some great portraiture...”

Had you been reading my blog up until that point (March 13), it would have seemed like all I did was hang out with fellow Americans. Let me clear that up: That’s not the case. Although I have done all of my traveling with at least a couple other American buddies and stayed with others Statesters, I have had some really enlightening experiences with people from all over the world over the past 9-plus weeks. At this point, I’d like to share them with you.

One of the coolest things – if not the coolest – happened the night before spring break. Max and I went to one of our favorite underground bars called Tulip, just to get a beer or two. We ended up running into some kids we knew from our Anglo American University classes: one from Czech Republic, one from France and one from Pakistan. Pitt was playing Xavier in the Sweet 16, so naturally, I asked the bartender to change the TV to ESPN America to quench my March Madness thirst. So there we were: a kid from San Diego and a kid from Boston (almost two different countries by themselves) drinking beer in Prague, watching college basketball with kids from Czech Republic, France and Pakistan, talking about politics, the economy, school and sports. That’s why I came abroad.

I have kids in my classes from Czech Republic, France, Italy, Spain, China, Vietnam and Norway, to name a few (those that come to mind). I especially like my entrepreneurship class, as I’m able to see different business ideas from college kids spanning literally three continents. Again, that’s why I came abroad.

Today, Max and I played basketball against a couple of 20-year-old Israeli kids. Naturally, we smoked them, but still a cool experience, almost as cool as playing pickup soccer under the lights against non-English speaking Czechs.

One kid in a couple of my classes from Prague studied abroad in Oklahoma when he was 16. That one made me shutter.

As mentioned before, Max and I sat down on consecutive nights in Rome with couples older than our parents and talked about “the world” (the only way I can concisely summarize it) for hours.

Last night in Amsterdam, I was watching the Masters with a group of Brits and Australians, talking about Tiger Woods with them, then listening to them argue about cricket, a sport I really need to begin to understand.

Some of the stereotypes about certain nationalities are true. The French, as a whole, are snobby and genuinely dislike non-French speaking people (except the kid from AAU). Czechs are more reserved. Italians and Spaniards are loud and talk at mach-three. The Brits and Irish are louder, when drinking. Americans are the loudest. All the time.

I’ve talked about rugby with Flano’s Irish mates and about the English Premier League with the kids from China and Vietnam, who are here for their entire undergraduate degrees.

What I’ve realized is, my generation could be the generation of hope. We’re genuinely interested in each other’s cultures and what we have to say – non-Americans more so than Americans, as they are typically more aware of global issues than we are; the “U.S Bubble” stigma tends to be more true than not, unless you – which I’m trying to do – truly make the effort. (Sorry for the run-on sentence. Reread if necessary.)

Another thing I’ve realized is that English is essentially a symbol of freedom and Democracy. The Czech Republic has only been part of the non-Communist free world for 20 years. I came here wanting to speak enough Czech to get by, but the Czechs I’ve come across have been proud to speak English; they’d rather speak English to me than have me speak Czech to them, a vast difference to the longtime free Frenchmen. Sure, the older Czech generations are less-educated, outgoing and far more reserved, but wouldn’t you be, if you grew up behind the Iron Curtain? Hard to imagine life without choices, isn’t it?

This semester is teaching me not only not to take what we, Americans have (which is virtually everything) for granted, but that being aware of what’s going on in the world is not only interesting and important, but pretty cool, too. I not only watch CNN International every day here, but I care more about what’s going on at home than I did when I actually resided in the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, because honestly, the kids from Norway, China and Italy care more about Obama than most of your average American teenagers, which is downright embarrassing.

In terms of politics, one word can really sum things up regarding the global feeling of the Obama Era: Optimism. Kids and adults alike are excited that Obama is in charge of the most powerful nation in the world. Honestly, it’s hard to disagree, especially what just happened with those Somalian pirates. He was the guy with no foreign policy experience, right?

I have just over six weeks left and so much more to learn, see and do in my incredible semester abroad. And to think, I almost stayed in Madison to cover Bo Ryan’s Badgers. I would have gone to Boise, Idaho on spring break for god’s sake!