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If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, or the risks of wanting too much.Aug 04 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Take your time, and don't worry if you don't see 'everything', you'll miss out on the uniqueness of European nations if you're bent on seeing all the highlights. Many Europeans think of North America as one big lump. They are probably vaguely aware that there's Canadian North Americans and United Statesian* North Americans, but that's pretty much it. Of course, they don't really have to know that it's cold in Alaska and warm in California, or how many states there are, or what the names of the states are. They will most likely never go there, so they don't bother learning much about it. Still, North America, or even just the States, aren't one big lump. And you'd probably be slightly annoyed at the stupidity of someone assuming they were (if you're American, that is). From the Great Lakes to the border of Mexico, there are many beautiful and not so beautiful things to see, and every region has its own charm, lifestyle and character. Enter me, finally coming to my point. The past few years, we've seen a rise in US tourists coming to Europe, but no radical changes in their general ideas about Europe. I just can't seem to convince some people that 'Holland' isn't the capital of Denmark:-) Responsible for this (apart from the occasional plain stupidity) is the idea that Europe is some kind of whole. Over a dozen nations beg to differ. For centuries, Europeans have killed each other in order to defend their own land, to get more land or to defend the right to have their own religion or language. This didn't just end one day with a big tea party where everyone decided to be one big family from now on. Basically, the French and the British hate each other. The French government has a special committee to replace evil English terms like 'computer' and 'walkman' by prettier and more acceptable French terms. The French are a major influence within the so-called European Union, which upsets the British because they want to rule the waves. The French and the Germans hate each other, because they're the largest Western European nations and they both want to be captain on the European ship. South and East Europeans hate Northwestern Europeans for being richer. Then there's the Scandinavian nations who are trying to pretend they don't know the rest of Europe in case it does something embarrassing again, and the smaller but ambitious nations who don't think it's fair Germany and France are pretty much in control. That, in short, is the current situation in Europe. It's not a warzone, you won't find any barricades, but in the so-called European Parliament, a cold war is being fought every day. You see, there have been attempts to unite Europe under one flag. The European Union is one of those attempts. Starting out as a trading union to help build up European industries after the world wars, the Union now has a Congress, which can pass legislation for all of the European union. The thing is though, that hardly anything essential is decided there. The European countries cling on to their independence, and most decisions are still made by the congress of the nation in question. Rules to infringe that independence do not tend to get far. One minor achievement of the European union is the 'euro', often referred to by United Statesians as 'eurodollar', which will officially come into use by the beginning of 2002. Like the dollar, as a universal currency, helped unite the US, the euro is supposed to make Europe one market, and ultimately, one nation. Note however, that euro coins have one face with a design from the nation they were coined in, and one universal face. Also note that the drab colors of the euro bills bear a great resemblance to the banknotes currently used in France and Germany, which happen to be the most powerful nations within the Union. So this is where you're going, the semi-continent where even the money is political. You probably don't want to miss out on anything, you want to be able to tell your children about how you saw all of Europe. You are a very ambitious person. Let me burst your bubble. You can not do Europe in a week. You can not do Europe in a lifetime. It is possible to squeeze all the so called highlights into a one or two week coach tour, but you will spend most of that time sitting in a bus, getting to know the culture (or lack thereof) of Bob from Poughkeepsie, who happens to be sitting next to you. Going on vacation is like writing, the more damn good stuff you cut out, the more damn good it gets (to paraphase Mark Twain). Instead of seeing everything, it is wiser to decide what you really want to see, and then stick to that. This can be a smaller country like Luxembourg and the adjoining regions in France, Germany and Belgium, but also one region of a larger country like France. Get to know that place before you go, read up on the history, the wildlife or the nightlife (depending on why you're going there). You will appreciate being able to look at a heap of rubble with tourists swarming around it and go "Hey, that guy who lived here, didn't he say that sliced bread would never be big?" or something to that effect, possibly even surprising the guide. My point is that you have a choice. Taking photos home of all the tourists attractions may impress your friends and coworkers, but will you be impressed? Are you spending your vacation money to please your friends? Your trip to Europe will most likely be a once in a lifetime experience, and it's understandable you want to see it all. But that is humanly impossible, so don't feel bad about it. Doing a highlights tour can leave you feeling empty, like you've missed out on something. That something is interaction with real natives, and tasting the uniqueness of a country. Coach tours are notorious for keeping you away from the big bad natives (like me) and for allowing very little time to see things. I once went to Paris and had exactly 20 minutes to see Notre Dame cathedral. I never even had to speak French! Of course, planning your own trip can be intimidating. Many countries have their own language, the number of things to do is infinitely large and the temptation to make side trips is great. But technology comes to your aid. Epinions helps you choose your destination, hotels and flights can be booked online (in English) and even language courses and glossaries are available online. Today, it is easier than ever to make your own decisions, instead of being herded into a bus by a guide. Tell me, do you want be a traveler, or do you want to be a sheep? *PC term for the group of people usually being referred to as 'Americans'. This term seems to upset others in the Americas.  |
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by artemis8
by knotheadusc
