My mother practices medicine in Britain, she has been bugging me to come over for a visit now for a couple of years, but for whatever reason I just have not had the time. I agreed to come by the summer of 2008 but I have said that before. Friends have been telling me that I am crazy for not going to Europe especially since I have family there. They start to spit out about all the places, the history, the food, the tolerance, ect, ect. One lady friend of mine all of a sudden became an expert on European health care after watching Michael Moore's Sicko movie.
The thing is I never held any romantic views about Europe. In fact I am some what resentful of the place. I felt that damn continent has come up to often in my circle as a kid. My entire education was euro centric. I had to listen to people go on and on about the superior European culture as a kid. I had one music professor teaching that classical music was the only true form of music and would flunk you if you argued other wise. If you grew up in new York when I did than you know that city was always a step ahead of a race war between the Irish, Italians, Jews, blacks and every other color coded neighborhood. But I never bit the apple.
I thought Shakespeare sucked.
Britain's food sucks.
The French gave the world democracy and the clap.
They have not created good music since classical music was the end all, everything else is a rehash of other peoples music.
Fashion is definitely not to my liking.
The Germans gave us great beer but also the Nazi party.
They are way overrated in the tolerance dept (see: The race riots in France this past summer, treatment of black soccer players at games, The very much alive Nazi party in Germany and the xenophobic movement sweeping the continent that only seems to target Africans and Arabs) In fact the United States open obsession with it to me give it a leg up on the Europeans since everything is out into the open and settled in the open.
They still practice a hands off version of colonialism.
I am not condeming the place I just do not see Europe as a big deal, at least not the way everyone else sweats it. I think of it as a small town version of the United States but older. Nothing to see unless you want to people watch all day, look at old buildings, practice your french, Spanish, German, and eat over rich foods.
I would say it is about race but I really could care less about it.
Traveling is not a problem I have been out of the country before.
The only thing I can think of is that it is because I am a New Yorker at heart.
Nothing impresses us.
Anyway it looks like I'll be taking a trip this summer.
