Following the Equator

Europeans and authenticity

A few weeks back, I wrote triumphantly about my 9-foot Christmas tree. I didn't get into the guilt I felt over the fact that the tree was artificial—i.e., not authentic ("That's another post," I thought at the time—voilà). The Europeans I lived among in my time abroad would have taken one look at that plastic monstrosity and been mortified. In fact, a visiting European friend had just that reaction.

Europe specializes in authentic, as I discovered during my eight years there. Household coffee is made in old-fashioned stove-top Bialetti contraptions; no plugs to plug in or clocks to set. A Coca-Cola ordered at a table comes in a glass bottle, not in a plastic bottle, or from a syrup/water mix sprayed into a paper cup. Shoppers crowd outdoor streets lined with centuries-old storefronts, rather than admittedly spectacular but inescapably faux enclosed shopping malls. Building materials used on homes are still primarily stone, brick and mortar, wood and slate; vinyl siding has thankfully yet to become popular.

Group Leader Spotlight: Jeremy George

A few years ago, Jeremy George, a high school history teacher from Springfield, Missouri, had never traveled abroad. Then he found EF.

Since taking his first group abroad, Jeremy has traveled everywhere from Austria to Australia with EF Educational Tours. Next year, he will travel on tours to Amsterdam and Paris and France and Spain, and he is already planning a tour to England, Ireland and Wales in 2010.

Jeremy—pictured above with students in Australia (he's in the black-and-blue jacket to the right of the guy in the cool hat)—talked with us about the "irreplaceable experience" of travel, establishing a reputation for taking students on tour and his own dream tour of Italy:

Rear Window

In anyone's house or apartment, there's usually one window, door or balcony that offers the most picturesque view of the world outside the four walls.

My four most recent houses (OK, three apartments and now finally a house) have each been in a different country. In each home, I made a point of identifying the best view and taking a picture of it.

Here they are:

Reverse culture shock on the American Sunday

As I settle back into life in the United States after eight years abroad, I find myself struggling to reprogram my mind to the new Sunday landscape: all stores open, all day.

You see, I've spent the past eight years learning to live the European Sunday, where the only things that are universally open are churches and the "Sunday date" trio of cafés, restaurants and movie theaters. That said, the Euro-Sunday formula varies somewhat by country.

Paint by countries

For the fourth time in the last nine autumns, I'm expressing my arrival into a new country through interior painting. The walls that have stood between me and international elements—Dutch rain, Swiss snow, Spanish sun and American all-of-the-above—have never met with my full approval in their as-is state. I simply feel compelled to engage in the second messiest task (caulking with silicone being the first) that I have firsthand knowledge of.

There are some notable firsts this fall. The country I'm painting in is my own. And the walls are actually mine, not rented. But the uniqueness stops there. This paint job has all the drama of the others. Here's a quick look back:

Moving across the ocean

Tomorrow is the big move. Again.

For the fourth time in eight years, my wife and I are changing countries. Our first joint endeavor was in 2000, when we moved to the Netherlands. Then in 2002, we moved to Switzerland (but not before searching through a house-sized moving container looking for a passport we forgot to set aside). In 2006, we moved to Spain. And tomorrow, we move to the United States.

For me, it's a move home. For my wife, Spain native that she is, it's a move to the tundra.

Friday Fun Fact: European density

Photo: Brapke via Flickr

With a population of 82 million, Germany has more people than any other European Union nation. Not a shabby total by any means—that's roughly the equivalent of a quarter of the U.S. population. And yet, area-wise, Germany is only a little bit bigger than New Mexico and a little smaller than Montana.

No Big Sky here: Germany has 596 people per square mile, compared with 80 in the United States and just eight in Canada. And that only earns Germany the 56th spot on the list of most densely populated countries, and sixth among European countries (Gibraltar, Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom are, so to speak, denser).

The place on earth with least space between you and your neighbor? Macau (Special Administrative Region of China) with more than 40,000 people per square mile.

Travel Tidbits: Navigating the Louvre

The Louvre in Paris claims to be the world's largest museum. With more than 35,000 works of art and more than 652,000 square feet of exhibition space, it's easy to get lost among the masterpieces.

Globespotters recommends a handy solution to navigating the paintings, the sculptures, the treasures: a new multimedia gadget called the XP-vision.

The device, which was introduced last November and can be rented for six euros, includes a small video screen and headphones. You can choose various tours, or even customize one, through the vast collection. One of the best features is a virtual map, which helps you find your way through the maze of rooms.

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The simple beauty of n8

On November 3, 2007, Amsterdam held its most recent "Museumnacht" (Museum Night): the annual event where now more than 40 museums open their doors from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Culture-vultures and night-owls alike can tour the galleries while museum staff serve up wine and entertainment instead of shhhhes.

The marketing buzz for Museumnacht is delivered—on fliers, posters and billboards—in two simple characters: n8. 

I hadn't yet deciphered the meaning of n8 when I started out on my first Museum Night a few years back. I was at the Rijksmuseum (currently under renovation) when it hit me: in Dutch, the "n" makes (drum roll) the "n" sound, and the number 8 in Dutch is "acht"; reading them together, you get the word "nacht": night.

Travel Tidbits: Long walk aborted

I decided to check in on Mark Boyle, whom we wrote about last month. Boyle—who also goes by the name Saoirse—was trying to walk from his hometown in Bristol, England, to Gandhi's birthplace in Porbandar, India, without money. Yes, without money.

Well, he didn't make it.

Apparently, relying on the kindness and generosity of strangers only gets you so far. Apparently, it only gets you as far as Calais, France.

Boyle pulled the plug on his "pilgrimage" after only 300 miles on his expected 9,000-mile journey. Not surprisingly, he cited lack of food, lack of housing and lack of the French language as huge obstacles. It didn't help that the French assumed Boyle to be a freeloading backpacker. You can read all of the excruciating details on Boyle's blog here, here and here.

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