Today is June 27th, 2016. Exactly five months ago today I arrived in Prague to begin my final month what will ultimately add up to a few days short of six months on the other side of the Atlantic. Pretty freaking wild looking back at how quickly the time has passed. This begins my final month in Europe. From four months in Prague (and some side adventures) to two months in Italy, the end is at last coming into view. I've learned one new language and fine-tuned my knowledge of another one. I've lived in two practically paradoxical cultures. I've seen great affluence with those driving Lamborghinis down the cobblestone streets of Prague and great despair, the 50% of the unemployed Spanish youth ready to pounce and pick-pocket as many drunk people walking home as possible. If you think things are a mess in the United States, come spend some time in Europe. After some time even Donald Trump becoming president makes more sense than much of what you see here. After a month here in Italy I long for my comfort in Prague. Their quieter, "mind your own business" culture fits more in line with how I prefer to view the world. Here in Grado everyone knows everything about everyone. While this is common in smaller towns even in the United States, the degree in which the Italians gossip about each other is truly worrisome. Privacy doesn't exist whatsoever. Even for us Americans, everyone knows who we are, what we like to do with our free-time, how we act. I've come to truly cherish the privacy and individuality our country has to offer, even on DePauw's small campus. If anything, my time in Europe has groomed me into a better American for when I return. I am much better at listening and absorbing, quieter in public settings, patient with those that speak another language or simply struggle to understand a lecture. While culturally Americans and Czechs and Italians are quite different, ultimately we are of the same elements. We are all humans.
I was in Europe during the Brussels attacks and watched as 50 Czech military personnel stepped off a bus outside my apartment. They were stationed in my neighborhood the remainder of my time in Prague. I've grown quite accustomed to seeing soldiers with their assault rifles walking around public places. When we were in Pisa for example, some of my peers were caught off guard seeing these soldiers near the Leaning Tower of Pisa. For me, it was simply the European reality. With the concern of ISIS trying to use refugee routes to get insurgents into Europe, measures must be taken to protect the citizens. I've really come to long for the American way of life. I've come to realize we have it quite good back home (except for the food...).
Speaking of food... just a little political anecdote. The strength of the corn industry in the United States is what makes us fat. We put corn in freaking everything. Europeans are healthier simply because when they eat sweets, they are eating sugar, the simplest carbohydrate for the body to break down. High Fructose Corn Syrup, which you find in all sodas, juices, candies, snacks, is the real problem that causes our obesity. And furthermore it makes all of those foods worse than if they had sugar. Shame on us. Shame.
Anyway, go America. Thanks Europe (but really mostly Italy) for showing me how great our country is. If we just took a few things from the Czechs (for example their beer) we would quickly become the great America we seemed to have lost. I'm excited to get home.
