UPDATE: 06 February 2007
ARTICLES...
the problem with foreign languages is, you have to think before you speak | swedish proverb
Language isn't the only barrier between people around the world. There's distance, culture, clothing... so many little things make us different that we sometimes forget the things that make us all alike. The purpose of these interviews is to help us bridge that gap by recognizing that at the end of the day, we are all humans. We all celebrate marriages and births and mourn the loss of loved ones. We all want peace and prosperity whether or not we cheer for the same football team or like to eat sushi.
EDITORIAL
Observations of an Earthroamer captures some random thoughts and observations about life.
ARTICLES ABOUT EARTHROAMING GREATS
Pope John Paul II: Earthroaming for God
A little boy from Wadowice, Poland's love of God, theology and foreign languages – and an unusual turn of events – pull him away from the theatre and into a life of service to the Church.
Mark Twain: The Founding Father of Modern Earthroaming
Twain's astute observations on travel and the obstacles of learning to communicate in a foreign language continue to amuse readers today as they did 100+ years ago. He was truly the founding father of modern earthroaming.
Jane Goodalll: The Queen of Extreme
Goodalls' passion for animals led her to a life of adventure and great accomplishment in the jungles of East Africa at a time when careers, doctoral degrees and third world earthroaming were unheard of for young women - even the most ambitious.
INTERVIEWS WITH MY FRIENDS
My Fellow Earthroamers surveys my friends who've chosen to live overseas to explain why they'd do something crazy like that! They told me what they have gotten from the experience, what they gave up to have it, and whether it has all been worth while.
The Reluctant Roamer probes my American friends to imagine what it would be like to be a refugee and asks the question: How far would things have to go before you would be willing to go to a foreign country and start over from scratch?
Dream a Little Dream attempts to explain why my friend Allyn lived in Japan in a Buddhist temple with a priest and his family, or why my friend Brandon would take a job that requires him to pack up and move to a new country a couple of times every year. I wanted to know whether my earthroaming buddies are dreamers...
THE NOSE KNOWS... You know how certain people from certain countries seem to smell kinda funny? As if the unusual spices used in their dinner are now sweating out of their pores in concentrated form? One of the most interesting, and arguably disturbing, things I have learned in my travels is that they think we smell bad, too! The foods we eat have inherent smells that we emit from our own skin just like anyone else in any other country. The difference is that we can't smell it because we have been exposed to it every day of our lives. Our common smells have been silenced from over-exposure so we only smell the differentiators - our perfumes, deodorant soaps and scented lotions. In fact, the smell of an American is so acute that agents sent to some parts of the world on covert operations spend several weeks eating local foods in order to mask their own peculiarly American scent.