I was thrilled when I learned that I would have the opportunity to visit Asia for the first time. I was invited to visit the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf, the Malay equivalence of our NAD. While visiting Malaysia is a great opportunity in itself, what is even more exciting is that the country is exactly halfway around the world from Maryland where I live, which makes for an extremely long trip!

In searching for my flight to Kuala Lumpur, I learned that I had two choices in getting to the other side of the world; either by flying across Europe and northern Africa, or through California and across the Pacific; it would be equidistant. I chose to fly through San Francisco and Taipei en route to Kuala Lumpur so I could make the most of my stopovers; to see some friends in San Francisco and to make a Deaflympics site visit in Taipei. So with 5 ½ hours from Dulles to San Francisco, another 13 to Taipei, and finally 5 more to Malaysia, it was 23 ½ hours total of flight time in what was both the longest day of my life and the fastest two days ever since I crossed the international date line!

Flying over the country, you can see the land is filled with a version of palm trees that are shorter and have fatter trunks. The country is very much a tropical land with two main seasons, wet and dry seasons. I was met by Sazali Shaari, who invited and hosted me during my visit. Sazali is the president and executive director of MFD, and during my visit shown his organization to be an extremely competent and well-run foundation. Their headquarters is located just outside of Kuala Lumpur in Puchong Jaya, with ample office space spread out over several floors in a large building. The MFD provides social services for the deaf community, serving all 12 states in Malaysia and operating satellite offices in all 12 states.

During my visit, the MFD launched a new national text relay service called MySign Community, giving deaf people all over Malaysia access to the phone system similar to IP Relay in America. Malaysia is an emerging country which is starting to make its presence known on the global scale, and a major part of a progressive country is providing social services, something the government there is very keen to do, and the MFD has received consistent funding for a variety of projects benefiting the deaf community. It was a very pleasant experience being a part of the ribbon cutting ceremonies which also included the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation as well as the Secretary of Education for the country. It was very satisfying and fulfilling to see that communication access is making its way across the globe slowly but surely, improving the quality of lives for deaf people all over the world.

The MFD has one fantastic feature that really struck me, and that is the D-Café, which stands for Deaf Café. There is a chain of 5 D-Cafes spread throughout the Kuala Lumpur region, and consists of an entirely deaf staff serving up authentic Malay cuisine. Open for business to the general public, the restaurant stays true to the spicy roots of the local cuisine, attracting a steady stream of customers through all hours of the day. Not only did they serve great food, but plenty of inspiration seeing a successful all-deaf restaurant runs on the opposite side of the world I live in.

The Malays are extremely friendly and very welcoming. I had no problems fitting and interacting with the local deaf community in the Islamic land even though I stuck out like a tall Westerner would. Gesturing a mix of ASL and Malay Sign Language, communication was fluid although sometimes we would have to explain complex concepts repeatedly. I had outstanding hosts, people who were certain to take me out and show me around, taking me to see the world famous Petronas Towers and sightseeing around the countryside with the limited time I had. The locals deaf were extremely generous and good-humored people. While extremely passionate about their community and causes, they also always seemed to be up for a good laugh, and it was a very entertaining thing to be a part of. From the minute I stepped off the plane until the final ride to the airport, I felt an immediate connection and relationship with the deaf community there. I was disappointed that my trip was so brief and vowed to return soon although I cringed at the thought of repeating the long journey on a plane.  I intend to keep my word.

The world is an enormous place, and there are so many corners of the world where there are people who I share an intimate connection with even though I may have never met them; deaf people who share same visual perception of the world and are just like I am. Here in Malaysia, the farthest place on Earth I could possibly be from home, I didn’t feel so far from home. As long as I am with other deaf people who share my values, I will always have my place.

The 2009 Deaflympics hosted in Taipei is sure to be a world class Games. Following through on the amazing Beijing Olympics which announced China’s presence to the world, Taipei intends to make a statement of its own by hosting the most expensive Deaflympics games ever. The company I work for, Viable will be the exclusive Tele-communications Provider of the event, making the games not only the most extravagant but the most accessible Deaflympics ever in terms of communication access. In preparations for the September event, I was to make a site visit to Taipei and meet with the Deaflympics organizing committee.

Arriving in Taipei, I was immediately struck by the fact that I was in a completely foreign land. While in Malaysia, English was still a very prevalent language, and in Europe, I could recognize or get by on the Romance languages. But here in Taipei, I was completely oblivious as to what the Chinese characters stood, and could draw no clues from any signs, menus, or handouts. Going into the city and stepping out on the streets by myself for the first time, I also realized that for the first time, I was experiencing a true feeling of culture shock.

Taipei is an immensely modern city comparable to New York, Chicago, or London, and is home to the tallest building in the world, the Taipei 101. The bustling city is filled with plenty of unique sights, sounds, smells, and especially unique food! Taipei is a true melting pot in every sense of the word, and after spending some time in the city, I realized that I wasn’t looking at all Chinese. The city is filled with Japanese and Korean restaurants and businesses, and Taiwan is a great way to get an authentic taste of various Asian cultures.

I spent time familiarizing myself with the city and the Olympic Venues where various events and activities would be held. I made my way to the Taipei Arena, where the Deaflympics planning offices for the upcoming games are located and more than 40 full time people are staffed. I was immediately impressed with the scale and professionalism of the operations taking place, more than 8 months ahead of the Games, you would think with the pace and urgency they were at the games were just next week. The area all around the Taipei Arena is bustling with construction, with near total renovations taking place in the Taipei Gymnasium and a brand new outdoor stadium is scheduled to celebrate its grand opening in September at the games. Large, brightly lit signs let the surrounding area know that thousands of deaf people are about to descend on the city in a matter of months.

With more than $30 million in funding committed directly to the games, and almost $100M more in construction, Taipei is going all out to make these games a memorable one. Visiting the various hotels, venues, and learning about the preparations for the games built up a sense of excitement and anticipation for what will truly be a memorable experience this September. Anyone who is on the fence about going to the Deaflympics this September should absolutely reconsider and do whatever possible to attend; with celebrity guests such as Jackie Chan and Yao Ming’s participation lined up, this is an event that will briefly capture the attention of the entire world, and I am immensely proud of the opportunity to participate in making these games a successful one.

Visitors to Taiwan from all over the world will likely endure the same culture shock that I experienced when I first gathered my bearings in the city, but they will be rewarded with a rich cultural experience and a dazzling two weeks of well-organized events and great competition.

Flying back home from Taipei, my mind raced with visions of the upcoming Deaflympic events, and the eye opening Eastern society that I had never immersed myself into before. It was a great challenge, travelling such a foreign country by myself but it was an even greater experience to have the opportunity to experience a land that truly has very little in common with my own. I am looking forward to my return visits to Taipei, not only for the Deaflympic games, but because I found a terrific sushi spot that I can’t wait to return to!

I also attended an Expo which was very similar to DeafNation Expos here in America but on a smaller scale and had the opportunity to interact with many deaf individuals. There were almost precisely the same type of deaf companies and businesses represented at the expo that you would see at a DeafNation Expo, with the exception of VRS companies and deaf-owned merchandise companies. There was one large text provider, AnnieS, stealing the show with their Real Time Text platform.

The first speech I gave was at a debate with a panel of four. Two of the speakers were Dutch, one a very successful profoundly deaf person who uses sign language and the second an equally successful deaf person who received a cochlear implant and is equally as happy. The second comparison was between my identity development as a strong deaf American and the development of a woman who was born in Japan, moved to Australia, and currently lives in America. In between speeches there was a debate (which unfortunately I could not participate in!) with students, parents, teachers, and community members from Amsterdam. It was a very fun experience, especially trying to follow the debate which was occurring in Dutch. Thankfully I had some good ASL interpreters!

The second audience I spoke in front of was as part of the evening program for WDD. The day was an interesting experience presenting in front of an international audience. It was made especially more interesting since I barely knew anyone in the audience, something I am not used to; usually wherever I go and give presentations in America, I know a lot of people in the audience. But in Europe it was a completely different experience and while it was challenging, I enjoyed the short weekend trip very much!

Below is the transcript of the speech I gave:
My name is Anthony Mowl and I am a proud deaf individual. I grew up attending both mainstream schools and deaf schools. I attended a public university while I was in high school and graduated from Gallaudet University with a degree in English.

Throughout my life, I have had had many fortunate opportunities. I have travelled 47 states in America and 10 countries in the world. I have done some crazy things while at it too; I am a certified SCUBA diver, and hope to get my skydiving certification soon. I’ve gone hang gliding and jumped off a 250-foot cliff. I have met many interesting people, and seen many interesting places. I am even the happy owner of a new home, which I am proud to say I bought by myself. It’s been a nice life, and I appreciate what I have. But I am just 23 years old, and a lot of my life experiences have occurred only in the last several years.

While I have been fortunate throughout my life, I have to say I do not lead a charmed or perfect life. I am the fourth generation in my family to be born deaf, and ASL was my first language. I grew up in a culturally deaf household and my entire family is made of educators and blue collar workers, hard working individuals who would always fight for a better life. My deaf heritage grew up without accessibility and devoid of the opportunities that were presented to me, and for a very simple and clear reason. Deaf people were not equal to others, and belonged to a second class of citizens.

My parents spent their entire lives fighting for opportunities. My dad went to a hearing college, the only deaf person in his entire school, and it was a struggle to find interpreters for classes or students willing to share notes. My mom graduated from Gallaudet University, and was at the Deaf President Now movement in 1988, a proud participant in the revolution that told the world that deaf people were capable of leading themselves. DPN resulted in the Americans with Disabilities Act, which ensured that those who were handicapped would have equal access. What this meant for deaf Americans was that we would have as much accessibility as reasonably possible; Closed captioning became mandatory, interpreting is standard protocol, and services like relay are made possible.

Thanks to my parents, I grew up in a world full of access, accessibility not available anywhere else in the world, but I still found myself fighting limitations. The limitation I was struggling with was with myself, and it had nothing to do with being deaf. I wanted to succeed and I wanted to walk through the doors my parents had opened for me. In theory, deaf people in America are now equal, but in practice I could find very few successful deaf individuals. The DPN revolution is over, and the ADA law was enacted 20 years ago, but still very few people understand how to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them and that is why very few people have had the experiences I have.

Here in the Netherlands, and throughout Europe, the ADA law does not exist as it does in America, and the same open opportunities that were presented to me are not available here. But that does not mean stories like myself are not possible, because they are. Unlike my parent’s generation, today’s western world does not believe that deaf people are second class citizens, but capable individuals who need slight accommodations. But interestingly enough, while the hearing world has accepted this fact, as in America deaf people have yet to understand this. It’s like the microwave when it was first invented.
When the microwave first came out, it was expensive, clunky, and nobody wanted to use one. Why use a microwave to boil water when the stove works perfectly fine! But what people did not yet grasp about the microwave was that it could be used to do more than just boil water. When its potential was maximized, long days slaving over hot stoves disappeared, and people found themselves with more time on their hands. Like the microwave, there are countless existing solutions that the deaf community has yet to capitalize upon.

It used to be that books were rare and expensive, and the only place you could find them were in universities. Since deaf people didn’t have communication access, they received an inferior education and as a result didn’t attend universities where they had access to knowledge. Today, the situation is entirely different. The Netherlands has the number one internet penetration of any country in the world and every deaf person has access to the internet. Deaf people in the past who never had the opportunity to speak in public forums now have countless places to express their opinion and interact with mainstream society online where their disability is masked. But have the deaf embraced the internet as a medium of learning, expression and thought, or are they too busy on Facebook to realize the power available in front of them?

When I graduated, I immediately went to work for a startup company called Viable, and saw the company grow from 5 to 150 employees. We are deaf owned and deaf operated, with the majority of our employees deaf. We developed the VPAD, the first wireless, portable, touch screen videophone that will revolutionize how deaf people communicate. We have been tremendously successful, showing the VPAD on the biggest stage there is at the Consumer Electronics Show, and receiving countless media exposure including being on CNN, BBC, Popular Mechanics, and most recently getting on the cover of Fortune Magazine. But for all of our achievements, we have constantly endured so many obstacles and frustrations that have slowed our growth. Interestingly enough, our obstacles may not quite be what you think they are.

We did what everyone said we couldn’t and we made a videophone. We were the 15th VRS company to enter the market, and rapidly ascended to third in the VRS industry. We’ve travelled the world and everybody wants a piece of the VPAD. But interestingly, our biggest naysayers have been within the deaf community themselves; people who said that we would never accomplish the things we have, people who were more concerned about the bugs on the VPAD rather than the world of opportunities that it would provide. Our roll out was frustrated when a customer wrote a scathing blog complaining that his VPAD did not work at all, but a follow up from our customer support department found that he had taken the VPAD to a location without internet access and somehow expected wireless connectivity to magically appear.

Must we be so harsh? I see here in the Netherlands the same opportunities being created, with services like text relay and startups like AnnieS and RTT. There are many parallels to be drawn. AnnieS, like Viable is an organization made up of the community, with a CODA founder and deaf operations. And just like what has occurred in America, I have heard similar criticism about the new options being made available. The deaf community worldwide needs to understand that there is a difference between having something available for the taking, and being force fed something. KPN’s decision to stop TTY relay and provide only IM relay is an example of being force fed something, and alternatives like the internet, IM, and Real Time Text are examples of solutions available for the taking. I wish that Real Time Text were available in America, and I am doing my best to bring it back home with me. To learn that the deaf here have yet to embrace its value surprises me.

American or Dutch, French or Japanese, deaf people all over the world really are not all that different. We all share a common bond and a common experience. We have a long history of being denied a voice, and a long history of being ignored as a people. But now that the day arrives when the world is prepared to accept deaf people as equal members of society, are the deaf ready to accept this place? Will we look back on our long history, and demand retribution for our sorry past? I don’t want to honor my mother and father’s lifelong struggle by kicking down doors. I want to walk through them. We shouldn’t look for change these days, because the world has already changed. We should instead seek progress.

There are countless people in the world who are poor, sick, and have suffered in ways far greater than the deaf have. It is a harsh world, and these are people you would call “normal.” Kurt Vonnegut wrote that what you respond to in any work of art is the artist’s struggle with their own limitations. Not every piece of work is a Picasso, but that doesn’t stop potential artists from creating a masterpiece. Here in the deaf community, what we are all experiencing is a struggle with our own limitations. Our limitation is not deafness, but our own fears that as a person we may not be happy or successful. And like any artist, every deaf person has the tools they need to create a masterpiece of their own. It is there for the taking.

The table is beautiful, but isn’t assembled just right so it is wobbly. Roberto finally looks up after seating himself on the table, briefly closing his eyes with his hands placed on top, and imagining himself as a guest. The wobble is unacceptable, but he knows they are on the right track, and wants to see a perfectly assembled table before giving his approval. No detail in this hotel goes unnoticed, and every aspect of the Hassler experience is to be impeccable. Rome is a stunning city, arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world. To tour the city is to be treated to a beautiful and unique sight after each turn of a corner. But even among the eternal city’s ancient sights, there are a few that stand above the rest, and the Hassler Roma, perched atop the popular Piazza di Spagna is one of the most comfortable destinations in all of Rome.

The Hassler has a long history, built in the late 1890s and completely rebuilt in 1939. It reopened in 1947 to the general public after the US Air Force used it as their Rome headquarters during the Second World War. Since it has opened, it has been managed by Oscar and Carmen Wirth before being passed along to Roberto Wirth, who eventually bought out his family and became the sole owner of the hotel. The hotel and management has won numerous awards including repeatedly being recognized as the number one hotel in Rome, the favorite destinations of Kings and Queens. Roberto Wirth in 2005 won the Hotelier of the World award, one of the most prestigious awards available to an hotelier. Although technology today provides many improvements and accessibilities for a deaf person, Wirth’s rise was conducted with very little assistance and plenty of self determination.

Wirth spent nine years in the United States from 1968-1977, and he enjoyed the accessibility that the TTY brought him but was stunned when he came back home and realized Italy did not have any. He bought three in the US (which were very expensive at the time) and brought them to Rome. He kept one at home, one for himself, and gave one to his secretary. And until the fax and internet came along, these were his primary modes of communication. Wirth is known for socializing with his guests, making them feel welcome and this is a big part of the experience for many of the high level guests who stay at the hotel. Roberto makes it clear to his guests that he is deaf, and he relies on lip reading. After years in the business, you’re bound to pick up some tricks. Some guests communicate very well and Wirth will spend more time with these guests, but when there is a guest that does not communicate very well or is difficult to understand, Wirth is often “busier than usual” and stays away more.

Wirth is proud of the fact that he was born in Italy and is a Roman, because he says the Italian language is one of the easiest languages to lip read in the world. “If I was born anywhere else in the world,” he says, “I would not be able to lip read as well as I do today.” While Wirth knows several languages, and is fluent in English, he admits he is unable to lip read English as well as he lip reads Italian.

Roberto has spent the majority of his life as an extremely successful hotelier, and a large part of his success has been his personal touch. The Hassler is host to an elite set of clientele, with many dignitaries, heads of states, and celebrities choosing to stay at the luxurious hotel when visiting Rome. Wirth provides his guests with a level of attention that basically requires him to be at the hotel nearly all the time. After 30 years of devoting his life to working at the Hassler, 25 of which have been spent as General Manager, Wirth has set his sights outside of the Hassler Roma, creating a reputation for himself that goes beyond hotelier.

When asked about the impact of the economy on his business, Wirth said that there was a noticeable impact within the middle-class, and he could see that here were far less middle-class people travelling to his hotel. But the within the upper class, the current economic crisis has very little impact on people with that type of money, and therefore his hotel has suffered very little. Drawing on this experience and diversifying the internationally known Hassler name into a brand targeting the elite class of people is Wirth’s next mission.

One of the ways Wirth started was by forming the International Wide Academy of Rome in 2002 just outside the Hassler hotel, a prestigious site that is the first of its kind in Italy. There Wirth is not only able to indulge in his appreciation for fine wines but has the opportunity to share that love with others. Wirth has also opened fine dining restaurants in Japan and India, in addition to the restaurants in the Academy and the Hassler.

Wirth has also recently started the Hassler Life, a magazine geared towards its guests who stay at the hotel. Guests will not only be exposed to the Hassler experience during their stay, but they will now be able to take the Hassler Life home with them, and be increasingly able to indulge in the Hassler experience wherever they go. For instance, as part of his growing brand Wirth has worked with top perfumers to develop Amorvero, an amber fragrance described as a rare and precious jewel that captures the sense of elegance and refinement of the Hassler Hotel. Amovero is Italian for truelove, and while its scent of lemons and oranges is unique, so is the Hassler brand experience and Wirth’s attempt to globalize the experience that has been repeated countless times via word of mouth.

Wirth has long relied very little on advertisements because the majority of his guests are repeat customers and often spread the word about their experience. In recent years with more fierce competition and the convenience of the internet, Wirth has had to advertise his hotel more simply to keep up with the industry standards; lesser hotels take advantage of the internet to appear like a better hotel and competitive to the Hassler. But Wirth says Hassler guests who stay at another hotel know the difference, and they know the Hassler is the best hotel in Rome. It is a natural move for a man who has been called one of the greatest deaf businessmen in the world, to grow and build on his previous successes. Wirth and the Hassler brand is poised and positioned for not only an unlimited ceiling of opportunities, but to create a luxurious lifestyle that anyone is sure to desire.

I had initially thought about taking the direct train from Paris to London early on Saturday morning, but I learned that I would be cutting it too close to make my flight back home, so I started to look around for a Friday evening departure from Paris. But I learned that the last Friday of July is one of the busiest travel days of the summer in Europe as for many it is the last weekend of holiday, so many of the trains I were looking for were already completely booked. Paris to London is an extremely popular route, and I decided it would be best and safest if I left Paris on Thursday night and spent some time elsewhere on my way to London on Friday. I spent the majority of Thursday and Friday just riding the train and getting off for brief stops in Lilie, France and Rotterdam, Netherlands before crossing the English Channel again on my way back into London. I spent the night in an airport hotel close to Heathrow before getting up in the morning to catch an airport shuttle to the airport.

It was a quiet day on the train and even quieter night for me in the hotel, with my attitude switched from one of exploration to one of contemplation and reflection. Now back in London, I had gone full circle in my two week journey, returning to where I had first started. And instead of the whole of Europe in front of me for the taking as it was two weeks ago, it was now behind me, with a long flight back home to take. I was neither sad nor bitter that my trip had ended, because I had such a great time. While my trip quenched my thirst to explore Europe, it had built for me what appears to be an insatiable appetite to continue to see the world outside my backyard. Although I miss home, I want to continue to travel and explore different places because there’s a whole lot to see. The more I put myself out there, the more I am exposed to.

It is amazing how, in America you can travel tremendous distances across the country, and encounter very little cultural changes (although there are differences). But in Europe, just a few hours on the train will put you in entirely different worlds, locations where the food, architecture, language, and customs are entirely different among regions so close by each other. Here in London on my last night, I knew I was close to coming back home because I was in a country where the language and customs were as close to America as could be, and I could read things without having to think carefully. Being alone on a night like this certainly made it a quiet evening, and I spent some time looking through the pictures on my digital camera, reliving the eight countries I visited over my two-week trip (England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany), thankful that I had taken so many photos to make my memories stronger. I had no doubt that I made the most of my time, and I was leaving the continent in the morning with no regrets, and no disappointments.

When I got to the airport in the morning and checked in for my flight I got one last bonus on my trip, a treat that only came because I was alone. I had already checked in an aisle seat, and I got to the gate ready to board the plane for a long flight. The tickets were all scanned on a machine that flashed a green light that granted entry onto the plane. When my ticket was scanned, the machine flashed red, and the worker took my ticket and looked up something on the computer. I took out my passport because I figured it would probably be needed, and the flight attendant asked if I were alone. I said I was, and he proceeded to write something on my ticket, crossing out my old seat number. I protested, since I had already gotten the aisle seat I wanted, but he smiled and gestured for me to stop; it was an upgrade and I would be happy.

I wondered whether I was being “upgraded” to a bulkhead, or whether this was the upgrade I was dreaming of last night. When I stopped at my seat 16K, the new seat that had been written down in exchange for the crossed out one, my heart leaped when I realized that this was a first class seat, the kind where the seats turn into fully flat beds. This was not going to be such a long flight after all!

I enjoyed some champagne before take off, and once the flight took off I was immediately handed a hot towel to wipe myself off with and served a fantastic three course meal. Airplane food in first class really isn’t so bad, especially the raspberry cheesecake! After eating, I browsed the selection of hundreds of movies available to watch, and I was both disappointed and surprised to find that there were three movies that were captioned out of the hundreds to choose from. Although there were only three movies, I was happy that I could even watch some captioned movies compared to back in coach, the movies shown to everyone in the cabin are never captioned. After watching a movie, I converted my seat into a bed, and for the first time ever from a plane, I stretched out straight before curling up into a ball. It was absolutely the most comfortable sleep I have ever had on a plane, and first class certainly is the way to fly! It was a terrific treat and a terrific end to such an amazing trip.

When I landed at Dulles Airport, I stepped out of the plane ready to meet my sister who was picking me up and I was prepared to resume my daily routine in Rockville, Maryland. Part of me wished that I could just turn around and fly back to Europe, but the other part of me was ready to go back to my life; to see my family, friends, and to go back to work. I had learned a lot, and I have a lot to share. I spent the last two weeks of my life alone, exploring a strange continent for whatever it would be worth. But if there’s one thing I know from this trip, it’s that I could not spend too much time alone, and I was excited to see those I love and care about most, because for as much of an unexplored world there is, there’s nothing like coming back to a place you call home. And amazingly, one of the things I missed most was ice, a rare commodity in Europe! Whenever I asked for ice, people in Europe would give me a nasty look and bring me just two ice cubes, sometimes charging me for the ice. Here in America, it felt good to get iced tea with a glass full of ice!

Coming home made me realize that it is not only the experiences and journeys that shaped who I am, but the people I am around and the location I choose to live. I was happy to be able to meet so many new people on my journey, and I was fortunate to be able to return home to people who missed me. I hoped to be able to discover myself more by exploring new destinations, but if there is one thing I learned it is not a single destination or a single person that makes me who I am. I am who I am because of everyone, having absorbed a little bit of the good and bad of each person as well as a variety of cultures and tastes. The more people I meet and places I see, the more diverse I will become as an individual, and the more defined I will become. Travel does wonders for the body and soul.

The city is very beautiful, and there is an immense number of small restaurants with sidewalk seating, with nearly all of them carrying the same “fancy” French style and cooking. Paris is known for its cuisine, and it definitely shows as you walk through the city, with so many places offering limited menus for the house specialty. I have to admit that the French have the most… “unique” cuisine of the places I’ve visited, with snails, rabbit, liver, and raw beef all routine parts of every menu. I really had to be careful tip-toeing around the menus to be sure I ordered something I could eat. And even when I ordered something well done, it still came immensely pink in the center. Those with sensitive stomachs would probably have the most difficult time in Paris, or would spend a lot of time drinking the wine!

The amazing thing to me about Paris compared to other major cities in Europe was the almost complete lack of English anywhere you went. The French are extremely proud of their language, more so than most, and they are extremely protective of it as well. There is a French law banning any sign or menu to be print solely in English with a stiff fine carried as a penalty. Everything must be documented in French, and while it is permissible to have an accompanying bi-lingual translation, very few places offer this. It was fortunate I took a few years of French in high school, so I was a little more capable of recognizing certain things on the menu or some signs; but for the most part I was truly lost, and it felt wrong to ask someone for help.

The French are among some of the snootiest people in the world, and I literally found this fact out with people giving me looks of exasperation every time I would ask for some help, and I later learned that this was because I spoke English. Some local people told me that for the longest time, the French waiters and shopkeepers behaved even worse, until so many tourists reported poor experiences visiting Paris that the local Chamber of Commerce sent out notices pleading for an improvement. Since then, there has been an improvement, but I could still certainly feel their stiff wind during my stay there.

Stiff wind or no, I spent an enormous time walking the big city seeing as much of the sights as possible, including spending an extended amount of time inside the Louvre. When I visited the Eiffel tower for the first time I actually thought to myself that I had seen this before; and I realized that I had! I had seen scale models of the Eiffel in both Kings Island, an amusement park in Ohio and in Las Vegas at the Paris Hotel. It pretty much looked precisely the same, except the real thing was much bigger! There was a line approximately an hour long to go up the tower, and there were three decks with the third deck being the highest, and obviously the most popular deck (of course I was going to go up there!). Halfway through standing in line after 30-minutes, a sign came up closing the third deck for the remainder of the evening for whatever reason! I was terribly disappointed and faced with a decision; see the second deck, or leave the line and return tomorrow and go all the way up. I absolutely couldn’t come all this way and not get to the top, so I hopped out of line and left to return bright and early. The next morning, I showed up at 8:30 am, and even though the tower opened at 9, there was already a line forming that I got in. As soon as the line opened at 9, I quickly got in but an enormous crowd had formed alongside the tower for what was surely to be a 3-hour wait for some. I was glad I had arrived so early! The view from the top of the Eiffel tower was stunning, and offered a 360-degree perspective of the city.

Paris is absolutely a beautiful city, and it is definitely a romantic place to take somebody. Parisians love their city and are extremely proud of the culture they have within their city and it is obvious. Every summer, the city dumps sand along the banks of the Seine River, so the locals who cannot afford to go away can relax in the city. It was quite an interesting sight to see, especially in an area as dense as Paris!

Overwhelmed with art and history, and my trip winding down, I really took the time to relax and soak in the atmosphere while dining in Paris. And an interesting sight to see; a lot of Parisians go out for a Coke at night, nursing their drink as many of us would go out for a beer! It is not uncommon to see people sitting outside drinking a tall cold glass of coke out of a glass bottle; delicious!

Being alone on the Rails in Europe has truly been a liberating experience. With each stop in each city, I feel as if I leave a little bit of behind at each unique destination, and pick up something new about myself. I’ve gained a new perspective that is appreciative of the global picture. Like a potted houseplant, if you stay in one place too long, you’re going to start to bend in one direction towards the sunlight. But by continuously moving the plant around, you’re able to avoid a warped stem and have a perfectly straight and natural plant. Like a potted plant restricted to American soil, I too need to be repositioned in different angles from the sunlight, so I may grow healthy and exposed.

I have not really met many Americans while traveling although there are a fair share of American tourists. The majority of the people I have met have been from within Europe, the UK, and Asia. Its clear that the exchange rate has made American tourists suffer, and it certainly has cut into my expenses as well. Often when I talk with some one, they usually bring up the exchange rate as a topic of conversation. People ask me why I do it, but I say that Europe is too grand to be missed for a few dollars (or Euro). The very interesting thing is Europeans are very optimistic regarding our economy and they regard the current state of affairs as Bush’s doing (being very careful not to offend me, to which I say impossible!). They believe that Obama will be the next president and our economy will be stronger than ever. Its very odd to me that with the strong Euro, the Europeans appear to still feel uneasy over the weak dollar and would prefer to see the dollar bounce back.

Its funny, and quite strange but people (obvious tourists) often come up to me and ask for directions or local information. It often surprises them that I’m not Italian, German, or Dutch. When I meet somebody, their first guess has rarely been that I am American, and the response to that varies from nationality to nationality. And it often is because of my deafness; they usually don’t hear me speak, and my English wouldn’t give me away until we engage in a conversation.

When I was taking the train with a Brazilian family, they actually had each made guesses before asking me where I came from, and they shrieked “American!” to each other when I revealed my identity. An Indian man that approached me for help in the Rome airport to find the city centre via train (where I was going) was shocked to learn I was not Italian but still knowledgeable of where to go. He was very appreciative, until I said I was American and he shot me a horribly dirty look and went off to the other end of the platform. I was only happy to help.

Living in Washington DC has exposed me to many beggars and peddlers to which I have become immune to. I am used to simply pointing to my ears pretending I didn’t understand the request before moving on my way. In Europe, its quite fun to play a different game however. One of the favorite phrases I learned in high school French is “Je ne sais pas” which basically means “I don’t know” and to a Frenchman, it means you probably don’t speak French either. (Je ne parle pas Francais) While traveling, twice I was approached by beggars once in Amsterdam and once in Rome asking if I spoke English. Instead of pointing to my ears as I typically do, I replied je ne sais pas. Sure enough, I was left alone!

When I was in Munich, I met a Frenchman who I asked to take a picture of me. I had asked him in English to do so, and after the picture I learned he was French. Eager to practice my French I flatly said Je ne parle pas Francais. He laughed and apologized that he didn’t speak German, so fair enough. I was confused, then realized he thought I was German. I corrected him when I told him I was American, and he should have caught it because I spoke English. He shrugged and said that English is a common language between those from different places. The interesting thing I got out of that conversation was that English truly is the language that networks global communication gaps. Bilingualism is critical, and the majority of Europeans are capable of speaking, reading, and writing English because it becomes a secondary language when communicating with other cultures.

It is currently much easier to navigate Europe than it was 20 years ago, when English was hardly anywhere near as widespread as it is today. And for those who are fickle about eating some local foods, there’s a McDonald’s in pretty much every city (unfortunately). And Starbucks is pretty much there for the taking if you look hard enough for it (I didn’t!).

We all have choices in how we want to live our lives, and it is our individual preference in how we want to do so. Some choose to live their lives for themselves and their families, choosing basic survival over societal positioning. Others choose to affirm their statehood or national pride, taking their birthright as a source of living. And then there are others who choose to live their lives as human; those who look at one and another and contemplate their insignificance in the cosmic picture. To understand your place on the cosmic scale, you must understand who you are and what your place is. This does not mean American, European, male, female, deaf or hearing. This means understanding what true global diversity means, and how humans have interacted with each other throughout all of time. Because to do this means you are able to take advantage of these archetypes to contemplate and apply solutions to your own present-day life. Like the common bonds of the deaf experience, the Gallaudet experience or even the male/female experience; humans are linked by the experience of life and while society has grown tremendously throughout the years, it has changed very little. What used to make us individuals is quickly becoming a collective experience brought closer together and accelerated by technology.

It used to take months to travel from America to certain places in Europe, and now it’s likely a direct flight away. For thousands of years, the only way to actually learn about a culture was to take the tremendous journey to visit the place, rely on second hand information, or read books that may become outdated. But today we have access to knowledge through movies, books, Internet, and global business. And flights are just a few hours long these days. Humans have had to quickly adapt and find ways to use this sudden globalization to our benefit. I think we realize that for all our cultural differences, we’re not all that different.

1.    heyyy! yeahhh i strongly suggest you to go to Interlaken, Switzerland and camp outside at Balmer’s- surrounded by ‘em beautiful mountains. rent a scooter and ride through the town to explore and ofc the mountains, too! you’d see the waterfalls.. and u would be able to drink any spring water you see. the best water i ever tasted to fulfill your “Switzerland” experience- you must taste their Swiss cheese & chocolate! Interlaken is the mecca for extreme sports- you can go hang gliding there if you wish.. or other extreme activities. it’s a little bit pricey there, but hey- worth the fun!
2.    you better touch prague, czech if you have the time. one of the most breath-taking places I ever seen.
3.    have fun traveling!

After doing some research, not only is Switzerland much cooler than Italy up in the mountains, but I found this great Hostel called Funny Farm that had a swimming pool! Looking into it further, Brooke was exactly right when she says I could rent a scooter and do extreme sports. So Switzerland I went to! I took a night train, to get my first “sleeper car” experience. I slept in a compartment that held six beds with a family of five from Brazil. The family was extremely friendly, and we spent about an hour chatting and learning about each other before we fell asleep. I had the top bunk, and the car was extremely hot because there were six of us in such a tight space. It was very difficult to get any sleep. The train left Rome at 10:30 pm and arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland at 5:40am after a change in nearby Spiez at 5:15am. The only thing on my mind when I arrived was to check in the hostel and go straight to sleep. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed when I was told that I would be unable to check in until 4pm. I even offered to pay for another day if I could check in early, but the hostel was completely full. Exhausted from the difficult sleep on the train ride, I decided to go to a nearby park where I took a nap on a bench. I woke up at 8am when things started to open and explored town.

Interlaken is extremely beautiful and it has an interesting and in my opinion, inconsistent economy. The Swiss do not use the Euro as well, and instead they use the Swiss Franc (CHF). The CHF is nearly identical in value to the US dollar, with $100 getting you 95 CHF. Hotel rooms were priced as they would be in America, and my hostel bed at the Funny Farm was just 35 CHF. Souvenirs and gas were cheaper than usual, and a Scooter rental was one of the cheapest I’ve ever had, with just 10 CHF per hour! But where the Swiss are really going to get you is with food! The most basic meal of a cheeseburger and fries will cost you 15 CHF, and drinks cost 4 to 5 CHF. If you want a sampler of the delicious Swiss cheese fondue, it will set you back nearly 50 CHF. But let me tell you, the food was worth it!

Killing time until 4 pm, I rented a scooter and scooted my way nearly to the top of the glacier, visiting Grindelwald, a beautiful town nestled in the mountains. It certainly was a peaceful and enjoyable ride, and I stopped off on the way back to drink some water from a small river, fresh, pure, and ice cold from the melting glaciers. When I got back, I made appointments for the following day for two of the most extreme activities you can find; Hang Gliding and Canyon Jumping! When 4pm finally rolled around, I finally checked in, and I got the bottom bunk in a very neat room of 8 beds. From my bed I had a fantastic view of the mountains and I loved every bit of it. The Funny Farm has many activities, with a swimming pool, several bars and consistent happy hours, It also has restaurants, a night club, a nightly bonfire, and operates an extreme sports center right out of the front lobby, Alpin Raft. I put my stuff away and jumped right in the pool, which was as cold and refreshing as I needed it to be.

The next morning, I got up bright and early to go hang gliding with Hang Gliding Interlaken. They picked me up at the front lobby of my hostel and we drove to a nearby field where we would be landing the hang glider. There I met Didu Baertschi, who with 25 years of experience and over 10,000 flights, would be my tandem pilot for the day. Hang gliding is an extremely specialized sport, and it is very difficult to serve the demand. Paragliding is extremely popular in Interlaken, and it is a peaceful parachute ride with over 70 certified tandem pilots in Interlaken. Hang gliding however is a more thrilling experience with less than 10 qualified pilots in Interlaken. I was fortunate to be with one of the best, and talking with Didu, I made sure that he would give me as thrilling ride as possible as a tandem, I wanted him to pull all the stops. Loops, stalls, and dives, you name it! His response was that I could call him Evel Knievel, and he had the starry helmet to back it up!

We drove up to the top of a mountain, where we would need to make a running start downhill to create the upward draft for the wind to pick us up off the mountain. The running start is extremely important, because we need to generate enough speed to be lifted off the mountain or we could end up in a nasty, ugly tumble downhill as the mountain gets steeper. As we practiced a few steps and went through a few basic motions, we were ready to go on our way! We had a flawless launch and the sensation of the wind picking us up off the mountain was truly the most natural feeling of flight I have ever experienced. We started slowly, cruising around for some spectacular views of Interlaken and the lakes. After a while, we were ready for some tricks! Evel Kinevel put me through a thrilling ride, with several dives and loops, taking us over some treetops and a restaurant, where people dining outside were treated to an exciting sight as we dove over the rooftop. Hang gliding really is a smooth flying experience that anyone should attempt if they ever have the opportunity to. If something goes wrong, we have a parachute ready to deploy to take us gently to the ground (hang glider still attached!) But Didu confesses that after 25 years, he really doesn’t know how to use it, because he’s never needed to. But he assured me that if he had to, he would be able to! After landing, I hopped with joy thanking the people there for such a fantastic experience. I was filled with adrenaline, and ready to go to my next activity, which might be one of the craziest things I’ve ever done!

VIDEO: HANG GLIDING & CANYON JUMPING

I met in the back of the Funny Farm at the Alpin Raft facility, and went with a group of about 10 to the top of a mountain in Grindelwald where I had been yesterday with my scooter. What I had not seen or done yesterday was the deep canyon where I would be leaping off a platform hundreds of feet down into a gorge. Interlaken has bungee jumping, and even at the same location where I would canyon jump. But bungee jumping will take you only about 1/3 of the way down the canyon before the rope will begin to stretch out, and bounce you up and down. What I was about to do was leap off a platform and fall nearly all the way down to the rushing river below before a rope would pick up the slack and swing me through the narrow canyon walls over the river, swinging me like a pendulum. With many people preferring to bungee jump, I was one of the few who chose to canyon jump! I have serious ambitions to go BASE jumping, which is pretty much the same thing except using a parachute instead of a rope. I thought this would be a great first step towards BASE jumping, getting the experience of jumping off a cliff!

I was truly excited and confident as we prepared to make our jump. We were required to sign a funny contract that had several stipulations such as “pregnant women who want to jump must be pretty stupid but it will charge for two,” and “my mom does not know I’m here!” But the serious part of the contract said that anything that happened was my own responsibility, and Alpin Raft was not responsible for injury (yeah right) or death (definitely if the rope broke). But I knew that the Swiss would not want to kill a tourist and scare the others away, and I was confident that they had made the structure safe, otherwise they would not be bringing people up there to do it every single day. With a few simple instructions and a safety harness, when it came my turn I was as ready as ever. After a countdown from the guide, I leaped off the platform head first and spread my arms wide for a 200-foot breakneck drop straight down the canyon. It was nearly 3-5 seconds of free fall and absolute faith before the rope would pick up the slack, and true to my trust, the rope picked me up and sent me swinging over the rushing river for an exhilarating swing that I will never forget.

Why I do this kind of thing, I don’t know, but I do know that I never feel more human or challenged then when I put absolute faith in a person that I had met hours ago to harness me properly, look me in the eye, and give me a thumbs up. I should be insane, entrusting my life in these people, and a headline would simply read “Man Jumps to Death.” It’s kind of stupid, but that’s the fun of it, putting my trust in an almost-stranger, even if he looks at me funny. Would I recommend canyon jumping to anybody? Not as quickly as I would recommend hang gliding. But if you’ve got the extreme, thrill-seeking person inside of you, absolutely! There’s nothing like it.

The town of Interlaken is filled with extremely laid back and diverse people, and a very unique culture and way of life. Flowers adorn nearly every windowsill, and people value the cleanliness and appearance of everything about themselves and their homes. I continued to meet and enjoy talking with many different people, and even in a nearby internet cafe, the man operating the cafe also edits skydiving videos for people while working. He approached me and asked me what “Deaf Music” was, and I admit I was unsure what he meant by that. Then he explained that recently a deaf person went skydiving there, and he requested that “deaf music” be played on the soundtrack. I immediately figured out what he meant, and I said that he must have wanted something with a lot of bass and an excellent beat. He showed me a few samples, and I said those were absolutely the type of songs that deaf people would enjoy. Then he went even further to find and show me the video of the deaf person who went skydiving, and I was stunned that I knew him! A friend of mine from Gallaudet had gone to Interlaken just a month ago with his parents, and he jumped out a plane during his trip! What a small world it is indeed!

I have to absolutely thank Brooke for her suggestion to go to Interlaken, and it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable weekends I have ever had. The mountains provided an extremely stunning backdrop wherever I went, and Switzerland has turned out to be the most favorite country I have visited. I will miss Switzerland as I move on to my next destination!

Funny Farm
Mattenhof Resort AG
Hauptstrasse 36
CH-3800 Interlaken
Switzerland
www.funny-farm.ch
info@funny-farm.ch

Hang Gliding Interlaken
Brunngasse 30
3800 Interlaken
Switzerland
www.hangglidinginterlaken.com
info@hangglidinginterlaken.com

Alpin Raft GmbH

Hauptstrasse 7
3800 Interlaken
www.alpinraft.ch
info@alpinraft.com

But things started to pick up quickly when I searched for and found a hostel and got myself checked in. A lot of the places are full, and I saw many people being turned away, but being alone does have its advantages! There are many single beds, and as long as I am willing to bunk with someone else, there is probably a single bed in many hostels. For those who do not know the difference between a hotel and a hostel, a hotel will give you a private room while a hostel is almost dormitory style, with several bunk beds (anywhere from 2-16 beds) in a single room with a shared bathroom.  A hotel can easily go for more than €100-€200 per night (and upwards!) but a bed in a hostel will set you back just €25-€40 depending on where you are.

This was actually my first time in a hostel, and while I have heard horror storries about the degraded quality of some (and fortunately I have not seen the horror movie Hostel either!), I was lucky that my first experience was a very positive one. The hostel was in a great location in the heart of Rome, and I spent the majority of my first day exploring the ancient ruins and temples such as the Coliseum, and the Panthenon. It truly is mindblowing how this type of architecture was not only possible so many years ago with the lack of technology that exists today, but is capable of being preserved over thousands of years.

Rome is an enormous city, and is filled with many interesting, twisting side streets that pull you towards delicious Italian restaurants and unique shops. There is a lot of walking to be done, and at the end of my first day I was exhausted as I went to sleep, stomach full of the most delicious spaghetti I had ever eaten. (No offense, mom!)

The following morning, I checked out of the hostel and made my way west to the Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps), where I would check in the Five-Star Hassler de Roma hotel, situated in the best location in Rome on top of the steps. The Hassler is 100% privately owned by deaf Hotelier Roberto Wirth, one of the most successful deaf businessmen in the world, and has repeately been named the number-1 Hotel in all of Rome. This was definitely an experience in itself! I had scheduled an interview with Mr. Wirth, and will be writing an article on DeafNation. The view from the Hassler is one of the three best views in all of Rome, with a nearly unobstructed 360° view that really lets you appreciate the beauty of the city. My room that night was truly excessive for just one person. But that didn´t stop me from soaking in the royal treatment, and I gave my exhausted legs a bit of a break by sinking into what seemed like a bed of pillows that night. The area around the Hassler is fitting of a Five-Star hotel, with many expensive shops and restarants surrounding the area.

That day I stayed close to the hotel, exploring Villa Bourgese, right behind the Spanish Steps, a huge park very similar to Central Park with many beautiful hidden sculptures placed throughout the park for you to discover as you walk. Rome, if not all of Europe places a great emphasis on artwork, and it continues to blow my mind how so many pieces of art can be preserved so long. America has such a short history, and we are a society of Phoenixes, apparently preferring to live in a cycle of continuous building, tearing down, and rebuilding to maintain our way of living. That night, I spent several hours sitting on the steps of Piazza di Spagna socializing and meeting several interesting characters that night. Hundreds of years ago, when the steps were first built, artists and writers alike used to gather on the steps as they found it a terrific place for them to work on their artistic pieces. To this day, the steps are still a terrific gathering place for people to sit outside and think, write, draw, paint, or talk. The steps are packed all day long with tourists snapping photographs, and at the same time you can see that there are locals and more relaxed individuals really soaking up the environment as intended. Since the steps remain busy nearly all day long, it is a great place to observe people. There are so many different kinds, and they each have their own reason for being there. There are backpackers, tour groups, artists, students, locals, young, old, local, and tourist. Some are there because it is a stop on their tour, while others find this their best source of simulation. There are beggars and sellers, trying to make whatever money they can. Some are like me, and have no reason for being there. We are simply there to be a part of something that has endured generations of change and stability, whatever that something may be.

The following morning was my third day in Rome, and I was never more depressed to check out of a hotel than I was at the Hassler. I knew that this was going to be the best night of sleep I had during my entire two weeks, and I am a guy who loves a good night´s sleep! With my backpack growing heavier by the day, I slung the 50-pound bag over my shoulders and made my way even further west to the Vatican City, which is to a Catholic like myself, the holiest place in the world and where each Pope resides during their life, and eternally after their death. I have heard many stories about how the lines to get in the Vatican stretch for hours long, as everyone wants to have their chance to enter the smallest independent state in the world. I had intially planned on getting up at 7am and being ready to enter as soon as the gates open at 8, but I learned that this was actually the worst thing to do.

Everyone else is as “smart“ as I am, and everyone thinks the best way to beat the line is to beat the line first thing in the morning (which I had planned on doing). But the best advice I got was from the bellman at the Hassler, who said the best thing to do is to go in after the line. The entrance to the city closes at 4pm, and everyone else is sure to budget plenty of time to see the city so they go early as possible. The advice I got was to show up around 2:30, because not only would the line have dispersed by then, but I would not be kicked out of the Vatican precisely at 4. Sure enough, when I got to the Vatican around noon (I made sure to use every minute at the Hassler possible!), I saw an enormous line stretching around several blocks and corners. I took this time to get a good lunch, and explore the surrounding markets and shops, and by the time 2pm rolled around, I walked straight up to the entrance, no line to suffer in!

Visiting the Vatican was an awesome experience on two levels. The first was the experience of being a Catholic and seeing up close where the global centre of Catholicism is really is an inspiring thing to participate in. The second is the tremendous amount of art preserved within the Vatican, and at this point I would be hard pressed to find another museum or entity that has more significant art and religious documentation than the Vatican. I know that the Smithsonian has some of the largest collections in the world, but I am certain that the Vatican has so many more significant pieces. Walking through walls and temples, I actually wondered to myself if this was actually excessive. Unfortunately the world today does not place the same emphasis on art as it does in the past, and perhaps it was a cultural awakening in ancient Rome that really tested humans artistic abilities, pushing it to the limit that quelled our thirst for the hundreds of years that followed. How much more perfect can sculptures of man become? The perfect porportions of marble make up men and women who stand before you perfectly perserved, their motionless expressions looking  precisely as they did when the stones were first carved. Its quite a thought to behold, and I almost felt as if I were alive hundreds of years ago as I walked the halls of the Vatican.

I visited the Tomb of Pontiffs, where the majority of the Popes throughout Catholicism´s history are buried. It truly is an eerie feeling, to be deep beneath St. Peter´s Bastille in the same room with about 50 of the most religious men to ever walk the earth. The greatest crowd was gathered around Pope John Paul II´s tomb, and while photos were explicitly prohibited in the tomb, being the mischevious Catholic I am, I managed to snap off a perfect photo before security berated me! They insisted I delete the photo, but I insisted that I failed to snap a photo before they apprehended me, and they took my word. The truth was, I had gotten the picture I wanted!

To visit the Sistine Chapel, you are required to walk through countless rooms and chapels to reach your final destination, and when going room-by-room, I realized that each room has its own theme and tells its own story, each detail carefully and intentionally captured for a reason, just like each word in a history book is intentionally penned. I was rewarded with a thought-provoking journey through what appears to be the closest relationship to Jesus Christ you could have, with the maze telling the story of Christ´s life. The art is a historican documentation, and going room-by-room gives you a perspective of the world at that time as seen through artistic eyes. Christ was real, one form or another, and after visiting the Vatican, I don´t doubt this. There is much hidden behind the Vatican Walls, and perhaps it is this secular knowledge that propels the Church´s faith to be as strong and everlasting as it is through the years. But unfairly, knowledge is not faith, and I would love to explore the hidden catacombs of the Vatican and have the knowledge of what lies behind these walls that I am certain the Pope has. Unfortunately, I could only take what the tour provided.

After a long day in the Vatican City, and three days in Rome, I felt I was satisfied with the city and ready to move on somewhere else. I had no idea what I was going to do next, with so many options in front of me. The only thing I did know was that I had been sweating for the last three days and I wanted to either find some water to swim in, or go somewhere cooler!

Groningen is the second largest city in the northern Netherlands, and with a population of more than 180,000, Groningen is known as a university city with more than 45,000 students who attend the local universities. Groningen was a great place to visit, because although it has a vibrant night life to support the universities, it is not very touristy and the restaurants and shops catered to the locals, with very reasonable prices. Groningen is the site of the second Deaf school in Europe, founded in 1795 and I had the opportunity to visit the original site. The deaf school had been torn down to build the city courthouse, but a memorial honoring the school’s founder in a park still remained. The deaf school was moved to what some said was a better location just outside the city with more land, a place I didn’t have the chance to visit.

Pieterburen was certainly the most unique place I’ve ever visited in my life, a tiny village with less than 400 residents. It was interesting when the locals described the town as “unique” without a city centre, and instead the town was just one narrow street. I remarked that this was very American, and I felt right at home looking down parallel shops rather than walking down expanding circles from the centre of town. Almost everything in town closes down between 5-8pm, and one night when I wasn’t feeling very hungry, I was advised to eat anyway since I wouldn’t be able to buy anything later that night.

Pieterburen is known for “the Wad” strip of land where the Wadden sea retreats in and out more than 30 miles, either making the large strip either submerged up to 10 feet in water, or a barren muddy landscape where seals thrive. The Dutch are master dyke-builders, and it was for this main reason that I wanted to come out and see the Wad. Immediately behind where the water recedes in and out are miles and miles of low lying farmland. Dividing the two is an enormous natural dyke made of earth. Interestingly, the dyke is maintained year-round, not by employees but rather sheep.

Sheep are gated in on the Dyke, and while they cannot go more than 40 yards wide, they have miles and miles of dyke-land to graze on. The sheep’s hooves are narrow and firm, and simply by walking on the dyke, they are able to continuously pack the earth, keeping it firm. There is a quote on a memorial honoring the locals in Pieterburen. A rough translation reads, “If you do not like to build dykes, then leave.” Water control is of immense importance in a country situated so close to water, and so dependent on farming, and there is no doubt that the Dutch place great emphasis on this. When discussing dyke building with the locals, New Orleans is often a theme that comes up, and since Hurricane Katrina, Dutch engineers have traveled to the United States to assist in preventing a tragedy like that from ever occurring again.

I’ve had enough of the countryside here, and I’m going to be taking a flight to Rome. It is just a three-hour plane ride compared to 20 on the train, and I decided I wanted to save a full day and use that time walking a city instead of riding a train!