Arriverderci, au revoir, aufwiedersen, hasta la vista

"I quite agree with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of that is -- `Be what you would seem to be' -- or, if you'd like it put more simply -- `Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'"
Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

"The fact is that the average tourist, of whatever nation, views the life of a foreign country in its more trivial aspects and fails to display his own best qualities. This applies not only to European tourists but also to those from the Western Hemisphere, with the result that Europeans who have never left their own continent get a very false impression of Americans."
Bertrand Russell - "Mortals and Others" 1975

As I sit here, writing my Letter from New York, I can hear through the open window, the sounds of children playing. Looking outside I see them, running around under springtime trees in the enveloping dusk of a sunny spring day. Parents are standing around, talking and smiling and a few childless couple sit on the park benches reading books.

A week ago today I was in another country. On a cold and windy railway station, waiting for a train that was 30 minutes late, then 40 minutes. While those of us needing the train for making a connection, waited as per the instructions, near the "Information Center", the train unexpectedly arrived ahead of its late scheduled time and immediately left. Standing around, standed, we were two of fifteen people with destinations north, south, east and west, which they were now unable to connect to...

Two days late in the city we were destined for, while waiting on that cold and windy station, we took a hop-on-hop-off tourist bus. We'd have preferred to make our own way about town, but given the travel messups, our time was short. Paying $60 US we boarded the bus, and tuned the dial of the comms board to "English". We got out at the second stop. "A bus will be by in 30 minutes", the tour guide called out.

After a pleasant cobble-stoned walk we returned to the pick-up point. And waited. And waited. And waited. An hour passed. We called the company. "Wait ten minutes" we were told. We did. No bus. After several calls we gave up. Another company's tour bus picked us up. "They're always dumping tourists", the driver explained.

Without seeing much of the city, we took a train (this time it was on time) to the airport. Next stop-off, a major world city.

Airport staff were rude, and people on the street refused to budge an inch. Knocked and battered we arrived at the hotel. Yes, we have Internet access, we were told. And when we didn't. "Oh, it is only in some rooms and we don't know which ones", was the explanation, given with a confidence born of either arrogance or ignorance. The bill was a mess and we were clearly overcharged.

Still it was a pleasant trip. W saw relatives and old friends. We experienced three countries in a short time. And the weather was great.

So which cities were these? I'm in Manhattan now as the children happily play. The train was late in Germany. We were dumped by an unscrupulous bus company in Copenhagen. And the polite Londoners shoved us in the streets and got the bill wrong.

Did we venture through the Looking Glass into a topsy turvy upside down world? Or did the experiences we had only seem untypical because of the national stereotypes we've been indoctrinated with?

Whatever... I'm back in New York, where people amble around the streets, chldren play peacefully, check-out staff smile and say "Have a nice day", and the sun shines.

Kate Juliff
New York
April 2002