OP you had a BIG problem admitting your snobbery, clinging to it deep into the conversation and apologizing for posting only after many many people ripped you apart. And excuse me, it was your post that was provocative. I was just agreeing with the people who wrote so beautifully about differing interests.

I still don't get how what you said was ironic. Also, you assume I ran way but no, the mods deleted my post lol.

Why do I love to travel? Because I love to not be able to count on points of reference. And why is that? Because I am curious to see how I react when stripped of them. And why is that? Because I am curious as to who I am. And why do I want to know? Because I think I am worth getting to know. And why is that? Because I like the idea of me.

Travel fills a need that I have, and without going too deeply into my psyche, that need is to function no matter what. I love a good challenge. . . I really enjoy not knowing what is going on around me and trying to figure it out. I love sitting in a room full of people speaking a language I have no idea of and listening to them laugh and express themselves. Sometimes I laugh with them because happiness is not just what is being said, but how it is delivered, and I get that even if I don't understand it.

Now, whether the person I am getting to know is really me, that remains to be seen (because we all change and being is circumstancial to begin with), but so far I am pretty happy with my endeavours.

Claire

Yes Fidel the mods did delete your post (and mine as well). You never did respond to my question. You can dislike what Guy18 said all you want, but what does being a teacher have to do with it?

That's a very good question, smueller. There are things I like to see or enjoy when I travel (like real ale or art museums or good walks), but the pleasures of travel for me are more basic. When I meet other people on my travels, they don't care what I do for a living or how much money I make or how large my house is or any of a myriad of competitive activities that seem to define modern life (though maybe my perceptions are skewed by university life). When I travel I'm not subsumed by a professional identity that is very difficult to escape from (I am a college teacher in a small town; I run into students and colleagues everywhere!). I hope that this does not sound totally narcissistic, but I think one of the primary reasons why I enjoy traveling is that I feel like in going to new and different places I am somehow re-introduced to myself. When I travel I don't have to be in relation to other people; I feel like I can just be.

Fidel--big, dramatic words are often used when more restrained ones could be employed for any number of reasons. One reason might even be lighthearted self-mockery. Yes, I was being ironic when I said pity and contempt. Would I really have contempt for those whom I love? And yes, it took me a while to realize that I was being taken way too literally. That's when I explained myself better. And honestly, I only felt that a couple of post-ers had intended to "rip me apart." Any that did were far more intolerant than my original post, or at least my post as I had intended it. To whatever extent I still may wonder about those who can afford to travel, have no fear or phobias or medical conditions that would prevent it, children or pets who need to be tended to, or a lifetime of travel behind them, and still have no desire to experience another culture, well, I admit to that (as have several people on this thread). I hope that is my very worst fault.

I think the "problem" with this thread is it is extremely difficult to convey tone over the internet. If we heard Guy speaking the original paragraph likely we all would have picked up the irony and humor he was attempting to convey.

Along those lines "ripping him apart" was not how I wrote my or read any of the other replies.

Oh, Nina, the answer to disagreements with your husband is very simple: bring bottles of local wine back from vacations!

I had a woman who asked me last night if Japan was IN China .... *gulp*

To my non-travellers' friends and family defense: they are uncomfortable (read: terrified) with the thoughts of being on "vacation" on a land where they dont speak the language, know their way around, etc...

Japan was in China in the 30s and 40s. And in Korea, and in Indochina, and in Malaya, and in Burma, and...

Suze, I know you weren't ripping me apart. It only sounded that way at first. Thanks for coming to my defense, by the way. Tone IS hard to convey over the internet.

And don't people innocently judge each others' tastes all the time? Whether it be about McDonalds food or rap music or Danielle Steele novels? And is there really any harm in that? I can't help coming back to my classroom where so many of my experiences take place...My students and I are always poking gentle fun of each others' disparate preferences. No one is ever offended by it, and no one has any real "contempt" for the other. Pity? Maybe a little bit

If anyone thinks I've seemed intolerant, you should go over to the "Too many Americans" thread and see how various groups are being depicted! (Not least of all the visitors to my own fair town.) I know enough not to jump into that fray...

<And don't people innocently judge each others' tastes all the time?>

Speaking for myself, I try very hard not to. Yes, I do think there is harm in it. I am a big believer in people minding their own business.

Guy, When you post your whimsical thoughts on an open internet forum, you should expect that people will voice their opinions in return. This is not your classroom, you are not the teacher.

this thread reminds me of an article I read about the opening of Venezia, a large resort hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At the opening people were interviewed for their reactions. A not unique response was, "Now that I've seen this I don't have to bother seeing the one over in Italy"

Before anyone blasts me, I'm just reporting this sentiment, not judging it. I personally like the version in Italy because there are more people who speak italian there than in Las Vegas

Years ago some north americans did not travel because they perceived their lack of foreign language skills might leave them vulnerable abroad. That would hardly be a reason today with the penetration of english throught much of the known world.

While I was fortunate to learn spanish as a child, pick up french on graduate student age bicycle trips across France and combine the 2 in middle age to gain some skill in italian ( I'm looking for italian conversation ops in Victoria BC if anyone's interested), I've had some of my most enjoyable travel experiences in Japan where I don't speak much more than "Konnichi-wa"

As Mucky says, "each to their own I guess..."

AndrewDavid

Gosh, suze, then we do disagree. People can blast me for my "whimsical" thoughts all they want. It was naive of me to think that they would be uniformly taken in the spirit in which they were intended.

Can't imagine what the classroom comment would mean.

I'll take the good, learn from the bad and move on.

Well I mentioned it because I thought you were comparing this discussion to the ones you and your students have together, poking gentle fun of each other and such. Just consider this... that -lol.

Oh, I see. It was the "you're not the teacher" part that threw me off. Seemed a bit snide, but I could be wrong. Yes, I had hoped that a forum on which I have participated for a few weeks now could be as open and nurturing as my classroom. Like I said, very naive of me.

You're calling Suze "snide" - after your opening remarks?

Too funny (or something).

One would think that a teacher of English would be able to accurately monitor her written "tone" to convey intended humor/irony/whatever. Face it, OP was pwned, no, PWNED. I didn't get the Instructions to Nuture, thought it was a travel chat.

This thread, the Mother of all those board-clogging threads that give rules on the one and only correct way to live your life, must die.

A person I know states confidently that I travel because I am not settled and always looking for happiness somewhere else. She is perfectly happy to fix up her home and stay in it most of the time, leaving it only to visit her sister in the next city.

It is all a difference of opinion.

Much rather be PWNED, as you say, than PWN others. Have a feeling you go through life gloating over those you perceive yourself to have PWNED. Sad for you, really.

Okay, someone needs to tell me what PWN or PWNED means, because I just can't figure it out. Help, please.