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Post by RangoA@live.com on Jun 24, 2008 13:18:03 GMT -5
 The three days we were in London, it rained the whole time we there, almost. We asked, why is it so rainy here? Our tour guides told us that in London (for most of every year including 1984 when we there) it rained most of the time. So, we were already prepared for anything at that time. We had our rain gear on and had apparel ready for different weather types. One thing that was difficult to adjust to was the time difference. It was a good thing we were all so young at the time or we wouldn't have been able to acclimate ourselves to all these new places, persons and so on and so forth. London was very similar to NYC, for me. It was NYC on a much larger, richer and deeper scale of our own culture and the United Kingdom's. In the way it was so, were that these countries in the UK were much older and had innovated, developed and gone through so much in their much longer history as modern nations that it was most important to understand how we, as americans, should know why we should/are/do appreciate everything our own country gives and takes from us. We left London and went straight to Paris at that point. I was ready for french things, you know what I mean by that. I acted like I didn't like french people when I shyly really did like them a lot after finding out the hard way why I did and why I should give them a dose of my upbringing. Although, there were so many beautiful/wonderful experiences in Paris, the one I felt the most uncomfortable with was going to a french restaurant (again) and having to say I didn't like the french and french food, when really I did very much. I had just come down from the Eiffel Tower and this restaurant was on some verdanda on one side of the Eiffel Tower. My tour guides from America and England made me mad enough to actually act and say these things to the host of the restaurant. I said that and they said that right back to me about americans, so I ordered some dish really french so they wouldn't get too mad at me and the waiter said to me, in good english for sure, and came back to my table about an half and hour later with a ham sandwich and french fries which was completely the opposite of what I ordered. I objected just like I was supposed too and he got angry at me and said too bad, take it or leave it. I took it because I was happy to even be there at the time. The Eiffel Tower was majestic and certainly lived up to it's reputation of being one of the seven man-made wonders of the world, so naturally I was in a great mood at the time that occured. The rest of Paris was profoundingly similar to american life. Fast paced and rich in culture were the most similar things I noticed. For example, Notre Dame Cathedral wasn't that different from St. Paul's Cathedral (an Anglican High Church), that we visited in London, and St. Patrick's Cathedral (an Catholic High Church) in the US so that was somewhat unexpected. What was really unexpected was that Paris was six hours ahead of american time and London was five hours ahead of us. I thought, since these countries were so geographically close to each other that they were in the same time zone. So, I had to get used to another time difference right off the bat. We took a ride on the Seine River in a like Mississippi River Boat, which was already unexpected, and we got to know how old that major river in Paris was and how vitally important it was during its history. I knew then, that was why we there. In other words, the point was/is -- how important France was to us and our country. That was understood again to me and never forgotten from me then, again in reprogramming.
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The three days we were in London, it rained the whole time we there, almost. We asked, why is it so rainy here? Our tour guides told us that in London (for most of every year including 1984 when we there) it rained most of the time. So, we were already prepared for anything at that time. We had our rain gear on and had apparel ready for different weather types. One thing that was difficult to adjust to was the time difference. It was a good thing we were all so young at the time or we wouldn't have been able to acclimate ourselves to all these new places, persons and so on and so forth. London was very similar to NYC, for me. It was NYC on a much larger, richer and deeper scale of our own culture and the United Kingdom's. In the way it was so, were that these countries in the UK were much older and had innovated, developed and gone through so much in their much longer history as modern nations that it was most important to understand how we, as americans, should know why we should/are/do appreciate everything our own country gives and takes from us. We left London and went straight to Paris at that point. I was ready for french things, you know what I mean by that. I acted like I didn't like french people when I shyly really did like them a lot after finding out the hard way why I did and why I should give them a dose of my upbringing. Although, there were so many beautiful/wonderful experiences in Paris, the one I felt the most uncomfortable with was going to a french restaurant (again) and having to say I didn't like the french and french food, when really I did very much. I had just come down from the Eiffel Tower and this restaurant was on some verdanda on one side of the Eiffel Tower. My tour guides from America and England made me mad enough to actually act and say these things to the host of the restaurant. I said that and they said that right back to me about americans, so I ordered some dish really french so they wouldn't get too mad at me and the waiter said to me, in good english for sure, and came back to my table about an half and hour later with a ham sandwich and french fries which was completely the opposite of what I ordered. I objected just like I was supposed too and he got angry at me and said too bad, take it or leave it. I took it because I was happy to even be there at the time. The Eiffel Tower was majestic and certainly lived up to it's reputation of being one of the seven man-made wonders of the world, so naturally I was in a great mood at the time that occured. The rest of Paris was profoundingly similar to american life. Fast paced and rich in culture were the most similar things I noticed. For example, Notre Dame Cathedral wasn't that different from St. Paul's Cathedral (an Anglican High Church), that we visited in London, and St. Patrick's Cathedral (an Catholic High Church) in the US so that was somewhat unexpected. What was really unexpected was that Paris was six hours ahead of american time and London was five hours ahead of us. I thought, since these countries were so geographically close to each other that they were in the same time zone. So, I had to get used to another time difference right off the bat. We took a ride on the Seine River in a like Mississippi River Boat, which was already unexpected, and we got to know how old that major river in Paris was and how vitally important it was during its history. I knew then, that was why we there. In other words, the point was/is -- how important France was to us and our country. That was understood again to me and never forgotten from me then, again in reprogramming.