gunnarlarson
Gunnar Larson is a world traveler and a member of the BlogAbroad.com team.
Chocolate Covered Strawberries and traveling to Cyprus
newyorkJust the other day, someone asked me what I want to get out of Europe. I was a bit befuddled by the question, but I now know what I want to get out of experiencing Europe.
One of my foundation promises:
I promise to exercise my freedom by helping all others to be free, and to show my compassion by using things and loving people, rather than loving things and using people.
I will tell you when it hit me, what I want to get out of Europe. I was on the thirty-fourth floor of an apartment building on Central Park South, for tea. The enormous windows peered out on Central Park. It was a beautiful view. This is a view people strive for in New York. It represents success and money, and plus, it is close to Fifth Avenue for shopping. Just before going to the apartment I had lunch at a private club. There was this fountain of chocolate, almost like something you would see in the movies. It bubbled down like a waterfall. There was a plate of fresh strawberries by the chocolate fountain. I took a skewer and made myself some chocolate covered strawberries.
When I get back from Europe, life will start. Not that I have not been living life, but I will actually start working and start a somewhat normal life. Oh, life will not be normal after visiting 27 countries, it just cannot be, I believe. I want to incorporate all my experiences into life and a career. It is a difficult mission.
That’s what I want to figure out in Europe, how to live all of my experiences and enact them in my life. When I walk down Fifth Avenue in New York, I want to remember my time in India and how fortunate we are in the US. When I walk by Columbia’s campus, I want to remember my time in Kenya, where a young man was begging my friends and I to sponsor him to come to the US, so he could go to college. Heck, I remember when I was actually on a traditional US college campus, on a regular basis. All of these experiences are amazing, and I am pretty lucky to have experienced them all.
And, I expect there to be many more as I travel through Europe.
With all of this traveling, it is pretty easy to get pretentious. Growing up in Idaho there was no room for such nonsense. Still, by the end of my brief stay in New York, I saw myself getting a little bit outside myself. Forgetting Kenya, India, and everywhere else. Forgetting those humbling experiences.
As I sat in London for twelve hours, I had a lot of time to think about Europe. I looked at the map when I got here. “Am I ACUTALLY in Europe?” I asked myself. I am amazed by it all. I feel like a schoolchild full of astonishment, that’s what I want to keep in life. The amazement—and the awe of experiencing new things.
On the flight from London to Cyprus I did not sit next to a fellow American. Rather, by fate I was seated next to a native Cypriot. Hermon is a 72-year-old woman born in Cyprus. She was visiting a niece in LA and is excited to get back to her homeland. Oh, how we laughed about things. She has an interesting since of humor. Hermon was a kindergarten teacher for 50 years and now has taken to traveling. She gave me some tips about Cyprus. “Where you are going to be staying, there is not much to see…well there is some stuff, but it is not that exciting. You need to go to Pafos. It’s really nice there.” So, I will take Hermon’s advice and visit Pafos one day very soon.
Nicosia, where we are staying, is pretty nice. The land is flat and flat-faced buildings on the land.
Upon arriving in Nicosia we were dispatched to our apartment. It is a very spacious one bedroom with an entry way and big living room. I share it with a fella from Maine. It is a nice set up. I think I will enjoy it here.
We do not start taking classes for over a week, so it will give us heaps of time to get acclimated to the place.
Check out my page on BlogAbroad.com for my AudioBlog updates.
http://www.blogabroad.com/gunnarlarson.html
One of my foundation promises:
I promise to exercise my freedom by helping all others to be free, and to show my compassion by using things and loving people, rather than loving things and using people.
I will tell you when it hit me, what I want to get out of Europe. I was on the thirty-fourth floor of an apartment building on Central Park South, for tea. The enormous windows peered out on Central Park. It was a beautiful view. This is a view people strive for in New York. It represents success and money, and plus, it is close to Fifth Avenue for shopping. Just before going to the apartment I had lunch at a private club. There was this fountain of chocolate, almost like something you would see in the movies. It bubbled down like a waterfall. There was a plate of fresh strawberries by the chocolate fountain. I took a skewer and made myself some chocolate covered strawberries.
When I get back from Europe, life will start. Not that I have not been living life, but I will actually start working and start a somewhat normal life. Oh, life will not be normal after visiting 27 countries, it just cannot be, I believe. I want to incorporate all my experiences into life and a career. It is a difficult mission.
That’s what I want to figure out in Europe, how to live all of my experiences and enact them in my life. When I walk down Fifth Avenue in New York, I want to remember my time in India and how fortunate we are in the US. When I walk by Columbia’s campus, I want to remember my time in Kenya, where a young man was begging my friends and I to sponsor him to come to the US, so he could go to college. Heck, I remember when I was actually on a traditional US college campus, on a regular basis. All of these experiences are amazing, and I am pretty lucky to have experienced them all.
And, I expect there to be many more as I travel through Europe.
With all of this traveling, it is pretty easy to get pretentious. Growing up in Idaho there was no room for such nonsense. Still, by the end of my brief stay in New York, I saw myself getting a little bit outside myself. Forgetting Kenya, India, and everywhere else. Forgetting those humbling experiences.
As I sat in London for twelve hours, I had a lot of time to think about Europe. I looked at the map when I got here. “Am I ACUTALLY in Europe?” I asked myself. I am amazed by it all. I feel like a schoolchild full of astonishment, that’s what I want to keep in life. The amazement—and the awe of experiencing new things.
On the flight from London to Cyprus I did not sit next to a fellow American. Rather, by fate I was seated next to a native Cypriot. Hermon is a 72-year-old woman born in Cyprus. She was visiting a niece in LA and is excited to get back to her homeland. Oh, how we laughed about things. She has an interesting since of humor. Hermon was a kindergarten teacher for 50 years and now has taken to traveling. She gave me some tips about Cyprus. “Where you are going to be staying, there is not much to see…well there is some stuff, but it is not that exciting. You need to go to Pafos. It’s really nice there.” So, I will take Hermon’s advice and visit Pafos one day very soon.
Nicosia, where we are staying, is pretty nice. The land is flat and flat-faced buildings on the land.
Upon arriving in Nicosia we were dispatched to our apartment. It is a very spacious one bedroom with an entry way and big living room. I share it with a fella from Maine. It is a nice set up. I think I will enjoy it here.
We do not start taking classes for over a week, so it will give us heaps of time to get acclimated to the place.
Check out my page on BlogAbroad.com for my AudioBlog updates.
http://www.blogabroad.com/gunnarlarson.html
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