March 10, 2006
Culture Shock
My father made several trips to Amsterdam while I was living there but never got over the culture shock. The discovery that there were parts of the western world that hadn't completely succumbed to the tenets of Economic Rationalism proved to be just too much for him and he retired dazed and confused to the Albury Commercial Club. His relief when we announced that we were bringing his first-and-only-grandchild back to the universe of little-Johnny-Howard was palpable even from the damp and gritty reaches of the Northern hemisphere.
Which is why I was a tad concerned when he announced he was going to India for three weeks. Call me a misguided fool but India seemd to my mind slightly more challenging? Or would he be better prepared?
So it was with some relief that we met him at Tullamarine this week after his three weeks travelling through India to discover that the challenge had been fairly met. I wouldn't say that he'd enjoyed the trip ("when you've seen dire poverty for three days do you really need to see it for twenty-one?") but it didn't seem to have shaken his universe in quite the same way.
While waiting for my father's flight to land we enjoyed the added bonus of the arrival of the Botswanian Team for the Commonwealth Games. An enthusiastic, if small, welcoming committee sang and danced and trilled as their national team streamed through the gates. Although slightly outnumbered by Games Volounteers and police attendance this did not dampen their enthusiasm or quell their cheers. Our cup would have runneth-over if we had also been witness to the Mozambique team's arrival but Dad beat him through customs so we missed THAT spectacle.
Posted by Faith