Different worlds

As I stated in my last post, I just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to New Zealand with our son.  It was absolutely incredible.  It's always good, I think, to experience different cultures and different ways of thinking.  We were there for two weeks, and it took us at least a week to figure out some of these differences.  For example, when someone in New Zealand asks you if you would like a biscuit, they actually mean a cookie!  When you order lemonade in New Zealand, there's a good chance that they will hand you a glass of Sprite.  There's no such thing as ordering something To Go.  Instead, you order it Take Away.  And most important (for me at least), when ordering coffee in New Zealand, there's no such thing as a regular coffee black (without cream and sugar).  The closest thing is called a Long Black, which is really a shot of espresso with additional hot water.  

One of the other major differences we experienced is that New Zealanders drive on the wrong side of the road!  Actually, it wasn't all that difficult, especially since the steering wheel is on the right side of the car and not the left (see the picture below):

Basically, you just have to remember that the driver is always on the inside lane, which is the same in every other country around the world, including the United States.  Truthfully, getting used to the fact that I had to use my left hand (as opposed to my right) to shift the car into Drive or Park was more difficult than driving the car on the wrong side of the road.

I hope you can appreciate that experiencing a different culture, even one that in actual truth is fairly similar to our own, is a great educational experience.  Our diversity is what makes us strong.  As former President Jimmy Carter said, "We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic.  Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams."  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr said, "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."  The first step in achieving Dr. King's vision is to actually escape the narrow confines and learn and experience life in a different way. We had a lot of fun in New Zealand, but the most important part of our trip was the experience of a different world.