Wayward Aliens

As American students in Europe, we have a unique opportunity to see some of the greatest places in the world.

Now read that with the emphasis on the word "see."

As American students in Europe, our experiences will make for some of the best memories of our young lives. We will not, as I am starting to grasp, have a firm concept of what life is like for a native European. We are, as it is, only travelers.

We cannot expect to have a perspective beyond what we can see from the outside looking in. For that to happen, we would actually have to live and grow with Europe for some extended period of time; to contribute to the continuation of European society, rather than simply observe its characteristics.

Just as no one is expected to take an active role in the plot of a movie as the screens flick from reel to reel, we are not obligated to be any more than an educated group of spectators golf-clapping our way through the eighteen holes across the pond.

That doesn't mean that we aren't learning facts and figures and customs and traditions. We just don't feel them as an organic part of who we are. You could say the same of a visitor in any part of the world. But as visitors go, I'd say we're doing a pretty good job at whatever it is we're supposed to be doing with our time here.