Learning moments / People along the way

My favorite Mark Twain quote is “never let school get in the way of your education,” and that has been one of the driving forces in how Wendy and I have tried to envision and steer our adventure. It’s not that Josh and Simon have had bad school experiences -- on the contrary they’ve been blessed with amazing teachers and schools with abundant resources. However, we wanted to ensure that Josh and Simon were also grounded in reality and this trip has been wonderful for that.

There was a great NY Times (I think) article that talked about how the times that people remember best from vacations (and probably other aspects of their lives) are when things don’t go according to plan. Wendy and I will always remember our trip to Costa Rica when our tent was almost washed away (with us in it) while camping alongside the Pacuare river; and how everyone but Simon picked up an intestinal bug in Delhi; and having to walk when the Tube was on strike / broken down in London.

One of our goals for this trip has been for Josh and Simon (and, truth be told, me and Wendy) to learn from various friends, families and strangers along the way; for us to see people living rich and rewarding lives in vastly different circumstances from what we were used to in London and for us to also learn and appreciate from the bad and ugly that we encounter as well.

As the saying goes, “be careful what you wish for…” Below are some vignettes of “learning moments” that we’ve had throughout out trek

On the overnight train to Churchill, Manitoba, Josh and I were sleeping next to each other when we were rudely awakened by a very drunk man who leaned over into our faces to warn us about the impending end of the world in 2012. Happily, we had just pulled into his station (it was around 2am) and he disembarked without further incident (at least for us) but it left me and Josh shaken. The next day, Josh was so irate he wanted to call Canada Rail to demand they stop serving alcohol on their trains. The “learning moment” bell went off inside my head and I suggested he send an email to their customer service department. Josh’s email (and the wholly inadequate response) were posted on his blog a few weeks back. Would I ever choose to put my son in front of a rowdy alcoholic on a train? Of course not. Do I think that he will always remember and has learned from the experience? Absolutely.

As we were crossing back into the US from Canada, just south of Winnipeg, the US Border Patrol agent was asking us a lot of questions (we’ve learned to answer Vermont when officials ask “where are your from?” because the full answer is to confusing). And we told him about the trip, how we had been up to Churchill to see the polar bears, etc. Wendy asked him, “have you ever been as far North as Churchill,” to which he responded, “I’ve never been to Canada and I don’t have any plans to go.” Now that was a response that just floored all of us. I didn’t even have to get out the dictionary to explain to Simon the meaning of insular. Here was a perfectly normal-seeming man, working every day on the US-Canadian border, who never had visited (and wasn’t even curious / interested in visiting) the land 10 feet from his post. The good news, from a “learning moment” perspective is that we didn’t have to explain to Josh and Simon that this was unusual. They know plenty of wonderful government employees (starting with Uncle Rick) and citizens who are not narrow-minded and who appreciate the diversity and excitement that the broader world has to offer. Still, it helped remind us, even 9 months into the Obama administration, that there are isolationist elements within the US and not everyone shares our sense of adventure. This trip is also giving Josh and Simon much better insight into the different cultures, regions and styles across our country and I think they’re beginning to appreciate how people living in small towns can be adventurous and worldly and people who are in big cities (or on border posts, or ex-presidents) can be limited by blinders.

Of course, there have been an overwhelming number of positive experiences and role models as well. Last night, as we walked into a Japanese restaurant and sat at the sushi bar (it was Josh’s turn to pick the restaurant meal that we treat ourselves to each week) Josh asked loudly, “can I please have a root beer?” The sushi chef said, “root beer goes very well with Sushi” and gained a new friend / admirer rapidly. Of course, this was not your stereotypical sushi chef, and none of us had ever met an Idaho-native sushi chef with red hair (another one of our goals during the trip is to find some red-headed adults for Josh & Simon to meet), but the sushi was excellent and we had a great conversation with him about how a ski racer from Idaho ends up learning how to prepare sushi in France before ending up back in Sun Valley.

Another great stranger that we met along the way was Betty, our photography teacher/guide in Yellowstone park. Betty is a professional photographer who spends the winters traveling in her motor home and the summers at Yellowstone guiding photo safaris. She gave Josh and I some excellent pointers on how to improve our photo taking, and also helped teach us a tremendous amount about Yellowstone during the course of our six hours together.

I could wax on about all of the other strangers (or “unmet friends”) we have met along the way who have enriched our lives, especially all the National Park Service rangers who have taught us, guided us and inspired us, but I should probably leave that for the subject of another blog.