i have to write this before i forget it, but i've been wondering about the definition of international. i mean, i know what it means, but it's weird because if you're in the US and someone is in europe or in asia or australia, then it feels like that person is international. but canada is a different nation and you don't call people who travel there "international". or do you? how about mexico?
so if you're in europe, then you're considered international. even from a work perspective and on your resume, you can put that. but what does it really mean? and for someone who actually lives in europe, are they considered international? take someone from germany and they travel to greece or italy, are they considered international? they should be based on the definition, but the connotation is that they're not.
and what's even crazy is that it's all based on borders. it's some sort of man-installed "imaginary" line that says this part is germany and this part is switzerland. yes, you have border patrols or whatever, but ever since the schengen agreement, you can easily drive across different countries in europe with no problem. even someone with a US passport can drive wherever he wants with no problem.
this whole concept of borders is driving me crazy. i mean, consider an apartment with doors and walls. that's basically an "inter-room" apartment. maybe you need to knock or maybe you don't, but there's still a border. you can basically have borders everywhere you go or with anything you have. intercloset, intergarage, interdrawer, interanythingyouwant. where does it stop? and why are there borders anyway?
some people consider the US to be the melting pot with so many different cultures living in one massive body of land, but if that's the case, then europe should be called the mother of all melting pots even if it is barely the size of texas. i mean, it's wild. forget going to "little italy", you can actually go to the REAL italy if you want. you want spagetti from italy, just drive a couple of hours and you're there (if you're in germany). and even germany and austria who "almost" speak the same language (inside joke there), they are two different countries and YOU KNOW you're in a different country. much like in new york or san francisco, you know you're in a different neighborhood. even between mesquite and dallas and plano or between seattle and wenatchee, you know you're in a different place. so everywhere you go, there's always some sort of border and some sort of imaginary line between what you know and what you're familiar with compared to what you don't know. some people can't even cross the street or get out of their house. if they eventually crossed the street, then they might as well be traveling internationally.
here's another thing on my mind. if you took all the people in the US and all the people in europe and you swapped them, what would happen to those countries? what happens to those cities? would venice stay the same? would iowa or kansas or ohio be the same? would people be the same?
are our personalities formed based on our physical environment and location? i mean, there are some places in europe that are amazing, but at the same time, there are places in the US that are just as amazing. or just as crappy. maybe it's the history that's different. what happened in the alps didn't happen in the rockies. there are buildings in europe that are older than the US itself.
but what would have happened if all lands were together and there were no oceans in between? like everything was driveable and you could take a roadtrip to japan or iceland or australia. again, would those countries be the same. would we be the same? and how different would it be?
