A New Perspective

We made it home, back to Carolina, after an exciting and somewhat exhausting three weeks of European travel. Personally, the 5 cities on our agenda were all places I never visited. Because of this, I didn't have much of an expectation besides what I heard from friends and family which went a little like this . . . "ohhh, you're going to the dark side of the world . . ." Throughout my education I've been taught the American perspective of communism and Eastern Europe which depicts a dark, gloomy, oppressive society that was miserable on every level. In traveling to Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany and in speaking with intellectuals who grew up and experienced firsthand the power of the communist regime, I was given a different perspective . . . a perspective of my own.

First off, communism was never experienced in central/eastern Europe. Communism was the idea or the ultimate goal for those in power but socialism was the actual practice in society. We were corrected many times during our meetings and discussions that communism never existed. . . it's socialism that we're speaking of. We also learned that socialism wasn't necessarily all bad. Many people described how secure they felt under the socialist power. They had a job at all times and goods were much cheaper. Throughout our travels, it became apparent that a person's satisfaction with socialism as the form of government depended on where it was they were living and how oppressive that particular government was.

Some of the people that we would meet with would say that the new democratic society in place today isn't necessarily better than the old socialist government. The "good ole' days" became a recurring word in our vocabulary. In my opinion, it is going to take a little longer for people to adjust to the new democratic forms of society that have been set up in these countries. Many people aren't comfortable with the new competition that comes with a democracy. All of a sudden, you must work hard for your job and pay more for food and other goods. However, it doesn't take 10 to 15 years to get a car and you are able to travel freely. Like most things in life, you must consider the idea of give and take.

I learned so much during the past three weeks but I think the most important idea I was able to take from this experience came in the very last meeting when we were in Berlin. I asked our 3 guests the following question: Is the new democratic society seen today better than the socialist society you experienced over 20 years ago? Do you miss the "good ole' days?"

One of the men responded with something that struck us all. He said that he can't change the past. He must only look to the future and hope that he can make an impact. I think that is a great lesson for us all to learn. We shouldn't dwell on the past. Although we can learn from history in order to make our own future brighter, we must not let what happened before us weigh us down. We must only look toward the future and work towards making an impact through simply living life.

I experienced an incredible adventure over the past 3 weeks. I made new friends, gained new knowledge and created memories that will last a lifetime.

Thank you to all who accompanied me and gave me sunscreen . . . haha. I can honestly say that I love you all and I couldn't have asked for better travel buddies.

Auf Wiedersehen, Na Shledanou, Dowidzenia, Sziasztok, Ciao . . .

With love,
Caitlin