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My Travel Experience
By Ru-an Zietsmann
As a South African I did a lot of travelling in my life because of tennis. After high school I went to the USA on a tennis scholarship. I went to a college in Mississippi and got to see the way people live in America. I didn't see too much of America though, the only big city that I visited a few times was New Orleans. I thought it was a cool city. Anyhow I got a feeling for the American life and it was quite different from my country, and also quite similar. The main difference was just the economy, the USobviously had a much stronger economy and they seemed to have a very high quality of life. Mississippi is probably the poorest state in the US but we travelled outside of it quite a bit. The material comforts were nice but there was also a kind of superficial feel to things. I liked the US but I was not in a very happy place back then so it was hard for me to make a good judgement. Obviously the US has given the world many things. But like any country it also has it's down side. I left the US after a year and a half of college. Then later I started playing tennis in France and Spain. France was a very beautiful country and even though it took some getting used to it really grew on me. The people are actually very nice(not in Paris!) and I liked their way of life. They are very passionate about food as I am and they are tolerant of others. The topless beaches were nice and I liked how comfortable they were with their sexuality. I also spent time in England and Spain like I said. London is a nice city but the weather in England was a bit grey for me(South Africa is sunny). And the people were slightly on the stiff side. Nevertheless another great culture. Spain reminded me a lot of South Africa, very laid back. A little to laid back for me. But a great place for partying and that kind of thing. I also went to India for about three weeks. That was like the opposite of the US in every way. A lot of poverty and disorder. Not very advanced at all. So although it was an interesting experience it was too uncomfortable. Those are all the countries that I spent some time in, although I've passed through some other countries as well. So I've been north and south and east and west and probably my favorite country of them all would have to be France. It is in the center and therefor has something of everything. It's not so laid back that nothing ever gets done, but it's also not so materialistic or uptight that people die of stress related disorders all the time. In fact they have one of the lowest heart attack rates in the world. I think they have a good balance of everything over there. They eat healthy, they spend time in nature, they enjoy their sport, and they tolerate other cultures well. I think travelling is great, I learneda lot and had some great adventures. Travelling makes you 'world wise'. I think I'm and open minded person because of it. When you always stay in one country you become cut off and you miss out on a lot of things in life. I was lucky to be able to travel the way I did because it enriched my life. I am now back in South Africa for almost a year and a half but I hope to travel again soon. I would like to go live in France some time. South Africa is far removed form the rest of the world and kind of disconnected. After everything I've seen I don't know if I'd stay here for the rest of my life. It is my home country so I'm used to it but it would be nice of I was able to go stay overseas for a while when I feel like it. The political situation in South Africa isn't great and like I said it's far removed from all the nice countries. |
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A very thought provoking story, Ru-an.
Best of luck to you.
Frederick
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This intel was contributed by Ru-an
Ru-an
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May, 2012
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