I thought about this while driving to class this morning. Jinfash's thread yesterday prompted it.
When I think of Poland; I think of HUGE amounts of unemployed (and talented) computer people, really hot chicks,and tremendous amounts of hatred for the nazis. When I think of Holland; I think of windmills, hot chicks, and weed. When I think of England; I think of Top Gear, BBC news, hot chicks, a castle that has my name on it, and absolute heartbreak every four years since 1966. When I think of Australia; I think of all that is wrong with big government, an army of giant hot redhead chicks, crazy guys, and wildlife that will eat you alive. When I think of Japan; I think of dudes in alligator shoes beating the bejeezus out of five guys in an alley, Americans with unhealthy obsessions with its subculture, and random chicks in PVC trying to sell me cars. When I think of Iran; I think of religious extremism, crazy presidents, and hot chicks who wear too much clothing. When I think of Saudi Arabia; I think of houses built out of stacks of 100$ bills, solid gold hats, and even more chicks who wear entirely too much clothing.
When in reality, all of these countries probably have lots of college students who are just as senseless as I am, who have got into car wrecks, have their own aspirations, rivals, dreams, nightmares, and goals. (There's probably a few of them who ran around drunk friday night trying to pick up chicks who were way out of their league too
) There's probably a few of them who have already seen their little corner of the world and now they wish to see the rest of it, but can't for various reasons. There is much rhetoric circulating around my corner of the globe, always centering around this or that set of foreigners ("DEY TUK YER JERB", or "If you vote for Obama the turrists win." that kind of bullshit). When in reality, the guy who took your job and son is right within these very borders. When you make a decision, you typically don't factor in what it will do to some place you have never seen before you factor in what it does right before your own eyes.
Here in the US, pretty much every day we're told that the middle east is full of extremists who follow their leaders blindly into whatever psychotic scheme they've come up with. Again, not reality. One of my Professors (an OG Persian), tells me that there was a shortage of eggs around a major university because the students bought them all to pelt Ahmadinejad with them
So my question to evilbore is this: What have you got on your mind, other than the fact that I am a rambler of epic scale?
